Pokemon: Alexandrite & Topaz

Chapter 12: Mimicry

"That battle got me pumped! We have to do the same thing and get a badge," Kimyona said as Misty came back from healing her Pokemon.

"What do you think's going to happen?" Hikaru asked as the referee was announcing the rules.

"Knowing Kimyona, she going to use Bulbasaur," Sentoki answered, "She said she was gonna use her Seel too." At that point, the trainers had their Pokemon out: Kimyona with Bulbasaur and Misty with Staryu.

"Staryu, use Water Gun!" Misty commanded.

'You think a Water Gun attack's gonna work? Please,' Kimyona thought as she commanded Bulbasaur to use Vine Whip. Bulbasaur made a barrier to stop the flow of water from hitting it.

"You're good, being able to stop Staryu's Water Gun. I can see why Brock gave you the Boulder Badge, both of you," Misty said while glancing at Sentoki.

"Thanks. Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf!" Thousands of leaves pelted Staryu. It fell into the water and slowly resurfaced, cruelly defeated.

"Ooh, she beat Staryu a lot faster than you," Hikaru said with wide eyes.

"Yeah, but I have this thing called 'style'," Sentoki said, a bit impressed.

"Go! Goldeen!" Misty said as she took out Goldeen.

"Goldeen, eh? That's different," Sentoki thought out loud.

"Don't think that taking out Goldeen instead of Dewgong is going to change anything," Kimyona said, "Bulbasaur, use Take Down!" Bulbasaur began jumping on the floats, accelerating with each step until it came into contact with Goldeen. It quickly defeated Goldeen but Bulbasaur also fainted in the process.

"A kamikaze move, Take Down," Sentoki said, "The user faces recoil damage if it hits."

"Bulbasaur must have hit Goldeen with all its might if both fainted. The user is supposed to sustain minimal damage," Hikaru added.

Kimyona returned her Bulbasaur while praising it "You did a good job." Then she took out Seel.

"Seel, seel," it said, ready to battle.

Misty took out Dewgong.

"Seel and Dewgong; Hopefully Kimyona was paying attention to your fight with it," Hikaru said at the edge of her seat. Sentoki nodded in return.

"Dewgong, use Aqua Tail!"

"Two can play at that game. Seel, you use Aqua Tail too."

Spiraling water started going around both Pokemon's tails and sprinted to action. The attacks contacted but it didn't do much damage on either side. After that every attack Misty told Dewgong, Kimyona would follow. It was a game of mirror. Move after move, neither trainer or Pokemon backed out.

"This had been going on for almost 5 minutes. Kimyona's got something up her sleeve," Hikaru said, completely absorbed in the battle.

"Yeah, but what?" Sentoki said. That's when Kimyona stopped the mimicry by telling Seel to use Aqua Jet.

"You think that's gonna work?" Misty taunted. Then Seel did something unexpected. Instead of hitting Dewgong, it went into the water and started going around it. This caused a small whirlpool to form around Dewgong.

"Wh-what?" said a startled Misty.

"So that's her big strategy," Sentoki remarked, "She's a lot smarter than I thought."

"Obviously. We are traveling with her," Hikaru said matter-of-factly.

The whirlpool grew bigger and stronger and soon dragged Dewgong into its strong current. It spun the Pokemon until it was dizzy and confused.

"This is it! Seel, use Ice Shard!" Kimyona yelled. Shards of ice pelted the defenseless Pokemon, leaving it to its defeat.

"Yay! Kimyona, you won!" Hikaru shouted as she dragged Sentoki to where Kimyona was.

"It wasn't me who won. It was my Pokemon," Kimyona said while smiling at Seel.

"That's a good thing to keep in mind. That's why I'd like to give you this Cascade Badge," Misty handed Kimyona the badge. She put it in her badge case.

"Thanks so much."

"No, thank you. That strategy you used on my Dewgong was so good, I might use it," Misty said, smiling, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got other battles to attend to." She pointed to a line of trainers.

"We'll be going then. Let's go to the Pokemon Center, you guys," Hikaru said as she dashed out the gym with Pichu hanging on for dear life on her head.

"Hikaru, slow down!" Kimyona called from behind while pulling Sentoki.

"Those kids sure are energetic. Especially that girl with the red ribbon. I was hoping to battle her. Well anyways, I better tend to the other trainers," Misty said as she watched them leave.

At the Pokemon Center, Sentoki and Kimyona healed their Pokemon. Hikaru decided to roam around the center a bit. Sentoki saw her leave and was about to stop her but some trainers got in the way and lost sight of her.

"There sure are a lot of trainers here, aren't there Pichu?" Hikaru said. Pichu nodded and said its name in return. After 10 minutes of exploring, she chose to head back but two trainers caught her eye. They were talking about Cerulean Cave. Hikaru and a reluctant Pichu decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"I heard that there were weird noises in the cave," the first trainer said.

"Yeah, well I heard that it was dark and really dangerous," the second trainer added.

"Someone told me that if you go in, you don't come out," the first trainer remarked.

"I heard that there was a super strong Pokemon in the cave," the second one said.

"Scary!" They said in unison.

'Weird noise? Super strong Pokemon? Dangerous? Now that's my kind of place,' Hikaru thought to herself. Pichu saw the look on its trainer's face and knew that she was up to something.

"Hey, boys! Wanna tell me about this cave?" Hikaru cooed.

"Uh, sure," the first trainer said.

"Where are the hell is she? She should have been here a long time ago." said Sentoki, obviously annoyed.

"She's couldn't have gone that far," Kimyona said, trying to calm Sentoki down. After more searching they found her in a heated discussion about the cave. Hikaru didn't even notice that they were right behind her.

"Ahem," Sentoki said, trying to get her attention.

"Sentoki, Kimyona. When did you guys get here?" Hikaru asked.

"Just now," Kimyona answered, "What are you talking about?"

"This cool place called Cerulean Cave. We should go see it," Hikaru said with sparkling eyes.

"No," Sentoki replied immediately.

"Why not! It seems like lots of fun," Hikaru whined.

"We don't have enough time. We have to get to Saffron City soon," Sentoki said.

"What's the rush? At the pace we're going, we have more than enough time to challenge the gyms," Hikaru said, "Plus, Kimyona wants to go." She pointed at her friend.

"She doesn't want to waste her time at a place like that."

"Actually, I do kinda want to check it out," Kimyona said. Sentoki began to reconsider.

'Just a little more,' Hikaru thought. "There's gonna be lots of powerful Pokemon," she whispered in his ear.

"Let's go," he said immediately and went straight to the exit of the Pokemon Center. Hikaru began cheering and throwing Pichu in the air.

"Hikaru! Stop that! Pichu might get hurt! Sentoki! Wait for us!" Kimyona scolded her friends, "I guess we're heading to Cerulean Cave."