All of the floatation devices from our previous battle had been fixed and restored, and were now floating leisurely about the pool just like last time.
Yeller leapt off of my shoulder and landed cleanly on the floating pad. He was still a little shaky on it, but he managed to balance a lot better after all the water-training we'd done with Misty.
On the other side of the field stood Misty and her Staryu, both ready to battle. "Alright, are you ready Cyan?"
I nodded. "I'm ready. What about you buddy?" I asked my partner. He raised his arm and gave me a thumbs-up. I've gotten a lot stronger, we can do this!
"We're both ready!" I answered to Misty.
By the side of the pool both Blue and Chee waited while watching over us. The latter let out an excited squeak as she waved her arms back and forth. I believe you can do it Cyan! Go get that Gym Badge!
I got Yeller to sync up with me and we both gave Chee a thumbs-up.
Misty frowned at me. "...You look a little different than usual..." She mused. I'd done my best to hide the extra materials I'd brought in with me, but she might still have noticed that my jacket pockets were more puffed out than usual.
"Really?" I smiled at her, adjusting my cap slightly to draw attention away from my jacket. "I guess my extra confidence is showing." There was a moment of silence, but it seemed that was enough to make her disregard the subject.
"Alright if you're feeling that confident, then let's begin!" Misty clapped her hands excitedly. "Staryu, use Rapid Spin!"
The brown and yellow star let out a sharp cry and began to spin like a... Well, like a Staryu using Rapid Spin to attack a Rattata? ...I'll workshop that analogy.
As it flew across the open pool I watched the spinning top closely. Alright, it's spinning Clockwise. "Yeller, Tail Whip. Anti-Clockwise Counter, on my mark."
Yeller stiffened up at my command, raising his tail into the air to be ready. Both our breaths were tight as we watched the enemy fly towards us...
"Mark!" I exclaimed, and the Yellow Rattata swiftly followed my commands, spinning to his left and bringing his tail between two of the limbs of the Staryu. The attack wasn't strong enough to have any actual damaging power, but it successfully destabilised the Staryu's spin and deflected it into the water besides Yeller's pad.
As soon as it landed in the water, my mind drew a direct line between Yeller and the Staryu, a line which Quick Mode-Or even Quick Attack-Would be able to instantly draw and land, giving me a lead...
Not yet. I need to save Yeller's energy.
As part of my strategy to defeat Misty, I'd made a few decisions while discussing the battle with Chee and Blue yesterday. In order to give myself the best shot at winning the entire battle, I'd decided to block off some of my tricks against the Staryu and save them for my battle against the Starmie. To that end, it was pivotal that I save as many Quick Attacks as possible.
"Tackle!" Yeller leapt from the pad and slammed his body into the Staryu, which recoiled in pain. The attack seemed more effective than I'd expected it to be. Ah, come to think of it, Tackle and Quick Attack are supposed to do the same amount of damage, huh?
"Staryu get back at them with Water Gun!" Misty ordered as Yeller leapt back off of the Stayru and towards the floating platform.
"Bite Shield!" And just by my command, the agile Rodent summoned a set of purple jaws. A ball of water formed at the tip of the Staryu's top limb, firing at Yeller and propelling him backwards further without dealing any significant damage. The extra momentum caused him to fly beyond his intended pad target and land in the water, but there was another pad right next to him that he quickly scampered on top of.
"Staryu, use Harden!" Misty seemed to be planning to stall for extra time, but if she wanted to give Yeller free time I was more than willing to take advantage of that.
"Focus Energy!"
There was a long silence as the two Pokemon strengthened themselves. The Stayru took on a silver sheen for a moment as the flash of blue signified that Yeller had gathered a stack of Focus Energy.
Misty and I locked eyes, a well of excitement welling up underneath her blue eyes. I could only assume I was meeting her with equal determination.
"Water Gun!" Misty ordered. "Destroy their platform!"
"Yeller, get in close!"
Yeller leapt clear from the platform as the stream of water from the Staryu collided with the floatation device, sending it sinking down under the water. A second shot of water skimmed over the Rattata's head as he ducked to the deck.
"Tackle again!" I commanded, and my Partner dug his claws into the platform, propelling himself forwards like a torpedo without even bothering to stand upright again. The Staryu tried to pull away but Yeller managed to hit it again. "Stick close to it!" I added, watching as the wave of blue energy flooded off of Yeller's body and collided with the Staryu, hurting it even more.
The Staryu pushed away from Yeller, but the yellow-furred rodent clung onto it with his tail and claws, refusing to be shaken off. "Now, while it's close, use Tail Whip again!"
"Staryu, use Rapid Spin to knock him off!" Misty countered, and the star-shaped being began to spin up to speed. Yeller slapped it with his tail with a front flip, but failed to keep hold of the Pokemon and soon fell back into the water.
After some hurried paddling, Yeller returned to the platform he'd occupied for most of the battle so far.
It's just like Blue said. Even without using most of my tricks, Yeller is capable of going toe-to-toe with Staryu. I should have believed in Yeller more.
I met the eyes of my partner, who almost looked like he was grinning at me. I've got this, you can trust me!
The real important part came next. So far everything was going to plan, but how difficult the fight with Staryu would be was all dependant on whether Misty's next action was what I expected or not.
"Staryu, take cover!" Misty ordered.
"Heh." Even though he was by the side of the field and I was trying not to focus on him, I could hear Blue's smug chuckle.
Yeah, that's Checkmate. She did it exactly when you said she would, Blue. I agreed, remembering the conversation I'd had with Blue and Chee just last night...
Chee and I hovered over my assorted notes on Staryu. I'd taken as much information as I could gather on both of Misty's Pokemon and the ways she fought with them.
"So in order to defeat Starmie, I need Yeller to retain as much strength as possible-As Per Blue's advice." I mused, reading the overview of our previous battle. "After all our training with Misty, I think Yeller will be able to handle the swimming and the balance on the platforms alright, but..."
Chee nodded at me. 'The problem is her Staryu's ability to recover. If it just dives underwater there's not much you can do...' Her eyes responded.
"Yeah, the Staryu's recovery forced us to defeat it in a burst with Quick Mode, but I'd like to save as many Quick Attack uses as possible for Starmie."
The two of us muzzled over the problem for a few moments until Blue let out a sigh. "...Would it help if you knew when she was going to use Recover?"
We both looked up at him, surprised he was even participating.
"Don't give me that look!" He growled. "I just want you to win so we can hurry up and get out of here!"
"Yeah." I responded. "If I know when she's going to use it, I think I can stop her. I just need to make sure Yeller is close when that happens..."
"Yeller! Fish them up!" I called to my partner, his eyes shining with understanding as he braced himself against the platform and dug his claws into the surface. His fangs began to glow with white energy...
The Staryu immediately swam back and tried to dive underwater, only to find itself stuck. It tugged and tried to escape, but the pair of purple jaws that had just clamped down over it's body held fast.
With a heave, using every ounce of strength in his body, Yeller raised his head as high as it would go, flinging the helpless Star Pokemon into the open air.
"Staryu!?" Misty gasped with surprise. "Q-quick, use Rapid Spin to escape!"
"Quick Attack!" I countered, and my Partner was washed in a ball of white energy, before launching into the sky like a rocket. Before the Staryu had time to get up to speed, the yellow rodent slammed into it's jewel, then jumped back to the platform below.
A loud splash echoed over the field, the sign that Staryu had dropped painfully back into the pool. When it finally floated back to the surface, it remained almost lifelessly still as it bobbed up and down in the water.
"Staryu is unable to battle..." Misty mused. "I didn't expect you to fish up Staryu like that! I'll be more careful next time!" She called over to me, retrieving her defeated Staryu into it's pokeball.
"I'm not planning to let there be a next time." I responded.
"Haha! That's the spirit!" Misty giggled, drawing her Greatball and throwing it over the open water. The white energy from the ball assumed the form of a conjoined duo of Purple stars, the star on the back spinning with excitement.
"Alright, let's get some of those pesky platforms out of the way! Starmie, use Swift!" Responding to it's trainer's call, the Starmie began to rev up it's second half. The spinning points unleashed a set of bright golden stars which flew across the field, slowly drifting apart.
"Yeller, jump up and block it with Bite Shield!" I called out. My Partner took the initiative to jump straight towards the collection of stars, summoning the purple energy jaws to deflect and protect against the golden projectiles. Some bounced harmlessly away, others pushed and shattered against the immaterial jaws.
Unfortunately, the force exerted by the Swift was enough to push Yeller back, causing him to fall into the water a decent distance from any of the other floating platforms.
"Alright Starmie, use Tackle!" Misty ordered, and the swift creature glided across the surface of the water. Just as I'd noticed last time, the Starmie's speed in the water was almost unbelievable.
"Bite it Yeller!" I hoped to be able to land a heavy hit on the Starmie when it came in to attack, but when Yeller attempted to clamp the energy jaws onto the purple double-stars, it gracefully twirled around the attack and landed a painful tackle on my partner.
Not good!
Yeller was sent recoiling through the water from the impact of the Tackle, and the Starmie regained it's stance, resting two of it's pointed limbs on it's red gem almost as if it were a human putting it's hands on it's hips. "You'll have to try harder than that Cyan! Starmie is too fast to be hit by an attack that slow!" Misty called over, proudly posing with her hands on her hips.
I spared a concerned glance to my partner, who met my eyes. I'm alright, I can still go on. His eyes sparkled back at me. Ready when you are.
Instead of answering Misty's provocation, I called out to Yeller. "Quick Bite." Responding to my call, the Yellow rodent began to run across the water as if it were solid ground, trailing white energy behind him. In just a few moments, he was face to face with the Starmie, the white trail fading as purple jaws enclosed the Starmie, preventing escape.
"Starmie!?" Misty called in distress.
I'd noticed in the last battle with Misty that Yeller had managed to use Quick Mode from the water before-And I'd confirmed in my own practice that Yeller was able to treat the surface of the water almost like solid ground when Quick Attack was active. Realising that had allowed us a lot more freedom in dealing with the battleground.
There was a painful-sounding crunch as the energy teeth reached the purple flesh of the strange living star. Even with the damage from that attack however, Yeller was the one who looked more beaten up. The singular Tackle Starmie landed did more than that Bite-By quite a large margin, I'd wager.
"Starmie-Shake it off with Rapid Spin!" Misty ordered next, and the duo of Stars spiralled into the sky whilst spinning wildly. Yeller remained grappled into the aquatic creature by the purple jaws still digging into it's body, but the young Rattata was being flung through the air at dangerously high speeds-And the Bite wouldn't remain forever.
"Use Quick Mode to land safely!" I called out as the Starmie spiralled through the air and bared down on the surface of the water, aiming to smash Yeller directly into one of the floating platforms. With careful timing, Yeller let go of the Starmie and was sent flying at high speeds towards the pool-There was a flash of white energy and my Partner redirected the energy of the impact into a mad dash across the water, ending at one of the safe platforms.
"Come back around and take him out!" Misty declared, clenching her fist.
We weren't in the clear yet, as the Starmie redirected it's spinning body blow to arch towards Yeller, approaching him with dangerous power. Fortunately, it was swooping down from the sky. It won't be able to risk getting too close to the ground.
This was it. I'd been waiting for a moment just like this, and I could barely suppress the smirk forming on my face. "Yeller! Duck!"
Yeller flattened himself against the plastic, barely dodging the cutting edge of the Rapid Spin that skimmed past his body. And as soon as the attack missed and the Starmie began to pull up and away from Yeller... "Pursuit!"
Yeller's good arm began to glow with a dark power, black with just the slightest tint of purple. With an aggressive spin he swung the arm at the escaping Starmie, a long trail of black and purple chasing down the creature with almost malicious intent. The purple monster let out a high-pitched screech and tried to evade, but it was no good, the beam collided with it in painful fashion.
"Starmie! Are you alright!?" Misty called out in concern, as the Pokemon fell to the pool in pain, causing a wave to spread across the entire arena when it finally collided with the water. While I kept an eye on it, I was more closely watching Yeller.
Yeller's right paw had managed to launch the attack successfully, but another smaller blob of black power slowly scattered away from the nub where his missing limb should be. I couldn't help but compare the Pursuit that we'd just used to the one Bronze had used against us. With Yeller only able to launch one of the two beams, the sheer oppressive power of the move was greatly reduced...
I took a sharp breath, shaking those thoughts from my mind. It doesn't matter if the move is less powerful than it could be. It's still a very helpful addition to our arsenal.
Finally the Starmie returned to the surface in front of Misty. I wouldn't describe the Pokemon as having a face, but when I looked into it's jewel I still felt that it was angry with me, somehow. "Well, it looks like you're doing a lot better at the surface battling now!" Misty grinned at me. "But you already know what comes next."
"Yeller, Focus-1." I whispered, before answering in a louder voice. "Yeah, there's no way you'd make it that easy for me." I held out my arms, softly catching my partner as he leapt into my arms.
"Starmie! Surf!" The Starmie didn't need to be told twice, summoning a wave of water almost the width of the entire field and slowly riding it towards us. Avoiding this attack was impossible, and I already knew that.
Alright, here we go... I steeled my will as Yeller accrued a stack of Focus Energy. I braced my legs against the platform, testing the surface by bobbing up and down on the balls of me feet. All the while, I watched the wave roar towards us.
"Hold your breath Yeller." I took a deep breath and dove headfirst into the water. With my one free hand, I paddled as fast as I could, getting as deep below the wave as I could before the currents inevitably caught me and sent me reeling through the water. I spun around wildly, trying to stabilise myself.
After a good few moments of being jostled by the waves, I finally felt the water slow down, and my jacket began to tug me to my left. In response, I immediately oriented my head in that direction, managing to spot the distilled lights of the Gym Ceiling flittering through the treated water that stung at my eyes.
Before arriving at the Gym today, I'd made a very quick and silly pitstop by a store to buy some small balloons, which I'd pumped with some fresh air and hidden in my jacket pockets. Now that I was underwater, they were immediately pointing me to the surface.
Since I'd kept a vice grip on Yeller, we were still super close to each other, so once I'd oriented myself I let him swim into the water and spread my gaze over all the water around us.
We know where the exit is, but where is our enemy? His eyes asked me, searching through the water just like I was.
There. I spotted Misty swimming alongside her Starmie. She reached out and pointed towards Yeller, holding up two fingers on her other hand.
I watched the Starmie closely to see what would happen next, but it was almost impossible to see what the Starmie was doing at this distance... Unless...
Noctowl Vision.
My pupils felt almost like they twisted inside my irises, making the sting of the water even more pronounced. In exchange however, I was able to clearly make out the Starmie's body and the water below it-And in turn, I noticed as the water at the tip of it's top point began to swirl and spiral in an unnatural way. She's using Water Gun!
I immediately turned and met eyes with Yeller, who was watching me and waiting for my command. I quickly raised my hand and held up three fingers. Bite!
Yeller snapped his attention to the Starmie in the distance. It seemed he understood my intentions, forming another shield from the purple jaws just in time to protect himself from the stream of nearly invisible liquid that sliced through the pool water like a knife.
We received almost no respite however, as the Starmie zipped through the water towards us. I tried to get Yeller to Quick Attack it, but it just pirouetted around the attack and slammed into Yeller again.
I don't feel so great... Yeller winced in pain as he was sent spiralling back through the water. I rapidly swam after him.
One more hit like that and we'll lose! I realised, feeling a sense of panic set in. With both hands I gestured for Yeller to return to me... Then I wrapped an arm around him as the Starmie backed off to observe. Misty gave me an odd look as well, but I ignored both of them, holding one finger up to Yeller and then gesturing to the surface.
Yeller seemed to frown at me for a moment, before a flash of recognition crossed his face. Ah! I get it! You're smart!
A flash of white covered the rodent's body, then mine, and I could feel my partner compress against the water beneath us, before propelling us towards the surface. By using Quick Attack while I was holding on to him, Yeller was able to propel us towards the surface faster and faster... What I didn't anticipate so easily was how many times Yeller would use Quick Attack to accelerate us. He used the move an additional three times as we ascended, causing us to break past the surface of the water with a powerful crash and fly into the air.
As we flew into the air a few feet above the pool, I managed to grasp the unique unexpected opportunity Yeller's overzealous application of Quick Attack granted me. I called out to Yeller, almost spluttering as water dripped from my nose into my mouth. "Pursuit!"
Let's talk about Pursuit for a moment.
I explained the general usage back when I fought against Bronze, but as a reminder, the trails of black energy fired by the attack home in on any targets that are running away from the attack. That's the accepted logic behind the homing abilities of Pursuit. It fits with how the move performs in real battles, and it's easy to understand. If you don't want it to hit you, run towards your attacker. In my first life, I also assumed that it worked like that... Until Red made me examine it more closely.
Don't let the name of the move give you a false idea of what it does. I remembered him telling me. Examine how the move works for yourself.
Similar to how Focus Energy didn't actually require the Pokemon to be standing still, Pursuit actually worked on a deceptively simple principle: If the distance between the Attacker and the Target is increasing, the attack will home in and deal extra damage. Whether the Target intends to run or not is irrelevant.
So as long as we were moving away from the Starmie-Say, because we were flying into the air...
The Rattata in my arms raised his good arm as it welled up with a dark energy, swinging it at the pool beneath us. With a sweeping trail of purple-black the attack pierced through the surface of the pool and towards the hapless duo contained within. It was barely a few seconds later when Misty and Starmie burst through to the surface themselves, having no choice but to approach us quickly if they wanted to avoid the Pursuit.
I braced myself for impact as we collided with the water again, the pain washed over me, but it was nothing compared to the injuries I sustained against Bronze. I released Yeller into the water once again, and eyed Misty and her Starmie.
Call it a soldier's intuition, but I had an incredibly strong feel of what she was planning. I could feel it when I locked eyes with her. She wanted to use Recover. But as long as I stood ready to use Pursuit the moment she tried it, she couldn't get away with it cleanly. She was currently considering whether it was worth tanking the extra Pursuit in order to recover most of her Starmie's HP.
As soon as I realised that, an evil idea popped into my head.
Alright, let's give you an opening shall we?
"Yeller, Quick Mode, Focus Energy." I called out. As I said the word Focus Energy, I snapped my fingers.
Misty immediately perked up at this, taking advantage of the opening she perceived. "Starmie! Recover!"
The Starmie drifted away, shining with a yellow energy. Both Misty and her Pokemon thought they were safe because I'd ordered Yeller to gather energy... Except that I hadn't. I'd snapped my fingers, giving Yeller the command to use Tail Whip instead.
Since I'd been reminded of my 'False Moves' trick by Blue, I made a point of teaching Yeller the full list of moves and their replacements again. When I did so, I'd changed the mix slightly to make them more useful. For this battle...
Tackle - Focus Energy
Quick Attack - Tackle
Tail Whip - Quick Attack
Focus Energy - Tail Whip
Bite - Pursuit
Pursuit - Bite
Yeller burst over to the unsuspecting Starmie in a trail of white and silver, smacking it with his tail and lowering it's defence. Misty stiffened when she realised what had happened. Even though it was healed, every attack Yeller landed would now be more powerful. "Harden!"
"Tail Whip Thrice!" I countered her attempt to restore her defence. Yeller burst with a flash of white past the Starmie, landing it's second Tail Whip, however by his second dash the tail was already missing. "Normal Mode!" I cut in, causing Yeller to go for the third swipe after dispelling his Quick Attack. The Starmie attempted to dodge early, and Yeller was able to easily redirect and land the final Tail Whip.
Lowered three times, raised once... Perfect.
The stuck-together stars had regained more health than I'd hoped, but the defence reduction was a perilous situation for them to be in against Yeller-And I could tell from her reaction that Misty knew that very well. "Swift! Get him away from you!"
The Starmie pulled away but I wasted no time, locking eyes with Yeller to give my next order. "Escape with Quick Attack!" I called out as the two stars spun like disks, Golden Projectiles firing through the air. My Rattata accelerated up to speed and ran across the surface of the water, weaving his way through the falling golden stars. In a long sprint, he turned all the way back around and started charging towards the Starmie again.
"Intercept it with Water Gun Starmie!" Misty called, but the attacks were swiftly dodged as Yeller continued to make a direct line for the aquatic Pokemon.
As expected of my partner, even though the idea I'd formed had only come to me in the middle of the fight, he already knew what I was aiming for.
"Quick Tackle, send them flying!"
As Yeller charged with the full speed of a Quick Attack behind him, he poured all of the energy of another use of Quick Attack into his attack, causing him to shoot like a bullet across the pool in a trail of White and Silver-Only to cancel the attack just before colliding headfirst with the Starmie that desperately tried to dodge him. Digging all of the power out of his Tackle, he launched the Starmie through the sky like a missile.
"Pursuit!" I called out before the wave of blue energy from Yeller's Focus Energy even finished rippling away from his body. I saw Misty's expression twist into horror as she realised what I was doing.
I'd noticed a small difference between when Yeller had used Quick Attack and Tackle. It was partially because of how I'd trained him, but all the leftover momentum from Quick Attack was always diverted into the user, causing them to be sent floating or spinning away from their opponent. On the other hand, with Tackle, the leftover momentum was transferred to the Pokemon that received the attack.
Normally it wasn't a particularly important distinction, since Tackle didn't have much momentum to begin with, unlike Quick Attack. But by using Quick Attack cancelled into Tackle, we could transfer much more momentum, which meant the recipient could be sent flying.
And if they were moving away from Yeller, Pursuit would do double damage.
"Starmie! Rapid Spin!" Misty used her only card, telling Starmie to use the ability that allowed it to control it's aerial momentum. Unfortunately for her, the amount of speed the Quick Tackle had forced into Misty's Starmie was more than it could control.
The wave of dark energy pierced the jewel at the centre of the starfish like a spear, a blob of blue energy from the focus energy landing just a few moments later. The heavily beaten stars dropped from the sky with a painful-sounding splash. After a few seconds, it floated back to the surface, lying unmoving in the water.
My attention was grabbed by a rapid set of excited claps. I turned to see Chee with a gleeful expression cheering for me. You did it! That was so cool! Her eyes sparkled.
Even though the platforms were now all gone, I raised a hand out of the pool to give her a thumbs up. We smiled at each other for a moment, until she twitched and her gaze shifted to the side. Her eyes seemed to fill up with alarm... Oh no..!
I quickly jerked my head back towards where the Starmie had landed. It was swimming towards both Yeller and I whilst riding an enormous wave, threatening to swallow us both underwater again. Despite all the damage the attack had done, the Starmie was not beaten yet.
It roared towards us, and I cursed under my breath. There was no time to grab onto Yeller like last time, so I compromised. "Yeller! Dive down!" I called out, before taking a gulp of air and diving into the water myself.
Once again I was jostled about by the powerful wave, and by the time I opened my eyes we were both underwater again-But Yeller was much further away from me, having been separated by the wave.
My attention was drawn once again to the purple double-stars, the various points of which were now folded over like it was only standing by sheer force of will. It didn't take an expert to say that it was running on it's last legs, but it's speed hadn't dropped even a little bit.
I saw Misty gesture to the Starmie again-Two fingers this time. I remembered which move that corresponded to, but I didn't have time to give Yeller any detailed instructions. If that attack hit, I would still be the loser of the battle.
Despite that, Yeller was still looking to me for instructions. What do we do now, sir? He looked to me with unwavering faith.
The distance between us was great, I wouldn't be able to communicate a nuanced strategy with our gestures-So instead I opened up my hands, showing all of my fingers to Yeller.
It's too hard for me to manage you here. Go Wild.
It was the emergency signal I'd taught him-And the last trick in my bag that was suited for underwater combat. Once I gave Yeller the signal, it meant only one thing.
'Use up every move you need to in order to finish this battle as fast as possible.'
Yeller tore his eyes off me and focussed on the Starmie in front of him. The distorted water pierced through the pool, but he was undeterred, blasting off in a flash of white energy that sliced to the Starmie-But the Starmie was no fool either, evading the attack by a razor's edge.
8 Quick Attacks left.
Slowing past the Starmie, Yeller threw a paw at it. From the paw a black energy spiralled towards the Starmie, but it charged in close to Yeller, spinning rapidly in hopes of an easy finish. As it got close, Yeller once again used Quick Mode to evade instantaneously.
6 left.
It was almost like a beautiful dance, the trails of different whites, blacks, purples and blues that were left by the duo of Pokemon as they desperately fought over who would land the final attack... But in the end, despite it's speed, the injured Starmie was unable to compete with the unfair angles Quick Mode allowed for.
And with a final devastating strike, Yeller smashed into the Starmie, and it folded over like a Shellder slamming itself shut.
I watched closely just in case, but there was no mistaking it this time... The Starmie was unconscious.
I didn't waste any time after that determination, and I hurriedly swam to the surface of the pool, gasping for air as I broke through the surface. Chee and Blue both looked at me with some concern-The probably couldn't see too well that deep the pool to begin with, and it'd turned into quite the light show in the end.
Did you do it? The young black-haired girl's eyes asked. The brown-haired boy by her side also seemed to have a look of mild apprehension, although he didn't speak up to ask for himself.
"I won." I grinned at them.
Blue let out a relieved smile and Chee jumped into the air, her expression returning to abject excitement. Yay! You did it!
Finally, with the battle over, I let myself breathe a sigh of relief, fatigue from the battle rolling over my body. My arms and legs were sore, and-
"Aghh!" I winced, bringing my palms to my eyes. They were stinging really badly. I'd been expecting to deal with some pain since I'd opened them underwater, but the stinging felt like it was only getting worse and worse.
Wait- Noctowl Vision.
As I thought those words, the pain began to dull slightly, and I felt my vision return to normal. I sheepishly rubbed at my eyes. I can't believe I forgot to turn it off...
...
Misty had needed a few minutes to take care of Starmie and gather some things-Apparently she hadn't given any trainers badges in a long time. I was okay with the wait, it gave me some time to rest my eyes and relax with Yeller after the hard-fought battle. It also gave me time to explain what I'd done with Quick Tackle and Pursuit to Chee, who'd been quite curious.
"Sorry for the wait!" The ditzy orange-haired woman called out, waving as she ran over the slippery tiles of the pool-Something we weren't supposed to do, although I refrained from calling her out on that.
"Congratulations on defeating the Cerulean City Gym!" Misty chirped happily, handing me a small blue badge shaped like a droplet of water. "This is the badge certifying that you've beaten us!"
I smiled at the badge, feeling a strong sense of accomplishment. Even though it had seemed almost impossible at first, Yeller and I had really managed to get it... "Great job Yeller." I gave my Rattata a well deserved pat on the head.
"And here, take this as well." She handed me a small blue box with the number '11' printed on it. "This is TM11, Bubblebeam. It's a useful water-type move... Although I doubt Yeller can learn it."
I nodded and accepted the box gratefully anyway, putting it in my bag next to the brown box I'd gotten from Brock. "Thanks anyway."
"Alright, let's roll." Blue interjected, slinging his bag over his shoulder and walking for the exit. I turned to follow him, but as I did so I caught Misty's expression falling from the corner of my eye.
...Fine, I'll bite.
I turned back to face Misty. "What's gotten you looking like what the Meowth dragged in?"
She blinked at me a few times. "Ah... I just thought I'd get to train with you a little longer. It's been such a long time since anyone picked my course, after all..." She sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "I thought it would take a little longer for you to get strong enough to clear it."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Isn't getting stronger as fast as possible the whole point of the Gym Challenge?"
She let out a soft sigh. "Yeah, I suppose-" Misty stopped, stiffening up slightly, like she'd been struck with an epiphany.
"Misty?" I probed.
"That's right!" Misty exclaimed with a little too much energy, her eyes sparkling. "You're right!" She grabbed my hands excitedly, a smile more energetic than any I'd seen from her before plastered on her face. "It's about getting strong as fast as possible!"
The orange-haired girl spiralled away from me and slapped her cheeks a few times. "Alright! I'm gonna talk to them!" She exclaimed, dashing away from me.
"Violet! Daisy! Lily! We need to talk...!" She hollered as she jogged away.
[Log:
You have reached a Level 2 bond with Misty.]
Wha-How!? I stared in bewilderment. I don't understand ANY of what just happened!
"Hey Cyan!" Blue called over to me. "Hurry up! I want to get back on the trail as soon as possible!"
"Coming!" I called back, shooting one last glance to Misty before running after Blue and Chee.
Oh well. I can look into whatever that was another time. I grumbled to myself as I walked out the door.
...
"Alright, there's still plenty of daylight left." Blue huffed. "Let's make for Route 9. If we're quick, we might even be able to make it to Route 10 before sunset."
I frowned at him. "Wait-Where are we going?"
The three of us were walking through Cerulean City while following Blue's lead, and I'd expected us to go south, but instead he seemed to be leading us to the east.
"To Vermillion City, obviously." Blue snorted. "It's a long trip, so if you need to stock up on anything do it now."
"But if we want to go to Vermillion, won't it be much faster to go via the Underground Path on Route 5?" I countered. This caused Blue to pause, and he turned to face me.
"...I'm surprised you know about that." Blue answered quietly. "But that path is still under construction, it will still be a few weeks before it opens to the public."
I'd travelled through that underground path many times during the war, so it was my default instinct to try and use it now. I hadn't even considered the possibility that it hadn't been built yet.
"But if we can't take the tunnel, we could still go through Saffron City right?" I mused. "Wouldn't that be a lot safer than going through Route 9?" Actually the thought of that was rather exciting to me-I'd never been to Saffron city prior to it's occupation by Johto's forces. I wouldn't mind seeing that city in it's prime.
Blue shook his head. "Saffron City is... We aren't related to any of the families from there, so suffice it to say that we'd need four Gym Badges before they'll let us in."
...Huh? The way Blue explained that... I frowned in contemplation for a moment, but I eventually decided it was more important to focus on the route we had to take instead.
"I see. So we'll have to go around... That means we'll have to go through the Rock Tunnel, then?" I mused, visualising the new path we'd have to take.
"That's right." The boy nodded. "It's alright, I went down that same path in order to get back here. I doubt we'll encounter anything, but even if we do you can count on me to make sure you don't wind up in the hospital again."
He turned back towards the path, but there was a moment of hesitation before he started walking. "Oh and before I forget... Congratulations on your second Gym Badge, Cyan." He grumbled.
I smiled.
"Thanks Blue. You helped a lot."
Author's Note:
Big ol' beefy chapter. (6.4k words!)
I hope the size can somewhat make up for it being a large gap between this chapter and the last chapter-Although I'll confess, I'm still not entirely happy with the fight. I think it's more bloated than it needs to be. I've already been editing it for far too long though, so I really want to move forwards!
Ah but please don't misunderstand, there's still a lot of things I like about the fight! If I thought it didn't have enough value, I would have scrapped it and started again!
I hope you enjoy everything that's coming up! I'm really excited for this next stage of Blue's journey with his sidekicks Cyan and Chee!
See you all with more chapters soon.