Pokémon Voyages Red-Blue (9)

            And so I sat there. For almost a half-hour. Slowpoke didn’t move. Every so often I checked to make sure he was even still alive. I returned Pikachu after spending the first fifteen minutes trying to bond, only for him to steal exactly seven Oran berries, five Pecha berries, two Nanab berries, and one pair of pants. I was about to fall asleep on the bench when someone yelled, “HEEEY! JOSHIE!”
            I jumped. Slowpoke… his tail twitched slightly, which was the equivalent of jumping a mile and then running away screaming.
            Grace ran over, then glanced at Slowpoke. “You caught a Slowpoke? Uh… is he alive?” She poked him between the eyes, and Slowpoke continued to stare straight ahead like a Ponyta in headlights.
            She shrugged, then plopped down next to me, almost slapping me in the face. I scooted over, a little too close to her for comfort. 
            “Not my Slowpoke,” I clarified for her. “I’m… babysitting. All I did catch was a Pikachu that steals anything unguarded.” 
            Grace squealed. “Wait, a Pikachu?! Show me him! Please?” 
            I reached for Pikachu’s Pokéball, but found it not on my belt anymore. Then I saw the little red-and-white Pokéball rolling away as Pikachu ran inside of it like it was a hamster wheel. I snatched the Pokéball back and let Pikachu out, warning Grace to watch her wallet. Pikachu appeared looking at me and turned around in disgust, than saw Grace. Before I knew it, Pikachu was purring in Grace’s arms while she squealed, “He’s adorable!”
            I blinked. “…what? He usually just points his butt at everyone!” Pikachu stuck his tongue out at me, and I swear his message was meant to be “That’s right, I’m better at girls than you.” I glared at him.
            Grace also happened to have some Pewter Crunchies on hand, so she gave him some. Pikachu ate all of them into one bite, then looked at Grace like “More please, the boy does not feed me.” Grace snorted. “You ate them all, buddy. And Jiggly ate all the rest of my food. Actually, I really should get more food.” I seriously considered taking out my Pokédex just to check if Pikachu knew Charm.
            About then, the old lady came back. “Oh, my Slowpoke! Did he cause any trouble?”
            “He didn’t even think about it,” I replied. 

Grace added, “I don’t think he was thinking about anything. I think he’s in a coma.” The lady turned to Grace, then to me. “Who’s your lady friend here?” 
            My face grew hot. “My what?” Grace seemed bothered about something else, however. “I’m not a lady, I’m only twelve.”
            The old woman smiled. “Of course, I apologize. And as for you, take something for watching my Slowpoke. Here…”
            She handed me a bag of Pewter Crunchies. Pikachu quickly snagged them and gobbled them up. Grace snorted. “Now I see what you mean about him stealing stuff.” Pikachu nodded innocently.
            I went to the Pewter City Gym, and Grace followed me- or maybe she was following Pikachu and not me, but I found it more pleasing for some reason to think she was following me and not the yellow lightning gremlin. Just when I reached for the door, someone else walked out- Drake. When he saw me, he smirked. “Hey, Joshua! Suppose you’re late to the party here, huh?” 

I grit my teeth and started a witty comeback when Grace put in, “He was too busy babysitting a Slowpoke in a coma.”
            Drake laughed. “Oh, so now you’re a babysitter, Joshua? Class act. See you once you actually have a badge, loser.” He walked off… with only one shoe on. Grace giggled. Pikachu threw Drake’s other shoe into a gutter. I walked into the Gym just in time to hear Drake’s yell of “JOSHUA!” muffled by the door.
            “Welcome, future champion!” Someone called to me. I looked to see a man in a referee suit with his arms outstretched in front of an indoor rocky maze. He sounded like he was speaking into a microphone, but he wasn’t holding one.
            “Are you ready to challenge the man with a stone-hard defense, Brock of Pewter City?!” He (very loudly) asked me. 
            “Um… yeah,” I replied. He smiled. “Then please select the three Pokémon you will use to battle our gym!”
            I looked at my five Pokéballs. Squirtle and Bulbasaur were obvious choices, both strong against Rock types, so I selected them. Then I was trying to choose a third when he declared, “Great choices! I’ll take your other Pokémon!” 
            I blinked. “Wait, what’s my third-” 

He continued, interrupting, “So your choices are Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu! I’ll keep watch over Charmander and Metapod, don’t worry!”
            I glared at Pikachu, who was busy grooming himself smugly.
            The referee said, “Your Gym Challenge is simple! Find your way through this maze of cliffs and reach Brock! But there are Gym Trainers inside, and if they see you, you MUST battle! Begin!” He pushed me into the stony maze.
            I weaved my way around the maze, hiding form Gym Trainers, not wanting any of my Pokémon weakened before I reached Brock. Finally, I just managed to reach the end, realizing there was a rocky hill to the battlefield. I climbed up and saw Brock unmoving, in a position with his arms crossed and glaring like an angry dad, despite the fact he didn’t look over sixteen.
            “So, you made it without having to fight,” Brock said. “You’re afraid of being weakened.”
            “I’m trying to be strategic-”
            “When you have Pokémon with a rock-hard defense, you don’t have to worry about taking a few hits! Come at me with everything you have- you won’t make a dent in our mountain!”
            He threw his Geodude onto the battlefield. I released Squirtle and quickly commanded, “Water Gun!” Squirtle sprayed water all over Geodude. Despite Squirtle’s type advantage, Geodude seemed fine and delivered a Rock Throw at his Trainer’s command. Squirtle withdrew into his shell, but the blunt power behind the hit even made a small crack in the shell. 
            “Whirlpool, Squirtle!” I commanded, and the water bombarded Geodude, but he seemed not to care.
            “Geodude, Defense Curl,” Brock commanded. Geodude curled into a ball, sustaining no damage from Squirtle’s water. I tried to come up with a plan while Brock said, “Now Rollout.” Geodude crashed into Squirtle like a mini Indiana Jones boulder with an angry face. Squirtle cried out in pain as the crack in his shell got worse. 
            “Squirtle, Water Gun!”
            “That’s barely a squirt gun to us. Geodude, Rollout. Smash that shell.” Geodude smashed into Squirtle, the crack worsening. I returned Squirtle quickly in panic and released Bulbasaur. “Seed Bomb!” Bulbasaur shot some large seeds at Geodude, each exploding with plants upon contact. Geodude flinched, giving me another chance to call for Seed Bomb. The massive seeds exploded on Geodude, and he returned. Brock grunted. “Nice job. You made a dent. Now see if you can tear down the rest of the mountain.” He released an Onix. “Onix, Rock Slide.” Bulbasaur dashed about in panic, swatting small boulders with vines. 
            “Vine Whip!” Bulbsaur whacked at Onix, and Onix almost looked amused.
            “Rock Tomb,” Brock deadpanned, and Bulbasaur was buried under a mass of rocks and returned. Pikachu threw himself into battle without my orders, yelling at Onix. 
            “Well- Quick Attack!” Pikachu rushed at Onix and smashed into him.
            “Wrap, Onix,” Brock commanded. Onix wrapped Pikachu in it’s tail. Pikachu struggled to get free, trying to electrocute Onix. Onix lifted Pikachu up until their faces were level. Pikachu glared at Onix, trying to get free still. Then I looked at his tail. Oh…
            “Onix, Rock Tom-”
            “PIKACHU, IRON TAIL!” Pikachu brought his freed tail down like a lightning bolt shaped claymore right between Onix’s eyes. Cracks spread. Onix roared, and Pikachu escaped with an indignant “Pika!”
            “What?! Rock Slide, Onix!” Brock yelled.
            “Quick Attack, Pikachu! Climb up the rocks!” Pikachu dashed his way up the boulders, then leaped straight into the air, and pulled down one eyelid, closed the other eye, and stuck out his tongue.
            “IRON TAIL!” Pikachu dropped his tail down again, right onto the previous crack. Onix roared and collapsed, disappearing in a flash of blue light into his Pokéball.
            There was a silence as the dust settled and me and Pikachu panted for breath. Then Brock grunted. “You win. Take the Boulder Badge.” He placed it in my hand, then walked back down the hill. 
            I stared at the Boulder Badge in my hand. Then I whooped, and Pikachu joined in too. One Gym down, seven to go.