Chapter 4 of A Raichu's Tale

On the Road

            "Don't trainers usually keep Pokémon inside their Pokéballs?" asked Tobias as we walked uphill through the woods on Route One.

            "Well, yeah... But I think it's healthier if they stay outside. That way they can get fresh air and exercise!" Samantha answered.

            We had been hiking both up and downhill for hours since our lunch break at the mango tree where Samantha caught Mango the Rattata. Everyone was exhausted from all the walking, except for my trainer. She was like a never-ending fountain of energy, and her cheerfulness was getting on my nerves. However, my sensitive ears me told me that there was water nearby, so I used that as my sole motivation to move forward.

            To make things even worse, I was not getting along with the two Pokémon that had joined our trip today.  Mango the Rattata with his strange speech constantly whined about how hot and dirty he was getting from hiking, and Joe the Bulbasaur was very nosy and annoying. I was kind of glad that Tobias was so bad at catching Pokémon. Every Pidgey, Nidoran, or other Pokémon he came across and tried to capture got away.

            ""Where did you get that scar?"" Joe asked.

            ""Somewhere,"" I said between pants.

            ""Tell me!""

            ""No.""

            ""Please?""

            ""Shut up.""

            ""It looks weird.""

            ""So do you.""

            ""Haha! You're funny.""

            ""You know what's really funny?""

            ""What?""

            ""This!"" I said, unleashing a Thunderbolt on the Bulbasaur. I was scolded by Samantha, but it was worth it because Joe didn't bother me with any more questions for the rest of the day.

            ""What did you do that for?"" asked Slick. ""He was only trying to be friendly...""

            I ignored him and kept walking on. The sound of water got louder and louder until we finally saw a large pond at the base of a small waterfall, no taller than 20 feet. Samantha took out her map and informed us that it was Magikarp Falls, and it meant that we were almost halfway to Viridian City. When Samantha was about to hit the trail again, Tobias saved us by suggesting that we rest. Slick, Joe, Mango, and I all clung to Samantha's legs; she had no choice but to agree.

            After drinking my fill of water, I relaxed at the pond's edge and noticed how the waterfall had gotten its name. There were many small Magikarp swimming lazily in the water. Suddenly, I saw something else swimming around. It wasn't the shape of the Magikarp, so I wondered what it was. I held my head close to the water to see if I could see it again, when it swiftly swam right underneath me and sprayed me in the face with a jet of water.

            "Raaaai!" I cried as I fell backwards.

            "Totodile!" the blue creature cried, its head sticking out of the water. When it aimed another blast at me, I dodged and the water hit Slick square in the face.

            "Look, Tobias, it's a Totodile! I can't believe that we'd find one here!" exclaimed Samantha, pointing at the Pokémon.

            "A what?" Tobias asked.

            He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the small red device he had been given this morning. A chime rang as he pointed it at the Pokémon. "Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokémon," said a mechanical voice. "The official water type Pokémon for new trainers in Johto. Despite the smallness of its body, Totodile's jaws are very powerful. While the Pokémon may think it is just playfully nipping, its bite has enough power to cause serious injury. It bites at almost any moving object it sees. Even its trainer must be careful."

            Surprisingly, the Totodile did not leave during the Pokédex's long informational speech. In fact, it climbed out of the water and was ready to battle. My cheeks sparkled with electricity, but Samantha, who had Slick on her head like a hat, scooped me up into her arms and stopped me. She said, "Tobias, I think a water Pokémon like Totodile would make a great partner for your Bulbasaur."

            "Y-yeah...okay then! Joe, use Vine Whip!" Tobias yelled. He was determined to not let a rare Pokémon like Totodile get away.

            Joe's vines shot out towards the Totodile, but the agile Pokémon dodged them easily. The Totodile opened his mouth wide and bit both of Joe's vines, making the Bulbasaur cry in pain. The wild and trained Pokémon pulled against each other in a battle of tug of war, but just as Joe seemed to get the upper hand, the Totodile let go and he went flying backwards. I wasn't sure if I wanted to cheer for either combatant, since Joe was annoying and the Totodile had sprayed me in the face.

            Tobias growled, "Tackle it!"

            Joe rushed forward and made contact with the Totodile, sending it tumbling into a large rock.  However, his opponent retaliated by scratching Joe fiercely in his face.  When Joe tried to tackle it again, he was repelled by the Totodile's Water Gun attack.  Tobias' Bulbasaur was losing the fight. He had taken a lot more damage than the Totodile.  Tobias gritted his teeth in anger.

            Tobias pulled out his Pokédex and pushed some buttons on it. It chimed and said, "Bulbasaur's attacks. Tackle. Growl. Leech Seed..."

            "Leech Seed?" Tobias repeated. "What the heck... Joe, use Leech Seed!"

            Tobias' Bulbasaur obeyed, and aimed the giant bulb on his back towards the wild Pokémon.  A single large seed shot out of his back straight towards the Totodile, who jumped and bit it with ease.  For a second Tobias was disappointed; it looked like the attack did nothing. But in an instant, numerous vines grew right out of the Totodile's mouth and wrapped around his jaws, tying them shut.

            "All right!" cheered Samantha. "With its mouth tied shut Totodile can't use its Water Gun or Bite attacks!"

            Tobias grinned as he commanded his Bulbasaur. "Joe, tie your vines around Totodile and bash him into that tree!"

            As the Totodile tried frantically to get the vines off his face, Joe's vines wrapped around his body and he was sent sailing into a nearby tree trunk.  Before he could get up, Tobias had thrown an empty Pokéball with a yell.  The ball bounced off of the Totodile's head and he was sucked in as red energy, the vines from the leech seed not included.  The ball wiggled violently with its red light on, and to our surprise the Totodile quickly escaped.

            The Totodile tried to run back into the pond, but Tobias reacted quickly and got Joe to tackle him down. Again Tobias threw the Pokéball, and this time the Totodile stayed inside. Cautiously Tobias walked over to where Joe and the Pokéball were. He picked up the ball and exclaimed proudly, "Yes! I caught a Totodile!!" Samantha congratulated Tobias, and he blushed and smiled nervously in response. He then let out his newly-captured Totodile, who spit the limp leech seed vines out of his mouth.

            "Are you going to name him?" Samantha asked.

            "I... er... hm," Tobias scratched his head and looked up towards the sky, deep in thought. "Jurai?"

            "Jurai?"

            "Ah... erm, after that guy ... on that show with the, uh... water..."

            "Oh yeah! That show about the water Pokémon. That's a great name!" At this, Tobias blushed even more.

            ""I'm hungry,"" said Jurai.  He sniffed the air. ""Does anybody else smell mangos?""

            Soon enough, Samantha once again set a grueling pace for us to follow as we hiked through the hills. It was only when the setting sun bathed everything in a pale orange light that we saw our destination from atop a hill. Slowly we made our way out of the woods and down the slope to Viridian City. When we finally reached the city limits, everyone was completely exhausted… except, of course, for Samantha. It took us at least another half hour before we reached the Viridian City Pokémon Center. We walked up the stone steps and through the large sliding glass doors inside.

            Samantha led us right to a long counter with a woman standing behind it, as if they were waiting for us. "Welcome to the Viridian City Pokémon Center," said the woman. "How may I help you?"

            "My Pokémon need to be healed. They're exhausted from a full-day hike we took to here from Pallet Town." Samantha answered politely.

            The woman handed her a large white tray with 6 holes in it. "Please place your Pokémon's Pokéballs in the tray." My trainer obediently unclipped my brother's and my Pokéball from her belt and made us return into them in a red flash.

            Inside the Pokéball I closed my eyes and laid back. My feet were sore, I was still breathing hard, and I was hungry. This Pokémon Journey business was certainly not much fun.  On the walk from Magikarp Falls to the Pokémon Center, I developed a slight dislike for Jurai.  He hadn't even apologized for shooting me with his Water Gun attack when we first met!  Would I hate everybody that I meet on this stupid trip?

            Suddenly I was filled with a warm, good feeling, as if I had been dipped in a pool of warm water.  All the pain in my feet ebbed away, my breathing became regular, and I no longer felt tired. I opened my eyes to see what was happening, and discovered that my whole ball was growing brightly.  Slowly the light disappeared and everything was turned back to normal, leaving me feeling energized and refreshed.  Unfortunately, I was still hungry. That problem was soon solved when Samantha let me out of my ball for a dinner that consisted of a small bowl of PokéChow and a Chesto Berry.  All the other Pokémon had the same thing. Samantha and Tobias sat at a booth with their trays of food from the Pokémon Center's food service area, which was located not too far away.  Everyone quietly ate their dinner; even the humans didn't talk very much. I did find out that Jurai, Mango, Joe, and my brother all experienced the refreshing light like I did, however.  After everybody was finished eating and the dishes were put away, one of the nurses showed our trainers to their rooms for the night.

            Their room was small, with four beds; two of the beds were stacked on top of the others.  Soon Samantha claimed the top bed as hers and left for the bathroom, while Tobias fell backwards on the bottom bed and promptly fell asleep.  I guess Tobias hadn't experienced the same healing light that I and the other Pokémon had. Slick slithered up the ladder that led to Samantha's bed while Mango complained about how messy his fur was, and endlessly groomed the fur on the top of his head with his paws. Samantha returned (her gloves still covering her scarred hands), and climbed up to her bed along with Slick. She asked me to give a small shock to her snoozing friend, and I happily complied. I felt a little sorry for him when Tobias bolted upright and banged his head on the bed above him, but he survived. Once Tobias was ready for bed himself, and his own Pokémon were returned to their Pokéballs, Samantha did the same to us. Despite the healing light from before dinner, I didn't find it very hard to drift away into a peaceful sleep.

            I was awakened annoyingly early by Samantha, for breakfast the next morning. After our meal, we all found ourselves waiting next to a tall sign at the front of the Pokémon Center with a few other humans. I could mostly guess which ones were trainers and which weren't by seeing who had Pokéballs clipped to their belts. When a large, long, floating vehicle came and stopped in front of us, Samantha returned Slick, Mango and I into our respective Pokéballs.  Apparently, we weren't allowed on the "bus".

            It was a long, boring wait inside my Pokéball. There was nothing to do, so I just lied back inside the ball and let my mind wander.  I still missed my grandfather dearly, but I knew that wishing for him wouldn't bring him back.  I had done a lot of moping about it before, so I didn't dwell on the subject of his death for very long.  Besides, he was the only family member I really knew and loved besides Slick.  The herd was just a bunch of snotty jerks.  It made me feel better to know that they were miles away from me and my brother.  The past was behind me, and I didn't want it to bother me anymore.

            But what about the present?  I started thinking about the people I was traveling with. Samantha was kind of annoying with her everlasting cheerfulness and energy, but I guess she was okay.  She seemed like she could become a really good trainer, unlike her friend Tobias.  He didn't look like he would be successful at all, especially with his knowledge about Pokémon completely lacking.  Besides, he didn't look like a very healthy human.  While the hike yesterday made me feel very tired, Tobias looked like he was about to keel over and die any second.  I wondered if he would survive the trip.  I also thought about the Pokémon that we met on our journey.  Mango the Rattata was very strange.  I thought he acted more like a girl than a boy, and he had a very weird way of speaking.  His constant complaining annoyed me, but not as much as Joe the Bulbasaur.  That boy did not know when to shut up.  He was always trying to talk to me when I made it very clear that I wanted nothing to do with him.  I decided that if he bugged me again I would use a Dynamic Punch right in his stupid little face.  I wasn't sure what to make of Jurai the Totodile, although I didn't get a good first impression of him.

            Unexpectedly my Pokéball opened up and I was flung outside in a flash of while light. "Raizy, use Thunderbolt to stop Beedrill!" I heard Samantha yell from behind me.  To my complete surprise I found myself in mid-air, and with all the grace of a Slowpoke performing ballet I crashed to the earth below.

            As I pried my face out of the dirt and looked up, I saw a swarm of angry Beedrill aiming their glowing harpoons right at us. I panicked and curled into a ball, covering my head with my paws.  "Raizy!" I heard Samantha yell. "Look out!" Tobias yelled almost at the same time. I felt flurry of stingers rain down on me, piercing me all over my back. I jumped up and yelped in pain as I tried to remove the painful needles from my back. I turned and saw that both Tobias, who was hugging Samantha on the ground, and my brother Slick had been nailed by the Beedrill's Poison Sting attack as well. However, Samantha was unharmed, along with a boy who stood clutching a Kakuna in his arms behind them. I turned to face the swarm once more and Thunderbolted them angrily.

            Many members of the swarm fell to the ground with a thud, smoking and crackling with electricity. However, one of few that I missed yelled, ""Stay out of this!"

            ""You attacked us first!"" I answered loudly.

            ""Your trainers are defending a criminal! Stay out of our way!"" buzzed another Beedrill.

            ""Criminal?"" I asked as the swarm flew over my head and immediately went for the small boy. The boy screamed and ran down the path behind my friends while the Beedrill swarm followed, shooting poison needles and yelling, ""Kidnapper!"". The Beedrill that I had electrocuted soon followed. After staring at the odd scene until they were no longer in sight, I joined Tobias, Samantha, and Slick, who were now all standing upright.

            Samantha was talking to Tobias about something when I approached them. ""Raizy, are you okay?"" Slick asked me.

            ""Yeah, I'm okay. My back stings a little, but I'm fine... What the heck just happened, anyway?""  Oops… I had forgotted that she couldn't understand what I was saying.

            Tobias groaned in pain and fell onto Samantha before my brother could answer. He was shivering, looked paler than usual, and I could see that sweat was beginning to form on his face. I didn't occur to me that Tobias could look even unhealthier that he normally was before he was stung.

            "S-sorry..." Tobias said weakly.

            "Toby?  Toby?  Are you alright?  Oh geez, he must be poisoned..." said Samantha nervously.  She led us to the side of the path we were on and slowly sat down with Tobias while Slick and I brought over their heavy backpacks.  "Slick, get my Pokédex out from my back pocket please," she asked since her hands were busy holding the weak Tobias upright. Slick got the Pokédex in his mouth and handed it to Samantha, who opened it with one hand and pressed numerous buttons on it with her thumb.  The Pokédex made various bleeps, bloops, and clicks before it spoke.

            "Beedrill, the Poison Bee Poké-" it stopped when Samantha pressed a few more buttons.

            "Beedrill's three stingers produce a strong poison; the poison secreted from its tail is the most powerful. People and Pokémon rarely die from a Beedrill's Poison Sting attack, but if one is stung multiple times, the effects could be dangerous.  If you know that you are allergic to Beedrill stings, and are stung, report to your nearest hospital immediately.  Although it is rare for a Poison Sting attack to be fatal, it can very easily cause serious illness by poisoning even to a full grown adult."

            With another push of a button, the Pokédex continued, "If you have been stung and poisoned by any Pokémon's Poison Sting, antidote products for both humans and Pokémon are usually available off the shelf at any drug or grocery store. Warning: do not use an antidote product for Pokémon on humans, or vice versa. For more information abo-" Samantha closed the Pokédex and it stopped talking.

            "Tobias, can you sit up by yourself?" she asked.  Tobias nodded and gingerly sat down next to Samantha, hunched over his stomach.  Samantha then searched through her overstuffed bag and pulled out a small white pouch with a red cross on it.  She opened it up, revealing an assortment of bottles, tubes, and bandages of all different shapes and sizes.

            Samantha selected and removed a purple bottle from the pouch. After reading the label that was on it, she emptied out two small pills and gave them to Tobias, who swallowed them whole. My trainer returned the purple bottle to the pouch and took out a large roll of bandages and a small spray. "Toby, could take off your shirt and turn around?"

            Tobias' blushed and said, "W-wha..?"

            ""She sure is a fast mover,"" Slick whispered, making me giggle.

            "I need to put some medicine on your back," she explained.

            Tobias nodded and then complied with her request. Slick and I winced a little when we saw what Tobias was like without his shirt on- he seemed as pale as a cloud and his ribs were easily visible. His face tightened in pain when Samantha sprayed on the medicine and wrapped the bandage around him, but he didn't make a sound. When he had his shirt back on, he shyly said thanks and we decided to stay where we were for a little while and let Tobias recover.

            ""So,"" I said after a few minutes of silence. ""Want to fill me in on what happened when I was in my Pokéball?""

            ""Well, alright. Since you asked so nicely,"" my brother answered sarcastically. ""After Samantha and I won a battle against that boy who was chased by the Beedrill, he asked us to help him catch a Kakuna.  Samantha, of course, agreed.  But, as you saw, it didn't turn out so well even though that boy got his Kakuna... Tobias shielded Samantha from the Beedrill's Poison Sting attacks, and I was just caught in the flurry of needles along with you.""

            ""How come you didn't get poisoned?""

            ""You can't poison a poison Pokémon. The question is, what about you?""

            ""I guess I was just lucky.""

            ""I guess so...""

            Samantha used a bit of little healing spray on both Slick and me before we went on the move again.  While we were walking I finally began to appreciate our surroundings.  We were in a lush forest populated by tall, ancient trees; they were much taller and thicker than the ones from the forest in my home in Pallet Town and on Route One.  Most of the trees were covered with a carpet of moss.  Being in such a beautiful forest made me feel a little homesick.  I didn't pay much attention to anything else, but continued admiring the beauty of the forest we were in.  I spent most of my time just looking around at how tall the trees were, and how only a few beams of sunlight managed to penetrate the thick canopy high above our heads.

            "Oops." I heard Samantha say.  We all stopped.

            "What's wrong?" asked Tobias.

            "I think we took a wrong turn again.  It's really hard to follow the main path in here!  It just keeps disappearing..."

            I sighed.  We had gotten lost plenty of times after the Beedrill attack, and Slick said that we had gotten lost many times before that!  Even the forest's beautiful scenery would get old if we could never find our way out...  My stomach growled.  I was getting really hungry.  How long had I been in my Pokéball that day?  There was no way for me to tell since the sun was hidden behind the blanket of leaves in the sky.

            We hiked all day long through the forest, getting lost countless times and taking many rests.  The day was pretty much uneventful-- Mango proved how useless he was by not being able to defeat a small Weedle, and Tobias triumphantly failed at catching a passing Butterfree.  It was pretty pathetic.  On our way we met only one more human.  He was just as lost as we were and he wasn't even a Pokémon trainer.  We parted ways with the man as it finally started to get darker and darker.

            ""Ooh, I don't like the dark,"" whined Mango.  ""It'th, like, creepy.""

            ""I'M not afraid of the dark,"" bragged Jurai.  ""Bring it on!  I can take it.""

            ""Like you took that Butterfree down?  Real good, Jurai.  Real good.  You showed him a thing or two about fighting."" I said to the Totodile.

            ""Hey, that was different.  How was I supposed to know he would cheat with that yellow stuff?""

            Slick broke into the conversation saying, ""Stun Spore isn't cheating.  It's a-""

            ""Yeah, yeah, whatever..."" Jurai said, not listening.  I began to doubt that I would ever get along with him.

            Samantha and Tobias decided to pull off the main path and into the forest to rest for the night.  Joe the Bulbasaur was let out of his Pokéball for dinner with us, and fortunately he didn't even try to talk to me that night.  The Pokémon were served yet another round of PokéChow, and when our trainers were done eating their cold meals we all shared a bag of mixed dried fruit. 

            ""Slick, did you eat the last apple ring?"" said Jurai when it was completely dark.

            ""No, don't look at me.""

            ""Don't worry, I can barely see you in this darkness.  I can see Raizy, though.""

            ""Hmm?"" I said at the mention of my name.

            ""You glow in the dark,"" Jurai explained.  I looked at my paw and saw that it was true!  It never happened when I was a Pikachu...

            "Tobias, look at Raizy!  You can see her glowing!" came Samantha' gleeful voice from the darkness.

            "Chaa..."

            "Found my flashlight,"" said Tobias.  Suddenly, a bright beam of light shot into the sky from where he was.  He pointed the light at Samantha, who was trying to find something in her backpack.  With the help of the artificial light, she pulled out what seemed to be a giant rolled up blanket and Mr. Dragon.  I wondered how in the world she managed to fit all her stuff inside her small bag.  That night, everyone stayed outside their Pokéballs, sleeping peacefully in the forest with our trainers.

            That morning I awoke to find myself in Samantha's left arm, Mr. Dragon in the other.  While she was leaning against a tree with a thin blanket covering her, Mango was curled on her stomach and Slick was wrapped around her neck like a scarf.  Slowly turning to Tobias I noticed that he wasn't as close with his Pokémon- he was sprawled haphazardly on the forest floor with only a small fraction of his own blanket covering him.  Jurai had taken the rest of the covering, and Joe was far away from all of us.

            Soon enough we were all awake and out on the forest path again, hoping that we wouldn't become even more lost in the woods.  I recalled a TV special about a group of human children who got lost in a forest while out on a camping trip, which didn’t help ease my mind.  Fortunately it wasn't too long before we met another Pokémon trainer heading the opposite way.  He challenged Samantha to a battle, which she enthusiastically accepted.

            Unfortunately for her, I wasn't in the mood for fighting when she chose me to go head-to-head with the boy's Venomoth.  Reluctantly Samantha had to withdraw me, and she sent out Mango in my place.  Although I didn't battle, the encounter with the trainer turned out to be beneficial as I got another taste of Mango's pathetic battling skills.  With a simple Stun Spore and Psybeam attack, the small Rattata was easily defeated and I got a good laugh out of it.

            After the battle, the trainer had told us that we were heading the right way towards Pewter City.  It was only barely noon by the time we found our way out of the trees and on an open, easy to follow dirt road to the city.

            "Finally, Pewter City," Tobias sighed, exhausted from the trip.  Recovering from poison, a bad night's sleep, and the fact that he was generally unhealthy to begin with led me to believe that he was going to die as he breathed those words.  When we reached the Pokémon Center that afternoon, the first thing he did was flop onto one of the giant couches and groan while Samantha took Slick, Mango, and me to be revived by the healing light.

            At the end of lunch, Samantha asked if Tobias was ready to challenge the Pewter City Gym.

            "What?"  Tobias said, surprised.  "Challenge the gym already?"

            "If you're tired, I can wait until tomorrow…" Samantha replied.  Personally, I was on Tobias' side.  We just got to town and she already wants to challenge something?  Or someone?  What was a gym, anyway?

            Tobias looked down at his food and poked at it.  I could read his emotions so easily.  It was obvious that he was really tired, but he didn't want to look like a wuss to Samantha.  Before he could answer, however, Samantha suggested that it was better to challenge the gym tomorrow since Tobias needed rest from his Beedrill incident.  He blushed and lowered his head further.

            "Besides, I have a better idea!"  she said enthusiastically.  "We could battle each other for training, if you like!"  Tobias nervously agreed to the idea.

            Alright, I thought to myself as we all stood outside the Pokémon Center in a designated battling site.  Now I finally get an excuse to beat up Jurai and Joe without being scolded by anyone!  To my dismay, however, Samantha chose Mango to fight first.

            ""Wh-what?  Excuthe me, mithy, but I am not exactly, like, warrior material over here,"" Mango protested.  Samantha managed to persuade the Rattata with a few words of encouragement, a hug, and a toss out onto the battlefield.  Tobias chose Jurai to battle Mango, and the fight began.

            "Mango, Tackle!" yelled Samantha.

            "Bite!" Tobias shouted.

            With a reluctant sigh and a slight shrug of his shoulders, Mango charged head first into Jurai.  It was truly a pathetic sight to see him get his head stuck right into the Totodile's open mouth.  Jurai squeezed his jaw slightly, making the small rat squeal in pain, before swinging him around a bit and spitting him out.

            Mango landed with a thud in front of Samantha.  "C'mon Mango, get up!  You can do it!"  encouraged Samantha.  Mango struggled to his feet, but soon fell again and fainted.

            ""That was… sad,"" I muttered under my breath to Slick.  My brother slowly nodded in agreement as Samantha returned Mango to his pink Pokéball.

            I was desperately hoping that Samantha would choose me next, but unfortunately for me she chose Slick instead.  "Use Poison Sting!" she yelled as I grumbled over my lost opportunity to kick some butt.  Oh well, at least I could root for Slick.

            "Jurai, Water Gun!" Tobias told Jurai.

            Slick opened his mouth slightly and shot out numerous glowing, poisonous needles towards his opponent.  However, the strong blast of water that emerged from Jurai's maw easily deflected the attack and knocked Slick back slightly. 

            This time Tobias commanded Jurai first.  "Scratch attack!" he yelled.

            "Dodge it, then bite!"  Samantha advised my brother.

            Jurai moved in to scratch Slick with his short claws, but Slick dodged his attack with ease.  While his guard was down, he managed to bite Jurai hard on his wrist. 

            "Scratch with your other arm!"

            "Poison Sting now!"  The two trainers ordered their Pokémon to react almost at the same time.

            As the Totodile was bringing around his other arm to swipe at my brother, Slick took this opportunity to fire a close-range Poison Sting attack all over the front of his body and face.  The stinging of the many needles distracted Jurai from his attack.  He tried to pull them all out frantically, but they were already dissolving and the poison was seeping inside of him quickly.

            While Jurai was swaying unsteadily as the poison took affect, Samantha ordered Slick to wrap him in his coils.  The combination of poison and Slick's powerful squeeze quickly put an end to the battle.  Tobias returned the fainted Jurai into his Pokéball and ordered Joe out onto the battlefield to face my brother.  I cheered my brother on from the sidelines enthusiastically before Samantha and Tobias exclaimed their first moves.

            "Slick, use Glare!"

            "Joe, Leech Seed!"

            As Joe positioned himself to shoot a seed at Slick like he did when he first encountered Jurai, Slick stayed completely still and stared straight at him with his bright green eyes.  Neither of the Pokémon moved for several seconds until Slick finally relaxed his body.  Joe was immobilized, unable to launch his attack!

            "Slick, Wrap him!"

            "Joe, use your Vine Whip!"

            Slick swiftly slithered towards Joe and wrapped himself around him in a tight embrace.  Joe's paralysis prevented him from reacting at all, save for a look of pain on his face.  He was helpless to do anything as Slick constricted him tighter and tighter until he, too, passed out like Jurai.

            When Slick won, I let out a cheer, but Samantha outdid me by running over and giving Slick a big congratulatory hug.  Tobias returned Jurai to his ball without a word.  Perhaps he was disappointed, or maybe jealous?

            Samantha smiled happily at him in an effort to cheer him up.  "That was a good match, Toby," she said, trying to cheer up her friend.  "You all did really well.  Wanna try again later with a one-on-one match so I can use Raizy?"

            Tobias looked at me worriedly and I returned his gaze with a toothy grin.  Despite himself he agreed to the battle, which took place immediately after everyone was healed at the Pokémon Center.

            "Okay Raizy, let's go!"  cheered Samantha as I stepped out in front of her, ready for combat.  Mango and Slick were also out of their Pokéballs so they could observe the match.

            Joe and Jurai stood next to Tobias, waiting to see which one of them would be sent out to fight.  I heard Samantha mutter to herself that she predicted that Joe would be the one that Tobias would choose, since I would be at a disadvantage that way.  But to both our surprise, Tobias chose Jurai!

            "Do you really want to use Jurai to fight Raizy?" asked Samantha.  "He is a water type, after all…"

            "Is that bad?" asked Tobias cluelessly.

            "Well, Raizy is an electric type, so she has an advantage over water types like Jurai." 

            I didn't care for this conversation at all- I just wanted battle.  I shifted feet anxiously and let loose a few sparks from of the end of my tail in anticipation.  ""Hey leather lips!""  I said, taunting Jurai.  ""You afraid of a few sparkles?""

            Jurai growled in annoyance and responded, ""I'm not afraid of anything!""  Quickly he sprayed me in the face with water like he did when we first met.  Now I was REALLY ready to fight.

            "Looks like they both really want to fight each other.  Can't argue with that, can you, Toby?" said Samantha.

            "Uh…"

            "Alright, let's begin!  Raizy, use a Growl technique!"

            "J-Jurai!  Bite attack!"

            I was so eager to smack Jurai right in the face that I wasn't really listening to what Samantha had said.  So, instead of letting loose an intimidating growl, I dashed towards my opponent and swung around my tail in an attempt to use Tail Whip.  That was quickly proven to be a bad move as Jurai easily snatched my tail in his jaws and chomped down hard.

            "Raaaaaaaaaii!!" I squeaked in pain at the torment of having my tail crushed by the Totodile's sharp teeth. 

            "Raizy, listen!!  Use Thundershock!" Samantha yelled frantically.

            "Scratch attack!"

            This time I was more eager to listen to my trainer.  Jurai managed to get some light scratcheds on my arm when I turned to face him, but I got him good with my Thundershock.  The fact that he still had my tail in his mouth only made the attack more effective on him. 

            "Dynamic Punch!"

            "Water Gun!"

            I reared back my fist and tried to recreate the powerful punching force that I had managed to muster up over a week ago when I last used it, against Alex's Machoke.  Unfortunately, my attack missed Jurai just slightly over his head, and I was greeted with a blast of water from his mouth.

            I didn't hear what Tobias had said through Jurai's Water Gun attack, so I just followed Samantha's next order to use Slam instead of an electric attack like I was used to doing when something made me angry.  I was glad I did, too.

            Jurai tried to get me with an angry Leer attack to distract me, but a hard slam in the face with my large paw interrupted his move before it could take effect.  If I had used an electric attack, it would have taken too long to charge up the electricity for it and I would have been affected by his Leer.  I was almost beginning to see the advantages of putting my trust into a trainer instead of always on my instincts…

            That is, until Jurai blasted me a few feet back with a Water Gun attack without orders from Tobias to do so.  Wiping water out of my eyes, I sneered at Jurai with hatred and gladly listened to Samantha's next command when she told me to use Thunderbolt.

            The attack hit Jurai dead-on, and he fell to the ground like a rock when my electrocution was done.  With a loud sigh, Tobias returned Jurai to his ball.  I felt somewhat sorry for him, but definitely not for his Pokémon companion.  Samantha ran up to hug me like she did Slick.  "Nice work, Raizy!" she said, complimenting me.  "Ooh, I forgot you were got drenched by Water Gun…" She held me away from her body with outstretched arms and looked at her damp clothes.

            When Samantha noticed Tobias looking depressed about his two consecutive losses against Samantha in combat, Samantha decided to take us out to the shopping district of Pewter City.  We got quite a few stares from people who weren't used to seeing a group of tourists quite like us pass through their city.  Samantha was happily wearing Slick on her head like a turban while Mango rested on her shoulder, the rest of us following closely behind, oblivious of the looks from surprised citizens and passersby. 

            Most shops that we passed by did not allow Pokémon to enter, so Samantha and Tobias went through the hassle of returning and letting us out of our Pokéballs every time they entered and exited a store that prohibited free-roaming Pokémon.

            The last store that we all ventured into together was a combination Pokémon trainer supply and drug store.  While Tobias, along with Joe, volunteered to shop for food, medicine, and other necessities, Samantha took all the Pokémon under her care in the store to explore for anything interesting that they might have.

            ""I like, wonder if they have any good brusheth in here…"" Mango wondered aloud to himself, sneaking off to investigate the hair care selection of the store alone.

            Jurai, Slick, and I inspected the Pokémon toys that the shop carried under the supervision of Samantha.  Amongst the all the soft plush dolls and squeaking toys they had, none carried any interest to me until I reached a fine selection of chewing bones that Jurai had pointed out.  I had no idea why, but somehow constantly gnawing away at a piece of rawhide was really addicting.  Noticing this, Samantha agreed to buy a few pieces for Jurai and me, while Slick said that he was content without anything from the store.

             The sun was almost beginning to set by the time we reached the Pokémon Center again.  That night all of us Pokémon stayed outside of our Pokéballs once more.  At the end of Samantha's bed, I eventually drifted off to sleep while chewing away at a piece of rawhide.

            Samantha was totally pumped for challenging the Pewter City Gym in the morning.  Tobias was noticeably not as enthusiastic, but he tried his best to hide it.  After another wait at a bus stop, I was forced to wait inside my Pokéball while Samantha and Tobias got a ride to our destination.  The bits and pieces of conversation that I heard from inside my portable home cleared up the confusion surrounding our trip.  Apparently, the gym was a place where an important battle would take place against someone named "the gym leader" so Samantha could get something important if we won.  I hoped it was food.

            Suddenly, I heard Samantha speak to me while I was still inside the Pokéball.  "Raizy, let's go!" she shouted excitedly as the ball opened, releasing me into the outside world.

            At first I thought I was outside because the first thing I saw was that I was surrounded by a field of rocks of all sorts of shapes and sizes jutting out of the ground.  However, the dim electric lights hanging from the ceiling caught my attention and I realized that we were all really inside an indoor battle arena that was created to look like a quarry!

            The trainer across from me was an adult many years older than Samantha.  I assumed that he was the gym leader.  His skin was tanned and his eyes were so small and squinted that he looked like he had his eyes closed… or maybe he did.  It was hard to tell. 

            "Rhyhorn, Horn Attack!" the trainer yelled, to my great surprise.  Was there a Pokémon on the field already?

            "Raizy, jump straight up!" Samantha shouted.

            I couldn't even see where my enemy was coming from, so I had to take Samantha's word for it.  Quickly I launched myself as high up as I could.  In the midst of my leap I saw the Rhyhorn charge by right underneath me.  His stone plates had hidden him well in the rocky field, but now I was determined to keep track of where he was. 

            As soon as I landed on the ground I heard the opposing trainer command his Rhyhorn to use an Earthquake attack.  Immediately the ground started to shake violently; I couldn't keep my balance, tripped over a few rocks and fell hard to the ground with a thud, knocking the wind out of me.

            The gym leader was quick to react as he commanded Rhyhorn to use a stomp attack to hit me while I was down.  Despite the quake which I assumed affected Samantha as well, my trainer was almost as quick to tell me what to do.

            "Roll to the right!" I heard her yell.  With no other option I did as I was told and rolled as swiftly as I could to my side and onto my four feet, barely dodging the heavy feet of Rhyhorn.

            Facing the Rhyhorn angrily, I tried to attack it with a strong Thunderbolt.  But, it didn't work at all!  Samantha took that opportunity to tell me that electric attacks would have no effect on the burly Pokémon that I was up against.  Now she tells me.

            "Fury Attack!" yelled the gym leader.

            "Dodge it, Raizy!" Samantha cried.  She didn't have to tell me twice.

            However, I didn't have to move much to dodge the Rhyhorn's attack.  As it took its first steps towards me, it staggered and winced in pain.  "Great!" I heard Samantha say.  "Slick's poison is working!"  Hmm, so apparently Slick had already fought before me… and lost.  Despite this I grinned, knowing that he had gone down with a fight and poisoning the living mountain of a Pokémon before me.

            "Now use Dynamic Punch between the eyes!" Samantha yelled.

            Quickly I leapt up in front of the suffering beast, rearing back my fist and concentrating as much power as I could into it before I struck.  Unable to react in time, the poisoned Rhyhorn took the hit right in the middle of its massive forehead over his horn and between his eyes.  With that last powerful blow the Rhyhorn's short legs gave way and it fell to the ground; it was so heavy that the building itself rumbled.

              Returning Rhyhorn to his Pokéball with a beam of red light, the gym leader complimented my trainer.  "Well done, Samantha!  My brother told me that your father was an excellent trainer, and I'm glad that you seem to be following in his footsteps."  He grinned like he knew a joke unknown to everyone but himself as he pulled another Pokéball from his pocket.  With a tap of the button on it, the Pokéball expanded to fit his hand and he threw it out onto the field.

            The energy that blasted out of the Pokéball materialized a large Pokémon that somewhat resembled a Zubat, but with eyes and four wings.  Behind me I could hear Samantha's Pokédex chime and report information about my new foe.

            "Crobat, the bat Pokémon.  Crobat's four wings make it an incredibly fast and silent nocturnal predator.  If it is tired, it alternates wings between its front and back pairs.  When it is completely at rest, it uses its hind legs that serve as wings to hang from tree branches," spoke the lifeless voice of Samantha's gadget.

            I looked up at the Crobat in wonder and she looked down at me.  With a fanged grin she quietly said to me, ""May the best Pokémon win.""

            I only grinned back and nodded before Samantha and the Crobat's trainer gave out our commands.  "Crobat, Super Sonic!"

            "Raizy, use Thunderwave!"

            I held up my paws in front of me and aimed at Crobat in an attempt to paralyze it with a specialized wave of electricity, but before I could do it properly the Crobat shrieked a terrible piercing noise.  I covered my ears to try to block out the sound, but to no avail.  I stumbled across the battlefield, my sense of balance totally thrown off as if there were another Earthquake shaking the gym.  Accidentally slamming into boulders and tripping over rocks, I found myself completely unable to focus.

            Nothing in the room made sense anymore.  Down was up, left was right, and everything was swirling.  When people were shouting, it came out not as words but as a slurred mess of jumbled sounds.  Before I knew it, something had slammed me hard in the stomach and sent me tumbling across the room and into a large rock to the side of the battlefield.

            "Razzz… geuu… get… uoo… Raiizzzyy!!"  I heard Samantha call.  Shaking my head and rubbing my face, my senses were coming back to me, but not before Crobat had hit me again in the back with her wings.

            I struggled slowly to my feed and looked up to see that I was facing Samantha and Tobias.  Samantha looked worried and was encouraging me to stand again.  Tobias looked surprised that I was losing. 

            "Thunderbolt!"

            "Finish her off with Poison Fang!"

            Slowly turning around I was swiftly greeted by Crobat sinking her fangs into my right shoulder.  I could feel poison being pumped into my bloodstream, but I tried hard not to let it distract me from attacking.  Crobat was successfully electrocuted by lightning bolt at close range, but she still found the energy to fly away and watch me from a distance.

            I was breathing heavily from pain and exhaustion at that point, but strangely enough I didn't feel like I was poisoned.  Unlike Jurai or the Rhyhorn, I didn't feel any dizziness and I could still think straight.

            "The poison had no effect?"  the gym leader asked aloud in surprise.  The Crobat, too, looked alarmed.

            "Raizy, hit her with another Thunderbolt!"

            I tried to shoot another bolt of electricity at Crobat to catch her while she was off guard, but she was much too swift.  She easily dodged all my lightning attacks while her trainer commanded her to use Air Cutter.

            While hovering in the air she beat her wings faster and faster.  Before my eyes I saw glowing blades of wind take form and shoot straight at me.  Samantha yelled at me to dodge, but I was too slow.  I held up my paws in a futile attempt to block the wind blades, but it was too strong, and the attack knocked me across the arena and into nearby boulder, where I blacked out.

            When I awoke again I was still inside the Pewter City Gym.  I rubbed my painful head gently and looked around to see that Samantha and Slick were both smiling at me.

            ""We lost, didn't we?"" I sighed.

            ""Nope!  We won!"" Slick answered happily.

            ""But… you went and… then I lost…?""

            ""I went into battle first and poisoned the Rhyhorn, but Samantha recalled me from fighting before I fainted." Slick explained. ""I think she sent out you because your Dynamic Punch could actually hurt the Rhyhorn, while all my attacks were too weak.  I defeated the Crobat after you passed out.""

            ""Is that so…"" I said.  Even though we had won, I felt bad that I couldn't defeat the Crobat myself.

            ""B-but that was only because you weakened her first!"" said Slick.  He was so nice.

            "So, Samantha," said the gym leader, walking towards us from across the gym floor.  "You put up a great fight there.  You guys rightfully deserve this Boulder Badge."  The older trainer pulled out a small case from his vest and opened it to reveal a small grey piece of plastic.  Wait, that was it?  A small piece of junk?

            Samantha seemed overjoyed to receive her prize, however.  "Thank you, Mr. Jerome!" She took it with glee and admired it in her hands. 

            "Please, Sam, I'm practically your relative… just call me Jerome."

            Sam then released Mango from his Pokéball and held down the badge so we could all see.  "Look guys, it's our first earned gym badge!"  I tried to be excited, but I couldn't really.  I was still feeling kind of bitter over losing, and besides, it was just a piece of shiny plastic.  Fortunately for Sam, Mango and Slick's excitement covered up my lack of enthusiasm.

            Samantha turned to Tobias, who was standing not far behind us.  "Toby, are you ready to challenge the gym now?"

            "I'm ready with two more Pokémon if you are," answered the gym leader.

            Both Tobias and Joe looked really nervous about fighting.  However, Tobias nervously accepted with a stammering voice.  The gym leader took his place across from Tobias at the other side of the field while Samantha, Mango, Slick, and I went to the sidelines.

            Tobias sent Joe out onto the field while the gym leader threw out a ball, opening to reveal a Pokémon that looked like a giant living rock.  Samantha, Mango, and Slick all cheered as the trainers gave their Pokémon their first commands and the battle began…