The double doors of the Miliovern City Pokémon Gym flew open with a BANG, much to Electra's surprise. Her brief look of surprise turned to a smirk, for standing in the doorway was none other than her little cousin, Orange.
"Well, well," she remarked as Orange marched into the building, Red and Violet following behind him. "Back for another thrashing, eh, Orange?"
"Oh, I'm here for a thrashing- yours!" replied Orange. "You're going down this time, Electra."
"We'll see about that," Electra smirked as she readied a Poké Ball. "Ready to lose?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing," retorted Orange as he too readied a ball.
"Same rules as last time- three Pokémon each," stated Electra. "Let's do it!" And she launched the ball in her hand. "Voltorb, go!"
In a flash of light, Electra's Voltorb materialized. The oversized Poké Ball lookalike sat in place, glaring up at Orange, who threw the ball he was holding. "Go, Nidoking!" he shouted, as Nidoking emerged from the Poké Ball, roaring loudly.
"Voltorb, use Rage!" Electra ordered.
"Voltorb, Voltorb," droned Voltorb as its eyes narrowed in anger. The Ball Pokémon then launched itself forward and rammed into Nidoking.
"Nidoking, PoisonPowder!" commanded Orange.
Nidoking roared loudly, blasting clouds of purple dust from its mouth. Voltorb attempted to evade the move, but without success. A purple tint made itself visible on Voltorb's forehead, and its eyes betrayed a weary look.
"Smart," remarked Violet. "Voltorb's poisoned. And a move like PoisonPowder isn't going to power up its Rage, but Voltorb's gonna take more and more damage.
Voltorb, not waiting for more orders, slammed into Nidoking a second time. The Drill Pokémon roared loudly as the Rage attack connected. Voltorb then moved in for another hit.
"Dodge it, Nidoking!" called Orange. "Use TM05!"
Nidoking roared as it ran towards Voltorb, but leapt off to the side at the last second and vanished into thin air. Voltorb glanced around wildly, searching for Nidoking and not spotting it. It then winced as the poison continued to take its toll on the Electric-type.
"OK, let's wrap this up!" Orange exclaimed. "Rolling Kick!"
Another loud roar was heard, and Voltorb was suddenly propelled forcefully into the gym's wall. Nidoking then reappeared, a satisfied grin on its face as Voltorb fell to the floor and ceased all movement.
"Nice!" Red exclaimed.
"Voltorb, return!" said Electra as she withdrew the Electric-type, then produced a second Poké Ball. "Not bad at all, Orange," she said. "Not bad at all. But let's see if you can keep things going, shall we?" She then heaved the Poké Ball and shouted, "I choose you, Magnemite!"
In a flash of light, Electra's Magnemite materialized, floating in midair, its single eye glancing in different directions before settling on Nidoking.
"Nidoking, PoisonPowder now!" ordered Orange.
"Magnemite, Supersonic!" commanded Electra.
"Magnemite," droned Magnemite as it released a volley of circular sound waves from its body. Nidoking roared and let off clouds of purple dust at the same time. As Nidoking was subjected to the Supersonic attack, Magnemite was covered in the PoisonPowder. Its eyelid and magnets drooped slightly as the poison started to take its effect. Nidoking, meanwhile, began to stumble about, its eyes unfocused.
"Magnemite's poisoned," grinned Red.
"Yeah, and Nidoking's confused," added Violet, frowning.
"Snap out of it, Nidoking!" called Orange. "Use Aurora Beam!"
Nidoking roared loudly and... punched itself in the face.
"Heh," chuckled Electra. "Magnemite, Double-Edge now!"
"Magnemiiiiiite," droned Magnemite as it charged forward, slamming into Nidoking with great force. In spite of the obvious size difference, the Poison/Ground-type was sent flying, It crashed to the floor in front of Orange and ceased all movement. At the same time, however, Magnemite started to wobble violently in midair as the poison's insidious effects continued.
"Nidoking, return now!" called Orange as he withdrew the Drill Pokémon. He then launched another Poké Ball and called out, "OK, .4, I choose you!"
In a flash of light, Orange's .4 materialized, the Pokémaniac-type looking even more excited and energetic than usual, if that was even possible.
"Well, so much for your type advantage," sneered Electra. "I think this is gonna go the same way as our first battle."
"We'll see," smirked Orange. ".4, Agility!"
.4 squealed and gibbered as it flew in every direction over the battlefield, picking up speed at an incredible pace.
"Magnemite! ThunderShock!" ordered Electra.
"Miiiiite," responded Magnemite as it issued a blast of lightning from its body. .4, however, was able to evade it with ease. Magnemite repeated the attack, each attempt as unsuccessful as the last. As Magnemite turned this way and that in midair, trying to get a better shot, the poison ravaged its mechanical body once more, causing it to violently shudder.
"Finish it! TM28 attack now!" Orange yelled.
.4 screeched wildly as it dove down towards Magnemite and let off an explosion. Magnemite fell to the floor with a THUD and made no effort to get back up.
"Hmm," remarked Electra as she withdrew Magnemite. "This is getting pretty good, I have to say. But do you have what it takes to beat my best Pokémon?" she added as she held up a Poké Ball, the contents of which Orange knew only too well by now. Orange, however, didn't look nervous in the slightest.
"Bring it. I'm ready," Orange said, his voice full of determination.
"Your funeral," grinned Electra as she threw the ball. "Electabuzz, destroy!"
The Poké Ball split open, and in a blast of light, the human-shaped, black-striped Electric-type emerged.
".4, go! TM28 now!" shouted Orange.
"Electabuzz, Teleport!" commanded Electra.
Electabuzz vanished into thin air as .4 exploded, reappearing several feet away, well out of range of the blast.
"Now use Psychic!" Electra said.
"Dodge it! Use TM05!" yelled Orange.
.4 dove towards Electabuzz, but as it tried to pull out, the blast of blue light had already erupted forth from Electabuzz's body. The Caffeine Pokémon screeched in discomfort as the Psychic attack scored a direct hit. Electabuzz then followed up with a Mega Punch, sending .4 crashing to the floor. Down but not out, .4 rose unsteadily back into the air.
"Yeah, we got this," Orange reassured his Pokémon. "C'mon, we'll show Electabuzz a thing or two! Agility!"
"Electabuzz, Quick Attack now!" ordered Electra.
.4 attempted to fly around the battlefield to increase its Speed, but Electabuzz cut it off with even greater speed, tackling the Pokémaniac-type to the floor. .4 let out one more feeble squeak before abandoning its attempt to get up.
"That's OK, .4, you did fine," Orange reassured .4 as he returned it to its Poké Ball.
"If by 'doing fine' you mean not landing a single attack, then yeah, I'd say you did," grinned Electra.
"Oh, this isn't over," replied Orange as he took out another Poké Ball. "Let's win this one, Q! Go!" he shouted as he threw the ball. Electra blinked in surprise as Orange's starter emerged, for Q was most definitely weak to Electric attacks.
"Slipping a little, aren't we, Orange?" she asked. "Or did we forget what type Q is already?"
"Oh, I know what type Q is," grinned Orange. "The question here is, what can you do about it? Q, Water Gun now!"
"Kyuuuuuu," sang Q as it unleashed a blast of water. On Electra's command, Electabuzz Teleported out of the attack's path, reappearing behind Q.
"OK, Mega Punch now!" she commanded.
"Q, Headbutt!" Orange yelled.
As Electabuzz drew back its fist, Q wheeled around in midair and rammed into the Electric-type, sending it crashing to the floor. Though Electabuzz got back up with ease, Orange's satisfied smirk grew more and more pronounced.
"What are you grinning at?" demanded Electra. "You're still the one at the disadvantage."
"Am I?" replied Orange. "Because Red brought a very interesting point to my attention last night. And it got me thinking. See, I've been watching your Gym battles before the move, and now that I think of it... I have never seen your Electabuzz actually use any Electric-type moves. Ever."
"You're crazy," scoffed Electra.
"All right," shrugged Orange. "Have Electabuzz demonstrate one right now and we'll call it our mistake."
Electra did not look happy. She scowled at Orange, but gave no orders to Electabuzz.
"I had a feeling," nodded Red. "I mean, I knew we wouldn't see any against Nidoking, but it struck me as odd that she didn't order it to use any Electric moves against .4."
"Why haven't you taught your Electabuzz any Electric moves?" asked Violet.
Electra sighed and gritted her teeth before responding. "The electricity-generating organs an Electabuzz has, they never developed in this one. The most it can do is make a few sparks crackle between its horns every so often. Not nearly enough for an attack. But this Electabuzz was my very first Pokemon, I wasn't going to give him up over a minor setback like that. That's why we trained so hard, why I taught it so many other kinds of moves, to make up for its lack of electricity. And we are not about to lose here and now!" she concluded. "Electabuzz! Hyper Beam!"
Electabuzz growled loudly as it fired off a massive yellow beam of pure destructive force from its mouth.
"Q, Confusion!" Orange yelled.
"Kyuuuuuu," replied Q in its melodious voice as it fired off a ray of blue light from one of its corners, which collided with the Hyper Beam, holding it at bay, then managing to cut through the Hyper Beam like a knife through extremely violent butter. Electabuzz then stopped the attack, panting in exhaustion from the effort necessary to maintain such a high-powered attack, and then the Confusion attack struck.
"Don't give in, Electabuzz!" Electra called. "Try a Metronome!"
Orange tensed up as Electabuzz raised its arms into the air and began to wag its index fingers back and forth.
"Geez, a Metronome attack," remarked Red. "Anything can happen now, there's no telling."
"Q, be ready for anything," warned Orange.
"Kyu kyu," nodded Q.
Electabuzz continued to wag its fingers back and forth, and the fingers had now taken on a brilliant white glow. Then, its topped wagging them, growled loudly, and its tail whipped around furiously. For a second, Red thought that Metronome had called up Tail Whip, but then a number of green leaves materialized out of thin air all around Electabuzz, then fired themselves off towards Q, who shrieked in discomfort as the Razor Leaf attack hit.
"C'mon, Q, let's end this now!" Orange ordered. "BubbleBeam!"
"BubbleBeam?" asked Red and Violet simultaneously.
"Yeah, I used the Technical Machine from Ruceelna Gym," explained Orange as Q let fly a forceful stream of bubbles. Electabuzz yelled out loud as the attack landed, then slumped to the floor. After several spirited attempts to get back up, the Electric-type passed out at long last.
"Wha... we... we DID IT!" Orange exclaimed loudly as he ran out onto the battlefield and wrapped Q in a hug. "We did it! We won! We actually won, I can't believe it, we did it!"
Electra, meanwhile, continued to stare out onto the battlefield, mouth agape. After a few moments, she seemed to regain her composure. She withdrew Electabuzz, then approached her cousin.
"Well, well, I gotta say, I didn't expect the battle to end like this," she admitted. "You're a pretty good trainer after all, Orange. And it gives me great pleasure to present you with the Watt Badge," she added as she presented Orange with a badge that looked like two lightning bolts crossed in an X-shape. Then, to general surprise, she approached Red and Violet and offered them Watt Badges as well.
"For us?" Red asked in surprise. "But we haven't even battled you yet."
"No, but you two are part of the reason Orange was able to beat me," Electra replied. "You're the one who helped him figure out my Electabuzz didn't know any Electric moves. And you," she added to Violet, "Well, I happened to be passing by yesterday morning, and I heard everything you said to him. I didn't think he had taken the loss that hard, but you really snapped him out of it. My cousin is lucky to have friends like you two. Besides, Pokémon League regulations state that Gym badges can be given out without a battle at the leader's discretion, if the leader believes that the recipients deserve them."
Red and Violet exchanged glances, then took the badges out of Electra's hand. She then produced a trio of yellow discs and handed those out as well.
"Technical Machine 24," she explained as Orange examined his. "Those teach Thunderbolt. Good luck on your journey, all three of you. Oh, yes, by the way, while the closest Gym is in Fansfor City, good luck getting into there. The gatekeepers are all kinds of unreasonable. I suggest going around to Vandeler Town, then taking the east-west bridge across Fansfor to get to Nodacel City. There's a Gym there."
Orange nodded at this news, while Red seemed lost in thought about something. The three thanked Electra and exited the Gym.
"Hey, guys," Red said once they left the Gym, "Do me a favor. Spell 'Vandeler' and 'Nodacel' for me, would you?"
"V-A-N-D-E-L-E-R," replied Orange.
"N-O-D-A-C-E-L," added Violet.
Red nodded and thought for a few more moments before nodding again. "Thought so," he said. "Vandeler Town corresponds to Lavender Town in Kanto, while Nodacel has to be Tanko's version of Celadon City.
Violet, meanwhile, pulled up a map of Tanko on her Pokédex and examined it. "Looks like the quickest way to get to Vandeler Town from here is to go east and take Route -11."
"Then let's go," nodded Red.
"Not so fast," Orange said suddenly. "I think we ought to hit the Pokémon Center first, don't you? There's bound to be trainers along Route -11, and I want my Pokémon to be more than ready to take them on."
"Yeah, because you're the one who needs the extra training," scoffed Violet. "You know, Red and I, we're trainers, too, you gotta leave some for us to battle."
"Oh, please, you two got in so much battling on the S.S. Nean yesterday, it's ridiculous," said Orange. Red sighed as Orange and Violet proceeded to argue.
At the Pokémon Center, Orange approached the nurse and handed her his Poké Balls. Once the Pokémon were healed up, the nurse spoke to the three of them.
"Ah, yes, I almost forgot," she added, producing a brown cardboard box from behind the counter. "I have a package here from the captain of the S.S. Nean. He said something about forgetting to properly thank you for taking care of that Gyarados that was attacking the ship? What exactly happened?"
"Long story," said Red. "It was mostly Orange here, though. Go ahead, Orange, take it," he added. Grinning, Orange accepted the package and tore it open. Inside, there were three silver discs, not unlike Technical Machines, but with additional labels which read "Hidden Machine #01: Cut"
"Hidden Machines?" Violet asked, her eyes wide with surprise. "Those are really rare!"
"One for each of us, it looks like," Orange stated as he handed one to Red and one to Violet while placing his own in his backpack.
"Feels a little weird, though," Red remarked as they left the Pokémon Center. "Receiving badges without battling for them, I mean."
"Hey, you heard Electra back there, you two earned them all the same," Orange stated. "Red, if it weren't for you, I might not have realized that her Electabuzz doesn't know Electric moves. And Vi... you're the reason I snapped out of that funk I was in and got motivated to win. So do me a favor, guys, and try not to look this gift Ponyta in the mouth, OK?"
"Fine," sighed Violet as the entrance to Route -11 came into sight and Orange dashed off, shouting a battle challenge to the first person he spotted at the top of his lungs. Red shook his head, though chuckled a little bit. It was then that he noticed a large, rocky hill next to the path (which appeared to be paved with aluminum foil, sevens, threes, and perfectly square puddles of water), with an entrance carved into it.
"That's Dugtrio's Cave," explained Violet. "That takes us back to Route -2, it's way out of our way. The only Pokémon we'd be able to find in there is a lot of Dugtrio and the occasional Diglett." Red nodded and continued walking on.
"We got something like that in Kanto," Red explained. "Except it's called Diglett's cave. It's home to lots of Diglett and a few Dugtrio." It was then that they caught up to Orange and the Youngster he was facing. Both of them appeared to be commanding a four-legged Pokémon, with a brown lower half and a red upper half. The arms were tipped with red pincers.
"Krabby, the River Crab Pokémon," droned Violet's Pokédex as she pointed it at the Youngster's Pokémon. "Found near the shore. If its pincers break off in battle, they grow back quickly."
"Come on, Krabby, Bubble attack!" ordered the Youngster.
"A, Stomp!" Orange commanded.
The "Krabby" that Orange was commanding gave out a squeal as it leapt into the air, evading the real Krabby's Bubble, and slamming one foot into the River Crab Pokémon.
"Krabby, fight back with Water Gun!" said the Youngster.
"A, use your Crabhammer attack now!" ordered Orange.
The real Krabby fired off a stream of water from its mouth, which A managed to evade before slamming its right pincer into Krabby's head. The real Krabby was sent tumbling backwards. It landed at its trainer's feet and flailed about for a few seconds before fainting.
"Nice job, A," grinned Orange as the Speed Demon Pokémon resumed its usual rectangular shape.
"Krabby, return," sighed the Youngster. "You're a pretty good trainer," he added to Orange.
"Yeah, you too," replied Orange. "Oh, hey guys," he added as he noticed Red and Violet. "What took you guys so long?"
"We walk at a normal pace, Orange," replied Violet.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Orange, rolling his eyes. "OK, c'mon, if we get up a good pace, we can get to Vandeler Town by nightfall."
"You're going to Vandeler Town?" asked the Youngster in a tone of great surprise.
"Yeah, why?" asked Red.
"You haven't heard the stories? There's supposed to be all sorts of ghosts haunting the underground mausoleum there- Pokémon Tunnel," the Youngster replied in a small voice.
"Yeah, right," scoffed Violet. "Ghost-type Pokémon, you mean. There's no such things as actual ghosts."
"I dunno, Vi," murmured Orange. "I mean, you just said yourself there's Ghost-type Pokémon, so..."
"Oh, come on, Orange," groaned Violet. "You don't honestly believe that garbage, do you? What do you think, Red?" she demanded, wheeling around to face him. Orange did this too, and Red suddenly found himself yet again in a position he didn't want to be in.
"I think I want to stay out of this discussion," said Red. "Come on, do we want to get to Vandeler Town today or what?"
"Oh, sure, side with her," Orange said. Red and Violet facepalmed simultaneously.