"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 6 (08.19.02) Sirens fill the air as an ambulance pulls into the driveway of the Goldenrod City Pokémon Center. The back doors burst open as two EMTs exit the vehicle, pulling a wheeled stretcher out. On the stretcher is a Miltank who is groaning in pain. The EMTs wheel the Pokémon through the automatic sliding doors and into the emergency room area. Hopping out of the ambulance and following the EMTs into the Pokémon Center are Whitney and Bridget. Once inside the center, they try to follow Miltank into the emergency room. That is, until Nurse Joy and a Chansey block their path. "I'm sorry Whitney, but only emergency personnel are allowed through these doors!" "Joy... that's Milty in there!" Whitney exclaims. "We have to make sure she's okay!" Bridget adds. "Calm down!" Joy told the two frightened women. "I'll take good care of Milty. I'll find out the problem. She's in good hands." "Joy's right. Milty will be just fine." "Please wait here until we finish the check-up. I'll let you know what happens." Joy and Chansey turn around and walk through the set of double doors. Bridget guides Whitney to the waiting room to sit down. "Perk up, Whit! Milty will pull through!" Whitney sniffles as she tries to hold back tears. "I just don't understand how could this have happened. Maybe this is my fault..." "Nonsense! Milty just probably ate some bad grass or something. I'm sure she'll be fine." Whitney sits there with her face buried in her hands as Bridget pats her on the back. A few curious onlookers and passersby glance at the duo, wondering what was going on with the city's gym leader. ====== Just to the northwest, in the underground cavern Pokémon gym in Olivine City, the world's only known expert trainer of steel-type Pokémon was putting her skills to the test against a mysterious opponent. "I don't care who you are!" the gym leader shouted. "I'm Jasmine Limerno, the world's only steel Pokémon expert! Get ready to see the world's most exclusive Pokémon type in action!" The opponent seems unfazed by Jasmine's speech, as he releases a Staryu. Jasmine begins to laugh heartily. "Ha! I knew it! You may have been able to defeat Bugsy's creepy crawlies, Falkner's flying fowl, Chuck's muscle-bound monsters, and even Clair's deadly dragons. But it seems that not even the supposed 'unbeatable trainer' has a Pokémon strong enough to defeat the mysteriously solid steel-type Pokémon that I happen to have great control over." "That confident?" the mystery figure asked. "You know it! This'll be over in a second!" Jasmine throws out a Pokéball, which opens up to reveal a Magnemite. "Magnemite M-32, use thunderbolt!" "Staryu, earthquake!" The Earth begins to shake all around Magnemite, disrupting the Pokémon's electric waves. Magnemite manages to fire off a thunderbolt, but it misses Staryu by a mile. Magnemite falls to the ground and faints. "M-32!" Jasmine pulls out Magnemite's Pokéball and recalls it before pulling out another. "So the Staryu knows earthquake. Very rare, yet ingenious! But all I have to do is knockout that Staryu and you're done for. I bet not even another earthquake is strong enough to defeat Magnemite M-37! Let's go!" Another Magnemite appears, this one being slightly stronger than the last one. "M-37, thunderbolt!" "Staryu, earthquake!" The Earth shakes again, surrounding Magnemite. But this time, the electric-steel hybrid gets off an accurate shot before succumbing to the earthquake. It's not a fair trade-off though, as Staryu is stunned, but still standing. "M-37! How could that Staryu withstand such a strong attack?" The mystery trainer just smiles. "Staryu, recover." As Staryu recovers, Jasmine tries to cut the procedure short. She recalls the second Magnemite and throws out her third and final Pokéball. An Onix pops out of it... except this one is wearing a metal coat. "Meet the second rarest Johto gym Pokémon, only to Clair's Dragonite. Introducing Steelix, the evolved form of Onix! This Steelix's defenses are impenetrable! I bet that earthquake attack of yours is useless now!" "Staryu, earthquake!" Once more the ground shakes, but Steelix barely feels any movement at all. Jasmine's a different story, as she loses her footing and lands on her butt. "Ouch! Okay buddy, that's it! Screech attack, Steelix!" Jasmine covers her ears as Steelix screeches, filling the arena with a high pitched squeal that weakens Staryu's defenses greatly. "Iron tail!" Steelix swings its tail at Staryu, sending it flying into the nearest cavern wall and knocking it out on impact. "One down! If you honestly thought that I would be a pushover by myself, then you haven't seen anything yet!" Staryu is recalled and quickly replaced by an Onix. "Onix, tackle attack!" "Iron tail, Steelix!" Steelix swings its tail again and sends Onix flying. The Onix heads straight for the trainer... and goes right through him! Onix hits the ground hard, kicking up a large cloud of dust that fills the arena briefly. "What the hell... hey you, are you okay? I hope I didn't kill the guy. That would have majorly sucked." Jasmine covers her mouth as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a remote control. She pushes one of the buttons, as the sounds of several large fans fills the arena. Vents also open in the ceiling as the dust is quickly blown out of the room and through the roof. "Hey you, are you okay? Answer me!" As the dust completely clears out, Jasmine sees the Onix, completely out. The trainer then appears, seemingly uninjured. "How did you manage to avoid that? It looked like Onix should've sent you flying right into the wall with it!" "It should've... but it didn't." Jasmine gasps as she sees that the trainer was split into two pieces horizontally, with the entire midsection gone and the top half of his body completely disconnected with the bottom half. "Oh my god, I've got to call a doctor! That is, if you aren't dead already." Jasmine's about to get an even bigger shock as the missing part of his body regenerates itself. Jasmine freezes in fear as the stranger makes himself whole again. "W-w-w-w-what are you?" Fully back to his old self, the figure smiles and replies to Jasmine's query. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He then throws out his third and last Pokéball... releasing the king of the birds, the ultra-rare legendary fire Pokémon, Moltres. "M-M-M-M-M-M-Moltres? But how?" Unable to take any more surprises, Jasmine feels herself passing out as she drops to her knees. She falls flat on her face, knocking herself out as she hits the dusty dirt floor. ====== At the exact same time, both the Ecruteak City and Mahogany Town gyms were under siege by a 'mysterious trainer.' In Ecruteak, the trainer uses a Noctowl to keep all of Morty's ghost Pokémon in sight. Morty did his best to fight off attacks, but to no avail. "Haunter, curse!" Haunter raises its attack and defense while sacrificing some of its life energy. The Noctowl doesn't wait for the ghost to attack, though. "Noctowl, confusion!" The confusion attack is super effective, knocking out Morty's Haunter. "This is impossible! My ghost Pokémon are the best trained in the world!" "Seems like they need more training," the mystery trainer stated. Meanwhile, Pryce wasn't having much luck against the trainer with his ice Pokémon. "Piloswine, blizzard!" The ice-ground hybrid instantly creates a snowstorm, filling the frozen walls of the gym with even more snow. But even that couldn't stop his opponent's Gyarados in its tracks. "That should've frozen that Gyarados solid!" "Old man, you're rusty. Too rusty to be a gym leader. Gyarados, twister!" The twister attack tears up the ice floor and grabs Piloswine, too slow to avoid it. Piloswine spins around and around, high up into the air, until the twister disappears. Piloswine falls to the ground, hitting the ice floor hard with its head, knocking it out. ====== With no idea of what's going on across the Johto region, Whitney and Bridget are still sitting in the Goldenrod Pokémon Center, waiting for Joy to emerge from the emergency room. "It's been an hour already," Whitney told her friend. "I'm getting worried." "What could be wrong with Milty? She spends the night at your uncle's farm, right?" "For the most part. On some nights I'll take her home with me." "Between you and your uncle, how could have Milty gotten ill?" "I just don't know, Bridget. I just don't know." The two are interrupted by a group of small children who enter the Pokémon Center and immediately run over to them. "It's Whitney!" one boy shouted. "The gym leader!" yelled another. "I want to grow up to be just like her!" proclaimed one of the girls. Bridget tries to shoo them away, but Whitney raises her arm into the air, silencing the children. "I know what all of you want!" Whitney told them as merrily as she could, given the circumstances. "Autographs!" The children cheer as Bridget searches her pockets for a ball point pen. Finding one, she hands it to Whitney as she starts signing notebooks, bookbags, and other assorted goodies as the children crowd around her. Just then, a skinny black-haired lady walks up, dressed in a green blouse, a carnation flower print skirt, a tan-colored buttoned sweater, and tennis shoes. "I apologize for the children. They just couldn't wait to meet you today." "Oh, you must be their teacher." "Yes. These are the first graders from Brandon Mosley Elementary that were going to visit you at the gym." "I told you about them yesterday," Bridget whispered to Whitney. "I heard about what happened to your Miltank from some of the people outside. If this is a bad time..." "Nonsense! I don't mind taking time out of my schedule to talk with children. Despite the circumstances..." "Is your Miltank okay?" the teacher asked, quieting the children down long enough to hear Whitney's response. "I sure hope so." ====== Meanwhile, trouble was brewing at the Goldenrod gym. As Victoria and Samantha fielded challenges from new trainers that morning, Carrie was in Whitney's office, finishing some paperwork and answering calls. "Yes, this is the gym. No, she's not in right now. She stepped out because of an emergency. May I take a message? Uh huh. Great! I'll tell her. Thanks." Carrie hangs up the phone and breathes a sigh of relief. "Thirty calls in half an hour! How does Whitney do it?" The phone rings again. Carrie growls angrily as she picks up the receiver. "Goldenrod gym, Carrie speaking!" As Carrie listened to the voice on the other end, her face changed from an angry one to one of worry. She was being told the bad news. Something she expected would have never happened after security had been tightened at the Johto gyms. "The trainer has struck again." End Chapter 6 What's wrong with Milty? And how will Whitney feel about the news of what has just happened to Jasmine, Morty, and Pryce? The ascent to the showdown you've all been waiting for begins next Monday in the seventh chapter!