As the trio continued onward, the aluminum siding path gradually giving way to one made mostly of rocks, grass, and square puddles of water, they arrived at a large building that would have been slightly more imposing were it not constructed entirely out of plastic. A fence consisting of all sorts of numbers stretched far on either side of the building. The staircase which led to the east-west bridge was right nearby.
"Fourth time's the charm?" Red said hopefully.
"It better be," Orange stated, leading the way inside. As they fully expected, a pudgy security guard sat behind a counter inside, and shook his head as they tried to pass.
"No, no no no," he said to them. "Road's closed."
"Alright, listen here," Orange stated as he stepped up to the guard. "I don't give a Raticate's rear end if you're hungry or not, it is no excuse to keep all roads leading into a major city closed! Now, you will let myself, my friend, and my girlfriend through right now, or you and I are gonna have problems."
"You watch your tone, boy," growled the guard. "I-" he broke off at that moment, sniffing at the air. "Mmm," he remarked. "Fried nines."
"Oh, yeah!" Red said suddenly as he reached into his backpack and pulled out the paper bag containing what remained of his breakfast. "I almost forgot about these. We were in such a hurry, remember, guys? Didn't want these to go to waste."
"Hey, here's a deal for you," the guard said, hungrily eyeing the bag. "You give me the fried nines, I'll let you through. In fact, I'll share them with the other guards. Gotta love those fried nines."
"I can't argue with that logic," shrugged Red as he handed the bag to the guard.
"All right!" exclaimed the guard as he took a fried nine out of the bag and bit into it, clearly savoring the flavor. "Mmmm," he sighed contentedly as he chewed. "Oh, that's good," he said after swallowing. "Yeah, if you guys want to get to Fansfor City, go right ahead. Sorry for the trouble."
"Thanks," grinned Red. "C'mon, guys, let's- OK, really?" For as he was speaking, he turned to look at Orange and Violet, only to see them kissing once more.
"Sorry, Red," Orange grinned sheepishly as he and Violet broke apart. "Sometimes we just look at each other, and the rest just kinda happens on its own."
"Right," sighed Red. "Why don't we just get moving?"
Fansfor City was a very large place. Many houses lined the wooden streets, built out of all manner of random materials, such as concrete, sheet metal, rocks, and bowling trophies. One house appeared to have been knit entirely out of wool, a sight which greatly surprised Red, even given how used to this world he was getting. There also appeared to be no freeze arches anywhere in the city. They wandered around the city for about twenty minutes before locating the Pokémon Center.
"Alright, so, let's get moving after this, get to the Fansfor Gym," Violet stated as the nurse walked to the healing machine with their Poké Balls. "You guys with me on this?"
"You know it, Vi," grinned Orange.
"Same here," nodded Red. "What type does the Gym Leader use again?"
"Psychic," answered Orange. "So, what are we thinking in terms of strategy?"
"Not sure," sighed Violet. "Psychic Pokémon are some of the toughest out there. They tend to be amazing when dishing out and taking special attacks, a lot of them are fast, and it's only weak to Bug. Not a lot of Bug-type attacks out there.
"Well, I know one Pokémon I'm using," said Red. "Parasect's Leech Life is bound to be useful here.
"I'm thinking of fighting Psychic with Psychic," said Orange. "Q will be great in there, I'm sure of it, and I'm thinking A's Transform will come in handy, too."
Violet sighed. "Migraine and Flutters are the only members of my team not weak to Psychic moves," she said. "This will be tough if the Gym Leader uses more than two Pokémon."
"Type advantage isn't everything," Orange responded. "Tombstone, Chompy, and Skulls are strong Pokémon, Vi, and we've all overcome type disadvantages before."
"Yeah," grinned Violet as the nurse returned with their Pokémon. "Then let's do this."
Seventeen minutes later, the group found themselves looking up at a large and imposing building. The exterior appeared to be constructed entirely out of shiny metal spoons. One gigantic wooden spoon was hung across the front of the building, just above the double doors (which were made out of spoons as well), and in large blue letters, the words "FANSFOR CITY POKéMON GYM" were painted on the handle of the wooden spoon.
"Wow," Orange remarked as he looked up at the building. "Suddenly, I find myself in the mood for soup." Red and Violet chuckled at this as they walked in through the doors.
The interior was very large and spacious, with the usual dirt battlefield built into the floor. On the other end of the battlefield, there stood with his arms crossed, a man clearly in his mid-twenties, his black hair slicked back. He was wearing a dark blue jumpsuit, to which was attached four Poké Balls.
"Welcome," the man smirked. "Welcome, challengers, to the Fansfor Gym. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Harry, the Fansfor Gym Leader. Now then, why not introduce yourselves?"
"Orange McPixel from Talpel Town," stated Orange.
"Violet Scramble, also from Talpel Town," added Violet.
"Red Vershunn, Talpel Town," chimed in Red.
Harry nodded. "A pleasure," he stated. "Now then, here are the rules around here. When I battle, each trainer is allowed four Pokémon. I cannot switch unless the Pokémon I have out has fainted, but the challenger can switch at their leisure. Now then, which of you three is to be my first challenger?"
"I will," Violet volunteered.
"All right," grinned Orange as Violet stepped into the challenger's box. "You can do it, Vi!"
"Then let us begin," Harry grinned as he plucked one of the Poké Balls off his belt and threw it. "I choose Jynx!"
The ball opened up, and out came a rush of bright light, which eventually formed itself into a vaguely human-like Pokémon with extremely light hair, large, noticeable lips, and what appeared to be a red dress. Violet whipped out her Pokédex and aimed it forward.
"Jynx, the Human Shape Pokémon," droned the device. "Jynx wiggles its hips while it walks. It can cause people to dance in unison with it."
"All right," said Violet as she threw a Poké Ball of her own. "Go! Migraine!"
In a flash of light, Violet's Psyduck materialized, clutching its head as always.
"Heh," chuckled Harry. "Do you really think a little Psyduck is the best choice?"
"Psy?" said Migraine as it tilted its head to one side, seemingly in response to Harry's question. Before Violet could say anything, however, a dazzlingly bright light distracted her. It took her a second or two before she realized where the light was coming from- Migraine!
As the Psyduck changed shape, Orange cheered loudly, and Phil's smirk faded away slowly. Then the glow faded, and standing in Migraine's place was a significantly taller creature. Its hands and feet were webbed, and instead of a bright yellow, it was an aquatic shade of blue. Its beak was pointed, unlike a Psyduck's bill, it had long, actually visible legs, and its hands and feet were tipped with actual claws. Its tail was also longer, and there was a ruby-red gemstone in the center of its forehead.
"It evolved into a Golduck," Red grinned as Violet held her Pokédex back out, aiming it at her newly-evolved Water-type.
"Golduck, the Duck Pokémon, and the evolved form of Psyduck," droned the Pokédex. "Golduck's webbed hands and feet make it an excellent swimmer. Often seen swimming elegantly by lakeshores."
"Ready to go, Migraine?" said Violet.
"Golduck!" exclaimed Migraine as it turned around and gave her a thumbs-up.
"Jynx! Psywave now!" ordered Harry.
"Jyyynx," responded Jynx loudly as a volley of glowing blue rings erupted forth from her mouth, expanding in midair. Violet made up her mind on the spot, decided to see if evolution may have changed something.
"Migraine, Confusion attack!" she ordered. Red and Orange exchanged highly surprised looks at this. However, Migraine immediately placed both hands on its head, closed its eyes, and focused. Almost instantly, a ray of blue light shot out of the gem on its forehead, and the Psywave rings disintegrated.
"Jynx, go for a Body Slam!" called Harry.
"Migraine! Scratch attack!" shouted Violet.
Both combatants lunged at each other. Jynx jumped up, attempting to drop her full body weight on top of the Golduck, but Migraine had other plans, and took a vicious swipe at Jynx, throwing her off course. The Ice/Psychic-type gave a startled gasp as the Scratch attack hit.
"Follow up with Fury Swipes!" grinned Violet, clearly on a roll.
"Golduck duck duck duck duck!" grunted Migraine as it lunged at Jynx again, and scratched at her repeatedly.
"Time to get serious!" Harry declared. "Now then, Jynx, use Lovely Kiss!"
"Quick, Migraine, Water Gun now!" said Violet.
"Duuuuuuuuuuuck!" bellowed Migraine as it opened its beak wide and unleashed a forceful stream of water at Jynx. The Water move disrupted Jynx's attempt at attacking, and Violet knew it.
"Jynx, Blizzard!" ordered Harry.
"Migraine, Submission!" commanded Violet.
Migraine lunged yet again, this time dashing right through the blinding snowstorm currently being released from Jynx's mouth, grabbed the Human Shape Pokémon, and proceeded to wrestle with it.
"Do it, Migraine!" cheered Orange, earning him a smile from Violet.
"Jynx!" exclaimed Harry, but too late; once the Golduck was finished, Jynx had collapsed to the floor, and had ceased to move.
"Good job, Migraine," Violet said, grinning happily at her Golduck while Harry withdrew Jynx.
"Not a bad start," he conceded as he prepared another Poké Ball. "Now then, Hypno, go!" he added as he threw the ball. This ball unleashed a tall yellow Pokémon, decidedly much more humanlike in appearance than Jynx. It had an odd, crooked, pointed nose, a collar of white fluff around its neck, and a small pendulum on a string clutched in its right hand.
"Hyyypnooooo," it murmured as Violet aimed her Pokédex at it.
"Hypno, the Hypnosis Pokémon, and the evolved form of Drowzee," it said. "Avoid eye contact. It uses its pendulum to hypnotize others into falling into a deep sleep."
"Don't make eye contact, Migraine," warned Violet. "Use Water Gun!"
"Hypno, Thunder Wave!" ordered Harry.
Hypno raised its right hand, and began to swing its pendulum around and around in small circles. Within seconds, it looked like a silver circular blur going around the hand. Then, sparks flew off the spinning pendulum, followed by a small bolt of electricity. As it zapped Migraine, the Golduck grunted and struggled to move. It opened its beak, but winced in pain instead of firing off the ordered move.
"No! Migraine's paralyzed," groaned Violet.
"Hypno! Mega Punch now!" Harry shouted.
"Hyp! No!" Hypno exclaimed as it dashed forward, drew back its fist, then slugged Migraine right in the gut, sending the paralyzed Golduck tumbling to the ground. Migraine made no effort whatsoever to get back up.
"Migraine, return," Violet sighed as she called her Water-type back to its Poké Ball. Then, she produced another Poké Ball, pressed the button to bring it to its full size, and threw it. "Skulls, I choose you!"
"She's using her Weezing?" Red muttered, a skeptical look on his face. "But Hypno's a Psychic-type."
"Hypno, Psychic attack!" Harry commanded.
"Skulls, use SmokeScreen!" said Violet.
"Weezing weez," groaned Skulls as it drifted across the battlefield, a thick black smoke erupting from its pores and quickly blanketing the entire battlefield. A blue ray of light shot out of the smoke, missing the Weezing completely.
"Don't give in, Hypno!" said Harry. "Double Team!"
"Skulls, Tackle it now!" Violet ordered. However, as her Weezing dove into the smoke, the sound of her Poison-type colliding with the floor could be heard. As the smoke cleared out, they could all see Skulls unsteadily rising back up into the air, surrounded by no fewer than ten Hypno.
"Uh oh," Orange muttered.
"Now use Psychic once more," sneered Harry.
"Skulls, go up!" Violet shouted.
As every single Hypno copy fired off a blue ray of light from the eyes, the Weezing simply floated up into the air. The illusory copies of the Psychic attack harmlessly passed through the illusory copies of the Hypno- except for one. One Hypno copy vanished upon contact with the Psychic attack which hit it. Violet pointed to the Hypno across from the one which had just vanished. "That's the real one, Skulls!" she yelled. "Sludge!"
"Weezing," replied Skulls as both heads unleashed a thick stream of smelly black liquid, blasting the real Hypno with it.
"No!" Hypno grunted as it tried to fend off the foul goop with its hands. Nevertheless, once the Weezing had stopped its onslaught, Hypno was looking noticeably fatigued, and its forehead now had a purple tint to it.
"Hypno's poisoned!" Orange exclaimed.
"Let's wrap this up, Skulls," grinned Violet. "Use Thunderbolt!"
"WeeeeZIIIIING!" bellowed Skulls as the Poison-type unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning from its body, zapping its Psychic-type adversary.
"Wait, has Skulls always known Thunderbolt?" asked Red.
Violet shook her head. "Just used the TM on it last night," she replied.
Meanwhile, Hypno slumped to the floor, and as it slipped into unconsciousness, the pendulum fell from its hand.
"Hypno, return!" snapped Harry as he held out the Poké Ball, allowing the red energy beam to retrieve the Hypnosis Pokémon to its spherical innards. Then, he took another ball and launched it onto the battlefield. "Now then, Q, let's go!" he shouted as a yellow and black cube materialized in midair, identical to Orange's starter Pokémon.
"Kyuuuuuuuu," it droned, albeit in a deeper tone of voice than Orange's Q would use.
"Hah!" smirked Violet. "Skulls just fried your Hypno with an Electric attack, so you bring in a Water-type? Skulls, use Thunderbolt!"
"Q, Psychic!" ordered Harry.
As Skulls let fly another bolt of electricity, Q unleashed a ray of blue psychic force from the front of its body. The two attacks met, but Q's Psychic quickly overpowered the Electric move, and both of Skulls's heads were groaning in pain as the super effective move hit.
"Skulls!" Violet exclaimed as her Weezing slumped to the floor.
"Now then, you were saying something?" Harry smirked. Violet scowled as she wordlessly withdrew the Weezing.
"I wonder what Violet's gonna use next," Orange murmured.
Orange was not left to wonder this for long, for Violet was already throwing a new Poké Ball. "Go! Chompy!" she yelled as the Victreebel erupted forth from the sphere, shrieking loudly.
"Hmm," Harry remarked as he eyed Chompy. "Interesting. Interesting. Victreebel, as a Poison-type, is weak to Q, as a Psychic-type... However, Q, as a Water-type, is weak to Victreebel, as a Grass-type... Now then, I'm interested to see how this one plays out. Q, go! Ice Beam!"
"Kyuuuuu," bellowed Q as a light blue orb formed above it, then fired off a blast of freezing energy right at the Grass/Poison-type.
"Chompy! Acid attack!" Violet yelled.
Chompy screeched loudly as it unleashed a steaming stream of highly corrosive purple fluid from its sizable mouth. The Acid struck the Ice Beam in midair, each attack cancelling each other out- at least, until Acid started winning out. As Q stopped the Ice Beam out of tiredness, it groaned in pain as the Poison-type move hit.
"Go, Chompy, now use Razor Leaf!" commanded Violet.
"Q, TM50!" ordered Harry.
As Chompy swung its leaves around, sending numerous razor-sharp leaves flying at the Deep Sea Pokémon, Q began to rapidly spin around, and two of its sides sprouted a glowing rectangular appendage each. These glowing appendages slapped the leaves out of the way as Q charged forward and proceeded to slap the Victreebel around.
"Chompy!" Violet shouted. "Use your Wrap attack!"
Chompy screeched as it swung its long brown vine around and, in the blink of an eye, coiled it all around Harry's Q, who was struggling futilely.
"Q!" Harry shouted. "Get out of there! Use your Ice Beam!"
"Kyuuuu... Kyuuuu..." groaned Q as it struggled fruitlessly against the grip its Grass/Poison adversary had on it. Several minutes later, Violet's Victreebel relinquished its grip, allowing Q to fall to the floor, where it made no effort to move whatsoever.
"Q, get back," sighed Harry as he held out the Poké Ball, recalling his fallen Pokémon to its spherical confines. Then, he produced his fourth and final Poké Ball and pressed the button to enlarge it. "Now, then, Alakazam, I choose you!" shouted Harry as he threw the ball, releasing from it a tall, dark yellow creature very humanlike in appearance, albeit with pointed ears, and claws on its hands and feet. It sported an impressive mustache, and held a silver spoon in each hand.
"Alakazam!" bellowed the newly sent out Pokémon in a deep voice. Violet responded by holding out her Pokédex.
"Alakazam, the Psi Pokémon, and the evolved form of Kadabra," droned the device. "Highly intelligent, its brain can outperform a supercomputer. It freely employs psychic power to defeat its foes."
"Geez," Orange muttered. "Alakazam is supposed to be one of the most powerful Psychic-types out there. I hope Vi is gonna do OK."
"Yeah," nodded Red.
"Now then, Alakazam! Use your Psychic attack!" bellowed Harry.
"Chompy, Stun Spore!" commanded Violet.
Before a single speck of Stun Spore could vacate the Victreebel, Alakazam held out its spoons in front of it, holding them in an X-shape. The spoons glowed blue, and a blast of blue light was unleashed from them. There was no time for Chompy to dodge, let alone for Violet to order it to do so; the attack hit hard and fast, and the Victreebel was out cold on the floor in roughly the time it took Orange to blink.
"Now then, your Victreebel is, I must admit, quite impressive," Harry stated as Violet withdrew Chompy. "But don't feel too bad. It's not often something comes along that can withstand Alakazam's Psychic attack.
Violet sighed. She only had two choices left, and call her crazy, but she was rather inclined to pick the one that wasn't weak to Psychic. "It's up to you, now," she said quietly to the new Poké Ball in her hand. Then, she threw the ball. "I choose you, Flutters!" she called as her Butterfree materialized.
"Freeeh, freeeh!" chattered Flutters, the Butterfree flapping its wings to stay airborne as it faced its enemy.
"Let's do this, then," smirked Harry. "Now then, Alakazam, Psychic!"
"Dodge it!" Violet called in desperation.
Alakazam fired off another blast of psychic power, but Flutters was able to fly out of the way, though only just barely.
"Flutters, String Shot now!" Violet yelled, calling the first attack which came to her mind.
"Freeeheeeheeeheeeh!" exclaimed Flutters as it sprayed several strands of sticky, silky string from its mouth. As Alakazam geared up for another Psychic, the String Shot wrapped around it, pinning its arms to its sides, causing it to drop one of its spoons.
"Kazam?!" exclaimed the Psi Pokémon in horror.
"That's it!" Violet gasped. "The spoons! Flutters, use your Confusion attack! Get those spoons!"
A blue glow came over Flutters's eyes as the spoon on the ground rose into the air and flew towards the Bug/Flying-type. The spoon in Alakazam's hand was also tugged in that direction, but the Psychic-type desperately kept a firm grip on it.
"Alakazam, use your Psywave!" shouted Harry.
"Flutters, Psybeam!" Violet yelled.
"Freeeeeeh!" screamed Flutters as a multicolored beam of light exploded forth from its eyes at the same time a volley of blue energy rings emitted from Alakazam's eyes. At first, it looked as though Alakazam's Psywave would win out, but then, the spoon now clutched in Butterfree's tiny hand took on a blue glow, and the Psybeam intensified, starting to gain control over the Psywave. Alakazam's spoon also glowed blue, however, and the Psywave intensified as well.
"Do it now!" Violet yelled. "Pull up and go in for Tackle attack!"
"Freeeh, freeeeeeh!" Flutters responded as it suddenly flapped its wings rapidly, cutting off the Psybeam and deftly flying above the Psywave. Before Alakazam could do anything to stop it, Flutters dove down and rammed into Alakazam. The Psi Pokémon lost balance and toppled over. It rose into the air, however, and landed deftly on its feet as it finally managed to free its arms from the String Shot. Using Psychic, it attempted to reclaim the stolen spoon, but the Psychic-type was breathing heavily, clearly tired out, and failed to so much as pry the kitchen utensil from the Butterfree's grip.
"Now then, this does not bode well," frowned Harry. "Alakazam, use Psychic!"
"Tackle one more time, Flutters!" Violet ordered.
"Zam..." whined Alakazam as it raised the one spoon it still had, which flickered with blue light. However, at that moment, Flutters rammed into Alakazam once again. This time, the spoon fell out of the Butterfly Pokémon's grip. But this time, Alakazam made no effort to get back up.
"YES!" Orange exclaimed as Flutters dove into Violet's arms to be hugged by its happy trainer.
"We did it, Flutters!" Violet exclaimed happily as Harry withdrew Alakazam. Then, the Gym Leader walked across the battlefield and approached Violet.
"An impressive battle indeed," Harry stated as he held out his hand. "Now then, take this- it's the official Pokémon League Mental Badge. Also, please accept Technical Machine #46, which will teach Psywave to one of your Pokémon."
"Thanks," grinned Violet as she accepted the items. The Mental Badge was a golden, circular object with two thin, black circles, one inside the other. Harry strode back across the battlefield, and placed his Poké Balls in the healing machine located on his end.
"Now then, who is to be my next opponent?" asked Harry once his team had been healed up.
Red and Orange exchanged looks, and the former stepped forward. "I'll go next," Red stated.
"Very good," Harry nodded approvingly as he took one of his Poké Balls and enlarged it as Red did the same with one of his. "Now then, we begin!"