Uncontained

After I checked out and gotten some medicine cream for my burns, I stormed outta there to the Pokemon Center. Florence cried and jumped into my arms. Czeslaw remained aloof, but his eyes glinted as he saw me. I found myself greeting them warmly. Maybe there was some hope for me getting along with Pokemon.

But there was one thing on my mind now, and that was getting ahead of Malachi. That jerk left as soon as I was discharged form the hospital.

I marched to Pewter City Gym.

It took me a while to find it. There was a museum in town and a lot of rock sculptures and not a lot else; everything was grey and looked the same. There were a lot of little kids playing outside with Pokemon, too. There weren't a lot of serious Pokemon trainers. Well, I was in the boonies anyway, every serious trainer came from mid-Kanto.

And I didn't want to admit it, but I was bummed Malachi wasn't with me. Malachi and I were literally best friends since we were born. Our parents knew each other and pretty much all of our parents' baby videos had both of us in there, no matter what event it was. We went through everything together. Whether it was standing up to the bullies in grade school, suffering through algebra, or asking a girl to prom, we were there with each other. Thinking of him made my blood boil all over again. He really was a traitor. I really don't need him for a gym battle, do I? I huffed to myself.

Then I found the gym, and I stood in front of the rock pillars leading up to the arena for a long time before I mustered up the courage to go inside.

Florence, at her usual perch on my shoulder, shivered in fear. It was pitch black in the gym with the exception of a few murky lights at the top. White lines were painted as boundaries along the ground and the floor of the gym was entirely rock. Boulders littered across the stone floor. Was the gym closed? Going through construction?

"Hello?" I called. My voice echoed far down and I realized this was a bigger place than I once thought. If no one was here I might as well have left already. My body hurt all over still from the burns.

Then the lights snapped on.

I was momentarily blinded. I shielded my face until my eyes adjusted and saw a man standing at the other edge of the room. When the floor materialized in front of me, I realized the rocks were placed there on purpose. It was some sort of specific terrain.

"Hello, trainer," the man greeted. He wasn't Japanese like I was, but Chinese, and had spiky brown hair. He wore simple hiking gear and smiled at me from across the room. "I'm Brock."

"I'm not really a trainer, but I'm Beau," I said. "I'm here to challenge you."

"Not a trainer, but still want to fight?" His mouth morphed into a wry grin. That was when I felt the power from his stance and my heartbeat sped up. What am I thinking, this is a gym leader! I can't just waltz in like I owned the place. "Alright. It looks like you have Pokemon, so you look okay. Do I need to go over the rules with you?"

I hesitated. I didn't want to sound like an idiot. "It's fine," I said.

"Good then, Beau. Here we do two-on-two battles. Pokemon unable to fight have lost and the first person out of Pokemon loses. If you win, you get prize money and a badge. If I win, I get prize money. That all clear?"

I swallowed and resisted the urge to check my wallet. I didn't know I had to give up money. I barely had any as is. "Okay."

"Alright. Let's start."

He threw a pokeball. In a flash of light, a Pokemon like a boulder with arms appeared. It had a heavy stone brow and wide mouth. It also mysteriously floated a foot above the air. I pulled out my handy-dandy pokedex and pointed it at it.

"Geodude, the rock Pokemon," it said. But it left it at that.

"Wait, that's it?" I asked. I banged the side, but the pokedex did not respond. "Florence, are you up for it?"

Florence stiffened and whimpered. I pried her off my shoulder and she took a few chunks of my hair with her. "Come on, you have to try sometime," I said and placed her onto the ground.

Florence bolted back and hid behind my leg.

I sighed, but then eyed Czeslaw. "You up?"

Czeslaw only nodded and walked into the arena with his head held high. The geodude sized him up. Czeslaw gave it a steady glare and his spines prickled. "Alright!" Brock said. "Let's begin!"

Czeslaw charged forward without me saying anything and slammed his feet into the geodude. His power took me aback. The geodude literally flew backward and smashed into the rocky ground. The rock-thing's body crushed the stone underneath it. Czeslaw leaped away and laid his ears flat against his head, and his muscles bunched in his stout legs. "Holy shit, Czes," I breathed.

The geodude pulled itself out of the rock. The Pokemon seemed weakened. Gym leaders must've been easier to beat that the media hyped them up to be. I wondered why people had such a hard time with them. "Tackle it, geodude," Brock commanded.

The rock Pokemon launched itself at Czeslaw. Czeslaw jumped aside, but the geodude sideswiped him with its fist. The nidoran rolled unceremoniously out of the blow and scrambled to regain his composure. It hit me like I'd been struck myself. I was in a battle. What did people usually say in battles? Did trainers just let their Pokemon decide for themselves what to do? I paid zero attention to the TV when they filmed Elite Four challengers. "Um, oh fuck, do that kick thing again!" I shouted.

Czeslaw didn't need any coaching. He charged and flipped into the air to strike the Pokemon with his legs. Slam! The geodude smashed into another boulder. Czeslaw landed on all fours deftly and waited for the geodude to rise.

But it didn't.

"Looks like my geodude is unable to battle," Brock said. "I guess it's time to bring out the big guns."

He returned the geodude to its pokeball and pulled out another off of his belt. He rolled it around in his hands. Czeslaw's nostrils flared and he faced his opponent squarely. I wondered what it could be. It couldn't have been that bad considering how easy the geodude was.

Then he threw the device.

My stomach dropped to my feet when the thing exploded from the pokeball. It was all of the sudden mass. Granite formed into a beast like an ekans with narrow black eyes underneath a stone brow-ridge. It was more than eleven feet long. And it roared. The sound rattled through my bones, the blood drained from my face, and it opened its terrible maw again and screeched. Czeslaw flattened his ears and my hands shot up to the sides of my head to block the sound. I could still hear it. I could still hear the noise like iron grating against iron. "Holy fucking shit," I gasped.

"Nice entrance, onix," Brock said.

I nearly passed out. Black smudged the sides of my vision and I knew there was no way Czeslaw could beat this thing. That creature took up half the room and was made of pure rock. Could I forfeit? Would that be a good idea? If I didn't, Czeslaw was going to die out there. "D-Don't be scared, Czes," I stammered. "Hold your ground. Stay steady."

Florence cried.

Czeslaw looked at me and I had a painful realization he didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. I wasn't a trainer. A trainer would know what to do.

But I said, "Czeslaw, hit that thing with a kick!"

The nidoran's brow furrowed with determination and he launched himself at the onix with all his force. He slammed into a rocky link with his feet that was nearly thirty times his size. Surprisingly, it gave way. The onix roared and snapped its body away from Czeslaw. He really hurt it! "Fuck yeah!" I screeched and pumped a fist into the air. "Hit it again!"

"Bind," Brock stated.

But faster than I thought possible, the onix snagged him. I blinked and the next moment the beast had wrapped its iron-hard body around Czeslaw and tightened. The nidoran screamed. Then I couldn't see him anymore and Florence wailed. A cry tore from my throat. "Czeslaw!"

The onix began to crush him.

"Get out! Get out!" This was inhumane. The onix was going to kill him. How could Brock let that monster do that? How could a person stand and watch!? I felt my body unhinge, I prepared to run into the arena, and a scream belted from my throat. "CZESLAW!"

But before I could step foot into the ring, Czeslaw emerged.

The nidoran flung himself out of the bind and crashed onto the ground. Blood spurted from his mouth. Florence shrieked. And before I knew it, Czeslaw charged at the onix.

And he leaped.

And he struck the beast in the face.

The onix flew back and smashed its head into the rocks below it. They crushed away under its weight. Czeslaw dropped to the ground and couldn't hold himself up, so he plummeted in his spot and fainted. It was over. I just hoped Czeslaw wasn't dead.

But the onix didn't move either.

"You've won, Beau," Brock said. "I concede defeat."

My knees hit the floor. "What?" I couldn't keep my eyes off Czeslaw to make sure he was breathing.

"I'm out of Pokemon and you have one left. You win."

Florence gripped me and I didn't have the strength to stand.

"No," I said. "I didn't win at all."