Jaina turned as they stepped outside the cave, yelling back at the Pokemon inside, "Perverts!"
Her left arm behind her holding her skirt down and in place, her face bright red.
Jaina challenged Leon to a race once they saw the exit to the cave, running off without warning only to stumble when a Diglett appeared directly in front of her. Tripping over the Pokemon she managed to tuck in and roll as she fell to avoid injury, but when she rolled to sit up she saw the Diglett had retreated into its hole only to pop up in front of her. She watched the Pokemon's eyes close and with what sounded like an amused sound before she realized it was between her legs.
Jaina quickly tucked her red skirt down and closed her legs,"Don't look at me like that and smile!"
The Pokemon sunk back into the earth as Leon caught up to Jaina, but before he could offer to help her up Jaina felt something ram into her butt from underneath and with a shriek she jumped up, seeing another Diglett or the same one smiling at her.
Leon walked out of the cave laughing, "It was just playing" he told her.
Jaina turned to him, "It looked up my skirt and then poked me in the ass!"
Leon laughed again, "I guess that one just has a naughty nature then."
Her face now crimson, Jaina started slapping him in the shoulder while her left arm kept her skirt held firmly down to prevent anymore peeking.
Jaina turned away from him after striking him for the sixteenth time, "Perverts, you and those things!"
Leon, still laughing at her, said, "You call them perverts, but if you think about it, that might be natural, after all they are kind of shaped like…"
Jaina cut him off, "One more word Leon and you'll be the next fossil discovered!"
Leon walked ahead of her, "Well if you're embarrassed now wait until you find out that I also saw…" he paused when he realized what he just admitted, "That was a joke" he tried to defend only to barely avoid her next slap before running for his life towards Viridian City with her calling his name as she chased him down.
After yelling at Jaina that she would never catch him alive he slid to a stop at the entrance to the City of Evergreen, "Oh hey we made it" he said forgetting about the approaching rage behind him.
"LEON!" Jaina yelled lunging for him.
The cold hand of the reaper reminded him of his peril and he quickly stepped to the side avoiding her while grabbing the collar of her one-sleeved jacket and pulling her back to the sidewalk as a car zoomed by.
"Car" he said as she steadied herself.
"I noticed" she huffed, shrugging his hand from her, "Even though it's your fault that I was almost hit I guess you did save me."
"My fault?" Leon asked, "You chose to chase after then jump at me."
"You looked up my skirt!" she shouted.
"I didn't look" he told her, "You tripped and I just happened to see, big difference."
"Whatever" Jaina huffed, "Let's find the Pokemon Center then go to the gym."
Leon smirked as he followed her, "So are you mad that I saw or mad that I know you still wear polka dot underwear like a kid?"
Jaina warned him, "You know the forest has plenty of spots to bury you in."
Dropping their Pokemon off with the Pokemon Center's nurse the two moved to the second floor to rest for the night. They showered, changed their clothes while making use of the center's laundry service which was free for trainers before ordering some food from the nearby restaurant and heading to bed. Leon laid awake wondering what to do about his battle against the gym leader, she was a ground type specialist which his Growlithe was weak to while Jaina's Natu had an advantage due to being part flying type.
"Fire type moves still deal normal damage to ground types" he thought, "So offensively we're still good, but defensively speaking we can't risk a lot" he turned his head to look at his pokemon sleeping at his side, "If we can outspeed the opponent or keep avoiding their attacks we may have a chance, but that will tire Growlithe out quicker. We've got some battle experience now, but not that much, no, Growlithe and I have been playing and running together since I got her, she's got plenty of stamina. We can do this."
He turned onto his side, scratching Growlithe's ear, "We've got this" he whispered as he closed his eyes to sleep.
Jaina woke up first as she often did, yawning as she stretched until she felt her joints pop. Getting out of bed she went to the women's changing room to change back into her everyday clothes before making her daily call to her parents to let them know where she was. Like every day since her and Leon started their journey her parents told her they bought some useful items and transferred them to her PC and every time. Of course it wasn't long until her mother started teasing her, asking her how her future son-in-law was doing.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Jaina reminded her, how many times she's had to over the years she didn't know anymore.
"Oh he was at one point" her mother teased, "I remember the cute little pretend dates you went on when you were younger."
"We were ten!" Jaina had to restrain herself from yelling.
"That just means it was meant to be" her mother further pushed.
"Mom just…put dad on the phone" Jaina pleaded, tired of her mother's antics.
Being handed the phone her father said, "Too early to deal with your mother huh?"
"Way too early" Jaina admitted, "He's not my boyfriend, we're just friends."
"For now" her father said with a chuckle.
"That's it" Jaina said, ending the call and closing her pokegear, "I'm done with them for a few days."
Checking the time she sent Natu to wake up Leon while she ordered breakfast for them. The tiny bird Pokemon hopped off her shoulder, flying upstairs and to the bedroom using its psychic abilities to open the door then flying to Leon's bed landing next to him and gently pecking at his head to wake him up. Three pecks later Leon turned away a sleepy mutter asking for five more minutes, but Natu jumped to the other side and pecked at him again causing the teen to turn away again and cover his head with his pillow. Chirping, Natu jumped on top of the pillow and began pecking at Leon's hand until he groaned and lazily pushed the bird away telling it to stop.
Jumping back Natu chirped once more before tilting its head at the teen and with its mystical power lifted the pillow from his grasp and began lightly hitting him with it. Natu while being at least five years old, his psychic strength was limited to small and light objects, but it usually got this particular type of job done. Grabbing his pillow before it could hit him again, Leon swung it at Natu telling the Pokemon to knock it off before turning over once more. Growlithe, awake from the noise and sensing her trainer's frustration growled at Natu only for the bird's eyes to light up once more and using teleport made Growlithe vanish and appear above Leon and fall on top of him, startling him awake.
"Okay!" Leon shouted, "I'm up you petty oversized tennis ball!"
Natu chirped with amusement at successfully completing its morning mission before teleporting away as Growlithe lunged for him.
By the time Leon made it downstairs Jaina had already finished her breakfast, gently scratching Natu with one finger while he continued pecking at his food on the table.
"Hi" Leon groggily greeted as he sat down before letting his head drop to the table, "Ow."
"Stop staying up so late" Jaina told him as she thumbed through a local newspaper.
"Yes mom" he lazily answered.
"Mom?" Jaina asked him, "Is that all you got?"
Leon groaned, "Too tired for your bullshit."
"My bullshit?" Jaina asked, "Coming from the king of poking the bear?"
He groaned again as he sat up and dragged his plate with an omelet closer.
After eating they left the Pokemon Center and made their way to the gym only to be greeted by a woman with light brown hair flowing down past her shoulders. She wore a plain green sundress over a white t-shirt, her hazel eyes sizing up both of them.
"Are you two here to challenge the gym?" she asked.
Jaina answered, "Yes please, I'm Jaina from Celadon, this is Leon from Saffron."
The woman curtsied, "My name is Daisy Oak, I'm the gym leader. It's a pleasure to meet you, but I unfortunately have an urgent matter to attend to" she checks the time on her pokegear, "I'm not sure if I even have time for one battle."
"Great" Leon sighed, "Can I go back to bed now?" he asked Jaina.
Ignoring him, Jaina asked the gym leader, "Is there any way we could squeeze in that match? Maybe set a time limit?"
Daisy thought for a moment, "Hmm, how many Pokemon do you have?"
"Just the ones you see" Jaina told her, looking at her Natu perched on her shoulder before it jumped atop her head, "This Natu is mine and Growlithe belongs to Leon."
"Are you new trainers?" Daisy asked next.
"I wouldn't say new" Leon answered, "We both got our Pokemon when we were seven, but we've been practicing with each other for about 5 years now and we've had a few battles against some other trainers around Celadon."
"Have you battled a gym leader yet?" Daisy questioned further.
"Yeah" Jaina replied, "We've battled Erika the leader of the Celadon City Gym, "I lost my first time against her, but Leon and I both beat her" they show their rainbow badges.
Daisy hummed, "So you have experience, but you only have one Pokemon each…how old are you two?"
"Jaina is about half a year older than me" Leon told her, "She's sixteen, I'm fifteen."
Daisy thought for a moment, "Back to back one on one matches. That still might be pushing it, how about a double battle?"
"Facing both of us at the same time?" Jaina asked.
Daisy nodded with a smile, "Yes, it'd give both of you a chance to win a badge and test your skills against a more experienced opponent. A gym leader's job isn't just to hand out badges and beat challengers, our job as gym leaders in addition to being role models for our community is to test the skills of upcoming trainers and provide advice for them where they come up short."
Daisy turns to look at her gym, "Even though we ourselves are expert trainers we're meant to be teachers, and to those looking to take on the Pokemon League we're stepping stones. My little brother had trouble understanding that when he took over the gym twelve years ago, he eventually went back to traveling and Agatha a former member of the Elite Four took over, but she wanted to retire so I agreed to take the position until a permanent leader could be found, but…I ended up enjoying it so I decided to stay on as Viridian's gym leader. I want to help others reach their dreams, I want to help them become the best versions of themselves."
She turned back to them, "So if a double battle is okay with the two of you I'll accept your challenge."
Both challengers agreed and Daisy opened the doors to the gym leading them inside to the battlefield.
"Since you both only have one Pokemon I'll only use two as well. Hope you're ready!"
Jaina and Leon nod, sending out Growlithe and Natu as Daisy sends out a Cubone and a Diglett.
Seeing the Diglett, Leon smirked at his friend and teammate, "Hey Jaina, isn't that your boyfriend?"
"We still have to go through Viridian Forest, you know" Jaina reminded him, "A lot of dark hidden spots where no one will find you."
Leon took a long step to the side putting distance between them, "Right so let's do this, Growlithe, go after Cubone, use bite!"
Growlithe charged in, running directly for her target who stood firm getting into a defensive stance ready to strike back with its raised club, but Daisy ordered her Diglett to run interference by digging into the ground and putting itself between them and using sand-attack. Thankfully Jaina had her Natu use teleport to move Growlithe out of the way and behind Cubone where the puppy Pokemon was able to tackle into her target and bite its arm dragging Cubone to the ground before pouncing. Daisy called for Diglett to help Cubone by using mud-slap on Growlithe, the mole Pokemon wiggling in the ground before throwing mud into Growlithe's eyes forcing it off Cubone, thankfully Natu teleported Growlithe back to their side of the field so she wouldn't be vulnerable to a follow-up.
"Good support Jaina" Leon commented before telling Growlithe to shake off the mud.
Growlithe shook her head and pawed at her face to clear the mud while Jaina ordered Natu to fly in and use night shade on Diglett, but Daisy ordered her pokemon to burrow into the ground to avoid it leaving the attack to miss its mark. Growlithe then yelped as Diglett emerged beneath her, striking and sending her into the air as Daisy then called for her Cubone to use bonemerang on Growlithe. Natu once again tried to run interference, but missed attacking the thrown bone which struck Growlithe, sending her back to the ground.
"Growlithe" Leon called out asking if she was alright.
With a growl the Pokemon got back to her feet and shook the dirt from her body before barking.
"Good girl"
While Jaina told Natu to use night shade on Cubone, Leon ordered Growlithe to charge Diglett and use ember. Daisy called for Cubone to retaliate with headbutt while ordering Diglett to counter ember with mud-slap.
Cubone took the brunt of the night shade attack, but launched itself forward to score a direct hit on Natu while Diglett's mud smothered Growlithe's ember attack, but the puppy Pokemon was quickly in reach of Diglett sliding by and getting her jaws around the mole and bite. Diglett cried in pain and its trainer ordered it to escape into the ground, but Leon ordered Growlithe to follow-up with a close range ember. Growlithe failed to hold on and breathed fire on her opponent before it could escape her teeth.
Watching the Diglett dive back into the ground Leon called to Jaina, "Jaina it's coming your way!"
Jaina quickly called for Natu to teleport back to Growlithe as Diglett's ambush missed. The mole Pokemon erupted from the ground, but flinched afterwards, a noticeable scorch mark on its body, it was burned.
"Diglett!" Daisy cried, "Hold on, you can do it!" The mole Pokemon tried to tough it out through, but it was obvious that it was in pain.
"Leon" Jaina began, "We got this."
"Don't get too overconfident my young friends" Daisy called to them, "This is far from over!"
She called for Cubone to rush it and when Growlithe moved to intercept Daisy ordered Diglett to lend Cubone a hand by using sand-attack. Diglett burrowed once again digging faster than Cubone could run and emerging in front of the charging Growlithe throwing sand and dirt into her eyes to obstruct her view before diving down again as Cubone landed a critical headbutt that sent Growlithe flying back. Attempting to get back up, Growlithe's feet slipped out from under her and Daisy ordered both of her Pokemon to press the attack focusing on the injured opponent.
"Growlithe roar!" Leon commanded and at last second Growlithe stood up, turned to the opposing Pokemon and roared with all the air in her lungs scaring both into halting their attacks.
A fire burned in Growlithe's eyes as she bared her teeth, small embers expelled from her mouth as she panted, she wasn't out yet, but she was obviously close to her limit. Diglett was also pretty banged up while Cubone and Natu were damaged, but still good to go.
Daisy checked her pokegear, "I'm sorry to say that I'm running out of time so let's end this. Cubone headbutt, Diglett, let's get back what's lost shall we?"
"Get back what's lost?" Jaina wondered as she watched Diglett burrow again, "Diglett doesn't learn recovery moves that I know of, what was lost that wasn't their health or stamina?"
Jaina's eyes widened, "Natu fly and use teleport to get Cubone's club!"
The tiny bird jumped, flapping its wings to stay in the air as it used its psychic powers to warp Cubone's bone up to it, right as Diglett popped out of the ground.
"Grab it!" Jaina yelled watching as the bone appeared in front of Natu and he grabbed it in his beak, "Now dive down and strike Diglett with everything you've got!"
Natu reared back before diving toward his target, armed with the bone club. Daisy commanded Diglett to dive back underground, but the Pokemon flinched, the pain from its burn stopping it from moving fast enough. Daisy cried for Cubone to intercept Natu with a headbutt, but Leon called for Growlithe to use bite dragging Cubone to the ground and holding on with what strength she had left as Natu scored a direct fly by hit on Diglett KO'ing it leaving the battle a two on one.
"Great job Natu!" Jaina cheered to which her Pokemon happily hopped on the ground while Leon ordered Growlithe to finish Cubone with a close range ember.
Cubone cried out as flames engulfed its arm first and then spread to the rest of its body before it finally fainted, making Jaina and Leon the winners of the battle.
Both trainers cheered as they turned to each other with Jaina leaping into her friend's arms and him catching her, they hugged and laughed until they noticed what they were doing and quickly separated, their cheeks bright red.
"Um, go…good job" Leon muttered to her.
Jaina looked away as she replied, "You too."
Leon nervously smiled, "We make good partners" he panicked, "I mean as a team, partners as in teammates not partners as in…" he fell silent as he felt his face heating up even more.
After receiving praise from Daisy on their teamwork and quick thinking and improvised tactics they were both awarded an earth badge along with her congratulations. Short on time they expressed hope to meet again and bid farewell, Daisy rushing to her weekend trip back to her home in Pallet Town while Jaina and Leon returned to the Pokemon Center.
"Her name is Oak" Leon said.
"Yeah" Jaina replied, "What about it?"
He hummed, "You think she's related to Professor Oak?"
Jaina sighed and covered her face with her hand, "You're only now realizing that?"
After healing their Pokemon they checked their supplies and set out for the Viridian Forest to make their way to Pewter City beyond, along the way Jaina called her parents informing them of their victory and second gym badge.
"It was a double battle" Jaina told them, "Leon and I teamed up to take her on."
Her mom sighed, "Look at you two, supporting each other so much. Truly the essence of love!"
"For the last time" Jaina growled, "He's not my boyfriend!" she yelled.