Pokémon Voyages Red-Blue (7)

To recap: Joshua has made his way through the Viridian Forest and was beat by Grace, a young girl using a Jigglypuff

            I was still thinking about this when I walked out of the forest into Viridian City. For a city, it was awfully calm- I noticed an old man fishing with his Poliwag, and some kids playing tag with an Eevee. Everything was serene and, well, green- until a familiar voice broke the silence.
            “CLOSED?!”
            I whirled to where the voice had come from and saw, sure enough, Drake, in front of a Pokémon Gym. I got closer, and found him in an argument with a police officer. 
            “Yes, closed. The Gym is under maintenance.”

“WHAT?!”
            “It’s the hardest Gym in Kanto, anyway. Not exactly beginner friendly.”
            “Pfft. Like my Beedrill and Golduck can’t take some guy!”
            “Yeah, they couldn’t. We’re talking about one of the top ever Trainers. Do you even know who the Viridian City Gym Leader is?” 

“Blue,” I blurted. “He was Kanto’s first Champion, but he lost to Red soon after.”

Drake turned. “Oh. Joshua. So, we met up, huh? And apparently I don’t have a Gym Leader to beat here, I’ll just beat you.” 
            I almost blurted that my four could take all six of his, but reminded myself that overconfidence will just mess me up. So, calmly, I responded, “Three on three again, or just one on one?”
            Drake smirked. “You know, I want to get this over with, honestly, so let’s just go one on one.”
            We found a field to battle. Drake decided to go with someone new this time, releasing a Fearow. My chosen Pokémon was Squirtle. Just as Drake called for Air Slash, I heard a girl’s voice yell, “SNEAK ATTACK!”
            A pink blur crashed down on top of Fearow, taking him by surprise. Fearow whirled around, and found the culprit- a Jigglypuff had used Pound on him. Drake yelled, “Who did that?!” Unfortunately, I recognized the Jigglypuff.
            Grace peeked her head from behind a building. “Haha! Did you get Fearow, Jiggly?” 
            Drake marched right over to her. “Listen, girlie. You don’t just drop into battles like that. This is OUR battle. No one gets to interfere!”
            Grace hmphed. “What if I want to battle too?”
            Drake stared at her. “This is our rivalry. Me and him.”
            “Well, I wanna be a rival too!”
            “Pfft. With just your Jigglypuff?”
            Grace glared at him, stepping closer. “You think I’m not strong enough because I’m a girl? Because I use a cute little pink thing?” With that, she kicked him in the shin. 
            Drake flinched, and I could tell that, despite Grace’s petite size, she can kick like a Fighting type- Drake was biting his lip from the pain.
            “Fine! But you have to play by our rules, girlie.” He started listing them off. “First, if you meet one of us on the road, battle. Loser has to turn back to wherever he came from.”
            “On the ROAD,” she noted. “So if you meet in a city or town, you don’t have to?”
            Drake stared. “Um-”
            I shrugged. “I guess not. So me and Drake didn’t have to be doing this battle right now.”
            “Shut up, Joshua! Anyway, the winner is whoever makes it furthest into the Elite Four. If anyone ties, furthest in the Pokédex is the tiebreaker. Got that?”
            “Pfft. How stupid do you think I am?” Grace snorted. “Yes, got it, still going to beat you. Can we battle now?”
            Drake glared at her. “Fine. Three way battle. One Pokémon only.”
            Grace shrugged. “Okay… threetwoone go!”
            “Huh?!” me and Drake both said in unision. Meanwhile, Grace was totally on top of it. “Jiggly- Double Slap Squirtle!”
            “Squirtle, Withdraw!” Jiggly slapped Squirtle’s shell repeatedly to no avail.
            Drake yelled, “Fearow, Drill Peck that puffball!” Fearow spun up and crashed into Jiggly. Jiggly flew back into Squirtle, knocking them both down. Squirtle pushed Jiggly off him and blasted Water Gun at Fearow, who easily dodged the attack. 
            “Squirtle, Whirlpool!” Squitle began spraying out water, but Grace yelled, “Nope!” and Jiggly dropped like a pink anvil onto Squirtle.
            “Fearow, Drill Peck both of them!” Fearow tried to Drill Peck again, but Jiggly dodged him, then used Pound on his back again and held on like a cowgirl puffball. Fearow trashed and flew about, but she held on for dear life. 
            “Squirtle, Whirlpool!” Squirtle whipped up more water, and Fearow got trapped in the Whirlpool- but Jiggly jumped off the Flying type’s back just in time.
            “Echoed Voice!” I expected singing. It was more like screeching. Ever heard a really really loud rock band, and you accidentally put it on max volume? Jiggly was at LEAST that bad. I covered my ears, but Squirtle and Fearow both endured Jiggly’s rock concert of doom. By the end of it, Fearow and Squirtle were both knocked out. Grace whooped- or I think she did, I couldn’t hear much through the ringing in my ears. I returned Squirtle to his Pokéball, and then noticed Grace sticking out both her hands. For a second, I thought she was trying to hug someone, but then I realized she was trying to have both of us shake her hand at the same time. Drake slapped her hand, grumbling, while I shook her other hand.
            “See, this guy’s nice about it!” Grace called to Drake. “I like him better!” Drake grunted. I laughed. Grace said, “Since this wasn’t a road battle, you guys don’t have to go all the way home. So, see you around- wait. What are your names, anyway?”
            “Joshua, but I go by Josh.”
            “Drake.”
            “Right, I’m Grace. See you later, new rivals!” She took off running. Drake went to the Pokémon Center, and I was about to follow him when someone behind me said, “Yo.”
            I turned, and saw Blue behind me- crazy, teased up hair, Pidgeot at his side. “So, you get to train now, huh?” 

He crossed his arms. “Man, seeing you and that kid battle gives me déjà vu- you’re just like Red, Drake is just like how I used to be.” He snorted. “And that’s a compliment. For you, I mean. Red beat me, fair and square, after all. I’m hoping you beat your rival, newbie.” 

He did a little mock salute. “Smell ya later, Joshua!” Then he walked off. I turned to the Pokémon Center with a smile.


BTW, you might want to remember Savannah from way back part 2 or 3. She's the protagonist of Voyages Yellow!