Pokémon Heroes of Johto

Like A Blackthorn In My Foot

After our triumph over Team Rocket, Silver and I finally made it back to Mahogany Town, earning our Glacier Badges over the next two days. I had to admit, the fight with Team Rocket took its toll on me. I was physically and mentally drained, which was reasonable considering we were out numbered by at least twenty to one, and Typhlosion walking the edge of death didn't quite help either.
Life sure seemed to be pulling my leg lately.
At the same time, I was so grateful for everything I've experienced. Meeting Silver, Gold, and Crystal really lifted my spirits. I could still remember when my shallow heart pushed out any emotion but sadness. I was just the shell of a girl with a broken family. A shadow of someone who.... no longer exists.
When Professor Oak, Daisy, and mom sent me off on a journey through Johto, I didn't think it would make a difference. But all the people I've met, the battles I've faced, the laughs, sorrows, and joys have shifted me. I remember something dad told me when I was little. He said something like "The events of yesterday will make you who you are today, and today will shape who you are tomorrow." He was definitely right. Each day did shape me into someone new.
I smiled softly to myself as I made my way through Mahogany Town alone. Silver was asleep back at the Pokémon Center when I awoke, so I decided to head out for a walk. I ended up in front of the shabby shop that housed Team Rocket's HQ. Or, what used to be it. Now the wooden shop was rebuilt with stronger, neater rows of logs.
I glanced at the new sign outside the door. Instead of the ridiculously obvious sign from before, the new one read quite simply; "Trainer's Shop". It was written in a neat cursive with soft blues and pinks. With nothing else in mind, I shrugged and entered the shop. A gentle bell chimed above my head as I opened the door.
The previously low quality building now had soft yellow wallpaper and neatly organized shelves and clothes racks. I couldn't help but notice they fixed the wall I broke through and made it into the break room for the workers.
What a nice touch.
A young girl, seemingly in her teenage years, smiled warmly at me, waving shyly. I nodded silently, glancing around the shop. I decided to get a couple coats, scarves, gloves, and snow boots for Gold, Silver, Crystal, and I. After hearing that to get to Blackthorn City, our next destination, Silver and I would need to go up a mountain side road known as Ice Path. Using my common sense, I figured that meant it was cold and decided to prepare early. We already entered the Mahogany Town Gym without knowing it was an Ice type Gym, nearly freezing ourselves half to death, and if not for Typhlosion's flame, we probably would've filled that other half. I'm not willing to go through that again.
As I entered the Pokémon Center, I handed the receptionist a package with the winter gear I bought for Gold and Crys. I had attached a note to it and asked her to give that to the unmistakable blue haired girl and the boy with golden eyes when they came by. She nodded and grinned, excepting my request kindly. Silver came down one of the hallways behind the reception counter, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he glanced over at me.
"You're back." He stated bluntly.
"Yep! Got you a present!" I announced cheerfully, tossing a bag to him. He clutched it to his chest for a moment as it hit him, looking down at it curiously. Silver peered inside it, examining my gift.
"It's a coat..." he stated softly. I nodded, grinning as he stared softly at it. He looked up at me quizzically, before shifting to an 'are you serious?' look. "If you were gonna get me a coat, couldn't you have done that before I set foot in that freezing cold Gym?" Silver asked with a slightly annoyed tone.
"Well, neither of us knew it was an Ice type Gym, now did we?" I retorted sassily, smirking over my shoulder at him as I passed by. He rolled his eyes, a thin smile notable on his face. I chuckled, glancing over at the end of the room. There was a line of computers set up against the wall.
I strolled over to the desk top computers casually. Picking one, I sat down and began to look something up. Silver came over and stood beside me, crouching over to see better.
"What're you doing?" he asked as I clicked a link. A video popped up, and after a few seconds, it began to play.

Pokémon League Finales
XX day of XX month

It was clip off a TV recording of Red's battle against Green. This specific video only showed the ending match of Charizard against Gyrados. Charizard swirled the sky, launching a Flamethrower down at Gyrados, who countered with Hydro Pump. Silver stared for a moment, smiling softly at me as the camera zoomed in on Red. I stared at the determined look in his ruby eyes, reminiscing that signature smirk on his face. I remembered that battle like it was yesterday. I recalled the screaming crowds, the smiles and whoops and whistles. I could still see the excitement in mom's eyes, the determination in Bill's, and the wisdom in Professor Oak's. Every attack from Red and Green's Pokémon made my heart race in anticipation. The moment they announced Red was the victor, the crowd went wild. I remember tackling him into a hug when we met up, crying tears of joy as Pikachu and Charizard joined in the embrace.
"You really do love your brother, don't you, Fire?" Silver asked suddenly. I nodded softly, my eyes watering as I watched Charizard dive around another Hydro Pump on Red's command.
"Yeah.... with all my heart." I murmured, wiping away a tear from my eyes. "I miss him, Silver..." I stated softly, smiling sadly up at my rival. Silver nodded softly, an understanding look in his eyes.
"I know... I'm sure, wherever he is, he misses you too." Silver muttered in an attempt to comfort me. I nodded, faking a smile.
"Right.... thanks. We should probably get going. Blackthorn City isn't getting any closer while we sit around all day." I teased gently, trying to lighten the mood as I got to my feet. Silver nodded, and after grabbing our bags, we headed out to the Ice Path. I recommend for Silver to put on the black coat and blue gloves I gave him, along with a soft blue scarf and snow boots to be extra safe. I put on my pink jacket and magenta mittens, wrapping a soft white scarf around my neck and pulling on a pair of matching white snow boots. As we climbed the mountain, the winds picked up a bit and Silver pulled his scarf over his nose to block the cold air.
"I can't stand the cold!" Silver groaned, his voice muffled by the scarf. I nodded in agreement, turning my attention to something in the distance.
"Hey..... what's that?" I asked quietly, slowly wading over to it. I brushed snow off the blue figure, quizzically looking it up and down. I swept the snow off its face, revealing the pained face of a Nidorina. It seemed to have fainted of exhaustion, and its body temperature was abnormally low as well.
"Is it okay?" Silver questioned as he approached me from behind. I glanced back at him, and scooped the Pokémon off the ground. Taking my white scarf off and wrapping it around the Nidorina, I unzipped my sweater and stuffed the Pokémon underneath it for extra warmth.
"You think that Nidorina got into a battle or something?" I asked as Silver followed along.
"Perhaps. Maybe it wandered up here by mistake and the climate was too cold for it to handle." Silver stated, eyeing me from behind.
After a hike that seemed like forever, we finally got off the Ice Path and headed down the mountain. I could see Blackthorn City in the distance and quickened the pace. Nidorina shakily awoken, gazing up at me tiredly. I stared down at her with determined eyes. Surprisingly, she let her eyes fall closed again, relaxing in my hold. I was expecting her to instinctively try to fight me off, but this Nidorina seemed to get that I wasn't a threat to her.
I rushed to the Pokémon Center upon arrival at the city, and had the nurse take Nidorina swiftly. I managed to finally relax myself physically by sitting in the lobby with Silver. I tapped my foot impatiently, gently petting Typhlo behind the ears. Silver smiled at me reassuringly when he noticed the worried look in my eyes.
After what felt like forever of waiting, which was really just about a half hour, the nurse brought Nidorina back, a soft smile on her face.
"How is it?" I asked softly.
"Is she alright?" Silver added on.
"She's just fine! This Nidorina must've gotten lost and wandered into the colder side of the Ice Path. It probably fainted on its way back down, lucky you found her before she got sick." the nurse stated softly. We all smile in relief. I pet the Nidorina gently, smiling softly as I gazed into her ruby eyes.
"I'm glad you're safe, Nidorina." I stated gently, as she stared back into my eyes. Nidorina cried out happily, nuzzling into my hand. I smiled brightly at it, and plucked out a Pokéball. "Hey, this may sound sudden, but how'd you like to come with me? We'll have great fun on our journey!" I offered cheerfully, holding the Pokéball to it. Nidorina pondered it for a moment before tapping the button with its claw and capturing itself. I smiled softly as it clicked and spoke to her through the ball, "Welcome to the team, Nidorina. Let's give it our very best!"
"Now that that's all said and done, let's go to the Gym. I'd like to try my hand at the Gym Leader tomorrow." Silver stated confidently. I nodded, following him out of the Pokémon Center.
We eventually came across the Gym, and stared up at it for a while. There was a small lake behind it with a thin waterfall in the back. I wondered if there was anything behind that waterfall, since it seemed reasonable in my imagination. After taking in the scenery behind the Gym, we finally entered it, revealing the large battle field. A woman with sky blue hair wearing a long black cape glanced over her shoulder at us coldly. Something told me I wasn't going to like her very much. The sigh Typhlosion let out from behind me told me he second that thought.
"I am Clair. Leader of the Blackthorn City Gym! Who dares to challenge me?" she asked in a dangerously quiet tone.
"It's another Dracula!!" Silver blurted out. I bursted into a laughing fit. Silver wasn't one to crack jokes, and whether that was a joke or not, I'm not sure, but it was hilarious. he wasn't wrong though, Clair did look like some kind of feminine Dracula with that cape and those sharp blue eyes. She whipped around, glaring harshly at us.
"How dare you speak to me that way?! I am the strongest of all the Johto Gym Leaders! Second to none! The Dragon Master of Blackthorn City! And you wish to insult me?!" Clair yelled angrily.
"I'm pretty sure Pryce would be the strongest Gym Leader, since he as an advantage over Falkner and you. So that's a thing." Silver deadpanned.
"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure Lance is a much better Dragon Master than you are. My brother battled him first hand, so he would know." I added on. We were just degrading this Gym Leader like there's no tomorrow. It was funny, really, she seemed like she deserved to be taken down a peg, and here we are, throwing remarks at a complete stranger.
"Why you little pest!! Fine then, I'll battle you first!! Just to show you I'm just as strong as my cousin!!" Clair called, pointing to me. Cousin? Lance couldn't be her cousin.... could he? Lance is so calm, collected, and sweet, while Clair is edgy, rude, and nasty. There was no personality connections there. And to top it off, Lance has bright red hair that was slightly lighter than Silver's, while Clair's was a light blue. No physical resemblance either. I shrugged it off, not really caring too much about Clair's personal life, and took my place in the battlefield.
Wait a sec, did she just call me a pest? Oh heck no!
"Kingdra, let's go!!" Clair called out as she released her Pokémon.
"Asuna, you're up first then!" I cheered as she exited the Pokéball.
"Dragon Pulse!"
"Fake Out!!" Persian swiped a paw at Kingdra, causing it to flinch, though the attack didn't do an insane amount of damage. "Now, Slash!!" I ordered. Asuna wasted no time in revealing her powerful claws and slicing at Kingdra, leaving six cuts across its belly. Clair growled, knowing that attack did a lot more damage.
"Hydro Pump!!" Clair ordered. being at close range, Asuna didn't have time to dodge, and was directly hit with the powerful blast of water. I had to admit, Clair was tough.
But not tough enough.
"Asuna, Power Gem!!" I ordered strongly. A dozen violet stones of light swirled around Asuna, shooting suddenly at Kingdra. The attack caused an explosion, and when the smoke cleared, Kingdra was down for the count. Too easy.
"Impossible!!" Clair growled, returning her Kingdra. "Dragonair, go!!"
"Asuna, come back! Typhlosion.... ready to go?" I asked calmly. Typhlo gave a serious nod, smirking at Dragonair from beside me. "Let's go!! Flamethrower!!" I commanded.
"Dragon Pulse!!" The two attacks collided, causing an explosion that damaged both our partners. "Dragon Tail!!" "Shadow Claw!!" Once again, the attacks collided, and both Typhlo and Dragonair took damage. They appeared to be evenly matched. "Typhlo, use Swift!!"
"Aqua Tail, now!!" Dragonair tried to whip away our attack, but missed a few and took damage, letting its guard down as it tried to recover. Just as planned.
"Finish it off, Overheat!!"
"Thunderbolt!!" Typhlo put all his remaining energy into the final blow, as did Dragonair. Though they appeared to cancel each other out, evenly matched, there was one advantage Typhlosion and I had over Clair, and it had nothing to do with type. No, it was much deeper. Something that developed in us the day we met;

Trust.

I trusted Typhlosion could win this match. And that's exactly what he did. Badly beaten, Typhlosion shakily rose to his feet, glaring tiredly through the smoke to see what became of Dragonair. Dragonair lie limply on the ground, unable to continue our match. We had won. My eyes widened in joyful shock, as I sprinted over and hugged my exhausted partner.
"Typhlosion, you were great!! I've never seen anything so incredible! Wonderful job!" I cheered in excitement. This was it. We finally did it. Typhlosion and I could finally compete in the Pokémon League, now that we finally had all eight Johto Gym Badges. Or, we should have them anyway.
"There's no way.... impossible!! There's no possible way that I legitimately lost! It simply cannot be true!!" Clair snapped, glaring furiously at me. Silver came to my side on the battlefield, glaring back at Clair.
"But you just did. So do us a favor and give Fire her hard earned Rising Badge so we can go." Silver deadpanned, a cold look in his metallic silver eyes.
"No!! You don't deserve this Badge! I know just how to prove it, too! Behind this Gym is a waterfall hiding the entrance to Dragon's Den. There, you will find my elder. I shall take you to him to take the Dragon Master Challenge. If you fail, which you will, I will not give you this Badge." Clair stated rudely.
Well excuse you!
Regardless, I followed her out of the Gym to Dragon's Den.
I wondered what the Dragon Master Challenge could be. Another battle, perhaps? Maybe an obstacle course? I had no idea, but I knew I needed to pass it. Clair needed her ego to be cut down a few pegs. She really doesn't deserve the title of Gym Leader with that attitude of hers.
I stared at the building in the middle of the water. I wondered how they built it like that, but assumed something supported it from beneath. It didn't really matter. In there was the elderly man who was to test me. And I'd pass this test for the sake of Typhlosion and our Rising Badge.

Cutting Clair's ego was just a bonus.