Josh stalked out of Mt. Moon thinking there could be no worse end to his day until he was thrown off balance by a hooting, screeching, Pokemon pawing at his bag and tumbling with Josh down the hill that leads to Cerulean City.
Josh landed on his face, his eyes stinging from the dirt that was smushed against his face and spat out a mouthful of chewed-up grass he had somehow managed to inhale. Josh reached into his bag, with the wild Pokemon that was attacking him still chanting and pawing at him, hardly caring which Poke Ball he picked as he threw it out. The faint smell of moss was all the information he needed.
"Pan, get this thing off me, Vine Whip!"
The chanting and pawing ended with a resounding thwack. At last, Josh lowered his arm and saw a wild Mankey lying unconscious on the ground in front of him. He almost considered giving the Pokemon a good kick; but instead he checked the Pokedex. No check mark.
Josh returned Pan, and threw a Poke Ball at the Fighting-type, watching as the ball hit the Mankey square in its flat nose and hardly shook once inside the ball.
Josh heard laughter as he bent down and picked up the Poke Ball, he turned to see two men in karate gis with black belts nearly doubled over as they laughed. Josh looked around, but he was the only one here. And he was surrounded by dirt and kicked up grass. And he was covered in it as well.
Josh felt his face redden and he slapped at his clothes to try and dislodge the filth, but only really succeeded in smearing it around.
The two karatekas jogged down the hill they were standing on and approached Josh.
"You could've at least helped me," Josh grumbled.
"We're sorry for laughing, kid," the shorter one said, "we see Trainers come through here all the time, and they always look a little worse for wear coming out of Mt. Moon, but we've never seen someone step in it the way you just did right when they get out."
The other karateka wiped his eye from the last few chuckles, "Here, take this as an apology, of sorts."
The taller one handed him a disc, and Josh knew enough this time to take it and turn it over to reveal the text, "TM01 - MEGA PUNCH".
"Now that you've got a Fighting-type," the shorter one said, "you can make great use of that move."
"I might wait until it learns not to attack you before I teach it to him, though," the taller one said, "training Pokemon is more than just teaching them good moves."
Josh looked down at his freshly filled Poke Ball. There was nothing he could say against that.
#
Josh had never been to Cerulean City before, but he knew where the Center and Gym were thanks to it being Ash's hometown. It really was as beautiful as they say, the roads and sidewalks were lined with flowers, the lake was vast, shimmering, and the exact color that gave the city its name. The Nugget Bridge naturally attracted attention as soon as you laid eyes on it, it looked like a massive highway made of gold stretching across the lake, lined with archways on either side. The lighthouse from Route 25 could also be seen all the way on the other side of the city.
But as with Pewter City before, Josh ignored the sights and made straight for the Pokemon Center, as he was down to exactly one Pokemon in battling shape and was in no mood to get dragged into another scuffle. Josh's eye was drawn, however briefly, to the entrance to Cerulean Cave; and with it the vague memory that Jake had been turned away every time he attempted to go inside. Only the strongest Trainers in Kanto were allowed inside, Jake had told him, and even with seven Badges, Jake still wasn't allowed in.
Josh again tried in vain to shake out the dirt and grass stock to his clothes, but only earned a few side-eyed glances from the Nurse and other Trainers in the Center for his efforts. So instead, Josh read up on his newly caught Mankey in the Pokedex. Josh rolled his eyes at the words "extremely quick to anger". No kidding.
Josh thought back to Ash on Mt. Moon. She had had a full team of six with her. Even assuming that Ryan also had six Pokemon, that left more than 10 entires in the Pokedex that must have come from Ash. Josh shut the Pokedex and shook his head at himself. Ash had gotten her first Pokemon years before Ryan and him had, of course she would be better than both of them at catching new ones. Josh shook his head at himself. He was an idiot for not once considering what Ash could have been up to since she had started her journey.
Afterwards, Josh walked back out to the outskirts of the city, on the ridge that overlooked the entrance to the Cave. Josh gathered up all his used Poke Balls in his arms and threw them forward, each one releasing their contents at once.
The Mankey took one look at Josh and lunged at him. "Pan, hold him down," Josh commanded.
Pan caught the Mankey's with his vines, wrapping them under each of his arms and slamming him into the ground, face down. The Mankey writhed and hooted for several minutes before finally giving up.
Josh stepped forward, looking down at the defeated ball of fur.
"Annoying, right?" he said, "not being to move, or do what you want to do?"
The Mankey glared at Josh, but nodded.
"Look, I don't know if I entered your 'territory' or something, but I just had a really rough day, and I'm sure you're having one too," Josh said, "but if I did something that annoyed you, I'm sorry. And if you promise not to attack me anymore, I promise I'll let you take your anger out on something else, cool?"
The Mankey continued staring daggers into Josh, but again nodded.
Pan loosened its grip on the Mankey, and all the Pokemon stood at attention, looking towards their Trainer.
"We need some serious training," Josh said, as he looked them over. The sheer size of Ash's Nidoking and the Pokemon the Rocket Grunts had used was still fresh in his mind. His Pokemon looked tiny by comparison, none of them even reached his waist, and he was just 13 years old. "This next Gym is Water-type, so you're gonna be my go-to for this one as well, Pan." Pan withdrew his vines and nodded. "Hermes, I'll find a Pokemon for you to battle, and you'll have your time to shine, okay?" Hermes squawked and looked away. Good enough, I guess, Josh thought to himself, maybe he'll forgive me for real eventually.
Josh withdrew his team and headed for the Gym.
Josh had heard about the Cerulean Gym from Ash. It was much fancier than Brock's Gym. It had a giant pool with various floating platforms arranged into a figure 8. Josh walked around the pool and approached a group of swimmers, in swimsuits and hair caps, all clamoring around the famous tomboy herself.
Misty was hard to miss, with her messy ginger hair tied into a side ponytail, and was surrounded by her apprentices. Almost every Gym also offered training programs as well accepting challengers, and Josh knew that Ash had almost tried to become a trainee under Misty herself, before her family moved to Pallet Town. But Misty didn't look anything like how Josh imagined, frantically swiping and tapping on her phone while barely acknowledging the Trainers around her.
Josh heard fragments of the clamor as he finally made to the other side of the pool.
"There's been another break-in—"
"Weird footprints, a person's but also some kind of Pokemon—"
"Definitely not one from around here—"
"That detective is calling again—"
Misty tapped away on her phone, pushed the button on the side, and looked up. Immediately, her face soured as she locked eyes with Josh.
"Oh, no, no way!" she said, pointing at Josh. "Stop right there, turn around, and walk away! I'm in no mood, got it?"
Josh stopped in his tracks. The Gym's nicer than Pewter City, but she's nothing like Brock. "I— I just wanted to— I'm from Pallet Town and—"
"Oh, that's just perfect!" Misty scoffed, crossing her arms, "I am maxed-out on Pallet Town challengers for today. I'm busy, got it? I have to track down some punk punching holes through people's houses, I don't have time to battle every one of you small town newbies. Come back later — don't even start, out!"
#
Josh supposed that it made sense that Misty reminded him of Ash. She was a city girl, and they didn't even stop long enough for you to talk. All he wanted was a chance, was that so much to ask? And how was it possible that Ryan had already been here? Had he won his challenge against Misty?
The doors to the Cerulean Gym hissed open behind Josh. He turned, and saw a swimmer, still dripping from the pool she had apparently just swum through. She was tall, had light brown hair that fell to her shoulders, and was wearing a simple blue two-piece swimsuit identical to Misty's.
"I just wanted to apologize to you on Misty's behalf," she said.
Without the yelling, Josh realized he still could only stare at the girl in front of him, the way she balanced on one leg and put her hand on her hip was oddly fascinating.
"Um… that's okay," he finally said, trying to look her in the eye.
"We just had a serious break-in and the family is pretty spooked," she said, "this kind of thing never happens here, and if it's who we think it is… well, it's a serious thing, you know? So Misty has to handle it. But give me your number, and I promise I'll let you know as soon as Misty is taking challengers again, okay?"
Josh fumbled with his bag and handed over his phone. The girl raised her eyebrow as she flipped it open, but then began to type into it.
"My name's Yukari," she said, without looking up, "text me your name so I know it's you."
"Okay," Josh said as he took his phone back.
"Do you know Ryan Oak, by chance?"
"Yeah," Josh said, "was he here earlier?"
"A few hours ago," Yukari said, then crossed her arms, "he's good, but a real jerk."
"Yeah," Josh said, scratching the back of his head, "he's always been like that."
Yukari laughed, and Josh felt his cheeks redden.
"Well," she said, "don't come in here with his attitude, and Misty'll take it easy on you."
Yukari winked, the turned and went back inside.
With Misty on pause, I guess it's back to training, Josh thought to himself. Again, Ash's stories about Cerulean City came to mind, and Josh silently thanked her for them. According to Ash, the best place to train in Cerulean was the Nugget Bridge, which was essentially a non-stop battle fest at all times of the day. Ash had told him that she would spend entire afternoons there after school, watching the Trainers battle it out, cause disturbances, block traffic, and sometimes get so rowdy that Misty herself had to come by and break up the fighting herself with some of her most powerful Pokemon.
"That must've been so awesome to see!" Josh had said, barely swallowing the sandwich he had been eating at lunchtime.
"Oh, it always was," Ash had said, "that's why Misty is my favorite Gym Leader! She's awesome, I wanna be just like her."
"No wonder you got that haircut," Ryan had said with a smug grin, "no one likes girls with short hair, Ashley."
"It's Ash, and I don't care if boys like it," she said, with a scowl, "Misty doesn't dress like a Barbie, and that's why she's the best swimmer and the best Trainer. All the more to like about her."
The three of them had eaten lunch together for the first time that day. More than once, Josh had suggested they offer her a seat at their table, it seemed sad that she always ate alone. And finally, Ryan had agreed, after hearing she was from Cerulean.
"Whatever," Ryan had said that day, leaning back and crossing his arms behind his head, "when I get to her, I'll show her I'm not some Nugget Bridge chump."
Josh smiled as he remembered that day. He had been so happy he had gotten to hear about a Gym Leader from someone who really saw one in action. Ash had turned out to be much more interesting than he had ever thought. She was the only girl Josh knew who could not only take Ryan's attitude, but dish it back out. And hopefully, Josh thought to himself, Misty knocked Ryan down a peg today, it would be perfect to throw that in his face.
As expected, the Nugget Bridge was full of Pokemon and Trainers, in pairs of two, battling it out all along the bridge. Josh sent out Hermes and went to work.
Josh's first battle against a Bug Catcher was easy, Hermes made short work out of his Venonat and Beedrill. Next, against a Jr. Trainer, Hermes knocked out his Mankey with one Gust, and Josh's Geodude took care of his Growlithe. Next, a pair of local Trainer School girls. Josh's Geodude took care of the first girl's Pidgey, and Hermes took out her Oddish. Finally, Josh sent in Pan against the second girl.
"Let's go, Psyduck!" she said, as she sent out her Poke Ball.
Pan stood at the ready, but the Psyduck immediately turned, looked out over the water, and fell back onto its back.
"Um, is your Psyduck okay?" Josh asked.
"Ugh, he always does this!" the girl said, stomping her foot, "Psyduck! Come on, this is a battle!"
The Psyduck only quacked, holding its head in its hands.
"We can stop, if you want," Josh offered.
"No!" the girl said, "If Misty hears about this, she'll never take me in as an apprentice. You have to attack, then my Psyduck will get it."
"Okay…" Josh said, looking down at the Psyduck. This hardly seems fair. "Pan, use Vine Whip?"
Even Pan's vine seemed hesitant as it reached up, and swung forward, striking the Psyduck on the side and sending it sliding back towards its Trainer.
"Come on, Psyduck, Confusion!"
The Psyduck only quacked in response. The girl facepalmed.
"Every time…" she grumbled.
"Well," Josh said, "hit it again, Pan, Vine Whip!"
Suddenly, the Psyduck quacked again, but this time its eyes flashed a brilliant pink glow, just for a moment, then it shut its eyes… and fell asleep. Josh and the girl looked at each other.
"Pan? What are you waiting for?" Josh asked.
Pan turned around and looked back at Josh and growled helplessly.
"Psyduck! Are you kidding me? Wake up!"
"Well," said an all-too-familiar voice behind Josh, "this looks like some really high-level battling going on here."
Josh turned. There he was, Ryan Oak, hands on his hips and as smug as ever.
"What are you doing here?" Josh asked, grinning, "Trying to train up again after losing to Misty?"
Josh looked down at Ryan's belt. Only four Pokemon, perfect.
"Losing? Me?" Ryan said incredulously, exaggeratedly stepping back as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing, "You wish, Josh. I beat her, easy. I didn't even need Vulcan to do it."
"You mean, you couldn't pick a Pokemon from the Professor that has a type-advantage against her."
"Tomayto, tomahto," Ryan said with a wave of his hand, "I beat her, easily, and I came here because I knew I recognized you and your useless Bulbasaur just as I was getting ready to leave."
Pan growled and stamped his feet as Ryan released his Charmeleon. Vulcan now stood almost as tall as Ryan himself, its face seemed hardened, more mature, but he also grinned with a confidence almost identical to his Trainer.
"Wait — he evolved?!" Josh gaped.
"Uh, yeah? Just cuz I didn't use him against Misty doesn't mean I stopped training him. So you ready for a rematch or are you two just gonna stand there and gawk at our awesomeness?" Ryan said.
Josh looked down at his Bulbasaur, but he could see doubt in Pan's eyes.
Josh withdrew Pan, and brought out Hephaestus, his Geodude.
"Not gonna make it easy for you, like last time," Josh said, "let's do this — Rock Throw!"
Vulcan moved back and forth between the rocks Hephaestus hurled at him, but eventually one caught the Charmeleon dead in the face and knocked him back. Josh fist pumped, and now noticed the crowd of Trainers that had gathered around the two. A few of them pointed at Ryan and murmured to each other.
"Get up, Vulcan, Metal Claw!"
Vulcan sprang onto his legs like an acrobat, his right claw glowing with silvery light, and dashed at Hephaestus. The Rock-type brought his hands up to defend himself, but Vulcan jumped and brought down his claw to the top of Hephaestus's face. Josh could see the rock on his Geodude's head crack and crumble under the force, and knew his Geodude was down for the count. Josh withdrew Hephaestus.
"Nice, right? Just a little something we picked up when he evolved," Ryan said.
Josh bit back a retort as he frantically tried to think of a plan. If Ryan's best Pokemon was evolved, no one single Pokemon of his could beat this thing. In that case…
"Go, Hades, Supersonic!"
Josh's Zubat sprang forth from his Poke Ball and screeched, the sound was so loud that all the Trainers in the vicinity plugged their eyes and shut their eyes in pain, including Josh. Just as Josh opened his eyes back up, he saw nothing but a massive cloud of black smoke.
"Now return, Vulcan!"
The crowd around them gasped. Josh grimaced as heard the sound of Ryan's Pokemon returning. Smokescreen, Josh thought to himself, why does Ryan has a move for everything?
"Hades, use Leech Life!"
"Faunus, Hyper Fang!"
Just as Josh's Zubat moved forward into the smoke, a blur of purple fur flew out of it and into the air. A Rattata, his fangs engorged and glowing, caught Josh's Flying-type midair and bite down on its body. Hades screeched and struggled to flap his wings, but the weight of the two Pokemon together was too much and both of them landed hard on the bridge between the two Trainers.
"Hades, Leech Life!"
"Faunus, use Bite!"
The Zubat and Rattata tussled on the ground, but the Rattata had four legs and the Zubat had none — it wasn't much of a contest. Faunus planted his legs firmly on the Poison-type's body and bit down until the Zubat finally quieted and went limp.
"Return, Hades," Josh said with a dejected sigh. If I hadn't closed my eyes from that Supersonic, I could've reacted sooner, Josh thought to himself. "Go, Ares!"
"Fanus, come back," Ryan said, "let's go, Vesta!"
Josh groaned, another evolved 'mon? But Josh's Mankey didn't hesitate, charging straight for the Poison-type with a Karate Chop, nailing her right on the top of her head, slamming her into the ground.
"No, Ares, use Mega Punch!"
"Eager little thing, huh? Vesta, Double Kick!"
The Nidorina shook off the pain and charged forward, jumping and landing on the Mankey's face just as the Fighting-type enlarged its fist with a pale glow and punched it out of the air. The Nidorina and Mankey were each knocked away.
"Use as many Pokemon as you can," Ryan said, "but it won't save you from me. Vesta, finish this, Poison Sting!"
"Mega Punch!"
The Fighting-type ran forward, but the Nidorina planted her feet and opened its mouth, sending dozens of purple- tinged needles forward which landed in the Mankey's face. Josh marveled at Mankey's subbornness as it simply screamed in pain without breaking step, punching the Nidorina in the mouth and finally ending its barrage. The Nidorina rolled onto its back, defeated.
"Yes!" Josh said, "See, Ryan? It's still an even match."
"Yeah," Ryan said, "you might wanna look again."
Josh looked down. Ares was also lying face-up, dozens of poisoned needles still lodged into his face and the hands that Ares had used to Karate Chop and Punch the Nidorina. He's definitely poisoned by now.
"Come out, Hermes!"
"Vesta, return. Let's go, Pomona!"
"Hermes, use Gust!"
"Defense Curl, quick!"
Hermes brought its wings together and sent forward a blast of wind, but Ryan's Sandshrew rolled forward, tucking herself into her body and forming a perfect sphere, and the wind simply pushed it backwards along the bridge harmlessly.
"Quick Attack, Hermes!"
"Use Poison Sting!"
Hermes tucked in his wings and dove, then brought its wings back out just as it was going to hit the ground and flew forward with lightning speed, slamming into the Sandshrew just as she uncurled from her defensive stance. Pomona growled in pain, but shook it off, and opened her mouth and launched the familiar poisoned needles just as Ryan's Nidorina had.
"Dodge it, Hermes, don't get poisoned!"
The Pidgey tried to veer off, but it was too close after the Quick Attack, and only succeeded in letting the Poison Sting land on its wings and back instead of its face. Hermes squawked in pain, but stayed airborne.
"You okay, Hermes?"
Hermes flew away, then turned back towards Josh, moving back in a long arc to avoid the Sandshrew. Hermes chirped, and glared at the Sandshrew.
"You can still beat him, Hermes, Quick Attack!"
"She's a girl, idiot," Ryan said, earning a few laughs from the crowd, "Pomona, use Scratch!"
Hermes dove and flew forward again, hitting the Sandshrew and pushing her backwards. But as with before, the Sandshrew dug her feet into the bridge to keep from being pushed back, and slashed the Pidgey across the face. The two Pokemon squawked and growled in pain, but the Sandshrew eventually fell over and went limp.
"Yes!" Josh cried out, "Awesome job, Hermes!"
The crowd stirred. Several of the Trainers watching were now pointing at Josh and talking among each other.
"Pomona, return," Ryan said, "Vulcan, let's get this over with!"
Together, Josh thought to himself, that's the only way we beat this one.
"Sand-Attack!" Josh said.
"Ember!"
Hermes flapped his wings, sending sand, twigs, and debris from all the damage to the bridge from the constant battling forward, but Vulcan spat a tongue of flame at the Flying-type that still caught Hermes in the chest. Hermes screeched, and fell down onto the bridge, defeated.
"Return, Hermes," Josh said, holding it to his chest once his Flying-type was home, "you did great, thank you."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ryan said, "you beat two of my newest Pokemon, whoop-dee-doo, send out your useless Bulbasaur and let's finish this already."
"He's not useless!" Josh snapped, "let's show him, Pan, Vine Whip!"
"Ember!"
Pan threw out a vine, but yelped and withdrew it just as quickly when Vulcan spat out a flame at it. The memory of Josh's first battle against Ryan replayed in his mind.
"Pan, use Tackle!"
"Ember, again!"
This Ember hit its mark, and Josh's Bulbasaur screeched in pain, but instead of charging forward, Pan planted his feet and lifted his hind legs, aiming the bulb on top of his back forward. A strange powder sprang forth from the tip of Pan's bulb, which glittered with purple light as it flew through the air, and landed on Vulcan's face. The Fire-type reared back and yelped, coughing violently.
"Pan, what was that?"
"Vulcan, get up, come on!"
"Nevermind, just Tackle, quickly!"
Pan charged forward and rammed into Vulcan as he continued growling and coughing.
"Vulcan, just use Ember, now!"
The Fire-type had been thrown back from the latest Tackle, but he shook his head to steady himself, then spat out another Ember, hitting Pan in the face. The Grass-type writhed in pain, backing away helplessly as the fire burned his face, and finally collapsed.
The crowd cheered, Josh saw that many of them had their phones out as he withdrew his last Pokemon. Ryan wasted no time.
"That is two-and-oh between me and Josh, here," he said to the crowd, flashing his smug grin, "my rival's good, but not that good."
Josh hung his head and resisted the urge to scream as he heard the multitude of voices from the crowd.
"How many badges do you have?"
"Have you challenged Misty?"
"How long have you been training?"
"You're the best Trainer I've ever seen!"
Josh looked for somewhere to leave, but the crowd had them surrounded. All he could do was listen to the crowd praise Ryan while he gloated. Finally, Ryan took his last bow — literally — and began to walk away, the crowd parting before him.
"By the way," Ryan called out, without looking back, "your Bulbasaur couldn't use Vine Whip because it was Disabled by that Psyduck. Try and pay more attention next time, idiot."
Josh clenched his fists, he could feel tears coming, but one voice in the crowd caught his attention.
"That was a great battle."
Josh looked up. It was the girl with the Psyduck, she held her Poke Ball in her hands sheepishly, and had a pained smile on her face.
"My name's Alli, Cerulean City Trainer School. I'm really sorry my Psyduck did that," she said, "I didn't even know he knew that move, I swear."
"It's okay," Josh lied. There's no way I'm crying in front of a girl. "Anyway, I have to go. Bye."
Josh grabbed the straps of his bag tightly as he power-walked away, back to the Pokemon Center, back to heal his broken team, and back to square one. Training, he repeated in his mind, I need more training, or I'll never beat him.