New Chapter!
Don't think of this as a Christmas chapter, think of this as a winter special. I promise I'll be on time next year!
Chapter 9
The Holly Jolly Winter Special
Mysterious House on Route 309
10:00 AM
Once Growlithe and I got to the house (which took quite some time), I walked up the thankfully snow-free porch steps and knocked on the door. The door flew open, showing off a very large and beautiful living room. It was warm on account of a fire blazing in a big fireplace. There were some stairs leading up to an upstairs room, which I decided to check out after I looked around a bit more.
A large Pokémon that somewhat resembled the Abominable Snowman crossed with a snowy Christmas tree was standing in a corner. The monster was completely white, but its hands and feet, which resembled evergreen branches, were dark green. The thing had shaggy fur that resembled pine needles, increasing its resemblance. However, it had purple eyes. One feature that I could tell was NOT natural was the fact that Christmas tree ornaments were hung on the Pokémon’s limbs and body. Before it could say anything I yanked out my Pokédex.
“Abomasnow, the Frost Tree Pokémon,” my ‘Dex stated. “Abomasnow is partially the basis of the Abominable Snowman myths. It conjures up blizzards.”
Abomasnow actually looked pretty happy, despite being a snowy tree in a hot room and having ornaments hung on it. Then, I noticed some Pokémon treats on a counter nearby and it all made sense I had to pull Growlithe away so it didn’t jump up and eat some treats.
I decided to walk up the stairs. Growlithe bounded after me. When I got to the top, I found a metal door like the one on SpongeBob SquarePants’ house. I turned the knob and walked inside.
*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra7bWBjcAqE Author’s Note: Try to listen to this theme the whole time Brown is in the house until the next music appears! By the way, this is also the theme for the Ice Cave in the Johto Region, in case you didn’t know.*
When I got in, the room inside was almost as cold as the exterior of the house. The walls and celing were all the same size and shape, and they were made of metal. There was also ice and snow on the floors and icicles hanging from the celing, giving me the feeling that I was in a giant freezer. The oddest thing about the room, however, was the odd creature standing, or rather floating, in front of me.
The thing’s head was shaped like a horizontal teardrop, and it had a purple shade to it. The head was covered in a snow-like material, and had several holes where its eyes and nostril were. The eyes were bright yellow, with a bright blue around the pupil. Two crystals of ice popped out of the snow right above the eyes. The thing’s torso hung limply from its head, and was vaguely shaped like a broom, or maybe a kimono. A red band was wrapped around its waist. The odd floating thing’s arms also dangled from its head. The arms flared out towards the end, making it look like I had Mudkip-like fins. To check if this thing was even a Pokémon, my ‘Dex was soon in my hand.
“Froslass, the Snow Land Pokémon. Froslass breathes air -60 degrees Fahrenheit. All Froslass are female.”
“Your Pokédex is correct I am, in fact, a Froslass.” I heard the voice telepathically. “I am the guardian of this Gym. Yes, I can read your thoughts. This is the second Gym of the Oraybe Pokémon League. I was elected to tell challengers the way to get to the Gym’s leader, Mr. Klaus. All challengers must complete three tasks.
Every time you complete a task, a new door will open. You will know when you’re getting closer to the Gym’s leader when the temperature gets colder. Challengers must complete three tasks to get to the leader. I shall not reveal the two tasks ahead, but I will tell you this: I am, in fact the riddle master of this gym. Yes, I know you’re thinking of my brother Haunter in Sanctus’ gym. We both hatched from the same Cofagrigus. But that’s not the point. The point of this whole conversation is our riddle. So, without further ado, here it is. The riddle!” I was excited. What would this riddle be? Would it be difficult? Before I had time to think, the strange Froslass began her riddle.
“Pretend you are a farmer. You are trying to take your hungry Ninetales, your Ducklett, and your bag of Pokémon Treats that are specially flavored for Flying-types to a market across a river. You cannot carry everything at once, as your boat will sink. If you leave the Ninetales with the Ducklett, the Ninetales will eat the Ducklett. If you leave the Ducklett with the Pokémon treats, it’ll eat them. How do you get them all safely across to the market? You have three guesses. Begin.”
I knew that I’d heard this one before. When I was in school, my teacher would give us riddles at the end of each day to test our minds. If only I could remember the answer! Before I could say anything, Growlithe thought of something.
“RRRRawf! Rowl!”
“Sadly, that answer is, in fact, incorrect. You have two remaining tries.”
“Maybe if you took over the Ninetales first...” I said, but Froslass interrupted me.
“No, then the Ducklett would eat the food. You have only one try left. Guess carefully, or you will be ejected from the gym.”
I had one try left. I had to think hard. All of a sudden, my mind kicked in.
“What if you took the Ducklett across, then came back, got the treats, took them to the other side, put them down, got the Ducklett, took it back, put it down, grabbed the Ninetales, took it to the opposite shore, and finally went back for the Ducklett, carrying it back to the opposite shore?”
“...Wow. You actually got the riddle right. Not many people have done that. Congratulations. You and your Pokémon get to advance to the next room Good luck!”
Froslass moved aside to reveal a door, which I walked over to and opened. When I walked through it, the temperature dropped about ten degrees. While I shivered, I knew that I was on the right track. This was my second challenge before the final Gym Leader. What I wasn’t expecting was a large row of about ten strange Pokémon that looked sort of like Abomasnow. The first two segments of their bodies were white and snow-covered, while the bottom segment was brown. Like with Abomasnow, the two hands of this Pokémon were just branches of a pine tree. Two small eyes peeked out from under a large cap that looked like the top of a pine tree crossed with a mountain range.
Another strange thing in the room was a strange bivalve-like Pokémon with a multilayer shell. It had many prongs and spikes on its shell. Inside the shell was a soft core that looked like the head of a Gastly. The head had a necklace-like thing around it, and the necklace had a small box that read, “Translator” on it. The translator had a speaker.
I was most curious to find out what the shelled creature was, so I got out my Pokédex to check it out.
“Cloyster, the Bivalve Pokémon and evolved form of Shellder. Cloyster have an extremely high Defense stat. If an enemy comes near, they close their shells so tightly that nothing can pry them open.”
“Cloyster Cloyster Cloy,” said the Cloyster. However, what came out of the translator was, “That Pokédex is right. I’m a Cloyster. You’re lucky. If you were an enemy, you’d have no idea how to get through Master Klaus’ Gym. Luckily for you, I don’t see ya as a threat.
Now, let me tell you what you must do here. That there is a whole line of Snover statues. Your goal is to find out which is the real one in the lineup. You have three tries. Begin!”
I had no idea what to do at first, but then I had an idea. Before Growlithe could foolishly attempt to solve the puzzle, I whipped out my Pokédex once more. I scanned the first statue.
“Statue. No information available,” said the Pokédex. I scanned the second statue. “Statue. No information available.” I scanned a third statue. Luckily for me, my Pokédex said, “Snover, the Frost Tree Pokémon. Snover lives in faraway icy mountains. It rarely meets any humans.”
“Coyster Cloyster Cloyyyyy...... Cloyster.” said Cloyster after I found the Snover in the line of statues. The translator said,
“Hmm. Not the way I’d have solved it, but a very good strategy indeed. Not may Trainers would have thought of using a Pokédex to find the Snover in the line of statues. Ya did good, kid. You can progress through the Gym now. Good luck!” Cloyster moved aside to reveal another door. Growlithe and I walked over to it, and I opened the door.
When I walked through, the temperature dropped another ten degrees. I was lucky that I had a warm coat on, or else I would’ve frozen solid. I could see that this room was unlike all the others. A blue wall crossed almost all the way to the other side. About three-quarters of the way away from the right wall was an empty space. It looked like an entrance to something. Suddenly, it hit me.
“This is a maze!” I exclaimed to Growlithe. But how would I get through it? In an instant, I had an idea. “Growlithe, I’m going to ask you to get into your Poké Ball. Don’t worry, it’s only temporary. Just go with it, okay?” Growlithe grudgingly agreed. Soon, my Puppy Pokémon was in his Poké Ball on my belt, and then, I called out, “Go! Pidgey!”
Pidgey emerged with a triumphant “Pidggyyoo!” It flapped its wings and flew all around my head, happy to be free.
“All right, Pidgey. Before I ask you anything, I have one question. Are you one of those bird Pokémon that has that natural sense of which way to go?” Pidgey nodded enthusiastically. “All right. I’m going to ask you to fly all the way up to the ceiling. Try to get a good look at this maze. Once you’ve memorized the layout, come back to me and help me find my way through the maze. If you can help me, I promise that I’ll give you some extra Pokémon treats afterwards. Okay?” Luckily for me, Pidgey nodded its understanding and took off immediately. After several minutes, it returned.
“Pidg. Pidgyii, pidgyooo!” Pidgey said informatively, and took off through the maze. I had to race after it just to follow it. I turned north, west, south, and west, and I didn’t even stop once. I was getting pretty tired, and I called to Pidgey and panted,
“Stop. Just a second. I need to recuperate.” Pidgey obediently stopped, although it kept flying around my head. Once I stopped, I checked out my surroundings. The maze was bleak and boring. The walls were a dull shade of ice-blue. Large icicles hung from the ceiling. I realized that this probably wasn’t the most comfortable place to be a Pidgey, because the Ice-type is supereffective against the Flying-type. Once I managed to recover a bit, I reached into my bag and pulled out several brown spherical Pokémon treats. “Here you go, Pidgey! Enjoy!” I said joyfully. Pidgey perched on my shoulder to eat. One it was finished, I called out, “Let’s go!”
“Pidjooo!” Pidgey agreed. Again, we turned north, west, south, and west once more, until we were out of the maze. There was another door, and before I entered it, I thanked Pidgey again, and recalled it. Then, I called out Growlithe for security against any rouge Ice-types. I opened the door, and walked into the next room.
This room didn’t look anything like the last gym. Sure it had an open battlefield, with the standard rectangular shape and Poké Ball symbol at the center. However, off to the sides, there were thousands of presents. Some were big, some were small, and some were just boxes with a bow on them. A fat, bearded man in red sat in a chair in the center of a pile of presents. He was reading through two different lists. Occasionally, he’d get a pencil and erase something, then jot it back down on the opposite list. Eventually, I cleared my throat.
“Ahem.” The man looked up. Now that I thought about it, this man looked a lot like Santa Claus.
The man opened his mouth to speak. “My name is Mr. Klaus,” he said. “I’m the Gym leader here, and, as you might have noticed, I specialize in the Ice type of Pokémon. You might have also noticed that I look like Santa Claus. Well, I’ve got something to tell you. I’m his cousin. Santa can’t get through every single region in a single night. All he can cover is Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, the Sevii Islands, Sinnoh, and Unova, among others. I’m his relative that covers Oraybe and a few other regions. I’ve just been checking over my list one last time. I’ve gotta leave pretty soon, but I can probably squeeze in a Gym battle right before I leave to give toys to all the children in the world. Before you battle me, you should probably heal.” He took my Poké Balls and put them in a healing machine. After he gave them back to me, he shouted,“Now, let’s battle!” He ran over to one side of the rectangular battle area, and I took the other.
*Author’s Note: Here’s some awesome music. You know the drill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZzoSNwlXJc&list=FLfZKwwbl_J1SU2l8C_AGM1g&index=3&feature=plpp_video *
“I choose you! Growlithe!” I shouted.
“Ha! I expected such a strategy! Go! Spheal!” shouted Klaus. From the red-and-white sphere emerged a slightly seal-like, spherical creature. The topside of it was blue, and its underside was beige. Tiny flippers and a small tail stuck out from near the bottom of the rounded creature. Stubby ears poked out of its head, and tusks came out of the mouth. In a split second my Pokédex was out and scanning this odd creature.
“Spheal, the Clap Pokémon. Spheal inhabits chilly polar regions. It usually lives in large colonies with Seel. Despite its chubby appearance, it’s actually a good swimmer.”
I could see that this would be a challenge. Spheal was the Water-type. I couldn’t use Dratini, Growlithe, or Pidgey, because they’d be weak to the Ice or Water attacks. I couldn’t use Gyarados, because then I could kill someone. That left Mudkip and Zorua. I decided on Mudkip, as I hadn’t used it in a while.
“Go! Mudkip!” I hollered as I tossed Mudkip’s Poké Ball towards the battlefield.
Mudkip emerged with a triumphant “Mudd!! Kipkipkipmud!” However, since I’d just switched in my Pokémon, I couldn’t attack this turn.
“Alrightie then! Spheal, why don’t you use your best Powder Snow attack?” Klaus told his Spheal, who obediently opened its mouth and shot ice crystals at my Mudkip, who was barely injured.
After the turn was over, I opened my mouth and said, “Hmm. This could be a challenge. Why don’t you use Mud Slap, Mudkip?”
Mr. Klaus said, “Spheal, try an Ice Beam attack!”
Instead of splashing up a wave of mud like it was supposed to, Mudkip opened its mouth and shot a torrent of water at the Spheal, who took heavy damage.
“Awesome! Mudkip learned Water Gun!” I was so happy, I leapt into the air. When it was Spheal’s turn, it opened its moth and fired a small beam of ice towards Mudkip, who quickly dodged it.
“Mudkip, use Water Gun again!” I shouted to my Mud Fish Pokémon.
“Spheal, Ice Beam again! It’s sure to hit this time!”
This turn was similar to the last. Mudkip fired a torrent of water at Spheal, who took the full brunt of the attack. It was on its last legs, but just managed to shoot a precision beam of ice at Mudkip, who barely looked hurt at all.
“Mudkip, Mud Slap!” I said, just to change things up a bit.
“Spheal, PowderSnow!” Mr. Klaus commanded.
Mudkip swept its leg around on the floor and created a small wave of mud and dirt, which hit Spheal hard. It was an instant KO.
This time, I waited to see what Mr. Klaus threw out.
“Go! Glaceon!” he boomed. He threw the Poké Ball, and out came a fairly foxlike creature. It was a light bluish color all over, except for its feet, which were darker. Its ears and tail were trapezoid-shaped. Two long things that resembled the ears but drooped down also ended in a trapezoid. Predictably, I soon scanned it.
“Glaceon, the Fresh Snow Pokémon and one of Eevee’s many evolved forms. Glaceon can control the temperature around it to form ice crystals. Like fellow Eevee evolution Jolteon, it can make its fur turn sharper than needles.”
From the looks of it, this was a purely Ice-type Pokémon, so I knew that it was safe to send out Growlithe. “Growl! Grrowlth!” he said happily when I switched him for Mudkip.
“Growlithe, use your Ember attack!” I said.
“Glaceon, Frost Breath!” bellowed Mr. K.
Since Glaceon was the speedier Pokémon, it got to go first. Glaceon opened its mouth and exhaled. The usual misty breath emerged that was common in this frosty environment, but this time, it shot towards Growlithe at high speeds, making him take some damage. When Growlithe’s turn came around, he opened his mouth and shot out flames in a similar fashion to Mudkip’s Water Gun. Glaceon staggered back after this attack, but got right back up and looked as determined as ever, if not more so.
“Ha-ha! Growlithe, strike back with another Ember!” I laughed with joy. There was almost no chance of me losing this match.
“Hmm. Glaceon, Ice Beam.”
Glaceon, predictably, opened its mouth and shot an Ice Beam at Growlithe, who, also predictably, shot back an Ember attack. The Ice Beam did almost no damage, but the Ember sure did. Glaceon wobbled fr a second, and then fell over onto its side, unconscious.
Again, I waited to see what Mr Klaus threw out. He withdrew the unconscious Glaceon, and reached for another Poké Ball. He only had two Pokémon left, but I had six. I was sure to win.
When Klaus’ next Pokémon was on the battlefield, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. It was a brownish lump with dark stripes running down its back. The thing’s fur was so shaggy, I wasn’t even sure it had legs at all! It had a pig’s nose, and its eyes were closed.
“Swinub, the Pig Pokémon,” said my Pokédex when I yanked it out of my pocket again. “Swinub’s nose is so sensitive that it can smell things several thousand feet underground. This makes them popular pets for people who love finding underground objects.”
“Growlithe, you can do this! Use your Ember attack!” I shouted confidently.
“Swinub, PowderSnow!” bellowed the chubby Mr. K.
Growlithe got to go first. Its Ember attack seemed extra powerful this turn, so I knew that I’d gotten a critical hit. Swinub shot some ice crystals out of its mouth, which was presumably underneath its fur. Growlithe, like usual, wasn’t harmed much.
“Growlithe, sorry if you’re getting bored, but use your Ember attack again!” I was actually kind of worried. If what I’d read about Swinub movesets was true...
“Swinub, AncientPower!” roared Klaus in triumph.
Growlithe breathed flames in an Ember attack. Swinub just barely managed to hold on, but it conjured up several large boulders and shot them at Growlithe, who fainted instantly.
The facts were true. Swinub could learn AncientPower, an attack of the Rock-type that is supereffective against Fire-types like my Growlithe. I’d lost my advantage. Now, my best chance was Mudkip.
“Come on out again, little buddy. I need ya again.” I threw Mudkip’s Poké Ball towards the battlefield, where my little Mud Fish looked ready as ever.
“Mudkip, try a Water Gun attack!” I shouted.
“Swinub, why don’t you try another AncientPower?” Mr. K. asked.
Swinub conjured more boulders, but this time, they completely missed their target. Mudkip opened up its mouth and shot a concentrated blast of water at Swinub, who promptly fainted, although it was hard to tell that.
*Author’s Note: Epic music change. Stop the music when the battle’s over. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiitNq9B4uE *
Mr. Klaus’ look darkened, but he then smiled as he withdrew Swinub. Then, he laughed out loud as he threw out his last Pokemon.
The thing looked like a refrigerator. It had the two doors and the freezer to be one, but for one thing, it was bright orange. It had two purple eyes and a small mouth towards the top. A horn-like projection stuck out from the very top. The odd Pokémon had a purple aura surrounding it. The aura clumped together to form two arms shaped like lightning bolts, with flat, rectangular hands.
“Rotom, Frost Form, the Plasma Pokémon,” said my Pokédex informatively. “Rotom’s plasma form allows it to take the form of any machine it likes. It loves to cause mischief.”
“Huh. That’s odd,” I said, dumbfounded. “Mudkip, return! Zorua, I choose you! Use Snarl!”
“Zor zor zorzrua!” said the young Tricky Fox Pokemon.
“Rotom, Thunder Wave!” Mr. Klaus called out.
Rotom was the fastest, so it got to go first. Unlike Dratini’s Thunder Wave, this attack did no damage. Instead, Rotom concentrated hard and sent a wave of electricity at Zorua. It was a direct hit. Zorua seemed to be slowed down somewhat, and I knew it had been paralyzed. Zorua barely managed to open its small jaws and make a menacing snarl, which, because it was a Pokémon attack, damaged the Rotom.
“Zorua, Snarl again!”
“Rotom, Blizzard!”
Zorua’s paralysis made it even slower, so Rotom went first. It pressed its rectangular hands together and shot out a ball of pure icy energy. It hit Zorua so hard that the poor Pokémon fainted.
I sighed and recalled Zorua, and then thought about who to call out next. Eventually, I just shrugged and tossed out Dratini’s Poké Ball, expecting to fail. All of a sudden, I had an idea.
“Tiinii! Tiiiniiii!” Dratini was exuberant to be out of its Poké Ball again.
“Dratini, Thunder Wave!” I said confidently.
“Hahaha! Rotom, Blizzard!” Klaus said, equally confident.
In a miraculous battle moment, Dratini got to go first, even though it was slower. Its crystal glowed yellow as it absorbed, then expelled electric energy. The Rotom was not only damaged, but paralyzed as well. Because of the paralysis, the Rotom couldn’t move a muscle on its turn.
“Yes! Dratini, Wrap!” I said.
“Aw, come on! Use Blizzard, Rotom!” Mr. K yelled.
Dratini failed to follow its order of using Wrap. Instead, Dratini started spinning rapidly until it looked like a tornado. Then, it spun towards the Rotom in a perfectly executed Twister attack. Rotom tried to move, but it was paralyzed, so it couldn’t. The attack had taken nearly half of the Rotom’s HP.
“Rrgh! Rotom, please try one more time with Blizzard!” Mr. Klaus sounded desperate.
“Dratini, Twister!!”
Dratini preformed another perfect Twister, which left Rotom with about three-quarters of its energy gone. Unluckily for Dratini, the Rotom managed to attack this time with a brutal Blizzard attack. Since Ice-types are supereffective against Dragon-types, Dratini instantly fainted.
“Come on out, Mudkip!” I said excitedly, as there was little chance of me losing this match. “Use your Water Gun attack!”
“Use Thunder Wave, Rotom!”
Mudkip opened is mouth and, predictably, shot out a blast of water. The impat that hit Rotom was what did it in. Rotom, the most powerful Pokémon of this gym, had been defeated. I’d won!
“Yes!” I screamed excitedly. Mr. Klaus took me to the healing machine as I recalled Mudkip. I put all of my Poké Balls inside the machine, and waited for a minute while they were being healed. While I was waiting, I asked, “How come my Dratini can do damage with moves like Thunder Wave, when other Pokémon can’t?”
“I have only seen this once before. Your Dratini has a special ability called Status Crash that allows it to do such things. You’re very lucky to have such an amazing Pokémon. Take good care of it.”
Just then, my Poké Balls were finished healing, so I took them back and put them on my belt. I thanked Mr. Klaus, and just before I stepped onto the portal to exit, I saw him load several large gifts into an incredibly large bag on an enormous sled and hop into it. Just then, the top of the Gym opened, and he flew out. The sled was drawn by nine odd deer Pokémon. One type looked like a normal deer, but it had extra white fur. The other type was a light brown with rounded antlers and a sphere in the center of these antlers.
Before you know it, I was scanning those Pokemon.
“Sawsbuck, the Season Pokémon. Sawsbuck can change its form with the seasons. It uses its antlers to dig up food under ice in winter.
Stantler, the Big Horn Pokémon. Stantler uses its antler orbs to control minds. They can turn this power on or off at will.”
Luckily, from what I saw, these Stantler had their psychic powers turned off. The one at the front seemed to have a glowing red nose. Just then, the Sawsbuck and Stantler all suddenly took off into the air, pulling the sleigh with Mr. Klaus on it. I then stepped onto the portal and teleported out of the gym.
When I landed on the front doorstep, I met none other than Greg and Henry.
"What are you guys doing here?"I asked.
“We were waiting for you to come out of the gym,” offered Henry. “It’s about time for a rematch, you know. Also, Greg figured that the leader could have only one challenger at a time. So, here we are.”
“Well, you’re going to have to wait for a while,” I said matter-of-factly. “The leader, Mr. Klaus, is off on a journey. He probably won’t be back for some time. So, how about that battle?”
“Yeah! This timeI’m gonna cream you two losers!” yelled Greg, so loudly it shook some icicles down.
So, we were going to battle. We made a clearing out on the snowy route and were just about to toss our Poké Balls into the battle, when we heard and saw an awful sight.
“Artcooooooo!”
“Zappoooooooss!”
Treeees!”
"Grrrrrrrrouud! Groudon!”
I looked over at the noises, and knew that I was in for some trouble.
Pokemon Movesets:
Dratini lv. 10
-Leer
-Wrap
-Thunder Wave
-Twister
Mudkip level 11
-Tackle
-Mud Slap
-Whirlpool
