Let's Get Going! (Pokémon)

Chapter 18: Heartbreak

I fell into the monotonous routine that a lot of trainers find themselves in, travel, catch Pokémon, get to the next city. The next gym I wanted to tackle was very far away, and I was quickly running out of money from buying Pokéballs. But the day I would leave with Lillie was coming up soon, and I'd just get another gym badge in the meanwhile to get Pokémon to listen to me.

On the way to Cinnabar Island, Eevee and I practically lived on that surfboard we got in Fuchsia City. Fortunately, it didn't take too long to reach. The island didn't have too much in its singular town, sometimes called Guren Town. A laboratory, an abandoned mansion, a Pokémon Center, a PokéMart, a gym, that was about it. If I had more time to mess around, I probably would've checked out the mansion, but I was on a time crunch and needed to get back to Vermilion Port as soon as possible. As soon as I stepped into the gym, I was approached by the requirement judge.

"Yo! Champ in the making!" he greeted me. "This gym is-" Before he could finish his sentence, an old man ran down the center of the gym.

"Here we go! First question!" The old man shouted. He was bald, but had a white mustache. He was dressed like a scientist. His tie was red and yellow, and reminded me of fire.

"W-wait, Mr. Blaine!" The requirement guy exclaimed. "It's not your turn yet!"

"Oh, that's right!" Blaine said before running back deeper into the gym.

"...Er, the old man you just saw there was the gym leader, Blaine," the requirement man explained. "As you might've guessed, you have to take quizzes at this gym as well as battle. Try to have a good time!"

I approached the back of the room. It was like the stage of some gameshow or something. The back looked like flames and Blaine's face. The audience sat in foldout chairs and waited patiently for me to talk to Blaine.

"What'd you say?" Blaine asked me. "Ready to start?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied.

"No need to be shy, then. Step right up!" Blaine led me to the main place on the stage. The bright lights made it hard to concentrate.

"Here we go! This is the Cinnabar Island Gym Pokemon Quiz!" Blaine commentated. "Challengers get asked five questions that they have to answer. Get one right, and you get a Blaine doll! Get a question wrong and you have to battle one of my students. But if you manage to beat them... then don't worry- you still get a Blaine doll! Think you can collect five Blaine dolls?!"

"Of course I can," I said, cracking my knuckles. The audience didn't seem to like that very much, but I really just wanted to get going.

"Here we go! The first question!" Blaine looked at the top notecard in his stack. "Which of these is the Spitfire Pokémon?" The options of Magmar and Growlithe showed up on a screen that I could see, but the audience couldn't.

"Magmar?" I answered, unsure if I was right or not.

"The challenger has given her response! And the final judgement is..." Blaine said, building up the tension. I wondered if he was going to do that for all of the questions. Blaine did a small happy dance that made the audience laugh. "You're absolutely correct! Congrats! You've won a Blaine doll!" The doll popped up in front of me, hidden in a hole in the table. The rest of the questions varied, one was about gyms, another about type-matchups and so on. It was tricky, but I got them all right. When I answered the last question correctly, the Blaine dolls shot out of the table like rockets.

"Challenger!" Blaine shouted as the curtain he was currently standing behind was pulled away. Flames shot out of two torch holders on either side of him. "You've collected all five Blaine dolls, which means it's time for our battle! I'm Blaine, the red-hot gym leader here! My fiery Pokémon are all rough and ready with intense heat! They incinerate all challengers! Hah! Hope you brought some Burn Heals!"