I Hate Pokemon! [PG-13] (2024)

Chapter 10: Rocks, Battles, and Xatu

Hitomi stared helplessly up at Grady. "What can we do?" she implored. "The moment we run into Genji, it’s all over! I can’t possibly keep these two with me now – not when I know what’ll be waiting for them when our luck runs out!"

"Péle not leaving Hitomi side!" the little avian cried shrilly. "No way! Péle job protect Hitomi, and I doing that!"

As if to add emphasis to his statement, Verdiana reared up on her hind legs, beating her wings and pawing the air with her forelegs. She trumpeted a fierce cry at them, as if to say that if Genji tried anything with her, he was going to regret it. She dropped back on all fours and growled ferociously.

"Good," Grady replied, his expression grave. "An idea has come to me – just now. It will be terribly risky, but it’s all I’ve been able to come up with, and as far as I can tell, it’s the only thing that’ll give us one clear shot at success."

"Well, don’t keep us in the dark," Hitomi cried anxiously. "Let’s hear it! I’ll consider any suggestion at this point."

"I don’t dare tell you any more than I have to," Grady replied, smiling sheepishly. "This guy’s already shown that he has no qualms when it comes to reading peoples’ minds. The fewer people around who know my idea, the better."

Hitomi looked as though he’d slapped her across the face. "Are you saying you don’t trust me not to give your plan away?" She inquired stiffly, shooting him a burning glare.

"Although it sounds really bad when you put it that way," Grady laughed, "the short answer is yes. It’s not as though it’s your fault or anything, Hitomi. But the hell of it is, this guy has already read your mind before. He’ll try it again, the moment we encounter him. Why shouldn’t he? He’ll be suspicious the moment he realizes you’re no longer alone. Besides, it’s not as though we can afford to take these kinds of risks. Like I said, we’ll only get one shot at this. We have to do it right the first time."

"Well, all right," she sighed irritably. "But keep this in mind, Grady. He’s not going to limit himself to just reading my mind. Of course he’ll be suspicious. Don’t you think he’ll try and read yours too?"

"Just let me worry about that," Grady assured her. "I know how to handle psychics. I’ve been dealing with them for a long while now. Kinda comes with the territory as a dark pokémon trainer. Just the same," he continued, frowning as though something bothered him, "it won’t be enough. We need to make him think that I’m not a threat. That’s where you’ll come in. In order for our plan to work, you’re going to have to think in such a way that will make him immediately dismiss me as a threat to his intentions. In your eyes, I have to be a weak pokémon trainer who has no idea what Neo Perfection is, or who he is. And any trace of this plan I’m talking about can’t exist in your mind either."

"I can’t possibly keep all of that from entering my mind!" Hitomi protested. "Certainly not for long, anyway! There’s no way I could convince him of that!"

"Ah, but that’s only if we rely on your mind alone," Grady replied, winking and tapping his temple with one finger. "That’s where Péle comes into play. He’ll have to, for lack of a better phrase, ‘control your mind,’ at least as far as what I said was concerned. He can’t control it entirely, or it’ll be too obvious. It’s got to be you acting and talking out there, with Péle being your defense against incriminating thoughts. Do you understand what I’m asking, Péle?" he asked, glancing down at the small bird and smiling. "Do you think you’ll be able to do that?"

"Péle can try," he replied, puffing up a little as he realized how important he was going to be to this plan. "Péle ready. Grady want try now?"

"Yes, let’s give it a whirl, then," Grady replied, nodding admiringly at Péle’s pluck and confidence. "We’ll use a codeword for it. The moment I say the codeword, I want you to set up your defenses in Hitomi’s mind. Hold them fast until I say the codeword again. Understand?" Péle bobbed his head. "Good. The codeword is ‘horseradish.’ Ready?"

Péle glanced back at Hitomi, who nodded at him so as to give him permission. He looked back at Grady. "Péle ready," he replied. "Go ahead."

"Horseradish," Grady said clearly, putting his hands into his pockets and glancing up at Hitomi’s face.

Péle’s eyes opened wide, and his body went a little rigid. Hitomi went immediately from wondering what it would feel like to have her train of thought derailed, to not remembering what they were doing, or what they’d been talking about.

"I’m sorry, Grady," she said in surprise as she noticed both he and Péle were staring at her expectantly. "I must have zoned out or something. What were we doing again?"

"That’s all right Hitomi," Grady replied kindly. "I just wanted to know what you thought of my pokémon. Did you like them?"

Hitomi thought for the briefest of moments that she knew the answer to his question, but then all of the sudden, there was no answer there. "I’m sorry, Grady," she apologized again, feeling flustered at having been caught not paying attention. "I didn’t know you had pokémon. Are they very strong?"

"Oh yes," Grady laughed. "But that’s okay. Let’s try another question. What are you doing out here in the woods like this? Are you running from someone?"

"Er... yes," she replied, suddenly unsure of whether she ought to tell him. "I’d rather not talk about it if I don’t have to, though. I don’t want to get you involved."

"Perfect," Grady replied, beaming with satisfaction at Péle. "That oughta fool him. Horseradish, Péle."

Péle relaxed his hold on Hitomi’s mind, and sudden and complete understanding washed over her surprised face. "Whoa!" she cried. "I... I remember! I seriously remember everything, including what happened after Péle took control of me!"

"Péle no take control," he interjected, his voice sounding uncomfortable. "Péle no like invading Hitomi mind. He only do what necessary. I never take control of Hitomi mind all the way. Ever," he added, wrinkling up his face as though the very idea repulsed him.

"I guess it’s for the better that we don’t have to rely on him to take over completely," Hitomi laughed. "I remember how strange it sounded to hear Nurse Joy talking like him when he did it to her. It’d definitely be obvious what was going on if we did it that way."

"Very good, Péle," Grady complimented him. "How long can you keep up that kind of control you used on Hitomi?"

"As long as need do it," Péle replied proudly. "It not hard at all."

"Good," Grady said again. "Very good, actually. What I suggest we do then, is just proceed as we normally would, with one exception – Péle will have to keep Hitomi’s mind clear of all thoughts of my pokémon and my knowledge of her predicament whenever we’re not alone. On thinking further on it, that’ll be better than just relying on a code word," he admitted, laughing good-naturedly. "Péle can sense better than any of us if someone’s nearby, and even more so if there’s danger. The moment that happens, you proceed with the plan, Péle, with or without a request from me. I’m relying on you to make this work."

"Péle won’t mess up," the little bird returned stoutly. "Grady and Hitomi count on Péle!"

"Wait a minute," Hitomi interjected, frowning as something unpleasant had occurred to her. "Won’t Genji try to read the pokémon’s minds when we run into him? How can we shield them from him?"

"Pokémon minds are harder to interpret than human minds, at least for other humans," Grady replied. "I’ve been told this many times by psychic trainers in the past. There are many people who’d love to know what their pokémon are thinking all the time, but it’s just not that easy. Even the psychic trainers usually find pokémon minds to be an enigma. And psychic pokémon, from what I hear, are even harder to riddle out. I don’t think we have to worry much about that. He’ll be focusing on the two of us more than he will them. You really have no idea how incredibly rare and unheard-of your pokémon is, Hitomi," he laughed. "I’ve never heard of one that could communicate freely with humans before. I shudder to think what your enemies would think of Péle. Anyway, I wouldn’t worry about his trying to read their minds. We’ll just bring both Péle and Verdiana along with us when we have to go somewhere. It’ll be worth the risk, because if we need to get away in a hurry, flying on Verdiana will be much safer than running away on foot."

"So that’s settled then," she sighed, somewhat relieved that they at least had some sort of plan, even though she still didn’t know quite what it was. "Now the question is, what should we do next? Should we go take on the Rustboro gym and speak to the gym leader there?"

"Yes, I think we should," Grady agreed. "That person is bound to be the strongest pokémon trainer in Rustboro. If nothing else, that makes him a target for Neo Perfection. We have to get to him before they do."

"So what are we waiting for?" Hitomi demanded. "Let’s get going then!"

"Hold on a minute," Grady laughed. "Let’s eat first. Then we’ll pack everything up and be on our way!"

After they’d eaten a rushed breakfast, they put out the fire and packed everything away in Grady’s backpack. Afterwards, they climbed aboard Verdiana, who was so eager to get started that she’d already bounded out of the cave, Grady pulled one of the pokéballs from his belt and released one of his pokémon. It was Hex, his umbreon.

"I’m going to keep this guy with me," he explained. "I want you to carry Péle in your arms, Hitomi, and I’ll carry Hex. We’ll go straight for the gym. You know what to do, Péle. And let me add this," he said quickly, a flash of an idea lighting up his face. "If you can, make Hitomi think that it was her idea to go to the gym, and that I’ve agreed to double up with her so that she can talk to the gym leader. That way we’ll have a story to go along with our presence in the gym. Just make sure you don’t make it sound like I know why she wants to talk to the gym leader."

"Péle understand," he replied. "I start now!"

"Let’s go, Verdiana," Hitomi said suddenly, knowing that time was of the essence. "Let’s go to the Rustboro gym!"

Verdiana snorted in reply, and in seconds, they were airborne. Hitomi thought about asking Grady what kind of pokémon he had, but she knew that it wouldn’t make any difference, since she didn’t even know what kind of pokémon she’d be facing in the impending battles of the gym, much less how to counter them. She looked down at Péle and frowned. She wondered if he and Verdiana could hold their own in a gym yet.

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The first thing Genji felt when he woke up was pain. It was a skull-splitting ache in the back of his head. Groaning, he planted his hands on the cold, tile floor, and he slowly picked himself up. He leaned against the bed for support and stared blearily at his surroundings. Where the hell was he? He stared blankly at the empty bed, with its leather shackles dangling off the corners, and a bedpan lying next to the pillow. Now he remembered. He was in the Petalburg Pokémon Center. But that meant... wait, where had she gone?

He stared around the room, trying to figure out why he’d fallen down, and where Hitomi had gone. Seeing nobody, he cursed under his breath and walked unsteadily toward the door. He nearly tripped and fell as his foot made contact with something soft.

"Oof," the unknown object moaned, stirring in her abating slumber. He glanced down and noticed Nurse Joy at the foot of the bed. He glanced back at the bed and noticed the dented bedpan near the pillow. Now at last, he began to understand. Joy had knocked him out with the bedpan, and she had freed Hitomi. Judging by the fact that she was still unconscious, she must have been under psychic control when she did it. So who, or what, had come to the girl’s aid?

Still pondering this, he walked out into the healing area, where he noticed the two pokéballs he had used to store Hitomi’s pokémon. One was lying on the counter next to the healing machine, while the other had fallen onto the floor. Both were empty. He picked them up and went out into the lobby. He pulled out his cell phone as he left the building, ignoring the horde of angry trainers who had begun to pile up in the lobby, their injured and fainted pokémon having been unhealed for much longer than they’d liked. He punched one of his speed dial options, and waited for the other end to connect.

"It’s me," he spoke as the woman on the other end picked up. "I’ve experienced a complication. The girl has escaped." He grinned with what resembled amusem*nt as he heard the voice on the other end try to decide whether she should ask what had happened, or ask if he wanted more support. She didn’t dare make any insinuation that he had experienced any kind of failure. To do so would have been a disastrous career choice indeed.

"No, I’m fine," he replied when she asked if he’d been hurt. "I was just careless. I’m coming back to base... No, I’ll resume the search on my own tomorrow. The situation isn’t out of hand, and besides, I need you there, to coordinate our next maneuver. I’m going to leave tomorrow morning for a quick flight to Johto. I need to see a man about a pair of balls." He fingered the two pokéballs he had picked up and stared at them for a moment.

There was an unmistakable sound of shocked protest on the other line, and Genji resisted the urge to chuckle at his own choice of words. "Don’t be idiotic," he replied coolly. "You know what I meant. I’ll be back with the girl by the end of the week. Call if you need specific instructions, but I’d suggest not landing yourself in a situation that requires you to report failures to me. I won’t be pleased if I have to return prematurely," he warned. "In the meantime, keep our operatives on the lookout for her. She’ll have a Natu and a tropius with her. Impress upon the troops that she is to be taken by force if necessary, but is to remain unharmed," he added, stuffing the pokéballs into his jacket pocket and releasing his Skarmory. "That’s all. I’ll meet you when I return to base. Have a doctor and a hot meal ready."

As he hung up the phone and mounted his Skarmory, it occurred to him that she’d had a prime opportunity to kill him back there. And again, she’d let him live. It was odd... very odd indeed. And yet, it was almost somewhat predictable. An adversary who showed mercy to her enemies was a rare one indeed, and he had every intention of taking advantage of this weakness and not allowing her to escape him a second time. This time, there would be no consideration of her own say in the matter. Sooner or later, she would have to realize that regardless of what she thought, he was going to get what he wanted. He always got what he wanted.

-----------------------

"There it is, Verdiana!" Hitomi cried as they circled the city of Rustboro from a comfortable height. "It’s that large building with the pokéball symbol on the front. That’s Rustboro Gym! Fly down and land us out front, okay?"

Verdiana gave an eager call of assent and glided down in a wide corkscrew pattern. She had learned by now that it only upset Hitomi if she dropped too quickly. Hitomi noticed this, and smiled despite herself. Verdiana wasn’t the dumb lumbering brute she’d thought she was when they first met. She was proving to be more sensitive and intelligent than that.

With a grunt, Verdiana’s thick feet thumped against the earth, and they had landed in the paved walkway out in front of the gym. Hitomi and Grady slid off of Verdiana’s back, each with their small pokémon in tow. Grady’s dismount was confident and smooth. Hitomi’s was hesitant and stumbling. Darn her ankle! It was still hurting her a great deal. Hitomi wished she could use a super potion on herself. Why was it that science had advanced far enough to instantaneously heal virtually any wound a pokémon could suffer, but she was still forced to limp around with a bandaged ankle?

"Well, here we are," Grady announced, his eyes glinting in anticipation of the battles that awaited them within. "Maybe you should bring Verdiana inside," he commented, reaching up and patting the fragrant pokémon’s neck. "No need to put her inside her pokéball. The doors are more than big enough to fit her. Besides, she might help psyche out our opponents!"

"Er... good idea," Hitomi mumbled, realizing that she hadn’t used her pokéballs yet, so Verdiana technically didn’t even have one yet. "Hey, wait a minute... am I going to be battling too?"

"Well, I was thinking, and maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea," Grady replied thoughtfully, detaching one of his pokéballs from his belt and staring at Verdiana. "Verdiana might not be a bad candidate. This gym is a rock-type gym. Verdiana’s grass type might outweigh her flying type’s weakness to rock attacks. Does she have any grass attacks?"

"Oh! I think she does!" Hitomi exclaimed. "Magical Leaf! Isn’t that right, girl?" She laughed, beaming at Verdiana, who trumpeted excitedly. "Do you think you’d like to take on a few rock pokémon with Grady?"

Verdiana stamped her feet and tossed her head. She blared off another cry, causing passersby to laugh at her and remark what an excitable pokémon she was. Hitomi laughed again. "I guess it couldn’t hurt..." she thought aloud. "But I don’t have a lot of experience yet..."

"Don’t worry about that," Grady reassured her. "We’ll take on the gym as a pair. It’s only recently opened up as an option, but they had to make some kind of allowance when Mossdeep’s twin gym leaders opened shop. We’ll only get one gym badge for it, though. We’ll have to beat the gym a second time to get another badge."

"That’s all right," Hitomi replied, thinking about it for a moment. "I’ll let you keep the badge. All I want is a chance to talk with the gym leader."

"Great!" Grady chuckled. "As long as it satisfies both of us. Come on, then. We’ve got a gym to take on!"

They walked up to the double doorway, which opened up automatically for them. Hitomi, carrying Péle and leading Verdiana, followed closely behind Grady, who was holding an umbreon. Hitomi noticed the umbreon, and realized she’d never seen it before. She wanted to ask Grady about it, but as they had just entered the gym, she thought it best to keep her questions to a minimum. She didn’t want to distract him, and she wasn’t sure herself what to expect, so she decided to pay attention to their surroundings instead. They had entered what appeared to be a strangely rectangular cave, with a gravelly floor and rough, sandstone walls. There were high sandstone walls in the center of the room too, and they appeared to hide some kind of maze within them.

"Hello, champions in the making!" Came an eager voice next to them. Hitomi jumped at the sudden outburst, and Grady chuckled. They turned to see a rather dumpy man with a cheery smile and a blunt, swooping brown haircut. He was wearing a smart brown suit, and he was waving at them. "Welcome to Rustboro Gym! This is the territory of Roxanne, a hard-hitting rock trainer! Fire and flying types are bound to have a hard time in here," he said, glancing at Verdiana and smiling. "But grass and water types will find it much easier. I look forward to seeing your battles!" He went running off into the gym, through a slightly darkened corridor of sandstone ahead of them.

"What a funny man," Hitomi commented as Grady gripped his pokéball and set down his umbreon. "Do the gyms hire people like that to give trainers tips?"

"Nah, he’s just some weirdo who likes watching gym battles," Grady laughed. "He’s been at two of the gym challenges I’ve made so far. He flies around Hoenn, constantly watching the gyms. I figure he’s some kind of rich old eccentric. The gym leaders don’t mind him much, though. Gyms are open to the public, and the only rule they have is that spectators aren’t allowed to interfere once the battles start. He can give all the tips he wants before we actually go in there and start battling."

"I see," Hitomi mused.

"Come on," Grady urged her. "The quicker we get started, the better. Let’s follow where that guy went. I’m sure we’ll run into the gym leader if we follow him."

Hitomi nodded, and they were soon walking through the wide corridor. The walls were featureless, but it wasn’t long at all before the right wall quickly opened up to reveal a small room containing a pokémon trainer. "Hold it!" he cried. "Before you can see Roxanne, you have to face me! My name’s Wilbur, and I challenge you! Let’s see what you’ve got!" Hitomi studied the trainer curiously. He had dark brown, scraggly hair that hid beneath a dusty ball cap. He was wearing a light blue shirt and a pair of shorts. His skin was ghostly white, as though he’d never set foot outside in the sun before. He must have spent a lot of time in caves.

"We want a double battle," Grady told him. "Do you have a partner?"

"Feh. I don’t need one!" The small boy laughed confidently. Hitomi realized that he reminded her of the boy she’d run into outside of Petalburg. He certainly was sure of himself. "I’ll take you both on. One pokémon from each of you, against my three. Those are the rules."

"All right," Grady replied. While Wilbur fished his pokéballs out of his pocket, Grady leaned over to Hitomi. "Send out Verdiana," he told her in a whisper. "I’m going to use a water pokémon. With grass and water, we can’t go wrong."

"Okay," Hitomi whispered back. Feeling her stomach flutter nervously, she glanced over at Verdiana and nodded. The great beast lumbered forward, eying her adversary curiously. Grady tossed out the pokéball he’d been holding, and a ferocious-looking fish pokémon materialized.

"A tropius and a sharpedo, eh?" their opponent asked, his countenance falling slightly. "And here I thought you were gonna send out the little ones at me. Oh well. Come out, Pebbles! Boulderdash!"

He tossed two pokéballs out in front of him, and two nearly identical geodudes popped up in front of them. "Hey, I know what those are!" Hitomi cried excitedly, forgetting herself for a moment. "They’re geodudes!"

"Well duh," the boy replied, rolling his eyes at her. "Sheesh. Everyone knows what a geodude is."

"Attack, Hitomi," Grady reminded her, nudging her in the ribs with his elbow. He called out an order to his sharpedo. "Shrapnel, use aqua jet!"

"Pebbles! Hit the tropius with a rock throw!" The boy commanded. "You too, Boulderdash!"

It was happening so fast that Hitomi had temporarily forgotten the name of the attack she wanted Verdiana to use, and she could only stand where she was and stammer at her as she watched the resulting round of attacks. Grady’s sharpedo landed the first hit. He sprayed water around himself and skated forward at tremendous speed, landing a perfectly aimed, watery tackle at the first geodude in his path – Boulderdash. The geodude he’d hit went down immediately, but Pebbles escaped unharmed. She ripped up a chunk of earth from the floor and hurled it at Verdiana. Verdiana was so intent on hearing her command from Hitomi that she hadn’t been paying attention, and the rock hit her on her back left flank. She cried out in pain, and Hitomi gasped as she saw the deep gash the jagged rock had torn into her leg. "Oh my gosh!" She sputtered. "What do I do?"

"Fight back, o’ course!" Grady hollered. "Give her a command, already!"

"Verdiana! Give her a taste of grass power!" Hitomi shrieked. "Magical Leaf!"

"Not so fast!" Wilbur laughed. "I’ve got another one!" He tossed out his third pokémon, who happened to be yet another geodude. "I’ve saved the best for last. Meet Slab! All right you two! Again! Rock throw at the tropius!"

Hitomi felt anger flush her cheeks with redness. This little brat was purposely ganging up on Verdiana because of her flying type weakness. What a little twerp!

"Aqua jet again, Shrapnel!" Grady commanded. "One more time!"

It had taken her a minute to steady herself, but now Verdiana was prepared. Growling menacingly, she buzzed her wings, and small leafy pieces shook loose. They swirled around her for a moment, and then they shot towards Pebbles, shimmering brightly as they flew.

Both Pebbles and Slab had been in the process of ripping up chunks of stone when they were hit. It was a simple question of speed, and both Verdiana and Shrapnel had the advantage in that department. Much to Hitomi’s relieved surprise, Verdiana’s attack knocked Pebbles flat, and Shrapnel’s made short work of Slab. Within only a few moments, the battle was over.

"Bleh," Wilbur groaned. "Return, you three. What a mess. Now I have to clean up the floor AND take my pokémon to the center..."

"We did it!" Hitomi cried, jumping for joy. Péle chirped excitedly as Hitomi squeezed him in her elation. "Verdiana, we did it!"

Verdiana reared up on her hind legs to celebrate with her, but she promptly fell back again and let out a sharp cry of pain. Hitomi remembered the hit she’d taken, and she stopped jumping around. "Oh, I forgot," she gasped. "Maybe we should go back," she said nervously, glancing at Grady. "I don’t have my super potions with me."

"No need," Grady replied. "I have some. Here we go. This should make you right as rain, Verdiana." He set his umbreon down, then he fished a super potion out of his pack. He bent down beside Verdiana and sprayed her wound with the restorative. "There we go," he laughed as Verdiana craned her neck to see her gash regenerating itself closed. "Ready for the next battle?"

"I didn’t do so great, did I?" Hitomi replied, furrowing her brow in consternation. "I got distracted, and Verdiana got hurt. I don’t want that to happen again."

"We all make mistakes," Grady laughed. "Cheer up. You know better now. And Verdiana forgives you, don’t you, girl?"

As if to agree, Verdiana reared up on her hind legs successfully this time, and she let out a cry of triumph, her voice reverberating throughout the gym. Hitomi laughed. She resolved to keep her cool from now on, for Verdiana’s sake.

"You guys are pretty good," Wilbur conceded, handing Hitomi some money for winning. "But you’ve got a long way to go before you’re good enough to take on Roxanne. She’s way stronger than any of us gym trainers. You’ll see."

"I’m sure we will," Grady replied, smiling. "Thanks for the battle. It was well worth the time spent." He winked at Hitomi.

They left the room with the defeated trainer and proceeded down the hallway. This time Hitomi kept on guard. She looked down at Péle, who darted his eyes to the left. She understood the signal. "There’s one up ahead, on the left," she whispered to Grady.

"Right," he replied. "Let’s go take him on then. Come on, Shrapnel." The jagged fish snapped his jaws in anticipation and hopped alongside his owner, growling ferociously. Hitomi kept as far away from him as she could. He was a very menacing creature!

"Hi there," Grady greeted the gym trainer as they rounded the corner of the next room. This room was nearly identical to the one before. "We’re here to challenge the gym. I take it we have to defeat you before we can see Roxanne, right?"

"That’s right!" The little boy cried. This one was slightly shorter than Wilbur, and he had a more definite tan, along with striking blonde hair. "My name’s Fred! Are you two a team?"

"Yeah," Grady replied. "We are. Are you ready?"

"Hang on," Fred replied. "I have to get my partner. I only have one pokémon." He dashed off down the hallway, leaving them alone for the moment.

"I wonder how close we are to Roxanne," Hitomi remarked, shifting Péle’s weight in her arms uncomfortably. "How many of these battles will we have to go through?"

"No telling," Grady returned. "This could be the last, or we could have a dozen more. "Really, it just depends on how many trainers catch the gym leader’s eye. This gym didn’t look very big to me, though. I’m guessing we don’t have too many left to go."

"I hope not," Hitomi laughed nervously. "I’d rather not spend too much time in one place."

Grady didn’t press her for further details, for which she was glad. She glanced down at Péle and frowned. The longer she remained here, the easier it’d be for Genji’s spies – or Genji himself – to track her down.

It wasn’t long at all before Fred returned with a girl of about the same age trotting along behind him. "Hi there!" She squeaked at them. "I’m Penny! I’m Freddie’s girlfriend!" She giggled a bit and her cheeks flushed. Fred’s turned even brighter red.

"I told you not to say that!" He groaned at her. "Geez. Anyway, we’re ready now. Two against two fine with you guys?"

"Yeah," Grady replied, nodding at Hitomi. "That’s one from each of us. Fair enough. We’re ready whenever you guys are."

"Right!" Fred shot back. "Come on out, Blockhead!" He released what else but another geodude. Hitomi wondered if anyone in this gym had anything different. She soon got her answer.

"Go, Igneous!" Penny cried, releasing a much larger pokémon. This one was far more intimidating. It was a gigantic serpentine conglomeration of boulders, with a fierce-looking, singly horned head. Hitomi began to back away, but Grady touched her arm lightly.

"It’s an Onix," he whispered to her. "Don’t worry. It’s not going to hurt you. I’ll take care of it. You send Verdy after the Geodude."

She nodded. Verdiana lumbered forward, and Grady commanded Shrapnel to do the same. Hitomi told Verdiana to use Magical Leaf on the Geodude, and Grady told Shrapnel to use Aqua jet again, this time on the Onix.

Before the two kids had a chance to tell their rock pokémon how to retaliate, Shrapnel’s attack hit the Onix, and Verdiana’s hit the Geodude. Hitomi was delighted to see Blockhead go down immediately, but wasn’t quite so elated with the fact that Igneous didn’t seem to be all that hurt by Shrapnel.

"Teehee," Penny giggled. "You think a physical attack like Aqua jet can damage my sturdy little guy? It’ll take a lot more than that. Igneous, bind up that little fishy."

With a growl that sounded like two rough boulders cracking and grinding, the enormous pokémon leapt forward and coiled itself around the surprised Shrapnel. Its irregular coils were surprisingly effective in squeezing him fast, much to Shrapnel’s growing fury. He snapped his jaws viciously, and Hitomi could see water streaming down in between the Onix’s coils as Shrapnel tried to call forth another aqua jet. Unfortunately, Igneous seemed virtually uneffected by the trickling water, and Shrapnel was unable to move around enough to pull off the watery charge effectively.

"Tch," Grady muttered. "In close range, all I can do is bite it... I could try rage I suppose, but with Shrapnel’s weak defenses I don’t think he’ll last long enough to make good use of it."

"Ha ha!" Fred laughed triumphantly. "You’ve got ‘em on the ropes now, Pen! You know what to do!"

"Right," Penny giggled. "Igneous, use harden! That little fishy can’t hurt you with his nasty attacks if you build up your defenses! Let him break his teeth off on your hide if he wants!"

"Hold it!" Hitomi bellowed. "Don’t forget we’re still here! Verdiana! Can you use Magical Leaf on that Onix without hitting Shrapnel?"

Verdiana didn’t even bother with a reply. Instead, she fired off her attack, and her aim was true. The swirling, sparkling leaves hit Igneous right in the middle of his face, and he howled in pain, releasing Shrapnel and thrashing about wildly. His eyes and most of his face were completely covered by the leaves, and Hitomi could see that they had embedded themselves deep within his tough hide. She marveled at the burrowing power of grass attacks. It was as if they had a life of their own.

"Good job, Hitomi! Verdiana!" Grady yelled excitedly. "Shrapnel! Finish it off with another aqua jet!"

But there was no need. With a haunting, gravelly cry, the Onix fell with a crash onto the floor, nearly squashing his trainer, who had to leap out of the way to avoid it. "Yowch!" She yelped, skinning her knees on the rocky floor and clenching her teeth in pain. "That really smarts!"

"Sorry about that," Hitomi gasped. "Are you all right?"

"Don’t worry about her," Fred laughed, helping Penny back up. "She’s as tough as me. We get scraped and banged up a bit with every battle!"

Penny giggled. "At least I don’t cry as much as he does."

"Hey!" Fred exclaimed. "That’s not funny!"

Just the same, they both laughed. They recalled their pokémon, and Fred handed Grady his and Hitomi’s winnings. "Up ahead is Roxanne, our gym leader," he warned. "She doesn’t fight with a partner, because she doesn’t need one. Our pokémon are a cakewalk compared to hers. You’d better be ready."

"Thanks," Grady replied. "We will be. Come on, Shrapnel. Let’s go, Hitomi!"

"Thanks for the battle," Hitomi said quickly, grinning at Verdiana and following Grady as quickly as her feet (sprain included) could take her. Verdiana lumbered along behind, and before long they had left Fred and Penny to chat with each other about what tactics they’d try the next time.

"Is Shrapnel going to be okay?" Hitomi asked Grady. "Was he hurt badly?"

"Naw, bind doesn’t do a lot of damage," Grady explained. "It’s mainly for holding you still. That Penny was pretty sharp. She knew that if she could force me into using close combat moves, she’d have the advantage. Still, she should have known she wouldn’t be able to hold out with you still there. She should have tried using a rock move on Verdiana instead of building up her defenses."

"I’m glad that she didn’t," Hitomi remarked. "But maybe Verdiana would have managed to hit her first even if she did."

"More than likely," he replied with a grin. "Onix aren’t known for their speed, and that one was also being held back by his grip on Shrapnel. There wasn’t much chance that he’d land an attack on Verdiana, providing she’d managed to aim right for him like she did."

"This is it!" Hitomi gasped, realizing that they had walked beyond the sandstone walls into a wide arena. Boulders were placed at odd intervals all around the room, and at the end of it, there was a girl about Hitomi’s age standing at attention and watching them intently. She had long, dark-brown hair, and she was wearing a short, navy blue school frock with bright pink leggings. She wasn’t at all what Hitomi had been expecting.

"That’s Roxanne?" she asked dubiously, glancing at Grady. "That school kid?"

"Must be," Grady replied, laughing and shrugging. "True talent knows no age limits. Come on. Let’s go introduce ourselves."

They made their way past the boulders, and the small party of people and pokémon came to a stop about ten feet away from the platform where Roxanne was standing. Grady cleared his throat and issued their challenge.

"We have come to challenge you," he began. "My name is Grady, and this is Hitomi. In addition to the challenge, we also seek your help. We were hoping you might be able to speak with us about something important."

Nice one, Grady, Hitomi thought admiringly. Although she hadn’t yet told him why she wanted to speak to the gym leader, he must have sensed that it was really important. She appreciated the way he had worded that.

"Welcome, challengers!" Roxanne replied in a clear, confident tone. "I am Roxanne. I am a user of powerful rock-type pokémon. I have received your challenge and I accept. If you would like to speak to me about anything other than the battle at hand, it can wait until after the battle is over. For now, let’s take care of your challenge!"

"Fair enough," Grady replied with a grin. "We are a team. What are your terms?"

"Two pokémon from each of you against my two," she replied, smiling confidently. "Choose wisely."

"That’s quite a handicap you’ve given us!" Grady gasped.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not," she replied, grinning at him. "That depends upon the pokémon involved, wouldn’t you say? My pokémon have easily outlasted teams of six in the past. Your four will have to be very skilled to take them down."

"I see," Grady replied. "All right then. We accept. Right, Hitomi?"

"I... I guess so," she replied, bewildered. Did that mean that Péle was one of the four?

"Good. Take your positions," Roxanne replied, pointing to a platform on the opposite end of the gym. "Send out your pokémon and be ready to battle the moment they enter the field."

"Come on, Hitomi," Grady said. "You stay here, Shrapnel."

"Yeah, you too, Verdiana," Hitomi agreed, grinning as the bulky grass pokémon trumpeted at her in assent. As they trotted over to the platform, Grady whispered instructions to Hitomi.

"We’ll have to concentrate our attacks on one pokémon at a time if we want to win this," he explained. "Otherwise we’ll be taking two hits for longer than we need. I’ll let you know which one to attack first. Just follow my lead."

"Okay," she whispered back. Grady leaped up onto the platform and helped Hitomi up after him.

"Let’s begin," Roxanne called to them from across the arena. She tossed out two pokéballs. One of the pokémon that materialized was another geodude. The other one was one Hitomi had seen and actually remembered from her studies.

"A nosepass!" She gasped. "Those are really rare!"

"Shrapnel!" Grady called out. "Aqua jet at the Geodude!"

"Verdiana!" Hitomi cried, catching herself just in time. "Magical leaf at the Geodude!"

Roxanne shouted out her commands whilst Hitomi and Grady were shouting theirs. "Geodude! Rock throw at the tropius! nosepass, give the sharpedo a taste of thunder wave!"

Shrapnel’s aqua jet hit first. It almost took out the geodude, but not quite. As Geodude gathered rocks for his counterattack on Verdiana, she shot a flurry of leaves at him, finishing the job. Now Roxanne was down to just her nosepass. While Hitomi and Grady gave each other a high-five, Shrapnel braced itself for nosepass’ attack. The nosepass sent a concentrated wave of static energy at Shrapnel. Although it had taken a while for the slow rock pokémon to gather the energy, the wave traveled with frightening speed. Shrapnel had no opportunity to dodge it. It grunted as it was hit, and it flopped over onto its side and twitched a good bit before righting itself.

"Rats!" Grady growled. "Come on, Shrapnel! You can do it, buddy!"

"This isn’t over!" Roxanne cried. "nosepass! Rock throw! Hit the tropius!"

"Watch out, Verdiana!" Hitomi yelled. "Fly up high! Stay out of its range!"

"No, wait!" Grady shouted. But it was too late. Verdiana had followed Hitomi’s commands and had bobbed quickly up into the air.

Roxanne grinned triumphantly. "Ready! Aim! Fire!" She ordered at her nosepass, who had just collected a large pile of beach-ball sized rocks and had begun to lift them into the air by some unseen force. Without a sound, the rocks rocketed toward the high ceiling, arcing gracefully just below the ceiling surface. They fanned out as they shot toward Verdiana, and within seconds, Hitomi realized why Grady had tried to stop her. Verdiana was too big and bulky to pull off the evasive maneuvers she would have needed to dodge all of the rocks. She was hit twice – once in the chest, and once at the base of her right wing leaves. She screeched in pain and was sent spinning through the air from the impacts. She plummeted to the floor and landed with a thunderous crash. She didn’t move again.

"Verdiana!" Hitomi shrieked, ready to dive off the platform and rush to the aid of the injured pokémon. But Grady grabbed her arm to stop her.

"You aren’t allowed to leave the platform," he warned. "It’s too dangerous. This battle is still going!"

"Shrapnel! Use your aqua jet! Quickly!" he cried, pointing a finger at the nosepass.

"You’d better call out your next pokémon soon," Roxanne warned Hitomi. "This one’s about to fall! nosepass, rock throw again! This time aim for the sharpedo!"

Shrapnel made a quick skid forward, but fell flat on its snout as spasms of pain went shooting through its body, immobilizing it and cutting his charge short. Hitomi watched in horror as the nosepass gathered a few more rocks and sent them hurtling at the immobilized water pokémon. With a sickening squelching sound, one of them hit Shrapnel right in the side and then bounced off of him. Shrapnel snapped his jaws momentarily, but then they fell slack as he lost consciousness.

Suddenly an idea flashed in Hitomi’s mind. "Wait a minute," she gasped. "Péle, I’ve got an idea!"

Péle didn’t need her to tell him what she had in mind. He could see it all clearly within his own the moment the idea had hit hers. With a fierce chirp, he leapt out of her arms and hopped boldly out into the arena. His widened eyes snapped back to their normal size, and suddenly Hitomi remembered all.

"Wha? Oh, that’s right!" She cried. "Urgh! No time to worry about it now. Péle, you know what to do!"

"What are you doing?" Grady demanded. "Sending that little flying type natu out there is suicide!"

"Just give me a chance," she replied, her eyes burning with determination. "I have an idea, and I just know Péle can do it! Give him room. Don’t send out your second just yet. Any other pokémon on the field would just be more targets for the rock throw."

"A natu?" Roxanne laughed. "You’re kidding, right? That little pipsqueak will just get popped like a water balloon by the rocks!"

"Try us," Hitomi shot back, her voice challenging and confident. "Don’t count him out just because he’s small. He may not be big, but he’s strong enough to finish that nosepass!"

"Bold words. Let’s see if you can back them up. You know what to do, nosepass," she ordered. "Rock throw at the natu. Let’s teach this trainer what happens when flying types mess with the Rustboro Gym!"

The nosepass obeyed. It gathered a nice supply of rocks and hurled the whole pile at Péle.

"Now, Péle!" Hitomi cried.

Péle screeched, and beat his wings. Before the rocks had even gone twenty feet into the air, he had teleported to the nosepass’ side. He hopped up onto its head and dug his tiny claws into the crevices in its rocky head. Roxanne barely had time to gasp before Péle had teleported again, this time taking the nosepass with it. He brought him to the exact place where he had been standing before nosepass had attacked, and he teleported away again, just in time for the pile of rocks to come crashing down onto the disoriented nosepass.

"Well played," Roxanne said, the admiration unmistakable in her voice. "Too bad it’s not going to affect nosepass all that much. His rock and steel type advantages protect him from rock attacks. You barely scratched him!"

"I figured as much," Hitomi replied, grinning at her. "That’s why that wasn’t the brunt of our attack. Go for it, Péle!"

Péle had teleported a safe distance away from the nosepass, and again, his eyes widened. His feathers bristled and he screeched as he used his psychic attack. The psychic waves hit the nosepass head-on, but due to all the heavy rocks on and around him, he barely moved. His cry of pain was unmistakable though. It was like steel girders being bent and torn in half. It made goose bumps prickle up on Hitomi’s skin, and she clamped her hands over her ears.

"Get up, nosepass!" Roxanne yelled, realizing all too late what a dangerous position her pokémon was in. nosepass tried to recover from his shock, but he never had a chance to shift a single rock. Péle wasn’t done yet.

He shot wave after wave of psychic energy at the nosepass, bombarding him with his power. Within less than a minute, the nosepass had fainted, his body almost indistinguishable from the boulders around him. Were it not for his metallic luster, someone viewing him from the back like Hitomi was might have thought he was part of the gym decor.

"I can see now that I underestimated you," Roxanne sighed, recalling her nosepass and her geodude. "You two win. Come forth and collect your prizes."

Hitomi didn’t wait for her to say it again. She ignored the pain in her ankle as she jumped off the platform and made a mad dash for Verdiana. Péle hopped over to her side and co*cked his head to one side as he studied his leafy friend.

"Grady," Hitomi replied, her voice quavering with fear. "She won’t wake up! What do we do? We can’t just drag her to the pokémon center!"

"Hang on," he replied, returning Shrapnel to his pokéball. "I’ve got a revive in here somewhere..." He fished around in his pack until he found a crystalline yellow substance. He jogged over to Verdiana and popped it into her mouth. "Stand back," he warned Hitomi, pulling her away from Verdiana.

Verdiana released a grunt of surprise and her limbs gave a jerk. She began thrashing them about wildly in an attempt to get to her feet. She did so with considerable trouble, and she spun about, gaping at her surroundings. She was panting with hoarse, ragged breaths, and her right wing dangled down over her side, having crumpled at the base. She looked as though she was still in a lot of pain, but thankfully, she was alive. Hitomi felt tears of relief well up in her eyes. Péle hopped around Verdiana, chirping with joy to see her up and on her feet again. She hung her head and shot him a labored snort to let him know that she was all right. Satisfied, he hopped back over to Hitomi and leapt back into her arms. Shaking, she went up to Verdiana and placed a hand on her quivering neck.

"You did very well, girl," she whispered, the tears stinging in her eyes. "I’m so proud to have you with me. I promise we’re going to get you back to your old self in no time!"

Verdiana raised her head and nuzzled Hitomi’s cheek reassuringly. She panted in her face, her breath smelling like an unidentifiable sort of sweet, fragrant fruit.

"And Péle, you were fantastic!" She gushed, squeezing him as she would a teddy bear. "I can’t believe my idea actually worked! You pulled it off like it was nothing!"

Péle would have chirped an answer back at her, but he could feel a peculiar sensation taking hold of him, and he had been shocked into silence by it. He suddenly began to glow with an odd, white light. It was so bright that Hitomi shrieked in surprise and dropped him, shielding her eyes from the blinding display. Péle landed neatly on his feet, and he stood rigidly in place, quivering slightly with the energy that was emanating from his body.

"What’s happening?" She gasped. "Grady, why’s he glowing like that?"

"He’s... evolving!" Grady replied in awe. "Hitomi, he’s becoming a xatu!"

"What? But how can that be?" She gasped. "He’s just a child!"

If Péle hadn’t been so overcome with the power that had begun to envelope his body, he would have turned and squawked at her indignantly. Instead, he began to morph. His eyes widened and he let out a frightened chirp as he began to feel his body grow and change shape.

"This is a treat!" Roxanne cried. She dashed over to watch the evolution more closely. "I’ve never seen a natu evolve!"

Hitomi couldn’t answer her. She was too shocked by the revelation of Péle’s transformation to pay any attention to anything but him.

Within seconds, Péle had changed form completely. And with a shrill tweet, he flung his new, powerful wings open wide, issuing forth a bright burst of light and energy, causing all present to shield their eyes. When it had gone, Hitomi peered out at him from between her fingers, and she gasped in wonder. Péle dropped his wings to his sides, and he turned to face her, his movements deliberate and solemn.

"The time has come to act," he told them all. "Our location has been revealed to Neo Perfection, and there are men coming here to apprehend us."