Chapter 14: Gym Leader Lenora

They woke up the next day early so that they could take on the next gym leader. Harper was eager to move on to the next town. They were told the next location was a big, massive city – Harper was excited about that, so she wanted to get this town over and done with. They wandered about the town, trying to work out where the gym was. Most of the backpackers that crowded the street were not helpful at all – and even Brandon, who was a backpacker, couldn't get a straight answer from them all.

"No use!" he exclaimed. "No use at all."

"So, no answer to our questions?" Harper said disappointingly.

"Nope," Brandon said as he grabbed hold of the straps to his large yellow backpack, "they weren't any help at all. But looks like Pedro has found something." As he spoke, Pedro returned from the Warehouse Café.

"Benjamin told me that we have to look at the museum in this town," he answered their question somewhat vaguely. "Even he didn't give us a straight answer. All he told me to do was to go there."

"Let's do that," said Harper. "It can’t hurt."

They soon arrived at the museum. At first, Harper thought they had gone to the wrong place. But after asking one of the museum’s employees, she was informed the gym was somewhere in the museum. Despite that, the person wasn’t useful at all. So, they walked about, looking at the galleries, before walking into the library section.

"Maybe there's a clue somewhere around here?" said Pedro in a very helpful manner.

"Like this," Brandon said while holding out a book. "There seems to be a note. It says: LOOK IN THE HISTORY SECTION. Maybe we should look there."

So, they went into the history section. Before they could go any further, a School Kid popped out of nowhere. "I’m school kid Carter, and I challenge you to a Pokémon battle," he said, pointing to Brandon.

"Why must everyone battle me? Why not Pedro? He never has to battle," Brandon complained as he placed his backpack on the floor, readying himself to battle the other trainer.

"That's because everyone fears me. I'm quite tough-looking," Pedro joked.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"And what about me?" Brandon asked.

"A dork," Harper added jokingly mockingly.

"Ok," said Brandon in defeat. "Sandshrew, I choose you!"

"Patrat," said the boy. "Let's do this thing!"

The Patrat started to charge at the Sandshrew, and Brandon's pokemon tried to swipe at it. The Patrat dodged the attack. Sandshrew kept swiping at the Patrat, but the Patrat kept getting out of the way. So, the Sandshrew tried its old strategy of trying to roll around the Pokemon. This didn't work, either, since the Patrat just moved out of the way every time Sandshrew got close. Suddenly from the tips of its claws, the Sandshrew shot out a bunch of poisonous needles at the Patrat. The Patrat began to walk around dazed and confused. Brandon looked puzzled. It looked like his Pokémon had learnt a new mo. Brandon must have been doing some right while training. While the Patrat was weak – its health was draining away every second - Sandshrew quickly swiped it a few times, knocking the Pokémon out.

"That was a good battle," said the boy. "I'm sure you’ll do fine when going against the gym leader."

"Can you at least give us some form of directions?" asked Brandon. "I won, so you can at least give us some clue.”

"Just keep following the clues," the boy's answer was. “It’s obvious.”

“Maybe one of the books serves as a button or something?” Harper asked. “Like what they do in a murder mystery novel.”

One of the books stood out. Where all the rest were green, this book had a red cover. Harper walked up and picked up the book. Suddenly a staircase appeared in the middle of the library. With nowhere else to go, they went down the staircase. They found themselves in a massive room. This was the gym, Harper thought.

"Welcome everyone! I am the director of the Nacrene Museum and the Nacrene Gym Leader! My name is Lenora! So, challenger, I will use this battle to research your technique," the gym leader said. She was a dark-skinned woman with puffy curly hair that was greenish-bluish-grey. She wore huge earrings that were the same colour as her hair, and she wore a cape. "Come forwards, and battle! Bring forth two Pokémon and prove your worth!"

“Boldore and Tepig," said Harper. "Come out and play!"

"Herdier and Watchog," said Gym Leader Lenora. "Let's test them!"

Boldore stood its ground as Tepig dashed across the arena towards the other side, sneaking behind the two enemy Pokémon. The Boldore started to throw rocks at the Herdier and the Watchog. The Watchog was poking its head around watching for attacks. Throwing the rock distracted the Watchog from the Tepig’s movement. The Herdier and the Watchog dodged incoming rocks without realizing the Tepig was about to attack them. Suddenly, the Tepig blasted a fireball at Herdier, knocking it out. It moved onto the Watchog. However, the Watchog became aware of the other Pokémon’s movement. The meerkat-like Pokémon performed a Sand-Attack on Tepig, covering Tepig’s eyes with sand. It was unable to see. The Watchog performed a low kick, which knocked the Tepig out. However, while the Watchog was fighting the Tepig it was unaware of the Boldore. The Boldore was able to throw a rock at Watchog knocking it out, knocking it out cold.

"Well done," said Lenora as she handed Harper a gym badge. "Now who's next?"

Just as she said, a man wearing a suit ran into the building. It was Lenora's husband.

"Team Plasma has stolen a dragon's skeleton! We must stop them now!" he yelled in distress.