Part 8: Out of the Blue

        We stepped outside the Pokemon Centre and stretched in the warm city sun. We had just finished a quick breakfast and all my pokemon were well rested, ready for our second gym battle. I turned to Salvadore who was nursing the egg given to us by Lanette.

        ‘So, where abouts is this gym?’, I asked.

        ‘Hmm, as far as I can remember its just a few blocks down this way’, he answered as he nodded eastwards down the busy street.

        ‘Awesome! Then lets go!’, I said vibrantly.

I was just about to march off when Aly spoke, ‘Hey, umm, why don’t you guys go on ahead! Dratini and I will catch up with you later, after your battle. There were a few shops I saw yesterday that I wanted to have a look at.’

I looked back at her, kind of disappointed but smiled all the same. It would have been nice to have her support but I wasn’t going to stop her. ‘Well have a nice time. I’ll call you on the Pokegear when I’m finished’

‘Thanks’, she smiled back, ‘And good luck with your gym battle! I know you can do it!’ She winked and waved farewell for the moment.

‘Thanks!’, I saluted her and we walked our separate ways.

Salvadore and I walked east through the city for over ten minutes and then took a left under Salvadore’s suggestion. We passed a small bakery, emitting wafts of freshly baked baguettes, croissants and other delicious pastries. The smells engulfed my nostrils and triggered memories of Viridian City, of home. I only left home a few weeks ago but it had seemed like an eternity.

I missed my mother and Growly. I wonder how they were getting on without me? I shook my head and turned my thoughts back to my upcoming gym match. That was my main concern now. I would just have to ring home at a later stage.

I turned to Salvadore who seemed to be lost in his own daydream, ‘Hey Salvadore, do you know anything about this gym?. I thought some sort of heads up might be helpful’.

The breeder snapped out of his trailing thoughts and took a moment to think. Then, his eyes rolled upwards and he blushed as he began to smile, ‘Cerulean City is a water gym run by the three most beautiful sisters in the whole world’, he sighed in a goofy voice, the one he normally used whenever he saw a girl that he would marry on the spot, ‘Their worldly reown as the Sensational Sisters!’

A water gym? With three gym leaders? I wonder how this is going to work I thought to myself, ignoring the breeder’s love daze. I also started thinking about which of my pokemon I would use. Peeks was the obvious choice, given it’s electric typing. Perhaps a water type like Toto might do well. I guess I would have to wait and see what I would be up against.

We turned another corner and there, in a central square of the up market side of the city towered a vibrant blue building. There was a large billboard spreading across the upper part of the building in the shape of a Dewgong. It read, “Cerulean City Aquarium and Gym Arena”.

‘Finally!’, I stated out loud, ‘I get to battle for my second badge!’ I was brimming excitement and could not contain my eagerness. With a sudden burst of energy I ran across the square, towards the gym.

‘Hey, wait up!’, Salvadore called after me as he walked briskly, yet carefully, as not to disturb the egg.

The electronic doors of the complex opened, greeting us into the reception area. Amazed by the whole place we walked in. The reception was an elongated room, decorated with pots of shrubbery. It was spacious and air vented, a nice cool contrast from the city’s dead heat.

There was an adequate sized desk in front of us, tended to by a beautiful blonde haired girl who was speaking softly on the phone. But the thing that struck me most was the wall behind her which consisted almost entirely out of glass, containing a miniature sea of water type pokemon. Two furnished wooden doors stood at either end of the room. According to the signs, the one on the right lead to the aquarium while the door on the left lead to the battle arena.

‘Oh, Salvadore! What a nice surprise!’, said the beautiful blonde as she hung up the phone.

‘Eh... h-hey... Daisy’, the breeder mumbled as he stared, mesmerized by the woman’s beauty.

‘Shouldn’t you be in Pewter City running your gym?’, she questioned.

Salvadore stared blankly at her for a second and then shook his head, his mind coming back to the real world. ‘Ahem, ah not anymore’, he answered, ‘You see I want become a breeder so my father said he would take care of it’. He spoke fast. His face was stern and awkward and sometimes his lip began to twitch with nervousness.

I stood there in thought for a moment, trying to figure things out before I was interrupted by the woman called Daisy.

‘Oh that’s great. You remind me so much of Brock’, she giggled. She then turned her attention to me, ‘So, who’s your friend?’

‘Oh, hi! My name’s Robin. I’m from Viridian and I want to become a pokemon master’, I introduced myself as I massaged the back of my neck. I was blushing a bit. The receptionist was very pretty after all.

‘Oh, a trainer!’, Daisy exclaimed with a smirk, ‘Let me guess. You wanna battle for the Cascade Badge?’

I nodded with an embarrassed grin.

‘Thought so, you’re the third one this week. Since it is quiet enough at the moment how does a battle right now sound?’

‘That would be awesome!’. My expression changed to a more eager and confident look.

‘Great! Well, if you would like to follow me in just a moment. I just have to call Trish, our receptionist first’, she smiled and and pressed a buzzer on the desk.

After a moment, an older woman came through the aquarium entrance and nodded happily at us before taking a seat behind the reception desk.

‘Thanks Trish. We have a challenger here who seems pretty excited to battle’, Daisy smiled once more and made her way to the battle arena door before looking back at us, ‘Well, are you coming or what?’ She laughed.

I hesitantly nodded and we both followed her through the door. Could she be one of  the gym leaders I thought to myself? Salvadore followed slowly behind, still smiling awkwardly. His face was a strong red colour with embarrassment.

All thoughts soon fled from my mind as we entered what looked like a private swimming pool complex. There were spectator benches towering both sides of the pool. In the pool itself were two white platforms floating at either side of the mass of water. The ceiling was made of glass panes from which sunlight beamed through and heat in the arena, intensifying the strong smell of chlorine.

As we observed our surroundings, two women, slightly younger looking than Daisy appeared from a sauna room at the opposite end of the pool. They were both in bikinis and each had a towel hanging around their shoulders. They looked very similar to Daisy, apart from their hair colour. One had violet coloured hair while the other had pink coloured hair which curled over both her shoulders. The three girls looked equally stunning in their looks.

This was evident as Salvadore’s jaw dropped at the site of the three beauties.

‘Violet, Lily, you’re just in time!’, exclaimed Daisy, ‘Salvadore is here and his little friend wants to challenge us!’.

This confirmed my suspicions. The three women were the Cerulean City gym leaders!

‘Oh, hey Salvadore. Haven’t seen you in a while. My word, you sure have grown since the last time’, said the violet haired trainer trainer as all three sister approached us.

‘Yeah... long time...’, trailed the breeder in his accustomed goofy voice.

The pink haired trainer turned her attention to me and gave me scrupulous look before smiling, ‘So, who’s this cutie?’.

My face went more pink than her hair at the sound of her words.

‘This is Robin’, answered Daisy to my relief. If I had tried to speak I don’t think I would have been able to utter a single word. She continued, ‘He’s from Viridian and wants to battle us for the Cascade Badge’.

I nodded at her words as I tried to regain my composure.

‘Please to meet you, Robin’, the pink haired girl woman offered her hand, ‘My name’s Lily’. I shook her hand, or at least attempted to as I held out limp hand, still blushing.

‘And my name’s Violet’, said her violet haired sister. A violet haired girl named Violet? It seemed very fitting. ‘I hope you’re as good as the other trainers we’ve had recently. The standard of beginner trainers has been extremely impressive of late.’

I snapped out of my pathetic trance and my eyes burned eagerly. There was no way I could let far Kiwi or Tammie get ahead of me!

‘I’m ready for anything you’ve got’, I said very enthusiastically, so much so that even Salvadore broke out of his goofy stare and gave me a questionable look.

I had to be confident. I had to believe that I could win! Didn’t I?
        ‘Well then, lets see if you are as good as you think you are’, smirked Daisy, her eyes relishing for the challenge, ‘If you want to win our badge then you are gonna have to beat at least two of the three of us!’

‘I’m battling all three of you?’, I gulped. The confidence drained from my body as I spoke. One gym leader was tough enough but three was very intimidating.

‘You heard me!’, continued Daisy as her eyes narrowed, ‘You don’t seem so sure of yourself anymore’, she mocked my fall in enthusiasm.

My body stiffened and I clenched my fist. I didn’t care how good looking they were. I was going to beat them all.

‘I’m going to win that badge’, I said coldly, staring directly into Daisy’s eyes. She saw that I meant business and sniffed.

‘That’s the spirit!’, she said more cheerfully, ‘To earn the Cascade Badge you have to win at least two of your battles against us in three separate one on one matched. You must use a different pokemon in each of your matches. I’ll referee the first two matches. If you make it as far as me then one of my sisters can take over. You got all that?’

I nodded understandingly.

‘I guess I’ll go first’, said Lily happily, ‘Come on, Robin, lets get this thing started!’

Lily walked to the a bench area and laid her towel down. She picked up a blue denim jacket and put it on.

I stood on the spot for a moment and then looked up at the sisters, ‘Um... where’s the battle field?’, I asked.

The three women looked at each other and burst into laughter.

‘Oh, Robin, you’re so funny!’, giggled Violet, ‘You’re standing right beside it’

I looked over at the swimming pool and then back to Daisy and Violet who were still sniggering.

Even Salvadore was smiling, ‘Come on, Robin’, he smirked, ‘Surely you could have guessed that a gym with water pokemon would have a battle field with benefits to the water type.’

I looked back at him with an unimpressed expression. Just whose side was on!?

‘I guess’, I mumbled in response and made my way over the the end of the pool, opposite to where Lily was standing with a pokeball in her hand. Salvadore and Violet went into the viewing stands and Daisy took her place as the referee.

‘This is the first battle of a possible three’, announced Daisy, ‘The challenger, Robin, will have the first move.’

We both nodded in agreement.

Lily threw her pokeball, ‘Come on out, Seel!’, she called and a small seal-like pokemon came out of the pokeball and landed on the floating platform.

I checked my Dex:

Seel, the sea lion pokemon. Although seel can move on land it is a graceful swimmer and uses its pointed head to break ice in cool arctic seas.

I considered my options for a moment. Peeks had the obvious advantage but I didn’t want to use him too soon. After a few seconds of thought I unclipped a pokeball and through it into the air, ‘Lets go, Hope!’

The Butterfree fluttered gracefully in the air.

‘Hope, lets start this off with a stun spore!’, I ordered.

Hope flapped her wings and emitted a wave of yellow spore. The powder covered the Seel and the water pokemon flinched.

Lily pouted and roared orders at her pokemon, ‘Seel, jump in the water and wash that stun spore off!’ The Seel obeyed and slid off the platform, diving into the pool. ‘Now, use water gun!’

Seel resurfaced and sent bouts of water towards Hope.

‘Dodge ‘em all!’, I urged.

Hope fluttered side to side, frantically trying to avoid the series of water attack. She avoided them successfully but seemed to tire.

‘Great job, Hope’, I encouraged my weary pokemon, ‘Give it your all, use gust!’

Hope screeched a battle cry and began to beat her wings furiously. Strong gusts of wind cut the water, forming rough waves. The Seel was thrashed about in the windy water.

‘Get back into the water’, commanded Lily. The seal pokemon withdrew itself into the blustering waves. The water was too choppy from the gust attack that I could not tell where abouts the Seel had gone.

‘Hope, stop your attack and keep an eye out-’

My command was interrupted by a giant splash as the Seel jumped out of the pool, right in front of Hope.

-SEEEEL!!!-

‘Seel, use Aurora Beam!’, yelled Lily.

In mid air, Seel exhaled colorful waves of ice cold air. The attack was too close for Hope to dodge and she took a direct hit. My butterfree stumbled back through the air and fell into the pool. Seel dive back into the water, out of site. Hope spluttered and flapped about in the waves as the water staggered maliciously, still rough from the previous gust attack. The butterfree had just taken a super effective attack and was somehow still conscious, but I didn’t have much time.

I screamed words of encouragement, willing Hope to break free of the waters grasp but Hope did not have enough strength.

Lily smirked, ‘Sorry Robin, but this ends now! Seel, use headbutt!’

Without warning Seel rose beneath Hope and drove its pointed head into the flailing Hope’s stomach. The butterfree was flung into the air with great force and slammed into my chest. I just about managed to keep my balance. Shocked by what just happened, I looked down at Hope who was dripping wet, lying fainted in my arms.

‘Butterfree is unable to battle. Round one goes to Lily of Cerulean!’, declared Daisy.

‘You did great out there’, I whispered to Hope, cradling her in my arms. I then took out her pokeball and called her back, ‘Take a long rest’.

Lily complimented her Seel as she withdrew her pokemon, ‘Nice try, Robin, but you’ll have to do better than that if you want to beat the Sensational Sisters!’, she gloated as she left her battle stand and walked up to the viewing area to join Salvadore.

The breeder blushed once more as he was joined by Lily and Violet stood up to make her way to the pool. She put on her own blue denim top and stood at the opposite side of the water.

She had a lot more confidence than I had at this moment in time. She was right to be confident. I had been knocked right off my stride with that lost and my body expression said it all. I stared down at the ground with a lump in my throat.

‘The second gym match is between Robin and Violet. Same rules apply as the last match. Robin, Daisy directed her words towards me, ‘You must win this match is you want to advance to the final round. That’s if you still want to battle’. There was no mocking in her voice. She was being genuine.

 I looked up at her and my face stiffened. I wasn’t ready for this. I stared at her speechless and shook my head. My pokemon might stand a chance on ground, but in water, it was a whole new ball game. Even with Peeks, did I really stand a chance?

I was just about to utter some words of defeat when a voice thundered behind me.

‘Robin! Cop yourself on and get your head in the battle!’

I spun around to see an enraged Aly. Her and Dratini stared sternly at me.

I instantly perked up at her presence, shocked, yet relieved to see her. A glimmer of belief crept into my heart but I was still unsure of myself.

The gym leaders looked at us, intrigued by our mid battle conversation.

‘Come on!’, her voice turned more encouraging rather than angry, ‘We gave up on shopping to watch you battle. The least you can do is try! You have to believe in your pokemon! You always have done and now is no different!’

She was right.

I nodded at her and turned to face my opponent with a look of determination.

Violet smirked, ‘You’re lucky you have good friends! But enough chatting. Lets go, Staryu!’ She threw her pokeball and a golden star like pokemon with a ruby at its centre landed on the platform.

I checked my Dex, bemused by its strange appearance:

Staryu, the star shape pokemon. Staryu can regenerate as long as its main red core stays in tact.

I reviewed my options once again. Since Mia was a cat pokemon I don’t think she would handle the water very well. That left me with either Peeks or Toto. And then I had an idea. What if I could use the water to my own benefit? I had to try!

I took out my pokeball and stared at it, ‘Ok, buddy. We have to give this a shot. I’m counting on you’ I threw my pokeball, ‘Go, Toto!’.

Toto jumped out of his pokeball and danced lively in the floating platform.

‘Since, you went first last time I thinks it only fair that we should start now’, beamed Violet, ‘Staryu, use rapid spin!’

-HYAH!-

The star shaped pokemon spun on the spot and then thread rapidly on its back along the water, advancing towards Toto.

‘Toto, dive underwater and dodge it!’, I bellowed.

Toto obeyed and sprang off the platform, diving into the water.

‘Staryu, follow it!’

The Staryu spun into the air and then went spinning down into the water after Toto. For a second neither pokemon could be seen but then Toto shot up into the air, propelled by the  spinning Staryu.

My totodile tumbled onto the  white platform but struggled to his feet under my  encouragement.

‘Toto, try a water gun attack!’

‘Block it with rapid spin and use tackle!’

Toto exhaled a gush of water but Staryu spun through the water and to my surprise, through the water attack. Toto stopped, surprised by the Staryu’s strength and was struck with a powerful tackle. The totodile was sent tumbling back and crashed into the wall of the pool.

I gritted my teeth as Violet complimented her Staryu which had now taken its position on its own platform, unphased.

‘Come on!’ I screamed at Toto as Aly had done at me, ‘You’ve got to hang in there!’

With all its might, Toto struggled onto the platform at our side of the pool. He staggered onto his feet and yelled like he was in anger. I had never seen him act like this. He continued to roar out as everyone turned their attention to him.

-TOTOTOTOTOTOTOOO!!!!!-

The Totodile seemed to tense his muscles and his eyes went red. Something was happening but I didn’t know what. I checked my Dex:

Torrent, Totodiles ability. When Totodile’s health is at its minimal, its water attacks escalate to a far superior strength than normal.

Nice to know I thought to myself.

‘Your pokemon’s ability might be in effect now, but not for much longer!’, jeered Violet, ‘Lets finish this with a final rapid spin!’

Once again, the Staryu began to spin on the spot and then advanced on its back towards Toto.

‘Toto, lean against the pool wall and wait for my command’, I said calmly. I was waiting for this. And Toto did as I said.

Everyone looked on anxiously.

As Staryu approached Toto I ordered authoritatively, ‘Toto, use bite!’

Toto opened his jaw, welcoming the attack starfish.  The Totodile bit down with force , stopping the Staryu from spinning any further and crushing the pokemon’s precious healing jewel.

Violet shrieked and encouraged Staryu to break free from Toto’s grip, but as I had learned from previous battles, nothing can unhinge itself from Toto’s grasp .Staryu struggled in the Totodile’s jaws as cracks appeared in its red core.

‘Time to finish this!’, I thundered. Toto propelled himself into the air and on my command unleash a water gun like I had never seen. It was like a waterfall only stronger, blasting Staryu into our floating platform. The battle platform snapped in two on impact from the attacks audacity. The bigger section of the broken stage went flying into the empty visitor stand while small piece landed back in the water with a splash. It was hard to believe that such a small pokemon could generate such an awesome attack.

Toto bounced onto the thin remaining plank of platform and breathed heavily. When the pool became still after the attack, Staryu floated lifelessly on the mellow water, its red core beeping like a siren. I wasn’t so sure what this meant.

Violet, Lily and Salvadore looked on in shock.

Daisy spoke once she had taken in what had just happened, ‘Staryu is unable to battle. This round goes to Robin.’

Violet withdrew Staryu in disbelief, ‘Thanks Staryu.’ She then looked over to me, ‘I don’t know how you did that but consider this a lucky break’, she said sternly as she made her way over to where Daisy was standing.

I completely ignored her words as I stooped over the swimming pool and gently lifted up the panting totodile, speechless. Toto smiled and then his head collapsed onto my shoulder, exhausted from his battle. ‘You never fail to surprise me. I owe you so much. Thank you!’ I hugged my pokemon even tighter and then returned him to his pokeball for a hero’s rest.

I owed my pokemon so much. They did so much for me and always gave it their best shot.

‘I wouldn’t celebrate just yet!’

I looked up at Daisy who had stopped me in my mid thoughts and was now facing me across the battle pool, ready for the final showdown.

I grinned as I looked up. Somehow my pokemon and I had managed to turn the tables but I still had to win my next match or else our previous battle would have been won in vain. I knew this match was there for the taking. Daisy’s water pokemon, whatever it was was now at the mercy of Peeks’ electric attacks.

‘You’re badge is mine!’, I shouted across at her, eagerness beaming from my eyes. I held Peeks’ pokeball firmly in my grasp, sure of myself.

Violet cleared her throat and stated as the official referee, ‘ This is the final round between Gym Leader, Daisy and challenger, Robin. Like the previous battles this will be a one on one match. The winner of this match will decide the outcome of the Cascade Badge. As winner of the last round, Robin and his pokemon will have the first move’ There was a hint of boredom to her voice but I didn’t take any notice. My thoughts was set on victory.

‘Good luck, Robin. You’re gonna need it!’, yelled the gym leader cheekily across the pool and threw her pokeball, ‘Give him a battle he’ll never forget, Quagsire!’

The pokeball opened and from the beam of red light stood a giant fish like pokemon with four limbs and a large head. It slowly looked around with a simplistic stare.

I giggled to myself. That badge was mine for sure.

Without a second thought I threw my pokeball and Peeks emerged from the red beam, standing battle ready on the small piece of the platform that remained.

Everyone in the vicinity gasped, I assumed out of shock that I had saved a pikachu for my final victory.

I stood up tall and ordered a quick thunderbolt attack. There was a hint of cockyness in my voice but I didn’t care. As far as I was concerned I was a short battle away from my second badge.

 Pikachu let loose a charge of a electricity that made a direct hit with the Quagsire. I smiled as the attack... did absolutely nothing?

My jaw dropped and eyes bulged from their sockets. That thing was suppose to be unconscious or worse! But it just looked up and sighed like nothing had happened. How was this even possible?

‘You idiot!’, Aly sighed from behind me. She emphasised the second word as she sunk her head into her palmed hands. I appreciated her support and advice but sometimes her words could really get to me.

The sunlight coming from the above windows began to fade as clouds engulfed the sky.

‘Tut tut tut’, sniggered Daisy at my horrendous mistake which I was still trying to comprehend, ‘You are so obsessed in winning and that is why you will fail!’. Her words pierced my ears.

I angrily checked my Dex:

Quagsire, the water fish pokemon and the evolved form of Wooper. Quagsire is generally a care free pokemon. Despite its aquatic appearance it is partly ground typing.

I bowed my head in shame. That explained everything. Peeks’ electric attacks had no effect on Quagsire’s part ground typing. I shook my head and focused my thoughts. We couldn’t  give in. Not now.

‘Ok, Peeks! Electric attacks are off limits, but we still have your other moves and speed. Lets try a quick attack!’, I encouraged the pikachu who nodded in response and jumped into the water. It swam as fast as it could but unfortunately it was only a mediocre speed.

‘Ready yourself!’, Daisy commanded and Quagsire crouched down, waiting for the approaching pikachu.

What were they planning!?

Peeks came within a few meters of Quagsire before leaping out of the water, surging towards the target with intent.

‘Quagsire, use mud bomb now!’, ordered Daisy.

The Quagsire’s facial expression didn’t change but it slapped its fin-like hands together and formed a giant ball of oozing mud. It flung the mud bomb at the helpless pikachu and made a direct hit, sending Peeks soaring backwards,  into the water, beside the small platform. He landed with a heavy splash.

 I looked on anxiously as the pikachu resurfaced, its body floating face down in the water. A flash of lightning briefly lit the gloomy complex and was closely followed by an eruption of thunder as a storm brewed above us.

All fell silent for a moment.

Then, just as Violet was about to declare Daisy the winner, Peeks’ peaked-ear twitched and Peeks slowly raised his head from the water. I sighed in relief.

No one said a word as the small electric mouse slowly swam over to the small floating platform and struggled its way on top of it. The poor thing looked in bad shape, his face and body badly marked with mud stains.

A chorus of thunder and heavy rain shook and rattled the over panes of glass. This was complemented by frequent flashes of lightning. I found it strange how fast the storm had come around,given the glorious weather we had that morning. Then, my thoughts quickly focused on Peeks who was struggling to stand. It would hardly be able to battle on.

‘Well, top marks for never giving up’, said Daisy admiringly, ‘But are you still gonna let that poor thing battle?’

I thought long and hard while staring at Peeks who had struggled onto his hind legs. A tear of admiration forced its way from the corner of my eye. I knelt down and made eye contact with my pokemon, my friend.

‘Hey, you gave it your all’, I said in a low voice. Peeks looked deep into my concerned eyes. I wiped a piece of mud off his cheeks. ‘But I can’t see a way around this one. Your electric attacks have no effect against Quagsire. So what do ya say. Will we call it quits for today’ A lump grew in my throat as a mumbled those words. I hated to lose! But I’d rather lose a battle than a friend!

To my surprise Peeks shook his head and raised his arms. Electricity cracked across his red pouches.

-PIKA!!!-Pi-Pikachu!!!-

‘You still want to battle?’, I said astounded. Peeks nodded.

It was then that I started to notice something... something different about his eyes. They were usually pitch black, but now they started to turn a dark blue. Peeks eyes turned more blue and blue as the storm above intensified. Then, without warning pikachu screamed and unleashed a thunderbolt up to the ceiling. His thunderbolt was met with a strike of lightning from the heavens and the glass ceiling above us shattered on impact.

Shards of glass hailed down on us. We covered our heads with our arms for protection. Salvadore protected the egg with his body and Aly did likewise with Dratini.

‘What on earth is going!?’, Daisy rightly demanded an answer but I just shrugged speechless. Her guess was as good as mine.

The shards of glass were shortly followed by an onslaught of heavy rain. Peeks looked up at me, his eyes still as blue as the ocean and winked at me reassuringly.

What was going on!? I nodded resignedly at the pikachu, putting all my faith in whatever it planned to do.

We stood there, becoming gradually soaked to the skin.

Then, it felt like an eerie force had swept over the battle arena. I looked on as the  pool began to splash end to end, not like blustering waves but as one single body of water. Peeks lay flat on the platform, his head tilting over the edge as the pool beneath him began to rise and fall in a constant swing, like a pendulum. Quagsire looked around  confused. Daisy screamed orders for it to get out of the pool but there was nowhere it could go. It just stood helplessly as  it moved up and down on the platform in contrast to Peeks’ movements.

In all the commotion I turned for my Dex:

Such criteria is impossible.

Not even my Dex knew what was happening!

-Pika-Pika-Pika-CHUUUUUU!!!-

Both Daisy and I retreated back as far as possible, afraid, as the mass of water pulled back and rose beneath Peeks. The pikachu stood upright on the platform and let out a final battle cry to the heavens. With that, the water came crashing down towards the helpless Quagsire. It was almost like Peeks was surfing on the wave, controlling the flow of water. Of course such a thought was impossible... surely... wasn’t it?

Quagsire was struck with the force of the entire pool and engulfed in the aftermath. Peeks surfed the wave on the remainder of the platform and guided the wave around the pool until he eventually drifted back to my side of the pool.

I looked at the cheery pikachu as his eyes turned back to a normal dark colour. He smiled at me and the storm above us immediately ceased. The skies started to clear and sunshine gradually filled the flooded battle field.

All went silent for a moment, then Quagsire resurfaced on top of the still water, fainted.

‘Quagsire is... unable to battle’, Violet said hesitantly in disbelief. She then shook her head and cleared her throat. ‘I hereby declare Robin the winner of this match and of the Cerulean Gym!’

Without a second thought I jumped in to the swimming pool and embraced Peeks in my arms, ‘I don’t know what just happened but you did it!’ Tears of joy streamed down my cheeks.

Daisy stared at her fainted Quagsire and then withdrew it to its pokeball, thanking it for its effort. She then looked at me and smiled as she walked around to our side of the pool. I hoisted myself out of the water with one arm and held Peeks in the other.

Daisy helped us up until I was steady on my feat. She then put her hand into her soaked skirt pocket and took out a small badge in the shape of a raindrop. ‘Here’, she said softly, holding out the badge, ‘This is the Cascade Badge. Please take it as an acknowledgement of your victory over this gym. You and your pokemon are something else!’, she smiled.

I carefully took the badge and held it up to Peeks who was snuggling into my damp chest.

‘What do you think, Peeks?’

My Pikachu smiled happily at our achievement and rested his head against my chest again.

We were joined by Aly, Salvadore and the other gym leaders, all complimenting our battle and Peeks’ bizarre surfing ability.

‘So, where to next, Robin’, Aly asked enthusiastically.

‘Umm... I’m not too sure to be honest’, I answered, kind of stumped.

‘Well, if you want a real challenge then maybe you should try Saffron City’s Gym’, suggested Violet with a smirk.

‘Wh-what’s so different about Saffron’s Gym than any other gym’, I asked hesitantly.

‘Well, it’s one of the closest gyms for a start’, answered Daisy, ‘That and the fact that the gym leader had not been beaten in two years. But you’re so full of surprises. You could change all that’, she laughed heartily.

Two years? This gym leader had to be strong!

After a moment’s thought, I nodded, ‘Saffron it is!’, I smiled, unaware of what truly was in store for us... and who was awaiting our arrival!