moza, sorry about using your full name, but there is going to be a second jeff later in the story, and I needed some way to tell you apart. Then I remembered that your full name was different...soo...
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Chapter 7: The Second Badge
"Oh! So you're in Hanaero Town!" Professor Pine exclaimed, smiling. The group had called him on the videophone in the Pokemon Center. "I guess that means you defeated Spencer in Treemor Town?"
"Yeah, I did." Bobby answered.
"Good job!" Professor Pine commended him. "So, have you been catching any more Pokemon?"
"Yeah!" Tatianna replied. "Dan, Bobby, and Matt have each caught two, and me, Elissa, and Michael have each caught one."
"Excellent, excellent." Professor Pine said in response. "Have any of your Pokemon evolved?"
"Hittao did!" Matt replied. "It turned into a ghost type!"
"Ah yes, I see that here in the Pokedex data you sent me." He paused for a moment, looking at another computer screen in his office. "Oh, and I see Dan's Magvae evolved into a Magoon, as well!"
"It did?" Bobby asked. "When?"
"When I was capturing that Windock," Dan answered, "Behind the rock at the Iwyark Cave enterance."
"So that's what you were hiding." Michael commented. "Seems like a stupid thing to hide. What reason would you have to hide that?"
"Well, I wanted to reveal it in a battle," Dan admitted, "But Professor Pine brought it up before I had a chance."
"Hah, hah! Sorry!" Professor Pine apologized, chuckling slightly. "Here, you guys probably don't know what it looks like, so I'll send you a picture." The screen flashed, and the video feed from the office dissapeared, revealing a picture of a Pokemon on a blue background. The Pokemon appeared to be a white, slightly oval sphere with a small brownish tail sticking out its back. It appeared to be made of some sort of silky, woven substance. The Pokemon, like Magvae, had no face.
"What a weird looking Pokemon." Elissa said.
"Alright well, I must be going now." Professor Pine said as his face reappeared on the screen.
"Bye Dad!" Tatianna responded.
"Wait." Michael interrupted. "We have one more question we need to ask you."
"What's that?" Professor Pine inquired.
"We were ambushed by two Team Rocket members." Michael replied. "They reacted strangely when they saw that we were carrying our Pokeballs on these staves. Why?"
"Uh...I'm sorry, I have important matters that I have to tend to immediately. Sorry!" Professor Pine said, reaching out and pressing a button on his computer. The screen went black, showing that Professor Pine had cut the connection.
"He's hiding something." Michael said, despite the fact that it was obvious.
"Well, I think we should get some sleep now." Matt suggested. "It's pretty late."
"Yeah." Dan agreed. "I talked to one of the nurses, they said that there are beds upstairs here in the Pokemon Center that trainers can use for free."
"Alright." Bobby said. The group walked toward the escalator, when Elissa noticed that Michael wasn't with them.
"Are you coming?" Elissa asked.
"Nah, I have to do some research." Michael replied. "I'll be up later, or something."
"Goodnight then!" Tatianna shouted to him as the rest of the group went upstairs.
"Where's Michael?" Elissa asked. The group had congregated around the Pokemon Gym's entrance, and had been waiting for Michael, whom noone had seen since last night.
"Sorry I'm late!" Michael yelled, running toward the group. He paused to catch his breath, then continued. "Just doing a little research."
"Did you get any sleep at all?" Dan asked, seeing the look of exhaustion on Michael's face.
"Yeah, a few hours." Michael replied. "Anyways, this Gym is mine." He walked into the Gym, the group staying outdoors and talking.
"Aww...I wanted to show off Spiritao in this Gym." Matt said with a frown.
"What's gotten into him?" Bobby wondered aloud. "Volunteering for something doesn't seem like him."
"Maybe he like, just wants to train his Pokemon some more." Tatianna suggested.
"Whatever. I guess we should go watch." Bobby decided, and the group went inside.
By the time the group entered the aviary-esque Gym, Michael had already beaten the first Gym Trainer, and was starting his battle with the second.
"I hope you're more of a challenge than that last loser." Michael taunted.
"Just you watch!" The Gym Trainer, a birdkeeper, exclaimed. "Go, Coparrot!" The birdkeeper threw a Pokeball into the air, revealing a mostly green parrot with some teal and blue wings on its feathers. It's belly was a yellow green, and its white face hosted a rather large beak.
"Rawk! Go Coparrot! Go Coparrot!" The Pokemon squawked, mimicking what its owner had said.
"Please. Is that the best you can do?" Michael asked mockingly. "Go, Obsidim!" He released the rock type Pokemon from its Pokeball, ready to battle.
"Is it just me, or does that thing look stronger than when he caught it?" Bobby asked the rest of the group.
"Well, we were kinda far away when he caught it." Matt replied. "Maybe it always looked like that."
"Obsidim, Rock Throw!" Michael commanded. The small Pokemon spun around, flinging a pebble from its arm at the Coparrot. The pebble grew bigger in the air, hitting the flying type with incredible force, knocking it out in one shot.
"No! Coparrot!" The trainer exclaimed, returning the Pokemon to its Pokeball. "Fine...avenge him, my second Coparrot!" He released another Coparrot, which was almost instantly bombarded by another Rock Throw. It wasn't quite knocked out, but it was close.
"Rock might be Super Effective against Flying, but it shouldn't do that much damage!" Bobby exclaimed. "He has been training!"
"Coparrot, Mimic!" The Gym Trainer ordered. The parrot Pokemon flapped its wings, causing rocks to appear from nowhere, flying at the Obsidim and hitting it, barely doing any damage.
"No use." Michael said. "Obsidim, finish it off." The Obsidim threw another rock at the parrot, knocking it out.
"Hmph." The birdkeeper said, returning the Pokemon to its Pokeball. "Very well. You may proceed to the third Gym Trainer."
"I'd ask you to put up a fight, but if you're anything like the last two, that's impossible." Michael taunted, sending out his Obsidim.
"I'll shut you up." The trainer said, sending out a Coparrot.
"Rawk! Shut you up! Rawk!" The Coparrot mimicked.
"Obsidim, shut this bird up." Michael ordered. "Rock Throw!" Obsidim once again launched a giant rock at its opponent, hitting the Coparrot. The wounds on the bird were obvious, but it looked like it could still put up a good fight.
"Coparrot may be my only Pokemon, but it's super strong!" The bird keeper explained. "Coparrot, Mimic!" Just as the previous trainer's had done, the Coparrot flapped its wings, causing a rock to fly at Obsidim out of nowhere.
"Just keep using Rock Throw!" Michael ordered. Obsidim and the Coparrot continued exchanging blows, but eventually, the Coparrot was defeated.
"Very well." The trainer said, returning his bird Pokemon. "The Gym Leader is waiting for you."
"Congratulations on making it to me." The Gym Leader, an oddly familiar looking boy about Michael's age said, clapping his hands. "Please heal your Pokemon on the machine in the corner.
"Hey...I recognize you." Michael said as he placed his Pokeballs on the machine. "You were in a picture in Spencer's house in Treemor...you're his brother, aren't you?"
"Indeed I am." The Leader replied as Michael walked back over, Pokemon healed and ready to fight. "My name is Jefferson, leader of the Hanaero Town Gym."
"Let's start this." Michael said, not interested in chatting. "Go, Obsidim!"
"Let's go, Coparrot!" Jefferson responded.
"Darn, I was hoping you'd have something different for a change." Michael said in mock-dissapointment. "Oh well. Obsidim, Rock Throw!" The small black Pokemon threw a rock at the bird, damaging it less than it had the previous ones, but still quite a bit.
"Coparrot, follow his moves closely!" Jefferson ordered. The Coparrot responded to this command by using a mimic attack, hurling a rock at the Obsidim and apparently doing just as much damage as had been done to it.
"But my move was a super effective hit! Your mimic shouldn't have been that strong!" Michael said, a slightly dismayed look on his face. "It doesn't matter, my Obsidim's still stronger! Keep attacking!" Obsidim continued to throw rocks at the bird, and the Coparrot continued to throw rocks back. Soon, both Pokemon were very worn out, and neither looked like it could take much more.
"Coparrot, let's finish this! Quick Attack!" Jefferson exclaimed. Instead of waiting to mimic Obsidim's moves as it had before, this time the Coparrot swooped in first, hitting Obsidim with its wing.
"Nice try." Michael said, smirking. "But you forget that normal type moves like Quick Attack aren't very effective against Obsidim." Obsidim retaliated by slamming its rocky hand into the nearby Coparrot, knocking it to the ground and knocking it out.
"You fought well, Coparrot...return!" Jefferson exclaimed. "Let's see how you like this! Go, Windock!" The familiar tornado Pokemon appeared from its Pokeball, rocks swirling and ready to fight.
"Finally, something other than an annoying little bird. Well, if one of these was able to beat up Dan, I would hope that it puts up a good fight." Michael commented. "Then again, Dan is a bit of a weakling."
"Hey! I heard that!" Dan yelled from across the Gym.
"Don't care." Michal replied. "Obsidim, Rock Throw!" The Obsidim launched a rock at the Windock, but much to Michael's surprise, the rock just got sucked into the tornado and began swirling around with the others.
"Hah...how do you like that?" Jefferson asked. "That's Windock's special ability! It absorbs rock type attacks!"
"That's not good." Michael said as the Windock sent a blast of wind hurling towards the extremely weakened Obsidim, easily knocking it out.
"Hoho!" Jefferson laughed. "Looks like your Obsidim wasn't very strong after being thrashed by my 'annoying little bird'!"
"Yes, well..." Michael replied, "I've got a bird of my own, and I'm sure you'll find it quite annoying...when it knocks out your Windock." He grabbed the Pokeball from the top of his staff, throwing it out into the ring. "Go, Nightture!"
"Nightture?" Bobby asked. "What's a...?" He was interrupted by the crooked squawk of a vulture. There, standing in front of Michael, was a somewhat large vulture that resembled Vuldusk. The main difference was that it now had three glowing feathers on top of its head instead of one.
"What is that thing?!" Dan asked from the other side of the Gym.
"Looks like I'm better at keeping evolutions secret than you." Michael shouted back to Dan. He looked back to see the expression on Dan's face, and noticed that Dan and Tatianna were holding hands. Though this was a harmless act, a mixed look of surprise, annoyance, and anger grew on Michael's face, as if it brought back some bad memory long forgotten.
"Argh...Nightture, let's finish this quickly!" He exclaimed, directing his rage toward the battle. The vulture Pokemon swooped forward and flapped its wings, hitting the Windock with a blast of dark energy.
"Windock, Rock Throw!" Jefferson exclaimed. The Windock spun around, flinging a rock out and striking the bird.
"Nightture, Pursuit!" Michael ordered. Once again the Nightture swooped forward, attacking the Windock with darkness.
"Just keep using Rock Throw! It's super effective!" Jefferson commanded. The Windock threw another rock, once again hitting the bird.
"It doesn't matter if it's super effective." Michael said. "My Nightture's way stronger than your pathetic Windock." True to Michael's word, the Nightture was hardly injured at all. It once again flew forward and struck the Windock, and its attacks were beginning to take a toll on the tornado Pokemon.
"Fine, let's try something else!" Jefferson decided. "Windock, rollout!" The Windock spun forward at a speed much faster than it normally would, rolling over the Nightture.
"That attack will get stronger each time! Let's finish him off before then!" Michael exclaimed. Nightture once again attacked the Windock with darkness. The Windock responded by rolling over the Nightture again, but with more power this time. Nightture attacked the Windock again, and was greeted by another spinning attack.
"Now! Windock! You can finish it off!" Jefferson exclaimed. The Windock charged forward, but its accuracy had decreased from spinning so much. It ran in the wrong direction, missing Nightture completely, and allowing the dark Pokemon an attack from behind.
"Nightture, finish it!" Michael shouted. Nightture zoomed forward at an faster speed, spinning in the air and launching a blast of darkness at the weakened Windock, finishing it off with a critical hit.
"Very good." Jefferson said, returning Windock and applauding Michael. He walked over to Michael, handing him a peice of metal shaped like an airplane. "You've earned the Aero Badge." He said.
"Whatever." Michael replied.
"And here, two more things." Jefferson said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two discs. "Here is the Hidden Machine, Flash. You may think an Eyequus' light can light up any cave, but you're wrong. Some caves' darkness can only be penetrated by the light of Flash. And here is the Technical Machine, Aerial Ace. It will always strike the opponent." He handed Michael the two discs, and Michael began to walk to the other side of the gym.
"Uh...bye!" Bobby yelled, as Michael left the Gym without a word and the group began to follow him.
"Well then." Bobby said as the group gathered outside. "Our next destination is Poisawa Town. To get there we have to go through Doshibog Swamp."
"Eww, a swamp." Tatianna said in disgust. "Swamps are all like, dirty and icky and stuff."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't get dirty." Dan told Tatianna.
"Gag me." Michael said in response to this, walking away from the group and towards the swamp.
"Hey, wait up!" Matt shouted as the group followed him and began the next leg of their journey.
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Anyways, you can expect 3-4 days between chapters now - my artist had an extremely busy week and only got one peice of art to me, so he's dragging behind a bit, and I'd like to try and get him caught up.