Story Notes:
I'm not always the best at summaries, categories and warnings may be updated as the story progresses.I do not own Pokemon, Nintendo/GameFreak do, all other original characters are my own.Special thanks to Unabashed & ShadowIceAvian for beta reading.Enjoy :3
Better Late Than Never
A group of sleepy eyed students stared blankly at a television mounted in the corner of their classroom, below a middle aged teacher sat thumbing through papers as he absent mindedly twirled a pen.
"And the result of our experiment, we can demonstrate that human contact directly affects pokemon intelligence, the ratattas with trainers were able to easily solve the puzzles to get food rewards, while the wild ones we unable to complete the same task." The screen flashed video of the rat pokemon bending a piece of wire to get at a large pellet in a glass cylinder.
"Discuss with the class the implications this might have on wild populations due to encroachment by trainers and settlements"
The lights came back on, eliciting a few grunts from a few who had fallen asleep during the video. The teacher took a second to look back at the class, "Now I know you all already went through graduation and everything, but we're required to have so many days of class per year, and even with this being the last of your highschool careers, we still have a few minutes left."
His speech fell on deaf ears and blank stares of an audience that wanted nothing more than to be anyplace else. "Anyone?" the teacher asked again before a hand finally appeared toward the back of the class.
As if on queue in lowly audible groan could be heard, "Ah, Joshua, at least one of you still cares"
The class turned to glance back a boy with shaggy brown hair, almost reaching to his almond eyes, he blushed slightly at the unwanted attention, his slender frame slinking back into the chair. "Um...what sort of implication does this have for psychic types, which are largely regarded as having human or near human levels of intelligence?"
"Good question, in fact its one that Hoenn legislatures took up last year if you all remember the ethics study we did last semester on granting sentient status to the Ralts line, that measure failed and currently no studies suggest that those levels of intellect arise without human intervention"
As if on queue the bell rang, "Now remember....where ever you go...." The teacher's words trailed off as the students quickly filed out of room, eager to be released to one final summer of freedom.
"Way to ask a last minute question dork!" As Joshua turned to face the voice he was punched lightly in the arm, "Always gotta ask something and 'get the most of it' don't ya?" The other boy was of a much heavier and much taller build and had a short ginger colored crew-cut.
"Anything to make you stay just a bit longer Rich" he quipped back. The two walked down the crowded hallway toward the exit.
"You gonna go with Komi when they give out the starters to late-comers?" A late-comer was a term used to label trainers who didn't start between the ages of 10 and 12, in reality maybe a third of kids or less could afford such a luxury and even than over half ended up quitting within the first six months. The other largest group of starting trainers was the post-highschool group, and like the younger group, most returned in a year to start real careers or university.
"Heh, as much as I'd like to...I think I'm going North, and she's pretty adamant about going south. Besides, I really would rather be alone. If I'm going to major in Bio when I get back, its going to mean spending lots of time with pokemon, so I'd better get used to it"
"Oh sure...so you'd rather spend time with a bunch of animals than the girl you've had a crush on since middleschool?"
"I do not-" He was cut short as another familiar voice broke into the conversation.
"Hey, aren't you guys glad its finally all over!" The pair turned to face a short raven haired girl, slightly plump, she looked at them enthusiastically through a pair of small black rimmed glasses.
Josh tittered for a moment, "Yea...did you decide on what you wanted to get from the center tomorrow?"
"Chikorita, you?"
"Cyndaquil....I think my mom might force me to take Ceras along too though"
Rich raised an eyebrow, "Your old growlithe? But then wouldn't you have two fire types?"
"I thought about that, but none of the Gyms in Johto specialize in water or ground, so I think I'll be fine"
The sound of a car horn broke their argument apart, "Gah, that's probably my mom," Josh said, he sighed and turned to his friends, "Well I guess this is goodbye for now, I'm probably in for a long lecture before I head out, keep in touch, alright"
"See you in six months when one of the gym leaders ends up being a brick wall!" Rich shouted as Josh ran toward the waiting car.
"Now in the back pocket is the satellite phone, two weeks of rations, pokemon food, the pop tent, travel sleeping bag......" A slender woman said in a worried tone as she checked over Josh's equipment.
"MOM! I'll be fine, really" Josh shrugged off his mother, the older woman smiled, cracked wrinkles beginning to show on her face, she brushed aside her hair, a few streaks of grey breaking the strawberry blond locks.
She sighed deeply and smiled, "Its just been you and me for so long, its just going to be weird not having you around"
"You sure you want me to take Ceras along then?" He looked back to the growlithe resting on a large pillow, her legs twitching every few seconds chasing an imaginary meowth.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, she's your pokemon and has been since you were 12, I'll get along, just make sure you call every once in a while and stop by to visit, and I'll be here to come back to when you decide to come back to attend University"
The two hugged briefly before Josh snapped his fingers and whistled. Ceras lazily opened her eyes before stretching and trotting up to her master. "Come on girl, time to get going"
"lith,!" she barked in reply. Josh took one last look back to wave goodbye before heading our the door to their house and to the center.
Even in the early morning Goldenrod's streets buzzed with activity as commuters made their way to work.The city actually had several centers to serve the largest population in Johto, but only the main center downtown would dispense starter pokemon and hand out licenses.
He'd heard stories of mosh-pits and free for alls on starter days, but everything at the center was pretty orderly, a modest sized line of people mostly from the highschools around the city. Josh took his place in line, spotting Komi much further up.
The line proceeded at an orderly pace, trainers stepped up to something akin to a large vending machine, inserted their pokedex and the starter of their choice was dispensed. All of this was paid for with the licensing fees, which could run into the thousands depending on what pokedex model a trainer picked.
Placing his newly acquired Cyndaqil on his belt Josh spotted Kumi waiting for him at the exit to the center, Ceras running up to greet her enthusiastically. "Hi Ceras, whos'a good puppy!" She cooed, scratching the firedog behind its ears.
"So, you still adamant about going south through Ilex to Azelea?"
"Still adamant about going north to Ecruteak through the park?"
"Touche"
"I'm actually going to get a head start moving south, I want to try to get to outskirts of Ilex before nightfall" She paused for a second to check the time, "Don't even have time to try to get the Plain Badge, but the odds on beating Whitney with a fresh pokemon are pretty slim"
"Since when have I been one to back down from a challenge?" Josh asked smugly, puffing his chest out and standing up straight.
She laughed, "I guess not, just watch out for that Miltank, but I'm sure you already know that, keep in touch alright?" She waved before running toward a bus that had just pulled up that would take her to the city outskirts, Josh waved back meekly before turning to look back at Ceras.
"I hope she's gonna to be up for it...." he thought, turning to glance at Ceras. Whitney was practically a local legend, it wasn't uncommon for her to let starting trainers use up to three pokemon against her miltank, not all at once of course, but even so she still would win more often than not.
Her miltank aside, rumors often circulated about the promiscuity of the all-girl gym, though these were largely unsubstantiated, it became the fantasy of more than a few local boys. Every once in a while one of them being brave enough to sneak onto gym property to try to catch a peep show at night.
Josh caught a bus to the northern edge of town, toward both the gym and the road ahead. He glanced back through the rear window of the bus, "I know we'll meet again Komi, take care of yourself" he thought, sighing and leaning back in the bus seat.
Disembarking from the bus, it was a short walk to the gym and surrounding practice fields. Small groups of trainers were sparring, chatting, or resting, waiting to try their hand at earning a Plain Badge. Josh was interrupted by a voice from behind, "Hey late-comer, you here to battle the gymleader?"
Joshua turned to face a boy, no more than 13 years old, with a smirk across his freckled face, "How did you know I just started?" Josh asked, puzzled.
"You just look it, besides, you barely have any pokeballs and you're much older than me, duh!" the boy mocked, "So do ya wanna battle or not?"
"Sure, one on one ok with you?"
"Fine by me, I'm Allen by the way"
"I'm Joshua, but you can just call me Josh," he grabbed the ball containing his cyndaquil, and on the way over he checked it using his pokedex. He had received a female, which was moderately rare in and of itself, starter pokemon were bred on large ranches in mass since at the very least every trainer got a starter, regardless of how long their journey lasted.
To hold onto their monopoly the ranches would exclusively give males to new trainers, sometimes even pre-neutered as well. A series of lawsuits ended both practices, but they kept females to a bare minimum, maybe one in six to one in eight trainers would ever receive one.
The boy tossed out one of his pokeballs revealing a weepinbell, which steadied itself before eyeing Joshua and Ceras pensively. "Well, here goes nothing," Josh tossed his new pokemon's ball and the cyndaquil appeared in a flash of light.
The small pokemon took a second to rub its eyes and take in its surroundings, no sooner had it gained its bearings than Allen started barking an order, "RAZOR LE-" he was cut off as the cyndaquil squealed and ran to hide behind Josh's legs.
It put its small paws over its eyes and let out a small whine as Josh reached down to pet the frightened pokemon in-between dins of laughter from Allen. "That's some starter ya got there, if I didn't know better you musta done up a baby ratatta to look like a cyndaquil!"
"Its ok," Joshua picked up and cradled his new pokemon, "Watch how Ceras does it" He gently scratched the back of the cyndaquil's neck and motioned to the growlithe, who began bounding toward the weepinbell, striking it with a strong tackle before either it or Allen had a chance to react.
"HEY! You're not allowed to switch out in a 1v1, I could just say you forfeit right here," he paused for a second, "But I'll let it slide since you're a stupid newbie who just has an old dog and a baby for pokemon."
The pair ignored the insult, "Knock it into the air!" Ceras turned around and bound in for another pass, the weepinbell was still having trouble steadying itself as the growlithe hit it again, this time scooping under the pokemon and knocking it upward.
"Razor Leaf!" The leaves impaled themselves onto the ground wide, the grass pokemon unable to aim as it spun mid air. It landed with a thud and spat acid at Ceras, who partially dodged it, taking some of the attack on her side.
"Hang in there, finish it off" Ceras responded by spitting back an ember at the grass type, scorching it across its face as it fell backwards onto the ground. Allen grunted and returned the fallen pokemon to its ball.
"You only won cause you switched out! That whole thing shouldn't count!" he spat, angry over what would have been an easy win. He pulled out a few pokeyen and threw them toward Josh, the bundle hitting the ground in front of him.
He stomped off back toward the crowd of other trainers. Josh picked up the small bundle of cash and pocketed it. "Nice work girl, looks like its going to be up to you to show cyndaquil how to battle"
Ceras barked at the young cyndaquil before the two trotted off to watch one of the handful of ongoing battles. She may not have been the young eager puppy she once was, but she wasn't old either, and had chased her fair share of meowth and pidgey around the neighborhood, enough at least that she knew how to battle, with or without someone giving instructions.
Watching from afar, Josh watched his two pokemon converse, watching a raticate and beedrill spar. The shrew-like pokemon winced at each blow, but Ceras seemed to revel in it. It was well known trained pokemon could converse, but much like the problem solving tests it was unknown what really happened out in the wild in the absence of humans.
The group watched several more battles, and were even challenged to a few which Josh declined. He was still fixated on challenging Whitney, he thought Ceras might be able to handle the miltank, he wasn't entirely sure, more than a few experienced trainers had come and gone throughout the day and left with their tails between their legs after a thrashing.
Gym leaders typically would rotate pokemon, using different pokemon depending on the skill level of the trainer they were facing and the number of badges they had, in this way no matter what town a trainer started in they wouldn't run up to a brick wall, and it also meant there was no fixed place a trainer needed to go "first". In Whitney's case, the miltank had the local reputation since it was what new trainers usually faced first.
Josh sighed, "Might as well try now, don't know when I'm going to be here next" he thought to himself. He gathered himself and strode through the automatic glass doors of the gym.
The air inside was a bit stale and had a smell of cheap perfume that seemed to permeate everything. In the waiting room and even into the gym itself everything seemed to be colored in various shades of white or pink. His awe at the tackiness of it all was interrupted by the receptionist.
"Are you here for a battle?"
He turned and approached the desk, manned by a cute brunette in her mid 20's wearing a form fitting semi-formal white and pink outfit that Josh guessed must have been the gym's uniform. "Yea," he nodded in reply, "there any slots left for today?"
"A few actually, seems a lot of the new trainers today decided against attempting to fight Whitney. Name, ID, registered pokemon, and number of badges please..." she asked as she began typing at a computer.
"Joshua Thorsen, 33733-G....pokemon are a growlithe and a cyndaquil, and unless they were giving out badges with licenses today, zero."
"Straight through the doors on your right, she'll be waiting," the woman said, almost without skipping a beat.
"How has it been today?"
"Hm?" she asked, eyes not deviating from her screen.
"How many people have won today?"
She stopped her work and looked up, annoyed, "Newbie, Whitney is always stingy, she may let people like you use more than one pokemon, but that's more a ploy than anything, only three people today have walked out with badges, and today was a busy day."
Josh swallowed the bit of nervousness that hit him with that statement, "Only three....is that high or low....?" He thought. "Come on girls, lets go," his two pokemon following in tow.
A narrow hallway lead past a dressing and prep room and a small aide station before opening up to the formal gym. On two ancillary combat fields normal type pokemon sparred, given orders by trainers who had signed up at the gym. Flanking the main field and directly behind them were sets of bleachers that could have easily seated about 1,500, but only a few dozen people occupied them, sticking around to see the last few free fights of the day.
Opposite Josh stood another woman a few years his elder, roughly the same height as he was she wore a similar form fitting uniform, her hair dyed a cotton candy pink matched the whole color scheme. He almost couldn't help but stare wide eyed, he'd seen pictures of Whitney, but in person, damn did she have a pair, and the 'uniform' didn't really help much. She twirled her hair aimlessly as an aide walked up and handed her a piece of paper, she sighed and turned to look directly at Josh.
"Another one of Goldenrod's late comers?" She said glancing back to her assistant and back to Josh, "Well at least this one's a cutie~"
She flashed a wink back toward Josh who blushed, flustered at the brazen comment, "She can't be serious, no way someone with a rack that big is into you Thorsen. She just wants to throw you off base," he thought.
"I will allow you to use both of your pokemon, should you knock out my one, you will be awarded the Plain Badge, there is no time limit or other restriction on this match, do you accept?"
"Yes, I accept" she nodded and turned to the league referee who signaled for the match to get underway. A display screen lit up for the sparse crowd with both of their pictures and pokemon. She tossed a ball out revealing her miltank, "One last opponent for today Bessie, let's make it quick!"
"Even her pokemon looks smug," Josh thought, "Ceras you're up!" The growlithe bounded into the arena, wasting little time as it began to close the distance between it and the miltank. Cyndaquil sat on its hindquarters, its two tiny paws gripped Josh's pant leg as she intently watched the battle unfold.
Whitney yawned as if uninterested in the battle, "End this quickly, hit that mutt with a bodyslam"
"Its a lot slower than you Ceras, don't let it get close!" Ceras heard the order, but was already partly into her dodge. She was much faster, but Bessie was a lot faster than she looked. As she dodged she released an ember which seemed to do nothing more than leave a small scorch mark on the cow's tough hide and irritate it.
Ceras continued to dodge and spit ember attacks, trying to keep her distance from the bulkier pokemon. Whitney furrowed her brow, annoyed that the growlithe was managing to make it more of a fight, and the ember damage was starting to stack up.
"Feh, Bessie, enough play, roll out!" the pokemon gave a sharp cry before curling into a ball and charging at Ceras. The miltank moved much faster than it had before, Ceras took a glancing blow to the side and struggled to stay up.
The miltank came about at full speed doing a ring around the arena, no longer able to dodge, flames formed in the growlithe's mouth before she unleashed a flame thrower straight at Whitney's prized pokemon.
Continuing to spin in a rollout, Bessie cut straight through the jet of flames and hit Ceras dead on, the resulting impact sending her flying, she hit the ground and struggled to stand before collapsing into a heap. Josh could only stare wide eyed at what had happened, he could feel Cyndaquil's grip tighten, he pulled Ceras' ball from his belt and recalled her.
"I can't send Cynadquil in, she doesn't want to battle, no way she could be forced and it would be cruel to try," he thought, "Ref, I....."
"Challenger Joshua has sent out his Cyndaquil!"
"WHAT!" He hadn't even said anything, but the little pokemon had went out on her own. A small fire burned on her back, as she starred daggers at the miltank.
Whitney yawned, "You're sending that runt against Bessie? You're braver than I thought...or more foolish, end it quick with a rollout"
The miltank took a moment to steady herself, and attempted to shake something out of her eyes. "The flamethrower must have done more damage than I thought" Josh thought for a second, unsure of what to order his pokemon to do.
Bessie was not going to wait, blinking she rolled out and missed the cyndaquil by a wide margin, getting pelted with another ember in the process.
"That's it! She can't see properly anymore, we can do this," Josh thought, "Smoke Screen!"
Instead of another ember this time the tiny pokemon blew thick black smoke that obscured much of the arena. "You seriously think you're the first person to think of that strategy?" Whitney taunted, "Hrmpf, Bessie might not be able to see, but neither can you!"
The rolling bovine cut a path through the smog, narrowly missing the cyndaquil this time, "Hit the edge!" Josh cried out to her, the cyndaquil did its best to find the edge line in the thick haze and ran along it. "Look out!"
Before she had a chance to react, the miltank grazed by her at full tilt, sending her flying back toward the center of the arena before cutting out of the fog and slamming head long into the arena wall.
The referee waited momentarily as both pokemon sat unmoving, before cyndaquil struggled to her feet. "Bessie has been knocked out, challenger Joshua of Goldenrod wins the match!" blared out over the loud speakers.
The sparse crowd rose to its feet, cheering as Josh ran out to his cyndaquil, scooping her up as she fell backwards in exhaustion, "That was a brave thing you did," he cooed, scratching the back of her neck.
He glanced back to see Whitney on the ground sobbing and mumbling something about losing to a "late comer", entranced by her behavior, a tap on the shoulder brought him back to reality, he turned to face her assistant.
"She always does this when she looses, don't worry about it, take this," She handed him a Plain Badge, "That was a nice battle to watch, take care of yourself" She turned to go and comfort Whitney over the loss.
Josh turned and followed the path out to head to the center to get his new pokemon and Ceras treated. As he was leaving the receptionist stopped him, "Oh hey, Josh, Whitney calmed down and asked me to give you this"
Her arm outstretched she handed him a small envelope and winked. "Take care!" Josh pocketed the envelope and left for the center across the street.
He coddled the exhausted cyndaquil in his arms, "I think I've found the perfect name for you little one, Courage"
She squeaked meekly in acknowledgment before dozing off to sleep.Chapter End Notes:First adventure into writing so feedback appreciated :
"And the result of our experiment, we can demonstrate that human contact directly affects pokemon intelligence, the ratattas with trainers were able to easily solve the puzzles to get food rewards, while the wild ones we unable to complete the same task." The screen flashed video of the rat pokemon bending a piece of wire to get at a large pellet in a glass cylinder.
"Discuss with the class the implications this might have on wild populations due to encroachment by trainers and settlements"
The lights came back on, eliciting a few grunts from a few who had fallen asleep during the video. The teacher took a second to look back at the class, "Now I know you all already went through graduation and everything, but we're required to have so many days of class per year, and even with this being the last of your highschool careers, we still have a few minutes left."
His speech fell on deaf ears and blank stares of an audience that wanted nothing more than to be anyplace else. "Anyone?" the teacher asked again before a hand finally appeared toward the back of the class.
As if on queue in lowly audible groan could be heard, "Ah, Joshua, at least one of you still cares"
The class turned to glance back a boy with shaggy brown hair, almost reaching to his almond eyes, he blushed slightly at the unwanted attention, his slender frame slinking back into the chair. "Um...what sort of implication does this have for psychic types, which are largely regarded as having human or near human levels of intelligence?"
"Good question, in fact its one that Hoenn legislatures took up last year if you all remember the ethics study we did last semester on granting sentient status to the Ralts line, that measure failed and currently no studies suggest that those levels of intellect arise without human intervention"
As if on queue the bell rang, "Now remember....where ever you go...." The teacher's words trailed off as the students quickly filed out of room, eager to be released to one final summer of freedom.
"Way to ask a last minute question dork!" As Joshua turned to face the voice he was punched lightly in the arm, "Always gotta ask something and 'get the most of it' don't ya?" The other boy was of a much heavier and much taller build and had a short ginger colored crew-cut.
"Anything to make you stay just a bit longer Rich" he quipped back. The two walked down the crowded hallway toward the exit.
"You gonna go with Komi when they give out the starters to late-comers?" A late-comer was a term used to label trainers who didn't start between the ages of 10 and 12, in reality maybe a third of kids or less could afford such a luxury and even than over half ended up quitting within the first six months. The other largest group of starting trainers was the post-highschool group, and like the younger group, most returned in a year to start real careers or university.
"Heh, as much as I'd like to...I think I'm going North, and she's pretty adamant about going south. Besides, I really would rather be alone. If I'm going to major in Bio when I get back, its going to mean spending lots of time with pokemon, so I'd better get used to it"
"Oh sure...so you'd rather spend time with a bunch of animals than the girl you've had a crush on since middleschool?"
"I do not-" He was cut short as another familiar voice broke into the conversation.
"Hey, aren't you guys glad its finally all over!" The pair turned to face a short raven haired girl, slightly plump, she looked at them enthusiastically through a pair of small black rimmed glasses.
Josh tittered for a moment, "Yea...did you decide on what you wanted to get from the center tomorrow?"
"Chikorita, you?"
"Cyndaquil....I think my mom might force me to take Ceras along too though"
Rich raised an eyebrow, "Your old growlithe? But then wouldn't you have two fire types?"
"I thought about that, but none of the Gyms in Johto specialize in water or ground, so I think I'll be fine"
The sound of a car horn broke their argument apart, "Gah, that's probably my mom," Josh said, he sighed and turned to his friends, "Well I guess this is goodbye for now, I'm probably in for a long lecture before I head out, keep in touch, alright"
"See you in six months when one of the gym leaders ends up being a brick wall!" Rich shouted as Josh ran toward the waiting car.
"Now in the back pocket is the satellite phone, two weeks of rations, pokemon food, the pop tent, travel sleeping bag......" A slender woman said in a worried tone as she checked over Josh's equipment.
"MOM! I'll be fine, really" Josh shrugged off his mother, the older woman smiled, cracked wrinkles beginning to show on her face, she brushed aside her hair, a few streaks of grey breaking the strawberry blond locks.
She sighed deeply and smiled, "Its just been you and me for so long, its just going to be weird not having you around"
"You sure you want me to take Ceras along then?" He looked back to the growlithe resting on a large pillow, her legs twitching every few seconds chasing an imaginary meowth.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, she's your pokemon and has been since you were 12, I'll get along, just make sure you call every once in a while and stop by to visit, and I'll be here to come back to when you decide to come back to attend University"
The two hugged briefly before Josh snapped his fingers and whistled. Ceras lazily opened her eyes before stretching and trotting up to her master. "Come on girl, time to get going"
"lith,!" she barked in reply. Josh took one last look back to wave goodbye before heading our the door to their house and to the center.
Even in the early morning Goldenrod's streets buzzed with activity as commuters made their way to work.The city actually had several centers to serve the largest population in Johto, but only the main center downtown would dispense starter pokemon and hand out licenses.
He'd heard stories of mosh-pits and free for alls on starter days, but everything at the center was pretty orderly, a modest sized line of people mostly from the highschools around the city. Josh took his place in line, spotting Komi much further up.
The line proceeded at an orderly pace, trainers stepped up to something akin to a large vending machine, inserted their pokedex and the starter of their choice was dispensed. All of this was paid for with the licensing fees, which could run into the thousands depending on what pokedex model a trainer picked.
Placing his newly acquired Cyndaqil on his belt Josh spotted Kumi waiting for him at the exit to the center, Ceras running up to greet her enthusiastically. "Hi Ceras, whos'a good puppy!" She cooed, scratching the firedog behind its ears.
"So, you still adamant about going south through Ilex to Azelea?"
"Still adamant about going north to Ecruteak through the park?"
"Touche"
"I'm actually going to get a head start moving south, I want to try to get to outskirts of Ilex before nightfall" She paused for a second to check the time, "Don't even have time to try to get the Plain Badge, but the odds on beating Whitney with a fresh pokemon are pretty slim"
"Since when have I been one to back down from a challenge?" Josh asked smugly, puffing his chest out and standing up straight.
She laughed, "I guess not, just watch out for that Miltank, but I'm sure you already know that, keep in touch alright?" She waved before running toward a bus that had just pulled up that would take her to the city outskirts, Josh waved back meekly before turning to look back at Ceras.
"I hope she's gonna to be up for it...." he thought, turning to glance at Ceras. Whitney was practically a local legend, it wasn't uncommon for her to let starting trainers use up to three pokemon against her miltank, not all at once of course, but even so she still would win more often than not.
Her miltank aside, rumors often circulated about the promiscuity of the all-girl gym, though these were largely unsubstantiated, it became the fantasy of more than a few local boys. Every once in a while one of them being brave enough to sneak onto gym property to try to catch a peep show at night.
Josh caught a bus to the northern edge of town, toward both the gym and the road ahead. He glanced back through the rear window of the bus, "I know we'll meet again Komi, take care of yourself" he thought, sighing and leaning back in the bus seat.
Disembarking from the bus, it was a short walk to the gym and surrounding practice fields. Small groups of trainers were sparring, chatting, or resting, waiting to try their hand at earning a Plain Badge. Josh was interrupted by a voice from behind, "Hey late-comer, you here to battle the gymleader?"
Joshua turned to face a boy, no more than 13 years old, with a smirk across his freckled face, "How did you know I just started?" Josh asked, puzzled.
"You just look it, besides, you barely have any pokeballs and you're much older than me, duh!" the boy mocked, "So do ya wanna battle or not?"
"Sure, one on one ok with you?"
"Fine by me, I'm Allen by the way"
"I'm Joshua, but you can just call me Josh," he grabbed the ball containing his cyndaquil, and on the way over he checked it using his pokedex. He had received a female, which was moderately rare in and of itself, starter pokemon were bred on large ranches in mass since at the very least every trainer got a starter, regardless of how long their journey lasted.
To hold onto their monopoly the ranches would exclusively give males to new trainers, sometimes even pre-neutered as well. A series of lawsuits ended both practices, but they kept females to a bare minimum, maybe one in six to one in eight trainers would ever receive one.
The boy tossed out one of his pokeballs revealing a weepinbell, which steadied itself before eyeing Joshua and Ceras pensively. "Well, here goes nothing," Josh tossed his new pokemon's ball and the cyndaquil appeared in a flash of light.
The small pokemon took a second to rub its eyes and take in its surroundings, no sooner had it gained its bearings than Allen started barking an order, "RAZOR LE-" he was cut off as the cyndaquil squealed and ran to hide behind Josh's legs.
It put its small paws over its eyes and let out a small whine as Josh reached down to pet the frightened pokemon in-between dins of laughter from Allen. "That's some starter ya got there, if I didn't know better you musta done up a baby ratatta to look like a cyndaquil!"
"Its ok," Joshua picked up and cradled his new pokemon, "Watch how Ceras does it" He gently scratched the back of the cyndaquil's neck and motioned to the growlithe, who began bounding toward the weepinbell, striking it with a strong tackle before either it or Allen had a chance to react.
"HEY! You're not allowed to switch out in a 1v1, I could just say you forfeit right here," he paused for a second, "But I'll let it slide since you're a stupid newbie who just has an old dog and a baby for pokemon."
The pair ignored the insult, "Knock it into the air!" Ceras turned around and bound in for another pass, the weepinbell was still having trouble steadying itself as the growlithe hit it again, this time scooping under the pokemon and knocking it upward.
"Razor Leaf!" The leaves impaled themselves onto the ground wide, the grass pokemon unable to aim as it spun mid air. It landed with a thud and spat acid at Ceras, who partially dodged it, taking some of the attack on her side.
"Hang in there, finish it off" Ceras responded by spitting back an ember at the grass type, scorching it across its face as it fell backwards onto the ground. Allen grunted and returned the fallen pokemon to its ball.
"You only won cause you switched out! That whole thing shouldn't count!" he spat, angry over what would have been an easy win. He pulled out a few pokeyen and threw them toward Josh, the bundle hitting the ground in front of him.
He stomped off back toward the crowd of other trainers. Josh picked up the small bundle of cash and pocketed it. "Nice work girl, looks like its going to be up to you to show cyndaquil how to battle"
Ceras barked at the young cyndaquil before the two trotted off to watch one of the handful of ongoing battles. She may not have been the young eager puppy she once was, but she wasn't old either, and had chased her fair share of meowth and pidgey around the neighborhood, enough at least that she knew how to battle, with or without someone giving instructions.
Watching from afar, Josh watched his two pokemon converse, watching a raticate and beedrill spar. The shrew-like pokemon winced at each blow, but Ceras seemed to revel in it. It was well known trained pokemon could converse, but much like the problem solving tests it was unknown what really happened out in the wild in the absence of humans.
The group watched several more battles, and were even challenged to a few which Josh declined. He was still fixated on challenging Whitney, he thought Ceras might be able to handle the miltank, he wasn't entirely sure, more than a few experienced trainers had come and gone throughout the day and left with their tails between their legs after a thrashing.
Gym leaders typically would rotate pokemon, using different pokemon depending on the skill level of the trainer they were facing and the number of badges they had, in this way no matter what town a trainer started in they wouldn't run up to a brick wall, and it also meant there was no fixed place a trainer needed to go "first". In Whitney's case, the miltank had the local reputation since it was what new trainers usually faced first.
Josh sighed, "Might as well try now, don't know when I'm going to be here next" he thought to himself. He gathered himself and strode through the automatic glass doors of the gym.
The air inside was a bit stale and had a smell of cheap perfume that seemed to permeate everything. In the waiting room and even into the gym itself everything seemed to be colored in various shades of white or pink. His awe at the tackiness of it all was interrupted by the receptionist.
"Are you here for a battle?"
He turned and approached the desk, manned by a cute brunette in her mid 20's wearing a form fitting semi-formal white and pink outfit that Josh guessed must have been the gym's uniform. "Yea," he nodded in reply, "there any slots left for today?"
"A few actually, seems a lot of the new trainers today decided against attempting to fight Whitney. Name, ID, registered pokemon, and number of badges please..." she asked as she began typing at a computer.
"Joshua Thorsen, 33733-G....pokemon are a growlithe and a cyndaquil, and unless they were giving out badges with licenses today, zero."
"Straight through the doors on your right, she'll be waiting," the woman said, almost without skipping a beat.
"How has it been today?"
"Hm?" she asked, eyes not deviating from her screen.
"How many people have won today?"
She stopped her work and looked up, annoyed, "Newbie, Whitney is always stingy, she may let people like you use more than one pokemon, but that's more a ploy than anything, only three people today have walked out with badges, and today was a busy day."
Josh swallowed the bit of nervousness that hit him with that statement, "Only three....is that high or low....?" He thought. "Come on girls, lets go," his two pokemon following in tow.
A narrow hallway lead past a dressing and prep room and a small aide station before opening up to the formal gym. On two ancillary combat fields normal type pokemon sparred, given orders by trainers who had signed up at the gym. Flanking the main field and directly behind them were sets of bleachers that could have easily seated about 1,500, but only a few dozen people occupied them, sticking around to see the last few free fights of the day.
Opposite Josh stood another woman a few years his elder, roughly the same height as he was she wore a similar form fitting uniform, her hair dyed a cotton candy pink matched the whole color scheme. He almost couldn't help but stare wide eyed, he'd seen pictures of Whitney, but in person, damn did she have a pair, and the 'uniform' didn't really help much. She twirled her hair aimlessly as an aide walked up and handed her a piece of paper, she sighed and turned to look directly at Josh.
"Another one of Goldenrod's late comers?" She said glancing back to her assistant and back to Josh, "Well at least this one's a cutie~"
She flashed a wink back toward Josh who blushed, flustered at the brazen comment, "She can't be serious, no way someone with a rack that big is into you Thorsen. She just wants to throw you off base," he thought.
"I will allow you to use both of your pokemon, should you knock out my one, you will be awarded the Plain Badge, there is no time limit or other restriction on this match, do you accept?"
"Yes, I accept" she nodded and turned to the league referee who signaled for the match to get underway. A display screen lit up for the sparse crowd with both of their pictures and pokemon. She tossed a ball out revealing her miltank, "One last opponent for today Bessie, let's make it quick!"
"Even her pokemon looks smug," Josh thought, "Ceras you're up!" The growlithe bounded into the arena, wasting little time as it began to close the distance between it and the miltank. Cyndaquil sat on its hindquarters, its two tiny paws gripped Josh's pant leg as she intently watched the battle unfold.
Whitney yawned as if uninterested in the battle, "End this quickly, hit that mutt with a bodyslam"
"Its a lot slower than you Ceras, don't let it get close!" Ceras heard the order, but was already partly into her dodge. She was much faster, but Bessie was a lot faster than she looked. As she dodged she released an ember which seemed to do nothing more than leave a small scorch mark on the cow's tough hide and irritate it.
Ceras continued to dodge and spit ember attacks, trying to keep her distance from the bulkier pokemon. Whitney furrowed her brow, annoyed that the growlithe was managing to make it more of a fight, and the ember damage was starting to stack up.
"Feh, Bessie, enough play, roll out!" the pokemon gave a sharp cry before curling into a ball and charging at Ceras. The miltank moved much faster than it had before, Ceras took a glancing blow to the side and struggled to stay up.
The miltank came about at full speed doing a ring around the arena, no longer able to dodge, flames formed in the growlithe's mouth before she unleashed a flame thrower straight at Whitney's prized pokemon.
Continuing to spin in a rollout, Bessie cut straight through the jet of flames and hit Ceras dead on, the resulting impact sending her flying, she hit the ground and struggled to stand before collapsing into a heap. Josh could only stare wide eyed at what had happened, he could feel Cyndaquil's grip tighten, he pulled Ceras' ball from his belt and recalled her.
"I can't send Cynadquil in, she doesn't want to battle, no way she could be forced and it would be cruel to try," he thought, "Ref, I....."
"Challenger Joshua has sent out his Cyndaquil!"
"WHAT!" He hadn't even said anything, but the little pokemon had went out on her own. A small fire burned on her back, as she starred daggers at the miltank.
Whitney yawned, "You're sending that runt against Bessie? You're braver than I thought...or more foolish, end it quick with a rollout"
The miltank took a moment to steady herself, and attempted to shake something out of her eyes. "The flamethrower must have done more damage than I thought" Josh thought for a second, unsure of what to order his pokemon to do.
Bessie was not going to wait, blinking she rolled out and missed the cyndaquil by a wide margin, getting pelted with another ember in the process.
"That's it! She can't see properly anymore, we can do this," Josh thought, "Smoke Screen!"
Instead of another ember this time the tiny pokemon blew thick black smoke that obscured much of the arena. "You seriously think you're the first person to think of that strategy?" Whitney taunted, "Hrmpf, Bessie might not be able to see, but neither can you!"
The rolling bovine cut a path through the smog, narrowly missing the cyndaquil this time, "Hit the edge!" Josh cried out to her, the cyndaquil did its best to find the edge line in the thick haze and ran along it. "Look out!"
Before she had a chance to react, the miltank grazed by her at full tilt, sending her flying back toward the center of the arena before cutting out of the fog and slamming head long into the arena wall.
The referee waited momentarily as both pokemon sat unmoving, before cyndaquil struggled to her feet. "Bessie has been knocked out, challenger Joshua of Goldenrod wins the match!" blared out over the loud speakers.
The sparse crowd rose to its feet, cheering as Josh ran out to his cyndaquil, scooping her up as she fell backwards in exhaustion, "That was a brave thing you did," he cooed, scratching the back of her neck.
He glanced back to see Whitney on the ground sobbing and mumbling something about losing to a "late comer", entranced by her behavior, a tap on the shoulder brought him back to reality, he turned to face her assistant.
"She always does this when she looses, don't worry about it, take this," She handed him a Plain Badge, "That was a nice battle to watch, take care of yourself" She turned to go and comfort Whitney over the loss.
Josh turned and followed the path out to head to the center to get his new pokemon and Ceras treated. As he was leaving the receptionist stopped him, "Oh hey, Josh, Whitney calmed down and asked me to give you this"
Her arm outstretched she handed him a small envelope and winked. "Take care!" Josh pocketed the envelope and left for the center across the street.
He coddled the exhausted cyndaquil in his arms, "I think I've found the perfect name for you little one, Courage"
She squeaked meekly in acknowledgment before dozing off to sleep.Chapter End Notes:First adventure into writing so feedback appreciated :