Well, it looks like our heroes are going to face Whitney today. As you know, her Miltank is pretty strong. You think our heroes can take her on? Well, Sarah won't. She's not collecting Gym Badges. She is collecting Pokemon though.

We'll be checking on her shortly.

Chapter 21: A Plain Gym Battle

"This is a nice flower shop you have here." stated Sarah.

"I've been working hard on it." answered the gardener.

Judging from all the flowers that were in the flower shop, her efforts had paid off.

Curious, she noticed that she was watering the plants using a watering can.

"You don't suppose you could try that in order to train yourself, would you, Totodile?" inquired Sarah.

"Totodile!" exclaimed Sarah's Totodile. That was an interesting idea. He was willing to try that out.

He decided to go outside and water some plants.

Some flowers began to sprout.

"You feel stronger, Totodile?" inquired Sarah.

Totodile nodded. Hopefully he could level up some.

"I guess we'll keep doing that." stated the girl.

Totodile nodded again.

They decided to look for more plants.

Of course, some of them might be grass Pokemon, and Totodile shouldn't be picking fights with those.

Still, she had Pineco, so she would probably be safe if they did aggravate a grass Pokemon.

Elsewhere...

Quickly, Lucy and Jake noticed that there was a Pokemon Gym nearby.

Apparently, the Gym Leader was Whitney, and she was incredibly pretty.

Of course, some people said the same thing about Lucy. However, she was more than just a pretty face. She was pretty strong. Or maybe pretty and strong.

Lucy and Jake entered the gym. The question was who should go first.

Jake decided to go with ladies' first. Besides, Lucy was younger.

"So, you're here to battle me? Good. I've been looking forward to a Gym Battle!" exclaimed Whitney.

"So have I...it hasn't been a long time since my previous Gym Battle though." answered Lucy. It was just yesterday that they had fought against Bugsy.

"Clefairy, I choose you!" shouted the farm girl.

"Huh?" asked Lucy.

"Clefairy!" exclaimed the fairy Pokemon.

Lucy's Clefairy noticed that the two of them looked similar.

This might cause problems with the referee.

Still, she might as well send out her Clefairy. She was pretty strong so it would be a shame not to use her in the Gym Battle.

"Go get 'em, Clefairy!" exclaimed Lucy.

Lucy's Clefairy nodded.

Whitney's Clefairy started off by using Metronome.

However, all she did was end up making a splash.

"Clefairy! Clefairy!" exclaimed Whitney's Clefairy, splashing water all over the gym.

Lucy's Clefairy decided to use Metronome too.

However, she ended up using Hydro Pump instead of using a move that was totally useless.

It was a direct hit.

Whitney's Clefairy fainted instantly.

"Which Clefairy fainted?" inquired the referee. He was confused.

Lucy's Clefairy returned back to her trainer.

"Oh! Now I get it! It looks like your Clefairy is the winner, Miss Lucy." said the referee. One more Pokemon and she would win the Plain Badge.

"Darn! I wish that my Clefairy was that strong! Then again judging from the fact that she's always on your back maybe she was your starter Pokemon. Mine was a Miltank." answered Whitney.

"Is that going to be your next Pokemon?" inquired Lucy.

"Yes, I try to keep my Pokemon battles brief." said the girl. She typically only used two Pokemon at the most.

"I see..." nodded the girl.

Whitney sent out her Miltank.

"Mooooo!" exclaimed Miltank.

"Holy Miltank! That's one strong Miltank!" shouted Lucy.

"Miltank, the Milk Cow Pokemon. They say that children drink its milk become strong, healthy adults." explained Lucy's Pokedex.

"I should try its milk sometime." remarked the girl.

"Miltank, use Rollout!" instructed Whitney.

Miltank nodded.

Miltank began to roll towards Lucy's Clefairy.

Clefairy tried using Metronome again.

It ended up using Rollout itself.

But unfortunately for Clefairy, she was up against a Pokemon that was bigger and stronger.

Clefairy bounced off of Miltank and fell to the ground.

"Clefairy!" exclaimed Lucy's Clefairy. That didn't turn out too well.

Miltank then stomped the smaller Pokemon with her foot.

Clefairy fainted.

"Oh no! Clefairy!" exclaimed Lucy.

Lucy's Clefairy returned to her Pokemon trainer.

Now Whitney and Lucy were both down to their last Pokemon.

She decided to try out her Chikorita.

"Chikorita!" exclaimed Chikorita.

She instructed Chikorita to use Razor Leaf.

Chikorita nodded and hit Whitney's Miltank with Razor Leaf.

That seemed to be effective.

However, Whitney had Whitney's Miltank use Milk Drink.

An icy cold beverage of milk appeared.

Whitney's Miltank guzzled it down and then she was feeling fine.

"Aw man! How are we going to get past Miltank's healing?" asked Lucy.

Lucy's Chikorita noted that WAS a problem.

Still, she wouldn't want to disappoint her trainer.

She decided to use Vine Whip.

However, Whitney's Miltank grabbed onto the vines.

She then hurled Chikorita into a nearby wall.

Chikorita fainted.

"Aw, man!" exclaimed Lucy. It looked like she wasn't going to be winning the Plain Badge.

Well, she was going to have try again later. She still had time before the Silver Conference began anyway.

After Whitney healed her Pokemon and Lucy went to the Pokemon Center, Jake decided to challenge Whitney.

Whitney sent out her Jigglypuff.

"Jigglypuff!" exclaimed Whitney's Jigglypuff.

Jake sent out Cyndaquil.

"Cyndaquil!" exclaimed Jake's Cyndaquil.

"Be careful! Knowing Chris's Jigglypuff Whitney will try to have her Jigglypuff put you to sleep. If you go to sleep you'll be a sitting Psyduck! And you're not even a water type so try not to be one of those..." said Jake.

Cyndaquil nodded. Of course, Jake probably wouldn't send him out against a Psyduck on account of the type advantage.

When Whitney's Jigglypuff began to sing, Cyndaquil covered his ears.

Jigglypuff frowned with disappointment.

She decided to use Attract.

"Uh-oh! Cyndaquil, cover your eyes!" exclaimed Jake.

"Cyndaquil?" inquired the fire Pokemon. He was still covering his ears.

All of a sudden, Cyndaquil noticed that Jigglypuff was rather...cute.

He wondered if he should fighting a balloon Pokemon.

However, Jake reminded him what they were here for.

"This is no time to be admiring cute Pokemon! We're in a Gym Battle!" exclaimed Jake.

Cyndaquil realized his mistake.

He then hit Jigglypuff with Ember.

Jigglypuff fainted.

"Darn, for a moment I thought I had your Cyndaquil...but I guess not." answered Whitney.

"You probably would have if I hadn't reminded Cyndaquil that he was in the middle of a fight." stated Jake.

"Now it's time for me to send out Miltank." said Whitney.

"Yes...I've already seen her in action." answered Jake. She seemed to be pretty strong judging from Whitney's fight with Lucy.

"Miltank!" exclaimed Whitney's Miltank as she appeared from Whitney's Pokeball.

"Cyndaquil, use Smokescreen!" instructed Jake.

Cyndaquil nodded and prepared to bombard Whitney's Miltank with smoke.

But before he could do that, Whitney hit Cyndaquil with Attract.

"Cyndaquil..." said the fire Pokemon.

"Not again!" exclaimed Jake.

Whitney's Miltank stomped Cyndaquil and he passed out on the ground.

Well, it was time to use another Pokemon. Maybe his Grimer could do the job.

Jake withdrew Cyndaquil and sent out Grimer.

"Grimer!" exclaimed Jake's Grimer.

Now that Grimer on the battlefield, he decided to see what Miltank would do next.

She decided to use Rollout.

Grimer quickly ran away from Miltank. It wouldn't be fun if she ran over him.

In the process, he left behind a trail of sludge.

"Darn it! I'm going to have to mop later!" complained Whitney.

The referee went to get a mop.

However, when Whitney's Miltank ran over the sludge, she began to spin around wildly.

Miltank stopped rolling around and started to feel dizzy.

Grimer then hurled Sludge at Miltank.

"Miltank!" exclaimed Whitney's Miltank.

"That's no good..." said Whitney.

Luckily, Miltank was not poisoned.

Whitney then followed by having Miltank Stomp Grimer.

However, he transformed into a puddle of sludge.

Miltank ended up slipping and falling.

Grimer then tackled Miltank.

"Miltank!" exclaimed Whitney's Miltank.

Quickly, Whitney had Whitney's Miltank use Milk Drink.

However, Grimer put sludge into the drink before she could consume the milk.

When Miltank tried to drink it, she ended up being poisoned...badly.

Miltank fainted shortly afterwards.

Whitney sighed. It looked like she wasn't winning this time.

At least she had fun.

"Here's your gym badge." said Whitney.

Jake smiled as he collected his gym badge.

Well, now all that was left to do was wait for Lucy to collect her Plain Badge. Hopefully her rematch would turn out better.

Although, maybe he could train his Pokemon some more.

It would help him against the next Gym Leader.

Now...where was a good training spot?

Shortly after Jake's battle with Whitney, Chris and Ned entered the gym.

"Hello!" exclaimed Whitney.

"Another Gym Leader already? I'm feeling satisfied!" shouted Chris.

"Don't forget, I'm going next!" exclaimed Ned.

Chris nodded.

For her first Pokemon, Whitney sent out Jigglypuff.

"Jigglypuff!" exclaimed Whitney's Jigglypuff.

Chris sent out her own Jigglypuff.

Once again, Whitney noted that she was seeing double.

The only question was which Pokemon was stronger.

They were about to find out.

Whitney's Jigglypuff tried to use Sing, but Chris's Jigglypuff beat her to the punch.

"Beaten at my own game..." thought Whitney.

Whitney's Jigglypuff fell asleep.

"Well, Jigglypuff, it looks like your fellow balloon Pokemon is asleep...why don't you wake her up by slapping her in the face?" asked Chris.

Chris's Jigglypuff nodded and used Doubleslap on Whitney's Jigglypuff.

This woke up Whitney's Jigglypuff, but she was now dizzy.

"Jigglypuff..." murmured Whitney's Pokemon.

Chris's Jigglypuff then hit Whitney's Jigglypuff with Rollout.

Whitney's Jigglypuff fainted.

Whitney sighed and withdrew her fainted Pokemon.

It was time to send out Miltank.

Maybe she could do the job.

"Miltank!" exclaimed the cow Pokemon.

Miltank decided to use her own Rollout.

Chris's Jigglypuff was sent flying.

"That's no good..." remarked Chris.

Fortunately, since Jigglypuff was known as the balloon Pokemon, she didn't hurt herself when she landed on the ground.

She helped herself to her feet.

"Hang in there!" exclaimed her Pokemon trainer.

Jigglypuff nodded.

Whitney's Miltank continued rolling towards Jigglypuff.

Chris instructed Jigglypuff to use Body Slam.

Chris's Jigglypuff did so and slammed into Miltank.

Miltank stopped rolling.

However, she proceeded to stomp on Jigglypuff, causing her to deflate.

"Dang it!" exclaimed Chris.

Well, Jigglypuff wasn't able to battle anymore, that was for sure.

She withdrew Jigglypuff and sent out Houndour.

"Houndour!" exclaimed Chris's Houndour.

Whitney had Miltank use Stomp again.

However, Houndour bit into Miltank's leg.

"Miltank!" exclaimed the cow Pokemon. Houndour's fangs were surprisingly sharp.

"Oh no! Miltank!" shouted Whitney.

Houndour then followed by using Ember on Miltank.

Miltank was burned.

"Miltank..." murmured the cow Pokemon. She wasn't feeling so well.

Whitney decided to have Miltank use Attract.

However, Houndour wasn't interested in Miltank.

Houndour used Bite again and Miltank fainted.

"Miltank..." murmured the fainted Pokemon.

"Yes! In your face!" exclaimed Chris.

Whitney started to cry.

"What's the matter?" asked Ned.

"I'm afraid that Whitney doesn't take losing well sometimes..." answered the referee. It wasn't like her gym had exploded.

Ned comforted Whitney.

"It's OK...you'll do better next time." stated Ned.

Whitney stopped crying.

"Well, I suppose you earned this." answered the farm girl.

Whitney gave Chris a Plain Badge.

She also gave Ned a Plain Badge as well.

"Huh?" asked Ned.

"I really needed that." answered Whitney.

Ned shrugged and walked out of the gym along with Chris.

Now that they had their third gym badge, it was time to look for another Pokemon Gym.

According to the Johto Travel Guide, there was another one in Ecruteak City.

Apparently, there was also an enormous tower there. There was also another one, but that had been burned down.

Either way, it seemed rather interesting. Perhaps they could check out those places before they went to the gym.

With this chapter Lucy is the only one that hasn't gotten their gym badge yet. Rest assured that she'll be getting it in due time. For now I hope that you've been enjoying this fanfic.