"Again! Psybeam!" I yelled. Psybeam was Kinet, my Kadabra's, newest move. It was much more efficient than Confusion. It was a ray-like move very much unlike Confusion, so we had to practice our accuracy. It's been a week of hard work, but I was happy. This was the move we needed to score in order to get chosen by Sabrina to help her take on the Fighting Type Gym next door. We needed to crush them in front of the Pokémon League Officials to become the "official" Gym of Saffron City.

Even in Saffron City, one of the largest economic centers of both Kanto and our next door neighbor Johto, wasn't big enough to hold two Gyms. It took the League Representatives a while to figure it out, but in the end they proposed we have a Gym to Gym battle to decide which one would be worthy of staying Gym. Us, the Gym Trainers of the Saffron Psychic Gym, have been training especially hard. Logically, we had the type advantage. But that didn't mean shit if we couldn't concentrate to bring around total defeat. Mistress Sabrina said that they were going to be very tough Trainers, because they've been dealing with Psychic Pokémon much more than we have with Fighting Pokémon. Gym Trainers were also selected to help in the battles, assisting their Gym score more wins to convince the League Representatives that our Gym was the better pick than the Fighting type one.

And I was Training to be one of the selected by Sabrina to achieve glory of being chosen as the Saffron City Gym. I owed Mistress Sabrina that much, at least. Out of the two things she did for me, I had to repay her. One thing was me being able to "see" again. Almost. Because of her one-on-one training with me, I can now "see", like I did before I had that cruel disease take it away from me. And by "see", I mean without my eyes. It's strange, but by having so many exercises of the mind (they felt like sessions with a psychologist), I can now focus the brain to recognize people and objects through colors of the subjects I see in my mind. Mistress Sabrina calls it "Aura", but I don't really care what it's called. It's how I regained my eyesight, and it's how I started to become independent from my parents. It was freedom. I still had a long way to go before completely perfecting it, but this is how I was going to repay my Mistress. By helping her Gym win the spot of Saffron City's Gym.

"Dabra!" Kinet said, just when his Psybeam managed to hit an empty can of soda we set up to practice. He was the other thing I'm indebted to Sabrina for.

After my first few weeks of training, Sabrina asked me to identify a Pokémon that was most like my own Aura. I didn't understand the exercise, since I didn't know what kind of Aura I gave off. I could only sense the Aura of solid objects', my parent's and Mistress herself. But she began to bring in different Pokémon, one at a time. Around ten different Pokémon came in all at once, but none of them felt right. They gave off Aura that was too sharp, too dull, and sometimes confusing colors blended in altogether. But then I felt another Pokémon's Aura deep inside the colorful mess. This one was different. This one gave off a pleasant shade of yellow. It was almost golden. I "saw" its Aura emanating in a slender, restricting way, struggling to find its way out of the rest of cluster. It was the same restriction I felt in life. When I finished my Aura analysis, I told Mistress Sabrina that this Pokémon was the one that I wanted.

There was silence, and then she came closer to me after bringing the Pokémon over.

"This is Abra. I knew that this one was the one that you'd relate to the most. And even with the other different and confusing Aura you saw, you picked the right one. You have passed, and so you are worthy of the chance to become a Gym Trainer in this Gym. If you accept, this Abra shall be your partner." She said. It was the most that my mentor, Mistress Sabrina, had said to me.

Her long explanation of this test and the reward took me a while to sink in. What if I refused her offer? Would she stop helping me with my Psychic training? Or was this the plan? To trade off my regained "sight" to help her Gym. That was not fair. She would even give me a Pokémon in return to do this. It wasn't fair. How could any deal be so favorable to me?

I instantly accepted her offer. Without a doubt, this deal was all about me, and my instructed repayment was going to be helping as a Gym Trainer. I never met anyone as generous as Mistress. My Abra, who I named Kinet, evolved into a strong Kadabra a while later while training against Trainers coming to face Mistress Sabrina, our Gym Leader. With Psybeam now mastered under our belts, we, the Gym Trainers, made applications. I had trouble writing mine out. I wanted to write how hard I've tried to get over my handicap, and how hard I've been trying to repay all my dues. Writing was tough on me, so I had to ask one of the older Medium to help me, who helped me write it with no problems. Even though everyone was competing, it'd be obvious to see the Aura of guilt consume someone after doing something horrible as sabotaging another Gym Trainer, so I wasn't scared.

The results were announced later in the day after all the Gym Trainers applied. All the Gym Trainers gathered around for Mistress to announce the Trainers that would follow her to defeat the Fighting type Gym next door. I was excited, and I could sense everyone else was too. I saw passionate red Aura radiating from people quickly turn a sullen blue when names were called out. The wave of energy began to slow down. Many of the long time Psychics were selected, and even the Medium that helped me was selected. I stopped believing that I could make it too. Even in the darkened atmosphere of disappointment, the rest of the Gym Trainers cheered and clapped for their comrades. I slowly began to clap too. Even if I didn't make it, I could be happy for those who did.

"-and our last Trainer to represent our Psychic Gym is Mark Seva! Please give a round of applause for the selected! We will meet to discuss our battle strategies tomorrow evening! Let's show the Fighting Gym what we Psychics can do!" she declared. Soft spoken as she was, she easily raised the sunken spirits of the not selected to cheer on for those who did. I was about to start clapping too.

…

I almost fainted realizing that she called my name. My name. I was going to help beat the Gym next door.

When the morning of the Gym Battle came around, I was thrilled. All I had to do was defeat another Gym Trainer from the Fighting Gym. It was going to be a snap. I walked with high orange spirits around me heading to the Fighting type Gym next door. The battlefield was going to be in their Gym, since they have had their Gym stand here longer than ours.

I sensed a heated blazing red atmosphere Aura of determination hit my mind. And my nose. The place reeked. Did no one ever try showering before here? Or do they let their sweat just sit there? It was disgusting. The type advantage I had was going to make me win fast. I did not want to stay here. The cool, refreshing atmosphere of the Psychic Gym was so much more pleasant.

Matches came and went. Surprisingly, the Fighting Pokémon were much resilient than I thought. Of course, the trained Psychics tore them apart. They couldn't us with their brawn. After the match between the Medium, her Exeggutor, and the Blackbelt and his Primeape was over, giving the Psychic Gym another win was over; it came to be my turn. I got up, walked over to my side, and released Kinet. I spoke in my mind, connecting to Kinet's telepathy to prep him up. On the other side, I heard the Blackbelt yelling like an uncivilized Primeape to his Hitmonlee. The difference in our manners was obvious.

He launched the battle into a start when he commanded his Hitmonlee use Hi Jump Kick. I sensed danger in the move, and communicated to Kinet to dodge. I felt his presence move slightly, but it was not enough to avoid the hit, and it hit hard.

"Kinet, use Psybeam." I communicated to Kinet. Our minds were getting into synch, and that's usually when we win our matched. He fired the psychic beam into the opponent, and when I heard the Pokémon collapse, I swear that's when we supposed to win. The bright orange Aura I identified the Hitmonlee by turned into a boring, dull grey. Yeah, fate had us ready to win. But I heard the Primeape-like man have another yelling fit of encouragement.

"Leeroy! You're not going down from that! A Psychic Pokémon isn't going to get rid of our spirit with their mind! They don't have the determination we do! They don't have the perseverance that we do! Show me you can still fight!" he yelled even more annoyingly. It was obvious he was going to lose, so why bother? I was going to tell him off to quit his moronic babbling, but I had to hold my tongue in shock.

The Hitmonlee was getting up, as I felt the gray Aura turn into a churning orange. I was flabbergasted. There was no way this could happen.

"Leeroy! Once more, Hi Jump Kick! Let's win!" he commanded. The blazing orange Aura turned into a glorious red that began to charge at us. I didn't command anything to avoid it. I was too stunned at this. This was rash, not thought out properly, reliant on the sheer brawn, and highly illogical.

The attack hit because of my inability to give command, and I first-handedly saw the golden Aura of Kinet die down into a dulled yellow. Kinet was defeated by the illogical thinking of this Mankey man and his Pokémon. I stunned, and it took me a while to recollect myself to return Kinet into his Pokéball. I saw some red out in the audience, and some accompanying turquoise. The red was the new attitude of the Fighting type Gym Trainers, while the turquoise were the shocked Psychics criticizing. I felt a wave of unbearable proportions invade my mind and press down my body.

I felt the Blackbelt come over here. I didn't want him here. I wanted him to disappear. I wanted everyone in here to disappear.

"Phew! That was a really close match! I enjoyed myself very much, and I could imagine Leeroy thinks the same!" he said to me. I felt his hand reaching out for a shake. I took it begrudgingly. I was humiliated. My Pokémon was humiliated in his ball. I felt the probing humiliation the other Psychic Gym Trainers surrounding me.

It was because of this Fighting type Trainer.

I swore that day to never lose against the Fighting type. Never again.

The Fighting Gym was announced inferior to the Psychic Gym and stripped of its position after Mistress Sabrina defeated the Leader. If it wasn't for my slip up, we would have won seven matches to zero. I failed my repayment to Mistress Sabrina's kindness that day.

I guess that's where I began hating the blockheaded Fighting type. Pokémon and the Trainers who specialize in them alike.

"Okay, break time!" I yelled out to my Pokémon. Today was the sunniest day yet since we've been in Ecruteak. I prepared the high protein Pokémon food out along with some water bottles and sandwiches.

It's been a whole week of hardcore training since my defeat at Morty's Gym. We've been out and about Ecruteak, Route 42, and even back in Mt. Mortar training hard. The four of us. Training for our rematch at the Gym.

Mars came to me first. He stopped his compulsive eating by now. He kinda lost hunger when he started to really practice his punches. We came up with good strategies implementing both Mach and Bullet Punches into one consecutive flurry of punches. The two of us never had real issues together, so we didn't have much shaping up to do. He might have come down on his eating habits, but he ate his food and his (my) sandwiches faster than drinking his water.

Adonis followed Mars soon after. He was the one who was trying the hardest. He wanted to prove to me that I could rely on him, which I didn't doubt anymore. He worked hard to strengthen his new move, Payback, while keeping Karate Chop and Low Kick in check. The two of them worked hard together, wrestling much more than usual, to overcome our issues that led to our defeat. Adonis was eating at a slower rate than Mars, but he ate a little while after Mars was stuffed. He drank his water up faster than Mars did.

I felt something poke my back as I observed my two Fighting types. I knew what it meant. I reached into the bag grabbing more Pokémon food. This one was always really hungry, but I believe it was because this one was smaller, and thus had a higher metabolism than Mars or Adonis. At least, that's what I think Isidora said when she talked about her small brigade of Pokémon at home. I felt another poke on my back.

"Hey Ivan, don't worry, I got it. Slow down, though! You'll end up finishing another bag that was supposed to last us a week!" I scolded. I was serious; my money may have been saved a week ago with the TM theft (that was never reported, luckily for me), but I wasn't growing any money other than what I got from winning battles!

"Poli!" Ivan shouted back at me, repeating his request with more pokes. I never understood if he just didn't get what I said or just chose to outright not care. I handed the plate over him, and he gladly began his second serving that meal.

Ivan was the name of my new Poliwag. This Pokémon did not put up a fight against me.

In fact, it didn't even try battling. It was hungry. After dropping my Plain Badge on the ground, it just scurried over to my bag, found some food, and began eating. I don't know how it knew that I had food in there. I don't know how it knew that the Badge belonged to me. But, in the end, I found my Lure Ball, and tossed it over to the eating Pokémon. It went in right away, and didn't even try to break out. The final click came. I caught my third Pokémon, and it wasn't even a Fighting type Pokémon.

Yet.

Nurse Joy looked at me oddly when me, the soaked to the brim Trainer, came in with an extra Pokémon to drop off in her care. I went to shower right after that, and dry off my clothes. When I finished, I lied down to think the day over and wrote it out on my journal. My day unveiled on the blank pages with ink.

Adonis was back on my side, and I had done my first shoplifting concerning a TM. Mars I knew was extremely disapproving of it, but it was alright. One day I'd go back to pay the old man. I didn't want this guilt clouding me over. I had to be positive. At the end, I wrote about the Murkrow, my Plain Badge, and my new Poliwag. I thought about needing a nickname for it. I thought that Dad would be the best bet to find a good name, just like for Adonis. Sure, Adonis was a funny name, but it grew on me. I could honestly identify Adonis from all the Machop in the world now. Same with Mars and all the Hitmonchan that roamed on this land. I just needed a way for my Poliwag to have a name. I dialed the number, hoping Dad would pick up. I needed one of his meaningful names. The Pokégear rung until someone picked up.

"Hello? Sweetie! How have you been? It's really late out you better be in the Pokémon Center! We've all missed you very much, you know!" a more feminine voice answered. Totally not my Dad.

"M-Mom? Um, h-hi. I am in the Pokémon Center. Is Dad around somewhere? I need to ask him something." I asked her. I was hoping he'd be there. I didn't really want Isidora or Mom to help me name my Poliwag. It could turn out to be really bad for both me and him.

"I'm sorry, honey, but your Dad had to work his co-worker's shift today, so he won't be coming back until later tonight. Is it something I can help you with?" she asked. I haven't talked to her since last week. Isidora too. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't just say 'sorry, gotta go!" and hang up. I covered the phone, sighed to myself, then began to talk back.

"Um, sure Mom. See, I caught this Poliwag in Ecruteak City a little while ago, but I'm not sure what to name it. Can you help, Mom?" I asked, biting my lips as I said the last words. It's not that I wanted to hang up on her; I wanted to hang up on her without feeling guilty.

"A Poliwag? The small, blue Water type Pokémon, right? Hmm." She spoke to herself, thinking. I heard an "Ah" before she spoke again. "What about Ivan? It fits both a cute little Pokémon, and it also fits its
evolved forms, I'm betting." She spoke. I had no response. As I did with Dad and Adonis, I quickly said my thanks and good byes, before hanging up.

Ivan. Geez, I couldn't turn away Mom's suggestion. My Poliwag was going to be named Ivan. That's pretty terrible.

We continued training that week. I caught a new Pokémon, but I knew now that everyone had to work hard as a team. Ivan proved to be a little bit of a pacifist when it came to it. He pretty much was the punching bag of Mars and Adonis for a bit before we found out that our new partner never struck back.

Mars and Adonis were mad at me when I made them apologize along with me. I couldn't blame them, though. I just wanted Ivan to feel comfortable around us. At least comfortable enough to show me what he can do.

This happened maybe two or three days later in the week. I was finally done training with Adonis, so I just had one more thing to do; train Ivan. Surprisingly enough, he was a lot easier to communicate than Adonis when I first got him. He happily showed me what I wanted to see. With a rock by the ponds where we met, he used a sharp Water Gun, a flurry of Bubble, and a set of Doubleslap. I was pretty impressed at the long range moves. When Morty's Ghosts try to use Hypnosis, we can use Water Gun and Bubble to ward them off. I could already tell Ivan was going to play a big part in this battle. I now had a Water Pokémon. But soon, he'll become a big strong Poliwrath. Another piece to my goal; a Fighting type team.

Ivan used another move on the rock. It didn't work, however, but I was intrigued.

"Hey Ivan, do you want to show me that attack? It doesn't look like it's doing much on that rock." I laughed at the end. Mars and Adonis were playing around nearby. I saw them and smiled.

I was happy that Mars finally got that training partner. It what we set out to do that day for the Bug Catching Contest.

"Poli! Poli Poli!" I heard Ivan say. I turned my attention back to Ivan. He nodded at my question. So I looked at him, and waited for his move. Eventually, I began to look drowsy staring at him. Something about Ivan was just so… sleep inducing… I yawned a little, and I tried to look away. Ivan on the other hand, kept going over to where I would see him. I began to snap out of it when I realized what was going on.

Ivan's stomach spiral was… spiraling. It was Hypnosis. Hypnosis was Ivan's final move. I was so happy, yet so tired at the same time. No wonder it didn't work on the rock. It only works on things that can fall asleep. This was one of the attacks I dreaded the most. But of course I catch a Pokémon that can use it! The move began to overpower my will to stay awake.

"I-Ivan! O-kay… You can… stop no-" I managed to let out before I yet out one final yawn. The move was a success, and I drifted into sleep. All I knew when I woke up was that I ran out of Pokémon food.

That sneaky Tadpole Pokémon. I was going to work him hard.

Morty's Gym was the same as it was last week. The wooden floors were somewhat shinier and more polished than before, though. I was greeted by the referee before seeing myself eye-to-eye to Morty himself. He showed me a pleased grin before greeting me.

"Ah, you're back. I hope you and your Pokémon are better this time around. I don't sense the same amount of insecurity as before." He smiled further. I didn't care about his perceptions this time. I was ready to take him on this time. I had Mars, Adonis, and Ivan all ready to go! I went to the challenger's side just like before, as Morty took his stand. The referee began to announce the rules but I stopped listening. Four-on-four Pokémon each, only challengers may substitute whatever whatever. I knew the rules. I knew I still had a disadvantage both typing wise and number wise.

I guess I acted too quickly when I sent out Mars. Mars was going to be my first Pokémon up again. His Bullet Punch didn't let me down before, and we've only gotten stronger with it. Still, the referee and Morty started giggling to themselves.

"You're pretty determined today, aren't you? Well, I guess since you know the rules, it isn't necessary to continue, right?" Morty said, before signaling the referee to start the match already. I suddenly got embarrassed knowing I cut the referee off. Morty I guess sensed this, and sent out his Pokémon.

"Alright, Gastly, go!" Morty announced, cutting my embarrassment. I felt my determination coming back seeing the ball of gas stare at us. It was his first Pokémon. Out of the four that were going to battle my three.

"Mars, Bullet Punch!" I yelled. Mars charged with speed, while the Gastly didn't move. It felt odd, since I swear that it was fast last time. Mars was too fast for it I guessed, and was knocked out just like before. Surprisingly faster than I thought. The referee announced the knockout, and Morty returned his Pokémon, grinning. He took a pause before taking out another Pokéball, but he still stalled when releasing it. He wasn't looking at me, the referee, or his Pokéball. I looked over where he was staring.

Suddenly Mars began to pant hard before screaming in pain. The Gastly did something to Mars. I looked over at Morty, who smiled gratuitously.

"That's Curse. Gastly could have moved out of the way, but why bother when she was ready to be knocked out? And now your Hitmonchan will feel her influence until he's knocked out little by little, which shouldn't be long now." He said, finally releasing his next Pokémon. Unsurprisingly, it was his Haunter. The same Haunter that wiped out both Mars and Adonis.

I clenched my teeth. Mars was working hard all this week. I needed to push him as much as I could before Curse's toll took him out.

"Haunter, Hypnosis!" Morty ordered. And we were ready this time around. I ordered a Bullet Punch, and Mars followed through. The Haunter tried once more to grab Mars' arms to hold him to pull off Hypnosis, but Mars used Mach Punch to break free. And by break free, I mean completely phase though the attempted hold. Both Morty and Haunter looked in awed at this combination.

I grinned when Mars socked the Haunter in the face with Bullet Punch. It was something that was Ivan's idea during training. In order to avoid his own Hypnosis attack, Adonis and Mars just gave a punch to the stomach. Ivan stopped trying to put us to sleep after that.

And so did Morty's Haunter.

I called for another barrage of Bullet Punch. This Haunter was strong, yes, but in the end it wasn't invincible. I didn't let up on Mars' steel punches. No way. I was going to make sure this thing went down!

I frowned when Mars collapsed. The damage from Curse was forgotten in my calculations. I called Mars back at the same time Morty called back his Haunter. Yep. Mars took it down before fainting. Mars did the best job he could, and I was proud of him.

"Doing a lot better now, challenger!" Morty called out to me before taking out his next Pokémon. And to my surprise, it was another Haunter!

'If I had a nickel for every…' I thought to myself. But whatever. Another Haunter wasn't going to be the end of me. I knew that Adonis' new move was going to be more useful at the end of the match, so I was going to send out my newest addition.

"Ivan! Go!" I threw the Lure Ball out to release my Water type Pokémon. Morty's brow went up.

"Ah, so you caught a new Pokémon. If my memory serves correct, you want to be a Fighting type Trainer, right? A very Interesting choice for the future. No wonder you're more confident." Morty profiled once again. Annoyed as I was, I knew Ivan was going to be invaluable towards a Haunter.

"Ivan, Bubble!" I commanded. We went over this technique. While I worked on perfecting Mars and Adonis' power of their moves, Ivan was going to be doing the dazzling combinations! Large bubbles soon filled the arena, none of them directly touching anyone. They floated around, reflecting the area in relatively large spheres. These were to become my home advantage.

"Haunter, Shadow Ball!" Morty called. This Haunter began the offensive. Ivan began running around the battlefield, avoiding the hit. Morty shouted angrily, calling for more, but Ivan avoided all of them. He ran and ran around, eventually stopping, unscathed.

The bubbles were the key. The bubbles were large, comparable to Ivan's own size. There was no hope of the Haunter hitting us if the bubbles were both shielding Ivan and distracting our opponents. Ivan shot a Water Gun at the Ghost type, and soon began a cycle of Bubble, Shadow Ball, plenty of running around, and Water Gun. Ivan was following my commands perfectly, too. Morty began a counter attack that used our strategy against us, however.

"Haunter, Hypnosis!" he commanded. I grinned to myself, thinking about doing the same method of avoiding it.

But I saw the bubbles. They all began to reflect the Hypnosis attack. Everywhere.

The enclosed air bubbles became a moving mirror. This amplified all the angles and the reach of Hypnosis. There was no way to avoid it. Ivan collapsed on the floor, snoozing. Morty grinned, but eventually gasped at the scene of his own Gas Pokémon. Unfortunately for them, this ended up putting the Haunter to sleep too. The bubble-bounced Hypnosis ended up reflecting back at it, and it joined Ivan's naptime.

"Ivan, wake up! If you don't wake up before the Haunter does, we're done for!" I shouted desperately. Morty began trying to wake up his Pokémon too.

A random quote soon emerged from my desperate calling.

"There's no point of doing that. Only it can wake up from Hypnosis. Your yelling isn't really going to help it through this." I heard the blind Psychic saying. The thought of that battle alone became my driving force.

"Ivan, get up! If you don't get up before the Haunter does, you're not getting any more food for a week!" I threatened. I wasn't sure if this was the way to do it, but I was going to try. I was so desperate to win the Fog Badge today, and now I was completely boiling over at the thought of the Psychic Trainer. I was going to show everyone I can do this!

My determined words, or rather, hot gas, I let out began to affect the field. The bubble closest to me popped. The bubble popped at my yelling. Then one by one, they rapidly began to pop, releasing enough force to pop the one next to them, until the nearest ones around Ivan popped, waking him up. The sounds soon stunned Ivan, who still looked drowsy, back on his feet, a bit more awake and ready.

The bubbles still were popping, now heading over to the Haunter. I wasn't going to let it wake up yet.

"Give it one more Water Gun, Ivan! All you got!"

Ivan released a rush of water, straight at the Ghost Pokémon as the bubbles popped. It was a clean hit, and the Haunter went down from the accumulated damage from before. Three down, one left. I smiled. Ivan began jumping up and down in glee.

"Wag!" he yelled, assertively. I waited for Morty's last Pokémon along with him.

"Very, very interesting, challenger. Giving me quite the show today. Can you go four for four?" he asked me. I nodded. "Good. Gengar… go." He said before releasing his last Ghost type Pokémon. It emerged out on the field like a shadow creeping around. It was large, but looked very much like a Haunter with a lower body and legs. The biggest changes to me were the shrieking red eyes it now had. I would not want to see a pair of those at night. I saw blur of a Shadow Ball rip through the air suddenly.

In my pondering, I didn't notice Ivan one the Gym floor, knocked out. I gasped. Then I looked back at my opponents. This was going to be a tough last Pokémon. A fast hitter. And a strong one at that.

I returned Ivan back into his ball. He lost, but I was okay with it. He did his best against the Haunter, and I knew he was going to just improve now. So was Mars. And so was my last Pokémon. I took out my said last Pokémon's Pokéball from my pocket.

"Adonis, let's finish this!" I called out, throwing the Pokéball into the field, letting Adonis come out. He stood proudly by my side. We were going to show how much we've improved. Morty smiled.

"Good. I don't feel any bit of nervousness from either of you. You two are in synch now, I believe. We won't let up, though!" Morty announced. Adonis looked his opponent in the eye. Both of them had red eyes, I noticed. Adonis was going to have to do this by himself.

"Adonis, Leer!" I made the move. Adonis needed to show them he's not to be underestimated. He glared at his opponents, and it worked. No damage was made, but it was our defiant statement that counted.

"Shadow Ball, Gengar!" It was fast, just like you'd think. Adonis, if this had been a week ago, would have totally ignored me, and gone on the offensive-defensive on his own. Today, however, we knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Adonis, use Karate Chop to block!" I ordered. Yeah. If we are going to become a working team, I had to adapt to Adonis' style as much as he had to adapt to mine. Give and take, right? That said, Adonis ran up to and took the Shadow Ball head on, and blocked it with strong willpower placed into his hands. He continued his charge forward. And the Gengar looked nervous. By the sheer strength of Shadow Ball, I guessed that it wasn't comfortable at close combat. Better for us that way.

Adonis got close. And in the end, too close. Morty called for Hypnosis.

We had no way of avoiding it. It was worse than Ivan's bubbles used as a mirror. I didn't know how to get through this one. Payback was going to take too long to execute, so we'll asleep by the time we strike. We couldn't go to sleep. One Shadow Ball was enough to take out Ivan in one shot. I couldn't risk Adonis going out like that. I wasn't going to disappoint him. Karate Chop and Low Kick wouldn't do anything either. I had last move that we could somehow use.

"Adonis, use… L-Leer!" I stammered a little, because I wasn't even sure if this was going to work. Adonis looked a little unsure himself, but I think he realized that he had to go with my judgment. He didn't want to let me down either. He sharpened his gaze on the Gengar. He gave one constant, effective, intimidating look. I saw the Gengar begin to drop it's gaze.

In the end, Adonis didn't fall asleep. His glare kept the Hypnosis from taking place. Somehow, it worked! Adonis didn't let up, though. As I commanded, he went straight for the Payback. The Gengar went back, having taken a lot of damage. We began flow just now. We didn't ease up. Adonis struck and struck again with Payback. The Gengar took all of them valiantly.

Morty called for Hypnosis again. So I countered once more with Leer. But this Hypnosis had an alternate purpose. This was to stall. It was for Adonis to drop down his guard and resort to using Leer to avoid sleep. It was Morty's purpose to stop the continuous Payback frenzy.

"Gengar, you're close! Give it the last Shadow Ball!"

That was it. His plan. I couldn't avoid it. We were too close and in too much danger. The Gengar charged the black blob. It aimed. Just one hit took Ivan out. And Adonis was going to get hit at point blank. Adonis looked like a person right about to get hit by a car.

The Gengar fired.

Adonis was struck at the point blank range. A large explosion took place in the arena, smoke clouding up the area. When the smoke began to be cleared away, I vaguely saw it.

Adonis was still standing. Scratched? More like, badly injured. He shouldn't have been able to stand up, but he did. He turned back to me, while Morty and Gengar were standing still, astonished at his willpower. Just for a second he turned. I tried to make out his face with the smoke still clearing. He smiled at me, waiting for one last command. I wanted to cry out of joy. The smoke cleared, and Morty and his Gengar went back into their positions.

Adonis wanted my command. I wasn't going to let him down. He doesn't want to let me down. I began to think back right then and there.

I captured this Machop with an Escape Rope, after I missed the only Heavy Ball I had on me. I managed to talk him into becoming my Pokémon... naming him… becoming part of the team… Then he began to stop taking my orders, because I wasn't living up to his standards. He thought this was the best way of going around things, going by himself. But our first battle against Morty changed that. My defiant Machop felt depressed over losing. So I helped him regain his confidence in himself, and in turn, he accepted me as his Trainer.

Now it was time to give full support for his support.

"Payback!"

The last hit finished off the Gengar. The referee announced us as the winners. Adonis didn't have much more time before he was going to collapse himself. Morty saw this, smiled, and walked over to us after returning his last Ghost Pokémon.

"I was right. You two had problems. But you overcame them by the time you came back. And as such, here's the Fog Badge. You've truly earned this." He said, holding up the small, ghost shaped Badge to me. I was annoyed at this. No matter what happened, he was always right, somehow. It didn't matter to me though. I got my second Badge after refusing to give up. Now I felt like I could leave Ecruteak City.

That's right, I was strong now. Strong enough to go back to Goldenrod.

I left behind my Pokémon in the Pokémon Center. Mars, Ivan, and Adonis did everything they could today, and I was glad. I had half a complete team there. Mars was my trustworthy first, Adonis became trustworthy second, and now Ivan became my trustworthy third. A lot was accomplished to get this Badge, and I wasn't sure if my other Badges were going to be this much work.

I sat in the Trainer's Lounge one more time. I was going to go back to Goldenrod City in the early in the morning so I can make it there by tomorrow at dawn. I was getting ahead of myself, but I had three Pokémon to head back there and pass the time, so it won't be as lonely when it was just me and Mars.

There was a group of Trainers that arrived to the Pokémon Center just now. They all had bright, happy faces. Their faces signaled that they just finally made it to Ecruteak. They were getting ready to explore the city, I assumed.

Yes. The city where "The Past Meets the Present". I was finally heading out from here.

Next stop? Back to "The Festive City of Opulent Charm".

Goldenrod.

And there you have it folks. This chapter was toughie to write, and due to Christmas, couldn't get it on time. So I hope that everyone enjoyed or is enjoying their holidays! This chapter finally introduces Ivan the Poliwag as a member of the team. Even though a new Pokemon was introduced, the spotlight was on Adonis this time around. Group dynamics are certainly improving for our MC, right? A thank you to my friends Evan and Leo, who helped with the proof reading! Next chapter, back to Goldenrod, and the introduction of a new character.