Josh had just arrived at Vermillion City and he thought that he would head over to the Vermillion gym, but thought better of it as he realized how hungry he was. Instead he went over to a restaurant. As he sat down, he heard some voices in the booth behind him mention the words "Fearow" and "Pokemon." Josh used telekinesis to overhear what they were saying. "So like I was saying, I really need a Fearow," said the voice. "If only I could find someone to trade with!" "Well I'd take your offer pronto, but I don't have a Fearow." "Man, Fearow sure is popular these days," said Josh to himself. "Excuse me," said Josh to the kid. "But I couldn't help overhearing what you were saying. I have two Fearows, and I'd like to know what your offer is." "Well, my name is Jake Curtis, and I'll give you a Hitmonchan for a Fearow and a pokeball. I found it with a broken leg and now that I healed it and since I already have one I'm looking for someone to trade with." Josh thought this over. He thought that it was a pretty good trade. After all, Hitmonchan was pretty rare. "Deal," said Josh. He took out the pokeball that had one of his Fearows and walked over to the trading machine inside the restaurant and dropped his pokeball into one of the slots. He also gave Jake the empty pokeball. Jake dropped his pokemon into the other slot. After a few minutes the trade was complete. Josh ate lunch with Jake and the other kid, whose name was Joe. Josh had finished his lunch when he saw two familiar figures walk through the door. They were Alex and Steve! Alex looked around and saw Josh. "Hey! That's the kid who has my Gyarados!" said Alex. "Who, Josh?" asked Steve. "Yeah. How do you know him?" "Well, he's the worlds worst trainer and he's my brother," replied Steve. "Worlds worst trainer?" said Josh. "We'll just see how bad I am. Steve, I challenge you to a 4 on 4 pokemon battle." "Challenge accepted, loser," sneered Steve. "C'mon." Alex and Jake went outside with Josh and Steve to see the match. "Charmeleon, go!" yelled Steve. "Get 'em Gyarados!" "Tail whip!" Charmeleon swung its tail at Gyarados, not hurting it much at all. "Show it a real tail whip!" Gyarados swung its powerful tail at Charmeleon, knocking it flat on its face. "Leer!" "Tackle!" Charmeleon looked Gyarados straight in the eyes. Gyarados was dizzy, and Charmeleon shot some fireballs at it. Unfortu-nately for Steve, Gyarados recovered from the leer. Gyarados jumped at Charmeleon, missing only by inches. "Bind!" "Firestorm!" A cloud formed over Gyarados's head and started raining fire. Gyarados was being burned in many places, but had its tail wrapped around Charmeleon's body. It squeezed as hard as it could, and was suffocating Charmeleon. The fire was hurting Gyarados even though it was a water type, and was forced to let go of Charmeleon so it could move out from under the fire. Charmeleon was exhausted from the squeeze that Gyarados had given him. Gyarados sprayed some water on Charmeleon and it fainted. "Alright, you asked for it! Raichu go! Start things off with a thunderbolt!" "Bite!" Gyarados lunged at Raichu, but missed. Raichu jumped on Gyarados's head and shocked it. Gyarados screamed in agony and flipped Raichu off of its back. Gyarados twirled around and faced Raichu. It used the last ounce of its strength and gave Raichu a hydro pump. A gusher of water exploded beneath Raichu, but Raichu wasn't hurt that much because it was an electric type. The gusher stopped when Gyarados fainted. Raichu let out a yell of victory. "Gyarados return! Abra go!" "Ha! Your used that puny thing? It's no match for Raichu. Give it a thunder-punch!" "Teleport!" Abra got out of the way just in time. Raichu tried to punch it again, but once again Abra moved out of the way. They repeat-end the process several more times, and Steve was getting annoy-ed. "Okay Raichu! Thundershock!" Raichu aimed its electricity at Abra but missed. Raichu was really aggravated. He blindly shot electricity everywhere. Abra kept teleporting, but eventually got hit by the electricity. Now Abra was aggravated. It teleported and appeared behind Raichu and body slammed it. Raichu turned around to face Abra, but in its place there was a Kadabra! "Yes! Kadabra, psychic!" Raichu was hurled against the restaurant wall. IT tried to counter-attack with a thunderbolt, but Kadabra just teleported out of the way and appeared next to Raichu. It used psychic again and Raichu found itself being banged against everything in sight. Alex ducked as Raichu flew over his head and smashed into a nearby dumpster. "Psybeam!" "Mega kick!" Kadabra started concentrating as Raichu jumped out of the dumpster and ran towards Kadabra. Raichu was getting closer and closer. Raichu jumped and was about to hit Kadabra. Kad-abra opened its eyes (which were glowing) and a rainbow beam came out of them and hit Raichu. Raichu dropped to the ground. Before it fainted it swung its tale at Kadabra's face and scarred it. "Weepinbell go! Vine whip, then bind!" "Kadabra, psywave!" Vines shot out Weepinbell and hit the scar on Kadabra's face. Weepinbell carried Kadabra in its vines and squeezed it very tightly. Kadabra shot the psychic waves at Weepinbell, who quickly let go on impact. "Razor leaf!" "Psyshock!" Kadabra held up its two spoons and they started to generate electricity. Suddenly and electric beam shot from them and incinerated some of the leaves that Weepinbell had shot. The electricity hit Weepinbell and fainted it. The attack had also taken a lot of energy from Kadabra, who fainted too. "Weepinbell return! Golem, go! Harden!" "Kadabra, return! Machoke go! Jump Kick!" Alex blanched at the sight of his old Machoke, as did Machoke at the sight of Alex. Machoke jumped at Golem with its leg stretched out. It hit Golem in the back, but thanks to the extra layer of rock that covered its body from the harden, Golem wasn't hurt as much as it would've been. It whirled around and faced Machoke, who was about five yards away from Golem. Josh noticed that Golem's head was softer than the rest of its body and that that would be the best place to strike. "Mega punch!" "Rock slide!" Golem curled up into a ball and started rolling at Machoke. It was going faster and faster, gaining more and more momentum. Machoke ran towards Golem. Golem became a blur and crashed into Machoke at full speed. Golem yelled a war cry ("Go-LEM!") and jumped right onto Machoke. Machoke rolled over and jumped up. It put back its fist, which was glowing, and slammed it right into Golem's face. "Rock throw!" "Counter attack!" Golem rolled over to a nearby pile of boulders, picked up the biggest one and hurled it at Machoke. Machoke dodged it and continued to smash, go under, or go over the rest of the rocks that Golem was throwing. It finally got to Golem. Golem turned around and hit Machoke with all its might. It picked up another rock and threw it straight at Machoke's head. Before Machoke could move out of the way the rock hit it at point black range. Machoke flinched, but got up and ran at Golem. Machoke ran over and punched Golem in the face. They were both weakening. Josh saw Steve pull something out of his pocket. It had a few buttons on it. Josh looked closer and saw that it had a Team Rocket logo! Steve pushed one of the buttons and a thunderbolt came out of Golem's fingers! Machoke fell down again. Josh saw Steve reach for another button, and this time Golem was using a psychic attack. Machoke was being badly hurt. Suddenly, Josh had an idea. He dropped the pokemon with Chronamew in it. "Huh? Wha---" said Chronamew. "I was in the middle of a swim in the Jacuzzi. Can't you get some other pokemon?" Josh threw a rare candy at Chronamew. "Alright, alright," said Chronamew. "Whaddaya want?" "See that remote control that Steve is holding? It's a cheating device I need you to jam it. Hurry! Oh, and by the way. Ma-choke, agility!" Machoke was grateful to have the command. Its speed was rising and it became harder for Golem to hit it. Chronamew successfully jammed the controller. "Ha! Who's the best now, Josh?" said Steve. "Your Machoke is goin' down! Golem, fireblast!" Steve hit one of the buttons, but no fire came out of Machoke's finger. "Hey, what's wrong with this thing?!" yelled Steve. "Too bad! Machoke, seismic toss!" "Golem, slash!" Machoke picked Golem up by the tail. Machoke spun around and around, but Golem got out of Machoke's grasp. It extended its claws and slashed Machoke in the face. Machoke gave Golem one final punch, then fainted. "Machoke, return! Articuno, go! Ice beam!" "Rock throw!" Golem threw a few rocks at Articuno, but missed. Articuno shot a blue beam at Golem who became an ice cube. Articuno flew around taunting it, ramming the ice cube every now and then. "Melt the ice!" Articuno flew up in the air and shot another beam at Golem. The beam hit Golem and the ice started melting. "Ha! Thanks for thawing out Golem for me! Now it can att-ack!" "Look again Steve!" said Josh. "The ice turned into water! Guess what Golem's weakness is!" The look of triumph that was on Steve's face turned into a look of horror. The water went into Golem and weakened it a lot. All it would take is one more hit and Golem would faint. "Golem, explosion!" The ground under Articuno immediately exploded and since Articuno was flying low to the ground it was launched very high. "Aurora beam!" This beam that Articuno shot was a little lighter in color than the ice beam. It knocked Golem to the ground and immediately fainted it. "Articuno, return! Ha! Looks like I beat you yet again." "NO! It can't be! Someday you'll be sorry! Golem, return! C'mon Alex." Josh watched as Steve and Alex walked off. "That was a pretty impressive battle," said Jake. "You're a pretty good trainer. Anyway, I was wondering. Could I come with you?" "Sure!" said Josh. "It would be nice to have someone to talk to besides my pokemon. So what badges do you have?" "Well I just got back from a trip I took to Pewter City so I have the Boulder Badge, the Comet Badge, the Cascade Badge, and the Glacier Badge. And since I live here in Vermillion City, I have the Thunder Badge. What about you?" "See for yourself," said Josh as he took out a bag from his pocket. So Josh gains a new friend to accompany him on his pokemon journey, as did Steve. Will Josh ever see Steve and Alex again? Will Josh be able to beat that Golem of Steve's next time they meet? And can Jake beat Alex? Read on and find out!
Chapter 17-Is this a Pokemon Battle or a Wrestling Match?
Josh and Jake were heading to a motel to spend the night. They would have stayed at Jake's but his parents were at Cinnabar Island. The next morning they would go to the local gym and Josh would challenge the gymleader, Major Surge. Jake had told him that Surge had a Raichu, a Magnemite, an Elekid, and an Electrode. It was the next day. Josh and Jake were headed to the gym. Before they left they had a warm up battle. Josh had used his Hitmonlee and so did Jake. Whenever one of the Hitmonlees tried to attack its opponent the opponent just dodged the att-ack. Finally both pokemon fainted from exhaustion. Josh and Jake had finally arrived at the gym and Josh was waiting for his turn. Jake kept giving him helpful tips that he thought Josh would need ("Watch out for Raichu, it was pretty strong when I battled it and it's bound to be even stronger now. And try not to get hit by Elekid's thunderpunch, it sent my Raticate flying."). Finally it was his turn. "Good luck!" called Jake as Josh walked into the arena. At first Josh couldn't see anything. Suddenly the lights flashed on and a man that looked like he was in his 40's stepped into view. He had on army camouflage clothes and sunglasses. There was a Raichu at his side. "So this is my next challenger. Ha! You don't look so tough to me," said the Major. "Looks can be deceiving," growled Josh. He was about to let Chronamew out of its pokeball to use to use a psychic attack but thought better of it. "Well see about that," said Surge. "This'll be a 2 on 2 battle. Elekid, go!" A pokemon that looked sort of like Electabuzz popped out of the pokeball. Its arms had little claws on them and his body was an oval shape. It had the same black lug. "Sandslash, go! Rolling tackle!" "Thundershock!" Sandslash curled up into a ball and rolled full speed towards Elekid. Elekid was crackling with electricity. Finally it shot a massive amount of electricity at Sandslash. Sandslash wasn't hurt that badly, but the electricity had knocked it off course and it missed Elekid. It whirled around and found Elekid about to jump on its face. Sandslash tried to move out of the way but didn't succeed. Elekid was on it in a second. Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light. Elekid was gone, and replaced by an Electabuzz! "Ha! You couldn't beat my Electabuzz if your life depended on it! Thunderbolt now!" "Dig!" Sandslash dove underground just as the electricity exploded behind him. Electabuzz turned around and looked for Sand-slash, but couldn't find it anywhere. The ground exploded under Electabuzz and Sandslash jumped out of the hole. It charged at Electabuzz and knocked it to the ground. "Slash!" "Light screen!" Sandslash swung its claws at Electabuzz but hit the light screen. Sandslash eventually gave up. Then it had an idea. It dove underground and created an earthquake, which can't be protected by a light screen. Electabuzz fell and Sandslash swung its claws once more. This time Sandslash hit the jaw. Electabuzz howled in pain. It shocked Sandslash and then fainted. "Electabuzz, return! Raichu go! Mega kick!" "Sandslash, mega punch!" Raichu dove at Sandslash and kicked it the face. Sandslash returned the favor and punched it in the stomach. Soon the two pokemon were locked in a fistfight. Finally, Sandslash and Rai-chu decided to play dirty. Raichu picked up some mud out of the hole that Sandslash had dug and threw it in Sandslash's eyes. "So you want to play dirty, huh?" said Josh. "Sandslash, beat him at his own game!" Sandslash nodded and wiped the mud out of his eyes. When he opened them he found Raichu on top of him. He spat in Raichu's face and punched him in the stomach. Then he picked up some mud out of the hole, opened Raichu's mouth and stuffed it inside. Raichu gagged. Sandslash collapsed to the floor laughing. "Ha ha ha ha ha!" said Sandslash in pokemon language. "You should've seen the look on your face!" "Don't make me mad," said Raichu. The pokemon started to fight once more Sandslash stuffed Raichu's head in the hole and started to beat him up. Raichu fainted. "Dang!" yelled Major Surge. "You beat me with one poke-mon!" Major Surge reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge. He threw it at Josh as he returned Raichu. "See ya!" said Josh as he walked out of the building with Jake to the pokemon center. So Josh battles Major Surge and successfully earns the Thunder-badge. Will Josh and Jake encounter any more gym leaders? Will Jake ever get the Chrysalis badge? Even if he does, will he get the rest of them? You can find out all this and more. Just--, well, you know.