Chapter 21

Redwald was holding on the wall, taking breathe deeply. He did not realize at the time, but running all the way from Pokécenter to the gym was exhausting. Eusine and Greta were watching Redwald admiringly. The smile on Redwald’s face made Greta wonder if she had ever been this passionate about her dream. Of course, she wanted nothing more than making her dream come true. But was it even comparable to Redwald’s?

The fat guy in the lobby welcomed Redwald and his friends. “Welcome to Pewter gym once again, Mr. Walker.” The man said. “Our leader, Brock, has been wondering when he could see you again. He got worried if you left the town before facing him one more time.”

“There is no such reality.” Redwald said. He was finally fine. “I prepared myself for this day, for the battle coming ahead. Brock will see how much I’ve improved myself, as well as my Pokémon.”

“He is free and may face you right away, if you please.” The man said, while pointing out the grant gate. Redwald looked at the gate once again. The last time he walked through it, he felt the excitement in his veins. Once again, he had to go through all the fast heart beats. He nodded his head, walked to the gate and stood before it. The fat guy in the lobby was ready to push the button to open the gate. But suddenly, Redwald felt a touch on his shoulder. That was Eusine’s hand.

Redwald turned his back and looked at Eusine, surprised. “In the past few weeks, I’ve been with you all the time, Red.” He said. “And you know, you and your Pokémon do your best with the passion in your hearts. I have no doubts that you did anything wrong. That being said, if you lose the battle... Don’t go harsh on yourself. You will get there, eventually. One of the other options would be go on our journey and face Brock for the last.”

Greta touched Redwald’s wrist. “He is right, Red.” She said. “We are here with you. Whatever happens, you are a worthy trainer. We both believe it in our hearts. Don’t forget that.”

Redwald smiled gleefully. “You don’t make sense, guys.” He said. “I will do my best and get my badge, no matter what. My Pokémon and I have everything we need. We have been doing our best for a long time, and I know Brock’s style.”

“If you say so.” Greta smiled back at him. Redwald’s never ending hope and belief in his heart gave Greta inspiration for her goal. She believed that it gave Eusine the same feelings as well.

Redwald nodded his head to the fat man. The fat man pushed the button, and the giant gate began to open up, letting Brock appear as clear as crystal on the other edge of the battlefield, making Redwald’s heart beat even faster than ever.

Brock crossed his arms, waiting for Redwald on the battlefield. “It took longer than I expected, Trainer!” Brock said with an official accusation. Redwald already knew it was the way Brock being unofficial. Redwald nodded his head. “I had to do what it takes to be sure this battle wouldn’t require another rematch.” He said.

“Why would that be a problem, though?” Brock responded. “I am always here, ready to your service.”

Redwald smiled. “I can’t stay here forever, however.”

“I like you, Redwald.” Brock said with an almost-smile. “If you are ready, we can get started now.”

“Of course.” Redwald responded. Brock clicked his fingers. The referee appeared before the small door and walked towards the battlefield. The battlefield was once again covered with rocks all around. Those who were broken in the last battle were already fixed.

“I already told you, Redwald.” Brock said right before the battle began. “I will go harder on you this time. But I will still consider that this will be your first badge if you win.”

“Sounds fair!” Redwald responded. Then, the referee took his position. “The battle between the challenger Redwald Walker and the Gym Leader Brock will now begin.” He said. “Each may use two Pokémon. Only the challenger is able to substitute. Once the two Pokémon of each side is unable to battle, the battle is over.”

The referee, young man, raised his hand. His tie was lifted along with his arms. “Begin the battle now!”

Brock reached to his Poké Ball in his pocket all of a sudden. “Aerodactyl, I choose you!” He said, as he threw the Poké Ball. A purple-grey like Pokémon with wide wings appeared in the air, floating around the battlefield.

“I can’t believe this!” Eusine responded. He was shocked. Greta did not understand why Eusine was so surprised. “What is it?” She asked.

“Aerodactyl is a fossil Pokémon. It is not easy to bring one to life. You have to find a fossil, which is too rare and hard to get one. Even if you did, you have to revive it in the last technology laboratories. Brock must have paid a lot of money for this Pokémon! Watch carefully, Greta. This may be the one-time experience in your life to see an Aerodactyl in flesh and bones.”

“You are fairly right, Eusine.” Brock said. “But I didn’t have to pay a lot of money to revive this precious collection of mine. I am in charge of Pewter Museum in this city, where we present many fossils in there. I have contacts across Kanto, with whom I could get in touch and revive a fossil as soon as possible.”

Redwald wondered if the rarity is the only relevant surprise about Aerodactyl, or was it actually a really strong Pokémon as well. He turned on the Pokédex to scan the Pokémon.

“That’s still a wild Pokémon on the inside, isn’t it?” Greta said. She was worried about Redwald, as well as the Pokémon he was going to use. Eusine did not answer her, which was pretty much an answer to her.

“I know with whom to deal with him.” Redwald responded, as he took a Poké Ball out of his pocket. “Poliwag, I choose you!”

Poliwag popped out of the Poké Ball, and stood in the middle of the battlefield. The small Pokémon Poliwag felt even smaller on the battlefield, as he was the only Pokémon in the battle.

“The battle officially began!” The referee said. As Brock raised his hand, he ordered the first move. “Aerodactyl, use Bite!”

As Aerodactyl opened his mouth big and flew through Poliwag on the battlefield, he showed all his primitive instincts while he flapped his wings to come closer to the ground.

“Don’t fall behind, Poliwag! Use Water Gun now!” Redwald ordered. Poliwag did not waste any second and jumped on a rock to be standing on a taller position. As he breathed in, his small belly body grew larger. Then, he breathed out, as all the water that was accumulated in his body came out of the spiral on his belly. The tough water body hit Aerodactyl in the air, as Aerodactyl was distracted, and stumbled over. The waster was so tough that Aerodactyl was shaken in the air before he hit the ground.

Eusine proudly watched Poliwag’s move. Their training in the past weeks did not go in vain.

“Don’t lose any second, Poliwag! Use Body Slam!” Redwald ordered. Poliwag, all of a sudden, ran to Aerodactyl’s lying body on the battlefield, between two rocks. When he came closer, Poliwag jumped high and his small body hit Aerodactyl on his back. Aerodactyl, affected by the move, cried out in pain. His voice echoed throughout the gym. Greta felt the primary tour de force so deep in his voice.

“Aerodactyl, pull yourself together!” Brock responded. He sounded a little annoyed, although he forced so hard to cover it up. Aerodactyl lifted his head and looked at Poliwag. Seeing the Pokémon in person pissed Aerodactyl off even more than Brock could imagine. Aerodactyl stood up and within the anger inside, he attempted to run towards Poliwag. However, Aerodactyl was not good at walking or running. Instead, he stumbled on the ground more, forced himself to go for two or three steps, ended up falling down again, and as the last resort, he spread his wings wide and flew in the sky again.

“You are doing just fine, Aerodactyl. Use Wing Attack!” Brock responded. Aerodactyl floated in the air as his wings glowed bright. He was preparing himself to attack hard. Redwald stepped forward out of his control. “Protect yourself, Poliwag! Hide behind the rocks!” He responded. Poliwag jumped down to the bottom of the rock and covered his tiny body with his long tail. But Aerodactyl’s wings were glowing so bright that it was almost like an artificial sun inside of the building.

“Poliwag can’t protect himself that way.” Greta responded. “Redwald has to find a better way to do it.”

Eusine did not answer once again. Greta was afraid that every time she was left unanswered, Eusine had the bad news that he did not want to spill in words. She hoped she was wrong, though.

Suddenly, Eusine shouted out to Redwald, raising his hands and shaking them in the air in order to gather Redwald’s attention as fast as possible. Redwald turned his head, saw Eusine trying to catch his attention. Suddenly, he saw Eusine pointing out the other side of the battlefield. Redwald gave a careful look at the point where Eusine may had been referring to. There was a pit behind two medium size rocks.

“Of course!” The lights flashed in Redwald’s mind. “Be fast, Poliwag!” He shouted out as loud as possible. He sounded very thin compared to usual. “Hide in the pit over there!”

Poliwag put his tail down on the ground, as he looked at the point. He saw the pit but it would take around 7 or 8 seconds to get there. In the other hand, Aerodactyl was still floating in the air, glowing his wings brighter.

Poliwag put his tail back and began to run to the pitch as fast as possible. Brock ordered Aerodactyl again. “Enough, Aerodactyl! Use it now!”

Aerodactyl came closer to the ground and reached Poliwag in seconds.

“Dodge it with Water Gun again!” Redwald responded. Poliwag turned his back and blasted a Water Gun on Aerodactyl. But the unprepared little body of water had almost no effect on Aerodactyl.

“Despite of his huge size, Aerodactyl is really fast.” Greta said. What Aerodactyl performed in the past few minutes impressed her a lot.

Although Poliwag almost jumped in the pit, he was hit by Aerodactyl’s tough wings right before he landed. Poliwag cried in pain as Aerodactyl’s rocky wing caused a serious damage on Poliwag’s small body. Out of the pain he felt, Poliwag gasped for breath as he hit the wall and fell down.

“Poliwag! Are you alright?!” Redwald responded. He stepped forward, but Poliwag opened his eyes. He was not fainted after all. He forced himself to stand up, provided the balance by using his tail and eventually showed up. But he was too tired. Redwald considered substituting Poliwag with some other Pokémon in his party, but it was not a good idea to use two Pokémon already.

“Can you keep on?” Redwald asked. Poliwag nodded his head, expressed a tired smile, and walked back to the battlefield. Aerodactyl was still floating in the air.

“You have a stout hearted Poliwag here, Redwald.” Brock said. Redwald nodded his head. “Everyone is proud of him.” He said. “We have high expectations.”

Poliwag stood on a rock and watched the Aerodactyl almost dancing in the air. Redwald raised his fist. “We are waiting for the right moment, Poliwag!” He said.

“That’s suspicious.” Eusine said. “Redwald that I know of would waste no more second and already counter Aerodactyl. He must be plotting something, but what is it?”

“Let’s hope it is something useful, Eusine.” Greta said. “I am feeling too nervous right now, probably more than Redwald is.” Greta held Eusine’s hand and squeezed it. “Please, Red. You can do that...”

“Yes, he can.” Eusine answered gently.

“If you are not using a move, then we will.” Brock said. “Aerodactyl, use another Bite! Make it work this time!”

Aerodactyl flew towards Poliwag once again, as he opened his mouth big and let his fangs glow bright. “That is one well trained Bite move.” Eusine said, but he only made Greta squeeze his hand even tighter.

Redwald could feel his heartbeats as loud as Aerodactyl crying out. Despite he felt dizzy for a moment and got distracted from the battle, he pulled himself together in seconds and waited for the very right moment to order. Once Redwald made sure that Aerodactyl was close enough, yet not too close, he stepped forward and ordered what he plotted from the beginning.

“Poliwag, jump on Aerodactyl’s back!” He said. He knew what he asked was not a simple task to accomplish. After all, Aerodactyl was still a wild Pokémon in his heart, and even touching him was a big deal to begin with.

Aerodactyl opened his mouth big and attempted to bite Poliwag. But Poliwag jumped on the right side and let the rock stand there on its own. Aerodactyl crushed the rock in pieces as he missed Poliwag. Poliwag rolled on the ground, but pulled himself together in seconds.

Poliwag ran to another rock and climbed it quickly. In the meantime, Brock ordered Aerodactyl to chase Poliwag, not let him jump high distances, and attack as fast as possible. In the other hand, Poliwag still followed Redwald’s order, as he climbed on the rock and waited for Aerodactyl to come closer. Once he felt it was the time, he pushed himself even higher by receiving support from his tail, and found himself in the air, flying towards Aerodactyl. First, Poliwag hit Aerodactyl’s head and caused Aerodactyl lose his balance a little. Then he ran to his back. Aerodactyl was flying so fast that it was too hard for Poliwag to hold onto him. Eventually, he wrapped his tail around Aerodactyl’s hump-like ridge on his back, and let the Pokémon float in the air as he wished.

“Get him off now!” Brock responded. He sounded so mad that Greta recoiled for a moment. Redwald, in the other hand, showed off his fist once more and ordered Poliwag to move. “Water Gun now!”

Poliwag breathed in and built water up in his body. Once he was ready to let it all out, he used his spiral body to throw all the water out. Aerodactyl was hit from the back so hard that the whole water made his back wet and eventually unable to keep flying in the air. As the Pokémon fell on the ground and grovelled on the ground, by rising clouds of dust all around the battlefield, Poliwag jumped off his back and stood on a huge rock.

Aerodactyl was unable to battle, just as Poliwag was too exhausted after all.

“Aerodactyl can’t go on. The winner is Poliwag.” The referee said. Brock called Aerodactyl back in the Poké Ball. “It is very impressive indeed, Redwald, that you defeated one of my beasts already.” Brock said. “I thought you would be using your second Pokémon definitely.”

Redwald took Poliwag’s Poké Ball as well. “Thank you for your hard work, Poliwag. You deserve some rest.” He said, as Redwald called the Pokémon back in the Poké Ball. He knew that defeating such Pokémon as Aerodactyl was most likely Poliwag’s biggest accomplishment in his life.

“No time to rest, Redwald.” Brock said. He reached to his other Poké Ball and threw it to the battlefield. “You are up next, Geodude!” He shouted out. Geodude raised his arms, gave a mean look at Redwald. Redwald nodded his head. He was ready for it already.

“Tangela, I choose you!” He said, as he threw the Poké Ball. Tangela appeared before Geodude, both Pokémon staring at each other in the middle of the battlefield. Redwald stepped forward and made the first move. “Tangela, use Bind!”

Tangela let two of her vines go out to cover Geodude around. Brock stepped forward. “Hide behind the rock!” He responded. Geodude quickly hid behind the rock. Tangela’s vines cracked the rocks, but nothing else happened.

“Rock Smash, Geodude!” Brock ordered. Geodude came forth. His right arm was completely glowing bright. As he raised his arms and put it down towards Tangela, Tangela received the hit and was effected.

“Are you alright, Tangela?” Redwald responded. Geodude’s arm was not only strong, but also too heavy for Tangela. But Tangela, after stumbling, pulled herself together, and stood still.

“Time for Absorb, Tangela!” Redwald ordered. Tangela’s eyes glowed in green as an aura appeared on top of her. Then, Geodude’s eyes glowed bright in the same colour. Brock, in the other hand, stepped forward and told Geodude to dodge the move by interrupting the eye contact. Geodude was not hypnotised enough to not hear out. All of a sudden, Geodude turned his back and hid behind a rock once again. It took a while for him to get back to normal, but he bought enough time to recover from the move. As a result, Tangela missed it.

“If Geodude keeps dodging the moves, Redwald won’t be able to win it after all.” Greta said. Eusine only kept watching the battlefield carefully.

“Geodude, use Rock Throw!” Brock ordered. Geodude came forth and held a heavy rock on the battlefield. Then, he threw it towards Tangela.

“Dodge it!” Redwald responded. However, Tangela was not fast enough to dodge a big rock. She ended up being damaged. Geodude did not stop. “Keep on!”, Brock said. Geodude took another rock and threw it to Tangela. Tangela was hit once more. Redwald knew he had to find a solution, otherwise Tangela would end up fainting in the end.

Geodude took another rock and threw it to Tangela again. “Use Vine Whip to destroy the rock!” Redwald responded. Tangela quickly let four vines on her body go out and she hit the rocks as tough as possible. The rocks suddenly crumbled down.

“Keep going, Geodude!” Brock ordered. Geodude just kept taking rocks and throwing them towards Tangela. In the other hand, Redwald told Tangela to do the same, keep going. Tangela kept using her vines professionally to dodge all the rocks by destroying them in pieces.

Both Geodude and Tangela became to be exhausted. Neither Geodude, nor Brock realized at the moment, but after Geodude threw the last rock and there was no more on his side, he ran out of rocks.

“Geodude is able to create inauthentic rocks by using Rock Throw, but he is already too tired. It wouldn’t make anything good for him.” Eusine said. “Brock will probably consider using different moves.”

“Geodude, use Seismic Toss!” Brock ordered right after. Redwald showed his fist again. “Tangela, use Vine Whip!” He ordered. Tangela let her vines go out once again, and hit the opponent with them. Geodude cried in pain, stumbled back and did not continue his move.

“Vine Whip, once more!” Redwald ordered. Tangela did the same thing again. Brock ordered Geodude to hide, but there were no more rocks around to hide behind them. Although Geodude attempted to dodge the move, Tangela did not miss, as Vine Whip hit on him right away.

Geodude fell on the ground and remained motionlessly for a moment. He was not fainted, but he was just too tired. Redwald stepped forward. “Fire another Vine Whip!” Redwald ordered. Tangela did the same thing again. However, Brock’s order made Geodude pull himself together. “Dodge it!” He said. Geodude stood up all of a sudden, and protected himself by hiding in a pit from a long distance.

“Run to him, reach out!” Redwald ordered. He was too passionate about it. As Tangela ran towards Geodude, Redwald felt like the blood in his veins was going to explode. Eventually, Tangela came closer to Geodude, but Brock ordered Geodude to hide in another pit, which was, once again, far away. Geodude followed his Trainer’s orders, and did what he asked for.

Suddenly, Redwald came up with an idea, almost like lightning flashed in his brain. “Tangela, capture Geodude with your Vine Whip, don’t let him run away anymore!”

Tangela let her vines out once again, and covered Geodude all around his body close to the pit. Although Geodude kept insisting on hiding in the pit, it would bring no use, as Tangela followed him over there, and made him unable to escape anywhere else.

“Vine Whip, hit him hard!” Redwald screamed. The rush in his body was too much for him that Redwald almost passed out. Tangela used another two vines on her body, and hit Geodude with them. Geodude was super effected.

“Once more!” Redwald responded. Tangela did what Redwald asked for.

“Is Redwald conscious?” Greta responded. She worried about Redwald, as he sounded too extreme. Eusine put his hand on Greta’s shoulder. “I am not sure, Greta.” He said, worriedly.

Redwald showed his fist and ordered another Vine Whip. However, before he saw what Tangela did with the order, his sight blackened. He lifted his arm unrestrainedly, and fell on the ground in seconds. He passed out.

When Redwald opened his eyes, he realised the bright light in the room he was standing. He could not remember what happened before, but he forced himself to lift his back up. No one was in the room, but that was a hospital room. He was probably in the Pokécenter. He slowly began to remember. He was having his gym battle. He was doing fine. He remembered Poliwag and Aerodactyl’s fierce meeting. Poliwag managed to defeat him... Then, what happened? Redwald used his Tangela as he planned to. Brock went with his Ace Pokémon, Geodude. But Redwald could remember nothing about their meeting. Did an explosion happen? Was everyone safe?

Redwald got out of the bed and walked to the mirror. He checked his face and body. There were no scars. He was wearing a white outfit, however. They did not belong to him. “Hospital must have given those to me.” He thought. They were uncomfortable, but he could deal with it. The real question was, where were his Pokémon and friends?

Redwald left the room silently and found himself in the corridor of the Pokécenter. He had never been to this section of Pokécenters before. He walked through the corridor to the direction where he thought the exit would be. He turned from the corner and found the lobby. The nurse and other trainers were there, having silent conversations or dinner. Redwald tried to run to the nurse, but he ended up walking.

“Nurse, what happened?” Redwald asked. He wanted to be clearer about what he asked, but he could not make up his mind. “Where are my friends? My Pokémon?”

The nurse smiled. “I think these are your friends.” She said while pointing out a table on the edge of the lobby, next to a window. Greta, Eusine and Brock were having dinner in the candle light. The outside was quite dark. Only the street lights were showing something related to the outside, except for the pure darkness.

“Also, your Pokémon are fine. They are in their Poké Balls, resting.” She said. But Redwald lost his eye contact with the nurse already. He walked towards Brock and the others. They did not realize him until Redwald stood next to the table.

“What happened?” Redwald interrupted all of a sudden. Brock, Greta and Eusine turned their heads to him. Brock slipped to the right to give him some space on the chair. Redwald sat next to Brock.

“You got carried away.” Brock said. But that was not an explanation that Redwald waited for.

“You passed out in the end of the battle, Red.” Greta said. “You were so into the battle that your body couldn’t take it anymore. Even you were... different...”

“What do you mean?” Redwald asked.

“You were telling Tangela to attack Geodude on repeat, but it was about to be harsh.” Eusine said. “It lost its quality of being a gym battle to replace with... I don’t know, war?”

“I had no idea.” Redwald said. “I am sorry, Brock. Are Geodude and Tangela both fine?”

“Don’t worry, Redwald. They are both fine. The nurse took good care of them. Even better, you won the battle after all.” Brock said. “The last Vine Whip you ordered Tangela fainted my Geodude. What a shame you didn’t manage to see your moment of victory.”

“I mean... I can’t accept this victory. I crossed the line as it seems.” Redwald said. “Accept me for another rematch, Brock. Please, I will behave better the next time.”

“You don’t have to feel bad about this battle, Redwald.” Brock said. “You are a worthy trainer with a great potential inside. What you have to do is to control that potential and use it for good. You make a great team of Pokémon, cherish them and go for the best.”

He took the Boulder Badge out of his pocket. “This is the proof of your victory against me, Redwald.” He said. “Take it, and stick to it until you register for Kanto League. Years later, remember this battle with proud.”

Since he woke up, Redwald got himself out of his surprised and shocked mood for once, and smiled at Brock while he took the badge. “Thank you, Brock.” He said. “I will prove you that you didn’t make the wrong decision.”

Redwald joined them for his dinner, and the night ended when Brock left the Pokécenter. All night long, Redwald thought of nothing but his further victories on his journey. That was just the beginning.

Humans

 * Redwald Walker
 * Greta Parker
 * Eusine Hunter
 * Brock

Pokémon

 * Brock's Aerodactyl
 * Brock's Geodude
 * Brock's Aerodactyl
 * Brock's Geodude