The first thing I saw upon entering the gym was electricity. Lots of electricity. I still hadn't dried up from swimming here, so I needed to be really careful or else I get the shock of a life time. "Hey! You there!" A man standing near the gym statues said. I looked over and walked to him. "Take this! It'll help you on your quest to beat the gym leader, Wattson!" He handed me a bottle of water. I took it and nodded politely. "Thanks. I guess this guy uses Electric Pokemon?" "That's right." He said. "You're going to need to be very careful when using your Water or Flying type Pokemon, or else he'll strike you down. Is this your third gym?" He asked. "No, it's my first. I just got here, actually." The man shrugged as I went on my way.

'Let's see,' I thought. I'd have to disable these electric fields somehow. I noticed a pressure plate by my feet and stepped on it, disabling one wall and activating another. 'Neat, the path's opened up.' I walked over to the next pressure plate-

"Hey! You!" A guitarist yelled from the wall. 'Oh boy...' "Let's have a battle to see which one of us is more shocking!" I groaned and sent out my Pokemon, not wanting to bear any more bad puns.

"Come on, Magnemite!" The guitarist sent out a Magnemite. 'Hm, this'll be an interesting fight...' "Time to party, Ohm!" I sent out my own Magnemite. The two Magnemites started the battle already, engaging in a fierce staring contest. The guitarist's Magnemite blinked, so apparently Ohm won. "Ohm! Slam it into the wall with Tackle!" Ohm reared its... top screw and barreled into the Magnemite, leaving a large dent in the wall. I nervously looked over to the gym guide from earlier. "Don't worry! That happens all the time!" He hollered back.

I felt sweat drop down my forehead as the guitarist's Magnemite used Sonicboom on Ohm. Ohm looked a bit stunned but kept on. "Alright... Zap it with Thundershock." Ohm summoned lightning from his magnets and directed the bolt to the Magnemite, knocking it clean out. The guitarist smirked as he returned his Magnemite. "That was nice. Let's see if you can take this guy on!" The guitarist sent out a... thunder dog. I have no idea what it is.

Returning Ohm, I sent out Ark, who gracefully pirouetted onto the thunder dog's head. The thunder dog gnawed Ark's leg, sending him back to me. "I think that's turn one done. Electrike, jolt it awake!" The Electrike, or whatever it's called, zapped Ark with a bolt of electricity, legitimately shocking the drowsy Ark awake. "Ark, get some health back with Absorb." Ark sent out a stream of green tron lines and drained Electrike's health, recovering his own. "Electrike, use Charge!" The Electrike glowed with sheer elecricity as it prepared for its next attack. Huh... I didn't think Electrikes learned that move that early. Oh well, he must know a breeder.

'This is bad, one more attack and Ark's down for the count.' I looked around and checked for things I could use to Ark's advantage. 'Hmm... what if...' "Ark, leap onto the Electrike's head!" Ark looked confused, but he gracefully backflipped onto the Electrike. "Strange tactic, but Electrike, finish it off with Thundershock!" The Electrike loosed a thunderbolt to Ark, but Ark leaped out of the way while the Electrike shocked itself, knocking itself out.

The guitarist sighed in defeat as he returned Electrike. "How'd you pull that off? Your Treecko should have gone down with him." I scratched the back of my head. "Treeckos are pretty fast." I went farther into the gym, battling more trainers along the way, including one boy who had a Zigzagoon that flooded half the the gym. This was apparently a regular occurence, as the the gym guide merely hit the drains and all the water drained out in record time.

Stepping on the last pressure plate, Ohm and Ark were filled with extreme determination, going so far as to not fight each other on the way to the gym leader. In fact, they had a healthy staring contest, one so intense their determination legitimately emanated from either eyes. "Alright, you two, save the energy for the battle..." I walked into the gym leader's room.

"WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" My eardrums imploded. "Hello! Challenger! Welcome to the Mauville Gym! My name is Wattson, the leader of this gym! WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" He continued laughing. This guy's joviality was contagious; I couldn't help but break a smile. "I see you've gotten past all my rigged traps! Let's have a battle, you and I! Prepare to be electrified!" He laughed more as he sent out his first Pokemon, a Voltorb. 'Wow... he didn't waste any time starting that battle. He didn't even let me get a word in...'

I sent out Ark who did a triple flip and a meow. Strange... I didn't know Treeckos could meow. "Ark! Stare it down!" Ark leered the Voltorb, causing it to sweat and drops its defenses. "Wahahaha! Good tactic, kid, but let's see if your Treecko can survive a Rollout!" The Voltorb rolled into Ark, slamming them both against the bleachers.

'Damn, nobody cheering me on.' I shrugged and told Ark to stare it down harder. Ark's leer was so intense, it could probably make Ohm blink. "Wahahahaha! Roll into it again!" The Voltorb rolled into Ark harder, leaving a larger dent in the bleachers.

Ark looked really damn tired. "Alright, Ark, lay into the Voltorb with your strongest pound." Ark leaped gracefully into the air, spinning once, twice, thrice... four times as his tail came crashing down onto the Voltorb. Needless to say, there was now a Pokeball shaped hole in the stadium, courtesy of my stage performer Treecko. With a bow, Ark walked back to my side. I gave him some water. "Good job, buddy. You did great out there." Ark smirked and struck a pose. I should be used to it now, but I'm not.

"Wahahahahahaha! Fine Pokemon handling there, greenhorn, but let's see you take on my pride and joy! Go! Magneton!" Wattson lobbed his last Pokeball onto the stage, revealing Ohm's evolved form, Magneton. '...Do I need two more Magnemites to evolve Ohm?' was all I could think of as I saw Wattson's Magneton.

I think it should go without saying that my bad decision streak prompted me to send out Ohm. Ohm beeped in nervousness, as if saying "Dude... are you insane? That thing's three of me!" I gave Ohm a pat. "It's fine. You can do this." I guess that calmed Ohm down a bit, since he flew back to the arena, staring down the Magneton. The Magneton stared back, but one of its eyes blinked. Huh... I guess having more eyes makes it harder to win a staring contest.

"Wahahahaha! Interesting move! Magneton! Zap it with Thundershock!" The Magneton loosed a bolt of electricity, shocking Ohm and leaving him quite hurt. "Retaliate with Mirror Shot!" Ohm blasted a beam of light to the Magneton, seemingly blinding an eye. I noticed something... off about the Magneton. 'Hmm... Blinding one eye blinds the others. I could use this to my, I mean Ohm's, adv-'

"Deafen it with Sonicboom!" The Magneton's magnets resonated against the walls of the gym, creating a deafening noise that strangely didn't affect Ohm all that much. It must have been too high a sound. "Ohm, paralyze it with Thunder Wave!" Ohm jolted Magneton with a weak thunderbolt that did absolutely nothing. "Wahahahaha! Electric types can't be paralyzed with electric moves!" I groaned as Ohm leered at me and Ark slapped me with his tail.

"Magneton! Send some bombs after that fledgling Magnemite!" The Magneton appeared to use Magnet Bomb on Ohm, hurting him quite a fair bit. The battle lasted for longer than I thought it would, Ohm being a match for the Magneton. Both magnet pokemon traded thundershocks and mirror shots, each taking hits like absolute bosses as neither side wavered. Wattson's jovial demeanor dropped. "I'm getting tired of this! Magneton! Finish it off with Tri Attack!"

'Oh no.' I thought. Ohm was seriously hurt by this point, so that Tri Attack could finish him off for good. 'I have to think of something.' One video game I played a long time ago taught me a good lesson. "If one method doesn't work... Flip your perspective upside down and examine the case from a different angle." That Magneton was strong. It was in the top percentage of all Magnetons. But strength didn't matter...

"if the enemy can't hit! Ohm! Use Mirror Shot on one of the eyes!" With his last power, Ohm fired out a powerful mirror shot, blinding the Magneton and sending its Tri Attack careening to the roof. Wattson looked stunned as I took this opportunity. "Ohm! Finish it off with a well placed tackle!" Ohm reared his top screw and slammed full force into Magneton, knocking it clear out.

"Wahahahahahaha! That was an amazing battle, kid! You won this match fair and square." Wattson returned Magneton and gave me the Dynamo Badge. "Here, kid, proof of your power against the Mauville Gym!" I nodded and bowed. "Thank you, sir. Your Magneton is damn strong." Wattson smiled broadly. "Of course! He's my pride and joy. He's been with me since I was a mere lad. Your Magnemite here has a lot going for him too. He's certainly a tough one!" Wattson gave Ohm a pat on the back, making Ohm beep happily.

"Take this TM, er, what's your name?" He asked. "I'm Brendan." Wattson seemed taken aback. "Whoa! Norman's kid, huh? No wonder you're so strong! Wahahahahahaha! Anyway, this TM contains Volt Switch! Say... You're from Littleroot, right? How in tarnation did you get here? Rusturf Tunnel's still blocked off!" I shrugged in reply. "Well, I swam here from Route 103, and biked to get to Mauville. Sounds reasonable." Wattson looked a little more than surprised. "Ah well, congrats, kid! You really do take after your pops."

It was getting pretty late, so I decided to eat at the Pokemon center. . I left Ark and Ohm with the nurse and rented a room. Munching on some dinner, I gave Jasmine a call.

"Brendan... it's 10 at night. What's so important?" Jasmine rubbed her eyes. "Well, it's 6 pm here." I chewed on my burger. What were these made of-never mind. "Anyway, I got this earlier." I put my newly acquired Dynamo badge to the screen. "Whoa, a badge!" Jasmine looked in shock. "Congrats, Brendan. I didn't expect you to challenge a gym on your first day, though." I shrugged in response. "Nah, it wasn't that bad. All I did was swim the length of a river and bike an entire cycling road in one morning and afternoon. It really does tire a man and his Pokemon out, though."

I told Jasmine the tale of the 1440 degrees Treecko and the Magnemite who took on three of himself and won. "Ohm seriously took down a Magneton? He's gotten pretty strong... And hey. Where did you get that Treecko? You told Falkner, but he didn't tell me how..." Jasmine looked almost hurt. Uh oh... "Alright, Jasmine, story time!" I said at my wit's end, hoping she wouldn't break down in tears. Thankfully, she turned cheery again as I told the tale of the timid Pokemon professor.

"So the professor stepped on a Zigzagoon." "Yes." "He screamed like a little girl." "Yes." "He yelled at you to help him." "Yes." "He told you to get a Pokemon, not knowing you had your own. "Yes." "Even though you showed him Ohm, he still let you keep Ark." "That's about it." "Nice guy." Jasmine and I broke into laughter. "Well, Brendan, I'm going to sleep. Nice talking to you." I bid Jasmine good night as she hung up. I finished my dinner and checked the clock. 'Hmm, still early in the night, I could probably get to Littleroot.'

I thanked the nurse for her services, left a tip and got Ohm and Ark back. Strangely, the same people I saw earlier in the day on cycling road were still there in their exact same spots. '...Do these guys know what rest is?' Regardless, I biked down cycling road, walked to Route 103's eastern side, and prepared myself for the long swim.

Meanwhile, in Petalburg Woods...

I walked through Petalburg Woods with my Shroomish. "Ah, Dahlia, isn't this place nice?" Dahlia jumped in agreement. Walking deeper through the woods, a man in a uniform approached me. "Hey, you! Where'd you get that Shroomish? You see, I really like Sh-"

"HEY!" A man in a strange green suit yelled from a bit deeper from the woods. "Give me that briefcase, or else you'll know the true power of Team Zephyr!"