Chapter 9

Cooper, being the more experienced trainer got the privilege of battling Brock first, which was fine by me, the chance to scope out Brock's battling style would be nothing but an advantage. Naivete thou art my name.

"The battle between leader Brock and challenger Cooper will commence", some overly enthusiastic gym trainer shouted from beside my ear. Bootlicking little fucker needed to calm his tata's. Which I promptly told him, receiving a sour look in reply.

"Challenger Cooper has three badges so this will be a three on three battle according the rules set down by Gym Leader Brock", he continued, "Only the challenger may substitute pokemon. The battle is over when all three of your opponent's pokemon are unable to continue."

Brock stood with his arms folded glaring Cooper down in some sort of psychological warfare, who simply returned in kind with easily the most predatory grin I've ever seen on his face (including the time we were half starved and hunting together). One of Brock's bare pecs twitched, no doubt in anticipation, and I snorted with laughter at the thought before reigning it into a more dignified titter. This was a gym battle after all.

Tired of waiting, Brock retrieved a pokeball and hurled it onto the craggy arena, revealing his first pokemon with much fanfare. A lumpy little Graveller. It was shit brown in colour and about as high as Coopers waist (and my own chest), riddled with cracks and craters, the thing looked like the clay making of some halfwit.

I turned to the kissass to my right and muttered "I've had more attractive things come out of me than that thing". He was unsurprisingly disinterested in discussing the variety of things that I've evacuated and their resemblance to various pokemon. Some people just don't enjoy fine conversation I suppose.

The Graveller grunted something incoherent on the field, and Cooper seizing the opportunity gasped melodramatically, "Wash your mouth out!" He shrieked effeminately, "or better yet, let me." An ensuing flash revealed his first pokemon to be the perpetually enigmatic Psyduck, Homer.

A smart choice, I mused, choosing a water pokemon against Brock was as basic as simple arithmetic. Graveller roared a challenge, to no effect on Homer who stared back at it blanker than a Beauty in a battling school.

"Rollout", was all Brock said to get his Graveller rocketing off at alarming speed towards Homer. Prepared as ever, Cooper ordered a simple water gun to deflect the rolling stool of a pokemon; He hadn't built up enough momentum yet for a forceful attack, and was pushed to the side easily. Graveller continued with the roll, returning around for a second pass but just like the first it was easily deflected by the high pressure water gun.

Graveller returned yet again for a third pass, this time making it much further than it had through the water gun before being deflected once more, but Cooper it seemed had seen enough, capitalizing on the slightly disoriented Graveller as it tried to roll for a fourth run he ordered, "Homer shoot a Bubble attack in front of you, coat the path ahead of it with bubbles", Homer complied, spewing slimy, water bubbles from its mouth in a freakish show of force. I'd never before seen the danger of a bubble. They were clearly a force to be respected.

The poor Graveller, by this time already on its way for the fourth pass had built up a large amount of momentum, and had no chance of slowing or changing course as it plowed through the high intensity deluge. The sheer volume of bubbles obscured the rock pokemon from my sight completely, hidden amongst the damaging bubbles.

It was here that I saw the genius of Coopers strategy in choosing Homer against a Graveller, the Psyduck possessed incredible long range attacks and was able to switch between using them offensively and defensively. Against a Graveller who possessed very few long range attacks and whose main form of attack came from the Rollout move, it was a simple case of pushing back against a rolling target. I had to admit, Cooper had put more than basic arithmetic into this strategy.

There was no way Graveller could have weathered the last attack, I thought to myself, however Brock as a leader ain't shit (much unlike his pokemon), and with a grimace inducing thud, his Graveller came shooting out the end of the Bubble attack and plowed into Homer, sending the both of them sprawling away from the slowly dissipating bubbles.

"Follow up with a rock throw" Brock ordered, and showing more endurance than it deserved, the Graveller spun mid tumble, gouging out a chunk of rock from the arena and hurling it with dizzying force towards the unsettled Psyduck. Again and again the rocks were hurled, smashing and crumbling against Homer, tossing him further and further back.

Keeping the momentum going, Brock ordered another Rollout, managing to build up a fair amount of force from the entire fields distance between the two, and punching right into the still dazed Psyduck.

The onslaught was brutal, especially after the rough treatment Graveller had been put through at the start of the battle, and quite frankly terrifying. I looked down at the half eaten Hot Dog I had bought for the match. My appetite had long since dissipated.

"Rollout again", Brock ordered, instructing his Graveller to roll from one end of the field and then back to Homer, building up the necessary momentum for a knockout blow.

Though things looked bleak, Cooper just stood there with a grin on his face and not the worried grin I had become accustomed to recognising. He looked genuinely confident as the rolling behemoth bore down on Homer.

"Come on Homer, release the PAIN!" Faster than I was able to register at the time, Homer's eyes glowed blue, matching the blue aura surrounding him completely. No doubt a thought along the lines of "what the fuuu-" was going through the Gravellers teeny brain as it was stopped mid roll and lifted into the air a few feet above the ground.

A deliciously sadistic grin spread across Coopers face (what? I appreciate the fine art of revenge), as he pointed down delicately with a finger, very much unlike the staggering force that Graveller was thrown to the ground with. Not yet finished, Homer picked up the hapless pokemon and launched it across the field, gouging a track much deeper than any Rollout could have done and then with an almost graceful arch, sending the Graveller into the air once more in a loop before throwing it down with finality. Gym Leader or no, there was NO way that Graveller was battling any more.

The pokemon Centre was located right near the front of the city, just at the foot of the valley, and had more vacant rooms than occupied. I'd learnt before my journey began that pokemon centre's in Kanto worked more like trainer lodges, providing free pokemon health care on the bottom floors, along with communal areas and cafeterias; The medical sections oftentimes delved deep into underground levels while the rooms for rent were located on above ground floors. They may be closet sized rooms with communal, unisex bathrooms, but they were dirt cheap, the most important thing for travelling trainers.

First thing was always to get our pokemon checked in for rest and medical care, and I had to fill out a number of forms for Beelzebub stating that he was an untrained pokemon and too dangerous to be let out unsedated. My hand hovered over Artemis's pokeball for a moment as I mulled over having to fill one out for her too. One the one hand she was easily too dangerous to let out without me around, but on the other hand I was really tired, and looking forward to a bath.

Really really tired.

Eventually however, altruism won out in the end, Cooper leaving me behind to go to his own private room whilst I grumbled over my purple little shitball as I filled out more forms.

Finally I had checked my pokemon in and booked myself a room, stopping only long enough to dump my bag and grab a complimentary towel on my way to the bathrooms.

They were a bit grungier than the Viridian city ones, no doubt due to Pewter's unpopularity, however I could hear Coop in a shower singing about his humps, and figured if they were good enough for him, they were good enough for me.

I did however make the mistake of checking myself out in the mirror before getting in the shower. The big mistake. There was dirt plastered all over my face, with yellow stains around the edge of my face and all over my neck; I clearly had not washed properly after our ordeal with the Beedrill. My hair was Ratticated, though I had been able to feel it a bit knotted, I had no idea the extent of the damage. And the GREASE! Mew be merciful, I could have slipped my head into just about ANYTHING with all that lubricant on top! My teeth were a dark, ugly yellow, and I made a vow to always pack a toothbrush and some freaking toothpaste before leaving. I looked like Muk.

And yet somehow Cooper had managed to retain a relatively clean visage.

Motherfucker was going to find Meowth shit in his sleeping bag at the first possible opportunity.

I wasn't normally a vain person but this really got to me more than I was able to realise at the time.

The shower was blissful, there really is little compared to the feeling of washing off the filth of a month in a warm shower. Despite Cooper's seronations, I really did enjoy myself, something I attributed to having picked the furthest shower away from him, however the moment I heard the awkward silence coming from his still running shower, I wrapped things up and made a hasty retreat; I wasn't unaware of the first thing no doubt on an 18 year old boys mind after spending a month with no privacy. The thought had crossed my own mind also, but fatigue overruled everything else.

I trudged back to my room and slept in a bed more supple than a pair of Jinx tits.

"Graveller is unable to battle!" I ground my teeth, almost having forgotten about the scrotum of a human being to my right. "Leader Brock will send out his second pokemon".

"No shit Sherlock", I muttered into my collar.

"That was clever of you." Brock called from across the field, fingering the pokeball at his belt as he decided on what pokemon to use next.

Cooper, grateful for any reprieve he could get for his pokemon kept chatting, "What ever do you mean?"

Brock nodded, seemingly deciding on a pokemon from his belt before continuing, "teaching Bide to a Psyduck. With their ability to release more powerful psychic attacks the stronger their headache becomes and with the power surge that bide can provide after taking a beating you had the perfect combination to wipe out any pokemon on my team. Why would you waste such a powerful strategy on only my first pokemon?" With practiced precision, Brock hurled his pokeball onto the field revealing the identity of his second pokemon to be a hulking, monstrous Rhydon.

If my appetite hadn't been gone already it certainly was from the moment the 6 foot tall behemoth had materialized. The thing was pure muscle and bulk, sporting a drill straight out of my nightmares on top of its nose, complete with spinning capacity, perfect for goring snarky young trainers. The ground literally shook when that monster walked... or maybe I was just imagining that, I can't be sure, the majority of my mental faculties were directed towards keeping my shit decidedly un-flipped.

Cooper's grin grew wider, and once again I marvelled at the sincerity of his smile, it was almost like he wasn't afraid of the giant fucking monster of death staring him down!

"Homer return, you were fabulous, but you need a break", not even stopping to breathe, Cooper returned his Psyduck, substituting it for his Machoke. "Bruno your turn, just like we practiced."

Rhydon roared a challenge, which Bruno seemed even less affected by than Homer had, simply picking his nose as was his favourite pass time.

Cooper took the first move this time ordering Bruno to Bulk Up. A smart strategy in a battle like this. It was going to come down to a physical slugfest, and Bulk Up would give Bruno the definitive advantage both offensively and defensively. Taking a large breath, Bruno appeared to inflate his muscles with air, but in reality was augmenting them with quite real strength. He bulged like something out of some illicit Saffron alleyway magazine.

Brock however, had not been idle in the meantime, ordering his Rhydon to start things off with a Take Down, and let me tell you, if the sight of a 6 foot titan spawned in the deepest Nether of Eldritch lore bearing down on you didn't put the fear of Mew in you, then you're clearly as brainless as Bruno. Instead of taking the obvious route of running and screaming for his Machamp Mummy, he propped himself up into position, ready to take the Rhydon head on.

Rhydon charged in, running on two legs, with his pointed spinning drill leading the charge, and perhaps due to his inhibited vision in this position didn't see the slight shift in Bruno's stance, but Brock had, ordering his pokemon to stop instantly. As if stopping a charging Rhydon was that simple.

Oblivious to his master's orders, Rhydon charged straight on through, right into the prepared Machoke, who sat squatting on his ankles now, leaped to the left, leaning on that foot, whilst using his right to sweep forwards, right at the legs of the unstoppable Rhydon; one of the easiest Low Kick attacks of its entire training career. It was really more of a 'Low Trip' if I was being honest.

Rhydon was sent tumbling forwards, and I must say the sight of it rolling forwards like a Mr Mime really helped dispel some of the fear surrounding the giant freak of nature. For about a minute until it got back on its feet and roared, furious at being embarrassed like that.

I moved back a row in the stadium just as a precaution, ignoring the smug look of that Beedrill fucking little shit to my right.

"Get in close again Rhydon, but this time use Hammer Arm."

Roaring in acquiescence, Rhydon advanced once more, with a noticeably more measured pace this time, raising an orange glowing arm; He revealed a shocking amount of speed by charging the last few paces and leaping in the air to avoid another low kick whilst also adding power to the attack.

Bruno however was not taken by surprise, once more standing in a readied stance, and instead of sweeping in for a low kick, raised his arms to catch the Hammer Arm, and using the same power to hurl Rhydon across the field in a staggering Vital Throw. Not without some damage to himself it seems, I noticed him wincing as he completed another Bulk Up.

Yet again I could see Cooper's strategy involved deflecting the constantly forward motion of Brock's pokemon, and found his forward thinking impressive. He was effectively using the same strategy as he had with Homer, knowing that Rhydon gained most of his damage by charging and selecting a pokemon with the ability to turn that power against it.

Brock it seemed had come to the same conclusion as myself, "You should know that using the same strategy for all your pokemon is somewhat of an amateur move."

Cooper took the jab gracefully, smiling with another sinister grin, "Why don't you prove it?"

I had expected to see Brock get as angry as his Rhydon, but the gym leader took it in his stride, snubbing his nose at what he assumed was just a petulant trainer who had gotten too big for his breeches. He'd seen it before and found it the bane of his existence as a gym leader.

Cooper removed all his attention from Brock turning to Bruno, "Use Bulk Up again!"

"Fire Blast." Brock's order was followed up by a man shaped gush of fire from the hulking Rhydon, surprising not just myself and Cooper. In the middle of completing his move, Bruno was thrown back a step, crying out in pain as the fire slammed into him. Rhydon clearly didn't have very good special attack, something of a species trait, however the attack was still a powerful enough move on its own to do a little damage, plus it had clearly taken Bruno by surprise. No doubt exactly why Brock had taught it to his Rhydon in the first place.

Readily taking advantage of the pause Brock pointed forwards, "Don't let him focus, Take Down attack again, and use Fire Blast to keep putting him off."

Rhydon raced forward, taking a breath every few seconds to spit more Fire Blasts, each one smaller than the last but doing their job of keeping Bruno distracted. Each blast hitting him forced Bruno back a step, and even from my seat a few rows back I could feel the heat of them as they exploded against the poor Machoke. At last Rhydon got in close enough range to land his Take Down, and with no possible chance to dodge, Bruno was hit full power, sending him tumbling even further back dangerously close to the edge of the ring (though not that this was an issue in pokemon battling anymore, there was once a time when the aim was to simply knock the opponent out of the ring, however like pokemon themselves, the sport of battling evolved. Just as well too, if you were out in the wilderness, wild pokemon weren't going to give two fucks about lines and decorum. Much better that pokemon Battling reflected the harsh reality that we all lived in than some idiot trainer get his pokemon killed through his own stupidity).

Brock ordered a followup Fire Blast and I had to wonder what kind of endurance this thing had to be able to throw out a continuous stream of Fire Blast attacks like that. Rhydon charged forward once more, spinning horn pointed threateningly forward as Bruno got back to his feet with more spry than I would have thought possible. I had to be reminded that Bulk Up increased both attack and defence, and realised that even though the take down attack had been brutal, Bruno had built up enough defence to weather it easily. Rhydon got in close enough again for Bruno to show just how undaunted he was by grabbing the spinning horn in his hands, stopping its motion outright and using it to hurl a, no doubt dumbfounded, Rhydon across the field once more finishing off with another quick Bulk Up.

I looked over and noticed Brock's facade slip for the slightest of moments, a small look of shock covered up instantly by a mask of disdain.

"Enough of this." He ordered, "Let's dictate the battle on our own terms, keep him at a distance with Fire Blasts and make him come to you."

Cooper's brow furrowed for an instant, making the grin he wore look almost comical, "Fine then. Bruno get in close for a Low Kick, you can dodge those Fire Blasts easily!" And it seemed he could, ducking and weaving his way across the field towards Rhydon as the latter backed up to the edge of the field, practically spewing fire forth in his deluge of Fire Blasts.

A few clipped Bruno on the shoulder or the side, but he soldiered on, eventually coming face to face with Rhydon, breathing heavily.

Exactly as Brock had planned.

A swift Hammer Arm, swung in an uppercut sent Bruno sprawling, followed up by a vicious looking set of Horn Attacks, one after another. Though the damage was lessened greatly by Bruno's stat increases, he was far from fresh in this battle, both pokemon having received a beating. A final Horn Attack straight in the chest, knocking Bruno back was the trigger he had seemingly been waiting for, eyes and fist glowing blue as he retaliated with a severely powerful Revenge attack, knocking Rhydon's head far to the side with the power of it. This came ahead of the Low Kick that knocked Rhydon to the floor, who simply returned in kind, aiming a Hammer Arm for Bruno's legs and knocking him down also.

Both pokemon tried kicking at the other on their scramble to get up, Bruno's superior speed winning out in the end, spinning around for another Low Kick. Rhydon raised a glowing orange arm to block the attack, then lunged forward, hitting Bruno square in the chest with his Horn Attack. Rhydon lunged forward again for a second devastating blow, and it was this time I noticed the faint blue glow to Bruno's eyes indicating a Revenge attack was imminent.

Rhydon lunged forward for a third (and most likely finishing) Horn Attack to be met with a blue fist that, instead of blocking the horn straight out, ducked under his guard coming up for an uppercut to the jaw. Rhydon's head snapped back, held in stasis before slowly, inexorably, the titan fell to one knee, then another. With a weak cry Rhydon, possibly the most terrifying monster I could have ever imagined in my life, fell face first to the ground.

Bruno had defeated the Behemoth.

"I haven't seen you in, like forever!"

I gritted my teeth at the all too familiar voice, "There's a reason for that."

A slap on the shoulder and light laugh was the only response as he sat on the opposite side of my cafeteria table.

It had been a little over a week since arriving to Pewter where I had instantly made it my first mission to studiously avoid Cooper at all costs. Don't get me wrong, he had gotten me through Viridian and we'd shared a few laughs, a few life threatening scenarios and much more personal shit that I could ever be happy with. But he was still Cooper.

Cooper.

So long as that hair of his continued to speak louder than he did (which was bloody fucking loud mind you), then he would continue to stay blacklisted in my ever growing repertoire of 'people who bug me so much that I want to set them on fire.'

It was actually pretty easy at first to avoid him, I spent a lot of time at the Museum but eventually, Pewter being the cesspool it is, I found it harder and harder to find things to do away from him. He for the most part stayed on the outskirts of the city training, and a lot of times on the communal computers at the centre "researching".

Of course i'd bet my bottom dollar that he was really looking up fucked up porn. The type with young trainers being coerced into deplorable acts by predatory older men and their Hypno. Cooper was a real freak.

Far from the expected result of bring us closer, our time together in Viridian had done nothing but demonise him in my eyes. If not for the stupid route through those dark zones, then for the unbelievably embarrassing way I had acted. All wide eyed and pathetic.

Embarrassing didn't even begin to cover it.

Fuck Cooper.

Fuck him right in his stupid, smug, grinning fuck face.

And so it really was no surprise that I got no training done that week, considering Cooper had taken up residence in the only places to do so.

I looked across at him eating some cereal with a perfunctory air. Not that I cared he seemed to be a bit off. I just thought it was a nice change from his stupid smiling.

Glaring down at my toast as I took another bite; I heard Cooper getting up to go, his cereal nigh untouched and couldn't help myself from asking, "You're really just going to leave that uneaten?"

He flashed me a distracted grin, "I'm not that hungry, got like, major stuff on my mind Nat."

My eyes slitted even more than they were.

Oblivious as he was, Cooper continued on while he packed up, "I never really manage to eat on the mornings before the battle anyway. Nerves and all that." I tuned out his ramblings for a moment before it dawned on me what he actually said, listening once more as he continued, "-and that's why I never eat before a Gym match anymore. Misty was not happy at having to get her pool cleaned, let me tell you-"

"You're battling Brock today?" I cut him off.

He nodded quickly, "Yeah, you can watch it if you want, spectators are welcome." And then he was off, mumbling to himself and ignorant of the fact I had not followed.

So that's why Brock had been too busy to battle me today.

I considered going to watch the battle, eventually deciding that the more I knew of Brock's battle style, the better. I convinced myself I was only going for strategic reasons.

There were clearly no other reasons why I would want to go.

"Rhydon is… unable to battle. Brock will now send out his final pokemon."

At least the swine in front of me had lost a fair bit of his bluster after seeing Brock beaten again.

Even I had been a bit affected by it, surreptitiously running over all the times I had insulted Cooper and whether or not he would remember them. With a number that high the odds weren't in my favour.

Bruno, was resting down on one knee, no doubt done for this gym battle and Brock eyed him off as he contemplated his final pokemon. "That is a well trained Machoke." He called out to Cooper, "He's related to the real Bruno's Machamp isn't he?"

Cooper gaped in surprise, giving Brock all the response he needed.

This was news to me! I gave Bruno a once over, noticing small details that had previously gone unnoticed, like the lack of scars you would expect on a high level Machoke. He certainly was a lot sturdier than any regular Machoke also, easily performing at a Machamp level.

"He was the runt," A soft voice replied.

I almost missed it, had I not been leaning in close to examine Machoke I probably would have, but I knew right away that I hadn't imagined it. Cooper wearing a sombre smile, Brock nodded once in understanding.

Bruno seemingly oblivious to all scrutiny finally gave up on the losing battle of staying conscious, falling to the floor with a soft thud, Cooper grinned mareepishly and returned him right away.

Brock allowed Cooper the chance to release his pokemon on the field prompting him to send out his final team member, Sonic.

Once again I saw that Cooper had picked another pokemon with a type advantage against rock pokemon, almost like his whole team had been chosen for it, but then I reminded myself Cooper still had Bob and had previously had Hasti. My hand brushed against Beelzebub's pokeball unconsciously. Besides it made no sense for Cooper to pick a team solely for the purpose of defeating Brock, considering there were 7 other Gym Leaders, 3 of which Cooper had already defeated.

"Challenger Cooper has sent out Sandslash!"

Okay that one was just done to annoy me, I knew it! The smug little sonofabitch! He faced me with a slight raise of the eyebrow, trying to give off an air of smug superiority. I replied in kind by informing him that if he didn't cut it out i'd deck him right in the nose. I saw a battle of wills go on, between his affronted pride and his fear that I would make real on my threat (I would), but was saved the trouble of answering by a light from the battlefield, followed by a quite literal, earth shaking crash and a familiar, titanic roar of ungodly proportions. It was as if dark Abyss of the void had sent the collective screams of trapped souls as they were tortured by monstrosities of flesh and stone, into a single soundbite and then played it at an ear-bleeding volume, right behind me. Every nightmare i'd ever had came to the forefront of my mind at the sound of that roar, sending me walking away as fast as my legs would take me, eyes screwed shut.

"Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope", I kept repeating as I swiftly vacated the building, seemingly unnoticed by all in the arena. All but one.

I managed to get out in time without having to look at it, but through some cruel turn of fates hourglass, I heard the (quite obviously louder than it had been before) call of the gym trainer, "Leader Brock has sent out his ONIX!"