Chapter 17 - Katrina Vs. Brandon

"Oh my God Katrina! It's happening! It's happening!" Adriana shouted at me over our video call. "Relax! What's happening?" I questioned. "Vaporeon laid her eggs! So far she's laid three!" Adriana sounded so excited. "I'll be there as soon as I can! I'm at the department store!" I told her, & hung up before she could say any more.

The department store of Celadon City waa huge, the biggest I'd ever seen! The shelves were full of items, TM's, berries, you name it.

Brandon & I had been in Celadon for three days now. We trained a bit, but mostly relaxed. I had heard about a giant department store in Celadon so of course I had to check it out.

I approached the lady behind the TM counter & she explained to me the deals they had. Apparently for this month only, they had a buy one get one free on all TM's.

I bought an Ice Beam & a Shadow ball TM, & I got a second one of each for free. I was pretty broke after that so I couldn't buy as many Potion's & Revive's as I wanted to.

I heard the rooftop of the department store had a wonderful view, so I went up there to see it myself. I had a beautiful view of the city from there. It was nice. I breathed in the fresh smell of flowers, & enjoyed the peace & serenity the rooftop brought me. "Vulpix!" Cinder was by my side, enjoying the view as well.

I smiled & pet my Vulpix. She ran away from me & ran behind me. I turned back & saw that she had run up to Brandon, who was petting her softly.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him nicely. "I came looking for you. Adriana wants you to come witness Vaporeon's eggs," he explained. "How'd you know I was up here?" I made a wierd face. He shrugged. "I just knew." He sat beside me.

"Wow. It looks pretty up here," he took in the view. It was beginning to get dark, so we could see all the lights in the city. "It's also kinda windy," I chuckled as my hair blew into my face. Brandon looked at me, & tucked my hair behind my ear. He kept his hand on my cheek, cupping it. "Brandon..." "Shhh," he hushed me & began to slowly lean in close to me.

I thought my heart was going to explode. Butterflies erupted in my stomach, & I found myself leaning in as well.

Just as our lips were about to touch, my Poketch started beeping, startling the both of us. "It's Adriana," I frowned, cursing at her in my mind for ruining the moment. "You missed the whole thing!" she yelled as soon as I answered the call.

"Sorry!" I squeaked. She sighed, & a smile appeared on her face. "It's okay. There were 7 eggs. That's quiet a lot, I almost thought that she... Wasn't going to make it, she was in so much pain, but it's all over now. Come back, Jolteon misses you." Jolteon appeared on the screen. "Jolt!" he cried. "I'm coming, Jolt," I smiled & assured him.

Brandon & I began the long walk back to Adriana & Ariana's house. "Hey, why do you think that Adriana & Ariana's names sound so alike?" I found myself asking Brandon. "I don't... Know. Their mom wanted to confuse people," he answered.

"How did everything go for you?" I was referring to Brandon's afternoon at the game corner. He had spent the last two afternoon's playing slots, hoping to get enough points for a Pokemon. "Today was my lucky day," Brandon smirked.

"What did you win?" I raised an eyebrow. "A Pokemon," he answered secretively. "I won a Pokemon. A rare one."

That is all he told me. He refused to release anymore information of his newest Pokemon until I saw him battle. "That's no fair," I huffed. "Baby girl, life isn't fair." Him calling me that sent chills down my spine.

When we got back to Ariana's house, they practically dragged me in to look at Vaporeon's eggs. There were seven. "How did she lay so many?" I gasped. Adriana had gotten an incubator for each egg, so that they would hatch twice as fast, & be safe without fear of them being crushed or broken. "Wow, what are you gonna do with all these Eevee eggs?" I found myself asking Adriana.

She looked down at her Vaporeon & rubbed her chin, deep in thought. "I... I don't know. I can't keep them, that's for sure. Maybe I'll keep one, but I don't know about the rest. Baby Pokemon are hard to raise," she frowned.

"Why don't you give one to your sister? Since she gave me Jolteon, she won't have any Pokemon & she'll be lonely. Besides, she'll have a fresh start, so there's no way that the Eevee won't listen to her like Jolt," I spoke up. Adriana looked at her sister. "Would you like one?"

Ariana bit her lip. "Well... It would be nice..." "That settles it then... One for me, & one for you... Now about these other five..." she trailed off.

"Sell them? Eevee are rare. People will pay a fortune for them," Brandon blurted out. Adriana didn't look convinced. "That's kinda the problem. What if people use the Eevee's for a bad cause? Like over-breeding just because they're rare? I want to make aure they go to a good home."

She had a point. I thought for a moment. "Let me take one?" I said out loud without thinking. Everyome turned to look at me. I flushed red with emberassment. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" "Will you please?" Adriana begged. "I need good trainers to take them. I know you'll take good care of the Eevee. You too, Brandon. If you guys don't mind baby Pokemon," she finished.

Without a second thought Brandon & I confirmed to her we'd take an Eevee off her hands. She made a few calls to other trainers, I'm guessing, asking if they were interested. I was proud of Adriana for not selling the eggs at a high price to just anybody.

She was right. Often people would try to over-breed rare Pokemon. It was horrible. Don't get me wrong, breeding Pokemon is okay. But when you mass breed to the point it affects a Pokemon's health, that was completely wrong.

& as for selling them to anyone, many trainers were not responsible enough to own an Eevee. They would get frustrated when it didn't evolve, & it could result in Pokemon abuse or abandonment. I was proud of Adriana for not caring about making money off the eggs.

"So, while you guys are here, you should challenge the Celadon gym leader," Adriana suggested. "Umm.." "She's a grass-type trainer," Adriana informed me. "Gass huh," Brandon thought. "Squirtle & Poliwag aren't good against grass-types..." he shook his head.

"We might as well challenge her while we're here. So we don't have to pass by Celadon again," I suggested to Brandon. He seemed hesitant. "Okay... Tomorrow?" he asked. I nodded. "You know, Katrina... I really need to train my Pokemon... We should have a battle," he smirked at me.

"Um..." I wasn't so sure. How would I battle against Brandon? He was my friend, & I cared for his Pokemon as if they were my own. I didn't want to hurt them...

"Come on, Katrina. We've never battled before!" he whined. "But Brandon... I care about your Pokemon... I don't want to hurt them," I frowned. "So what if we end up battling each other during the Pokemon League? Would you quit? Is that what you would do? After all the hard work you put in?" His voice was getting louder & louder.

"No, but-" "Come on Katrina. I challenge you to a battle." The look on his face told me that no matter what I said, or how many times I said no, he wouldn't give it up. Brandon was so stubborn, there was no way I could get out of this, so I decided to just get it over with. "Okay," I sighed, getting up. He cheered im triumph.

"This will be a five on five Pokemon battle with no time limit & no substitutions. The trainer to win the most rounds out of five wins. Both trainers will also release their Pokemon at the same time," Adriana announced a little too loudly. She acted like we were in a large stadium full of people.

"Good luck you two," she winked at me, telling me that she was secretly rooting for me to win.

I pulled out Venus' Pokeball first. Brandon also had his Pokeball ready in his hand, & was playing with it. "Ready?" Adriana asked the two of us with a smile on her face. Ariana stood next to her, eyes fixed on us, waiting for us to begin. We both nodded. "Release your Pokemon!" she yelled, almost making me go deaf.

Venus came out of his Pokeball before Brandon's Pokemon. He looked around & was shocked to see that on the other side of us, was his opponent, Brandon. Venus looked back at me worriedly. "It's okay. Just a friendly battle between us," I assured him. This seemed to get him pumped up.

We looked back at Brandon's choice, Growlithe. I gulped. This would not turn out good. Growlithe looked back questioningly at Brandon when he saw Venus & I across from him. Brandon did the same as I did, & assured his Growlithe it was just a friendly battle, for training. After being informed of this Growlithe turned around & growled at Venus. Venus growled back.

"Alright Venus, use Leech Seed!" Venus threw out a tiny seed at Growlithe. "Burn that seed with Ember!" Just like that, Venus' Leech Seed was burned down to the ground. I gritted my teeth.

"Growlithe use Fire Fang!" Poor Venus was going to be so hurt if I allowed that Fire Fang to hit. "Use Vine Whip to grab Growlithe & stop the attack!" Venus picked up Growlithe with ease, stopping him from being attacked. I grinned. "Use Flame Wheel to release yourself!" No sooner had my grin disapeared as Growlithe used Flame Wheel & Venus cried out in pain, retracting his vines. Flame Wheel continued & hit poor Venus, knocking him down.

"Venus!" I cried out. Venus didn't get up. I was about to retreat him when he stood back up & released a Sleep Powder without my command. I smirked. Damn Venus. Growlithe was hit & started to get sleepy. "Quickly! Flame Wheel!" Despite his drowziness, Growlithe preformed his move perfectly, hurting Venus so bad that I didn't dare keep him in battle. Brandon won the first round. Growlithe fell asleep seconds after I recalled Venus to his Pokeball.

"For a grass-type, he really put up a fight. I knock most of them out in one hit," Brandon complimented me. "Thanks," I replied casually, taking out another Pokeball. Brandon had his in his arms already.