NOVEL WEB Chapter 7: The Gym challenge
Joey was sitting down on a bench in front of the fighting-type gym. He saw the trainers that had recently started arriving in Saffron from other cities go in, and then walk out dejectedly. It wasn't because they'd lost the battle, but because they'd been turned away. A month and a half since the season started, that's when the non-local trainers started arriving. This usually resulted in a small surge, which made it impossible for gyms to function without a reservation system. That's why Joey had had his spot for today booked for two weeks now.
He ran the brush in his right hand through Rattata's fur, who was sitting on his lap. It might appear nonsensical to brush one's Pokemon before a battle in which any grooming would go lost anyway. But, well, today was a big day. And they both deserved to relax and do their best. It's why Joey had splurged on buying himself blue shorts again, and why he'd bought a general grooming kit so he could spoil his Pokemon.
It was also a motivational thing. "Gotta look your best when you win, no?" he said to his Pokemon who nodded in agreement, before returning back to the liquid rat state that the grooming was putting him in.
The PokeNav in his pocket buzzed, and he pulled it out to check what kind of message he'd gotten.
Michelle: Ur on in 15 minutes?
Joey: Yeah, bttr prepare ur popcorn
Michelle: Just try to avoid blocking brick breaks with ur face and ull be fine
Joey laughed at the reminder of how he'd lost to the Tyrogue that Michelle had been taking care of. Brick Breaks to the face indeed. It was going to be a tough battle. There was a reason that it was unheard of for a youngster with a Rattata to beat Kong. The type disadvantage was just too extreme, and a Rattata simply didn't have any good ranged options that would fix the gap.
Ironically enough, even though he'd been losing 80% of his battles recently, against the older trainers finally returning to the battle square, and the travelling trainers finally coming to Saffron, Joey was sitting on more cash than ever. The adjustable rates of the betting system meant that whenever he battled a trainer with even one badge, which meant almost anyone, his odds were set below 1-10. This meant that as long as his win rate was over 10%, which it was, he was making a killing.
He understood the distaste others had for starting fights they had no chance of winning, but considering the rewards? Valuable experience and sometimes tips from much more experienced trainers? A higher payout upon a victory, which happened more often than you'd think considering that most trainers tried to send in their weakest Pokemon against youngsters? The widening of one's knowledge base? Joey had battled everything from a Shellder to a Zubat. Pokemon he hadn't known that much about, but the abilities of which were now firmly lodged in his head for future battles.
If the advantages were so great and the only thing being lost was something ephemeral like pride, then wasn't it more beneficial to let go of the pride?
While his win-loss ratio was once again balanced, after his previous beat-down of all youngsters in town, he was sitting on enough cash for a TM. That was saying something, as those machines were expensive as fuck. If he beat Kong he was going to treat himself on his future trip to Celadon and buy himself and Rattata a nice little ranged move. Sure, the TM only imposed the usage memory of a Pokemon proficient with the move, causing the recipient to still have to train it. The move would also never be as powerful if the type-energy used wasn't inherent to the recipient, but still. Rattata didn't naturally learn a single ranged move, so this was all that they could do. It would be a pain in the ass training the thing, and they wouldn't be able to use another TM for a while, but it was an absolute necessity.
It just hadn't been worth it until now, since Rattata still had so many things to work on. It was a bit unfortunate though that they would be facing Kong like this. The whole fighting-type gym was centred around teaching trainers how to keep physical threats at bay.
Joey liked to think that this misfortune was just the ultimate test of their physical battling strategy.
One learned more from an opponent when one faced their strengths, rather than when one exploited their weaknesses.
He stopped brushing his starter and stood up. "All right, it's time to face the music I think," he said with a sigh.
He recalled Rattata and walked over to the entrance of the gym. The traditional structure seemed to loom over him more than it had in the past. He walked past a dejected-looking trainer who'd just been turned away at the front desk, as he looked at the quite full stands and felt some trepidation.
"What do you want?" the muscular man in a karate gi asked from where he was sitting behind the desk. "We're out of slots, so bugger off if that's what you're here for."
The casual rudeness awakened Joey from his nervosity. The mystique of the gym system and the fear of battling in front of more people than ever before faded. This wasn't some sort of epic challenge that would determine the rest of his life. Considering he lived in Saffron, this was the gym that he could most easily have a rematch against, even if he lost. Which he doubted, anyway. Sure, he was facing a fighting game with a normal-type Pokemon, but matchups didn't matter when the Pokemon in question was top percentage.
All in all, this whole thing was just a group of muscle-heads who'd been given league authority to call themselves a gym and to give out gym badges. They weren't even particularly good at it, apparently, considering they were supposed to lose their position to a petulant child with telekinesis in a few years.
"I have a battle scheduled, in about five minutes. Jonathan Joestar." The karate guy looked down at the clipboard at the table and then groaned. "Another one," he muttered, before looking up. "I gave your spot to someone else. You weren't here early enough and I assumed you'd chickened out just like all the other youngsters tend to do."
Joey tilted his head at the man. Somewhere in his twenties. Stubble, boring brown hair. Dressing up in a karate gi and coming to the gym at a time when most people were at work. Yeah, he was dealing with a loser. In Joey's harsh opinion, if one wasn't an ace trainer by twenty, then one should just give up and get a real job.
"That doesn't sound like my problem," he said coldly. "It sounds like your problem. After all, you'll have to go to the person you gave my slot to, and tell them that you made a mistake."
"Now listen here!" the glorified secretary sputtered. He was about to say something probably stupid and inflammatory, so Joey decided to cut him off right there.
"I'll speak a language you understand," he said and channelled ghost-energy into his fist, before bringing it down on the table the man was sitting behind. Joey had just wanted to rattle the man, but apparently, he'd underestimated his own strength. The table creaked and cracked, before breaking into two pieces. People around them turned to stare at the sudden spectacle, but Joey kept his eyes locked on the now-paling face of the secretary. "Do what I say, or the next broken thing on the floor will be your body."
Sometimes you just have to use some alternative conflict resolution strategies.
The man couldn't nod fast enough and ran off towards a trainer that was spectating the current battle.
"Hey, Joey!" Someone shouted from behind him, causing the boy to turn around with a beatific smile and greet Theresa, Mia and Lil Mouse.
"Hey guys, came to watch the battle?" he asked as he stepped towards his primary caretaker, and what was essentially his best friend at the moment.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world, me and Lil Mouse are gonna steal all your strategies," Mia said excitedly, squeezing her starter in her arms. She said it as if it was something to be proud of.
"You are my charge. It would be odd if I didn't come to show my support," Theresa said with an easy-going smile. She was as beautiful as always and Joey was forced to blush at her kind words. His face probably matched her hair colour.
"Next challenger, Jonathan Joestar," the referee suddenly shouted as he whispered with the receptionist, causing the boy in question to turn around and see Kong handing his badge to a beaming girl with a Bulbasaur in her arms. She promptly ran off with her bruised grass-type, probably to the Pokecentre.
"Well, wish me luck," Joey said to his two fans and walked through the broken pieces of the desk and onto the wooden platform where he faced a severe-looking and disapproving Kong on the other side. The youngster rolled his eyes at the older man.
"You can take the cost of replacing the table out of my winnings." He looked around, finding a camera with a bored-looking operator beside on the stands, which were filled with people whispering and pointing at him, and the table. Joey waved at the camera, and by default, Michelle. For some reason, the operator waved back, before noticing his mistake and awkwardly lowering his arm.
"Arrogance won't take you far in this world. Pokemon battling is a deep and tumultuous river that forgets the names of the drowned," Kong droned with a glower. Then he struck a pose. A 40-something-year-old man. With salt and pepper hair and a handle-bar moustache. Dressed in traditional aikido garb. He struck a pose. Like some sort of Power Ranger. "The fighting type gym confronts you with physical threats you can't surpass without strategizing around them. If you don't face the challenge seriously, you'll get pummelled," the man said.
Joey meanwhile, just barely managed to restrain his laughter. His face was red again, this time for a different reason, and he was working tirelessly at not opening his mouth and just bursting out into giggles. Kong furrowed his brows at him, before glaring more intensely. The man looked like he really wanted to just stride over the wooden panelling and twist the youngster's ear.
"This match will be a one-on-one between gym-leader Kong and Youngster Jonathan Joestar. The match will continue until either side's Pokemon faints, deciding the victor. The gym leader will send out their Pokemon first," the man said, raising one of his cute little flags to point at Kong, who produced a Pokeball from his voluminous sleeves and released it onto the battling ground.
A Mankey materialised from the beam of red light and started shadow-boxing in Joey's direction.
It seemed like a normal enough specimen, although Joey did note that it seemed more muscular than the Monkeys he'd been challenging out in the wild. It seemed that Kong was willing to do something about the disapproval he felt for Joey if he sent out such a fine specimen.
However, in contrast to the respect he experienced at seeing such a well-trained and well-groomed Mankey, the youngster scoffed and looked at the Pokemon derogatively. "Scraping the bottom of the barrel today, I see," he said. Not because he was mean, but because riling up a fighting type was a good way of making them sloppy. Especially if that fighting type happened to be a Mankey. It seemed to work, as the monkey stopped shadow-boxing to glare at Joey. It might have seemed stupid from the outside, but a fighting move would knock out Rattata anyway, no matter if the Mankey was angry enough to increase its power. What Joey needed to do was make it easier for his starter to dodge.
"Release your Pokemon, challenger!" the referee kindly reminded, and Joey threw out his Pokeball, the rat materialising on the wooden panelling in a battle-ready pose.
Some snickers escaped the people in the crowd, while Kong's frown turned more severe. The referee simply swiped down his flag and shouted for the "battle start!"
Joey didn't feel like wasting any time. "Quick Attack," he commanded. Rattata became a blur, going straight for the torso of the Mankey, uncaring of its raised defence. The small humanoid Pokemon braced itself. However, it did so for nothing. Rattata stopped before it hit its opponent, dug his little claws into the floor and rebounded himself off his momentum around the Mankey until it was heading straight for its back.
"Jump," Kong ordered calmly, and Mankey flexed its legs, some muscles protruding before it propelled itself into the air.
"Don't follow," Joey ordered, causing his Pokemon to stay still and await further commands. Everyone in the hall watched the Mankey ascend to a height of about three metres before it started falling again. "Hit it when it lands," Joey ordered.
"Low Kick spin," Kong said while his Pokemon was still in the air. Mankey's legs both began glowing a white tainted by a small amount of muddy orange, as it started spinning.
"Retreat and Tail Whip."
Mankey crashed into the floor, feet heavily impacting the wood.
All the while Rattata's energy infection move which lowered its target's defence did its work on the Pokemon. While it had already been angry, the Mankey had been too well trained to really underestimate its opponent. Well, that was starting to happen now, and its guard was getting sloppy and sloppier.
"It doesn't have an answer against your speed," Joey concluded once the Mankey righted itself back into its previous position and put up its guard. "Or Kong is training it in the calmness method, instead of the anger one. Anyway, just keep using Tail Whip. If it attacks, routine."
"Focus energy," Kong ordered, seemingly uncaring about the tail whip.
The Pokemon stood adjacent to each other for a few moments, both focused on doing their own thing. Kong was the one to break the stale-mate. It probably looked bad on one's CV being stalled out by a youngster with a Rattata. Well, the man was going to find that losing to a youngster with a Rattata was a fate much worse than that.
"Sucker Punch," the gym-leader barked. Joey couldn't repress his grin. He'd just gotten lucky.
As the Mankey cloaked its fist in dark energy and speared forward with impressive speed, the youngster noted that the punch wasn't that well-formed. It showed that the Pokemon was less experienced with the move than Michelle's Tyrogue had been.
"Rattata, retaliate," he ordered simply. The code was simple, barely existent, both of them knew exactly what to do in this situation. Rattata's eyes gleamed as he used Detect, he ducked in at the last second, the Mankey flying over his head. He let go of Detect, and pushed against the floor to smash his enemy right into the air.
A glowing foot impacted Rattata right in the head as the Mankey passed overhead, throwing the Rattata like a rag-doll to Joey's side of the field.
"Are you alright?" Joey asked with gritted teeth and Rattata laboriously managed to get up, glaring all the while at his opponent. "No chance but to go nuclear," Joey muttered. He'd been hoping to not have to rely on this strategy.
"One of Detect's biggest weaknesses. You can't use it while you attack, meaning you're always open to a counter," Kong remarked from his side of the field. He looked just as smug as the Mankey.
"Rattata, taunt," Joey ordered, filing away the information, but ignoring the man.
The gym leader frowned. "Focus Energy," he ordered, seemingly thinking that Rattata was going to use the move Taunt.
However, he was sorely mistaken. While Mankey focused its energy to increase the likelihood of hitting its foe, Rattata opened its mouth and spit a string of vulgarities so disgusting and vile, that it would be inappropriate to show it even in Pokemon speech.
"** * *** * **** *** *** * **** ***, *** **** *** ********* *****!"
"**** ** ** ** ** ** ******** *** * * * * * * * *********** * * * * ?"
"****? ** ***! ***** ** * * ** * * *** ** *," Rattata chittered hatefully, while the bruise on the top of his head grew into a proper knocker.
The Mankey was frozen, clenching its fists. It looked ironically unfocused.
"Mankey, remember your meditations. Don't give in to the dark side," Kong bit out, throwing an ugly look in the youngster's direction.
The fighting type struggled, a tick mark growing larger on its forehead. It was losing its cool.
"Send that primate right back to the stone age where it belongs, Rattata!" Joey ordered, seeing his opportunity.
"****!" Rattata shouted as he blurred forward.
" Mankey, concentrate," Kong said firmly. "Meet it head-on with a Karate Chop. It's on its last legs."
Mankey wasn't listening anymore.
Mankey was red in the face.
It had several tick marks pulsing violently all over its forehead. It screamed shrilly. "*** ** * ** * ** * *** * **!"
"*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************!" it screamed as it sprang forward in a barrage of Fury Swipes creating a wild net of scratches through which there was no way to break through.
But breaking through had never been Rattata's strong point. The rat dug its claws into the ground, stopped its Quick Attack, sidestepped the furious Mankey, and Quick Attacked it again right in the side. The Mankey was too lost to even notice it was being flanked. The Quick Attack struck true, disrupting the Fury Swipes and throwing the Pokemon to the ground.
"Mankey, collect yourself, think!" Kong shouted desperately. He remained ignored. His Pokemon scrambled to its feet and started collecting dark energy into its clenched fist. It shot forward like a bullet, faster than before, stronger than before.
Joey realised that the reason its Sucker Punch earlier had looked weak was because the Pokemon had been trying to save some focus for a Low Kick in case it was needed.
Which meant.
"Retaliate!" Joey shouted, and just like before Rattata ducked under the incoming punch, and shot upwards. This time head-first, not in a Quick Attack, but with glowing white incisors that looked longer than ever.
A Hyper Fang clamped down on the Mankey's torso. It cried out in pain as Rattata held fast and used his leverage to wrestle it onto the ground. In those last moments, Joey saw shame, defeat and calmness in its eyes, before they turned into swirls.
Rattata shook his head, hurling the unconscious Mankey straight at the feet of a gym leader who seemed apoplectic in rage, just like his Mankey had previously been. Red in the face, shaking, frowning. "You just destroyed weeks of training!" the gym leader said in a raised voice.
"Perhaps having a real-life example of why the calm approach to battling is better will improve its future concentration," Joey argued. "Learning from losses and all that."
"That is not a proper battling methodology!" Kong barked. "Just the rationalisations of a failure," he said, before closing his eyes and breathing in. He had probably just remembered that the battle was technically being filmed. And that the spectators had gone quiet at his outburst, stopping their cheers at the underdog victory.
"Get out," the man ended up saying, looking at Joey as if he were shit on his foot-soles. Joey wasn't going to let himself be intimidated by a forty-year-old man who couldn't keep his cool. He stayed rooted in place but did recall his Pokemon. "Get out!" the man said again, more forcefully.
"Where's my badge?" Joey asked.
Kong stilled, dangerously and snuck a glance at the referee. The man in question remained stoic, not showing any expression and did not meet the gym leader's gaze.
Had Joey himself taunted the Mankey, then that would have been a yellow flag for him. A reason perhaps to not give out the badge. But considering that the improvised taunting had been a beautiful usage of the opponent's inherent characteristics, allowing a Pokemon that by all accounts should not have won, to do so, it was a clear-cut example of a perfect youngster gym battle. A climb uphill with a weaker Pokemon, followed by victory.
If Kong refused to give out the gym badge, it wouldn't be too much of a mark on his record. After all, gym leaders could also give out a badge if a challenger did not beat them in a straight-up Pokemon battle, or if they completed some sort of complex task that necessitated Pokemon and involved some danger. It was at their discretion. However, while there were no particular murmurings right now about how the fighting type gym might lose their position, Joey couldn't imagine they would do so in the future JUST because Sabrina was a better battler. They had to have fucked up, somehow.
Joey already knew that the fighting-type gym wasn't held in the highest regard because the macho-centric aggressive attitudes of its members clashed with the middle-class and educated people of Saffron. In that vein Kong also seemed to disdain it when a challenger used a Pokemon he didn't personally approve of, and in some instances, communicated that.
Perhaps it also helped that Saffron was a safe city, nestled between four others. The gym trainers didn't get many chances to defend the populace from much of anything and thus missed out on an easy opportunity to garner the respect and admiration of the population.
Surge and Waterflower defended their cities from threats from the sea. The Celadon gym created important antidotes against the common grass types, while also pacifying wild populations of sometimes aggressive Pokemon with clouds of Sleep Powder.
Kong and his troupe. If they were sent to calm down a herd of Tauros. They'd probably just start a stampede.
Perhaps the gym leader was aware of his slightly precarious position, or maybe he heard something in the whispers now coming from the crowd as they wondered what was happening and why Joey wasn't getting the gym badge and leaving.
Or maybe he just realised that he was being petty.
A glittering badge flew over the battlefield, Joey casually putting up a hand to catch it. It was orange and shaped like a fist. It reflected the light very strongly. The youngster put it away and turned to leave. Locking eyes with a fuming Hitoshi as he did so.
That kid. That bully, Joey thought as he left the room, feeling the hostile gazes of the gym trainers on his back. Hitoshi had the attitude that would indicate some sort of involvement in the fighting-type gym losing the last bit of respect they had. Quite frankly, however, that wasn't Joey's problem.
He didn't have any problems, currently. He'd just won his first badge.
Michelle: Congrats on winning, you ahd me on the egde of my seat!!! You def getting a reward when I nxt see u for that win!