Chapter 18

While Redwald watched the sky, it was a cloudy early morning. Greta and Eusine were still sleeping in the wood beds of Pokécenter’s small trainer room. Redwald saw Metapod staring at a certain point without blinking but he could not be sure if she was awakened or just sleeping with open eyes.

Redwald opened the window and took the fresh air inside. He felt the power inside. Then, he stared at the three Poké Balls standing on the table. They were the team Redwald had up until that point, and they were the ones that he counted on. “Together, we will success great things. This will be first of the many.” He thought.

The cold air woke Greta and Eusine up. They did not complain since they knew how excited Redwald was for his first gym battle. Instead, they started to get prepared for the breakfast. Once they changed their outfits and checked their backpacks, they were ready to leave the room.

Everyone was in silence during the breakfast. Redwald did not eat much. Normally, Eusine would feel like Redwald’s parent and tell him to eat better and keep healthy to complete the journey across Kanto, but in that particular day, he decided to say nothing.

After the breakfast, Redwald and the others walked through streets to find the gym. Redwald’s heart was beating like it was going to explode any time soon. Finally, they stood in front of the gym. Redwald took a deep breath, stepped forward and felt dizzy. The rush and the stress could be felt in his veins. Redwald felt dizzy, but he did not care. He came before the door, pushed it and lightened up the inside.

Brock and the same employee from the other day were in the lobby. Brock was informing him about something probably important. But when Redwald came inside and showed himself, Brock left his job with the employee. Instead, he walked towards Redwald.

“I already had the feeling you would be coming early.” Brock said. He was not smiling or being friendly. But unlike the first the they met, he was not annoying or intimidating at all. Still, Redwald responded with a smile. “You know me well.” He said. Then, Brock led the way to the battlefield where everything was going to happen.

The battlefield was at least 15 meters long, Redwald thought. When they came to the battle chamber, a referee was in the middle edge, almost like he was waiting for the gym leader and a trainer to come. Brock showed Redwald’s point and he walked to the other side. The ground was made of sand. Rocks in different sizes were all around the battlefield. It would not be too hard to guess Brock’s specialized type. As Redwald was taught in the school, each gym leader in Kanto region would be specialized in a certain type and mostly their team would include Pokémon in that type. But the exceptions had been, and could be seen, anyway.

Before Brock walked to his point, he talked to the referee for less than a minute. When Brock took his position, the referee raised his right hand and spoke.

“The gym battle between the leader Brock and trainer Redwald Walker from Pallet Town will now begin.” He said. “Each may use two Pokémon. Only the challenger is able to substitute during the battle. Once the two Pokémon of one side are unable to battle, the battle is over.”

“Are you ready, Redwald?” Brock shouted. His voice echoed through the gym saloon. Redwald fixed his hat, smiled and answered. “More than ever.”

He reached to his Poké Ball and threw it to the battlefield. “Pidgey, I choose you!” He said, as the Pokémon appeared outside of the Poké Ball, flapped his wings and flew in the air.

“Not a bad move.” Brock said. “But you know, you could do better.” Then, he took a Poké Ball out of his pocket and threw it. “Go now, Omanyte!”

Omanyte appeared hidden in his shell. But once its transformation from a light to a body had completed, he came out of his shell and showed his blue, moist body. Thus, the battle officially began.

“I will let you go first, Redwald.” Brock said. But he sounded like it was not a prize at all. Redwald still nodded and responded. “Pidgey, use Gust!”

Pidgey stopped floating in the air, instead he flapped his wings as tough as he could. Due to forcing himself until his core, he cried during that time. Redwald could see how Pidgey improved himself since he joined his team. The cry would say too much about it.

After seconds, a gust appeared in the middle of the battlefield. The gust was not strong enough to move the rocks on the battlefield, but enough to suck Omanyte in the middle of it. Omanyte lost his contact to the ground and found himself in the air, floating around. Once Pidgey stopped flapping his wings, the gust disappeared and Omanyte fell on the ground.

“Red started great!” Greta responded. She was happy that Redwald was showing what he got. But Eusine was not as quite excited as Greta was. “It is still too early to come up with a conclusion, though.” He said. “Omanyte is resistant to both Normal and Flying type attacks, which are the only types that Pidgey has as attacking move.”

“Omanyte, use Water Gun!” Brock said. He was as serious as ever, and he sounded even more serious than Redwald expected. Omanyte moved his moustache-like mouth and a body of water appeared before him. The water was thrown through Pidgey, shaped in a straight line, almost perfect, and hit Pidgey in the air. A body of dust appeared on the battleground and Pidgey fell on the battlefield. He was all wet, which would slow him down during any flight.

“Pidgey!” Redwald responded. “Are you all right?”

Pidgey barely lifted his head and turned his back to his Trainer. Redwald seemed really worried about his Pokémon. That care gave courage to Pidgey. He forced himself to stand up and nod his head. He opened his wings wide, and cried out. His thin sound echoed through the hallways of the gym.

“I admire your relationship with your Pokémon.” Brock said. “Not all the trainers I get to see here are as caring as you are. It is obvious that Pidgey is respecting you.”

“That was my key to catch Pidgey.” Redwald said. “Don’t underestimate my Pidgey, Brock. He is one of the kind. He can do greater things compared to his species.”

“There is no doubt about it.” Brock said. “But my Omanyte is not any less. Omanyte, use Body Slam now!”

Despite of being small, Omanyte ran to Pidgey unexpectedly fast. While he was running, his whole body created a shiny beam all around it.

“That is one of a hell Body Slam.” Eusine said. “I wouldn’t expect any less from a gym leader.”

“Pidgey, dodge it!” Redwald responded. Pidgey’s strongest weapon was his wings which would let him fly and dodge moves easily, especially the physical ones. But this time, while he was so wet, it was not any simple. Although Pidgey flapped his wings and lifted himself to the air, he was not fast enough. Omanyte caught him in the air, less than a meter distance, and hit his body as hard as he could. Once the beam around Omanyte disappeared and Pidgey met the great power of his body which was hidden in his shell, Pidgey lost his consciousness for a moment and found himself hitting the wall. He hit the wall so hard that Redwald was afraid that Pidgey broke some of his bones.

“Is Pidgey all right?” Greta asked. She was really worried about him. Eusine took a second to answer it properly. “Pokémon are greater than you believe, Greta.” He said. “It looks really bad for Pidgey, but he only felt pain, nothing more.”

“Pidgey, can you stand up?” Redwald asked. He was watching his Pokémon carefully. But after Pidgey fell on the ground, he could only be seen breathing in and out. He was not fainted, but just too tired to move. Brock did not step back. “Fire Ice Beam, Omanyte!” He cried out. Omanyte created a beam of ice in seconds and directed them against Pidgey.

As a flying type Pokémon which already had a wet body, Ice Beam caused a great damage on him. Redwald decided that he could not take it anymore. He reached to Pidgey’s Poké Ball and called him back in there. “You should rest, Pidgey. I will call you on mission a bit later again.”

Redwald turned to Omanyte and Brock. The two were right in front of him. Brock smiled but it was an evil smile. “What do you think?” He asked. But it was more like a show off, rather than a real question.

“You are worth to be a gym leader.” Redwald said. “I may be new to my journey, but I am also something. In the short span of time in which I built a bond between me and my Pokémon, and trained them as properly as I could, I will show you what I brought up until this point.”

He reached to his Poké Ball in his pocket, and threw it to the battlefield, while crying out the name. “It is up to you now, Eevee!”

“Is he dumb?” Greta responded. She sounded furious. “We learnt all about type advantages and disadvantages. Why would he keep using a normal type?”

“Do you think he has an agenda in his mind?” Eusine asked, although he knew the answer that he wished it was the wrong one. “No.” Greta responded shortly. “This is his last Pokémon in this battle.”

“Omanyte, Ice Beam once more while we are at it.” Brock said. While Omanyte attempted to do his move, Redwald stepped forward and ordered his Pokémon. “Use Double Team, Eevee!” He said. Eevee ran to Omanyte, while he created a beam made of ice, and created a lot of reflections of himself around the battlefield. All of them were running towards Omanyte.

“Keep shooting!” Brock responded. Omanyte used his Ice Beam on the reflections one after another. But every time he changed his direction, he hit a fake reflection, rather than the true Eevee. Eventually, the real Eevee reached Omanyte and used Tackle on him out of Redwald’s order. After that, all the reflections disappeared suddenly.

“Don’t let him move!” Redwald screamed. “Use Bite now!”

Eevee’s teeth reflected bright and big around his face as he came closer to Omanyte. But Brock responded really fast, almost like a reflexion. “Withdraw, Omanyte!”

Omanyte hid in his shell as Eevee came to him with Bite move. He was still affected, but the damage was quite less than what it would be.

“Still not bad at all, to be honest.” Brock said. “For a trainer who has been on a journey for a couple of weeks, you are something Redwald Walker.”

“I appreciate that.” Redwald said. But he was so worried and busy in his mind that he did not really understand what Brock said meant. Instead, he was calculating the possibilities of getting a victory out of this battle. The more he calculated, the more he got away from the victory. But the belief and the courage inside was what Redwald counted on. He believed that he could success anything if he believed and wanted hard enough. Could it be really true?

“Omanyte, time for another Body Slam.” Brock said, this time calmly. In fact, he was so calm that it worried Redwald. Redwald felt his heartbeats fastened at least twice. He thought that Brock was absolutely sure that he finished the battle for once and all. Omanyte ran to Eevee with the same light around his body and used Body Slam on him. Eevee was thrown backwards on his four feet, and stopped when he hit a rock. He was still standing, but he was tired out, just like Omanyte.

“Use Tackle, Eevee!” Redwald said. Eevee nodded his head and ran to Omanyte. Brock stepped forward. “Go with Water Gun!” He said. Omanyte’s moustache-like mouth shook and he created a body of water before his mouth. But Eevee kept running around the battlefield while going for Tackle on his foe, and changed the aim repeatedly. Not only most of Water Gun that Omanyte fired missed the aim, but also, they tired Omanyte out more. Eventually, Eevee reached to his foe and used Tackle on him. Omanyte could not stand anymore over this move and fainted.

“Omanyte is unable to battle.” The referee said. “The winner is Eevee.”

“Redwald is winning!” Greta said. She applauded her friend. Eusine was not as excited as Greta, however. “Not quite.” He said. “Brock has lost one of his Pokémon, and he still have one more that he never used. In the other hand, Redwald has two Pokémon, which are too close to faint. They both are.”

Greta did not think it through, but she kept her support for his friend. “Go for it, Red! We are here with you!”

Redwald smiled for a moment. But he decided that distracting himself from the battle could not help him with anything. Brock called Omanyte back in his Poké Ball and brought another Poké Ball.

“Go my ace, Geodude!” He said as he threw the Poké Ball. The Poké Ball reached to the middle and let the Pokémon outside. Geodude appeared on the ground and he levitated himself right after. Redwald turned on his Pokédex.

“We can do this, Eevee!” Redwald said. He said it with a strong belief in him. But he needed Eevee to believe this as much as he did. “Go with Bite!” He said. While Eevee ran to Geodude, the bigger beam reflection of his teeth appeared before him. Unlike what Redwald expected, Brock only watched Eevee with a half-smile on his face. Eevee came close enough to Geodude and used Bite on him. But the move had almost no effect on him.

Geodude put an evil smile on his face. Both Redwald and Eevee were shocked. Brock raised his right hand. “Rock Throw.” He said. Geodude held onto one of the rocks on the battlefield and threw it to Eevee.

“Dodge it, Eevee!” Redwald responded. He screamed even louder than he expected, but he was fighting for his victory. Eevee suddenly ran in the opposite direction to get away from Geodude as soon as possible. When Geodude threw the rock from the ground, Eevee jumped on another rock and hid behind it. The rock that Geodude threw hit the other rock and the two rocks destroyed each other, left Eevee revealed on the battlefield.

“Well done, Eevee!” Redwald responded. But Brock was determined. “One more!” He said. Geodude held onto a second rock and threw it again. As Redwald told Eevee, Eevee tried to dodge the move once again. But before he got a chance to hide himself, the rock hit Eevee from his back and left him lying on the ground without moving. The move made a direct hit and fainted the Pokémon.

“Eevee is unable to battle. Winner is Geodude.” The referee said. Redwald was mad at himself that he did not get a chance to move, instead he kept trying to dodge the moves repeatedly. “How could I make this mistake...” He thought inside. He felt too stupid. But he had to be calm instead of angry. Otherwise, it would help only Brock.

“Eevee, have some rest.” He finally managed to say. He called the Pokémon back in the Poké Ball. It was Pidgey’s round again. He called Pidgey out of Poké Ball, but something that Redwald never realized until then was too obvious. Pidgey was really exhausted for this battle. His fur was messed, he was tired, moving really slow and tired. Redwald knew that he was pushing his Pokémon’s limits, but that was the only way to victory. He had to do that for the only thing he believed since he was born.

“Use Tackle, Pidgey!” Redwald ordered with the hope of fixing his mistake that he did with Eevee. But Brock’s response was almost in the speed of light. “Defense Curl!”

Geodude closed his eyes and focused on himself. His body turned into a bit brighter shade. In the meantime, Pidgey flew near to ground for Tackle. However, Geodude’s bright trick was completed before Pidgey reached to the foe. The move Tackle had almost no effect on him.

“Geodude is already resistant to normal type moves. In addition to that, he increased his defence stats. The odds are not in favour of Redwald at this point.” Eusine said. Greta was too upset to hear all of it, but she had nothing else than cheering for her friend.

“Seismic Toss, Geodude.” Brock said. Geodude moved closer to Pidgey, while Redwald, as much as he hated to do that, ordered Pidgey to dodge the move, rather than attack. He knew that dodging the move would not fix anything, but attacking was not helpful either. He had no choice but to delay the end that he did not want to see.

Pidgey was much better than the first time he got wet. At least, he was used to it more and he could fly higher and faster. He dodged the move in seconds by flying in the air. But Brock responded with a loud laughter.

“It won’t get you anywhere, Redwald. You are smart enough to know that.” He said. Redwald had to agree with him, but he did not want to face that fact. He did not have anything to say. Instead, he stared at Brock for a while and thought of proper thing to say. When he realized that he was not going to find anything, he said what he wanted Pidgey to do.

“Use Gust.” He said, short and clear. Pidgey flapped his wings and created a gust. It was not as strong as what he brought in the beginning. But it was still worth a try. What surprised Redwald for real was that Brock did not say anything or respond in a way that would worry Redwald. Instead, he kept standing and watched Geodude getting caught to the gust. That was what worried Redwald all of a sudden.

Once Geodude was in the gust, Brock suddenly stepped forward, raised his muscular arms and screamed in a glorified tone. He sounded like he found the mystery of life. “Geodude, get higher and use Rock Smash on Pidgey!”

Everything made sense to Redwald in a sudden. Brock did not want Geodude to do anything, because he had been expecting to see that move. That was the only way to reach to Pidgey. Redwald could not believe how he took the bait, and watched Pidgey taking a tough punch on his face. Once Geodude made his move, Pidgey stopped flapping his wings and fell on the battlefield. Geodude just slowly came closer to the surface.

Pidgey was fainted at the moment he hit the ground. The referee raised his hand. “Pidgey is unable to battle. Geodude is the winner. Thus, the victory of this gym battle goes to the gym leader, Brock.” He said.

Redwald ran to his Pokémon lying on the ground. “Pidgey!” He said before running. When he reached to his Pokémon in the middle of the battlefield, he took him in his arms and took a closer look at him.

“I am sorry for your pain.” He said. “You will get better soon. For now, just rest in your Poké Ball.”

After that, he called the Pokémon back in his Poké Ball and prepared himself to leave. But Brock put his hand on Redwald’s shoulder and stopped him. Redwald already forgot about Brock. Surprised, he turned his back and saw Brock standing there with a smile. Not an evil one, but a friendly one.

“Regardless of the result, Redwald, you are a promising Pokémon trainer, who needs to train his Pokémon better. This can happen only in time, and of course, not losing your passion with your goal and your Pokémon.” He said. “You have my respect as a Pokémon trainer.”

“Thank you.” Redwald said. By the time Brock completed his words, Greta and Eusine appeared right before Redwald. Before Brock left, he said the last thing he wanted Redwald to know.

“I am expecting to see you again when you feel ready for a rematch.”

Redwald only nodded his head and walked away fast. Greta and Eusine chased him right behind until Pokécenter, and no one said a word until Redwald talked to the nurse.

Humans

 * Redwald Walker
 * Greta Parker
 * Eusine Hunter
 * Brock
 * The referee
 * The nurse