Chapter 22

When Redwald woke up in the early morning, he found himself in the white hospital room, in where he would never feel comfortable. The badge that he earned from the day before was lying on the night stand. He reached his hand to it and lifted it up to look at it proudly. The badge almost looked like it was shining bright. Redwald smiled with pleasure and put it back. At that moment, he realized other faces in the room. They were neither Greta, nor Eusine. More surprisingly, Professor Oak and his mother Fennel were there.

Fennel was the first one to realize Redwald woke up. “Darling, good morning.” She said. “Professor Oak and I worried so much about you.”

“You didn’t need to.” Redwald responded. He clearly felt uncomfortable about her mother and Professor coming all the way to Pewter City, as well. “I am doing just fine. I just lost my control in the battle. But it is nothing besides being exhausted, believe me.”

“I… We believe you, dear.” Fennel said. Then, Professor Oak interrupted her. “I already have to come all the way here for a conference, Red.” He said. “It happens to be just a coincidence that it was a perfect time to visit you guys, as well. In the morning, I got a chance to meet your new friend Eusine. He is very knowledgeable about Pokémon, believe me. He will be useful for you two during your journey.” He took a moment. “I told my grandson, Blake, to make a friend during his journey, too. But he insisted on his idea of not having one since the beginning. He thinks he is better alone, and he is too impatient to bear someone for this long time, as he believes.”

“I can see that.” Redwald responded. He showed his badge to his mother and Professor. “See, I just won my first badge yesterday.”

“We got a chance to talk to Brock, as well, my dear.” Fennel said. “He is very impressed by you. He believes you will accomplish something big at the league.”

“I still need to improve myself, but I think I have enough time to meet the deficit.” Redwald responded. He looked at his Poké Balls and thought of his Pokémon inside them; Eevee, Pidgey, Poliwag, Tangela… They all were eager to do what Redwald had been desiring. He had no doubt in his Pokémon.

“Change your outfit.” Professor Oak said. “I have someone to introduce you all.” And he left. Fennel followed him behind. No one said anything besides.

When Redwald returned to the lobby, all changed his clothes, ready to leave, he found Professor Oak and everyone else sitting on a table, including Blake Oak and a stranger man. The man did not look old, but he was younger than only his mother and Professor, probably. Redwald, surprised, walked towards the table and sat on the empty seat.

“Blake earned his first badge, as well, Red.” Professor Oak said. Blake pretended like the conversation was not even about him.

“When did you get it?” Redwald asked, as if he was interested. Blake, not even looking at Redwald, answered him. “I defeated Brock last week. I’ve been around to train my Pokémon.”

“Interesting, we never saw you, Blake.” Greta said. Blake unpleasantly responded Greta. “I saw you all walking around, but didn’t have time to kill.”

Greta wondered if he was referring to the time she was taking a day off to see the shops and malls in the city. But she tried to not care. Instead, Fennel changed the subject to one stranger person on the table.

“This person here is very important someone for you all.” Fennel said. “He is Aubrey. Furthermore, he is one of the former Champions of Kanto Pokémon League.”

Redwald, Greta and Blake looked at the man carefully. The man sure looked experienced but Redwald, as well as others, would always imagine a wise, old man if the person in question is a Former Champion.

“Why don’t you introduce yourself, Aubrey?” Fennel said with a grant smile on her face. Aubrey smiled gently as a response. “Why hello.” He said.

“I was the Pokémon Champion for three years in a row, from 1985 to 87. In 1988, however, I had to withdraw from my position due to some personal reasons. That year’s winner was lucky, though. They didn’t have to challenge a Champion and win the battle to become a Champion, since the position was empty.”

“But more importantly, I am one of Professor Oak’s students. When he accepted my request in the Summer Camp, I was beyond happy. I received my very first Pokémon from him, as well, who helped me a lot in the Championship battles. I am, and I always will be grateful for what he did for me.”

“I just bring out the potential inside you, Aubrey. All the credits are for you.” Professor Oak said. “That being said, Aubrey is one of my biggest proud students ever. Even in the summer camp, I always knew that he was something different. He won the Summer Camp Tournament, and all the other battles I have witnessed. I highly doubt if there is any battle that Aubrey lost.”

“Of course, there are, Professor.” Aubrey said with a laughter. “There are times I fell down and needed a hand to stand up. At such times, I let my Pokémon cure me and guide the way, while the other times I did the same for them. We have never been a master and the slaves under him. We are always a team, and we always let one help each other. No one is superior, even me.”

“I thought it would be a good idea to introduce Aubrey to you guys.” Professor Oak said. “You see, Aubrey, these young trainers are trying their best to become number one Pokémon Trainer. My grandson and Redwald want to compete in Kanto League and become Champion. Greta, in the other hand, wants to take over her parents’ Day Care service. In order to do that, she wants to discover Pokémon world, understand the Pokémon’s feelings and help them in the best way.”

“That’s what I call a goal, an ambition.” Aubrey said. “It is in your eyes. I am sure you all will become something big in the end, and I will be there to congratulate you.”

“That’s impossible.” Blake responded. “Redwald and I are racing for the same position, and it is only one person allowed. One of us will be disappointed for sure.”

“You never know what life brings.” Aubrey said. “There were many things I would say they are impossible to come true when I was in your age. But I experienced many things that eventually came true. Even more interesting is that, I let them happen at times.”

Eusine talked for the first time. “How about making this meeting a meaningful one?” He asked. Everyone turned their heads to him, expecting more explanation to what he said. “I mean a Pokémon Battle.” He continued. “Of course, Aubrey is not there to lose the battle, but I believe he can analyse the battles, and furthermore, Redwald, Greta and Blake may learn something out of it.”

Professor Oak nodded his head. “That is what I had in my mind, Eusine.” He said. “What do you say?” He asked three young trainers. The three trainers looked at each other in the eye, shrugged, trying to find an answer.

“I’m in.” Blake was the first one to accept it.

“Me, too.” Redwald said after.

“Likewise.” Greta said.

Everybody went to backyard of the Pokécenter. All the Pokécenters in Kanto would have a battlefield for trainers to have friendly battles. Professor Oak would teach his students in the Summer Camp every year that the idea of regularising battlefields was his idea, and he requested to the government.

The first battle was going to be held between Aubrey and Greta. Eusine stood in the middle corner as a referee. “The Pokémon Battle between Aubrey and Greta will now begin. Each may use one Pokémon. Once the Pokémon is unable to battle, the battle is over.” Eusine said.

Greta reached to her Poké Ball and threw it to the battlefield with joy in her. “I know the perfect Pokémon for this battle. Foudre, come out!” She said. Foudre appeared on the battlefield.

“An eager Pikachu, huh?” Aubrey responded. He reached to a Poké Ball in his pocket and threw it to the battlefield. “Come out, Exeggutor!”

A palm tree Pokémon with coconut heads on top of it appeared before Foudre. “I am not stranger to this Pokémon!” Greta responded. Before she wasted a second, she ordered the move.

“Foudre, use Thunderbolt!” Greta ordered. Foudre jumped and covered her whole body with electricity. Once she was ready to fire all the energy, she used Thunderbolt on Exeggutor. The Pokémon, Exeggutor, stumbled but did not fall.

“Great start, Greta.” Aubrey responded. “Your Pokémon seems to be enough confident with battling others. Despite of just recently starting your journey, you are doing quite well.”

Greta nodded her head. “All the credits for Foudre.” Greta said. “She has a burning desire inside for battles.”

“We’ll see about that!” Aubrey responded. “Exeggutor, use Egg Bomb!”

Exeggutor’s eyes glowed bright, as he got ready to send bombs out of the grasses on the top of his head. All of a sudden, Exeggutor threw three giant eggs towards Foudre.

“Dodge them, Foudre!” Greta responded. Instead of dodging the moves, Foudre ran towards Exeggutor as a response, and hit him on the stomach by using Quick Attack. The Quick Attack was so weak that Exeggutor did not even stumble.

“Foudre, listen to what I say!” Greta responded, but she was not even sure if Foudre heard a word of what she said.

“Exeggutor, use Strength!” Aubrey ordered. Exeggutor ran towards Foudre, as Greta responded with a counter order. “Foudre, dodge the move immediately! You can’t take it!” She said. Foudre nodded her head and prepared herself to storage energy. When Exeggutor came closer, she fired another Thunderbolt on him. Despite of her expectations, Exeggutor’s Strength move hit her harder, as Foudre found herself crawling on the ground until she hit the wall of Pokécenter.

“Foudre, are you alright?” Greta cried out as she ran to her Pokémon. Foudre’s eyes were closed, she was almost fainted. Eusine raised his hand. “Foudre is no more able to continue. The winner is Exeggutor and his trainer, Aubrey.”

“Why didn’t you listen to what I said?” Greta said, while she hugged the little Pokémon. Aubrey was the one to answer her. “Your Pokémon, as I said, is passionate about battling. When it comes to her trainer, however, she doesn’t respect you enough to listen to your orders completely in the battle. I won’t deny that you trainer her well, though. But you know, Pikachu are always challenging.”

“The problem is that, I am not the one who trainer Foudre.” Greta said. “She belonged to another trainer, who gave up on her dream to compete in the league. I am taking care of Foudre, and let her explore in Kanto once more to bring her spirit back.”

“I understand that.” Aubrey said. “That’s very honourable behaviour of yours. You are on the right way to understand Pokémon and their nature. Just keep doing what you do, Greta.” Aubrey said. “If it makes any difference, Greta, Foudre’s Static was activated in the last move. Now, my Exeggutor is paralyzed.”

Greta smiled.

The next battle was between Aubrey and Redwald. The two trainers took their positions on the battlefield, were ready to battle.

“Bring out what you think of.” Aubrey said. Redwald gave an evil smile. “I will get started with my starter Pokémon, Aubrey. Can you do the same?” He said. Aubrey nodded his head. “Deal.” He said.

Redwald reached to his Poké Ball and threw it to the battlefield. “Pokémon, come out!”

Eevee appeared in the middle of the battle. The little Pokémon opened his mouth to cry out. Aubrey thought that Eevee sounded more challenging than he looked like.

“Sorry for being about to startle your little Pokémon.” Aubrey said, referring to the Pokémon he was about to call out.

“Do it in your way, Aubrey. Eevee and I are not afraid of a thing!” Redwald said. Aubrey nodded his head, and threw the Poké Ball. “Charizard, come out!” He shouted out, as a giant, orange Pokémon with glorious, thin wings appeared on the battlefield. Redwald was easily impressed by the Pokémon. He turned on his Pokédex to identify the Pokémon.

“But it is righteously fair to assume that Charizard is beyond that time.” Redwald responded ironically. Aubrey only smiled. Redwald stepped forward to order.

“Eevee, use Double Team!” He said. Eevee suddenly copied his appearance all around the battlefield. Aubrey and Charizard were not sure which reflection was the real one, but Aubrey took his chance either way.

“Charizard, use Flame Thrower all around the battlefield!” Aubrey responded. Charizard flapped his wings all of a sudden and flew higher. Redwald was impressed how fast Charizard was able to fly. He went over 25 meters in seconds.

“That’s exactly a Pokémon to be worth for a Champion, isn’t it Professor?” Greta said. Professor Oak nodded his head. “You are right, Greta.”

Charizard opened his mouth bigger and fired Flame Thrower all around the battlefield. All the reflections of Eevee got burned over Charizard’s Flame Thrower. Eventually, the real one could not hide anymore, as Charizard’s flames hit him, and Eevee made all of his reflections disappear out of pain.

“Eevee, are you alright?” Redwald responded. Eevee forced himself to open his eyes, as he stood up and blinked. Redwald knew that they could go on.

“Use Bite!” Redwald ordered. Eevee quickly ran to a tree and climbed on it. After that, he jumped off from the tree and landed on Charizard’s back in the air. Aubrey knew that remaining in the air could be a disadvantage for them. Aubrey suddenly told Charizard to land. As soon as Charizard put his feet on the ground, Eevee opened his mouth wide and big, and used Bite on Charizard from his back. Charizard opened his arms wide, cried out. Unlike his expectations, Eevee’s Bite was really strong.

“That’s an impressive move, Redwald. But you won’t be able to bear with what comes next. Charizard, use Wing Attack!” Aubrey ordered. As Charizard’s wing glowed bright, he flew towards Eevee and hit him with his wing as hard as possible. Eevee was thrown back, he hit Redwald on the stomach and both fell down. Redwald was left breathless for a moment, but he pulled himself together fast. Eevee, in the other hand, was fainted.

“Thank you, Redwald.” Aubrey said. “Of course, you wouldn’t win the battle. But I can say that you are doing just fine. Keep it that way, and don’t lose your hope.”

“Thank you, Aubrey.” Redwald said, as he took Eevee from the ground and walked back to his seat. Finally, Blake’s turn had come. Blake, proudly, stood up and walked towards the battlefield and took his position. He was ready already.

“The Pokémon Battle between Blake and Aubrey will now begin.” Eusine said. Aubrey called Charizard back in his Poké Ball. “Each may use one Pokémon.” Eusine said.

Aubrey took a Poké Ball out of his pocket and threw it. “Rhydon, go!” He said. A giant, grey and light brown coloured Pokémon appeared on the battlefield. Blake scanned the Pokémon to identify.

“I wouldn’t expect less from a former Champion.” Blake said. He reached to his Poké Ball. “I know the best Pokémon on my team for him.” He said, as he threw the Poké Ball to call Oddish out. The small Pokémon looked funny compared to Rhydon, but Fennel appreciated Blake’s decision. “Rhydon has double disadvantage over Grass type moves. Blake must have thought of it.” She said.

“You may begin, Blake.” Aubrey said. Blake nodded his head and ordered the starting move. “Oddish, use Absorb!” He said. A green beam appeared on the top of Oddish’s head. Oddish absorbed Rhydon’s energy while Rhydon’s eyes were also green. Although Oddish seemed to be much more energetic, Rhydon did not look like he was truly affected.

“Use Horn Attack!” Aubrey ordered. The horn on Rhydon’s nose began to roll around. It was so fast that the black lines and shadows on it became invisible. Rhydon ran to Oddish, while Blake ordered Oddish to dodge the move. As Rhydon lowered his head, Oddish jumped high on his head and glided down from his protruding back. Rhydon turned his back but he stopped going with Horn Attack. He was rather just distracted.

“Oddish, another Absorb!” Blake ordered. Oddish brightened her eyes over again, while Rhydon was caught in the moment.

“Rhydon, don’t let her catch you in the eyes! Don’t look at her!” Aubrey shouted out. But it was too late. Rhydon was already lost in Oddish’s magical look. Oddish absorbed Rhydon’s energy again. Although it was not much effective against Rhydon, Aubrey was bugged by the fact that Oddish was becoming more resistant to the battle.

“Use Strength, get this done!” Aubrey responded. Rhydon ran against Oddish once again. Every time he put his step on the ground, it was so tough that Oddish would jump and go down. Blake could see from back that his Pokémon was not able to control her moves and steps as long as Rhydon would run.

“Oddish, dodge the move!” Blake responded, but even his sound felt like, ''there is no way you can dodge that, Oddish. Surrender already''.

Rhydon reached to Oddish in seconds and used Strength on Oddish’s tiny, powerless body. Oddish fell on the ground, but even before she hit the ground, she was already fainted. Eusine lifted his hand.

“Oddish is no longer able to continue. The winner is Rhydon and his trainer, Aubrey.” He said. Blake could only call his Pokémon back.

“I love the fact that you are eager in battles, Blake.” Aubrey said. “You have enough time to train your Pokémon, and bring the best they can if you can communicate with them properly. But, in the other hand, you can’t give the trust to your Pokémon. They don’t believe they could win the battle, because you are making your worries too obvious to them. If you don’t believe, neither will they.”

“I need to be more organized in the battles. I know that.” Blake said. “You just made me realize it more obvious.”

Redwald was not surprised that Blake did not give Aubrey much credit. He knew that deep inside, he was admiring him. But Blake was too arrogant to confess it even to himself. All he would do was appreciate and not express an obvious hate towards him. But actually, that would be what he felt.

Professor Oak stood up and walked to the battlefield. “Thank you, our young trainers who showed what they did since they left Pallet Town, and our experienced trainer for taking his time for this meeting.” He said.

“What happens now?” Blake asked. He looked like he already wanted this big ceremony to be over. Professor Oak thought of what was next.

“Aubrey, that was all I wanted from you. I hope you lighted an inspiration in my young students. As for you,” He was referring to Redwald, Greta and Blake, “I want you to stay in Pewter City one more day. Tomorrow, I will have an important conference about Pokémon species, and I want you to be there, join. There are things that you will definitely gain from it.”

“Do we have to?” Blake responded. “I already spent an extra week in this city, for training my Pokémon. I am already behind my schedule, and I want to get to the second gym as soon as possible.”

“The journey is not all about getting to the next city and battling the gym leaders. If you focus solely on that, Blake, you will fail at some point even before making it to the Pokémon League. As I already said, there is a profit for you if you stick to me one more day. But of course, you are a free trainer. You may do what you want without my permission.”

“I’m going to the jungle to train some more, grandfather.” Blake said. “Meet you in the evening.” As he turned his back, he walked away. Professor Oak and Fennel took Redwald, Greta and Eusine to the Pokécenter to catch up and talk over everything since they left Pallet Town. Aubrey left the Pokécenter right after to go on his own way.

Redwald was quite curious of what the profit was for tomorrow’s conference.

Humans

 * Redwald Walker
 * Greta Parker
 * Eusine Hunter
 * Professor Oak
 * Fennel Walker
 * Aubrey
 * Brock (mentioned)

Pokémon

 * (mentioned)
 * (mentioned)
 * (mentioned)
 * Aubrey's Exeggutor
 * Aubrey's Charizard
 * Aubrey's Rhydon
 * Aubrey's Exeggutor
 * Aubrey's Charizard
 * Aubrey's Rhydon