Chapter 7
Battle on the Sea
The large dome building with a Dewgong across the front loomed in front of Sarah in the morning light. She tried to move, to get closer and enter, but her legs wouldn't move.
Luke came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You ok?"
"Yeah," she lied.
"Don't worry. You'll do fine."
She smiled. "You're right. It's best to keep going."
She strode forward and went into the building. There was a reception room, just like Pewter's, but the second room was much different. Most of it was filled with a massive pool. Several platforms sat atop the water and various places. Two trainer's boxes stood, one at each end. "This must be the gym's battlefield," Luke said as he admired the room.
Sarah walked over to the water and looked inside. The water was crystal clear. A few dozen Pokemon swum along the bottom. "Wow. The water looks beautiful."
There was a splash from the far side. Sarah looked up. A girl with red hair had surfaced and was pulling herself out of the water. "It is," she said. She was wearing a one-piece pink swim suit. Sarah noticed that Luke was gazing at her as she turned. "I'm Misty, the Cerulean Gym leader. I'm guessing that you two are trainers looking for a match?"
Luke nodded. "I'm Luke. My friend is Sarah."
"Pleased to meet you." Misty held a hand up to the trainer's box next to Luke. "Go ahead and take your place."
"Huh. You don't waste time on formalities, do you?" he asked as he climbed the ladder up.
"You have good timing. I just finished my daily swim. Any other time and you would have been more pressed for a match." She reached the top. "What shall it be? Three on three?"
"That's fine for me."
Sarah walked over and took a seat on the bleachers. Being second, she would get a chance to see Misty's strategies.
"Good." Misty took out a pokeball. "Come out, Magikarp." An orange fish Pokemon appeared out of the white light.
"A Magikarp? This should be easy."
"Don't be surprised. Well trained Magikarp can be very formidable."
"Sure, whatever. I choose Pidgey!" The bird appeared into the air mid-flight. "Let's get started."
The Pokemon stared each other down, waiting for their trainer to give them the word. Neither one spoke for several seconds. "I'm not one to attack first," Luke called over.
"Good. I was just waiting for you to ask. Magikarp, into the water."
The fish dove down. Luke snarled. He was afraid of this. As long as Magikarp staid down, they wouldn't be able to do a thing. He tried to follow it, but soon lost it in the depths.
"Now Tackle!" Suddenly the Magikarp leapt out of the water, smashing full force into the bird.
"Pidgey!" The bird flew up and crashed into the ceiling. The bird twisted on the fall back and caught air, stabilizing its flight. "Nice job. Let's not fall for the again."
"Right!"
So that we can get along with things, we shall skip to the end of this battle.
Sarah stepped up the trainer's box. Luke was now on the bleachers, admiring his new badge. They had taken a short break for Misty's Pokemon to recover and were now ready to go.
"I'll start off with Magikarp!" Misty threw her pokeball into the air and the fish appeared.
"Let's see. My Growlithe wouldn't do much here being a fire-type. That leaves me, Bulbasaur, and Rattata." As excited as she was earlier, she was now kind of nervous about jumping in herself. It would probably be better to save herself as a back-up. She pulled out a pokeball. "Let's go, Bulbasaur." The green Pokemon leapt out and landed on one of the few platforms. "You remember what we pulled at the last gym?" He nodded. "Let's try doing the same thing here. Give it a Razor Leaf!"
Bulbasaur pulled back and flung his flower forward, releasing a rain of sharp leaves.
"Get underwater!" The Magikarp dove into the water, easily avoiding the leaves. "And tackle it!"
"Up to the ceiling!"
Just as the Magikarp appeared, Bulbasaur leapt into the air and pulled himself out of range, letting it fly underneath. "Great job! Charge up your Solar Beam!" Energy began to accumulate into Bulbasaur's bud and it grew yellow.
"That won't work. Underwater, Magikarp!" The fish vanished once again.
"We'll see about that. FIRE!" A tight beam of light flew out of the bulb and ripped into the water, sending waves everywhere. "Keep it going!"
Misty watched in mystified humor. What were they trying to do? They couldn't hit her Magikarp as long as it stayed down. She suddenly coughed and looked around. A mist was rising over the pool. Then she realized their plan.
Right away, the Magikarp began leaping out of the water, screaming "Hot! Hot! Hot!"
Bulbasaur fell and landed on his platform. "Haha. Sucker!"
"Now finish it with a Vine Whip!" The Magikarp came up on more time, and Bulbasaur sent it flying into the wall with a well-aimed slap. It lay still on the floor.
Misty called it back. "Nice planning. I've never seen that strategy used before."
"Well I usually like to think outside of the box."
"But you'll have to come up with something new, because that won't work again. Go Staryu!" An orange, star-shaped Pokemon came out and landed on a platform on the far end of the pool. "Do you want to switch Pokemon?"
"No thanks."
"Use Tackle, Staryu!" The star hopped into the air and began to spin wildly, flying straight at Bulbasaur.
The battle progressed quickly. Between Tackle and Swift, her Staryu had been able to knock out Bulbasaur in no time, and if it weren't for a few lucky hits, it would have taken out Lars. But her next Pokemon finished Lars off quickly, a powerful Seadra.
And so once again, Sarah was put on the spot. If she put Nina in to fight, she would be doomed by element advantage. The only other option she had was to go in herself. Oak had mentioned that she had some Pikachu DNA, so that would give her a monumental advantage if she could use electric attacks.
"What's your next Pokemon?" Misty asked from across the water. The Seadra sat in the water, waiting.
She sighed. "Guess I have no choice." Raising her voice, she called out for all to hear. "I call myself to the field!" As soon as she spoke, her body began to shrink. Long ears sprouted from her head while a jagged tail came from her rump. Yellow fur grew as well. When it was over, she climbed out of the clothes a Pikachu.
Misty and Luke stood/sat in stunned shock. The girl had vanished and was replaced by a Pikachu! Luke screamed on obscenity.
Sarah leapt onto the solid platform in the water. "Come on. Let's get this thing started!"
"Oh, it's already on," the Seadra answered.
Misty finally composed herself, though she was still incredibly baffled. "Well, I guess…technically you are a Pokemon, so the battle continues. Seadra, use Water Gun." The fish drew its head back and spit out a stream of water.
"Perfect." Sarah reached down and wrapped her tiny fingers over the lip of the platform and began to draw electrical energy from her cheeks. The water stream hit her full force, but she held on and wasn't blown away. Then she released the energy into the water. Having only one path, the voltage traveled back along the water jet and coursed through the Seadra. The creature let out a howl as it was fried. The water stopped and the Seadra sank into the water.
Sarah shook herself off and jumped into the air. "I did it!" She jumped back onto the land. After crawling back into her clothes, she shifted back into her true human form. "That's three. Looks like I win!"
Misty recalled her Seadra. "It looks like you do." The walked around the edge of the pool and met with a handshake in the middle. "How did you do that?"
Sarah told the tale of the pill and its side effect. "I'm still nervous about it getting out, but I couldn't pass up this battle."
"You did well: as trainer and fighter."
"You were actually telling the truth," Luke said, who had been standing behind her. "I can't believe you were actually telling the truth."
"Oh, come on. Would I lie to a friend?" she asked with a smile. Luke laughed weakly and scratched the back of his head.
They had taken it surprisingly well, and Sarah was glad. They let the Pokemon out to recover and rest before all going for a swim. As they were enjoying the water, a Horsea came up and brushed against Sarah. She reached out and pet its head in return. As she did, she seemed to get an understanding for the creature. But not just of acquaintance. It was like she actually knew the Pokemon: its life, its soul, its being.
That gave her an idea. She swam down a bit, just deep enough so the others wouldn't see her. With a shrug, she loosed her swimsuit and morphed into a little Horsea. The swimsuit fell to the pool floor. She would collect it when she was finished.
Now a water Pokemon, Sarah could swim around without a need to surface for air. The thought of spending her whole life underwater intrigued her. She swam deeper, encountering more and more Pokemon. Goldeen, Seaking, Dewgongs, even a Gyradose passed her by. Each time, she changed her form, getting a feel for each body. Now, if she ever went against a fire gym, she would have a slew of choices.
When she had seen every Pokemon, she swam back to her swimsuit. After taking several deep breathes through her gills, she swam into the suit and changed to a human, where she propelled herself back up to the surface. When she broke it, the others were already on the bleachers drying off.
"There you are," Luke said as he brushed his hair. "We were starting to get worried."
She swam to the poolside. "I was down visiting the other Pokemon. I can change into other Pokemon just by being around them, so now I can become just about any water Pokemon."
"Wow," Misty said as she shouldered her towel. "It must have been great down there. Being able to swim forever without needing to breathe."
"It was awesome. To be honest, though, I think I'd prefer flying."
They all shared a laugh and split to change. Soon, it was time for the group to leave. Misty waved farewell as they walked off into the evening sun.
A/N: So she's revealed her secret and the people accept her. Or…do they? Stick around.