Finding You - Chapter 7

Finding You – A Pokemon Black and White Fanfiction – Chapter 7

Thunder Shock

Luna took in the opportune chance to explore Striaton City, getting a taste of the Striaton Café, which also doubles as the local Gym! Afterwards, she explored the abandoned Dreamyard, only to be subjected to Musharna's Dream Mist, where she and Chewy both had a disturbing nightmare…

***

             Journal of Dominic Mond, Sixth Entry

As expected, I won the battle. But a lot more went down than I would have guessed.

This morning, I came back to the same spot to where I had seen the battling before, half expecting the Riolu boy not to show up. It was the complete opposite of what I had anticipated. Instead of only him, or not even anyone at all, I saw not only the boy but a large group of his friends. And they were all young boys and girls his age or younger. Every single one of them had Pokeballs on their person, and all of them appeared apprehensive at my arrival.

The Riolu boy stepped forward to greet me. 'These are the other battlers,' he said. 'They agreed to our deal. If I lose, then we won't battle on the streets anymore. We promise.' And they all nodded in agreement.

Then we started the battle. But instead of sending out his Riolu, the boy took a Pokeball from one of the children next to him and sent out a Liepard. I took out Pidgeot and defeated it easily, but that wasn't the end of it. He took Pokemon from each of his friends to use against me. I ended up using every one of my Pokemon, and while none of them ended up being KO'd, it was still a tiresome battle.

After I defeated his Riolu – his last Pokemon – the children just looked at each other and walked away. I will never forget the looks on their faces. Every one of them looked as if they wanted to cry. Some of them did.

***

"I want to challenge the Striaton City Gym."

Cilan, Cress, and Chili all looked at each other and nodded. "Excellent," Cilan said. "Please follow us."

Luna let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She followed the three brothers into a door on the side of the café. Previously, she had thought that it led into the kitchen, but as it opened she realized it was a passageway to the arena.

It was the following day after Luna and Chewy's disturbing experience at the Dreamyard, and Luna still felt a little shaken after what had happened. Memories of their haunting nightmare still wracked her brain, but Luna told herself that she had to put the whole thing behind her if she ever wanted to move on. So after a bit of training, she and her Pokemon retired in the Pokemon Center for the night and headed to the "café" first thing in the morning.

The brothers led Luna through to another finely decorated room. This time, however, there were no tables for customers, and the only thing of any significant importance was the large red curtain in the middle, very similar to what was in the outer area, and three large buttons on the floor. Each button had a leaf, flame, or water drop insignia.

"We'll leave you to your own devices," Cilan said, bowing as he and his brothers backed away.

"H-hang on a second!" Luna squeaked. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Try to open the curtain," Cilan said. "Pokemon Trainers are resourceful, no? You can do it. Best of luck."

Before she knew it, the brothers were gone and Luna was left alone in the room.

Luna looked at the curtain. Try to open it? It was red, with an orange flame design in the middle where the two parts joined.

She walked over and pulled apart the curtain, but to her astonishment there was a wall right behind it.

Well, I opened it, Luna thought. What's supposed to happen now?

After several uneventful moments passed, Luna decided there must be some other way to do it that she wasn't picking up on.

She started to back away from the curtain, and in doing so stepped on one of the buttons on the floor. She let out a squeak of alarm as the curtain suddenly opened on its own, and the wall folded down so that she could proceed.

Luna looked down at her feet. The button was the blue one with the water droplet. Water. Luna looked up to where the curtain had previously been.  Fire. Water puts out fire, so...

Suddenly excited, Luna hurried through the curtain and felt slightly disappointed to see another obstacle – a blue curtain with a water droplet. But this time, she knew what to do...

***

"Congratulations, Luna." Cilan smiled at her as she entered the arena. "You've proved your knowledge of the basic Pokemon elemental types. Welcome to the Striaton City Gym!"

Luna's throat felt dry, so she simply nodded. Anticipation was coursing through her veins, as well as nervousness. This was her second-ever Trainer battle, and her first one, of course, against an experienced Gym leader.

She hadn't expected the curtain puzzle that she had to solve. Apparently, this was going to be even more challenging than she had predicted. What else did the Striaton brothers have up their sleeves?

"You said before that you started out with an Oshawott, correct?" Cilan asked. "That means you will be battling against me. My brothers and I decide on who gets to battle our challengers depending on their Starter Pokemon."

Luna decided not to tell Cilan that her first Pokemon actually had, in fact, been Chewy.

Cilan walked to the opposite side of the arena. They were now standing on opposite sides of the room, with the large battle court in between them.

"This will be a one-on-one match," Cilan said. "There are no restrictions on this battle, but know that later on Gym Leaders may set certain regulations. Since we're the first Gym, we tend to go a little easy on the challengers. Are you ready?"

Luna nodded and gripped her Pokeball. Yes.

"Then...Bon appetite." Cilan tossed a Pokeball into the air. "One battle, coming right up!"

A Lillipup popped out of the Pokeball and immediately began growling. It looked almost just like Laddie, and Luna had to remind herself that she had to knock out the adorable little Pokemon in order to win the battle.

Luna threw out her Pokeball and watched as it spun in the air before bursting open. "Xander!"

The cheerful Oshawott bounced out and hopped into the arena, ready for battle. He faced off against the Lillipup.

Cilan and Luna shouted their commands at once.

"Tackle!"

"Water gun!"

A torrent of water burst from Xander's mouth and shot into the Lillipup before it could run towards him. The Puppy Pokemon flew backwards and hit the back of the arena, easily a one-hit KO.

Luna winced at the impact, instantly feeling sorry for the Pokemon. "Ah! I'm sorry..."

Cilan shook his head and withdrew Lillipup. "Don't worry, Miss Luna. Such a hit is typical for Pokemon trained for battle. You must learn to be concerned for your own Pokemon rather than others', or you will pay the consequences."

As he spoke, he released his second Pokemon, and Luna instantly recognized it as a Pansage, almost exactly identical to the one that young Ashley had battled with. Knowing that Xander was at a type disadvantage, she quickly switched him out.

"Chewy! Go!"

The feisty Teddiursa immediately jumped to the offensive, his fur spiking up in warning to the Pansage.

"Pansage," Cilan commanded, "let's start the second course with vine whip!"

Vines shot out from the foliage atop the green monkey Pokemon's head and sped towards Chewy. Chewy managed to dodge them at first until one caught around his foot, lifting him into the air and throwing him down with a loud thud!

Luna's breath caught in her throat, but she quickly regained her composure. "Chewy! Bite!"

Chewy snapped at the vines, and they quickly withdrew from his foot. Without command, he leaped at Pansage, snarling and swiping with his claws.

Luna facepalmed in exasperation. There he goes again, attacking without my commands. How can I fix this? The two Pokemon were grappling messily in the middle of the arena, neither battling in an organized fashion. It was a regular brawl.

Cilan quickly took control. "Pansage! Get back!" It immediately obeyed, leaping into the air with acrobatic reflexes and standing off towards Chewy a short distance away. "Work up!"

Luna watched Pansage start building up energy. I need to finish the battle before it gets too strong! But how...?

As Luna searched her brain for an answer, she suddenly had an idea. Pansage's Vine Whip comes from the leaves on its head. If I can stop the vines...

"Chewy! Fury Swipes, now! Aim for the leaves!"

Chewy, though not the fastest of Pokemon, bounded towards Pansage with astonishing speed. He leaped, swiping with his claws, and landed on top of Pansage. Pansage's vines reached out to grab him but Chewy cut them away before they could reach him.

In one last Fury Swipe, Pansage was down, for without its grass attacks it was powerless against Chewy. It lay blissfully unconscious on the Gym floor as Chewy stood over it, sniffing, before proudly striding back towards Luna.

Luna blinked. Is it really over? Her heart was still beating rapidly from exhilaration and excitement.  The battle itself hadn't lasted more than ten minutes, and the fun was over all too soon for Luna.

Then Luna remembered that winning meant that two of Cilan's precious Pokemon were hurt, and she immediately felt sorry. "Cilan, I hope your Pokemon aren't..."

He held up a hand to quiet her. "As I told you before, no worries. Pokemon have higher pain tolerance than humans, and their bodies are built specifically for conflict. Pokemon recover quickly, Miss Luna. I promise you that there's no reason for concern."

Luna relaxed slightly. "Thank you. So does this mean...?"

Cilan walked across the arena towards her and pressed something into her palm. When he removed his hand, she was left with a shining new Gym Badge.

"That's the Trio Badge," Cilan said. "With it, Pokemon up to a certain level who have been traded to you will obey you. Sometimes, you see, traded Pokemon don't obey if you aren't strong enough, but with a Badge they will."

"Huh." Luna hadn't known this before, but made a mental note to remember this bit of information later. "Thank you so much for the battle, Cilan."

Cilan bowed. "It was my pleasure. Please do come by our café again someday if you ever feel the need."

"I'll do that." Luna smiled and scooped up Chewy into her arms. "Bye!"

As she exited the arena, feeling victorious, Cilan watched her with a thoughtful expression.

Come to think of it, she reminds me a little bit of someone. Ah, I remember now! Her passion for Pokemon reminds me a bit of Touya...

***

Luna still couldn't believe that she had been able to win her first Gym battle. Her steps felt light as she skipped towards the Pokemon Center.

That was amazing! Luna thought happily. Wow! Dad will be so proud. She smiled at the thought of seeing him again and showing him a badge case full of badges. It'll be great.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden ringing of her Xtransceiver. Puzzled, Luna glanced at the device to see who it could be. Zoe maybe?

Suddenly Luna's face paled. Had the Xtransceiver not been attached to her wrist, she was sure she would have dropped it. The name on the caller id was one she had not expected to see for a long time, or even ever hear from again. Why is she calling? How did she get my number?

Shakily Luna lifted the device to her face and pressed the answer button. "Mom?"

To be continued...