Onto a float

If you send Oddish outside the pool, you won’t be able to hit Goldeen. You already had this problem with Diglett. The best way to disrupt Goldeen will be to put Oddish right in the middle of its domain. It’s a little risky since Oddish can be attacked from all directions, but let’s face it, Oddish isn’t dodging anything no matter where it is. “Oddish, I choose you!”

Oddish emerges atop a float in the pool, and this time, Misty’s the first to attack. “Goldeen, use Water Gun!”

“Oddish, use Absorb!” The water hits Oddish head-on, but Oddish just shakes its leaves off and pulls beams of light out of Goldeen. Misty and Goldeen both flinch in unison as you hit her pokemon’s weakness. Misty keeps her cool, though, and issues a new command to Goldeen.

“Goldeen, stay underwater! Just use Water Gun and then get out of there!” Oddish is splashed with water and then Goldeen is completely out of sight, hidden underwater. Oddish can’t see its target and neither can you, so you’re **** to wait this out until Goldeen resurfaces.

After a few seconds, Oddish is splashed with water again. “Oddish, use…” Again, Goldeen has vanished before you could retaliate. Next time you order Oddish to dodge, but Goldeen’s attacks come too fast for it to handle. This isn’t working. Even if Oddish is strong against Water attacks, it will still lose if you let Goldeen whittle it down like this. You have to do something about its maneuverability.

“Oddish, use Sweet Scent!” Oddish shakes its leaves rapidly, and a pink cloud is created all around it while the crowd picks up into a dull roar. The cloud covers the entire pool, creating a layer of pink powder as it settles onto the water’s surface. If Misty’s face is any indication, she’s sweating bullets right now.

As Goldeen surfaces again, its movements are noticeably slower than before. “Oddish, use Absorb!” Goldeen can’t avoid it in time, and it flops backwards before diving underwater again.

“Goldeen, stay down!” Nothing happens for several seconds as Misty bites her thumb, apparently mulling over her options. She won’t come up with anything though, because you’re the superior trainer. Now would be an excellent time to rub it in her face. “What’s the matter Misty? Aren’t you going to attack? The crowd is getting bored!” Your knees shake at your own acknowledgment of the crowd. Maybe you shouldn’t have mentioned them…

She glares at you. “Oh, I’ll attack alright. Goldeen, knock it off!” Her command confuses you. Was Goldeen misbehaving or something? You realize exactly what she meant a moment later, when Goldeen comes careening vertically out of the water, flipping the island on its side and sending Oddish toppling into the water. Crap! You had no idea those floats were so light! “It’s over now, rookie. Goldeen is lightning-fast underwater even after breathing in that dust. Your Oddish doesn’t stand a chance.”

You have an idea. You have to admit, you’ve had better ideas in your life, but this one will have to do. You run up to the pool and plunge your head underwater. You can see Oddish slowly sinking as it draws in light, but Goldeen swoops in and strikes it from the opposite direction. You splash your hands in the water as hard as you can, and Oddish looks up at you. Good. That was Step 1. Now for Step 2: Hope pokemon can read lips.

You mouth your command to Oddish. Three times, for good measure. Oddish stops using Absorb, which you’re pretty sure means you got through to it. You pull your head back out of the water to find that the crowd is absolutely electrified at your sudden move. Misty tries to play it cool, but you can see her face twitch with unease.

You return to your post and turn around to find that the whole pool is turning purple, prompting the audience to lose their minds. Misty’s eyes are the size of saucers as she stares at the water, completely dumbfounded. “What… What did you do!?”

“Poisonpowder,” you reply coolly. The crowd eventually quiets down, and everyone waits silently for the outcome. About one minute later, both pokemon rise to the surface, Goldeen sitting belly-up as Oddish shakes its leaves dry.

The crowd bursts into an uproar so loud it feels like the air around you is buzzing. A smile forces its way across your face as you realize what this means. You just beat your first Gym! …Obviously. Piece of cake. First try.

Misty shakes her head as she returns Goldeen to its pokeball and holds her mic up once more. “Well, there you have it folks! Emilia, with her team of Diglett and Oddish, has just earned her first Gym Badge! I guess I shouldn’t be calling you rookie anymore…” The crowd rebounds off of Misty’s announcement and reaches yet another level of intensity while you just stand there and soak it all in. This is for you. Every single one of those cheers is for you.

“You can also thank Emilia for the delay before the next battle, as we’ll prooooobably have to clean the pool after that match.” Whoops.