Chapter Two: Back to School

I stared down at the empty page. It was just supposed to be some simple research notes. How hard could it be? Apparently quite hard. Every time I started writing, it always sounded better in my head. I had burned through half of this pencil's eraser already.

My new Pokémon wasn't much help either. Rhyhorn stood out in the field, off in his own little world. Munching on some grass, pawing at the dirt, then munching on the dirt. He then sniffed some nearby flowers and proceeded to simultaneously sneeze and break wind. With a huge yawn, he flopped down with a heavy thud, and began napping.

Not exactly the most enticing research subject. But then again, being a researcher wasn't that enticing to me so… whatever.

The past few hours were spent traveling through Route 1. How that dismal dirt path got the honor of being the very first route, I did not know. But I did know that my feet were killing me and that I hated walking.

Which meant it was time for a break. There was a small grassy field off to one side, and I let Rhyhorn out for some fresh air. Also to try to take some notes on him. Not that I wanted to. But if I really want Mom to hold up her end of our little deal, then I have to make it look like I tried, right?

"Hey… um, Rhyhorn?" I said. "Can you do something… you know, interesting?"

"Rrrgh," replied Rhyhorn. The rocky dude was out like a light. Lucky him, getting to sleep whenever and wherever. But whatever. I'll just start with a basic description.

Rhyhorn is a Rock and Ground type Pokémon. It's gray in color and has four small legs with two pointy toes on each. Its body is protected by thick stone plates with a large ridge running down the length of its back. The horn on its head is small, yet sharp and powerful.

I have no idea how strong that horn is. I'm just kinda making it up as I go.

Its diet seems to consist of rocks and grass, and…

And then… writer's block. I had no idea where to go with what I wrote. So I did what anyone who didn't want to do their own work would do. I turned to the internet.

I pulled my PokéGear out from my bag. For those of you whose mother doesn't work at Silph Co and is completely out of the loop of their products, the PokéGear is basically just a smartphone marketed toward Trainers. It has all the same features of a normal phone, just at double the price. And they used Silph's special network, meaning that no matter where you are, you always have a 50/50 chance of having a signal. Technology is amazing, eh?

Silph Co's built-in search engine was also about as fast as a Snorlax crossing the street – something my dad says. And even when it worked, it just prioritized social media posts from other Trainers. All I was able to find were people showing off their beloved Rhyhorn and one guy that was way too excited over a blurry photo of a reddish Rhyhorn.

I was about to give up when I scrolled past a certain post of… Ooh, hello. Rhyhorn racing? The only racing I do is from the comfort of my PC, but if my Rhyhorn could double as transportation… well, maybe my feet won't hurt so much.

"Rhyhorn, can you stand up for a moment?" I set my stuff aside and went over to my Pokémon. "I wanna try something."

"Hrrrn?" Rhyhorn cracked his eye open and stared at me. Then he yawned and stood up. "Rhy?"

Okay, slow and steady. "Easy now," I said calmly – mostly talking to myself – as I slowly put my foot on one of Rhyhorn's side plates. He looked up at me and tilted his head, but didn't seem to mind. So I climbed up and swung my other leg over. And just like that, I was sitting atop my Pokémon.

And to be honest… it was kinda cool. I had a mount in real life now. "You know what," I said, giving Rhyhorn a gentle pat on the side. "I'm think I'm gonna call you Gideon." Sure, sure, it wasn't quite the noble steed that my PokéScape Rapidash was, but hey. A ride is a ride. "Is that alright with you?"

Gideon burped in response. I don't think he cares either way.

Alright then, time for a test drive. I tapped his sides with the back of my feet. "Okay, giddy-up!"

And… Gideon remained still.

"Um… go. Start moving. Do something."

Gideon yawned, and rapidly shook his back.

"Whoa!" I was flung off, landing hard on my butt with a loud "Bleugh!" Not hard enough to get injured, but hard enough to knock my glasses clean off my face.

"Okay... something that's not that." I wiped the dirt off my glasses. "What's your deal?"

But the Rhyhorn glared at me. "Hrrn." He rolled onto his side, and resumed his nap in the sun. This guy might just be lazier than me. I didn't think that was possible.

Maybe he didn't like passengers. I don't think I would. But walking to Pewter City on my own two feet sounded absolutely nightmarish. I'm not taking no for an answer here. "Well, we can try again."

But Gideon remained asleep.

"Come on, get up."

"Rrrrgh."

"I said get up!" I grabbed the ridge on his back and tried to pull him up right. This was a terrible idea in hindsight – I have next to no upper body strength. But still, I pulled with all my might until my feet slipped out from underneath me and I fell on my butt again. Urgh. Why does he have to be like this?

"Okay, look at me," I said, crouching down in front of him to get as close to eye level as I could. "Hey, I'm talking to you. Eyes on me."

My Rhyhorn snorted, but slowly opened one eye.

"Good." I put my hands on my hips. "I'm the Trainer, you're the Pokémon, and you're supposed to do what I tell you." That's how this is supposed to work, right? "So… just get up."

Gideon grumbled, and slowly got to his feet. "Hrrrn," he muttered.

"Now that's better. That wasn't too hard, now was – bleugh!"

I was hit in the face with a strong blast of sand. It was a sustained burst lasting several seconds, and the coarse particles scattered all over me. It got into my hair, and my clothes, and my shoes. Fortunately my glasses kept my eyes clear, but quite a bit still ended up in my mouth.

"Bleh… phtoo… blah!" I spit out several clods of sand, and clawed at my tongue to scrape the rest out. "What's wrong with you?" I could still feel hundreds of rough little grains in my mouth. Not a pleasant feeling. "Seriously, what's your problem?" I snapped at my Pokémon.

Gideon slowly turned his back to me and dropped to the ground once again. "Hrrn."

"Yeah, I hate being stuck with you too." I returned him to his PokéBall and crammed it in my pocket.

I stomped back to my stuff, yanking my shoes and socks off to dump the sand out. It had gotten everywhere, but most of it was pretty easy to clean up. Though some had gotten into places where it really, really shouldn't be. I'll spare you the details, but now I need a nice warm shower.

My notebook was still sitting open on my backpack. But where I had been stumped before, I now had a whole new insight into my Pokémon and knew exactly what to add. I quickly scratched out the few lines of text I'd written before, and then furiously scribbled a few new ones.

My Rhyhorn is a complete and total pain. All he does is eat and sleep and burp and fart. He's stupid and annoying and spits sand in my face. He doesn't listen to me, and doesn't care about me. And, quite frankly, I really don't care about much him. If I've learned only one thing from this project, it's that Rhyhorn sucks and I can't think of a worse Pokémon to be paired with.

I slammed the book shut and shoved in back into my bag. This was already way more than I bargained for and I can't wait until this whole thing is over. I threw my backpack onto my back and stormed off toward Viridian City.

Viridian City is pretty much the exact opposite of Pallet Town. You pass through some neighborhoods and residential areas to get to the heart of the city, where tall buildings stood as far as the eye could see. Hundreds of people and Pokémon traveled up and down the streets, all going somewhere. It seems like everyone is in a hurry in cities nowadays.

The air was thick with voices and car horns and music and… pretty much all every other city sound you could think of. And there were a lot of weird smells too. Car exhaust, flowers from a nearby florist, tasty food from a street vendor, and a myriad of others, both pleasant and abhorrent.

This was my first time in Viridian City and… it was all so overwhelming. I was used to the more wide open spaces of my home town, but everything here felt so cramped. The sidewalk was a clogged mess of pedestrians while the street was blocked up with traffic. I'll admit that I'm not much of a country girl, but this place doesn't appeal to me either.

I had been a bit worried about getting lost, but fortunately my destination was extremely easy to find. The bright-red roof of the multi-story Pokémon Center stood out against the blue and gray buildings like a Dratini in an Ekans pit. Something my dad says.

The minute I stepped inside, I was hit with a rush of cold air. Like, ice-cold air. I know it's summer and all, but I think this might be a bit of overkill. There was a cafe off to the side, but the lights were off and the chairs stacked on the tables. Several Trainers were hanging around in the lobby talking about… Trainer stuff, I guess.

"Hello, and welcome to the Viridian City Pokémon Center!" The peppy Nurse Joy behind the counter exclaimed as I walked up. "Are you here to register for the Indigo Plateau's Summer League?"

Absolutely not. The Research Club already sucks enough on its own. "Um… no. I um… I just was hoping to get a room for the night."

"Well I can certainly help you with that!" said the nurse, consulting her computer. "We have a few rooms available! A few free rooms, and a few fancier that you can rent! Do you have a preference?"

"Whichever one has a hot shower." But I already knew which one I was gonna take.

"There's a public bathhouse available for everyone staying here, but our rented rooms each have their own private bathroom."

Yup. Figures. So I dug my card out and handed it to the nurse. "Yeah yeah, give me one of the nice rooms." Mom said she gave me some traveling money, but I don't know how much. Hopefully enough for a room. "I'm only staying for tonight."

"Alrighty!" The nurse checked me in and handed my card back, along with a room key. "You'll be in Room 13. I hope you enjoy your stay!" She gave me a great big smile. "Now, what about your Pokémon? Is there anything I can do for them?"

"Can you fix his attitude?"

The nurse giggled. "New Trainer, I take it? It's pretty common to have some trouble with your Pokémon when you're both still getting used to each other. But I think I know what can help you!" She ducked down under the desk and quickly returning with a piece of colorful paper in her hand, which she handed to me. "The Viridian Trainer Academy!"

"Um…" The flyer gave the address of the academy and directions to get there, and featured art of two Trainers battling, one with a Nidorino and the other a Gengar. But I'm pretty sure it was a generic stock photo. Like, I know I've seen that exact image before. And all the text was a bit blurry. I think someone flunked out of their design class. "Thanks and all, but… I really don't know if I have the time to go back to school."

"Oh, it's not like that," the nurse assured me. "You don't have to register or anything. It's one of those 'come and go as you please' kind of deals, and they're open pretty late. They have a bunch of different instructors who can tell you… well, whatever you want to know!"

"Uh… okay. I'll go tomorrow then." No I won't.

The nurse's smile remained. "You should try to go today, if you get the chance! After all, Professor Oak's own grandson is a guest instructor today!"

"Wait… really?" Blue? I thought that guy hated school as much as I did.

"Yup! He was in here bragging about it earlier," replied the nurse. "If anyone can help fix things between you and your Pokémon, I'm sure it'll be him!"

Oh lady. You do not know Blue like I do. He does not fix things. He is the reason that things need to be fixed. The time I broke my arm? Fell out of Blue's crappy tree house. Red's bike getting all bent up? Blue made a terrible ramp. My school laptop crashing? Blue said those websites were safe.

But still… the thought of Blue as a teacher amuses me. I doubt those poor students are learning a single useful thing. And anything useful would certainly be buried under Blue's huge ego. And I'm sure the actual teacher has chewed him out several times already.

Either way, this sounds like a disaster and I wanna see it.

After a nice warm shower that finally freed me from the annoyance of a few unfortunately placed sand particles, I was back out on the streets of Viridian City. The directions on the academy flyer were a bit hard to read, but I found my way with a bit of trial and error.

It was starting to get into the evening as I reached the city outskirts, with the tall buildings now in the background and the well-paved streets replaced with gravel and dirt paths. The academy itself was really just an old house, but one of decent size. Out front was a large yard that had been converted into a Pokémon battlefield.

And that's where all the action was.

The students were sitting in the bleachers on one side of the field, and they were a very odd group. They were mostly younger children, one even wearing an Eevee outfit. A few teens were scattered between them, but the standout was the middle-aged businessman in the back. A thin woman with a clipboard stood off to their side, the teacher I assume.

Everyone's attention was on the guy standing at the center of the field. This particular guy was about a year older than me, with spiky brown hair and confident eyes to match. He wore a green light jacket over his black tank top, and his blue jeans seemed to be a bit purple to me.

So yeah. That's Blue.

At his feet were two small Pokémon, one a rather generic looking brown bird, and the other a purple and spiky creature with large ears. A Pidgey and a male Nidoran, for those of you who are familiar with them.

Blue had his back to me, and was addressing the class. "Now… Pokémon battling is more than just using attacks. There are plenty of other moves and techniques that can help turn the tables on your opponent. That's how I got to be as good as I am." he said, with a hint of his usual smugness. "Just watch and learn!"

He ran off to one end of the field and his Pidgey took flight and followed him, while the Nidoran scurried over to the opposing side. "Alright, Nidoran! I want you to try to hit Pidgey with one of your Poison Sting attacks! Got it?"

Nidoran nodded.

"Pidgey! Go in for a for a Tackle!"

"Piii!" The tiny bird Pokémon swooped down low and barreled toward the Nidoran.

"Nee-doh!" The spikes on Nidoran's back began to glow bright purple. It then reared back and fired off its attack, a fine needle of poison energy flying straight at the Pidgey.

"Now, Double Team!"

"Gii!" Pidgey shifted its momentum, and quickly climbed several feet up. And then it started zipping around rapidly – side to side, up and down. It was moving so fast that it looked like there were a whole flock of Pidgey in the air, each mimicking the movements of the first.

Nidoran's Poison Sting struck the Pidgey… or at least one of them. But it disappeared. The little poison Pokémon shot several more attacks at the flock of birds, but each Pidgey hit vanished into nothing. "Raahhnn?"

"By using Double Team, your Pokémon can move around so fast that it appears as if there are multiple of them," Blue explained. "It's a great way to avoid attacks and disorient your opponent, giving you an opening for an attack. For example…" he turned back to his Pokémon. "Pidgey, give me your strongest Quick Attack!"

The horde of Pidgey dissipated instantly, leaving only the real Pokémon. "Piii-gee!" The brown bird coated itself in a gentle aura of white energy, and took off like a rocket toward Nidoran. But the streak of light stopped just short of the Poison Pokémon as Pidgey came to a halt and dropped to its feet. It held its wing out to its opponent. Nidoran shook it with its little paw. They were good sports, I guess.

"As you can see, battling is more than just attacks," Blue went on. "The next time you want your Pokémon to learn a new move, don't disregard something just because it's not an attack. Think about how you can use it to your advantage."

"Okay, class," said the teacher. She shuffled out onto the field. "We'll take a five minute break and then…" she turned to Blue. "Would you be willing to close today with an actual Pokémon battle?"

Blue folded his arms. "It'll be a bit of an unfair match, but I'm sure everyone can learn a lot by watching me!"

Some of the students cheered excitedly before they all dispersed. A few went back inside and the rest stood around talking. The businessman pulled a sandwich from his briefcase and started snacking.

Blue returned his Pokémon to their PokéBalls and stuck them with the other two on his belt. I guess he saw me out of the corner of his eye, because he then turned to me. "New student? You're a bit late. But don't worry, the great Blue Oak never would never turn away a Trainer in search of knowledge!" He put his hands proudly on his hips. "I know everything! So what can I help you with?"

That's Blue for you. Always kinda in himself, if you know what I mean. I pushed the brim of my cap up as I walked to him, making my face a bit more visible. "Actually… I just want to know how you got this job."

"Katori?" Blue's grin widened from cheek to cheek, and the over-confidence in his voice faded. "What are you doing here? I thought you never left your house, let alone Pallet Town."

"Yeah, that was the plan. Well… my plan."

"Ah. Your mother?"

"She told me I could have the whole summer to myself but…" I stuck my tongue out. "Pbbbt."

"You always did complain about her. A lot." Blue chuckled, presumably at the years of whining I've put him through. "So, what are you in for this time? Sports camp again? Or maybe an art camp? Or…" He grimaced. "Math camp?"

"Worse."

"Worse than math?"

I set my bag down and pulled out my research notebook. "Worse than math."

Blue's eyes lit up. "No way! You got in the Research Club too? That's awesome! I thought it was just me and Red!" He pulled the notebook out of my hands. "So? Have you seen any cool Pokémon? I've already got four entries written down!"

"Uh, no. Nothing cool. I just have one but… it's really boring." I tried to grab the book back, but Blue moved it out of the way. "I really don't think you'd be interested in it."

"Why wouldn't I be?" replied Blue, as he flipped to my one and only entry. His eyes skimmed back and forth across the page, and his smile shrunk. "Hm. You and your Rhyhorn… you two don't get along, do you?"

And that's also Blue. Always sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. "Really? That obvious, huh?"

"Hey, no big deal. It's still the first day… you'll get there." He handed the notebook back. "Have you battled with your Pokémon at all? That's a great way to get closer."

I snatched my book out of his hands, then jammed it back into my backpack. "I never really cared for battling."

"Why not?"

"I dunno… just not my thing."

"Well… you never know unless you try."

"I've never fallen off a cliff, but I know I wouldn't like that."

"You should give it a shot. Just once."

"Battling? Or the cliff?"

"Battling, but… either."

"I'll pass. On both."

By this point, the students had made a noisy return to the bleachers. The instructor motioned to Blue, and the brunette boy nodded in return.

"Well, it's showtime," he told me, with a great big confident smile. "But hey… why don't you stick around for the battle. Maybe you can learn something just by watching."

"Oh… um…" I guess as long as I don't have to be involved. Maybe I could even find something useful to write down in my notebook. "I, um… sure. guess I can do that." I retreated off of the battlefield, choosing a spot far away from the others. I could feel them staring at me for a few moments before they went back to minding their own business.

"Okay class!" The instructor began addressing the students. "You've all been learning about Pokémon battling from real Trainer today. And now, one of you is going to be put to the test in a real Pokémon battle!" Some of the younger kids started jumping up and down, waving their arms in the air, eager for the battle. "Now now, relax," the teacher went on. "Everyone will get their chance one day. But for now…" she turned to Blue. "Why don't we let out guest choose?"

"You're letting me pick?"

"Of course."

He smirked. "Any student?"

"Take your pick."

I could see Blue's eyes darting from student to student. Starting at the kids yelling "Me me me!" to the ones desperately trying to avoid eye contact. Then from them to the older businessman sitting in the back, who had his hand politely raised. But Blue kept going, slowly turning past the class and towards…

No. No no no. If he doesn't stop, I am going murder him.

And then we locked eyes, and he over-dramatically pointed straight at me. "Katori! I'm challenging you!"

Okay, so that's one count of homicide.

I rubbed the back of my head and shifted nervously in my seat. "Um… no thanks."

Every eye was drilling right into me. And I didn't have to look. I could just feel it. So I just picked a small rock on the battlefield and stared at it and nothing else. If I don't pay attention to them… maybe they'll just move on.

Of course, they didn't. Felt like the whole world was just focusing on me and me alone.

"Well," the teacher finally broke the silence. "If she doesn't want to battle, then we can-"

"She's just chicken!" The little girl in the Eevee outfit jumped up onto the bleachers and started flapping her elbows like chicken wings, and making chicken noises. "Bwuack bwuack bwuack!" The instructor quickly hushed the child, who pouted as she slipped back into her seat. Which was probably the best for her, since she was only a couple of 'bwuacks' away from being count number two.

But truth be told, I'm not scared that I'm going to lose. I know I'm going to lose. Losing is just the continuous state of being for Katori Summers. I just hate losing when people or Pokémon are depending on me because I just keep letting everyone down. It's all I can do and-

"I think that you should go for it." The businessman in the stands calmly looked at me, his eyes kind and soft on his gruff and stern face. "You can't let your fear hold you back and keep you from your dreams. Just look at me! I've been working a normal office job for decades because I was too afraid to push and challenge myself to do what I wanted." He threw a fist triumphantly into the air. "But not anymore! I finally decided to take my destiny into my own hands… so here I am! Chasing after my dreams and desire to become a Pokémon Trainer! And if I can do it… then so can you!"

"Yeah, you can do it!" cheered another student.

"We believe in you!" added a third.

"Bwuack bwuack bwuack!" said the girl in the Eevee outfit.

The other students soon joined in with their own words of encouragement, and their cheers quickly melded into a chorus of support. Never give up, overcome your fear, do your best… all of that. Sure, it might sound all wholesome and uplifting but… I don't wanna be uplifted. I just want them to stop. I just wanna be left alone.

But they didn't stop. They just kept going and going and going. Their supportive messages hammering into my brain until-

"Fine!" I shouted back. The whole field got quiet as they stared at me. "Fine," I said again, this time in a more controlled voice. "I'll do it." So I went out onto the battlefield, pulling Gideon's PokéBall from its pouch. It took me a moment to figure out where I needed to stand – it's that little Trainer box on the side of the field.

"You sure you're up for this?" asked Blue, slightly concerned.

"Oh shut up. It's your fault I'm out here."

"Right…" Blue took his position in the opposing box and brought out one of his own PokéBalls. "So… if you only have one Pokémon, then it'll have to be a one-on-one. That work for you?"

"Whatever gets this over the fastest."

"Hey, give it a shot. Work with your Pokémon and you might be able to resolve some of your issues," he said, throwing his PokéBall onto the field. It was a backhanded throw initially aimed to the right, but Blue put enough spin on the ball that it curved back and landed in the center of his side of the field. "Let's go, Nidoran!"

His little purple Pokémon appeared in a flash of blue light. "Nee-doh!"

I thought about trying to mimic his fancy throw but… well, let's be honest. This is me we're talking about. The only throwing I do is throwing up. So I just kinda chucked my PokéBall to the field, and it just kinda fell to the ground. It stood silent for a second before opening up and releasing Gideon.

"Rhhnn…" muttered my Rhyhorn. He looked around for a few brief seconds, taking in his surroundings and the opposing Pokémon and Trainer before casting a look back at me. "Hrrn?"

"Yeah, sorry to wake you but… we're kind of in a battle," I told him, keeping as quiet as I could. The people in the bleachers don't need to know just how dysfunctional we are. "So can you just, uh… pretend to like me for… I dunno, five minutes?"

Gideon yawned quite loudly, but turned his attention back to our opponents. He seemed pretty attentive and didn't immediately curl up for another nap so… maybe we're on to something here. Maybe Blue was right about battling.

"I challenged you, Katori," said Blue, the snark returning to his voice. "I'll let you take the first move."

"Oh gee, that's so thoughtful of you," was my dry and flat-toned response. And I started spinning up those gears in my head.

So. Battle time. I have no idea what I'm doing, but if I fake it hard enough… maybe it won't be a complete embarrassment. Just gotta think back to all the times I've seen battling on TV and just do what those guys were doing, right?

"Gideon, use… um…" Okay, so problem number one. I have no idea what moves a Rhyhorn knows. And I wouldn't even know where- oh wait. "Hold that thought," I told my Pokémon, even though there probably wasn't a single thought going through that stony head.

I quickly fished out my PokéDex and pointed the camera at Gideon, and uh… Okay, so problem number two. I have no idea how to use this thing. Mashing a couple of buttons only got me a couple of beeps and boops, but-

"Um… you okay over there?" asked Blue.

"Uh… yeah, sure. Everything's fine. Just peachy."

"… you don't know any of Rhyhorn's moves, do you?"

"What? No… of course I do." I flipped through some more menus and pressed more buttons and… oh hey. Now it's all in Spanish. "Just… wanted to take a nice photo to commemorate the occasion."

Blue sighed. He knows me too well. "Hold down the big green button."

Ah, you've got to hold it. Right. "Um… okay." This time the PokéDex let out a long bloop, and the display screen switched to the camera view. "Oh, neat." I aimed the camera at my Pokémon, and the device quickly pulled up Rhyhorn's page. Shift a few tabs and… ah. Known moves. There we go.

Okay, now we're ready for sure. "So um… use Tackle?"

Gideon slowly turned his head and stared back at me. "Rhrrn."

"Well… if you don't know that one, then just use one you do."

He silently maintained his gaze.

"What about that thingy with the sand? You know… when you blasted me? Do that."

"Rhy?"

But I wasn't going to wait around to answer that question… what ever that question was. "Gideon, use your sand blast thingy!"

And that's when the most unexpected thing happened. Gideon took a step forward, sucked in a huge breath of air and then let loose with another long stream of sand from his mouth, taking aim right at Blue's Nidoran. The sand wave began to spread out a bit, wrapping around the battlefield and clouding up the sky.

Yeah, for real. He actually did what I asked him to. Finally.

But it was a short lived victory. Gideon choked. Metaphorically and quite literally. My Rhyhorn gagged and coughed, and the gust of sand sputtered to a stop. The sand slowly dispersed, falling to the ground, scattering each and every way.

And Gideon didn't seem too pleased. "Dahn!" he cried out, stamping at the dirt. "Rhy! Hrrn! Rhy! Hrrn!" His fit of anger didn't do anything to help the situation, all it did was coat his legs with dirt.

"Man… you two really are a mess, aren't you?" said Blue, shaking his head. "But you can only learn from experience! Nidoran, use Double Kick!"

"Rahn!" the puny purple poison Pokémon dashed toward Gideon, before leaping into the air. It spun around mid-air and landed a rather painful looking kick straight into my Rhyhorn's face. "Nee-doh!" It whirled around again, striking a second time.

"Rhrrn!" Gideon was knocked onto his side and slid back several feet. He desperate clawed at the air with his feet, but couldn't upright himself. "Rhy!"

And I just stood there frozen, watching him helplessly flail around. What do I do? Do I go out there and push him over? Does he need to use a move? Do I just let the battle play out? How… how could that tiny Nidoran hit that hard with a kick anyway?

"Fighting-Type moves beat Rock-Type Pokémon." Blue said, as if reading my mind. "Type match-ups are critical for winning battles." He was back in teacher mode, addressing the class. "Know them well enough, and you can turn any battle in your favor." He looked out over the small crowd as they eagerly doted over his every word. He really loves attention. "And another thing," he turned back to the battle. "Whenever an opportunity arises… always take it!"

"Hey, come on!" I shouted at Gideon. We're not gonna win this, but I don't wanna go down without a fight. Or at least… it looking like we put up a fight. "Get up! You have to get up!"

"One more time, Nidoran! Double Kick!" Blue's Pokémon dashed toward Gideon again, kicking up little clouds of dust in its path. "Hit 'em while they're down!"

Nidoran's feet lit up as it attacked, the first kick hitting hard and fast. But the second hit harder and faster. "Dahn!" Gideon cried out, as Nidoran's foot struck him directly in his exposed stomach, the one spot his heavy stone armor didn't cover.

The force of the impact was enough to roll him back to his feet. He slid back across the ground, leaving a short but Rhyhorn sized trail in the dirt before stopping just a few feet away from me. He stood for several seconds, breathing heavily.

Then he collapsed.

And he laid there. Silently. Unmoving. His legs limp, his eyes closed.

"G-Gideon?"

He remained motionless. I could feel a knot forming in my stomach. Blue thought this would help us? Typical Blue… always making things worse. Gideon's just gonna hate me more now. My knees buckled, and crawled over to my fallen Pokémon.

"Hey, are you okay?" I tried to shake him awake. "Come on… get up."

Nothing.

"Please… say something."

Then Gideon broke wind. Loudly.

Well… I guess that's something.

My Rhyhorn cracked an eye open. He briefly made eye contact, but huffed and quickly looked away.

I put my hand on his shoulder. "Hey, um…" my voice felt like it was stuck in the back of my throat. "I'm… I'm sorry." I'm sorry that you got hurt. I'm sorry that I'm such a terrible Trainer. I'm sorry that you got stuck with me. But I pushed all of that back down inside of me. "Just… I'm sorry."

He just grumbled something under his breath and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, just… get some rest." My hand was trembling as I returned him to his PokéBall. I shrunk the capsule down and tightened my fist around it.

Blue returned his Pokémon and took a few cautious steps toward me. "… Katori?"

"He's fine. I'm fine." I stood up and tried to sound okay. "But we're done."

All eyes were on me. I could just feel it. Urgh… it's just like sports camp all over again. Everyone was completely silent, but they wanted to laugh. I just know they did. They always do. Because Katori's such a loser, always disappointing everyone. Her parents, her friends, and now her Pokémon.

"Well, I think you did great!" It was that annoying old businessman again, just beaming at me with a great big old smile. "The first battle is always the hardest, but you still gave us a wonderful battle!"

Pfft, he clearly didn't watch the same battle. All I did was show the world Katori still sucks at everything and should've just stayed in bed. "Yeah… sure. Whatever." I pulled the brim of my cap down to hide my face as a small, warm tear trickled down my cheek. My shaky legs went on autopilot, walking back toward Viridian City.

"Hey… where are you going?" I could hear Blue running over to me.

"… Pokémon Center."

"Oh…" he stopped a few meters behind me. "… Are you alright?"

But I just kept walking. He knows everything. I'm sure he could figure it out.