Link to BeginningLink to Pt. VIIThe air was thick and humid, a fog hindering visibility.
“Welcome to Cerulean Gym,” said a voice I entered the gym. “Follow me, but watch your step, it can be slippery in here sometimes.”
A silhouette emerged through the fog, beckoning me to follow. I complied, I wouldn’t be able to get through this myself. We passed a statue similar in resemblance to the one I had seen in Pewter’s gym, however the plaque was obscured. Damn this mist, I thought. I’d like to see which other trainers had beaten this gym leader. It was a quick walk and we reached another door.
“Here, wear this.” The man handed me a plastic gown. “It’ll keep you dry for the most part. Good luck now.”
I nodded in appreciation, mumbling a thanks, and put on what I found to be a rain coat. The door opened for me, and I entered a new room.
I walked slowly across the tiles. I could now see why I had to be careful. The floor was littered with water puddles. A bad step could mean a painful fall. I crouched down to take a closer look at the patterns on the tiles. My eyes followed the intricate pattern of swirls and waves, until they abruptly ended. Beyond that was water. Well, this is a water gym after all. I stood up and cautiously walked around the water.
“OI!”
A voice echoed through the room I was in, reverberating off the walls. It was accompanied by the sound of splashing. Peering through the fog, I could see a shadow. A few moments later, a small boy appeared at my feet. He was wearing a swim suit and a pair of goggles. He looked up at me and removed the goggles, shaking the water off his face.
“Have you come to challenge Misty?” He spoke softly.
I nodded in reply.
“You just have to walk around the edge of the room and you can get to her.” He pointed in the direction I had come from. “Go back and turn left or right. You can follow one of those paths.”
“Okay,” I said. “Why are you here though?”
“I’m new to raising Pokémon. Misty is training me and my sister. We’re gonna become Pokémon trainers and beat all the gym leaders!”
Seems to be a common goal for most budding trainers, I thought.
“Normally I’d ask to battle you, but my Pokémon got injured in a battle yesterday and are still recovering. So I’ll have to let you go without a fight.”
The boy put on his goggles and pushed off from the wall, splashing his way back to wherever he was before I he appeared. I wonder what sort of battle he got into to have his Pokémon so injured. I kept the thought in my head as I followed the path around the body of water. I rounded another corner, this time taking care not to walk into the wall.
“About time you arrived.”
I looked up and saw a young woman staring at me. Her orange hair strikingly contrasted the fog. Standing next to her was the boy I had encountered earlier, and on the other side, a similarly looking girl. She must be the sister he was talking about earlier. The orange haired woman said something to the two kids, and they nodded and ran off.
“I heard you were coming, but I got sick of waiting and came out to see where you were. You sure took your time. This way to the arena, follow.”
She turned around and started walking off. I followed her, wondering if she was leading me to Misty.
“Are you taking me to Misty?” I asked her, trying to break the awkward silence.
She stopped briefly before saying, “I am Misty.”
It was silent the rest of the walk. Only the sound of our footsteps could be heard echoing off the walls. We descended a flight of stairs, and at the bottom, led me through a door. Now we were in a large chamber, illuminated by a mysterious dark blue light.
“Stand over there,” she said, pointing to an area just up ahead.
Following her finger’s direction, I walked to what I saw was a circle etched into he floor. It was shaped like Poké Ball. I looked around where I stood. There was water pouring down the sides of the walls, with lights embedded at even intervals. A few metres ahead of where I was, the floor stopped and a pool of water started. Most of the room’s lighting appeared to come from here, the lights on the bottom of the pool shining through the water.
“You ready now? I want to end this battle quickly.” I looked up and saw that Misty had navigated her way to the other side of the pool, and was now holding a Poké Ball. Go Staryu!”
She threw her Poké Ball towards the pool of water and a golden-yellow star appeared. There was a red crystal embedded in the centre of its five arms, glowing with a dull light.
I won’t be able to let Amber fight in this battle. I’ll have to try something else. I know!
“I hope you can do something Fin,” I called out as I released Fin from his Poké Ball. “Fin, do some attack!”
Fin just flailed around in the pool.
“Rapid Spin!” Misty called out from the other side. Her Staryu rolled through the water, picking up speed, until its arms were just a blur. It was now cutting through the water at an incredible speed, heading straight for Fin.
“Curses,” I muttered under my breath. “Fin isn’t going to be useful here.”
Before I had a chance to recall Fin, Misty called out, “Now Tackle!”
The Staryu changed its orientation in the water and using one of its legs, hit Fin square on his head, before diving under and using its whole body to smash into the fish. Fin was knocked out of the water and landed in front of me, no longer moving. I recalled Fin, it was a dumb move sending him out in the first place.
“Your turn Swift,” I said as I sent out Swift.
Swift screeched as he emerged, the sound echoing in the room.
“Wing Attack!”
From Swift’s high altitude, he dove down, wing connecting with one of Staryu’s arms. The arm just plopped off landing in the water. No time to be disgusted, I have a battle to win.
“Quick now, use Tackle!”
Swift swopped into the air and dove down again, headed straight for the centre of Staryu. Swift’s head connected with the red gem and a cracking sound echoed in the room. I ran to the edge of the pool to take a look, Swift landing next to me. It looked like Staryu had been defeated, the gem in the centre of it had a small crack. I looked down at Swift, who appeared unharmed. I knelt down and patted him on the head, then stood up to face Misty.
“Its not over yet!” she called out from the other side. “Go Starmie!”
She recalled Staryu, and in its place appeared a larger star. Unlike Staryu, this one was purple, although a lighter shade than my hair. It also had a red crystal in its centre, but it was much bigger than Staryu’s. In fact, everything about this one seemed bigger. It also had more arms.
“Okay, just do what you did before and this battle should be ours.” I stood up as Swift took off from next to me, my eyes following his movements. He once again swooped from up high, connecting with one of Starmie’s arms, lopping it off. Starmie seemed unaffected. Swift once again swooped in for the tackle, connecting with the red gem. Swift flew back over to me. I looked down and smiled, but something didn’t seem right. The battle seemed too easy. My fears were confirmed a few moments later.
“Its not over yet! Starmie, Recover!” Misty’s voice rung out.
The red gem in Starmie started glowing, becoming so bright I had to shield my eyes. When the light stopped, Starmie looked exactly the same as it had when it first went into battle. It had all its arms, including the one that Swift had just removed. I looked over at Misty and saw her grinning back. For some reason, that expression annoyed me.
“You won’t be able to defeat Starmie so easily!” she sung out.
“Swift, try again.”
Swift repeated the attack sequence from previously, diving from a height, severing one of Starmie’s legs, before tackling it.
“That looked like it went better.”
“Recover!” Misty’s voice once again rang out, followed by that blinding light. “You won’t be able to win this way!”
“You can do this Swift, keep trying.”
Swift once again repeated the prior attack sequence, only to once again have Misty shout out for Starmie to use Recover.
“We’ll just have to keep trying. Lets keep at it.”
Swift kept swooping and tackling, but it all seemed in vain. Each time, Starmie would just recover all the damage it sustained. There has to be some way to defeat it. After a few more attempts, Swift landed beside me again, and looked up at me. I could see Swift was panting now, it seems the battled had tired him out.
“Lets try it once more Swift.” I looked down into his eyes, before saying, “One last time.”
Swift took off again, but didn’t swoop this time. He screeched, the sound piercing the air.
“Whats wrong?” I called out, answered with another screech.
“It seems your Pokémon has exhausted all its PP, trainer.” Misty’s voice sounded harsh.
“PP?” I asked quizzically.
“Power Points. Every Pokémon has them. Each time they use an attack, they lose some PP. If they run out, they won’t be able to use that attack anymore, and they’ll be forced to struggle their way through the battle, if they can manage to continue fighting.”
Swift circled in the air above Starmie. I had to think of something quick, or Swift would be out of battle like Fin was.
“Shoot it out of the air with your Water Gun!” Misty’s voice sounded alive.
I had underestimated the power of her Pokémon. Looking over the watery battlefield, Starmie was shooting jets of water skyward trying to knock Swift out of the air. Swift was trying everything he could to dodge them. I need an idea fast. I watched Swift circling as I thought. Ah, I know! I motioned Swift over to me.
“Use Whirlwind and Gust, then try to tackle it again.” I spoke fast, so Swift could head back to battle quickly.
When he returned, skilfully avoiding a jet of water, he started flapping his wings rapidly, causing violent waves in the water which buffeted Starmie around. Amidst the sudden change in water conditions, Swift swooped down low and circled Starmie, getting faster and faster. The water directly below him started spinning with him, and quickly rose into a small waterspout. Swift flew off from the side of the spout to ready for a tackle. He started flying in, but was met part way by a jet of water. With his wings soaked, he fell into the water. His light body had gotten heavier now his feathers had soaked up all that water. Flying was impossible in this condition. Reluctantly, I returned Swift to his Poké Ball and sent out the only Pokémon who’d be suitable for this battle.
“Pierce, you’re my last chance now.” Pierce appeared in front of me, standing on the edge of the pool. “Do a Quick Attack followed by a Bite.”
Pierce doubled up and with a running jump, leapt over the water unto the heart of the waterspout. He crashed out on the other side, with Starmie in his fangs, and bit into the gem. There was a loud cracking sound. I ran around the pool to where the two Pokémon were. Starmie lay as rigid as it had appeared in the water, but the glow emanating from its gem was gone. I pulled Pierce off. A few shard of Starmie’s centre gem cracked off. A thin trail of blue ooze connected Pierce’s fangs to the gem. It seemed Pierce’s Bite had been a really effective finisher. Misty had rushed over too and was awkwardly cradling Starmie in her arms. She returned Starmie back to its Poké Ball and stood up. I stood up too, and Misty held out the palm of her hand to me. Sitting in the centre was a small badge.
“I present you with the Cascade Badge for defeating me, he leader of Cerulean City Gym.” She was able to maintain her composure quite well, despite having injured Pokémon and just lost a battle.
I took the badge from her, thanking her in the process, and placed it next to my Boulder Badge in my bag. I turned around and left the room, back up the stairs I had come. At the top, the man who had led me through the first section of the gym was waiting.
“Congratulations on your victory. I’ll lead you out. Please follow.”
I followed him back to the entrance. As I passed the statue I had seen earlier, I tried to read the names on it, but they were still obscured. I did make out a few letters, but they were no help to me. As I stepped out of the gym, I realised I as still wearing the coat I was given when I entered the first pool room. It did seem a bit hot out here. I hastily remove it, and wondering where I should put it, stuffed it into my bag. I should go to the Pokémon Centre to heal up my injured Pokémon. I started walking in the direction of the Pokémon Centre, looking forward to battling the next gym leader.
Link to Pt. IX
