A/N: Good Evening. Hope everyone's doing well and had a great week and have a great weekend. I kept the matches short for Nugget Bridge on purpose but I'm not sure if they had the same effect. For future tournaments, expect longer matches. It's not intentional that both Brandon and Ava either catch a Pokemon in the same chapter or learning moves in the same chapter. I swear it lol. Also, I hope I'm not writing Tangela as this OP Pokemon. I'm just having fun writing him. More fun than I thought I would lol. Anyways, have an awesome weekend :)
Pokemon Journey: Indigo League
Chapter 13: Nugget and a Cape
"Morning," Ava yawns, stepping into the trainer's lounge and collapsing on a free couch. Brandon is sitting down, reading a pamphlet from the coffee table but quickly discards it. "Can we just relax today?"
"If you want to stay, you are more than welcomed to," Brandon replies.
"Someone has to keep you out of trouble," Ava grins at him.
"Very funny," Brandon retorts with a grin of his own. He stands up. "Ready to go explore Nugget Bridge?"
"Are you heading to Cerulean Cape today?" Nurse Joy asks him, overhearing Brandon speaking. Seeing Brandon nod, Nurse Joy has a suggestion for them. "In that case, I would suggest you bring swimwear and a towel. There is a lovely beach up there. Some of the clearest waters Cerulean City has around us."
"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Brandon says, his eyes lighting up. It's been a while since he's been to the beach. Ava, however, didn't look as thrilled with the idea but still, follows Brandon to fetch her swim gear and a towel.
Soon, they were facing a big wooden bridge that led to the north part of Cerulean City. Standing near them were 6 other trainers, mingling with each other. They ranged from youngsters to teens but the moment they spot Brandon and Ava, they hurried towards them.
"Hey guys," one said, whom Brandon took as the leader. "Would you two like to take part in our tournament for today?"
"Easy Rick," another one chuckles, stepping forward. "Welcome to Nugget Bridge, as the locals call it. Here, we hold mini tournaments daily. I'm Kris."
"Nice to meet you, Kris," Brandon replies, noting that this trainer has spiky hair with a white shirt and jeans. "I'm Brandon."
"I'm Ava," Ava says, nodding to them.
"Nice to meet you both," Rick replies. He points to the others behind him. "We're short 2 trainers today, which would make it an even bracket if you guys would like to join."
"We even have a prize for the winner," the first one replies, sweeping his green hair to the side. He was dressed in black leather pants with a leather jacket.
Brandon looks at Ava. "What do you say? Up for a challenge?"
Ava nods. "Why not?"
"Great," Rick says, smiling. "Since there is only eight trainers today, we will do a three-round tournament. Normally, we would have more trainers battling but I think the majority of them are still waiting to battle Misty, so they don't want to risk injury to their parties."
"Makes sense," Brandon says.
"Each match will be a one vs one," Rick goes on. "To make it more interesting, you can't use the same Pokemon twice. So pick wisely. The winner will receive a nice shiny nugget."
"Wow. I heard they sell for a lot," Brandon says, his eyes going wide.
"They do," Kris nods. "We usually have a different prize each day."
Rick quickly wrote Brandon's and Ava's names on a piece of paper before crumbling them and shuffling them in his hands. He nods towards Ava. "Ava, pick one paper. That will be who you will be battling."
Ava picks one, opens it up, and reads the name. "Kris."
"It'll be a great battle," Kris says, standing beside Ava.
"Alright. Brandon, you're next," Rick says.
Brandon picks a piece of paper and reads the name. "Lindsay."
A girl in a red striped shirt with glasses, a ball cap and jean shorts steps forward. She responds in a quiet voice. "Nice to meet you, Brandon."
"Nice to meet you as well Lindsay," Brandon smiles at her.
"Rob, you're next," Rick said.
A teen steps forward. His slick back hair, a white dress shirt that was open at the top, with white shorts steps forward and picks a name. "Rick."
"Nice. Which means leaves Ken and Matt to battle each other," Rick says, pointing to twins, who were dressed identically in green polo shirts and black jeans. "So the winner of Brandon and Lindsay will battle the winner of Ken and Matt. The winner of Ava and Kris will battle the winner of Rob and myself. Understand?"
"Yeah," Ava nods her head, with Brandon also nodding his head. "How do you normally do the battles with more trainers? Surely this paper thing would take a while."
"Oh. Normally, we have a sign-up for this. As I said, we didn't have enough trainers and were about to battle each other when you two arrived."
'So this isn't an official Nugget Bridge Tournament?" Brandon asks for clarification.
"No, but we will still offer the prize since you two are taking time out of your day to join us," Kris tells them. He picks up the small round golden ball and places it on the ground.
"Are we ready?" Rick asks, looking around at the trainers. Each of them nodded, showing they are. "Great. Let the tournament begin!"
The pairs broke off, engaging in their battles. Brandon and Lindsay step further on the bridge, giving them space. Lindsay brought out her Pokeball. "Rattata, let's go!"
A purple rat-like Pokemon materializes on the ground. The tail was sticking up in the air, while it growls at Brandon, who takes out his dex.
"Rattata, The Mouse Pokemon. Normal-Type. Will chew on anything with its fangs. If you see one, you can be certain that 40 more live in the area," the dex chimes back.
"Sounds like a cool Pokemon," Brandon mutters, thinking for a second. He had to be strategic here, in whom he chooses. Finally, he decides. "Squirtle, you're up!"
Squirtle enters the battle and focuses on Rattata. Rattata, for its part, focuses on Squirtle, baring his fangs.
"You can have the first move," Brandon calls out.
"Rattata, focus energy," Lindsay commands in a voice that surprises Brandon. Just two minutes ago, she was quiet. "Maybe it's her tactic?" Brandon thinks to himself.
"In that case, Squirtle, use withdraw!" Brandon orders.
Rattata's focus increases on Squirtle, who jumps into his shell for extra defense. Lindsay doesn't seem fazed.
"Rattata, quick attack!" Lindsay shouts out.
"Squirtle, you know what to do!" Brandon counters.
Rattata bounds at Squirtle with speed, aiming for Squirtle's shell. Squirtle waits until the last moment before popping back out of his shell, taking the hit. Immediately, he grabs the purple mouse Pokemon and tosses him to the side.
"Great job Squirtle. Water gun!" Brandon orders again.
"Rattata, use quick attack to escape!" Lindsay calls out.
Squirtle lets a water gun loose, right at the downed Rattata yet at the last second Rattata is able to zoom out with a quick attack, which, again surprises Brandon.
"That was certainly a surprise," Brandon remarks, which causes Lindsay to grin. "Alright. Squirtle, go in for a tackle."
"Rattata, use tackle as well," Lindsay calls out.
Brandon smiles, hoping Lindsay would do that. Rattata was sprinting towards Squirtle and was about to bash into him until Brandon shouts out. "Squirtle, turn around!"
Rattata runs smack into the hard shell, dazing him. Squirtle quickly turns around and fires off a close range water gun, scoring a direct hit. Rattata stands up, though it is wobbly and close to fainting.
"Squirtle, let's finish this. Water gun again!" Brandon calls out, going for the victory. And sure enough, Rattata faints after getting hit by another water gun.
"Rattata, you did a good job. Return," Lindsay recalls the purple mouse Pokemon before coming up to Brandon to shake his hand. "Awesome battle. I take it you will be challenging Misty?"
"Who said I haven't already?" Brandon responds.
"Oh please," Lindsay says with a chuckle. "If you did, you wouldn't have come up here."
"Seriously?" Brandon asks. "Is this place really only for locals?"
"Pretty much. Some trainers come up here for the extra training but most normally challenge Misty right away," Lindsay explains, turning to watch the other battles. Brandon focuses on Ava's match. Kris seems to be giving her a little bit of a challenge.
"Eevee, use quick attack," Ava shouts out.
"Ekans, use bite!" Kris yells.
Eevee bounds towards the snake Pokemon and smashes into it, driving it back before Ekans strikes back with a bite, causing Eevee to howl in pain.
"Great. Now use tackle!" Kris orders.
"Eevee, wait until he comes closer, then dodge it!" Ava shouts.
Eevee waits until the last second to jump to the side and delivering a swift double kick to the body before finishing up with a quick attack. Ava blinks before recalling Eevee.
"Great job Eevee. Take a good rest," Ava says, clipping the ball to her belt. She shakes hands with Kris. "Nice battle."
"Thanks, you as well. And congrats on Eevee learning a new move," Kris replies with a kind smile. "Looks like you will be going up against Rick, while your friend is going up against Ken."
"This will be a fun battle," Ava says, stepping towards Rick and unclipping a ball. She faces Rick. "Ready?"
"Aye," Rick nods, holding a Pokeball, and throws it. Ava also summons her partner as Brandon and Ken begin their match.
"Tangela, you're up!" Brandon shouts as the Vine Pokemon materializes on the ground.
"Mankey, I'm counting on you," Ken calls out. In front of him, the fighting Pokemon lands in a fighting stance, glaring at Tangela. "Let's start off with a scratch!"
"Tangela, wait for it," Brandon calls out, watching as Mankey comes charging at Tangela, fists raised and poise to make a scratching motion. Instead, Brandon calls out. "Tangela, step to the side, and grab him with your vines!"
Tangela nimbly steps to the side and whips his vines around Mankey's arm, which causes Mankey to go berserk and start to thrash about, trying to shake off Tangela. Tangela, instead, began to absorb some of Mankey's energy, causing the trapped Pokemon to cry out in pain. Tangela eventually releases Mankey and steps back.
"Great job Tangela," Brandon praises him. "Use stun spore next!"
"Mankey, use focus energy!" Ken calls out.
Tangela shoots out an orange powder, sprinkling it on the ground, as Mankey begins to pump itself up. Mankey, then charges Tangela, who, again, nimbly dodges it and wraps Mankey up in vines and uses absorb.
"Grr," Ken shouts. "Fine. Mankey, with your other arm, come in with a scratch attack!"
Mankey, with its free arm, swings around and begins to scratch Tangela's face, causing him to free him. Mankey, then unleashes a series of scratches upon Tangela, causing damage.
"Tangela, stay strong," Brandon calls out, not sure what to do. His mind tries to think of a strategy but yet nothing was formed. "Tangela, use growth!"
Tangela grew a little in size, which causes Mankey to briefly halt his scratch barrage. With that opening, Brandon quickly issues another command. "Tangela, quick. Use absorb!"
Tangela narrows his eyes and snakes his vines around Mankey's torso to begin absorbing energy. However, this one seems to absorb more energy, causing Mankey to faint.
"Mankey, return," Ken says, blinking his eyes. He walks towards Tangela and Brandon, extending his hand. "Great match. Tangela looks like it learned a new move."
"Is that right Tangela?" Brandon asks the Vine Pokemon, who nods. Brandon quickly shakes Ken's hand and returns Tangela. "That's awesome. I'm proud of you. Take a good rest."
"I was surprised at Tangela," Ken says, rubbing his head. "I thought it would have been an easy win."
"Tangela is turning into a really dependable Pokemon," Brandon replies. "I'm proud of him."
"You should be," Ken responds, before turning his head towards Ava and Rick's battle.
"Growlithe, hang in there," Ava calls out as Pidgey comes swooping down with a quick attack. "Now, use ember!"
Pidgey comes in with a quick attack and smashes into Growlithe, who lets out a whimper before shooting a small fireball from her mouth, hitting Pidgey.
"Great job Growlithe," Ava praises her new Pokemon.
"Well, if Growlithe wants to play that game, we can as well," Rick calls out. "Pidgey, use mirror move."
Pidgey opens his beak and began to fire at Growlithe, hitting her. However, Growlithe took no damage, which Ava smiles.
"Perfect. Use ember again!" Ava shouts.
"In that case, Pidgey use gust!" Rick calls out.
Pidgey began to flap its wings to create a small twister and sending it towards Growlithe, who fires out another small fireball but it gets sucked in the gust, which was fired at Growlithe.
"Growlithe, quickly dodge it," Ava shouts out but Growlithe wasn't quick enough, getting hit by it. She was then hit with a quick attack, causing her to faint.
"Return Growlithe. That was a great first battle together," Ava returns Growlithe before shaking Rick's hand. "Great match."
"You as well," Rick says, shaking her hand. "Too bad about Growlithe. She's a tough battler."
"She's my newest Pokemon. Caught her yesterday," Ava admits. "This was our first battle with each other."
"Well then, I'm honored," Rick says. He spots Brandon walking forward. "Looks like it's us two in the finals. Good luck."
"You as well," Brandon says before shooting Ava an "I'm-sorry" look. He follows Rick to an open space, unclipping a Pokeball.
"I choose you Meowth," Rick shouts, summoning a white cat with a gold coin on his head. Brandon, with his free hand, brings out his dex and scans it.
"Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokemon. Normal Type. It loves to collect shiny things. If it's in a good mood, it might even let its Trainer have a look at its hoard of treasures."
"That is certainly true," Rick chuckles at the description. "Right buddy?"
"Meowth," Meowth purrs, licking its paw.
Brandon puts away his dex and finally summons his partner. "Nidoran, you're up."
Nidoran appears on the field, glaring at the Meowth, who just continues to lick her paw, not seemingly interested in the battle.
"Come on Meowth," Rick pleads with the scratch cat Pokemon, trying to get her to battle. Instead, Meowth curls up on the field and goes to sleep, ignoring Rick.
Brandon looks around, not sure what to do before Rick sighs, returning his partner. "Meowth isn't interested in battling. I forfeit, which means Brandon, you win."
Kris brings the nugget over to Brandon, who shakes his head no. Kris, Ken, Lindsay, Matt, Rob, Rick, and Ava stare in shock before Brandon explains while returning Nidoran.
"I would rather win that nugget in a fair battle," Brandon tells the group. "So you guys keep it."
"Wow, we've never had that happen before," Kris says, putting the nugget on the ground again. He shakes both Ava and Brandon's hand. "Thanks for the fun matches today."
"Rick, out of curiosity, how long have you had Meowth for?" Ava asks.
"My brother just gave her to me yesterday," Rick answers. "Why?"
"This is just a hunch, but I think Meowth doesn't respect you as her trainer," Ava points out. "Sometimes, a Pokemon might not listen to their trainer if they deem them not worthy to listen to."
"How do I get her to listen?" Rick asks. "I would love to fight alongside her."
"It's different for each Pokemon," Ava replies. "Some might need to win a badge or two, some might just need pampering. You will just have to figure out how to gain Meowth's respect."
"I will. If I do, Brandon, I want that rematch," Rick states.
"Of course," Brandon smiles. He looks at the sky, judging it to be around mid-day. He looks over at Ava. "If we want to reach the Cape soon, we should head out."
"Very well," Ava says.
They both wave goodbye to the group and began to walk over the bridge.
"Finally, I see a house," Brandon exclaims. He has a water bottle out and is sweating from the midday heat.
"Shade at last," Ava replies with relief. She begins to walk faster towards the house. Soon, she was knocking on the front door but not receiving any answer, she frowns. "Guess no one's home."
"Maybe not, but look at the sign," Brandon says, pointing to a sign that read Cerulean Beach that way with an arrow pointing to the left.
Following the sign, soon they found themselves on a relatively empty sandy beach with crystal clear water. Grinning, they brought out their Pokemon, allowing them to enjoy themselves. Squirtle and Omanyte began swimming (with Squirtle keeping an eye on Omanyte), Growlithe and Eevee were running around with glee. Tangela finds a shady spot and promptly goes to sleep while Nidoran finds a place to quietly train a little.
Both trainers were quick to don their swimsuits and were in the water, splashing, playing, and having fun. Brandon steps out of the water and goes for his towel. As he reaches for it, he spots a railing. Curious, he walks towards it and looks down.
"Ava, you have to check this out," Brandon calls out. Soon Ava joins him as they look down on Cerulean City, with the sunset behind them. "That's an awesome view."
"It is," Ava nods, standing close to Brandon. She had mixed feelings, feelings that she didn't think she would have. "What a day huh?"
"Yeah," Brandon replies, drying off. "We should probably head back."
"Right," Ava agrees.
They quickly got dressed again, recalls their Pokemon before heading back. However, they spot a light on in the house with someone standing on the porch. Spotting them, he waves to them.
"Hello. Enjoy the beach?" He calls out with a friendly smile.
"Yeah," Brandon responds with a smile of his own. Suddenly, thunder boomed on top of them, causing both trainers to jump in surprise. Seconds later, lightning flashes in the sky.
"You guys are more than welcomed to wait out the storm in here," the bespectacled person offers.
"Thanks," Brandon accepts the offer. They just enter the small house before the rain came pouring down.
"I'm Bill," Bill introduces himself, taking their wet suits and towels and throwing them into the dryer. He begins to make a pot of soup.
"Bill? As in the creator of the Pokemon Storage System?" Brandon says, in awe.
"I see you have heard of me," Bill replies, chuckling a bit. He moves around the small kitchen, placing bowls, cutlery, glasses on the table. "But I still don't know who you guys are."
"Right, sorry," Brandon replies apologetically. Ava and he were sitting on chairs. "I'm Brandon."
"I'm Ava," Ava says. "You have a nice house, Bill."
"It's more of a cottage, but thank you," Bill replies with a smile.
"My dad used to work with you," Brandon says.
"Really?" Bill responds, dishing out the soup, as the rain beats on the cottage's roof. "Sorry if I don't remember him, Brandon. I've worked with a lot of people."
"Fred Adams. His name was Fred Adams," Brandon says, taking a spoonful of the soup. His eyes light up. The soup was that good.
"Oh yeah. I remember Fred," Bill says, putting his spoon down. "He was one of the few people who actually did a lot of work. He helped me set things up in Johto."
"So he keeps telling us," Brandon smirks.
"The day he saw Lisa, I knew it was only a matter of time before he retired," Bill tells them with a chuckle. "Sure enough, he did a few months after that. What is he doing these days?"
"He works on Professor Oak's systems," Brandon explains. Beside him, Ava was quiet, listening. "And they are still together."
"That's awesome," Bill says, smiling. "True love is hard to find. I'm happy they are still together. Maybe one of these days, I will visit them."
"I'm sure they will like that," Brandon smiles before yawning. "Sorry, it's been a long day."
Bill gets up and gets two sets of sheets. He quickly sets up both couches. "No worries. You two are welcomed to sleep here until the storm passes."
"Thanks, Bill," Brandon says before laying on the couch, passing out immediately. Ava is following suit.
Team Listings:
Brandon Adams:
Squirtle - Male, Torrent ability. Knows: Water Gun, tackle, Withdraw, Rapid Spin
Tangela - Male, Leaf Guard ability. Knows: Bind, Stun Spore, Mega Drain, Growth
Nidoran – Female – Unknown ability. Knows Growl, Poison Sting, Double Kick
Ava Mcarthur:
Eevee - Female. Run Away ability. Knows: Growl, Quick Attack, Double Kick,
Omanyte - Male. Weak Armor ability. Knows: Withdraw, Constrict
Growlithe – Female. Flash Fire. Knows: Ember.