Status: Don't be a silent reader! :) Any comment helps!

Heart of Gold

Taking Flight

I beat the head monk easily with Cupid. Luca struggled with Buddy, and after he lost he shrugged it off and told me he wasn't really a "trainer type." I told him he had a type disadvantage and he couldn't help that, but he wasn't too bothered by the loss. "What did the monk mean when he told you that you needed to learn more?" Luca said.

"Probably for battling," I said. "In general, I need to learn more, but I'm still weak at battling."

"I thought you had a great handle on your pokemon," Luca said.

I thought I did too, for starting out at least, but I might have been getting a big head. I hadn't lost once since I started the journey. "Do you think I'll be ready for Violet Gym?" I asked.

"Of course. Since you don't have any gym badges, Falkner will adjust for your level. I'm sure you'll be fine."

We decided to take a rest at the Pokemon Center before going to the gym.

Falkner's gym was enormous and had a platform on the first floor that zoomed us up to the top. There, the ceiling was a glass dome and gave the illusion we stood outside, suspended into the air. Falkner was a man in his late twenties with dark hair and a kimono with feathery embroidery on it. "Greetings," he said. I eyed the white lines on the gym floor, now very aware that I was in a gym. "I am Falkner, the flying-type gym leader. A pleasure to meet you."

Luca and I introduced ourselves. Falkner asked me how many badges I had, I told him none so far, and he congratulated me on starting my journey. He gave me a run-down on the rules. "This will be a two-on-two battle," he said. "I'm pleased to see you already have two pokemon. If you don't have any questions, let us begin."

Falkner launched his pokeball and a pidgey burst from the capsule. Ulric leaped forward before I could say anything. I was about to chide him, but my mouth turned numb. Focus, I thought. Luca patted my back for support. I can't panic on my first gym battle.

"Ulric, poisonpowder!" I said. My voice came out weak, but Ulric heard me. He swung his leaf around and purple dust scattered into the air and swamped the pidgey. The pidgey fluffed up and tried to shake it off.

"Use sand attack, Orville," Falkner said.

I cursed myself for not realizing what the piles of sand around the gym were for. The bird pokemon flapped into the air and kicked a cloud of sand into the arena. Ulric cringed and squinted. He wasn't hurt, but I realized what Falkner was doing. He was trying to reduce visibility. "Tackle!" I said.

Ulric lunged, but the pidgey maneuvered around it and flapped more sand into the air. Ulric's form went blurry. He bleated a panic cry to me. My heart froze. "Ulric, assume a defensive stance!" I said. In the midst of sand, Ulric's vines crossed into an X in front of him. Above the cloud of dust, the pidgey looked woozy. The poison must have taken effect. "Tackle it!" Falkner said.

The pidgey plunged at him. Ulric batted it away but the force still knocked him off balance. "Tackle!" I said. The pidgey was turning, and it was right open. Ulric steadied and dove at his foe.

He missed.

The sand was blinding him! Ulric hit air and scrambled for footing. The pidgey took advantage of this and bashed into him. Ulric hit the floor and bleated, his soft body bruised. "Ulric!" I didn't think of a command. Panic crushed my chest. "Are you okay?"

The pidgey wobbled to the floor as Ulric got to his feet. The pidgey's breathing was labored and its feathers were skewed. The poison worked. "Ulric, one more tackle!" I said. "Focus! You've got this!"

Ulric had heard where the pidgey landed and charged. He hit it head on and sent it flying. The foe flopped across the ground, rolled, and fell still. It took me a long moment to realize Ulric knocked it out.

"You did it!" I blurted.

Falkner returned his pokemon and Ulric rushed into my arms. I spun Ulric and felt like I was flying. Ulric bleated, like he was saying, I did beat it, didn't I?

"Astrid, one more to go!" Luca whooped behind me. I felt like I'd drank three energy drinks. "You can do it!"

"Cupid, can you handle the next one?"

Cupid gave me a brisk nod and headed into the arena. The dust settled by now. Cupid's haunches were stiff, and my elated feeling felt scraped out with sandpaper. Cupid's nervous. More nervous than usual. "Don't worry, Cupid, I'm right behind you!" I said.

Falkner sent out his last pokemon. It exploded out of the ball in white light into the sky. It was a bird with red head feathers, a pidgeotto, well-groomed and healthy. Having experience raising one at the lab, I was impressed by the care Falkner gave it. "Wilbur, tackle!" Falkner said.

I ordered Cupid to dodge but she went ramrod straight and took the entire blow. It knocked her sprawling across the gym floor. "Cupid, stand!" I said, terrified. "Are you okay?"

Cupid got to her feet. Her legs shook and her fur stood at end. Did she have stage-fright? "Cupid, it's okay," I said. "I'm not going anywhere. Do you want to try an ember?"

Her ears flashed backward, signifying she heard me, but her posture didn't change. The pidgeotto readied another tackle. I wasn't sure if she could take it. Ulric tensed in my arms and bleated a warning. Then, Cupid squared her shoulders.

She opened her jaws, let loose a fireball, and with that, it was over.
♠ ♠ ♠
I figured training pokemon was a lot like training dogs, in a way. To have them learn certain commands and call them to do it. Falkner here uses a different approach, since his pokemon know him well enough to do things without him guiding him.

I did a bit of a mix between anime and games here, in the way of using terrain around them to help with battles, and the turn taking like in the games. My real-life battle was very similar to this in terms of moves the pokemon used.