Disclaimer: I own neither Pokémon nor its characters

Chapter 16: growing grass

I woke up still wondering about Team Rocket, all I had learned was they had a Silph Scope for some reason. After breakfast, we headed towards the gym.

"We already got the badge yesterday, so we'll wait out here" Red said.

"And how about you Zain?" I asked

"I told you, I'm not good at battling, I'll stay out here, maybe get some food for later" he said

We nodded and went inside. The gym was pretty basic, trees grew along the path, and there were a bunch of them in a box-like formation. The guide saw us the moment we walked in "welcome to the Celadon city gym, where the trainers use grass type Pokémon." He said "the leader is in the back, in the tree box. You will have to use cut to get to her, good luck!"

There weren't any trainers, so we went straight to the back, where the leader was waiting. "Oh, there's two of you, I wasn't expecting that" she said "then again, a different pair came in yesterday, so who knows what would happen."

"Uh, yea, I guess" I said a bit awkwardly.

"Well, I am Erika, the grass type gym leader" She said.

"I'm Alex, and this is Aqua" I said "I'll be battling you first"

"Right to the point, huh?" she asked rhetorically. She threw a poke ball "go Victreebel!"

"Victreebel!"

My instinct was to send out Wartortle, but I quickly changed my mind, then threw my poke ball "go Pidgeotto!"

"Pidgeotto!"

"Victreebel, Vine whip!" Erika called. The vine hit Pidgeotto, but didn't do much.

"Pidgeotto, drill peck!" I called. The bird complied, and Victreebel was knocked out.

"Go Tangela!" she said, throwing another poke ball.

"Tangela!"

"Pidgeotto, drill peck!" I called. The bird Pokémon complied, knocking out the Tangela without a fight.

"Go Vileplume!" the leader called, sending out another Pokémon.

"Vileplume!"

"Drill peck again Pidgeotto!" I called. Instead of complying, the bird swooped down with its wings open, knocking Vileplume back, but not out.

"Vileplume, Giga drain!" Erika called. The Vileplume latched on to Pidgeotto, absorbing its energy.

"Pidgeotto, use wing attack!" I called. The bird Pokémon hit Vileplume, knocking it out.

"Wow, you sure are something" the leader said, returning her Pokémon.

"Thanks" I said. I was about to return Pidgeotto, but then she started glowing. "Whoa!"

After the glow died down, I now had a Pidgeot in Pidgeottos place.

"Pidgeot!"

"Yay! It evolved!" I said happily.

"Don't celebrate yet, I've got something to give you" Erika said. She pulled out a badge and a disk "this is the Rainbow badge" she gave me the badge "and this is Giga drain, it allows the user to drain the other Pokémon's energy." She gave me the disk.

"Thanks!" I said, returning my new Pidgeot.

"I'll be back soon, then I can battle you Aqua" she said, before heading out

"Ok Aqua, you'll have no problem this time" I said

"How do you figure that?" she asked

"Well your Charmeleon is perfect for grass types" I said

"Oh" she replied, right before Erika came back.

"Ok, lets battle" she said

"Ok" Aqua said.

Erika threw a poke ball "go Victreebel!"

"Victreebel!"

"Charmeleon, use flame thrower!" Aqua called. It obliged and the Victreebel was knocked out.

"Go Tangela!" Erika said, throwing another poke ball.

"Tangela!"

"Flame thrower again Charmeleon!" Aqua called, once again he obliged, knocking Tangela out.

"Go Vileplume!" Erika said, throwing her last poke ball.

"Vileplume!"

"Flame thrower again!" Aqua called to Charmeleon. Unfortunately, Charmeleon missed.

"Use Mega drains Vileplume!" Erika called. Charmeleon swiftly avoided the slower Pokémon.

"Use scratch!" Aqua called. Charmeleon obliged, sending Vileplume back.

"Vileplume, Sleep powder!" Erika called. Vileplume sent up a dark powder.

The powder fell over everything, and I soon saw Charmeleon drop to the floor, now asleep. Erika was holding her nose, as if trying not to breathe it in, and I was pretty sure Aqua was immune to powders, due to her being a former pikmin (read previous stories). However, I wasn't smart enough to stand far enough back. My eyes closed as sleep finally over powered me.

When I woke up, all I saw was Aqua's face, her bright blue eyes looking at me with concern.

"Alex? Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yea" I managed to say, as I sat up. Looking a bit farther into the battle field, I saw Charmeleon and Vileplume still standing, now turned to watch me. My guess was as they were fighting, one of them noticed I was passed out.

"Let's get back to battling, shall we?" Erika asked as I got up.

"Oh yea" Aqua said "Charmeleon, Flame thrower!" she said. Vileplume was now knocked out.

"Congratulations" Erika said, returning her Pokémon and giving Aqua the badge.

"Thanks" Aqua replied, returning her Pokémon.

"There's something special about both of you…I just can't figure out what it is." Erika said "anyways, you guys are ok sharing Giga Drain, right?"

"We are thanks" I said.

"In that case, good luck to the both of you" she said.

"Bye" we said in unison as we left.

When we got back to the Pokémon center, Red, Leaf, and Zain were already asleep, so we went to our rooms quietly. My thoughts churned as I lay in bed. Usually they were of recent events, today my mind wondered away from the normal thoughts. This time, I wondered about what I had seen of the Pokémon world. Before I had even heard of Pikmin, I would watch the Pokémon cartoon all the time, and my one wish had been to meet Ash. For the first time since I had gotten here, I looked back on that very wish. Was it possible for me to finally meet him? After all, I had gotten to meet Olimar (again, look at my previous stories for that reference), was it really THAT farfetched? Those were my thoughts as I drifted to a restless sleep.

Yay! Another chapter done! Not sure what to say right now…so yea…remember: I love criticism, reviews encourage me, and I'm open to input. Bye for now!