Chapter 25: The Last of the Badges!
Finally, back on the road again. It was time to get some more badges. Zach was still driving the boat. I was making a log into my Pokédex, Josh was eating some cheese curls and Megan was inside the cabin, sleeping. I placed my Pokédex on the cushion of the seat and walked up to the top of the ship with Zach.
"So how long until we reach Trovita?" I asked.
"According to the map, it should only take another hour," Zach said, confidently.
"Hey, I think I see it!" I said, pulling out a pair of binoculars from my backpack, "Yea, it's an island. I think it's Trovita!"
"Hmm, I didn't think Zeta & Trovita were that close." Zach thought out loud.
It took a little more than a half hour, but we finally made it to Trovita.
"Wow. This place looks big. Do we have a map for this island?" I asked.
"No. We're gonna have to find one inside town, as well as a gas station." Zach said, tying the boat to the dock.
Zach, Zubat, and I hopped out of the boat and started to head down to the city.
"Hey, aren't you gonna come?" I asked Josh, who was still in the boat.
"Nah. Megan's still asleep. It would be pretty rude to leave her here all alone then have her worrying when she wakes up." Josh said.
"Sure, right. Just don't try anything while we're gone." I said with a wink.
"I would never do something like that!" Josh said angrily.
"Uh huh. Whatever!" I said, snickering.
"You have a very dirty mind Matt." Josh said, munching on a cheese curl.
I started to go to the Gym, when Josh stopped me.
"Forgetting something?" Josh said, holding up my Pokédex.
"Hehe. Oh yea." I said with a fake smile. I grabbed the encyclopedia and ran off.
"Like I said, don't try anything!" I shouted. Josh glared at me.
I just ran along snickering even louder. We found a map just outside the port and decided to see where we were. Zach found a boating store with the gas he needed, while I found the Gym. It was on another island to the south. I looked behind the map and saw it. We could have just went right there. With a groan, I noticed the ferry schedule. It was leaving in 5 minutes! I quickly ran to the ferry, leaving Zach to get some gas, and made it with just a few seconds to spare. Luckily, the dock wasn't far away from where we found the map. The ferry ride took about 15 minutes, most of which I spent catching my breath. When the ferry docked on the small island, I immediately saw signs pointing to the Gym, which was a Dance Center.
Walking inside, I was quickly overwhelmed with would-be dancer, practicing and taking breaks. Several Pokémon were also dancing around the hall. In the middle was an information desk. Walking up to it, I asked the woman behind the desk where the Gym Leader was.
"He's behind the double doors at the end of the hall. He should be almost finished a lesson."
I thanked her and ran down the hall to the room she pointed to. I opened the doors and saw a young teenager teaching an Exeggutor and a Golem how to dance. He then saw me and told the Pokémon to take a break.
"Hi. The name is Rudy. How can I help you?"
"Name's Matt. I challenge you to a Pokémon Match for your badge."
"Another one. All right, meet me by the river in 20 minutes."
I was very excited, but wondered why we had to battle at the river. I ran out to find the river, but forgot to ask for directions. I figured I could find it easily, since the island was so small. Twenty-five minutes later, I found the river. Rudy understood how I was late, and asked me to get inside a small speedboat.
"OK, you have to make your Pokémon hit each and every target. If you succeed, I'll battle you."
"This will be a piece of cake! Raichu! Flareon! Let's go!"
Raichu & Flareon popped out, ready for action. I told them what they had to do, then waited. The targets soon came up and both Pokémon started blasting. Raichu took the left targets while Flareon took the right. I commanded them to use their wide range attacks so that they could hit multiple targets. I also guided them so they could see the targets. The boat ride was over in 15 minutes and my Pokémon had hit all of the targets.
"You did well. Because you were able to get all of the targets, I will battle you. We will use three elements in the battle. Whatever you pick, I will match. Got it?"
"Right. I'll use a Water-type, a Bug-type, and an Electric-type."
"All right. Why don't I lead you to the arena? Last thing we need is you showing up late again."
I just gave a nervous grin as a sweatdrop appeared on my head.
Fifteen minutes later, we had arrived at the arena. Rudy had to get his Pokémon, and we both went to the top of a long, rock, column. We started the battle.
"Go Raichu!" "I choose you, Electabuzz!"
Both Electric-types stood battle-ready. Electabuzz started things out with a Thunderpunch, which hit Raichu hard. The mouse retaliated by swinging its tail into Electabuzz, knocking it into the ground. Raichu then Body Slammed it so it would really be hurting. However, Raichu was thrown away thanks to a Thunderbolt. I called for a Thundershock, but Raichu's attacks missed when Rudy called for music and Electabuzz started dancing. I had to act fast.
"Raichu! Swift, now!"
Raichu threw a bunch of yellow stars from its cheeks that went straight for Electabuzz. The buzzing Pokémon side-stepped it, but the stars came back and hit it in its back. Raichu followed up with even more stars, as Electabuzz was hurting. However, it managed to block them thanks to Reflect. Now was the time to act.
"Give it a Mega Punch Raichu!"
Raichu wound up, and fired a powerful punch to Electabuzz's jaw. Rudy tried to command his Pokémon to attack, but it was no use. Electabuzz fell to the ground, out like a light.
"All right Raichu! Good job. You deserve a rest now." I said, returning Raichu to its Poké Ball, "Time for action Beedrill!"
The bright yellow bee flew out and prepared for battle.
"Go Venomoth!" Rudy shouted as the purple bug popped out.
Both Bug-types instantly started the battle before the ref said Go. The two clashed and tackled each other multiple times. Neither could get an advantage on one another as they clashed again and again. I decided to send a Pin Missle to shake things up, but Venomoth dodged it and sent a Psybeam headed for the bee. Quickly, Beedrill dodged the beam and raced after it, jabbing it left and right in a Fury Attack. Venomoth quickly escaped and latched onto Beedrill, giving it a Mega Drain before Psybeaming the bug into the ground.
"Finish it Venomoth! Stun Spore!"
Venomoth released several strands of brown powder which headed straight for Beedrill. The bug tried to avoid it, using Agility to speed up, but the power was everywhere. Eventually it caught up to Beedrill, paralyzing it.
"Return Beedrill! Go Kingdra!"
"Nice job Venomoth. Return. Go Starmie."
The starfish and the seahorse glared at each other. Well, with whatever Starmie CAN glare with. The ref announced the start of the battle as both sent out powerful Water Guns. Neither Pokémon could outgun the other as the blasts cancelled out. Starmie lept into the air to deliver a powerful Tackle when Kingdra, despit not being in water, lept to the side and sent a Bubble to send the starfish back. Starmie tried to use an Ice Beam, but Kingdra Water Gunned itself into the air to avoid it, then sent a Bubblebeam into Starmie, sending it into the ground.
"Starmie. Time for out secret weapon!" Rudy yelled.
Starmie flew out of the ground and charged up. Soon, it unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt which hit Kingdra dead on. Rudy seemed confident, but became curious to see that I had the same expression. Starmie pounded Kingdra with electric volts until it stopped to take a break. The Water-type fell back to the ground, but was surprised to see Kingdra with just a few bruises.
"But how? Thunderbolt is super-effective against Water-types!" Rudy yelled.
"Right. But Kingdra is part Dragon, which RESISTS Electric attacks. Thunderbolt only did half the damage it usually deals."
Rudy was speechless. He had never seen a Kingdra in action before.
"All right Kingdra, time to show him what Dragons can really do! Twister, now!" I yelled out.
Kingdra nodded, as dust and pebbles around him swirled in a cyclone. With its eyes glowing white, Kingdra unleashed the tornado at the starfish, which was englufed. The Water-type tried to hold its ground, but it was hard as the Twister increased in power. Eventually Kingdra stopped its tornado. Starmie just stood there, struggling to stand up, until it couldn't any more and dropped, beaten.
"You...beat me."
"That's right. Nice job Kingdra. I'm glad you evolved!" I said, hugging my Dragon.
"As proof of beating me, I present the Spike Shell Badge."
"Wow! My third badge! All right! Just one more!" I yelled in excitement.
Unfortunately, I missed the ferry back to the main island. Since both Kingdra and Beedrill were tired, I had to wait for the next ferry. Luckily, because it was such a short trip, the next one was in a half-an-hour. While waiting, I admired my new badge. It had spikes all around its pink shell. Finally, the ferry pulled back in. On the main island, Zach was waiting for me with a lot of fuel canisters.
"This outta last us a while. I managed to swindle the cashier into getting me a discount." Zach said.
"How did you do that?" I asked him.
"Well, it wasn't easy. I preferably don't want to talk about it. How'd the match go?"
"It was awsome! I got the badge!" I said, showing him the Spike Shell Badge.
"Cool. Let's get back to the boat." Zach said, "Oh, almost forgot. I managed to get some of these too."
He showed me five Poké Balls, but instead of the usual red, it was yellow and black.
"What are they?" I asked.
"They're Great Balls. They are stronger at catching Pokémon than Poké Balls are." I thanked my brother and took the new balls.
"Come on, we gotta get going. Megan's probably up by now."
Sure enough, Megan was up. Unfortunately, Josh was asleep. Megan greeted us when we got back. She was feeding what was left of the cheese curls to Pichu.
"Geez. He's out like a light. You really wore him out, didn't you?" I said, amazed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Megan asked sternly.
"You know what I'm talking about." I said, grabbing a Water bottle and drinking it.
"You have a very dirty mind, Matthew." Megan said, crossing her arms.
"So I've been told." I said, smiling and drinking some more water.
Zubat untied the rope with its teeth while Zach refueled the boat. Soon, we were off again. Megan asked where we were off to, and Zach replied that the nearest Gym is on Kuquait Island. I took a look at the map.
"You know, there sure are a lot of islands with no Gyms around here." I replied.
"Guess that's why you only need four badges to get in" Megan said.
Just then I spied something swimming in the same direction as the boat. I pulled out my Pokédex to identify.
"Dewgong. This Pokémon is thick and blubbery, allowing it to swim in even the coldest waters at a steady speed. Its horn is also very hard, smashing through even very thick ice."
"Awesome. Time to catch it! Zubat go!" I shouted, sending my bat out.
Zubat shrieked loudly and flew out at the Pokémon. Zach stopped the boat so I could battle effectively. Dewgong stopped when it saw Zubat, and wondered what it was going to do. Zubat flew into the air and delivered a large Whirlwind which sent Dewgong underwater. The seal Pokémon then popped out and fired an Auroa Beam which hit Zubat. The bat was sent into the water shortly, but recovered quickly. Zubat flew into the air and fired a Supersonic, which confused Dewgong into hitting itself. Taking this pause, Zubat bit onto Dewgong and started its Mega Drain. Dewgong splashed wildly, but couldn't get it off. I decided to catch it then using one of the Great Balls.
"Great Ball, go!"
The ball hit its target and sucked it up. It shook in the waves until the light went off and clicked shut. Zubat came back to me as the Great Ball was transported automatically to Professor Oak.
The ride to Kuquait Island was uneventful. Josh had finally woken up and I teased him some more. No new Pokémon had shown up, so we let our Water-types get some exercise. Lapras was relaxing, swimming at a leisurely pace. Dratini was having fun in the water, while Politoed was laying in the water. Out of nowhere, Kingdra popped up and sprayed Politoed with its Water Gun! Politoed jump kicked Kingdra and the two fought again.
"Why does he do that?" I asked.
"Who knows?" Josh said, as we recalled our Pokémon.
It wasn't long until we got to Kuquait. It was nighttime, so we quickly found the nearest Pokémon Center to spend the night. While we were eating our dinner, our Pokémon were munching on their own food and talking with some of the other trainer's Pokémon. I decided to hit the hay early so I would be rested enough to battle well against the Gym Leader. The next day, I & my Pokémon were fully rested and ready to do battle. Zach decided to stay behind. He wanted to check out the city. Megan wanted to go buy some new clothes, so it was just Josh and me. Nurse Joy gave us directions to the Gym Leader, and we found out that it was also a really cheap, but very nice hotel! A woman came out to greet us.
"Hello, would you like to check in?" she asked.
"Actually, I was looking for the Gym Leader." I said.
"Very well, follow me." she said, leading the two of us off.
She led us to a large sports arena built inside the hotel, but it was a Pokémon stadium. There, a woman was doing some simple exercises.
"Excuse me, Ms. Luanna. These trainers wish to challenge you."
"Is that so? Well, you look like you might do well. Lemme change and we'll get started. I could use a match to get started on the day." Luanna said.
She went to get changed while Josh & I just stood there. It took almost a half-an-hour, but she finally came out, fully dressed.
"Now then. Which one wanted to battle?"
"I did. The name is Matthew" I said.
"Fine then, Matthew. We will each use two Pokémon at once. It will be a doubles match." she said, holding up two Poké Balls.
"Fine by me." I said.
We both got to our sides of the ring while a referee came in to watch the match. Luanna quickly called out her two Pokémon.
"Alakazam! Marowak! Go!" Luanna shouted.
I tried to figure out which Pokémon to pick.
"Hmm. Beedrill is weak to both of them. Zubat is weak to Alakazam but has a great advantage against Marowak. Raichu's weak against Marowak but has the speed to match Alakazam's. Flareon's also weak against Marowak. Kingdra isn't weak to either, but it's too slow, just like Graveler. So who to pick?" I said to myself. I finally decided to use my two strongest Pokémon.
"Zubat! Raichu! You're up!" I said.
"Why those two?" Josh asked me.
The match began. Alakazam sent a Psybeam heading for Zubat, but Raichu's Thundershock cancelled it. Instead, Zubat sent a Supersonic right at the two of them. Alakazam was confused, but Marowak wasn't, and threw its bone at the two of them. Raichu couldn't get out of the way in time, so Zubat tackled Raichu out of the way of the bone.
"Oh, I get it. Raichu's weak against Marowak, but covers up Zubat's weakness against Alakazam with its speed, while Zubat does the same for Raichu." Josh said to himself.
"Raichu! Alakazam's have weak Defense! Mega Kick it now! Zubat! Use Mega Drain against that Marowak!" I yelled.
"Alakazam! Use Psychic to send that Raichu into the Zubat! Marowak, hit both of them with your bone!" Luanna shouted.
Raichu tried to kick Alakazam, but the psychic lifted up Raichu using its powers, and smacked it into Zubat. The two fell onto the ground, where Marowak smacked them with their bone. Marowak then sent a Blizzard at the two, freezing them a little bit. Raichu thundered its way out, but it was mad. It leaped in the air to escape Alakazam's Psybeam and Marowak's bone, then landed behind the two and unleashed a Thunderbolt. Marowak wasn't affected, but Alakazam was hurt. Before I could command Raichu to help Zubat, Marowak grabbed the mouse's tail and tossed it to the other side of the ring. Raichu was about to attack again, when I told it to release Zubat. Raichu put the tip of its tail against the ice on Zubat, and gave a small electric shock. Enough to break the ice, but not enough to harm Zubat. The two tried to attack again, but were hit by more of Luanna's Pokémon's attacks.
"Raichu, use Swift, now!" I shouted.
Raichu charged up and released the yellow stars. Unfortunately, Alakazam's Barrier blocked the stars from hitting. Raichu was hit by Marowak's bone again.
"Man. This is NOT working. How can I get through to them! I know! Double Team now!" I yelled.
Raichu and Zubat both formed about twenty clones of itself. Marowak was confused, but Alakazam used Psychic and easily caught the two real Pokémon. Both were lifted into the air and slammed into the ground.
"I expected more of a challenge than this!" Luanna said, "Psybeam and Bonemerang! Now!"
I still had no idea how I was going to win. Then it hit me.
"Raichu! Light Screen and Reflect! Both at once!"
Raichu produced both fields at the same time. The bone bounced off thanks to Reflect while Light Screen cancelled out the Psybeam. This gave Zubat a chance to use Supersonic again. Unfortunately, Alakazam put up a Barrier which cancelled the Supersonic. Then I had an idea. I called for Raichu to use its Thunder Wave. Marowak was unaffected, but Alakazam became paralyzed. Raichu ran to get close to Alakazam, but Marowak threw its bone again. Zubat grabbed the bone and threw it away. Angered, Marowak tried to headbutt Raichu, only to miss thanks to its Agility. Raichu leaped into the air and onto the paralyzed Alakazam, who tried to focus its Psychic powers but couldn't. Raichu charged up and released a powerful Thunder attack, while Zubat bit Marowak's tail and started its Mega Drain. Both Pokémon tried to get out of their predicaments, but couldn't as both of my Pokémon increased their power. Soon, Alakazam fell, defeated. Raichu was very tired and trying to catch its breath. Marowak couldn't stand up and Zubat felt refreshed.
"All right! I won!" I shouted in the air.
"Nice job, Matt!" Josh said.
"Alakazam, Marowak, return!" Luanna said, then walked over to us, "You defeated me. As a debt of thanks I present the Jade Star Badge. Take it."
"All right! I got my fourth badge!" I shouted.
"Now you can fight the Gym Leader of Pummelo for the Orange League trophy." Luanna said.
I ran back to the Pokémon Center as fast as I could, with Josh lagging behind. Megan was finished shopping, but Zach wasn't back yet. I took the time to have Raichu & Zubat rest. Megan had bought a new, bright pink blouse, purple stretch pants and new sandals. She tried them on and showed them off to us.
"Wow Megan! You look fantastic!" Josh said.
"Thanks!" Megan said with a wink, "What about you, Matt?"
I was busy logging in my Gym battles into my Pokédex, "Oh, what did you say?" I said without looking up.
Megan just sighed. Zach came back finally. He saw a couple Game Boy games he wanted, but couldn't afford them now. I told Zach all about my battle with Luanna. He said he was very impressed with how I handled the situation.
"So now what?" Megan asked.
"Luanna said that once you have four badges, you can compete at Pummelo Island, where the Orange League trophy is." Josh said.
"So let's get going! I wanna win that trophy!" I said with a shout.
Megan wanted to try on new clothes. Josh didn't mind staying nor did he mind going, and Zach didn't care. He couldn't get anything here. Zach, Josh and I got aboard the boat, with Megan angrily in tow. Next stop, Pummelo! (Hey, that rhymed!)
To be continued...
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