February 19th
We've done close to absolutely nothing today. Apart from stop a robbery and become involved in a protest down at the Center. It felt good to be part of something.
Flame's stopped trying to outdo each successive battle in terms of intensity, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't try. He took the leap, and he evolved, into a badass Charmeleon, so I don't have much longer until I get my Charizard. He's up to his level 20 or so by now, and Ace isn't far behind. Storm is the same – but he's a Gyarados and can't help his aggressive ways. Ace is more strategic when it comes to battle, thinking on his own and I'm a guide for him rather than a master. Exactly how I want it. I'm tired of seeing these stupid assholes think that their Pokémon have no brain and need constant command.
I think we're going to head to Vermilion City later.
Got to go. Dave's calling me.
"Whatcha want, Davey boy?"
"We're going to the Gym!"
That sounded good. I could do with a workout.
"Ooh, with treadmills and weights? Excellent, just what I needed."
He came into the room, pulling his jacket on, and rolled his eyes. "No, we're going to the Pokémon Gym. You know what those are? With Pokémon? Know what those are, too?"
I pulled an eye down and made a 'durrrr' sound, and then creased up laughing. I loved joking with the guy, I really did. He was so much fun. Joel was kicking around somewhere, but I doubted he would have come to the Gym with us. He would have been terrible in battle. Especially if I was battling and he decided to make faces or sing off-key or shout obscenities.
I loved my best friend.
"I feel pretty good about this!" I was almost skipping on the way to the Gym, with Dave in tow. Joel was kicking around in the city somewhere, probably for the better. If that fucker decided to show up in the middle of a battle and start waffling on about irrelevance rather loudly…
"Yeah? Damn right you should. You have Ace and Lily! That means winning!"
A Grass-type and an Electric-type meant pretty much instant win. I felt pleased as punch.
We entered the Gym happily to find Misty seemingly waiting for us. I didn't have any interest in taking on any other trainer. Dave waited around at the door and I marched forward, metal music in my ears as the pride surged through me. I could do this. I could do this. I could do this.
"You're a new face!" she greeted me with. I introduced myself. "Every Trainer I meet has a policy about Pokémon. What's your approach when it comes to Pokémon?"
Now this lady was good.
A policy? How I approached Pokémon? Man. I hadn't thought about it before. I hadn't ever really gone out of my way to find a Pokémon. I guess if I saw something I liked, I took it. It happened with Ace in Viridian Forest – who was growing so fast, he seemed totally different from the young electric mouse I met there – and it happened with Storm, who no doubt would have been shunned when he was a Magikarp. I thought Lily was cute when I first saw her, and I wanted a Grass type. I took what I wanted and I tried my hardest to make friends. How I approached Pokémon? I really didn't know.
"I…find something I like, I guess," I shrugged, a little embarrassed to be so uncouth around a Gym Leader. "I mean, I try my best to be friends with Pokémon…battling isn't my thing, really, I think it's…"
Come on, Darrell. You're against a Gym Leader. Don't be a tool and fuck this up.
"I think it glorifies fighting," I proudly finished, and Misty actually looked a little impressed.
"Well, that's something new to hear!" she smiled. "My personal policy is an all-out offensive approach with the Water type. All right, you ready to go?"
Ace's Poké Ball in my hand. I was ready to go, alright.
Misty started the battle by sending out Staryu, and I sent out my Ace. He sent a few small thunder shocks over his body, clenching paws together, a fierce little smile on his face. I almost had to wipe away a tear. He was growing so fast and becoming strong. A thing I had noticed about Kanto was that many people called the trainer 'strong' rather than the Pokémon. People were idiots.
"Thundershock, Ace!"
"Staryu! Tackle!"
Misty's Staryu was one of the most fascinating Pokémon I'd seen but I had no time to dwell over stars – that thing was fast, but not fast enough for my lightning-quick pal. He dodged the attack and retaliated with Thundershock, and I found myself hoping the thing would faint. I was sure it was because Dave was watching that I acted like a stupid fanatical Pokémon trainer, hell bent on winning winning winning.
The same attacks were ordered out but Ace didn't dodge Staryu in time. It didn't do serious harm to him. Left him a bit winded, but he let loose with another Thundershock and Staryu fainted. My little dude, bless him, jumped and hit me a high five with his small paw.
Misty sent out Starmie next – kind of an upgraded version of Staryu, with more purple and a much nicer jewel in the middle. It was pretty hypnotizing to look at, a very gorgeous Pokémon. I almost found myself drooling. For the first time, I held Lily's Poké Ball in my hand, and Ace retreated back to my feet, too excited and het up to not watch the battle he had perhaps helped win.
"Alright, Lily, ready to go?" I released her and she stood there, not really understanding what was going on – then she realised it was battle time and perked a little. She was so small in comparison to the beast of a Starmie in front of her it was almost laughable. I knew I had the advantage.
"Absorb, Lily!"
"Starmie, use Water Gun!"
Now fuck me, that Starmie was fast. It shot a blast of water over my new partner, but Lily seemed hardly fazed by the attack. Knocked to her feet, she simply stood up again and jumped forward.
Atta girl.
That was the way to deal with life.
What happened next was fucking beyond me: it seemed as if Lily was pulling in Starmie just by opening her mouth, green orbs floated from Starmie to my Oddish and while Starmie looked a bit weaker, Lily seemed more full of life. Literally.
The most awesome thing I'd ever witnessed? Hell to the goddamn yeah.
"Absorb again!"
"Bubblebeam, Starmie!"
Starmie got first shot again and knocked out a series of huge, powerful bubbles to hit Lily. She was still standing, but stumbling around. I didn't know what was wrong. Paralysis couldn't possibly be caused by bubbles, that was bullshit. She was weak. I returned her to her Poké Ball, made sure to tell her she did a good job – then my dismay was quickly vanquished when I sent out the trusty Pikachu that had been with me almost since the start.
"Pika pika!"
"You know it, boy!"
I could issue attacks without even saying their names – Ace knew just what to do. He cast a Thundershock on Starmie. I thought the Pokémon might faint, but no such luck. It mustered up the last of its strength, and hit my Ace with an enormous Tackle. Ace landed dangerously close to the water and it took him longer than usual to get up.
"Fuck," I whispered to myself. Ace hadn't given up yet, and neither had I. "Okay, Ace, go for it again."
My Pikachu, bless his little heart. He tried once again to get a lightning zap in, but Starmie let loose with another Tackle and Ace was actually sent flying through the air behind me. He cried out as he landed, and from behind me, I could feel the shock and horror from Dave, could already see it on his face. I had to figure out what to do. I didn't want to lose. But with pretty much the only chance I had slowly going down the drain, that was the way it was going.
"I forfeit!" I announced, the moment suddenly dramatic thanks to Dave's gasp. I picked up Ace, but didn't return him just yet. "No battle is worth this. The danger of losing a friend."
Misty returned that bitch of a Starmie to its Poké Ball, but she didn't frown at me. She was actually smiling. "What you've just said to me shows how much you really do care for your Pokémon. If you had continued that battle any further, your Pikachu could have been seriously hurt, beyond the help of a Pokémon Center."
The Gym was silent, the air filled with only heavy breathing from Ace and myself.
"Unfortunately," she continued on. "I've witnessed a lot of serious injuries towards Pokémon – partially caused by Pokémon, but also because their trainers are blind to it and only want to win. So, Darrell, I'm going to give you the Cascade Badge."
My jaw dropped. Literally dropped.
The shock was like being struck by lightning. It electrified my body into stasis and I couldn't move.
She was going to give me the badge even though I didn't win.
What.
That was my exact sentence to her. "…w-what? But I…I didn't win!"
She giggled and placed the badge into the hand that wasn't supporting Ace. "I know. But I feel that you deserve it more than any other trainer. You really love and care for your Pokémon!"
I did. And I couldn't stop the ridiculous smiling that was plastered to my face.
Ace looked up at me, eyes half-closed, but still grinning. "Pika!"
"Thanks!"
She smiled at me. Damn, she was cute. Really cute. Lovely blue eyes and red hair and smooth skin. But perhaps that was the testosterone talking – and the fact she'd just given me a badge. "Good luck, Darrell. I really, really hope you do well – you could go so far!"
I would definitely try. Her words were simply fuel.
"I'm jealous!"
"You already have the badge. What are you jealous of?"
After a minor celebration by buying some drinks, we were at the Pokémon Center, getting ready and raring to go for the small journey to Vermilion City. The plan was to go to the city, beat Lt. Surge to a speck of smoking dust, perhaps stay at Dave's and then venture northeast to Lavender Town. Vermilion City meant my third badge, and Lavender Town meant Joel.
It was about to hit eight, and the world was pitch dark, lit only by clear streetlights. The Center was empty other than the nurse, a few other trainers, and us. It was actually quite relaxing. The Centers were always known as safe havens. He had Jett out, who was pawing around, examining absolutely everything. Dave was rearranging his supplies, notebook out to make a list. Ah. He was learning the ways of the Joel.
My bag, however, felt a little emptier than usual for some reason. Maybe I was just getting used to having it on pretty much all of the time. I checked to make sure everything was still there. Poké balls? Check. Clothes? Check. My phone, MP3 and camera? Checkaroo. Anything else? Checkity check.
I had really been meaning to use the camera and take pictures of absolutely everything but I hadn't had a chance. It was going on a journey, starting now. I took it out, snapped a picture of an unknowing Dave and placed it into my pocket. Man, I could really be evil when I wanted to.
I couldn't help think of the battle earlier. I told Misty I was forfeiting because Ace was becoming pretty beat up. And somehow that was badge-worthy. The mischievous little section of my brain said that maybe I could just do that at every Gym, and get myself all the badges with minimal effort. But I dismissed that idea. It wasn't fair to the Leaders, to my Pokémon or myself. I really did try in the battle with Misty, and so far, all my battles had been in my favour. But I had to learn, things wouldn't always go my way. There were better trainers than me, and I would definitely see better Pokémon. But I knew that was my next step – raise my Pokémon to be the best they could be, to no one else's standards, to no one else's rules.