Brock looked a little nervous now. Ground was strong against rock.
Gold cracked his knuckles in anticipation.
"Gold, use Swift!" Gold opened his mouth and released a bullet spray of glowing, sharp stars. Geodude tried to escape but they followed where ever he went and finally connected.
"Rapid Spin!
"Tackle!" The two hard-heads connected in the air and both were pushed back.
Geodude took a while to get back up. Gold yawned and kept his mouth open the tiniest amount, releasing a tiny, thick purple needle. It hit the geodude square in the forehead and he fainted.
"Return, Geodude. Go, Onix!"
Gold looked a little tired but otherwise ready for action staring at the enormus rock snake pokemon as it towered over him and gave a might groan.
Gold sneered and ran at Onix.
"Gold, use sand attack!" He lowered a paw into the dirt as he ran, effectively stirring up a cloud of dust.
"Onix, watch out, he might use dig!" Onix watched the approaching ground type cautiously.
"Punch him in the face!"
"What?" Brock's eyes nearly opened as Gold jumped five feet into the air and delivered a mighty thrust between Onix's eyes. It was quiet until Gold jumped back, cradling his paw as he watched a crack form between Onix's eyes. Onix flailed in pain before getting back up.
"So your Sandshrew has a fighting type move. Unexpected." Brock muttered, moving back to his cool facade.
"Well, its not actually a move..."
"What!?"
"Okay, lets go!"
"Uh!"
"Gold, rapid spin!"
Gold curled into a ball and and rose off the ground.
"Onix! Use your tail to send him to the ground!"
"..Gold try to dodge!"
The hesitation was all that was needed to ensure Onix's strike to land. Gold skidded back several feet before climbing back onto his feet.
"Rock Tomb!"
"Avoid it!" Sam ordered, unfortunealty, Gold couldn't pull himself together in time. A pile of rocks piled on top of the punchy pokemon. I flinched as the rocks hit me and made a strangled yelp. Sam gritted his teeth and balled up his fists. He looked terrified.
"Oi! Sam, try and stay calm, keeping a cool head's the only way to win!" Rae called from behind. I took the advice as well and tried to lower my hackles. /Stay calm...have faith in Gold.../
"Onix, use Harden and prepare for that Sandshrew to come from the ground!" The onix complied and his body turned momentarily silvery. Too bad Gold couldn't dig...
Suddenly, the top rock came loose and Gold's head poked out of the rubble.
'Shrew!' He snarled at the Onix who moaned at him in reply.
"Gold! You're okay!" Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "If you're still up to battling, try a Poison Sting!" Gold fired off three or four tiny purple needles while squirming free of the rubble. Once he was free and under Sam's command, he followed up with a tackle, aiming at Onix's injured forehead.
"Onix, use Bind!"
In an instant, it all turned around. Onix wrapped his incredibly large snake body around the considerably smaller body of Gold and started to constrict. Desperate, Gold attempted a Rapid Spin but couldn't move at all.
"Gold, Defense Curl!" Gold nodded and started to glow silver before it faded away. It was a stalemate for fifteen seconds before Onix's hold got tighter and Gold cried out. Onix bellowed angrily and tightened.
"Sam, it's not wise to continue this match. Your Sandshrew doesn't have a chance to escape now. Recall him before real damage is done."
Sam's arm robotically reached back to his belt to grab Gold's pokeball. Gold redoubled his squirming before the vise tightened and he froze. That was enough for Sam.
"Gold, return! You fought your very best. Thank you." He replaced the pokeball.
"So, are you going to give up or are you going to use that unexperienced little ball of energy right there?" Brock inquired. He was talking about me. I was shaking at the thought of going head to rock head against a pokemon strong enough to best Gold but I had to do it. For Gold, Sam and Missile.
"Nova?" Sam turned towards me. I rubbed my head against his knee before walking out to the battlefield. I instantly felt the pressure of what was happening. I felt like doing anything but this- anything-
"Nova, use Tackle!" It was gone. All the tension and all the worry. I knew what I was doing now. And I was doing it for him.
I charged at the rock pokemon knowing that the best place to hit it would be right between the eyes, the spot that had already been damaged by Gold a few minutes ago.
"You too, Onix, Tackle!" Five feet from his head, Onix started his own tackle. Our bodies collided and several seconds later I found myself on the dusty ground and dizzy.
"Nova! Are you okay?"
'vee!' I nodded, taking my stance again.
"Use Tackle again!" The same move. I cursed myself for knowing so few attacks.
"Bind!" My eyes widened as I saw my body being surrounded by a rocky wall on all sides. Then it coiled and tightened. Hard to breathe. It was coiling tighter every time I exhaled. I looked at his face and almost gasped. He was terrifying.
"Nova! How are you doing!"
'Vee-e!' I assured him breathlessly waiting for his command. Focus, Sam, focus. I couldn't possibly last much longer like this. To prevent Onix's coil getting any tighter, I held my breath.
...
"Nova! Use growl then jump out if you can!" I pulled back my lips and bore my tiny, sharp teeth, and released a high pitched yet unnerving sound. To my surprise, Onix's hold loosened slightly and taking my opportunity, I slithered out of its hold and jumped onto a nearby rock.
'Eevee!'
"Great job, Nova! Now use Tail Whip!" I cocked my head to the side and swished my tail from side to side disarmingly. Onix looked at me, confused by the sudden change in attitude. /Just you wait, big guy, just you wait.../
"Onix, Rock Tomb!"
"Use Tackle!"
I raced at Onix just as he picked several rocks larger than myself and started launching them at me. Peering up, I dodged to the side, nearly being knocked over by the impact of the rock landing next to me. A shadow passed overhead. The next rock. I skidded to a stop, missing it by inches. Jumping onto it and launching off, I kept my momentum. Nearly there. It was three rocks, right? So where was the third? I looked up. Slow motion as it connected with mulitplying pressure onto my head. More as my neck lowered. Hitting the ground and blackness, the lights eclipsed by boulder. A tiny dribble of warm down my forehead closing the uncomfortable distance between my head and stone followed by my collapsing limbs though they weren't burdened by twenty pounds of rock.
"...D...y...wa...se!" My ears still seemed to be working. Even if my brain was slow on the uptake. "I...can't go...on. You w-" Sam's desperate voice. Gold fighting his best for Sam. Getting up time and time again. Missile saving my life. The police pokemon. Would I really just lay here..? No.
My paws gripped the earth and my muscles stiffened. My back rose and I started rocking my head back and forth to dislodge the stone. Finally it rolled off, releasing pressure on my head but letting air get to my sensetive wound. I looked back at my friends. Gold was out of his pokeball, scraped up and still unable to stand. His paws were bunched up into fists. Rae and her crew let out a shout of encouragement. Kurt and Abra pumped their fists. I looked at Sam. His face was pale but he looked at me, smiled and gave me a thumbs up.
"Nova. We'll win this." He smiled. "Use tackle!" I charged, hit a wall, charged again and was smashed to the floor. I got up slower this time. Scrunching my eyes, I mentally followed a path that would be my only chance for victory. My last chance too.
"Nova, Sand-Attack!" I nearly flinched. He didn't know what I was planning or how far I was on my last limb. I didn't move. I didn't obey. /I'm sorry Sam. This is for you./ Onix approached.
"Nova! Use Sand-Attack!" Closer.
"Nova!" Now. I charged directly at Onix only make a sharp ninety degree turn and jumped onto his tail. Onix's eyes widened in surprise. I started jumping from rock to rock until I was nearly half way up. /Thank goodness for my jumping and quick turn training I had the past few days./
Onix turned and tried tackling me off him, only to miss and hit a rock with his head. He started to vibrate to but I held on as tight as I could. Nearly at his head.
"Onix, Bind!" This was getting dangerous now. I sped up. My secret weapon. Quick Attack. Nearly blurred, I connected with Onix's cracked head and he crumbled to the ground completely defeated. I jumped off and caught myself on the ground. Sam and the others ran up to me.
"Onix is unable to battle, the winner is Challenger Sam from Pallet and his Eevee!"
"Nova, I'm so proud of you!"
Finally, my Shadow ball had finally showed its merit, I thought, sitting heavily before Sam scooped me into his arms and nuzzled my face.
'Vee-e!' I chirped, licking his face as Sam was handed his boulder badge.
"Wow Nova! A Boulder Badge!" He twirled us around and snapped a picture then held Gold in his arms, barely containing jumps of joy. Gold tried to look irritated but I was reasonably certain he wasn't.
Brock walked up to Sam to shake his hand and then bent down to pet me. I shied away and Brock frowned in thought.
"The Center is kind of far away and there's a bit of a storm brewing. How would you like it if I treated your Pokemon and whipped up a meal for all of us?"
Brock used a potion for the gash on my head and one for my other cuts and then taped gauze to my forehead. The instant he was done, I leapt into Sam's lap at the table.
"Nova, I'm so glad you are feeling better!" You look as good as new!" Sam grinned but it didn't reach his eyes. Something was bothering him but I could tell he wasn't ready to talk yet.
"So what would you guys like me to cook for dinner?"
"Dumplings!" Kurt jumped onto his feet, causing Abra to teleport into a corner.
Brock laughed jovially and skidded to a kneeling position in front of Rae.
"My fair-skinned lady, would that be to your liking?"
"Ah...sure."
"Do you like me-?"
Brock got smacked in the back on his head by a girl with a spiky ponytail about nine.
"Give a rest, Brock!"
Kurt got up. "I'll help you cook."
"Is it just me or did Brock's personality completely change from the Gym battle to now. Talk about separation of work and personal life." Rae remarked.
"P-puppy!" A little girl with spiky brown pigtails wailed, petting me with heavy, uncontrolled hands. I flinched. /It's fine, she isn't trying to hurt me. I'm just cute and fluffy./
She grabbed my tail and started giggling hysterically.
Oh goodness.
"Ee!" I wrenched my tail away from her and jumped onto a chair to the table and onto the counter where Kurt was mixing the dough.
"Nova! Hey watch out!" Kurt said, trying to pick me up. I jumped onto his arms and off his head and into Sam's arms, who had gotten up and come over. I looked over at Brock who had a pensive look to him.
10 PM
I tried cuddling closer to Sam's body and instantly woke when my paws didn't make contact. I sat up and strained my ears. I heard voices downstairs so I lightly jumped off the bed and nosed through the crack in the door I carefully crept down the creaky steps. Luckily, my light weight wasn't enough to register. "...Well, she seems incredibly sensitive to human touch. It's just...weird. You'd think she'd get a lot of attention because of her beautiful coat alone. You said you got her from an official League breeder?"
Sam furrowed his eyebrows. "Yeah, Professor Oak."
"Really? The Pokemon that come from him are usually always top of the line and friendly even to strangers."
"Yeah. Professor Oak didn't really seem like he wanted to give her to me."
They paused for a moment and dissolved into a softer subject so I returned to the room, tail dragging.
"Goodbye! Thanks for the Boulder Badge!" Sam called back.
"Don't thank me! You earned it!" Brock shouted after them. The trio walked away, leaving Brock standing alone in the front of the old gym.
/I have a feeling next time I see those trainers, they will all have changed each other for the better..."
I sniffed the air.
"Hey, Gold. Do you think we're close to the next city already?" I wondered.
"Don't be ridiculous. We left yesterday and those guys," he gestured to Rae, Kurt, and Sam, "were saying it could take three days."
I frowned. "Then why are there so many people gathered?"
"Huh?"
"I smell..." I slowed a nosed to ground. The humans stopped walking in curiosity. "Definitely more than the Gym leader's house had."
""""
"You want to go over here, Nova?"
""""
I started following the scent and within one minute we broke out of the forest and saw a craggy landscape full of people resembling Professor in white lab coats and computers. They were looking into a deep cave as if they wanted to go in.
"Hey, what's going on here, you guys?" Kurt greeted so loudly, the rest of us winced and a few of the closest researchers jumped.
"Are you kids trainers?" One asked, wide eyed.
"Yep," Sam replied, subconsciously touching the spot his new badge was.
"Would you kids like to earn a little money?"
As if to answer, their stomachs growled.
The researcher laughed. "I'll give you a total of 900 Poke if you guys successful map the tunnels of Mount Moon back there. We've tried but we aren't Pokemon trainers and always lose our way or get chased by Graveler! Other Pokemon trainers haven't been successful but he don't want to give up! The secrets of this cave will be shown to the world!"
"We'll do it!" Sam said, accepting the pen and large map paper they were given while Rae and Kurt released their Pokemon. Missile flew down and timidly shuffled his stingers on the grass.