Myra woke early and looked across the camp fire. Good, he's still asleep. She wanted to beat Roger to the gym and show him that she wasn't a weak little girl like he probably thought. She quietly packed her bag and set off toward to pokècenter. Ponyta was looking great today, her mane and tail were sparking in the morning light. The Chansey that brought her out kept her distance from the flames as they flew around Ponyta's body. Ponyta tossed her head and lept over to Myra, nudging her on the shoulder. "I know girl, you're ready to take on anything today!" Ponyta nodded her head as if to agree. As they headed over to the stone gym on the west side of town, Myra looked around, feeling as if this would be their last day here. South of the gym was an area where a lot of trainers were camping, north was where the old broken down museum was, and east showed a small path that she knew led to Cerulean City.
As they approached the stone gym, Myra started getting a little nervous, her belly fluttered with anxiety as she saw the massive stones that made up the gym, crafted many decades ago, the strongest pokèmon were used to set the stones. The result was the building that towered above her. She could see that some of the stones were growing moss up the sides. She took a breath and opened the strong wooden doors. Inside the gym was a waiting area, with large rocks to sit on, it was still half an hour until the gym opened, so Myra took a seat and looked around. Ponyta's skin was twitching in anticipation as she pranced over the stone floor, her hooves sending up sharp clicks as they struck the ground. The gym was dim and dusty, and Myra couldn't see very far in, she had to wait for an attendant to be allowed in to challenge the first trainer.
In school she remembered being told each type for the gyms, but they weren't allowed to say anything else, such as how many trainers she had to go through to get to the leader, and also who the leader was is a well kept secret. But she did know some things, because this was the first gym and so many tried to beat it, there was a little more known. For instance, she had heard rumors about having to beat two trainers before going against the gym leaders. Most people choose to go against one at a time, spreading them out throughout several hours or even days, but Myra wanted to get through all at once, and she was confident Ponyta was strong enough.
Bang! The door swung open, and there was Roger. Myra looked up, blushing. "You didn't think you could come here without me finding you, did you?" He asked.
"No…" Myra started to say. She racked her brain for an excuse, but was cut off when a flow of trainers seeped into the gym, filling the waiting area. Just then an attendant came in and asked for those who were ready for the leader, then the second trainer, and then finally he said, "Alright, whoever was here first come forward for the first trainer."
Myra took a shaky step forward, her heart pounding in her ears. He lead her into a large room off to the side and a man only who had to be only 22 walked into the room, he was only 5 years older than her 17. He had a stocky build, with dark, spiked hair. He looked fierce as he pulled out a pokèball. His eyes met hers as he tossed to ball. A Sandshrew came out, not a small one like Della's, but one that was just as stocky as it's owner. It was clearly male too, and strong looking. Ponyta took a step toward the center of arena. The battle had begun.
The pokèmon started toward each other, Ponyta taking careful, quick steps, and Sandshrew bounding and shaking the floor, hitting it like a hammer every time he landed. Neither trainers had to say much, their pokèmon were both trained enough to know what needed to be done, though once and awhile Myra shouted out some command to Ponyta. The battle was intense, and both sides looked even, Ponyta quick and agile, and Sandshrew strong and solid. But the battle was turning quickly in Myra's favor. Ponyta was dodging a lot of attacks, and getting in some extra ones with her brilliant speed. Sandshrew was slowing, looking more tired. Ponyta jumped toward him and kicked his side, with her momentum carrying her past. She turned, ready to go again, when Sandshrew wobbled, and then slowly crumpled to the ground. Quickly the man recalled Sandshrew back into its pokèball before he completely hit the ground. He nodded, then without looking up, walked out of the room. A very young boy of the same build ran out and presented Myra with a slip of paper, saying she had beaten the first trainer. The boy, who had to be just seven years old, led Myra down a long hallway, where she could see some training rooms full of Sandshrew that looked just like the one Ponyta had beaten. There must have been thirty or more. This must be how they battle so many trainers in a day.
The second trainer looked identical to the first, they could have been twins! Maybe they were, because he had a Sandshrew as well. This battle was easier, because Ponyta had already battled one Sandshrew, and this one was so similar that she could almost perfectly anticipate it's attacks, as well as take advantage of it's weakness. It wasn't long before Sandshrew crumpled to the ground and she was ushered into a long hallway with dim light at the end. There was a short line of trainers standing outside a solid door, some were leaning on the stone walls, while others were sitting on the ground, baseball caps over their eyes while they took a short nap. Myra took her spot at the end of the line, giving Ponyta a berry as the pokèmon laid onto the ground to rest before the big battle to come.
Hours later Myra was up next, the boy in front of her was walking dejected out of the giant arena, head down as a tear slipped down his face. Trainers only had three shots for each gym, and once you used your shots you had to find a new career. Myra was terrified now, she called to Ponyta, who jumped up and joined her as they walking in, the door slamming shut behind them. A young girl with dark curly hair and caramel colored skin was sitting on a stone armchair with two pokèballs in front of her. "I see you were tough enough to beat my older brothers. Well I'm not as easy to beat, you'll remember the name Sapphire, granddaughter of Brock. Let's battle!"
Myra was worried, she wanted a chance to ask about the egg, and maybe the drawing, but there was no time for that now. Ponyta sprang forward, ready for anything. Sapphire picked up the pokèball to her left, and a Geodude sprang out. The Geodude looked like a huge rock, about one foot in diameter. He wasn't big, but Myra knew he could take a lot of hits, and Ponyta would need to win by agility and perseverance. She told Ponyta earlier that she would need to alternate between quick attack and stomp after doing agility a few times. Geodude used harden, making his body more and more like solid steel, and making it so Ponyta's hooves hardly did any damage at all, but the Geodude was slow, and Ponyta was able to get in both a quick attack and stomp for each of Geodudes one tackle. Only it wasn't quite fair, Ponyta was dodging almost every tackle from Geodude. He was just so solid and heavy that she was easily able to jump out of the way. The Geodude slowly sunk closer to the ground, but the battle was brutal on both pokèmon, and Ponyta was tiring. Myra figured she would need a new strategy, letting the Geodude harden so much was a mistake. Geodude finally shuddered in the air, and then dropped the few more inches to the ground, and then was recalled back into his pokèball. Mura knew the battle was going to be close when she saw the pokèmon Sapphire called out next. An Onyx. Not just any Onyx, but one that was massive, he had to be three feet taller than Ponyta. Myra called out, "Quick attack Ponyta!"
Ponyta sprinted over and got a quick hit on before Onyx even knew what happened. It roared in anger. Stomp was taking too much of Ponyta's strength, so the rest of the battle Ponyta just kept doing quick attack, getting in quick hits on the Onyx's giant body. It was easier at first, but then as Onyx hardened, he became almost impossible to hurt. He threw some rocks at Ponyta, and one hit it's target, Ponyta crashed to the ground, breathing heavily. Myra took in her breath. Ponyta struggled to her feet, determined to get in one more hit. She galloped behind Onyx and jumped, high enough to reach his head, and used stomp for one last time, the momentum and power of the attack pushed Onyx to the ground. Ponyta landed next to him and rolled, then struggled to her feet, head down and sides heaving. Onyx lifted its head an inch, but immediately its eyes closed and slumped back down. Sapphire's eyes were burning with fire. She recalled Onyx, and then grudgingly pulled out a rock badge shaped like a gem. Myra felt a jolt of excitement, this was one of the symbols on the drawing! Sapphire stalked away as Myra searched through her bag. "Wait!" Myra yelled.
Sapphire paused, and turned around.
"I found something on the road, a drawing, would you look at it?"
Sapphire looked at Myra quizzically, still too angered to speak, but she nodded her head. Myra pulled out the drawing and handed it over. Sapphire looked for a minute and then quietly asked, "Is this Professor Oak? And a Mew? I think I know this story, but it was told to me when I was a little girl. My grandfather told me." Brock!
"What do you remember?" Myra asked.
"All I remember is Mew was weak, very weak, and Oak was trying to find something, an ancient remedy, but before he could find it, Mew disappeared, and soon after so did the other legendaries. Not a single one has been seen in over thirty years. And people have looked, my grandfather and Ash went on a long journey about ten years ago to look, but each home of the legendaries was eerily empty, and they came home empty handed. They even visited Mewtwo's Island to see if they had joined him to take in refugee pokèmon, but when they got to the island it was desolate and everything burned to the ground. They even contacted the leaders in the other regions, and they reported similar things. Something bad happened and no one knows why or how to fix it."
Myra was stunned, this wasn't something they were told in class, something her mother didn't even know. She wondered about the lines and symbols on the back, if they were gym badges, she didn't see how it meant anything other than a record of what badges were available, maybe something the artist was working on before they drew Oak.
Myra was walking out of the stone building when something hit her head, feathers were everywhere when she realized what happened, "Pidgey!" she exclaimed, happy to see the little bird. It looked just as excited as ever, flapping its wings and happily nestling in her hair. Roger ran up a second later, smirking. "How badly did you lose?"
Myra saw her chance. "Really bad…" She frowned as if defeated, and then shot a look at Ponyta, who quickly put her head down as if too exhausted to move.
A worried look crossed Roger's face, then it disappeared a he said, "Well sucks to suck! Come on Pidgey let's go beat the leader!"
He walked away and Myra smiled to herself, the line was long enough he'd have a few hours of worrying before he'd get a chance to challenge the leader himself. She called back over her shoulder, "I'll be in front of Mt. Moon tonight, I have a lot to tell you about the drawing, so don't take too long!" Confusion spread over his face, and then it registered that she had beat the leader. Before he could respond Myra and Ponyta jogged down the hallway to the entrance, which was nearly empty, and headed out into the bright sun, which nearly blinded her from being in the dim building for so long.