I stepped out of the Nimbasa west gatehouse and onto Route 5, shaking the last of the accumulated static out of my body.
???: Hey, Pent!
I turned around to face Cherry.
Pent: Oh, hi.
Cherry: Heard you got a Bolt Badge, nice job. Got mine a while ago. The professor wanted me to test out your pokemon to see if you're ready for the next gym. Personally, I rate your chances higher than Bronco. But not much higher.
Her air of smugness was palpable.
Pent: Fine...
Cherry led with Liepard, which I defeated with Oakley.
Pent: Your move.
Cherry: Fine then.
Next up was Tranquill, who managed to take Oakley before being defeated by Carl.
Cherry: Oh so you got a Pan-set mon too, hello obvious advantage...
She sent out Pansage. As expected, Carl went down quite quickly.
Pent: Well played, well played. Well, time for something new.
I sent out Susan, who managed to take down Pansage through gratuitous use of Mega Drain.
Cherry: Oh look, another obvious type matchup.
She sent out her potbelly Tepig, who had grown into a chubby Pignite since the last battle. Susan had pretty much no chance. Booster was able to hold on and take the Pignite down.
Cherry: Well, that was an incredibly close battle. You might want to consider working on your team before your next battle.
Cherry left. I continued along the road for a while before coming to the bridge, which was in the up position with no signs of coming down soon.
Pent: Bleh... -Kicks a pebble-
A man with bright orange hair and an outfit to match called out from the side of the road.
Alder: Why, if it isn't one of the legendary J-Team.
Pent: Hi Alder. How's the championship going?
Alder: Same old same old, someone comes into the league announcing his intention to defeat you, you get all ready for battle and it turns out they can't get past any member of the Elite Four.
Pent: Heh, well hopefully you'll get a challenger capable of providing a good battle soon.
Alder: Hopefully. -Walks away with a smug smile, having caught the undertone of "I'm taking the gym challenge" that I radiated through my last sentence-
Next time: Howdy y'all, Joe Hills Clay here.
