The afternoon started to roll in as Paul had finally made his way to Virbank City. It was a big city with many buildings, shacks and a lot of smog in the air. There was so much smog that it was difficult for Paul to see anything in front of him. The only building he seemed the recognize through the smog was the Pokémon Center building which had a giant flashing P on the top. 'I see the Pokémon Center, however, I'd like to find the gym' he thought as he proceeded to walk past the Pokémon Center.
While looking around, he saw a small white stand up sign that read "Pokémon GYM" in big purple letters and an arrow pointing right. Paul ran towards the sign and took an Immediate right into the large alleyway. When he turned into the corner, Paul noticed another sign pointing to a small shack-like building. In the same purple letters, it read "Pokémon GYM TEMPORARILY MOVED HERE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE". He nodded as we went up towards the sign and up the stairs leading to the gym. However, just as he was about the open the door, the door handle quickly turned. The door quickly swung open and proceeded to hit Paul in the face, almost knocking him down.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" a familiar voice said followed by the grunt of a Pokémon.
With the pain still ringing in his forehead, Paul opened his eyes and saw Forrest standing there with Audrey, his infernape, by his side.
"Look here, you!" Forrest started to say. "I'm going to be the strongest trainer ever! You'll see!"
Like that, Forrest and his Pokémon ran off down the alleyway. 'What a weirdo…' he thought to himself as he shook his head. However, as he looked down, Paul noticed a black and green case with a Pokéball design in the middle laying there by his feet. 'What's this?' he thought as he picked it up and opened it. As he opened it, he noticed there were two gym badges in it with a gap between the two. On the left side, there was a small fuzzy picture of Forrest and his infernape taped on the inside. However, Paul also noticed that not only did he acquire the basic badge from Aspertia City, but he had also won a badge that Paul had not seen before. It was a shiny green badge that was shaped like a leaf.
"Ugh! That kid forgot his badge!" a deep voice could be heard saying.
Paul looked up and he saw a tall man dark man, wearing a light yellow jumpsuit and cap. The man narrowed his grey eyes at the young man.
"Ah, you ain't the challenger," he remarked as he locked eyes on the badge case Paul was holding.
"Do I look like the kind of trainer that would forget his gym badge after winning a gym battle?" Paul asked in a standoffish tone.
"No, but you're holding his badge case," the tall man said. "You know him? He was the last challenger I had for this afternoon and I underestimated him. He's very dramatic, very twitchy and he won't shut up, but he's strong."
"Yeah, I know him… unfortunately," Paul answered as he shook his head. "He's some kid that's from the same town as me, that's all I know of him. However, are you the gym leader?"
"Yeah I'm the gym leader!" the man replied. "Where've you been? The name's Igloo."
Paul sighed in relief when he was for certain that he found the gym and its gym leader.
"I'm Paul from Veilstone City and I challenge you to a gym battle!" Paul announced.
"Ooo, darn man," Igloo started to say. "Look Paul, I know you took forever in a day to come here but Imma have to pass. You see, I'm acting as a sub for the original gym leader and I'm supposed to be filling in for another gym leader in Kanto. So I'm leaving tomorrow. Not sure when that other gym leader's coming back but it could be a month until she comes back from tour. That kid was my last battle."
'Hm!' Paul scowled at the thought of not being able to win a badge, especially since he had been through a lot to come here. He looked forward to winning and it wasn't going to happen. 'This was a huge waste of my time!' he thought as he shook his head and began to leave.
"But… if you want a badge...I got one," the gym leader said as he held up a purple squiggly badge in his right hand. "Take it. You're gonna need two badges to challenge the next gym from here."
Paul looked at the badge in hand. 'If I take this badge, I could be done with this city and move on right away! However, I didn't win this badge by defeating this guy, so to me, it doesn't prove anything. This badge wasn't rightfully earned.' he thought to himself as he closed his eyes. 'On the other hand, I only have one badge and I need two to go to the next town. However, this feels like a pity badge and I certainly do not need pity! I will just go to the gym in the next town and explain what happened if I cannot challenge that gym, then I will have to wait a month until the original gym leader comes back. Is that a risk I am willing to take?'
"It is a very kind offer and I am tempted to accept," Paul started to say. "But, I can't accept. I want to win my badges by defeating gym leaders, I'll just scout ahead and hope they will take a chance on me."
"Hm… wise thinking Paul," Igloo said with a smirk. He handed the badge to the young man. "Can you give this badge to that kid? He was hollering about going to the Virbank Complex."
"Sure," Paul answered as he took the badge and left.
-.-
It took some time, but Paul finally found the Virbank Complex. It was a small industrial place with beams on top and workers sitting on them. There was also patches of grass and bushes to be seen as well but not as many. There weren't that many people on the ground beside from workers. 'How am I going to find that kid?' Paul thought to himself as he proceeded to walk into the complex.
"Outta my way, outta my way, outta my way!" a familiar voice yelled before he slammed into Paul from behind.
Before he could react, Paul suddenly fell forward towards the ground as he felt the weight of someone else on top of him. He used his forearm as a brace so his head did not hit the concrete. However, he felt a slight pain everywhere else and had a small scrape on his arm. 'Let me guess...it's him…' he thought as he proceeded to dust himself off and get up from the floor. The weight on his back quickly went away as well.
"Hey, stop bumping into me!" the voice said in a standoffish tone.
Paul quickly turned around to see Forrest and his infernape standing behind him.
"You were the one who bumped into me!" Paul asserted.
"Eh, whatever," Forrest said. "Because I'm going to be a Pokémon master!"
"Well, most Pokémon masters I know do not leave a gym without their gym badge," Paul said as he held up the Virbank gym badge along with Forrest's badge case. "Or their badge cases…"
Forrest's jaw dropped when he saw that Paul had both his badge and case in his hand. He quickly felt his pockets and sure enough, he realized that he forgot his case. He quickly went up to Paul and snatched both items from his hand.
"Hmph! Thief!" he yelled with a scowl. "You oughta be arrested!"
"Huh? I didn't steal anything," Paul retorted as he raised his voice in frustration. "You left it at the gym and I'm just bringing it back to you. You're welcome…"
"I know why you took it," Forrest started to say as he smirked. "You wanted to seem strong!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Paul yelled as he shook his fists at the green haired young man.
"I want to be stronger to," Forrest explained. "During my Sinnoh journey, I've been not only doing gym battles but I've done contests as well. When I came to Unova, I've been battling trainers and Pokémon like crazy. My goal is to be strong, as strong as Trip!"
'Trip?' Paul thought of the first battle he ever had with Trip and how he lost miserably and brutally. How he made fun of him because of where he was from and his battling skills. He thought of him made Paul very upset as he clenched his fists in anger. 'I'm pretty sure that Trip is a strong trainer, however, I wouldn't strive to be like him. He's just a stuck up person' Paul thought as he unclenched his fists. 'Forrest just became a trainer two years ago. He doesn't know any better yet. He thinks he does'.
"Well, I guess," Paul started to say. "However, I think you should be as strong as you can be, not like other trainers. You know?"
However, as Forrest was about to answer him, they heard a very loud rustling sound behind them. The young men both turned and started to run towards the sound, with Audrey following behind. They ran for about five minutes until they noticed that on the left side of the complex, a small-sized bush was shaking back and forth. They stopped and started to tiptoe quietly near the bush.
"Pokémon?" Paul whispered as he started to pull out his Pokédex in his left hand and a Pokéball in the right hand.
"Hey! I saw it first!" Forrest exclaimed as he and Audrey proceeded to walk in front of Paul.
"Ugh, no way!" Paul shouted while throwing up his Pokéball. "I haven't caught a Pokémon yet! Archen, standby!"
"Birdster! It's showtime!" Forrest also proceeded to throw a Pokéball in the air.
However, Paul looked over and noticed that Forrest's Pokéball looked different. It was light blue with a yellow X symbol in the middle. A red light emerged from Paul's Pokéball while a blue light emerged from Forrest's. The light disappeared after a few seconds as Archen emerged from the red light, assuming a battle stance. From the blue light, emerged a small grey bird Pokémon with a large white heart marking underneath its head and black stripes on its wings. Paul proceeded to pull out his Pokédex and scan the bird.
"Pidove, the Tiny Pigeon Pokémon," the Pokédex explained. "These Pokémon live in cities. They are accustomed to people. Flocks often gather in parks and plazas."
"What's that Pokéball you have?" Paul asked as he lowered his Pokédex.
"Oh, this is a quick ball!" Forrest exclaimed. "You can use it to catch Pokémon early into the battle. I used it to catch Birdster and I didn't need to battle it first so it worked better. Jen told me about it when we went to Floccesy Ranch, however, she also said that they don't work well on stronger Pokémon and that it works best when the battle begins. I bought it at the Pokémart."
The bushes were still shaking until a Pokémon came out. It was a small yellow and black striped Pokémon with two legs and arms and a body that was shaped like a plug. Its horns resembled the prongs to a power plug. Shaking his head, proceeded to return Archen back to its Pokéball and out the ball back into his pocket.
"Cool Pokémon!" Forrest exclaimed as he ran towards the mysterious Pokémon. "Where's my Pokédex?"
"It's just an elekid," Paul said in an annoyed tone as his slide his Pokédex in his pocket. "No use scanning it."
While Forrest was looking through his pockets to find his Pokédex, Paul noticed Audrey coming up behind her trainer, holding a long grey device which appeared to be a Pokédex. Forrest turned around and took the device from his Pokémon. 'At least he got the newest model…' Paul thought to himself as he gave a slight smile.
"Thanks Audrey, you're the best," Forrest said as he hugged his infernape. "Ok time to see what Pokémon you are…"
Forrest proceeded to left up his Pokédex to scan the mysterious Pokémon.
"Elekid, the Electric Pokémon," the Pokédex explained. "Spinning its arms around to generate electricity makes the area between its horns shine light blue."
"I want to catch that Pokémon if you don't mind," Forrest asked.
"Go for it," Paul replied. "I already have an electric type. So no need for another. There's something I have to do anyway, carry on."
Paul walked away from the trio as he proceeded to take out a Pokéball from his pants pocket. Once he stopped near the exit, he held the ball away from him and pressed the white button in the middle, letting out his Pokémon. As the right light went away, Electivire emerged still upset from earlier. He glanced over at Paul before turning his head the opposite direction and crossing his arms.
"Are you still mad?" Paul asked as he came closer to his Pokémon.
Electivire answered with a low 'hmph' sound while shaking his head yes.
"Are you upset that we didn't catch a Pokémon?" Paul asked sternly while lowering his eyebrow. "You know, if you would have just fired off attacks like I said, we would have gotten a Pokémon. You see, Electivire, I don't think you understand your role. I command the attacks, you fire off the attacks. Do you want to beat Trip? Remember our promise?"
Electivire turned and stared at his trainer with his arms still crossed. Paul started to reminisce about the night before the Aspertia City gym battle. How he and Electivire promised that they were going to work harder. 'If you work harder, I will work harder. We can beat him. I promise you'. Those echoed in Paul's head as he stood his ground. Then, Paul's eyes got bigger as he looked towards the exit. 'That electabuzz!' he thought as he narrowed his eyes. 'Ever since that electabuzz came into the picture, Electivire hasn't been working hard' he thought as he shook his head. 'Something must be done!'
"I need you to forget about that little electabuzz okay?" Paul asked in a calm voice. "I know you think she's pretty but I need you to focus and if I want to be honest, she's been distracting you."
Electivire uncrossed his arms as he just stared at Paul. His red eyes narrowed as his left fist was shrouded in electricity. Paul was ready to be hit, however, Electivire instead punched the ground, causing it to shake. Paul was trying his best to keep his balance as the ground wobbled and shaken beneath him. 'That was impressive!' Paul thought as he gasped in surprise. However, before he could say anything, the young man heard a high pitched giggling noise up ahead. Before he could look up, he also heard the sound of screaming along with something hitting the ground. Paul looked and he saw Ellie, on the ground trying to shake the dirt off of her fur.
"Figures…" Paul mumbled as he crossed his arms.
As Paul proceeded to approach Ellie, she looked up at him with terror in her eyes. She tried her best to back away from him as she ran behind Electivire and hid behind him.
"Look, little electabuzz," Paul said in a stern tone. "This is a conversation between me and Electivire. You're a nuisance! Go away!"
Electivire proceeded to place his body between Paul and Ellie, putting his arm right in front of the frightened electabuzz. It took awhile for Paul to register what was happening. Electivire was protecting Ellie from Paul. He shook in anger as his entire body was covered in electricity. Paul was not afraid, but rather he was surprised. 'I've never seen him so angry before. What did I do?' he thought to himself as he just stood there. Electivire growled at him, and it sounded like a motorboat.
"Hey what's going on?" Forrest could be heard asking as he approached Paul.
Ellie looked up at the larger Pokémon, seeming to be impressed with how powerful he was. She smiled as she proceeded to place her hands on Electivire's arm and squeezed it. This caused Electivire to stop growling and the electricity that surrounded his body disappeared. He turned to her as he nodded his head and held her hand. With Ellie in tow, Electivire used his tails to grab on to the beam that was over the complex and used it to hoist himself up. He then leaped off the bean and out of the complex. Paul and Forrest ran out of the complex and looked to their right. From there, they spotted Ellie and Electivire getting on a boat with a sign in front of it that read 'BOATS TO CASTELIA CITY. LAST BOAT LEAVES VIRBANK CITY AT 20:00'.
With no time to waste, Paul waved to Forrest as he began to attempt to catch the last boat. The sky was almost darkening and Paul was getting tired. However, this was a new place and Electivire could get lost. Paul waited in line anxiously for the next boat to arrive.
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