Chapter 5.
A rocky situation.
The next day, our pair is walking through the woods, following the path to Pewter City. Marcus looks at a pamphlet in his hand, reading through it before he looks at his map. 'Hmm, down here,' he says and grabs Mia's hand, leading her through the woods. The sun bounces off his blond hair as it shines through the foliage of the leaves hanging high on the tree branches, and shortly behind, Umbreon runs after them.
After a few minutes, they come to a big open grass field, and on the other side of it flows a river leading to a lake in the distance. Marcus lets go of Mia's hand and runs up to the river. He goes into his backpack and picks out a fishing rod, which he extends out. 'A river, what are we doing here?' Mia asks.
'Well, the first Gym is a rock gym, and so I will need a water type to defeat a rock type,' he tells her. 'I see, but do you even have anything to get a water type?' Mia asks.
'Uuuh... right, can I borrow your Bulbasaur?' Marcus asks. 'Um, I think so, I can ask him,' Mia says and brings out her Pokéball and releases Bulbasaur, who smiles eagerly. 'Bulba,' he says happily.
'Sweet,' Marcus says and turns his gaze to the river, throwing out his fishing rod. Mia looks into the river as she walks up to it and sees a Magikarp swimming by.
And she sees a Poliwag closer to the lake, so she moves on to it and whispers to Umbreon, 'Alright Umbreon, let us get that one,' and Umbreon nods.
'Umbreon, use Dark Pulse,' Mia says, and Umbreon sends a Dark Pulse at the Poliwag, catching it by surprise and hitting it dead center. 'Polly,' the Pokémon says and gathers itself, shooting a Water Gun at Umbreon.
'Umbreon, dodge and use Bite,' Mia instructs, and Umbreon jumps out of the way of the Water Gun and sprints ahead, pouncing and biting Poliwag, who squeals. Marcus looks in Mia's direction and sees her fighting a Poliwag. 'Cool Mia, I, eh,' he says and gets something on the hook, pulling it up from the water, and a Shellder jumps up.
'Oh, cool, a Shellder, are you ready Bulbasaur?' he asks as the Pokémon lands in the grass, and Bulbasaur nods.
Meanwhile, Poliwag has fainted and floats on top of the water in the lake. 'Great, now Pokéball, go!' Mia yells and throws her Pokéball, heading straight for the Poliwag. Just before it hits, a Magikarp jumps out of the lake and gets in the way of the ball, which ends up catching the Magikarp instead.
'What the,' Mia says and runs out into the water, getting the Pokéball which floats towards the shore. 'I caught a Magikarp instead,' she mutters.
'Razor Leaf,' she hears behind her and sees Marcus defeat Shellder. 'Heck yeah, Pokéball, go!' Marcus yells and throws the Pokéball at Shellder. 'You caught it,' Mia says with joy, and Marcus picks up the ball, smiling at Mia in time to see Poliwag getting back up and jumping out of the water for Mia. 'Watch out!' he yells, and Mia snaps around to see Poliwag getting close, ready to tackle her, but a Dark Pulse shoots Poliwag away into the water
"Thank you, Umbreon. I can always count on you," Mia says, looking to Umbreon who wags his tail. "I thought you caught Poliwag though," Marcus tells her, and Mia turns back to him. "Well, you see," Mia replies and drops her Pokéball, and out comes Magikarp.
"A Magikarp? How did that happen?" he asks. "Well, he just jumped into the ball when I tried to capture Poliwag," she explains. "Oh, I see, eh. You wanna try again?" he asks, looking at Magikarp splashing about in the grass.
"Nah, if this is the way I caught him, then there is probably meant to be," Mia says, crouching down next to Magikarp. "Welcome to the team, Magikarp. My name is Mia," she introduces to the jumping fish Pokémon in front of her. "Carp-carp-carp," he responds.
"Nice to meet you too, Magikarp. Now, return," she says and returns Magikarp to its Pokéball. "Well, you have a water Pokémon now. Do you wish to try and catch another one, or do you wish to continue on our way?" Mia asks.
"Hmm, let me at least check up on Shellder first," he says and releases it from its ball, and it lands in the grass. "Shellder!" it yells. "Hi, Shellder. The name is Marcus, welcome to the team," he introduces while inspecting Shellder's wounds.
"He is a low level right now, but he will do, I am sure," Marcus says and brings out a healing spray that he uses to heal Shellder right up. "Well, it is still a bit away until we get to the next gym, so there is plenty of time to heal up and rest quite a few times," he says and returns Shellder to its Pokéball. "Will you help me level Shellder up during the trip?" Marcus asks. "Huh, sure, what are friends for?" Mia replies with a smile.
The teens then head on their way, and sure enough, there is plenty of road to walk and times to stop to train and to heal up and eat and each time they sit down to relax Mia has her nose in a book of some sort while Umbreon rests next to her. And after some time they head on their way again. They walk throughout the day and sleep in the woods at night.
And when the morning comes and they keep walking for quite a while before they eventually are at the edge of Viridian Forest and can see Pewter City in the distance. "Finally, that forest took forever," Marcus says with tired feet.
"It is nice to see civilization again after so long in the woods. I can't wait to get a good bath at the Pokémon Center," Mia says, stretching wide. "You can take a bath if you want. I am headed straight for the gym," Marcus says eagerly. "Is that such a good idea? I mean, your Pokémon need to be revitalized first, don't you think?" Mia asks.
"Huh, oh yeah, I forgot they need proper rest too," he says and looks to his belt where his Pokéballs hang. "Alright then, first to the Pokémon Center and then to the gym," Marcus says, getting his eagerness back, and Mia smiles and looks to Umbreon. "You should probably get a proper rest as well, after all, you have been traveling just as far as we have," Mia tells him, and Umbreon nods. "Umbreon," he says and wags his tail.
They travel along the path and head into the city, heading for a big towering building with the Pokémon Center logo hanging high, and our teens head on inside and walk up to the desk.
"Hi Nurse Joy, I would like to revitalize my Pokémon, thank you," Marcus tells the nurse. "Of course, just get them on this tray, and I will be sure to do that right away," Miss Joy says and brings out the tray for him to put the Pokéballs into.
"Could you do the same for my Pokémon?" Mia asks. "Of course," she says and brings out another tray for Mia's Pokéballs, and Umbreon jumps up on the counter. "Umbreon," he says. "And my Umbreon as well," Mia smiles as she puts the Pokéballs onto the tray. "Certainly, you two make sure to rest up as well, and we will take care of your Pokémon," Nurse Joy says, and a Chansey takes Mia's tray as the nurse takes Marcus's.
"Sure thing," Marcus says, stretching and putting his arms up and rests his hands behind his neck.
"You seem rather carefree," Mia says as they move further into the Pokémon Center. "Yeah, well, the first thing on the agenda is getting washed up properly and food, right? So there isn't much worry," he says, rubbing the inside of his ear with his little finger. "I suppose you are right," Mia replies.
Soon they head to the showers and split apart, Mia heading into the female section and Marcus heading into the men's section. He steps into the shower and lets the water wash over him. "Mia is right, this is quite refreshing and nice," he thinks to himself, enjoying the feeling of getting clean, making sure to enjoy it to the fullest.
After a good while, he steps out of the shower, dries himself off with the towel, and gets himself dressed. He puts on his white shirt, green jacket, and blue jeans. He brushes his hair and looks into the mirror where his blond hair hangs straight. He smiles before he shakes his head, letting his hair fall into its usual mess. "This is way more me," he says with a smile and shoots handguns at his reflection.
"Yep, still got it," he tells himself before grabbing his bag and heading on out. He looks around the big long hallway filled with rooms on each side and looks out the window overlooking the city. "This place is quite a lot bigger than Pallet Town... much bigger," he says, stopping to take it all in.
He takes a deep relaxing breath. "Right, I was supposed to meet her in the cafeteria," he utters and heads upstairs, seeing plenty of tables with diner-like couches on each side lining alongside the window.
There are people sitting here and there; the room feels calm and easy. He walks until he sees a familiar brunette with a big flowy ponytail and purple bow in her hair.
He smiles and walks up closer, and he sees her nose is buried in a book, and she seems to be taking notes in a notebook.
"What are you doing?" he asks, but Mia is very focused, and he sits down in front of her and waves. "Uh, Hi Mia," he says, waving, but she is still preoccupied, so he looks out the window at the city and waits for a moment. He begins to tap his fingers on the table and looks over to Mia, leaning forward and putting his hand close to her face. He snaps his fingers.
And Mia is jolted into reality, and she jumps back up to her feet and puts her foot up and kicks forward. "Back off!" she yells, and Marcus is kicked back into his seat. "God woman, did you have to kick so hard?" Marcus says, holding his face.
"Uh... oh no, I am so sorry, I didn't know it was you," she says, freaking out. Marcus unhands his face as the pulsating and swelling feeling comes to his face. "How bad is it?" he asks, and Mia looks at him. "It isn't that bad, uh," she says and sees blood trickling down from his nose. "Uh, you should take a napkin," she says and hands one to him, which he grabs and covers his nose with it.
"Seriously now, I need to go to the Pokémon Center backstairs; I am sure my nose is broken," Marcus says. "It isn't that bad, besides you shouldn't sneak up on a person like that," she tells him. "Sneaking up? I talked to you all the way until getting into the booth," he tells her. "Well, you should have tried harder," she retorts and blushes. "You must be kidding," he tells her, and she blushes and sits down.
"I just get really focused when I study; you need to be careful when you want my attention," she tells him. "Yeah, noted," he says, holding his face, and the blood stops running soon. "Okay, it seems to be getting better," she encourages, and he takes a deep breath before speaking. "Yeah, let us just order something," he tells her.
"Right," she says, and they both look into the menus and decide in silence. Soon they ring the waitress over and make their orders, and he looks at her looking over to her book. "What are you studying anyways?" he asks.
"Anatomy of different Pokémon and medical studies," she replies.
"Medical? Are you planning on being some kind of clinician?" Marcus asks. "Well, I, maybe," she utters. "Maybe?" he asks.
"Anyways," she says, shaking her head before turning her attention to Marcus. "Have you made any plans on how you will battle in the gym later on?" she asks. "Huh, not really, no," he says, and Mia is about to drop her head onto the table. "What do you mean, not really? I thought you wished to be among the best, and to do that, you need to win gym badges," she tells him.
"Yeah, I know," he says nonchalantly, and he smiles and gets eager when the food arrives. "Oh, yum, this looks so amazing," he says, while drool accumulates in the corner of his mouth. "Focus, Marcus. It is a rock-type gym, right? And from what I gather, you need to fight against two rock-type Pokémon," she informs.
"Yeah, I know, so what?" he says and puts food on his fork, which he blows on. "You need to take this seriously if you wish to get anywhere in the gym today," Mia tells him, but he keeps shoving food into his face... and her eye slightly twitches. "Are you listening? You need at least two Pokémon capable of handling rock-types, and right now, you barely have one," she tells him, and he swallows a big load of food while he thinks it over. "But I trained Shellder plenty on the way over here, so it should be fine, right?" he says.
"That sounds like wishful thinking," Mia responds. "You think so... hmm, can I borrow Magikarp?" he asks. "I would, but you will be battling on land, and Magikarp does poorly above water, you know that. Besides, shouldn't you try to win using just your Pokémon?" Mia asks. "Hmm, I guess so, meh, it will be good, I will find a way when I get there," he says, not worried.
"How can you be so nonchalant about this?" she asks. "Huh, I just take things as they come, I will figure it out, I know I will," he says. "I wish I had your simple-minded optimism," she says and looks at the food on the plate in front of her. "I suppose if you somehow manage to get one down with Shellder, you might get in a big enough hit to weaken the Pokémon during the second round just enough to beat it with Charmander. Or I suppose you could sweep the whole field, but it might be too obvious of a strategy, which means the gym leader probably expects it, which means you should be clever about it and weaken things a little by little or maybe that is too obvious too," Mia mumbles.
"My, if I knew you mumbled when you eat, I would have given it a second thought to let you tag along," he tells her. "Huh, what do you mean let me? You asked me to come with you." "Just eat, and I will deal with the gym. After all, I am the one battling, not you," he tells her. "I suppose so, but still," she says in a small voice before taking a bite.
They eat in silence, and Mia packs her things into her backpack, and the two head down to the first floor to get their Pokémon.
"Hi there, here are your Pokémon, Marcus," Nurse Joy says and hands him the tray. "Thank you," he says and packs the Pokéballs to his belt.
"And here are yours, Mia Greenwald," she says and hands the tray over, and Umbreon jumps up on the counter and into Mia's arms, who catches him. "Woah, I have missed you too, Umbreon," she says with a smile.
"Oh, and Mia, I spoke with my younger sister from Viridian City, and she told me what she gave you," the nurse says. "Uh, she talks about me?" Mia asks. "Of course, the daughter of the famous Greenwald, who is so intellectual and kind. Word tends to go around, especially since she has gotten to see you grow up, even though it was through visits and such," Nurse Joy tells her.
(Right kind, my nose still hurts) Marcus thinks to himself.
"Now, I do have something I want to give you, something that helped me plenty when I studied," she explains and kneels down to get something from beneath the counter. As she stands up, she hands Mia a notebook.
"Oh, I see. Um, thank you. I am honored that you believe in me enough to give me this," Mia says with a neat bow. "So modest. Lilia must be proud to have such a daughter," Nurse Joy says as Mia puts the book into her backpack. "Oh, well, thank you. Well, I better be off. Thank you for taking care of my Pokémon," Mia says gratefully. "No problem, it was my pleasure and honor," Nurse Joy tells her, and Mia smiles and waves goodbye.
And they leave the center. "Is your dad seriously this much of a big deal?" Marcus asks. "Not really. I mean, his name is well-known, but only because of my mother's family, which has researchers and good people working hard to discover new and better ways to take care of and treat Pokémon," Mia explains.
"Anyway, let us go to the gym," Mia says, shrugging off the encounter. "Sure thing! Oh yeah, this will be so awesome," he says as they walk.
They continue to the far edge of town on a hilltop surrounded by rocks, where on top of it is a bunch of heavy giant rocks stacked together with one giant rock on top, making the roof. There is a big double metal door in the middle, and around the rock structure is a metal frame around the outline forming a house.
On the big rock for the roof, there are letters put off-center where it says Pewter Gym in the upper left corner.
Mia and Marcus look to each other for a moment before Marcus goes to the door and pushes it, and it slowly opens, and the two head inside to a big, dark room.
"One can't really see anything in here," Marcus says. "Who goes there?" they hear a loud, stern voice ring through the room as the lights in the ceiling are turned on, and they both look ahead to see a dark-skinned guy sitting patiently. He has dark brown spiky hair and wears an orange shirt with a green vest over it and blue jeans.
"Hi, this is the right place for the Pewter Gym, right?" Marcus asks. "That is right, and I assume you are here to win a badge then," the guy says, standing up. "That is correct. The name is Marcus, and I am here for that badge," Marcus says. "Right, my name is Brock, and I am the gym leader. Let me clarify one thing first: are you both here for a badge?" he asks and looks from Marcus to Mia. "Huh? Oh no, I am just here to spectate as a friend," Mia clarifies.
"Right then, get onto the stands above so the match can begin," he says, and Mia nods and runs to the stands, and the room begins to shake as garage doors on each side slide up, and out comes a rocky platform that slides out and covers the arena between them.
Brock proceeds to walk down and stands in position with the arena directly in front of him. "Let the match begin. For my first Pokémon, I choose Geodude," Brock says and throws out his Pokéball, and out comes the Geodude hovering above ground in the middle of the field.
"And I choose you, Shellder!" Marcus yells and throws out his Pokémon onto the field, and Shellder jumps out of the ball, bouncing on the rocky surface, ready and pumped for battle. "Your Shellder seems strong and eager to fight, and right then I shall start," Brock says and clears his throat. "Geodude, use Rock Throw!" he yells, and Geodude proceeds to do just that, throwing rocks at Shellder, who jumps and dodges to the best of his abilities. But one rock smacks him clear in his shelly face, and he is hurled into another rock before regaining himself. "Oh no, good job so far, Shellder! Now, use Hydro Pump!" Marcus yells, and Shellder does just that, shooting a strong stream of water towards Geodude.
"Quick, dodge it, Geodude!" Brock yells, and Geodude does his best but is sprayed a little on his arm. Mia watches carefully from the sidelines. "They both are injured," she utters. "Umbreon," her Pokémon says, and she goes to pet him.
She watches as rock and water are hurled back and forth on the stadium, both Pokémon seemingly evenly matched when it comes to dodging the other one's attacks. She sees that Marcus seems frustrated by the prolonged battle, and Shellder seems rather tired and beat as it is beginning to pant between each move.
"Marcus better finish this quickly. I don't think Shellder can handle another Pokémon after this one," she says, concerned.
"Shellder, use Hydro Pump," Marcus says, and Shellder gives it everything he has, shooting towards Geodude and hitting it, knocking Geodude out.
"Geodude, return," Brock says, and Geodude is called back into its Pokéball. "Your Shellder is pretty tough, but it won't withstand another battle, so you better have another Pokémon ready," Brock says, bringing out his second Pokéball and throwing it. "Onix, go!" he yells, and a huge Onix emerges from the ball, surprising Shellder. It looks to Marcus for guidance.
"It's fine. You only need to land one good hit, and then you can rest, Shellder, okay?" Marcus reassures it, and Shellder nods, turning back to the field.
"If it gets the chance, Onix, strangle him," Brock commands, and Onix quickly curls around Shellder, holding it tight in its grip and squeezing hard. "Oh no, Shellder, please try to use Hydro Pump or Water Gun if you can, just once, please. I know you can do it," Marcus encourages. Shellder tries its best, but nothing comes out, and they can hear Shellder's shell struggling to keep its shape under the pressure.
Unable to bear it, Mia stands up. "Marcus, what are you doing? Shellder is spent. Bring out someone else, please," Mia pleads.
Marcus closes his eyes, losing faith. "Well, I, I," he stutters, about to grab the Pokéball, when a bright light shines from Shellder. They all look on in amazement and surprise as it glows and changes form, forcing Onix to loosen its grip and move away.
Once the light dissipates, they see Cloyster glaring at Onix. "Alright, Cloyster, use Hydro Pump!" Marcus yells, and Cloyster complies. "Onix, dodge it!" Onix tries to dodge, but it quickly loses speed, getting weaker and weaker until the Hydro Pump catches up and hits Onix square.
"What the?" Brock exclaims, looking at the dripping wet field. "Very clever. And here I thought you were all bark and no brain," Brock acknowledges as Onix gets knocked out. "Onix, return," Brock says, and Onix is recalled to its Pokéball. He pushes a button, and the field returns to normal.
"Well, you defeated me fair and square. It was clever of you to wet the field as much as you did. You tired out Shellder, I mean Cloyster, more than necessary that way," Brock informs them as Mia goes down onto the field.
"Hey, that was my idea, and you did it in a reckless manner. You could have gotten Cloyster seriously hurt," Mia says, walking up to them.
"Yeah, well—" Marcus stops in his tracks as Mia already ignores him and crouches down to Cloyster, petting its horn. "I'm sorry, Cloyster. If it wasn't for me and my nervous mouth, you would never have been put in so much danger. Are you alright?" Mia asks. Cloyster smiles at her and nods.
"Wait, now it's your fault all of a sudden?" Marcus asks.
'Well, I do agree you did drag it out more than necessary and exposed your Pokémon to unnecessary danger. As a gym leader, I must implore you to be more careful in the future, is that understood?'' Brock asks.
''Huh, oh yes, of course, I will. But I won though,'' Marcus says.
''I said, is that understood? Otherwise, I can't in good conscience give you the badge,'' Brock clarifies.
''What, but I—alright, I promise I will make sure to be better prepared for the next match and not push my Pokémon this hard ever again,'' Marcus promises, and Mia stands upright, looking to Marcus and then back to Brock. ''I will make sure that he stays true to his word,'' she tells him.
''Alright, then here is your gym badge,'' Brock says, holding it out to Marcus, who accepts it. ''Alright, my first Gym badge! We did it, Cloyster!'' Marcus says with joy and looks to Cloyster, who is already asleep. ''Evolved or not, he is still exhausted after the battle. We should let him rest and let Nurse Joy take a look at him,'' Mia suggests. ''That would be best,'' Brock agrees and looks closely at Mia. ''Say, have I seen you somewhere before? Something related to food in some form?'' Brock asks.
''Huh? Oh no, of course not. Now let me get this guy out of your hair. Goodbye, and thank you so much for a splendid match,'' she says with a smile and ties her shoulder around Marcus's shoulder as he is admiring the Boulder Badge. He almost drops it as Mia pulls him along with her, and Umbreon runs after them.
She keeps going for quite a bit before Marcus says something. ''Hello, could you let go of me at some point?'' Marcus tells her, and she is snapped out of her state and stops. ''Oh, sorry. Yes, so a Boulder Badge. You must be proud,'' she says sweetly.
''So, you are done scolding me now, and yes, I am,'' he says and looks at it once more. He takes his backpack off, opens a side pocket, and brings out a small, linear wooden box, which he opens. Inside, there is a violet silky fabric encasing a small pillow that is sewn to the bottom, holding the badge in place. He fastens the badge to the fabric and smiles proudly. ''My very first badge,'' he utters to himself and admires the badge once more before he places the lid back on and puts it back into the side pocket of the backpack.
''That box sure is well-made and neat. Where did you get it?'' Mia asks.
''Well, I made it. My family works with wood, you see. My father is a carpenter, and my mother is an interior designer. Nothing too fancy,'' he says.
''Whoa, that sounds really cool. And it's incredible that you are able to craft something so neat and nice,'' she says enthusiastically, and he looks to her, a bit taken aback by her genuine interest and surprise instead of judgment that the career path is of a less popular one.
He thinks it over for a second before he stands up straight and puts the backpack back on. ''What is it? Is there something on your mind?'' she asks.
''Come on, it's back to the Pokémon Center, and then we are headed for Cerulean City!'' he exclaims, grabbing her hand and pulling her along. She is taken a bit aback by the sudden change in demeanor as he is back to being chipper again, and she smiles as he leads the way, with Umbreon following closely behind.
With his first gym badge proudly pinned to his jacket and another city explored, Marcus and Mia set their sights on the next destination. What fun adventures await them there? Stay tuned to find out.