A New Life Through The Eyes Of Kanto: An Autobiography

Round Two: Blocking Out

"A water battle!" June exclaimed. "That should be interesting! Kingdra would do well, but you don't have any other Water types."

"That doesn't matter, June," I shook my head at her. "You saw what happened on the Grass Field. Lola used a Fire type and burned the entire field down! Her Water type flooded the place! This isn't so much about matching types with the field, but how to use the field to your advantage. But I do think Kingdra is a good idea."

"So who else will you be bringing?" June asked as we stepped outside and were met by the hot sun that challenged our tolerance.

I squinted against it, looking right into it, and then closed my eyes and lowered head, thinking. "I guess Hoothoot is a good option, right? Hoothoot and maybe Butterfree? They can both fly and stay out of the water."

"It's a fair enough idea. You should really have caught more Water types."

I shot her an angry look.

June shrugged. "Well, I'm right, you know."

"I'll do just fine with what I have, thank you," I snapped.

"Hey! Do you wanna borrow my Lanturn?" June asked eagerly, stopping, her eyes glistening.

"No way!" I shouted at her. "I made it here with my own Pokemon. I'm not using yours to advance!"

"Hmm," June said thoughtfully. "I guess I understand that. But you don't even have an Electric type Pokemon with you. There's a good chance the opponent will be using at least one Water type, and probably an Electric type as well. Electricity will be a nice thing for you to have, and with my Lanturn, who has Volt Absorb Ability, any Electric moves used on her will heal her HP!"

"Porygon-Z has a couple Electric moves," I considered out loud to myself, ignoring June.

We stopped at a building with the words Water Field on the top of it in bold, dark blue letters. "Hey, I guess we're here."

"Yeah, but we still have time. The battle doesn't begin until two. We have about thirty minutes. Let's look around the village."

"For what?"

"Let's get some souvenirs or something!" June smiled. "Look at that over there! I wanna buy one!" June pointed off into the distance and immediately ran towards one of the many booths lining the street.

"It's too hot for that!" I complained, sighing. "I'm gonna go wait inside." June didn't seem to hear me and I totally didn't care. Rolling my eyes, I walked into the building, refreshed by the air conditioning, and took a seat.

All of the buildings I'd been in looked the same as each other besides the paint job. This building's inside was painted orange.

It was the day of my second round battle, taking place on the Water Field.

After my dinner with Prof. Oak, my mom, and June last night, we had attempted to locate Robin, but with no luck. Prof. Oak wasn't even able to contact his parents when he made the phone call. They never picked up.

I wasn't worried, though. I knew that Robin was gonna get past the preliminaries. Just like I would.

Several people were grouped up near the other end of the floor, where a TV hung from above.

What's going on there? I wondered, and walked over.

A Pokemon battle!

"And that's it, folks!" the announcer screamed. "With a terrifying Crunch attack from Raticate, Sableye has been defeated and Arnold wins the match!"

A young kid was shown hugging his Raticate joyously. The kid had short black hair and wore a red T-shirt and baby blue shorts.

"Hey!" I muttered, my eyes widening. I know him, I thought to myself, stepping up closer to the screen, squinting hard. Arnold? Where do I know him from...?