"Plainly Tested," written by Freedom Fighter Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of the characters associated with the show. All names and likenesses are copyrighted by Nintendo, 4Kids Entertainment, and anyone else who had a hand in creating the show. ====== Chapter 3 (07.29.02) North of Blackthorn City lies a giant cave called the Dragon's Den. It is here that the city's gym leader, Clair Barton, trains with her Pokémon twice a week. And today was one of those days. But training will have to wait, as Clair is confronted with a mysterious figure bent on capturing her Pokémon. "I know you've come here for me," Clair tells the figure, who nods in reply. "There's only one way you're beating me, and that's by defeating my most powerful Pokémon!" Clair pulls out a Pokéball and throws it out. "Come forth, guardian of the Dragon's Den, Dragonite!" Her Dragonite comes out of the Pokéball, ready to battle for the fate of his trainer's own honor. "You may have one of the strongest and rarest Pokémon in all the land, but not even that will save you from defeat." The mysterious figure throws out a Pokéball. Out of it comes the trainer's own Dragonite. "See what I mean?" But Clair seems unfazed by this. She smiles as she prepares to order her Pokémon to attack. "You fail to notice that because you have called out the same Pokémon as I have that your Dragonite has the same weaknesses as mine. Dragonite, ice beam!" Clair's Dragonite launches his ice beam at the opposing Dragonite. The beam hits, as expected, but the Dragonite barely even feels the beam hitting it. "What?" Clair exclaims in surprise. "That's not possible!" "Anything's possible," the mysterious one replies. "Ice beam!" The other Dragonite retaliates with an ice beam of his own. The beam is so strong that it knocks out Dragonite in one blow! "This makes no sense! Dragonite may be weak to ice attacks, but my Dragonite is among the best! There's no way my Dragonite can be taken out with only one ice beam!" The trainer then pulls out a Pokéball and pulls Clair's Dragonite into it. "What's the meaning of this? Return my Dragonite this instant!" The figure pockets the Pokéball, then pulls out a second to recall his own Dragonite. "I don't think you're good enough to possess a Pokémon such as Dragonite." He then turns around and runs away. Clair gives chase, trying to get her Dragonite back. But when she runs out of the cave, the mysterious trainer was nowhere to be found. But she does see two of her gym assistants, Fran and Cody, running towards her. "Clair, we've come to..." "I know, Fran. But it seems that my challenger was the superior trainer." "How can you say that?" Cody asks. "You're the top trainer in all of Johto!" "Yeah!" Fran shouts out. "If this guy can beat you hands down, then there's no trainer in Johto that can beat him!" "There's someone that can," Clair tells them. "He or she probably doesn't know yet. But if we don't find this trainer soon, the whole Johto League will cease to exist." ====== Meanwhile, just outside Goldenrod City, it's business as usual at the Miltank farm owned by Milton Burdley, better known as Whitney's uncle. On this sunny day, Whitney's spending the morning training her Miltank, as usual. Her Miltank is at the top of the hill while Whitney waits at the bottom. "Rollout attack!" Whitney yells. Miltank leaps into the air, grabs her legs and forms into a ball. The cow Pokémon then rolls down the hill, picking up speed as she goes. As she approaches Whitney, her trainer yells out another command. "Now, roll back up the hill!" Whitney points back to the top of the hill as Miltank goes around her and heads back up the hill. Miltank slows a bit as she climbs the hill, but Whitney cheers her on. "Don't stop! Give it all you've got, Milty!" Using all of her strength, Milty finally reaches the top of the hill again. She leaps out of her rolling form and stands up on her hind legs, rejoicing after completing yet another training run. "Good work!" Whitney shouts, applauding Milty. Whitney prepares to tell Milty to go one more time, but the ringing of her cell phone distracts her. Whitney pulls out her cell phone, which is slightly smaller than her own hand, and answers it. "Whitney speaking." "Whit, we got a major problem!" "Carrie, what's going on?" "Another gym just got attacked!" "I know. If Mr. Muscle would stay at home at night instead of breaking rocks by the shore..." "Not Chuck. It was Clair's gym." Whitney gasps in surprise. "Clair? THE Clair? The gym leader of Blackthorn?" "Yes!" "No way!" "Yes way! It's all over the news! You've got to get back here!" "I'm on the way! I'm betting the Elite Four is already all over this, right?" "Yeah! Bridget's sitting in for you at a teleconference meeting with them right now!" "What? Carrie, why didn't you call me? I could've taken it from here!" "But you said that your uncle's farm didn't have a videophone. Just a regular one." Whitney thinks for a second before remembering that she had told her that once before. "I see your point." "So, you're coming?" "Of course! I'll be there in twenty! I've gotta freshen up first!" "No time!" "No time? Why?" "PB. Triple time." "Carrie! I told Bridget not to battle anyone before I came in at one!" "Well, I think she forgot, because three trainers challenged and beat her within the past hour, just before she went to the meeting. Including an old friend of yours..." Whitney slapped herself on the forehead, knowing very well who Carrie was talking about. Her fears were realized when she heard something happening on the other end. "Hey, you're not allowed to touch that!" Carrie yells in the background. "Sandshrewbee and I are ready for you this time," came the voice of a young boy. Whitney's left eye began to twitch, knowing that it was indeed him. "I don't have time to challenge weak trainers!" Whitney shouted back into her cell. "You've got to accept every challenger that proves himself worthy of facing you!" "I'm in the middle of a crisis, okay? I don't have time for you, Ekke!" "Make time! I'm not leaving until I get to battle you again!" "Give me that phone back!" Whitney hears Carrie again, then a bunch of loud noises, as she hears Carrie and Ekke fighting over the phone line. "I'm still talking to her!" "I was talking to her first!" All of a sudden, Whitney hears Carrie screaming just before the line goes dead. "Carrie? Carrie, are you there?" There's no response. Whitney pockets her cell phone and grumbles angrily as she pulls out Milty's Pokéball. "Miltank, return!" Miltank returns to her Pokéball, unaware of Whitney's sudden mood swing. She heads back to the house to wash up, stomping angrily on her way there. "I swear, there ought to be a limit to how many times you can battle a guy!" she mumbles. ====== Twenty minutes later, Whitney opens the door to the gym and steps inside. In the lobby, she sees Samantha now sitting behind the front desk. To Whitney's left are four chairs, all filled with trainers waiting to battle her. That includes a certain young boy with black hair, a red short sleeve shirt, black shorts, and tennis shoes. "Ekke Tenryu, my favorite challenger," Whitney quips sarcastically as the boy jumps out of his seat and runs up to her. "I'll beat you this time! I know it! Sandshrewbee and I have been practicing!" Ekke whips out a Pokéball and presses the release button, bringing out his Sandshrew. "Sand! Sandshrew shrew sandshrew!" Sandshrewbee exclaims. Whitney continues her conversation as she motions for Samantha to hand her a clipboard. "I know that as a gym leader, I'm supposed to be encouraging you, but this is getting out of hand!" "What do you mean?" Ekke asked innocently. "Haven't you got a clue?" she yells. "I'm about to battle you for the eleventh time! Usually trainers have either beaten me or have given up by the third!" "I'm being persistent! I'm not giving up until I win a Plain Badge!" "There's a difference between being persistent and annoying, which you are right now!" Samantha hands Whitney a clipboard with several forms attached to it. Samantha begins explaining what they all are. "Top three sheets are Trainer Info forms as normal, with stats, tracks, and cats. Next two sheets are Victoria's Research Paper on the pros and cons of Sentret and Furret. Then there's the form you need to complete to get that Pikachu from the Route 34 Day-Care Center for your friend in New Bark Town. Oh, and there's the form for entry into the Park Tour race. That requires you to get a physical. And..." "Hey!" Ekke shouts. "I'm waiting for you to accept my challenge!" "Fine!" Whitney yells. She then turns to Samantha to respond. "I'll take the TIs with me inside. Nice question of the week with the 'favorite cat' question. Put the RP on my desk in my office and tell Victoria I'll check it post-lunch. Hire a private air company to fly Gina here from NBT. Also call my doctor at GG to see if he has any openings within the next few days." Whitney glances at Ekke, who is now tapping his feet impatiently. "I'm waiting!" She growls in anger as Samantha takes off everything from the clipboard except for the TIs. Whitney takes the TIs and opens the door into the battle room, which Ekke walks into. Whitney doesn't walk in immediately. Instead, she leaves the door open as she turns to Samantha to tell her one more thing. "Oh, and when you drop by my office, tell Bridget to ask the Elite Four if there's a rule about how many times a trainer can challenge a gym leader before I can legally refuse him! I've had it up to here with this guy!" Whitney raises her left hand up above her head to prove her point. Samantha nods in response. Whitney turns to walk in again, but stops as she turns one more time and sees that there are three people sitting in the lobby. "Samantha, Carrie told me we had 3 PBs. Why are there still three people out here if Ekke's inside, about to battle me?" Samantha sweatdrops. "That was the 'and' part I didn't get to." She points to the guy farthest away, who is staring at them and writing on a notepad at the same time. "He's not a trainer. He's actually a reporter for the Goldenrod Gazette." Whitney glances at the reporter, who waves back at her. She flashes her best smile, although obviously she's not interested in talking to the guy at all. "I'm kidding about the refusing this guy battle thing! Really!" The reporter gets up from his seat and walks up to the two women. "Robert Lattimore, reporter for the Goldenrod Gazette. Do you mind if I sit in on this battle?" "Go right ahead," Whitney tells him, pointing into the battle room. The reporter bows his head, then walks in. Whitney closes the door, then pulls Samantha off to the side. "A reporter? Why did you tell him I was coming back here?" "He insisted on wanting to speak to you. Besides, I had no choice!" Whitney sighs. "I might as well get this over with." "Wait a second!" Whitney turns and waits for Samantha, who surprisingly pulls out a red and a green flag from behind the front desk. "Samantha, you're not seriously..." "Bridget's talking with the Elite, and Carrie's refereeing a match between Victoria and another trainer in battle room number two. That means that I have to be the referee for your match!" "The last time you refereed one of my matches, it took you an extra five minutes to figure out that I had won the match!" "Well, I forgot that a recalled Pokémon counts as one of the three usable Pokémon. But don't worry! I've been reading up on the responsibilities of a referee, and I won't mess up this time!" "I hope not." Whitney opens the door and lets Samantha go in first. She follows her into the battle arena. ====== Whitney and Ekke stand on opposite ends of the field. Samantha stands ready off to the center sideline, with Robert the reporter sitting in the stands right behind her. "This is a three-on-three battle for the Plain Badge!" Samantha shouts. "This match will be between Whitney, the Goldenrod City gym leader, and Ekke, the challenger from Cinnabar Island! No items may be used, recalled Pokémon count against you, and, um... you have the right to call a timeout if you so desire!" "I do?" Ekke asks curiously. "That's never been the case before." "Wait, that's not right. Uh... you can use all of the Pokémon you have on hand! No, that's not it. The second Pokémon must attack without commands from its trainer. No, I think it's the one where you're allowed to distract the opposing trainer! That's not right either!" Samantha begins to wail loudly. "How come I can't remember?" "Stop fooling around!" Ekke yells at Whitney. "If you think she's going to help you gain a psychological advantage, then you've got another thing coming!" "I'm surprised he actually knows what psychological means," Whitney tells herself before looking at Samantha and groaning in dispair. "Uuuuhhhhh..." She then spots the reporter glancing right at her before turning back to his sketchbook and making some notes. "And yet again I look like a complete and utter fool," Whitney comments as a giant sweatdrop appears by her head. End Chapter 3 Will Whitney prove herself in front of the newspaper reporter and beat Ekke in battle once again? Or will she be embarrassed beyond belief? Plus, the League toughens up to protect their gym leaders, but it may not be enough to save one of them. Just a quick author's note here. If you haven't noticed, Whitney's opponent has a name that sounds awfully familiar. Come on, Ekke Tenryu? Doesn't it look almost the same as the name of Ikki Tenryou, the lead character of "Medabots?" It's no coincidence... it's actually very true! They look exactly the same (if you want a mental picture of him), and his Pokémon, Sandshrew, is named Sandshrewbee, as a homage to Ikki's Medabot, Metabee! The similarities end there, as Ikki and Metabee would never have to challenge someone eleven times just to win one battle. Oh, and don't think I'm doing this to slam the "Medabots" fans at all. I know enough about the show, but I just don't watch it regularly. It just doesn't fit my tastes. Okay, enough with the ranting. Chapter 4 will be here next Monday, so make sure to come back and read it!