Pokémon Red (Book 2)

Fightin' in Water

Red's POV

"Ah, kids. Come on in." Said the Gym Leader. "You want some cheese sandwiches?"

Chuck was feasting on the many cheese sandwiches he had in his hands.

"We had lunch minutes ago." Said Lyra, lying. I sure was hungry but, I really didn't want cheese sandwiches right now.

"I have juice too. Orange, Pineapple or Cranberry?" He offered.

"That won't be necessary." I said in joy.

The gym wasn't exactly I thought it would be like. I was imagining water everywhere, because it's a water gym but it was just a mini-arena. The floor had small holes at places, probably to eject water off after the battles.

Chuck, the gym leader, was standing at the entrance, next to a table with all sorts of drinks and food. He poured a little vodka into his cranberry juice, and drank.

"We're here to challenge you." Said Lyra, proudly, with one of her Pokeballs in her hand.

"Yeah I know." Said Chuck. "But first, I'll tell you a joke. What do you call Cianwood City gym leader laughing?"

"Uh, what?" I asked, confused because of his behaviour. He was drunk, for sure.

"Chuckling" He exclaimed, laughing.

Lyra laughed. "Good one."

"You know what happened today? I saw a Suicune!" He said, happily, lost in his dreams.

"You saw what!" Lyra was shocked.

"Lyra, he's, drunk." I walked to the gym leader and placed his glass away from him. "You shouldn't drink more."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't drink in a book meant for children." He said. "What am I even saying? I'm so drunk. Alright, party's over."

He grabbed three Pokeballs from the table and walked to the other side of the gym.

"Boy, prepare to lose. Go Mantine."

He sent out a water Pokemon on a metal surface, the Pokemon looked like a fish and sticked to the floor, unable to move.

"Oh boy." I face palmed. "Go Ivysaur. Use Solarbeam."

Ivysaur absorbed energy from the sunlight. I couldn't guess if the match was fair or not, as the gym leader was drunk, he couldn't even think properly.

What if he says afterwards that two kids stole gym badges from him? That'd be embarrassing.

"Mantine, use Bubble Beam."

As expected, the attack had no affect on Ivysaur. Ivysaur used Solarbeam. Mantine fainted. This was surely the easiest Pokemon battle I was ever in.

"Mantine, come back." Chuck called his Pokemon back in. "Go Primeape."

"Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf."

It was a critical hit.

"Primeape, use Water Pulse." Said Chuck. Primeape looked back at his trainer. Primeape could not use the move. Oh god.

"Ivysaur, Vine whip." I said. Primeape fainted.

"Primeape, come back." Chuck yawned. "Go Steelix."

"Ivysaur, Razor Leaf." Steelix was not affected by the attack.

I pointed my Pokedex towards the Pokemon.

"Steelix, an Iron Snake Pokemon. It is said that if an Onix lives for over 100 years, its composition changes to become diamond-like."

"Steelix, use Thunder fang." Said Chuck. Steelix opened his mouth, revealing his enormous metal teeth. They flashed yellow in color and electricity could be seen running through them. He got close to Ivysaur and gently bite Ivysaur.

Ivysaur fainted. I ran to Ivysaur and held him in my arms. He was in a bad condition. I rushed to Lyra with my Pokemon in my arms. "Lyra, can you please get him to the PokeCentre?"

I put Ivysaur back into his ball and handed him to Lyra. It was the time I realised that using Pokemon for battles was not humanity.

Enraged, I clipped off a Pokeball off my belt. "Go Charizard." I shouted, as my huge starter flew out of the Pokeball.

"Steelix, use Dragon Breathe."

Charizard flew up high, avoiding the attack. Charizard's and mine feelings were fully synced, he could feel how I felt, he seemed furious, as if he'll flamethrower the shit out of Steelix.

"Charizard, Flamethrower." I said, Charizard flew towards Steelix. Steelix opened his mouth, ready to use Thunder fang. Charizard flew as fast as he could towards Steelix's mouth.

Steelix, opened his mouth to bite Charizard using his electric type move. Charizard used Flamethrower into the Steelix's mouth.

The fire and electricity resulted into a pressure wave. Steelix fainted.

"Well done, kid." Saud Chuck. "Here's your badge, I don't even remember what it's called and this TM, that too, just look at the tag over there." He handed me a badge and a TM.

He was the most non-serious gym leader I had ever met. "Um, it doesn't have a tag, why did you let me win?"

"What?" He asked.

"Yeah, you let me win." I said. "Steelix could've beaten Charizard easily."

"I've been a gym leader for over 20 years and for 20 years, I've been waiting for someone to replace me. You think I like battles now? I don't even care, I would've just given over the badge to you, but I've seen you around on TV. So maybe, I thought it would be fun to battle you. I'm gonna lose anyways."

That was logical, actually. No one wants to fight Pokemon for the rest of their lives. Why is Pokemon training a profession? Why can't we just, live happily and peacefully without battles?

"Red, Ivysaur is at the PokeCentre. Nurse Joy sais it'll take some time for him to get back to healthy state." Said Lyra.

"Come on, girl. Your turn." Said Chuck. "Go..."