Chapter 4 – The Road to Violet City
I arrived at the entrance to Route 30, Aipom was now walking on the floor next to me. I had noticed
that Aipom was a very nosy Pokémon, sniffing and poking almost anything that moved. As we started
up the route Aipom climbed into the trees and started swinging across from tree to tree pushing off
from branches using its tail which was unusually springy. I always kept it in my sight though after what
happened last time in jumped into the trees.
I continued up the route without any interruptions, it was about 40 minutes later when I got to the top
of a small hill and could see the peak of Sprout Tower marking out my destination of Violet City. I
pointed it out to Aipom. “That’s where we’re heading” Aipom clambered onto my shoulder for a
better view. But I wasn’t really heading for Sprout Tower; I was going for the Violet City Gym!
With renewed excitement, I ran down the other side of the hill which Aipom assumed was a race to
the bottom. Aipom won. Whe I got to the bottom, I pulled a small book out of my bag; my Mum had
n
bought it for me a few weeks ag ‘Guide to Gyms’. It was a book with information about each of the
o,
Johto gym leaders. I flipped through it until I found the page about the Violet City gym. The first thing I
saw was a picture of the Zephyr Badge, it looked like a pair of angel wings. I couldn’t wait until I had it
for myself. Next to the picture of the badge was some information about the gym and a map of Violet
City. The gym was in the centre of the city and the gym leader, Falkner, was a user of flying Pokémon.
Me and Aipom came to a sharp bend in the road with a sign post naming the road ‘Route 31’. Under
this was another sign pointing west saying ‘Violet City’. I knew I was close to my destination. I turned
away from the sign to run down the road. Then I hit him.
I had turned and gone straight into someone. The someone was a boy, probably about 14 or 15 years
old. I quickly apologised for walking into him and stepped around him. He blocked me off though,
looking at the Aipom clinging to my shoulder. “Wait, are you a Pokémon trainer?”
“Um, yeah. Are you?”
“I sure am! How about a battle? I’m guessing you’re off to challenge the Violet City gym but you’re
going to need some training for that!”
“What’d you think Aipom?” I asked the little monkey, sat next to my leg looking curiously at this new
trainer.
Aipom nodded and jumped down onto the floor, landing on his tail and taking up its fighting stance.
The other trainer stepped back and pulled a PokéBall out of his pocket. “Go! Pidgey!” He threw the
ball and it opened with a flash of white. A small Pidgey appeared from it. It spread its wings, jumped
into the air and hovered there.
“OK, Aipom, use Scratch!” Aipom did as it was told and jumped up into the little bird.
“Dodge it Pidgey!” Pidgey swooped to the left but Aipom anticipated it and swung round after it,

striking it across its back. Pidgey was slammed down into the ground sending loose dust flying.
“Pidgey, use Tackle”
Aipom was still in the air after the attack, unable to see Pidgey because of the small cloud of dust.
Pidgey darted out of the dust and hit Aipom square in the chest sending it flying. Aipom hit the ground
and rolled over. Aipom was down but not out.
Aipom pushed itself up and stood up. “Yes! Aipom, use Scratch again!”
“Pidgey, fly higher to get out the way!” The other trainer shouted just as Aipom bounded upwards to
hit Pidgey. Pidgey did as it was told and escaped the attack. Aipom didn’t come anywhere near the
target. “Tackle!” Pidgey flew down from its height incredibly fast and got a direct hit on Aipom once
again creating another dust cloud.
“Aipom?” As the dust cleared, I saw Aipom holding itself up on its hands, panting hard. I knew it
wouldn’t be able to take another hit. I had to think of something. Pidgey was already high up in the
sky. I then remembered seeing Aipom swinging through the trees, using its tail to push itself off.
“Aipom, use your tail like a spring! Shoot yourself up and use Scratch!” Aipom knew exactly what it
had to do. It got up onto its feet and then jumped onto its tail, balancing on the three fingered hand. It
bent it down and pushed up quickly.
It worked perfectly. Aipom flew upwards; its claws glowed white as it prepared for the attack. Aipom
was moving upwards so fast, Pidgey didn’t have a chance. As Aipom neared Pidgey, it swung its arms
up and struck it with its glowing claws. The extra momentum from the spring like tail had given the
attack extra power, Pidgey was hit so hard it was propelled even higher and then fell like a stone. It
crashed into the ground causing the third, and biggest dust cloud to explode around it. Aipom then
landed gracefully next to Pidgey on its tail.
The dust cleared and Pidgey wasn’t moving. We had won! I ran forward and hugged Aipom who
cheered with joy. The other trainer removed his PokéBall. “Pidgey, return.” The unconscious Pokémon
disappeared in a red flash. “You did great” He said to the PokéBall. He then looked up at me. “That
was amazing, well done.” He then turned and started to walk away.
“Hey, wait! Where are you going?” I called after him.
“I’m gonna go to the Pokemon Centre and then carry on on my way.”
“Where is ‘your way’? Are you challenging the Johto Gyms?”
“Nah, I’m trying to get home.”
“Oh, where do you live?”
“Azalea Town.”

“We’ll be going past there, how about you tag along with us?”
“Um, wow, sure!” He answered quickly with a smile as if he was hoping I would ask. “I’m James by the
way”
“I’m Edd, and this is Aipom” Aipom ran towards James and sniffed at his shoes, he turned around and
looked at me.
“Pom!” Aipom exclaimed with a small thumbs up, it seemed to approve of the new company.
The three of us set off together towards the entrance to Violet City and my first gym challenge.