Roy and Antonia

by Besprizornye

Roy and Antonia are two new pokémon trainers who have found themselves traveling through the Kanto region together. Roy is impulsive and excitable while Antonia prefers to do everything by the book. Their personalities and approaches to pokémon training often clash, but they will need to learn from each other if they want to beat their common rival, Roy's brother Jesse.

20. Chapter 20

After they had both recalled their pokémon, Surge walked over to Roy and swallowed the young trainer's hand within his own grip. "Well done, Roy!" he said with a smile which showed off his white teeth. "You and your pokémon are quite the team! Between you and your brother, it looks like talent runs in the family." Roy didn't know what to say, so he just grinned back and Surge and absorbed the praise like a sponge. "Anyways, to mark your victory I'm giving you the Thunder Badge and a technical machine." Surge withdrew his hand to reach into his vest and pull out a small pin shaped like a golden, stylized sun and a small cube which bore the legend 24 on its side. "That will teach one of your pokémon the thunderbolt technique that my raichu and I used. It's a powerful attack, and I'm impressed that your charmeleon was able to keep going after being hit with it!"

Roy finally found his voice and he said, "Thank you!" He pocketed Surge's offerings and jogged back to Antonia, Jackie, and Zach feeling as though his feet never touched the ground. "That was so awesome!" he nearly shouted. "I got my first badge! How great is that?"

The other trainers were still getting over their shock at Roy's victory, but managed to congratulate him all the same. The subdued atmosphere was upended when Surge strode over to the group and announced, "I didn't think I'd be saying this, but after those two battles my pokémon and I are done for the night. Feel free to hang around for as long as you'd like, but I won't be accepting any more challenges until tomorrow." He offered his hand to each of the young trainers in turn as he said, "Thank you for the battle, Jackie. I look forward to your next challenge, Zach. Again, well done, Roy."

But before Surge reached Antonia, she stormed out of the gym without a word to the others. "I'll go talk to her," said Roy at once and he ran outside to find Antonia leaning against the side of the gym with her eyes scrunched closed behind her glasses. "Hey, Toni, is everything okay?" Roy asked.

"No!" Antonia snapped. "Nothing is okay! It's not fair!"

"What are you talking about?" Roy jumped back from Antonia's harsh tone like his friend had struck him. "Yeah, I beat Surge, but that doesn't mean that you won't get to battle him. Are you mad that you have to wait until tomorrow?"

"It's not about battling the gym leader."

Roy's concern for his friend warred with his struggle to decipher what she was talking about. "Then what is this all about, Toni? Why are you so mad at me? You've been sore ever since Saffron City, but I thought you'd be at least a little bit happy for me!"

Antonia rested her temples against her hands and said curtly, "I am happy for you Roy, I guess. But I'm," she paused to find a different word before falling back to her initial choice, "I'm jealous of you, Roy."

"What? Jealous? Of me?"

"Don't laugh, Roy," Antonia said sharply. "It's frustrating watching you make it look so easy!"

Any lingering traces of annoyance he might have still felt were blotted out by Roy's utter confusion. "What are you talking about, Toni? You're the one who's beating gym leaders left and right. You're the one who makes sorts of plans and strategies, and, on top of that, you know everything!"

Antonia impatiently shook her head so that her hair swept back and forth. "No, Roy, you don't get it. I'm not jealous about gym leaders and badges. I know I'm better than you at battling." Before her friend could interject, Antonia went on, "What I'm jealous of is how your pokémon feel about you. They adore you, Roy. It's obvious to everyone, even people who've just met you. Jackie can see it, I can see it, and I'd guess that Surge and Jesse saw it, too."

Roy was quiet for a long time, and Antonia was about to step around him and go back inside the gym when he stopped thinking to himself and said, "You shouldn't be jealous of me, Toni." His voice was softer than Antonia had ever heard it, even after her loss to Sabrina in Saffron City. "Your pokémon love you, too. Beedrill would do anything for you and Bulbasaur," Roy frowned before finishing, "your bulbasaur feels the same way."

"Maybe," Antonia conceded, "but then maybe the problem is that I don't love them back." She looked down at her hands as if imagining that they held her poké balls, but also so that Roy wouldn't see the glimmer of moisture in her sad eyes. "I try to remember what Sarah told me about how I was treating Bulbasaur when we had our first loss, but I just have such a hard time not blaming him for losing. I know it's not his fault, it's mine. He wanted to keep going and I, "Antonia sighed, "I didn't trust him."

"It's okay, Antonia," Roy said. He put his hand on Antonia's shoulder and patted it awkwardly. "You'll figure it out. You're the smartest person I know."

Antonia didn't say anything to reply to what Roy said, but he imagined that he saw some of the tension that she was carrying leave her body. Then, she stood up straight and said firmly, "Let's get the others and then go back to the pokémon center. I want to be well-rested for when I challenge Surge tomorrow morning."

On the walk back from the gym to the pokémon center, the four trainers were much quieter than they had been earlier that evening. Zach and Jackie gave Roy and Antonia plenty of space, along with a number of sidelong looks which Antonia seemed to ignore. Roy picked up on them, however, and finally fell back from Antonia's side so that he was walking next to Jackie. "What's up?" he asked. "You and Zach keep looking at us funny."

"What? No we aren't," Jackie said at once, but as Roy kept walking next to her without saying anything the girl's face grew strained until finally she blurted out, "You and Antonia don't have, like, a thing going on, do you?"

"Huh?"

"Do you and Antonia, you know, like each other?"

Up to that point, Roy and Jackie had kept their voices down enough that the other trainers in their group couldn't hear them, but at Jackie's question, Roy burst out laughing loud enough to make Antonia and Zach stop in their tracks to see what was going on. After their suspicions had cooled enough for Roy and Jackie to resume their hushed conversation, Roy said, "No, we're just friends."

Jackie shrugged and said, "Well, I thought it was a question worth asking. You two are awfully close for a boy and a girl."

"We're traveling together," Roy protested.

"That's how it started for my aunt and uncle," insisted Jackie. "First it was three months walking around the region together and, boom!" Jackie clapped her hands in front of Roy's face. "Now they're married and have a condo in Viridian City."

Roy laughed, "You're crazy!" But all Jackie did was shrug and, with little prompting from Roy, tell him more about her family.

By the time that they all got back to the pokémon center, the four trainers were starting to feel tired. "So, are you going to challenge Surge again tomorrow?" Roy asked Zach after they had laid claim to the couch and chairs in the pokémon center's lobby.

"I don't know," the other boy said warily. "After watching you and Jackie battle him, I'm thinking maybe I should rethink my strategy." Zach sighed theatrically, "I have to beat that guy sooner or later. The only thing worse than being tied with you for badges would be losing to you."

"Nice," Jackie interrupted in a sarcastic tone, "I bet you'd have people to travel with you if you weren't so mean."

"What's your excuse then?" Zach shot back. "Unless you're planning to play third wheel to these two? What do you think about that, Roy? Antonia?"

Antonia made a move to answer, but Roy sensed her reluctance and jumped in to change the subject, "Well, let's focus on tomorrow first! Toni's going to have her big gym battle, and I want to hear what she ideas she has for beating Surge!"

When she saw that the others' eyes were all on her, Antonia's cheeks colored and she said, "I don't have anything set in stone yet, but I think I learned a lot from Roy and Jackie's battles. The first challenge to overcome is Surge's voltorb. Both of you tried to use your speed against it, but there's also its ability to self-destruct. I think my beedrill will be quick enough, but I don't know how it would handle being hit by a sonic boom attack, let alone an explosion like the one which took out your eevee, Jackie." Antonia looked lost in thought, her eyes not even seeing her companions, as she continued, "Then there's Surge's raichu. It's both quick and powerful. Between its thunderbolts and its physical attacks, I'd have to use a pokémon that could absorb a lot of damage."

"Like your bulbasaur!" Roy offered brightly.

"I suppose," said Antonia, but her expression was still serious and she quickly excused herself to the room she and Jackie were sharing, citing the need for rest and privacy to work with her pokémon.

Zach went to bed not long after Antonia's departure, saying, "Well, if Roy can beat Surge then I'm sure Antonia won't have any trouble. I'll see you all tomorrow."

That left Roy and Jackie sitting in the pokémon center's lobby, each sinking into the heavy cushions of their respective seats. Surprisingly to Roy, Jackie didn't rush to fill the silence. Instead, the black-haired girl sat silently turning over a question that was urgent enough for her open her lips several times to speak it, but not one she was willing to turn into words. Finally, Roy made his own farewell so that Jackie was left alone with her thoughts.

The next day saw the four pokémon trainers awake bright and early so that they could be the first people to Surge's gym. "Not a lot of people come to challenge him," explained Zach as they retraced their path to the entertainment district from the previous day's evening, "especially this early in the season. A lot of trainers save Surge for the last challenge of their journey, because that way they can enjoy the rest of their summer training and relaxing around Vermillion City."

"Even though Fuchsia City has much better beaches," Jackie chimed in.

"Have you decided whether you'll be challenging Surge, too?" Antonia asked Zach.

Zach let out a little chuckle. "No, I think I'm going to watch your battle and use the rest of the day to train my pokémon. I still want to work to get my new drowzee ready for battling a gym leader."

"That makes sense," Antonia said with a nod. Her pace was measured, and she did not betray any hint of excitement or nervousness about the battle ahead. Instead of bouncing along like Roy was, Antonia favored a steady march. Her tone bore the same imprint, even though her words were superficially enthusiastic as she said, "I'm glad to be battling him right away. That'll give me the rest of the day to relax if we win, or to figure out a different approach if we lose."

"But you're not going to lose, right?" Roy said with a big smile. Then he second-guessed himself and hastily added, "Not that there's anything wrong with losing to Surge at first. Lots of people do it."

"But not you," Zach muttered under his breath.

Antonia said, "I think I'll be fine," but her mouth reverted to a thin line as soon as the words had left her mouth.

They reached the pokémon gym not long after that exchange, and Roy graciously held the door open for the girls only to let it go to slam on Zach's foot as he tried to step inside. "Whoops," Roy said with a grin, and he quickly ducked around the punch that the other boy aimed at his shoulder.

Inside the gym, Surge greeted the trainers with a friendly grin. "Welcome back, trainers!" his voice boomed off of the wooden walls and ceiling. "I'm glad to see that you didn't get cold feet after last night's battles." He jumped down from the stage in the back of the gym and made a showing of cracking his knuckles before demanding, "So, who'll be my first challenger today? Is it you, Zach?" When the boy shook his head and tried to take an outwardly casual step backwards, Surge only laughed. "That's all right, I'll be waiting for you whenever you think you're ready. How about you, Jackie? Want to try again?"

"No, thank you," Jackie said with a smile that matched the gym leader's for enthusiasm. Between her pokémon being taken care of and Roy's victory over Surge, she had lost a lot of the nerves that had bedeviled her after her battle the night before.

At that, Antonia stepped forward and said formally, "My name is Antonia of Pallet Town and I would like to challenge your gym, Lieutenant Surge, sir."

Surge's smile widened even more and he said boisterously, "She speaks! Very well, Antonia, I'm happy to accept your challenge! You've seen me battle before, but I haven't seen your pokémon in action, yet. I'm excited to see what you can do." The gym leader whistled sharply and Cruise, one of his assistants who had been at the gym yesterday, came out from behind the gym's bar to join Surge and Antonia in the center of the floor. The two opponents stoop opposite each other while Cruise marked out a spot on the wooden floor halfway between Antonia and Surge.

"A battle between the gym leader and the challenger, Antonia of Pallet Town!" Cruise said, easily slipping into the role of the match's referee. "Both trainers will be allowed two pokémon, with no substitutions allowed! Trainers! Choose your pokémon!"

"No prizes for guessing my choice," Surge announced merrily. "Voltorb! Report for duty!" The red and white poké ball in the gym leader's massive hand shot forth a burst of red light which took the shape of a pokémon which matched the device Surge was holding, save for a pair of wide, furious eyes. "What's your choice, Antonia?"

Antonia felt her nerves steady as her hand closed around her own poké ball. For this part of the battle, at least, she was confident in her strategy and in her champion. "Beedrill!" she cried and her own pokémon took shape in front of her. "Just like we practiced!" ordered Antonia and her yellow and black pokémon zoomed toward Surge's voltorb as the gym was filled with the sound of its beating wings.

If Antonia or her beedrill had been expecting Voltorb to try and avoid the oncoming attack, they were disappointed when Surge jabbed his finger and shouted, "Meet it head-on!" Without a sound, Voltorb glided along its cloud of magnetism towards Beedrill. To reach its flying opponent, the red and white pokémon attempted a leaping tackle which took Beedrill in the midsection. The bug pokémon made no effort to guard itself from the blow, but instead lashed out with its deadly forelimbs to jab Surge's voltorb with its stingers as many times as it could before gravity and its own need to stay airborne forced the two pokémon to separate.

"Your beedrill's tougher than it looks," Surge said with approval, "but you know that my voltorb has a lot more firepower than that." He raised his hand and said with relish, "Sonic boom, Voltorb." Then his fingers snapped and a sound that cut through the steady drone of Beedrill's beating wings echoed around the gym. Whatever plans Beedrill and its trainer had were abandoned as soon as Surge raised his hand. The striped pokémon ascended rapidly to avoid the invisible blow which cut through the air where it had been flying a mere second before. As Surge continued to deliver nonverbal orders to his voltorb, Beedrill flew in a wide circle around its rotating foe to avoid Voltorb's sonic boom attacks.

Roy and the others cheered for Antonia, but she didn't hear them. Her focus was directed at Surge and she watched his eyes follow her flying pokémon around. His steady rhythm of fingersnaps and the resulting cracks of sonic booms had nearly settled into the background when Antonia heard two of them in quicker succession. "Now!" she shouted, and not a minute to soon as Voltorb suddenly sped up its whirling to fire off a second attack immediately after its regularly timed attack, aimed right at the spot where Beedrill should have been.

But Antonia's pokémon was not there. Instead, it was flying backwards to retrace its path around the circle. With Voltorb caught in the trap of routine, it took time to reorient itself to face its foe, and those were precious moments of which Beedrill took full advantage. From the stinger on its abdomen, Antonia's pokémon let loose with a shower of poison-tipped darts which struck Voltorb in the back. The pokémon was briefly unsteadied by the attack, but regained its bearings and turned to face its opponent just as Beedrill began accelerating for a ramming attack.

Both Voltorb and its trainer's eyes widened and Surge quickly shouted, "Self-destruct!" There was a momentary flash of frustration on the gym leader's face which was covered by the hand shielding his eyes as his pokémon glowed white and then burst in an explosion which felt like it rocked the gym to its foundations.

No one had to wait for the smoke to clear to know what had happened, as the steady thrum of Beedrill's wings were still evident as the bug pokémon flew clear of the black cloud surrounding Voltorb and took a victorious lap around the gym while Antonia and her friends cheered.

"Voltorb is unable to battle!" Cruise announced. "The winner is Antonia and her beedrill! The gym leader will send out his next pokémon!"

"A feint," Surge said ruefully. "I should have known better." He raised his poké ball and recalled his unconscious voltorb with a shake of his head. "Your attack from behind threw me off, and then you and your pokémon only gave me seconds to respond. You managed to turn my strategy against me. Well done, Antonia. But," and here the gym leader laughed as he replaced Voltorb's poké ball with another, "you know that won't work on my next pokémon. Raichu!"

Compared to Surge's two voltorb, Antonia hadn't seen much of the gym leader's other pokémon and so there was an element of trepidation as the bulky, orange-furred rodent emerged from its poké ball with its yellow cheeks already sparking electricity. Antonia glanced at her beedrill and saw that her pokémon seemed to be moving more slowly than before. As if it could feel its trainer's attention on it, Beedrill beat its wings rapidly and performed a flying somersault in the air over the battlefield to demonstrate its readiness to fight. Antonia remembered Roy's words from the previous night and she let herself smile. "Okay, we can do this!" she said to herself as much as to Beedrill. "Keep your distance and use your poison stings!"

Beedrill buzzed to a far corner of the battlefield and readied the stinger on its abdomen for its attack. On the ground Surge's raichu crouched low and built up a store of power which resulted in a wilder display of sparks dancing across the yellow sacs on its cheeks. When its foe did unleash its stream of venomous projectiles, Raichu charged right through them without worry. The sharp pricks of Beedrill's poison stings couldn't eclipse the look of savage excitement on Raichu's face as it drew nearer to Antonia's pokémon and finally let loose with its thunderbolt attack.

The burst of electricity was still dazzling even in the daytime and it jerked across the air in a violent jerking motion to wrack Beedrill's body with full force. "A direct hit," Surge said with a nod and he and the other pokémon trainers watched as Antonia's pokémon fell to the ground to lie in a crumpled heap. With its gossamer wings stilled, Beedrill looked shockingly small on the wooden floor where it had fallen. Parts of its body were marred by scorches from Raichu's attack and Surge's voice was almost apologetic as he commented, "Couldn't risk a drawn-out battle, we had to go all-out from the get-go."

Cruise the referee started to speak and Antonia felt herself reaching for her poké ball when Beedrill began to move. The battered pokémon rolled over and its wings began to beat, slowly at first but then faster and faster until Beedrill was aloft again. Next to him, Roy heard Zach murmur, "I don't believe it," but his cheers for Antonia and her pokémon easily drowned him out.

From its expression, it looked as though Surge's raichu didn't believe what it was seeing either. The look of smug confidence on its round face was replaced by a wary expression. It stood up and brought up its forepaws in a boxer's stance before gathering electricity for another attack.

"Your pokémon won't quit, Antonia, I can admire that! But it's still on its last legs!" To his pokémon, Surge barked, "A quick thundershock ought to do it, Raichu!"

Raichu fired off a burst of electricity at Beedrill, and the attack caught the charging pokémon on its wing. Antonia's pokémon lost altitude quickly, but it still had enough momentum to draw one of its stings across Raichu's face before crashing to the ground for a second time. This time, Beedrill did not stir and Cruise raised his arm and announced with an authoritative finality, "Beedrill is unable to battle! The winner is the gym leader and his raichu! The challenger will send out her next pokémon!"

"Impressive," said Surge as Antonia brought her unconscious pokémon back to its poké ball to rest, "but I'm afraid that show of bravery won't be enough to beat me." The gym leader's raichu wiped at the thin scratch under its eye and smiled at Antonia mockingly.

"Not poisoned," Antonia muttered to herself. She put Beedrill's poké ball back in her bag and reached for her next pokémon, but her hand froze as her fingers grazed the cool metal of Bulbasaur's poké ball. Of course she had to send him out. Using Magikarp in this battle was out of the question. Sending it out against Surge wouldn't just mean losing, but being humiliated, too. It was clear what Antonia had to do, but she still had to make herself grab for her first pokémon and pull it out of her bag.

Surge folded his arms across his broad chest and asked, "Is everything okay, Antonia? You do have another pokémon to send out, don't you?"

On the sidelines, Roy, Jackie, and Zach were waiting for Antonia to make her next move. "Come on, Toni," whispered Roy, "you can do this."

Her fingers still curled around Bulbasaur's poké ball, Antonia breathed in and out once, twice, then three times and then she said, "I'm ready, Surge. I'm ready to beat you!" With that, the girl threw her poké ball through the air, as beautiful a throw as she had ever managed since her fumbling fingers first picked up a poké ball. It exploded in a flash of red light and Bulbasaur, Antonia's oldest pokémon took shape in front of her. The squat pokémon wagged his stubby tail and croaked happily. Antonia wanted to be as happy as her pokémon was, but her stomach still felt unsettled.

"I can already tell that you and your pokémon will put up a good fight," Surge said, "but unless you can trust your instincts you won't be walking away with a Thunder Badge."

"We'll win," Antonia said firmly and her bulbasaur bellowed his agreement. "Use your vines to tie Raichu up!" she ordered and her stout pokémon was eager to obey. Two thick blue-green vines emerged from underneath the bulb on Bulbasaur's back and snaked towards Surge's raichu. The larger pokémon struck at them with its forepaws and with its heavy back feet, but the vines either twisted to avoid the counterattacks or else proved resilient enough that Raichu's punches and kicks didn't slow them down for long. Although Bulbasaur's flat face was a picture of concentration and exertion, it was ultimately able to fulfill Antonia's command and bind Surge's raichu up in a thick coil of its vines.

Surge saw his pokémon become restrained by its opponent, but neither he nor Raichu appeared concerned in the least. "We've got you where we want you," the gym leader laughed and then he yelled, "Thunderbolt, Raichu!"

Raichu's yellow cheeks sparked with electricity and it sent a surge of power into the vines holding onto its plump body. The vines writhed and shook under the force of the attack and fell limply to the ground, but Bulbasaur seemed unaffected by the attack save for a small grunt of displeasure.

"What?" asked Surge. "That attack should have made your bulbasaur light up like a Christmas tree!"

"Bulbasaur can detach their vines and regrow new ones," Antonia called across the battlefield. "So your pokémon used up all of that energy on a decoy!"

Surge managed to smile at the reversal. "Well, shoot. I guess you learn something every day! But that trick won't save your little bulbasaur from Raichu's beatdown!" Sure enough, Surge's pokémon was rushing at its foe, stepping over the vines lying limply on the ground. It raised one of its paws and swung it down in a mighty punch that Bulbasaur managed to catch on the spongy bulb on his back. When Raichu lifted one of its heavy feet and swung it through the air for a powerful kick, Bulbasaur managed to block the blow with its bulb again.

"We've got them right where we want them!" Antonia said a little too excitedly. "Use your poison powder, Bulbasaur!" Her pokémon's squatted its body low to the ground and aimed the bulb on its back like a cannon at Surge's raichu.

"Get out of there, Raichu!" Surge ordered, but as Raichu tried to hop backwards, its feet got tangled up in the vines behind it. Just as Bulbasaur released a cloud of poisonous purple spores in Raichu's face, both the gym leader and his pokémon realized that vines which had been lying limply on the ground were in fact moving and twisting around Raichu's lower limbs to immobilize it. "You tricked us!" Surge said with a combination of awe and annoyance. "But I thought that your bulbasaur released its vines, how else could it have withstood a thunderbolt attack so easily?"

Antonia waited until she was satisfied with Bulbasaur's plant-like appendages were secure in their hold on Surge's raichu before she responded to the gym leader, "Bulbasaur is a tough pokémon. He can take a lot more punishment than people think," Antonia purposefully kept her voice as neutral as she could as she admitted, "even I forget that sometimes."

Surge nodded his head once and then said sharply, "Well, your bulbasaur might be good at hiding its pain, but it won't be able to stand up to another thunderbolt. Come on, Raichu! Finish this!" Surge's pokémon stopped struggling to escape from Bulbasaur's clutches and instead squeezed its eyes tight as it concentrated on building up enough electrical power for a final blow. Unfortunately for Raichu and its trainer, the poison from Bulbasaur's spores continued to spread through its body and made the ensnared pokémon shiver and cough.

It looked as though Raichu might finally have enough energy to attack when Antonia's bulbasaur grunted loud enough that it could be heard over the sounds of the sparks flying off of Racihu's body. Pushing itself to its limits, Bulbasaur managed to lift Surge's raichu into the air using its vines and then slammed the other pokémon to the ground. The attack was Bulbasaur's last gasp, that much was obvious from how quickly its vines uncoiled from Raichu's fallen body and snaked back to their pouches on the amphibious pokémon's back. Bulbasaur stumbled back and forth as it struggled to stay on its feet, but it managed to stay upright long enough for Cruise to make the call.

"Raichu is unable to battle! The winner of the battle is Bulbasaur and the winner of the match is Antonia!"

Roy cheered the loudest for Antonia, although Jackie certainly tried to give him a run for his money by whistling sharply through her fingers. Even Zach clapped politely as he said, "Well, of course, Antonia was going to win. Anyone who knows her would have seen it coming."

After returning their pokémon to their poké balls, Antonia and Surge met in the middle of the battlefield and shook hands. "That was a great battle, Antonia," the gym leader said. Since he towered over Antonia, he had to crouch down to hand her the gym's badge and a technical machine. "This is the Thunder Badge and the TM for teaching a pokémon the thunderbolt technique. Even though you and your friend Roy there both had pokémon who were able to withstand it, don't let that fool you about how devastating that attack can be." Standing back up to his full height, Surge added, "You really impressed me with that battle, Antonia. I try to teach my challengers to trust their instincts, but with the tricks that you pulled today you had me questioning my own. You're on your way to becoming an incredible trainer, and I'm glad I could battle you now while I still had a fighting chance!" The gym leader's laughter echoed off the gym. Antonia smiled politely at him and was about to walk back to the others when Surge grabbed her shoulder and asked, "I've got to know, Antonia, because it's going to keep me up nights until I know for sure. Can bulbasaur really detach their vines?"

"Actually, I don't know," answered Antonia with the biggest smile that she had allowed herself in quite some time. "But it sounded believable enough, didn't it?"