Pokémon HGSS#7: Goldenrod’s Gym Battle
“No way!” Beatrice said.
“Come on Bea. It could be fun,” Jonathan said.
“No! No! No! I hate Bug-Type Pokémon. There’s no way I’m going to join a Bug catching contest.” Beatrice said.
Jonathan and Beatrice stood outside the entrance to the Johto National Park after Jonathan had battled his way up Route 35 towards Ecruteak City. When they were in Goldenrod City, Gym Leader Whitney had told Jonathan to head this way to get to Ecruteak City in order to battle the Ghost-type Gym Leader, Morty. However Jonathan stopped and saw a sign posted for a “Bug-Catching Contest” and immediately wanted to join the contest.
“Come on Bea,” Jonathan said. “This might be my chance to catch a Scyther. Bugsy had one and it was a great in battle. It could really help my team. I mean I only have three Pokémon.”
“And you have that Egg that Professor Elm gave you,” Beatrice noted.
Jonathan glanced back at his backpack which held the Pokémon Egg.
“Obviously I still have the Egg, but it can’t battle,” Jonathan said. “Plus I can’t keep on relying on Pokémon evolution to help me win. I got lucky with both Bugsy and Whitney. A Scyther might really come in handy in the next city.”
“Are Bug-Type Pokémon good against Ghost-Type Pokémon?” Beatrice asked.
“Ummm…maybe. I’m not sure,” Jonathan admitted. “Come on, Bea. You might actually have a good time.”
“Fine, Jonathan. We can do this stupid Bug-Catching Contest,” Beatrice said with a grimace.
“Yes!” Jonathan said.
“But after you catch your Pokémon or whatever, we need to quickly head to Ecruteak City. It’s likely that is Silver’s location,” Beatrice said.
“Of course,” Jonathan nodded.
Jonathan and Beatrice walked into the building where they were greeted by a gentleman wearing what looked like a safari outfit.
“Hello,” He said in a booming voice. “Have you two heard about the Bug-Catching Contest we are having today in Johto National Park?”
“Actually, yeah. We read the flyer outside,” Jonathan said.
“Excellent! Are you two interested in participating?” The man asked.
Jonathan turned towards Beatrice and then back to the man.
“We’d both like to participate,” Jonathan said.
Beatrice elbowed him in the side.
“Jonathan!” She glared at him.
“Come on, Bea. You might as well tag along and catch a Pokémon or two.”
“Actually each participate can only catch one Pokémon for judging at the end of the event. Participates can either release the Pokémon back into the park or add them to their party. And we use special Pokéballs here in the park called Sport Balls,” The man explained.
“Wouldn’t Park Balls make more sense?” Jonathan asked.
“Yeah I hear that a lot,” The man grumbled to himself. “Anyway, are you two interested?”
Jonathan turned to Bea again.
“Uh. Fine. Yeah we’ll both participate,” Bea said.
“Excellent,” The man light up. “Let me get the stuff you need.”
The man explained all the official rules to both Jonathan and Beatrice and handed them both ten Sport Balls. They could only use these special balls to catch the Bug-Type Pokémon in Johto National Park and the contest would end in approximately two hours. They had to register one Pokémon to assist them in capturing the Bug-Type Pokémon. Then the captured Pokémon would be judged on size, power, and rarity. The winner would receive a prize for winning and all participates could then keep the Pokémon they caught or release it. After the contest ended, all unused Sport Balls would have to be returned.
“So what Pokémon do you want to register?” The man asked.
“I’m choosing Quilava,” Jonathan said.
“Marill for me,” Beatrice said.
After signing a form acknowledging they would follow all the rules, they were given there Sport Balls and sent out into Johto National Park.
“This is going to be so much fun,” Jonathan said.
“Yeah whatever,” Beatrice said. “At least I can enjoy walking around the park.”
They both made their way deeper into the National Park. There were many other trainers with their Pokémon searching for Bug-Type Pokémon in the park.
Jonathan heard two trainers talking about finding a rather large Kakuna hanging from one of the trees in the middle of the park.
“Come on Beatrice. We have to hurry. All of these trainers already have a head start on us,” Jonathan said.
He grabbed Beatrice’s hand and ran forward dragging her along with him while Marill and Quilava ran behind them.
“Slow down Jonathan!” Beatrice said.
They walked together through Johto National Park into a deeper, more secluded part of the park. The grass was thicker here and there were more trees overhead.
“This is the perfect spot for catching Bug-Type Pokémon,” Jonathan noted.
Beatrice held Marill in her arms while looking around the forest.
“If you say so,” Beatrice said. “Can’t you just catch any Bug Pokémon so we can get out of here? Look, there’s a Bug!”
Beatrice pointed towards some Caterpie that were climbing across a tree branch.
“I told you, Bea. I want to catch Scyther and this is my chance. Plus Caterpie isn’t going to win the contest,” Jonathan said. “Maybe you should catch one.”
“I don’t think so,” Beatrice said. “I think I’m actually going to head back.”
“What why?” Jonathan asked.
“Because I’m not comfortable stomping around these Bug-filled woods,” Beatrice said. “I’m going to head back and see if I can find something near the flowers or the large fountain we passed.”
“Ok good luck. I’m heading forward. Meet you at the end of the contest,” Jonathan said.
“Yeah good luck to you too,” Beatrice said before turning around.
Jonathan and Quilava kept going forward, deeper into the forest. The tree branches were thick, but Jonathan pushed out of the way and stumbled forward over roots.
Jonathan rolled forward down a small slope into a large field of flowers.
“Ouch.”
Jonathan stood up and brushed dirt off himself.
“That hurt,” Jonathan mumbled to himself.
“Quilava!”
Quilava jumped down and landed next to Jonathan.
“I’m glad you’re alright,” Jonathan said patting Quilava on its head.
It then stood up on its hindlegs and surveyed the area.
“Do you see anything, Quilava?” Jonathan said looking out over the field of flowers.
There in the distance Jonathan spotted something.
“Come on Quilava,” Jonathan said as he ran forward and Quilava chased after him.
While this was going on, Beatrice and Marill walked back towards the central part of the park where the other trainers were gathered together. Many of them had already caught the Pokémon they thought would win the contest and were near the start of the park.
“Come on Marill, let’s see if we can go find a non-scary Bug-Type Pokémon,” Beatrice said walking away the crowds and towards the large fountain in the center of the park.
The center area was made up of cement paths that made out the shape of a Pokéball. Around the edges there were patches of tall grass and flowers, with a large fountain in the middle. That’s where Beatrice was heading.
As she neared the fountain, she saw some kind of shape near the fountain. At first she thought it was another trainer, but as she got closer, she saw it was a Pokémon. It was a green Pokémon with clear wings on its back and large blades on its arms.
“That’s a Scyther,” Beatrice whispered to Marill. “That’s what Jonathan was trying to capture.”
“Marill! Marill!”
Marill jumped from Beatrice’s arms and landed in some nearby grass.
“What are we going to do, Marill?” Beatrice asked.
She looked around. There was no one else nearby and she knew Jonathan was too far away. If she left to find him, it’s possible that Scyther might run away. It was just there drinking out of the fountain.
“I have to try to capture it,” Beatrice said. “And if Jonathan catches one, I can just release it back into the park.”
Marill nodded.
“Ok, let’s do this,” Beatrice said taking in several deep breathes.
“Marill, use Bubblebeam!”
Marill hoped out of the grass and unleashed a stream of bubbles. They collided with the Scyther knocking it into the fountain.
“Scyther! Scyther!”
It splashed around in the fountain for a second before jumping out onto the fountain’s ledge, soaked.
“Scyther!”
It glared at Marill and Beatrice before flapping its wings. The Scyther began hovering over the ground.
“Marill, we have to stop it from getting away. Use Tackle!”
Marill ran forward and jumped up. It collided with Scyther knocking it back. Both Scyther and Marill fell into the fountain.
In confusion and frustration, Scyther lashed out with its large claws slashing Marill, but Marill fought back with another Bubblebeam.
Beatrice pulled out a Sports Ball and threw it at Scyther. It hit Scyther on the head and there was a flash of light. Scyther disappeared inside the ball which fell into the fountain with a splash.
Beatrice ran over and reached into the fountain. She lifted up the Sports Ball. There inside was a Scyther.
“I can’t believe I caught a Scyther,” Beatrice said.
She was so proud of herself for catching it but she also wanted to rub it in Jonathan’s face. She was sure he was having a horrible time tracking down a Scyther, and she caught one, all by herself. Beatrice smiled and Marill jumped up and down with joy.
Eventually the sun began to set and there was an announcement that the Bug-Catching Contest was coming to an end. Most of the trainers had already submitted their Pokémon to be judged, but Jonathan had not yet showed. Beatrice was worried that Jonathan had gotten lost and would not get back in time. She tried calling him on his Pokétgear, but there was no response.
With only five minutes left in the contest, Jonathan showed up at the judging building covered in dirt, flower petals, leaves, and twigs.
“What happened to you?” Beatrice asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jonathan said obviously out of breath.
“Well it’s almost time to submit our Pokémon. Did you find yourself a Scyther?” Beatrice asked.
“No. No Scyther. I had to settle for another Pokémon,” Jonathan said.
“Well what did you get?” Beatrice asked.
“Let’s just go submit our Pokémon, “Jonathan said walking past Beatrice.
They both went to the judge’s table and submitted their caught Pokémon as well as extra Sports Balls. Beatrice had nine extra and Jonathan only had one. Apparently he really did have a bad time catching a Bug-Type Pokémon.
Jonathan and Beatrice sat down among the crowd and waited for the results. After a few minutes the man in the safari outfit came up on the stage to announce the results.
“Settle down everyone,” He started. “It’s time to announce the results for today’s Bug-Catching Contest.”
“In third place we have, Jonathan and his Butterfree.”
Beatrice clapped but Jonathan looked disappointed as he stood up and walked on stage. There was his Butterfree flapping its wings and hovering next to him.
“In second place we have Casey and her Beedrill.”
A girl dressed in black and yellow walked up on stage and showed off her Beedrill which buzzed next to her.
“And in first place. With a Pokémon not usually found in Johto National park, we have Beatrice and her Scyther,” He announced.
Jonathan’s mouth almost hit the stage as Beatrice stood up and walked towards the stage. The audience applauded as she walked up and her Scyther was brought out. It stood next to her showing off its blades. Beatrice was nervous to stand next to it.
“Here you go, Beatrice,” The safari man said handing her a red and gold rock. “This is a Sun Stone. It is given out as the prize for First Place. It can be used to make certain Pokémon evolve.”
“Thank you so much,” Beatrice said accepting her prize.
After she received her prize, Jonathan walked over to her.
“Wow. I can’t believe you…you caught a Scyther. That’s amazing,” Jonathan said.
Beatrice smiled.
“Yeah it was kind of surreal,” She admitted. “It was just hanging out in a fountain and I was able to surprise it.”
“Well congratulations,” Jonathan said.
“Jonathan?”
“Yeah Bea?”
“Why don’t we trade Pokémon?”
“What? What do you mean?” Jonathan asked.
“Well you wanted a Scyther, right? And I just managed to catch it. But honestly, it scares me. I don’t think I’d be able to raise it right. Your Butterfree is still a Bug-Type Pokémon, but it’s more pretty than scary. I think I’d do better with it,” Beatrice said.
Jonathan smiled and gave Beatrice a hug.
“Thanks Bea, I appreciate it,” Jonathan said.
“No problem, Jonathan,” Beatrice said. “So that’s a yes for the trade?”
“Yes, of course,” Jonathan said.
“Great! But I get to keep the Sun Stone.”
“That’s fair,” Jonathan said with a smile.
Jonathan and Beatrice exchanged Pokémon. Jonathan took Scyther’s Pokéball and Beatrice took Butterfree’s Pokéball. They then made their way towards Ecruteak City with their new Pokémon and a Sun Stone symbolizing Beatrice’s accomplishment in her bag.
Header Photo Credit to Versiris on DeviantArt
https://www.deviantart.com/versiris/art/Bug-Catcher-T-Shirt-557896673
All photos of Pokemon and related content used were taken from Bulbapedia
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page
Allen The Writer 