Chapter 33:  Strength Within (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

As the huge foot swept back to gain maximum power, a huge shadow loomed over 
everything.  
“OOONNN...” it roared, and it was much bigger than Scott’s Onix, it bellowed 
again and rammed itself at the robot’s head.  
After it moved itself from above us, I could see things more clearly, Bruno was 
up on top and this Onix had a cross scar on its face along with its unusual 
size.  
“Stand back kid, I’ll handle this!”  
“But I want to help! I want to prove myself!”  
“Kid, nothing you do now can change my decision, you’ve passed, now stand 
back!”  
The huge Onix tackled the Hitmonlee with its immense weight, but the robot 
wasn’t finished yet and spun around, the metal foot doing some damage, the Onix 
and Bruno fell off, and the robot attempted to squash Bruno, but he leapt high 
out of harms way and landed on the foot.  
It couldn’t twist around, so Bruno was safe for now, I had to admit that I’d 
been utterly fooled for the moment, Bruno Was everything I’d known him to be, 
his lazy attitude was just an act, or a brief moment Bruno had every so often.  

“Kick it!” shouted Willy.  
One leg swung towards the other and damaged it.  
“Not the leg! The foot, you idiot!”  
“We can’t reach that far without losing balance! Do you want to get the legs 
tangled up?!” complained Billy.  

I smiled, “Inferno! Go!”  
“Roooaaarrr!!!”  
“We need to fly around and be a temporary target, do you think you could-”  
He turned his back and scratched himself.  
“Inferno! You’re heartless! Return.  I choose Whirlwind!”  
“Pidgeot-to!”  
“Whirlwind, I’m afraid you’re going to have to be the bait.  Lure one leg 
around the other.” I said quietly, so as not to broadcast my plan to the 
brothers.  
“Pidgeo!” he yelled, and the other leg gave chase, Whirlwind dashed around the 
other leg and the pursing leg stupidly followed him move for move, until the 
legs were pulled together and tightened, trapped in a complicated knot.  

“You idiot Billy!”  
“But that leg is your responsibility.”  
“I don’t care, I’m angry and you’re the nearest one to take it out on.”  

“Onix! Go!” shouted Bruno.  
“OOONNN!!!”  
The huge Onix slammed into the wrapped up robot and sent it crashing into the 
mountain wall and down a chasm, ricocheting against the walls all the way down 
like a pinball.  
“Tilt! Those clowns are out of credits and its game over for them.” joked 
Bruno, “Get on, Onix will take us back to Terracotta.”  
I climbed on, but held onto Bruno, I didn’t feel too safe being so high up, and 
this Onix was immensely big.  
“You said I passed, but I still don’t understand why.”  
“Kid, I suppose its in your nature, so you were sure to pass.”  
“What’s in my nature? Battling tactically? Having strong Pokémon?”  
“Ha ha ha.” laughed Bruno, “You misunderstood my message, like most trainers 
do, I made that riddle to reduce the trainers I had to battle, the ones that 
only battle with strength but not with wisdom, courage and heart.”  
“The strength that me and my Pokémon share...” I pondered, “Its love, isn’t it? 
That’s what we share with each other, I fell for your trap, hook line and 
stinker, it was never about physical strength, because my Pokémon have it and I 
don’t, its our strength to stand up to anything for each other.”  
“Right on the mark, kid, let’s go have a Gym Battle.”  
“You won’t be using this Onix, will you?”  
“I suppose not, I am the Fighting Master so I’ll only use Fighting Pokémon, but 
it won’t be easy, even if you do have a Psychic-type or use that Flying Pokémon 
of yours.”  

We were soon back in the Gym, a ruined temple with no roof nor ceiling, just 
useless support poles scattered here and there.  
“Mina?...  Mina!...” called out Bruno, “I wonder where she is?”  
“Mina...” I pondered, “She was the one that gave me your riddle... in a tone 
that suggested physical strength...”  
“Yes, Mina hasn’t quite got the hang of my teachings, she’s into power and 
physical strength, female trainers are usually caring towards their Pokémon 
unconditionally, so if they can beat Mina, then they have the qualities needed 
to be a Pokémon Master, but males are usually different, using their power 
rather than their heart, but you, you have proven your strength and heart, and 
if you can beat me, then I’m sure you will go on to be a great Pokémon 
Trainer.”  
“I’m ready.”  
“But in order to prove your strength rather than luck, how about a best of 
three battles?”  
“Best of three?”  
“We each battle three separate matches, in each will be a winner and a loser, 
the best of three wins.”  
“Works for me.”  
“Go! Hitmonchan!”  
“Go, Twinkill!”  

“Hitmon-Chan!”  
“Star!”  
“Hitmonchan, use your Comet Punch!” shouted Bruno, quickly getting the match 
started.  
“Hitmon...”  
“Swift attack!”  
“Star!”  
The leaping Hitmonchan didn’t get close, and was blasted by the stars and fell 
back, but he regained his balance and leapt as soon as he landed.  
“Thunderpunch!”  
“Thunderbolt!”  
“Star-Yu!”  
Twinkill nearly slipped before the attack, I shouldn’t have used Twinkill, not 
when it was tired from all the work it had done, but I couldn’t just quit.  
Twinkill balanced itself, and leapt upwards, spinning extremely fast, generating the electricity needed to reflect the Hitmonchan’s shocking punch.  
“Double Edge!” I shouted, and Twinkill spun towards the Hitmonchan.  
“Counter it!”  
“Hitmon!” said the Hitmonchan, actually catching Twinkill, holding two of its 
points and preventing it from spinning.  
“Star?”  
“Hit-Mon-Chan!” shouted the Fighting Pokémon, pushing against Twinkill, 
overcoming the force and shoving my Pokémon to the floor.  
“Use your Thunderpunch!”  
Twinkill couldn’t spin away in time, it had barely recovered from the last 
attack, the fist came straight down and shocked Twinkill, before giving a light 
hit that threw it back to me.  
“Star...”  
“I know...  You’re tired, we need to regenerate your strength, but time and time 
again, our opponents don’t stand by and let that happen...”  
“Use your Agility!”  
“Twinkill, Harden.”  
“Star?”  
“Trust me.”  
“Star.” it nodded, and its body was surrounded by a golden light, upgrading its 
defense.  
“Comet Punch!” shouted Bruno, and the Hitmonchan lifted Twinkill into the air 
through the multiple hits.  
“Alright!” I shouted, “He can’t get to you now, Recover!”  
“Star!” shouted Twinkill, recovering most of its health.  
“Mega Punch!”  
Twinkill couldn’t spin away having been concentrating on healing up, it was 
punched up by the heavy hit that would have ended this battle.  
“Twinkill! Psychic attack!”  
“Star!”  
“Chaaannn!!!” wailed the Hitmonchan, being defeated by the heavy blue explosion.  
“Return...” said Bruno recalling it, “Round 1 goes to you, my friend, but the 
next round shall not be so easy.”  
“That, was easy?” I questioned.  
“Go Hitmonlee!”  
“Hitmon, Hitmonlee!” it shouted, sweeping its foot across the area in front of 
it, then adopting a fighting stance.  
“Return Twinkill, I choose Scramble.” I said, switching Pokémon.  
“Exeggcute!”  
“Start off with your Barrage!”  
“Ignore it, and use your Focus Energy!”  
“Hitmon...”  
The eggs came down and exploded, but they didn’t even faze the opponent.  
“Use your Leech Seed!”  
“Rolling Kick!”  
The seeds were shot off at a high height, the Hitmonlee managed to roll 
underneath it and then performed a sweeping blow.  
“Ex!!!”  
“Use your Confusion!”  
“Ex!”  
“Lee!!!”  
The Hitmonlee went spiralling backwards and went straight into the wall.  
“Lee...” it growled.  
“Use your Hi Jump Kick!”  
“Double Edge!”  
This was risky, but I had a strategy.  
“Ex-Egg...”  
“Monlee!”  
Both attacks collided with each other, and both Pokémon were repelled from the 
other, but Scramble took more damage.  
“Now use your Mega Drain!”  
“Ex... Egg...”  
“Mega Kick!”  
The Hitmonlee ran forward and kicked the little eggs in one go as if they were 
footballs, they all flew into the air, but changed into a formation to lessen 
the damage upon landing.  
“Solar Beam!”  
While in the air, all six eggs charged themselves with light from the opening 
of the arena.  
“Ex...”  
“Don’t give them a chance to fire, Hitmonlee, Double Kick!”  
“... Egg...”  
“Monlee!”  
The left leg shot forward and stretched far, hitting Scramble hard, it managed 
to hold onto the charged beam, but then the right leg collided, and the eggs 
could take no more.  
They fell over and the Solar Beam shot forward, but not under control, and 
swept across the arena floor and up a support pole, which soon collapsed, on Scramble.  
The Hitmonlee had avoided the pole by jumping, using its spring legs to shoot 
forward.  
“Scramble!...” I shouted, and each of the eggs rolled out of the dusty mess, 
all cross-eyed and defeated.  
“Return.” we both said.  
“Unlucky.” commented Bruno, “But a nice try, you should try evolving that 
one.”  
“If I did, it wouldn’t be fair to Scramble, and you wouldn’t be battling me if 
I wasn’t fair towards my Pokémon.”  
“Go, Machamp!”  
“What?...”  
“Maaaa-Champ!” roared the four-armed Fighting Pokémon, I drew out the Pokédex:  

“Machamp, the Superpower Pokémon.  It gains an extra pair of arms which can 
perform a variety of fighting combos, or easily send its victim clear over the 
horizon.”  

“I’m in trouble, Machamp’s a Stage 3 Pokémon, and the only Stage 3 I have 
is...”  
Inferno, a Charizard that was constantly growing difficult by the minute, 
Machamp looked powerful, but I just couldn’t risk a loss because of Inferno’s 
mood, the next best thing I had was a Stage 2 with the type advantage.  
“Go! Whirlwind!”  
“Pidgeottooo!!!”  
“Whirlwind! Use your Gust attack!”  
“Mega Punch.”  
The air blasts hit the Machamp hard, but it braced the pain and charged 
forward, though being stopped every so often, it wouldn’t stop until it got 
close to Whirlwind and punched him.  
Whirlwind fell down, only to have the Machamp quickly appearing over it and 
pounding it down to the floor.  
“Use your Wing Attack!”  
Before the Machamp could attempt another blow, Whirlwind charged upwards and 
smashed against the Machamp with its wings.  
“Leer.”  
The Machamp glared at Whirlwind, who froze in the air, though he continued to 
flap his wings to stay airborne.  
“Now use Submission!”  
“Pidgeooo!!!” screamed Whirlwind, as the Machamp rose up and pummelled him with 
all four arms.  
Whirlwind was surprisingly not looking too good, even though he had the type 
advantage, this Machamp was seriously powerful, and we had to wrap this battle 
up quickly.  
“Use your Quick Attack!”  
“Counter-attack!”  
Whirlwind flew forward, but the Machamp caught him by the beak and gave him a 
thrashing with its other arms.  
“Finish it off with Rock Slide!”  
“No, Rock attacks are strong against Flying-types, Whirlwind! Use the Whirlwind 
attack to repel them!”  
“Pidgeotto! Pidgeotototototototot!!!”  
About half of the rocks that the Machamp dug up were thrown back, and I 
remained behind Whirlwind, I didn’t want to be hit by the odd rock that went 
too far.  
The rocks came back towards the Machamp, who started to punch them to dust.  
“Keep it up Whirlwind, blast that Machamp!” I said, winking subtly as I did, an 
expression that only Whirlwind could see.  
“He thinks he can beat you Machamp, punch all the rocks to rubble and then 
finish it off with Mega Punch.”  
The Machamp continued to punch away, not seeing Whirlwind because of the rocks, 
but they stopped after the rocks ran out.  
“Okay Machamp, now-”  
“Sky Attack!” I shouted.  
“What?!” exclaimed Bruno, but it was too late, Whirlwind was done charging, and 
had an aura around it as if it were on fire, he’d charged it while the Machamp 
was distracted by the punching of its own rocks.  
“Go!” I shouted.  
“Pidgeot! Toooo!!!”  
Whirlwind turned into a flaming firebird and jetted forward, the Machamp 
quickly developed a frightened look, but it was too late, and Whirlwind shot 
into the Machamp and pushed it along, until they collided with the wall, the 
fire from Whirlwind pouring off him and burning the Machamp.  
Despite the fire, Sky Attack was of the Flying-type, and with the amount of 
power used, the Machamp couldn’t hope to withstand this blast.  

Not long after, Bruno recalled his Pokémon and approached me.  
“Yes indeed, I was wrong about you, but today you’ve proven to me that you 
don’t only care for your Pokémon and work in perfect harmony, but together, 
you’re an unstoppable team.”  
“You really think so? That was kind of a close battle.”  
“Because we’re the same, you and me, I know we don’t look it, but its true.  
You understand your Pokémon so well, you’re thoughtful and tactical and your 
Pokémon are very strong.  You really deserve this badge, and I hope you go far 
in the Pokémon League.”  
“Thank you Bruno, it means a lot coming from a champion like you.”  
“Its gives me pleasure to award you the Fist Badge, wear it with pride.”  
Bruno handed me a brown 3-Dimensional badge, a small circular disc with a 
cube-shaped fist attached to it like a trophy, the fist was all clenched up, 
and made to look like it was made of bricks.  

I left the Gym and returned to the Pokémon Centre, holding my badge up high and 
feeling different, enlightened, and actually proud of myself, the efforts of my 
Pokémon went without saying.  
I realised how much time had passed since arriving here.  
“Abby?...  Abby? Are you here?”  
“Oh, you were with her, weren’t you.” said Nurse Joy, only now appearing behind 
the counter, “I think you’d better come with me...”  

“... Abby! Abby, what happened?...”  
She had a bandage around her head, and the fact that Mina was here spelt that 
an accident had happened in her Gym Battle, but she had a Fist Badge in her 
hand, so it must have happened at the end.  
“Don’t worry...” said Abby tiredly, “It was just an accident...”  
I turned to Mina, and looked at her, part disappointed, part spiteful.  
“I’m so sorry.” apologised Mina, “But just ask Abby, it Was an accident.”  
“If only I’d focused...” muttered Abby, “Then I could have prevented this...  
I’m not allowed to leave for a while...  How did you do?...”  
“I passed, and I succeeded, but who cares about that, what about you?”  
“I suppose you’ll leave me behind, I have all my badges, and you’ve got to get 
another one, and-”  
“Abby, what are you talking about? Friends don’t desert each other, we might 
have to hurry along to catch up with others, but I’d rather do it with you than 
to be alone.”  
“Tetsubo...  You’re such a good friend, I’m very lucky to have you being there 
for me all the time.  I’d like to think you thought the same of me, someday.”  
“I already do...  You just relax there, and we’ll be on our way soon enough.”  
Abby, for the first time I’d seen, brushed her hair to the side so I could see 
her face fully, she gave me a complete but tired smile, and she had a scar 
across her right eye, but the eye itself wasn’t damaged.  
After all the lonely days by herself, she must have been worried that a little 
scar would repel people, though her old personality tended to do that anyway.  
I wasn’t a judgemental person, but I wondered now, when I first saw her, that 
scar wasn’t there.  
Abby was obviously still keeping things from me, as did Scott, but the gesture 
meant that she trusted me, and I couldn’t make her tell me things she didn’t 
want to.  
I slept alone that night, a little worried about Abby, but prepared to risk 
some difficulty in my remaining journey, for friendship.  

End of Chapter 33B  

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