Chapter 12- Final Bout
I had a choice here. Either I could keep trying to take on Surge and risk serious hurting Bit, or I could forfeit the match and walk away. The latter seemed impossible at the moment, seeing as I had already thrown down the pokeball containing my Squirtle. Bit was in complete shock (no pun intended) when he realized the position he was in. The crowd was stunned. I didn't know what Fern was thinking, but she still had a light smirk on her face while she held Eve back. I didn't know if she was enjoying the battle in general of what at this point.
Lieutenant Surge had been excited up to this point, but even he seemed stunned at this. I watched as he brought a hand up to rub his forehead and sighed. "That has to be the dumbest move ever, kid." he said. "Bringing a water Pokemon out to take me on? Is your head screwed on all the way?"
I bit my lip when I thought about retreating. Actually, that sounded like a really good idea right now. I was going to tell the referee that I wanted to drop out of this. It should have been okay, so long as an attack wasn't started. This match wasn't worth getting Bit hurt; but right as turned to the uniformed man holding the flags, I heard a splash and the sound of electricity crackling. Turning back towards the arena, I realized what had happened. Bit had launched a Water Gun attack at Surge's Pokemon without me even giving him the command. I couldn't believe this! He never went against my orders! So why would he do it now when he was in the most danger he'd ever been put in?
Surge looked as surprised as I was and so did the crowd. "I suggest you call him off, kid." he growled. Magneton seemed fine, but it didn't look like it appreciated getting hosed at all. The electricity around it crackled even more as the current built. It was determined to make sure its first attack fried Bit when given the word. "Know when to quit."
He was right, I knew that. I wanted to forfeit! I didn't want Bit getting hurt! I hung my head in defeat as I tried to speak those two words that would've ended all of this. It hurt me to say it more than I thought it would. I'd always thought it was a trainer's pride that kept him from admitting defeat-in which case, it wouldn't have been a problem for me because I didn't have any. Or so I thought. Saying I forfeit would mean that I failed to protect Eve. That I wouldn't be able to. That she'd have been better off without my help and I should let Fern take care of her. That was something I didn't want to admit; but this was my failure and that'd be the penalty for it. I couldn't put Bit's life on the line for something that was my fault. "I..."
"Squirtle!"
I heard a gasp from the crowd. That coupled with Bit's voice made my head snap back towards the arena. The crazy Squirtle had launched another attack at Magneton, who managed to get out of the way this time. It was about to counterattack, but Surge stopped it just in time. "I'm not gonna say it again, kid!" he warned. "Call him off! A badge isn't worth this!"
I tried to get Bit to stop, but the Squirtle turned to look at me when he heard my voice. That look on his face really startled me. He didn't look scared anymore. Rather, he seemed very determined to continue this, so much that I could see the desire to fight burning in his eyes. What had gotten into him, I wondered? Could he have wanted to try fighting for Eve too? He liked her, I knew. They seemed to hit it off nicely back on the road when we first met Eve. But no...for some reason I felt it that wasn't it. When he spoke, I was certain of it. For some reason I could understand some of what he was saying.
"Keep...fight...doing...self!" That's what I managed to get from all the "squirtle!"'s he shouted at me. It told me what I needed to know though-that he wasn't going to give up even if I did. He wasn't trying to fight for Eve, but himself. Just like me, he was testing himself to see how far he'd progressed in battling. At least that's what I gathered.
And I couldn't leave him alone. We were partners after all. He trusted me and I had to be there for him, just like he was always there for me when I needed it. Nodding slightly in agreement to keep going until we dropped, we both turned to face Surge and his Magneton. "Ready when you are." I said.
The gym leader stared at us both in disbelief, and I could feel the eyes of everybody in the gym doing the same. "Did you hear a word I said, twerp?" he exlclaimed. "A stupid gym badge isn't worth-"
I cut him off before he could finish. "I'm...WE aren't after the badge!" He seemed taken aback by that, but I continued. "We're here to test ourselves. To know that we have the strength to protect each other and our friends. I have somebody close I want to keep from getting hurt, and there's no way I'll be able to do that if I back down when I still have a chance of winning." Yeah, I said it. I wanted to win now. There had to be a chance of it. Win or lose, there still had to be a chance and I wasn't going to forfeit and not try."
Lieutenant Surge sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, his face set in a stern, but mellow expression. "You're a stubborn one, you know that, twerp?" Suddenly, he grinned and cracked his knuckles. "You remind me of myself at your age. Alright then! You wanna do this the hard way? Hit me with your best shot!"
Bit and I both grinned and gave another nod in unision before I whipped my finger out towards the Magneton. "Alright, don't let up for a second, Bit! Water Gun!"
"Sonic Boom, Magneton!"
For a few seconds, the air was filled with the debris from unchurned rocks as the two attacks hit home. Unlike the small water attacks Bit had been challenging with earlier, he real Water Gun could do some real damage if he put his all into it, which was just what he did. It wasn't as strong as the attack that nailed him in return. Heck, it was far from it. I was surprised Bit was still standing from the explosion; but when the dust cleared, there he was. The attack had taken a heavy toll though. He definitely wouldn't be able to take another one of those.
Looking over to the Magneton...it didn't even get a small dent from the pressure of the Water Gun attack.It didn't even knock him back from that spot he was floating in. It HAD to have done SOMETHING though! Taking a closer look, I tried to find something, blinking and I did. The water was still clinging to its body and dripping over the floor which didn't seem to be absorbing much of it. I could see Magneton's electricity surging through it too...and that gave me a very bad, very dangerous idea. Still, I couldn't find any other solution that'd give us a remote chance of winning.
Lieutenant Surge chuckled when he surveyed the damage done himself. "I took it easy on you that time. You're sure you wanna keep this up, kid?"
No longer a twerp. Back to kid...that sounded like a nice little compliment...I shook my head at his question. As hurt as he was, Bit would've probably never forgiven me if we didn't go all the way with this now. I answered Surge by giving out my next command, putting my plan into action. "Another Water Gun, Bit! Make it good!"
Bit let out a "Squirtle!" in response, not questioning me in the least bit as he tilted his head back a little and gurgled. He then tilted his head forward again and opened his mouth launching a heavy burst of water that sent him skidding back a little. Magneton took the hit, this time it managed to push it back a little. Water splashed all over the ground around it, more electricity jumping from it. "Don't let up!" I shouted.
Bit started advancing as he prepared another Water Gun attack, just in time to barely avoid getting struck in the head by a bolt of lightning that came from the disoriented Magneton. Even though that last blow had him stunned for the moment, I knew he was strong enough to take more than enough hits like this. By then, Surge would've turned the fight back against us. We just had to hold out a little longer...
The crowd went into a small uproar as Magneton recovered and sent Bit sprawling with a Swift attack. The poor Squirtle toppled head-over-heels before winding up on his back. It took only a moment to get up, but by then, another sonic boom and sent him flying. I didn't know how much abuse Bit could take himself, but he seemed to be trying his hardest to stay on his feet. I can't remember when I've seen him fight this hard before. Fortunately, that last attack landed him nearer to the Magneton, which was just where I wanted him to be. One way or another it was time to end this. "Fire a Water Gun at the ground!" I called out to Bit.
He gave me a confused glance, but still did it. The shot not only flooded the ground around him, but also launched him into the air to dodge the Swift attack that nailed just the puddle he made. Everybody knew he was going to get hit. In the air, he was a sitting duck. I knew this too, but still I wasn't giving up on him. A little more and this would be over. Putting my faith in him and praying he'd come out alright, I gave Bit my final command. "Mega Punch!"
Lieutenant Surge smirked while Bit hung helplessly in the air a moment before dropping like a rock towards Magneton. "Alright Magneton, let's finish this!" he shouted. "Give him your best Thundershock!"
Magneton hummed before it complied, a bolt or yellow light streaking from its magnets towards Bit. Bit cocked back a first while he fell towards Surge's Pokemon, yelping in pain when the bolt struck him. Grimacing, he toughed it out and kept his aim straight and true. When his first connected with Magneton's top-most eye, I knew my plan had worked. I wasn't hoping to knock it out with the blow, but with the momentum that carried it onto the flooded ground. Something I learned in school was that electric conduits had their limits, and I was hoping that falling into water would overload the Magneton and short it out.
Electric currents sparked through the air, hitting the few lights in the room, zapping the ground around me and Surge, who through it all stood there like a rock-the surprise was still clearly shone on his face though. People in the crowd even ducked for cover as a few bolts sailed overhead. When the power finally died down, everybody's eyes were glued to the arena. I was already running across it. I didn't care if the fight wasn't over and I got us disqualified for stepping in. Bit and I had done all we could and I needed to get him out of that water before the shock did any further damage. He and the Magneton had already taken enough abuse from that last blow. When I reached the center of the field, I noticed that both of them was still conscious though. Bit was the first to stagger to his feet, the Magneton shakily hovering up from the ground as well. Although it had died down, I could still see jolts of electricity biting at the Squirtle's ankles. "Bit?"
Bit turned a little to face me, his breathing sounding really ragged. Have flashed me a faint smile before staggering again and falling forward, making a light splash in the large puddle. It looked like he'd passed out before he hit the ground.
The referee raised his flag. "Squirtle is unable to-"
"Shutup!" I shouted angrily at him as I ran to pull my Pokemon out of the water. The battle was over and everyone knew it. We didn't need his input. I ignored the shocks the water gave me as I pulled Bit out. Thank goodness he was still breathing, but it sounded a little shallow. "You did awesome, Bit." I said with a smile, returning him to his pokeball. "Don't worry, we're going to go get you patched up right now."
As I turned to hurry from the arena, I heard the Magneton give a faltering hum. I turned to face it just in time to see it starting to fall backwards; but Surge recalled it before it hit the water. He'd pretty much saved me from getting shocked hard. Magneton still had a lot of juice in it even though it was about to fall over too. The gym leader called out for me as I started to leave. As much as a hurry as I was in, I still forced myself to stop to see what he wanted. I was very surprised when he reached into him reach into his pocket and pull out the very badge he had been flaunting at me earlier. "What's that for?" I asked. "I told you I didn't come here for the badge. Besides, I lost."
"Wrong." Surge snapped. "Even though you knew the odds were against you, you didn't give up. And despite the danger, you still put your trust into your teammates and stayed with them til the end. You showed me something I haven't seen in a long time, kid- the determination of a true fighter."
I stared at him in a bit of confusion, but he seemed determined as well to have me accept this badge. Speechless, I took it from his outstretched hand, a bit startled by the applause the audience gave me. When I got my last two badges, there was never a crowd watching, so this was a little unsettling. It still felt good though. The lieutenant then gave me a salute, his subbordinates doing the same from their positions around the arena. "You've got guts, Kyle." he said. That was the first time that he said my first name. "Not many trainers like you coming through here. Whatever you're fight for, just Makes us proud, kid!"
This was starting to get a little embarrassing now. I had a crowd applauding me and I was getting a salute. Getting a hold of myself, I remembered that Bit and Dusty were still in bad shape. Giving the gym leader a quick salute in return, I turned and ran from the arena. I don't know how the crowd beat be back into the waiting room, but they were there congradulatng me the whole way through to the hallway. After that match, the arena had been closed down for the rest of the day so repairs could be taken care of, but nobody seemed to care. It turned out that was a match they would have gladly paid money to see.
I didn't see Eve or Fern along the way, so I was a little worried; but by the time I made it outside the waiting room, the same guy that let us in was waiting there with a message. "Your girlfriend was getting a little rowdy towards the beginning for the second battle." he said. "Fern told me to let you know that she was taking her outside to get some air."
I don't know why, but something about that really didn't sit well with me. Ignoring any further comments from the other trainers, I started running down the hallway. Something definitely wasn't right about this. Fern was acting funny all of a sudden. First she's the most enthusiastic person about seeing me in a battle, then suddenly she's getting really serious about something or other. I don't know what her problem was, but I still didn't trust her alone with Eve. This wasn't really helping her case either.
By the time I got outside, it was getting close to nightfall. I'd expected the streets to still be busy, but for some reason, they were completely deserted. I didn't even see Fern or Eve anywhere. That was when I started to panic. Luckily I got an answer the first time I called. "We're right here, Kyle."
It was Fern's voice. She and Eve had been standing right around the corner. The relief that had momentarily appeared on my face left just as quickly when I realized Fern had a gun pulled when she came out into the open. And she was aiming it directly at me. "What're you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied shortly, raising the gun slightly so it was aimed at the center of my chest. With her free arm, she had a trembling Eevee-girl pressed up close to her and was holding her firmly so she couldn't try biting or anything. "Just keep quiet and I won't have to use this, alright?"
I was at a complete loss. I really didn't trust her, but still, I didn't think she'd pull something like this! I stood there motionless for a while as I tried to think of something. Watching her in silence a little more made me find the reason for this sudden change in her. I noticed that she had changed clothing. Rather than that breeder outfit she was wearing, he had something else on now. Her outfit was entirely black and consisted of a sleeveless shirt that stopped at her belly, a tight skirt that stopped mid-thigh, and a pair of high-heeled boots that went up to below her knees. On the cloth band tied around her bicep, there was a etheral flame patched on. I guessed that was the logo for... "...you're with Team Auro, aren't you?"
Fern smiled faintly at that. "It took you a while to figure that out, didn't it. I was lucky you trusted me enough for whatever reason to set up that gym match. It made things a whole lot easier."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. Obviously you can't do a thing by yourself in a situation like this. So who would you call on for help immediately?"
It didn't take me long to figure that one out. My Pokemon. She'd seen me fight before, so she knew that a fight like that was going to be tough for me. She talked me into that gym battle because she knew my Pokemon would be worn out by now. All that was just so I wouldn't be able to stop her from doing whatever she wanted with Eve. And I couldn't do anything. I wound up being as helpless as I was trying to keep myself from being.
Once again, Fern read my face like an open book. "Aw, there there Kyle. If it makes you feel any better, it was a great match." While she spoke, she had started moving in closer with Eve, whose eyes went wide as she let out small whimper. "And stop giving me that look. You can relax. I'm not planning on killing you or seperating you from Eve."
I took a small step back to keep her from getting too close. I was trying to gauge the distance. If I was lucky, maybe I could move fast enough to dodge her first shot and pull of some miracle to get the gun away from her. That new energy I'd found in me had to still be there from that gym battle. I still had that weird sensation running through my body that told me it was still there. It almost felt like something grabbed ahold of me when I prepared to make a move. Fern had stepped in a little closer and I judged that I could try moving in to disarm her myself before she could get a fix on either me or Eve. The moment I shifted my foot to make my lunge though...
"Kyle!"
...that put me in total shock; and it had the same effect on Fern too. Because that cry had come from Eve. The Eevee-girl's whimpers grew as she squirmed to get free. I didn't have too much time to stand there with my jaw dropped. I realized Eve was looking past me when she said that...right behind me. I couldn't explain what suddenly warned me about the massive hand coming towards me from behind, but something told me to move and where to move without even having to look to see what it was. I jerked my upper body off to the left, right in time to avoid the hand of a Machoke attempting to take me out with a Karate Chop. Acting on an impulse, I swiftly reached out and grabbed hold of his arm, surprising everybody when I hurled the large Pokemon over my shoulder and slammed him down on his back in front of me. The ground rumbled a little, and the Machoke looked as astonished as I was while he stared at each other. I was so caught up in this, I had no chance of moving when Fern took aim again. There was a faint whistling sound from her gun, and then next thing I knew, I'd released the Machoke's arm out of reflex when I felt a sudden pain burning into my shoulder.
Slowly looking down and expecting to see a blood mess, I instead found a clear dart embedded in my shoulder. The pump inside was already pushed all the way in, so whatever was inside had already been injected into my body. From how lightheaded I was starting to feel, I guessed it was some kind of poison. "Relax," Fern told me again. "That was just a small sedative I was planning to use on Eve. I told you I wasn't going to kill you. You're showing too much promise for that."
I wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but already I could feel my body starting to shut down on me. After taking a few staggering motions in I don't know what direction, I fell over. As I slowly drifted off to sleep. I could see the Machoke's trainer in a Team Auro uniform along with the doorman to Lieutenant Surge's gym. "Put him in my room on board." I heard Fern order the soldier. The Auro member was too busy checking on his Machoke to do anything else. "And make sure he's tied down good too. We need to have a nice, long talk."
Lieutenant Surge had been excited up to this point, but even he seemed stunned at this. I watched as he brought a hand up to rub his forehead and sighed. "That has to be the dumbest move ever, kid." he said. "Bringing a water Pokemon out to take me on? Is your head screwed on all the way?"
I bit my lip when I thought about retreating. Actually, that sounded like a really good idea right now. I was going to tell the referee that I wanted to drop out of this. It should have been okay, so long as an attack wasn't started. This match wasn't worth getting Bit hurt; but right as turned to the uniformed man holding the flags, I heard a splash and the sound of electricity crackling. Turning back towards the arena, I realized what had happened. Bit had launched a Water Gun attack at Surge's Pokemon without me even giving him the command. I couldn't believe this! He never went against my orders! So why would he do it now when he was in the most danger he'd ever been put in?
Surge looked as surprised as I was and so did the crowd. "I suggest you call him off, kid." he growled. Magneton seemed fine, but it didn't look like it appreciated getting hosed at all. The electricity around it crackled even more as the current built. It was determined to make sure its first attack fried Bit when given the word. "Know when to quit."
He was right, I knew that. I wanted to forfeit! I didn't want Bit getting hurt! I hung my head in defeat as I tried to speak those two words that would've ended all of this. It hurt me to say it more than I thought it would. I'd always thought it was a trainer's pride that kept him from admitting defeat-in which case, it wouldn't have been a problem for me because I didn't have any. Or so I thought. Saying I forfeit would mean that I failed to protect Eve. That I wouldn't be able to. That she'd have been better off without my help and I should let Fern take care of her. That was something I didn't want to admit; but this was my failure and that'd be the penalty for it. I couldn't put Bit's life on the line for something that was my fault. "I..."
"Squirtle!"
I heard a gasp from the crowd. That coupled with Bit's voice made my head snap back towards the arena. The crazy Squirtle had launched another attack at Magneton, who managed to get out of the way this time. It was about to counterattack, but Surge stopped it just in time. "I'm not gonna say it again, kid!" he warned. "Call him off! A badge isn't worth this!"
I tried to get Bit to stop, but the Squirtle turned to look at me when he heard my voice. That look on his face really startled me. He didn't look scared anymore. Rather, he seemed very determined to continue this, so much that I could see the desire to fight burning in his eyes. What had gotten into him, I wondered? Could he have wanted to try fighting for Eve too? He liked her, I knew. They seemed to hit it off nicely back on the road when we first met Eve. But no...for some reason I felt it that wasn't it. When he spoke, I was certain of it. For some reason I could understand some of what he was saying.
"Keep...fight...doing...self!" That's what I managed to get from all the "squirtle!"'s he shouted at me. It told me what I needed to know though-that he wasn't going to give up even if I did. He wasn't trying to fight for Eve, but himself. Just like me, he was testing himself to see how far he'd progressed in battling. At least that's what I gathered.
And I couldn't leave him alone. We were partners after all. He trusted me and I had to be there for him, just like he was always there for me when I needed it. Nodding slightly in agreement to keep going until we dropped, we both turned to face Surge and his Magneton. "Ready when you are." I said.
The gym leader stared at us both in disbelief, and I could feel the eyes of everybody in the gym doing the same. "Did you hear a word I said, twerp?" he exlclaimed. "A stupid gym badge isn't worth-"
I cut him off before he could finish. "I'm...WE aren't after the badge!" He seemed taken aback by that, but I continued. "We're here to test ourselves. To know that we have the strength to protect each other and our friends. I have somebody close I want to keep from getting hurt, and there's no way I'll be able to do that if I back down when I still have a chance of winning." Yeah, I said it. I wanted to win now. There had to be a chance of it. Win or lose, there still had to be a chance and I wasn't going to forfeit and not try."
Lieutenant Surge sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, his face set in a stern, but mellow expression. "You're a stubborn one, you know that, twerp?" Suddenly, he grinned and cracked his knuckles. "You remind me of myself at your age. Alright then! You wanna do this the hard way? Hit me with your best shot!"
Bit and I both grinned and gave another nod in unision before I whipped my finger out towards the Magneton. "Alright, don't let up for a second, Bit! Water Gun!"
"Sonic Boom, Magneton!"
For a few seconds, the air was filled with the debris from unchurned rocks as the two attacks hit home. Unlike the small water attacks Bit had been challenging with earlier, he real Water Gun could do some real damage if he put his all into it, which was just what he did. It wasn't as strong as the attack that nailed him in return. Heck, it was far from it. I was surprised Bit was still standing from the explosion; but when the dust cleared, there he was. The attack had taken a heavy toll though. He definitely wouldn't be able to take another one of those.
Looking over to the Magneton...it didn't even get a small dent from the pressure of the Water Gun attack.It didn't even knock him back from that spot he was floating in. It HAD to have done SOMETHING though! Taking a closer look, I tried to find something, blinking and I did. The water was still clinging to its body and dripping over the floor which didn't seem to be absorbing much of it. I could see Magneton's electricity surging through it too...and that gave me a very bad, very dangerous idea. Still, I couldn't find any other solution that'd give us a remote chance of winning.
Lieutenant Surge chuckled when he surveyed the damage done himself. "I took it easy on you that time. You're sure you wanna keep this up, kid?"
No longer a twerp. Back to kid...that sounded like a nice little compliment...I shook my head at his question. As hurt as he was, Bit would've probably never forgiven me if we didn't go all the way with this now. I answered Surge by giving out my next command, putting my plan into action. "Another Water Gun, Bit! Make it good!"
Bit let out a "Squirtle!" in response, not questioning me in the least bit as he tilted his head back a little and gurgled. He then tilted his head forward again and opened his mouth launching a heavy burst of water that sent him skidding back a little. Magneton took the hit, this time it managed to push it back a little. Water splashed all over the ground around it, more electricity jumping from it. "Don't let up!" I shouted.
Bit started advancing as he prepared another Water Gun attack, just in time to barely avoid getting struck in the head by a bolt of lightning that came from the disoriented Magneton. Even though that last blow had him stunned for the moment, I knew he was strong enough to take more than enough hits like this. By then, Surge would've turned the fight back against us. We just had to hold out a little longer...
The crowd went into a small uproar as Magneton recovered and sent Bit sprawling with a Swift attack. The poor Squirtle toppled head-over-heels before winding up on his back. It took only a moment to get up, but by then, another sonic boom and sent him flying. I didn't know how much abuse Bit could take himself, but he seemed to be trying his hardest to stay on his feet. I can't remember when I've seen him fight this hard before. Fortunately, that last attack landed him nearer to the Magneton, which was just where I wanted him to be. One way or another it was time to end this. "Fire a Water Gun at the ground!" I called out to Bit.
He gave me a confused glance, but still did it. The shot not only flooded the ground around him, but also launched him into the air to dodge the Swift attack that nailed just the puddle he made. Everybody knew he was going to get hit. In the air, he was a sitting duck. I knew this too, but still I wasn't giving up on him. A little more and this would be over. Putting my faith in him and praying he'd come out alright, I gave Bit my final command. "Mega Punch!"
Lieutenant Surge smirked while Bit hung helplessly in the air a moment before dropping like a rock towards Magneton. "Alright Magneton, let's finish this!" he shouted. "Give him your best Thundershock!"
Magneton hummed before it complied, a bolt or yellow light streaking from its magnets towards Bit. Bit cocked back a first while he fell towards Surge's Pokemon, yelping in pain when the bolt struck him. Grimacing, he toughed it out and kept his aim straight and true. When his first connected with Magneton's top-most eye, I knew my plan had worked. I wasn't hoping to knock it out with the blow, but with the momentum that carried it onto the flooded ground. Something I learned in school was that electric conduits had their limits, and I was hoping that falling into water would overload the Magneton and short it out.
Electric currents sparked through the air, hitting the few lights in the room, zapping the ground around me and Surge, who through it all stood there like a rock-the surprise was still clearly shone on his face though. People in the crowd even ducked for cover as a few bolts sailed overhead. When the power finally died down, everybody's eyes were glued to the arena. I was already running across it. I didn't care if the fight wasn't over and I got us disqualified for stepping in. Bit and I had done all we could and I needed to get him out of that water before the shock did any further damage. He and the Magneton had already taken enough abuse from that last blow. When I reached the center of the field, I noticed that both of them was still conscious though. Bit was the first to stagger to his feet, the Magneton shakily hovering up from the ground as well. Although it had died down, I could still see jolts of electricity biting at the Squirtle's ankles. "Bit?"
Bit turned a little to face me, his breathing sounding really ragged. Have flashed me a faint smile before staggering again and falling forward, making a light splash in the large puddle. It looked like he'd passed out before he hit the ground.
The referee raised his flag. "Squirtle is unable to-"
"Shutup!" I shouted angrily at him as I ran to pull my Pokemon out of the water. The battle was over and everyone knew it. We didn't need his input. I ignored the shocks the water gave me as I pulled Bit out. Thank goodness he was still breathing, but it sounded a little shallow. "You did awesome, Bit." I said with a smile, returning him to his pokeball. "Don't worry, we're going to go get you patched up right now."
As I turned to hurry from the arena, I heard the Magneton give a faltering hum. I turned to face it just in time to see it starting to fall backwards; but Surge recalled it before it hit the water. He'd pretty much saved me from getting shocked hard. Magneton still had a lot of juice in it even though it was about to fall over too. The gym leader called out for me as I started to leave. As much as a hurry as I was in, I still forced myself to stop to see what he wanted. I was very surprised when he reached into him reach into his pocket and pull out the very badge he had been flaunting at me earlier. "What's that for?" I asked. "I told you I didn't come here for the badge. Besides, I lost."
"Wrong." Surge snapped. "Even though you knew the odds were against you, you didn't give up. And despite the danger, you still put your trust into your teammates and stayed with them til the end. You showed me something I haven't seen in a long time, kid- the determination of a true fighter."
I stared at him in a bit of confusion, but he seemed determined as well to have me accept this badge. Speechless, I took it from his outstretched hand, a bit startled by the applause the audience gave me. When I got my last two badges, there was never a crowd watching, so this was a little unsettling. It still felt good though. The lieutenant then gave me a salute, his subbordinates doing the same from their positions around the arena. "You've got guts, Kyle." he said. That was the first time that he said my first name. "Not many trainers like you coming through here. Whatever you're fight for, just Makes us proud, kid!"
This was starting to get a little embarrassing now. I had a crowd applauding me and I was getting a salute. Getting a hold of myself, I remembered that Bit and Dusty were still in bad shape. Giving the gym leader a quick salute in return, I turned and ran from the arena. I don't know how the crowd beat be back into the waiting room, but they were there congradulatng me the whole way through to the hallway. After that match, the arena had been closed down for the rest of the day so repairs could be taken care of, but nobody seemed to care. It turned out that was a match they would have gladly paid money to see.
I didn't see Eve or Fern along the way, so I was a little worried; but by the time I made it outside the waiting room, the same guy that let us in was waiting there with a message. "Your girlfriend was getting a little rowdy towards the beginning for the second battle." he said. "Fern told me to let you know that she was taking her outside to get some air."
I don't know why, but something about that really didn't sit well with me. Ignoring any further comments from the other trainers, I started running down the hallway. Something definitely wasn't right about this. Fern was acting funny all of a sudden. First she's the most enthusiastic person about seeing me in a battle, then suddenly she's getting really serious about something or other. I don't know what her problem was, but I still didn't trust her alone with Eve. This wasn't really helping her case either.
By the time I got outside, it was getting close to nightfall. I'd expected the streets to still be busy, but for some reason, they were completely deserted. I didn't even see Fern or Eve anywhere. That was when I started to panic. Luckily I got an answer the first time I called. "We're right here, Kyle."
It was Fern's voice. She and Eve had been standing right around the corner. The relief that had momentarily appeared on my face left just as quickly when I realized Fern had a gun pulled when she came out into the open. And she was aiming it directly at me. "What're you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied shortly, raising the gun slightly so it was aimed at the center of my chest. With her free arm, she had a trembling Eevee-girl pressed up close to her and was holding her firmly so she couldn't try biting or anything. "Just keep quiet and I won't have to use this, alright?"
I was at a complete loss. I really didn't trust her, but still, I didn't think she'd pull something like this! I stood there motionless for a while as I tried to think of something. Watching her in silence a little more made me find the reason for this sudden change in her. I noticed that she had changed clothing. Rather than that breeder outfit she was wearing, he had something else on now. Her outfit was entirely black and consisted of a sleeveless shirt that stopped at her belly, a tight skirt that stopped mid-thigh, and a pair of high-heeled boots that went up to below her knees. On the cloth band tied around her bicep, there was a etheral flame patched on. I guessed that was the logo for... "...you're with Team Auro, aren't you?"
Fern smiled faintly at that. "It took you a while to figure that out, didn't it. I was lucky you trusted me enough for whatever reason to set up that gym match. It made things a whole lot easier."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. Obviously you can't do a thing by yourself in a situation like this. So who would you call on for help immediately?"
It didn't take me long to figure that one out. My Pokemon. She'd seen me fight before, so she knew that a fight like that was going to be tough for me. She talked me into that gym battle because she knew my Pokemon would be worn out by now. All that was just so I wouldn't be able to stop her from doing whatever she wanted with Eve. And I couldn't do anything. I wound up being as helpless as I was trying to keep myself from being.
Once again, Fern read my face like an open book. "Aw, there there Kyle. If it makes you feel any better, it was a great match." While she spoke, she had started moving in closer with Eve, whose eyes went wide as she let out small whimper. "And stop giving me that look. You can relax. I'm not planning on killing you or seperating you from Eve."
I took a small step back to keep her from getting too close. I was trying to gauge the distance. If I was lucky, maybe I could move fast enough to dodge her first shot and pull of some miracle to get the gun away from her. That new energy I'd found in me had to still be there from that gym battle. I still had that weird sensation running through my body that told me it was still there. It almost felt like something grabbed ahold of me when I prepared to make a move. Fern had stepped in a little closer and I judged that I could try moving in to disarm her myself before she could get a fix on either me or Eve. The moment I shifted my foot to make my lunge though...
"Kyle!"
...that put me in total shock; and it had the same effect on Fern too. Because that cry had come from Eve. The Eevee-girl's whimpers grew as she squirmed to get free. I didn't have too much time to stand there with my jaw dropped. I realized Eve was looking past me when she said that...right behind me. I couldn't explain what suddenly warned me about the massive hand coming towards me from behind, but something told me to move and where to move without even having to look to see what it was. I jerked my upper body off to the left, right in time to avoid the hand of a Machoke attempting to take me out with a Karate Chop. Acting on an impulse, I swiftly reached out and grabbed hold of his arm, surprising everybody when I hurled the large Pokemon over my shoulder and slammed him down on his back in front of me. The ground rumbled a little, and the Machoke looked as astonished as I was while he stared at each other. I was so caught up in this, I had no chance of moving when Fern took aim again. There was a faint whistling sound from her gun, and then next thing I knew, I'd released the Machoke's arm out of reflex when I felt a sudden pain burning into my shoulder.
Slowly looking down and expecting to see a blood mess, I instead found a clear dart embedded in my shoulder. The pump inside was already pushed all the way in, so whatever was inside had already been injected into my body. From how lightheaded I was starting to feel, I guessed it was some kind of poison. "Relax," Fern told me again. "That was just a small sedative I was planning to use on Eve. I told you I wasn't going to kill you. You're showing too much promise for that."
I wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but already I could feel my body starting to shut down on me. After taking a few staggering motions in I don't know what direction, I fell over. As I slowly drifted off to sleep. I could see the Machoke's trainer in a Team Auro uniform along with the doorman to Lieutenant Surge's gym. "Put him in my room on board." I heard Fern order the soldier. The Auro member was too busy checking on his Machoke to do anything else. "And make sure he's tied down good too. We need to have a nice, long talk."