Supernova

[Treecko's Awesomeness]

Wow, your right! That was a great chapter! Mankey's evolution, and the egg hatching were both exiting, and I loved the battle between Kenny and Oberon. I should probably get back to writing my own fic now, so adios!

-TA

 

[Gelatino95]

Edited the OP with character team lists.

 

[Gelatino95]

Chapter XXI: Litho’s Gym of Terror

Just as Dragonite started descending toward the ground near the day care, Kenny called out to it from its back. “Wait, Dragonite!” he shouted over the roar of the wind, “Can you fly us though the desert first?” Dragonite understood perfectly and changed course, veering to the left toward the direction of the desert that spanned countless miles ahead. As they were flying over the Sandstone Outpost, Kenny could barely make out some stone buildings on the horizon that marked Sandstone City. Dragonite sped through the atmosphere at incredible speeds and Sandstone City came into sight even more. “Land there, Dragonite!” Dragonite followed commands and started to swoop down low. It dove straight for the desert sands and started flying level with the ground. It was so close to the ground, sand was flying into the air behind them as they passed. Eventually, Dragonite started flapping its wings and slowing down considerably. Dozens of people were watching on the street of Sandstone City as the mighty dragon swooped down and planted its enormous feet on the ground, shaking the earth around them.

The citizens of Sandstone let out a loud “Ooohh” as the trio climbed off Dragonite’s back and set foot on solid earth. Kenny thanked Dragonite and waved to it. Dragonite gave a salute as it turned around and started flapping its wings, soaring back to its home. The citizens cheered as the Dragonite took off and left.

Just then, a man in a turban found the trio and came up to them. “Oh, there you are!” said Litho. “It’s been such a long time! I was waiting for you in my gym when I heard that you had left to rescue your friend! Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” replied Clair.

“Excellent,” Litho said excitedly. “That means we can finally have our gym battle. Meet me at my gym as soon as you can and I’ll be ready for you!” Litho turned around and walked back through the street. The group decided to go the same way he went. Soon enough, they came up to a building that was much different than the stone ones that filled Sandstone City. It was mostly modern in design with the yellow roof that signified that the building was a pokemon gym. Kenny walked forward, activating the automatic door on the front of the gym. Eli and Clair followed close behind.

Inside the gym, there was no sign of Litho. He must have already gotten to the back of the gym. The room was just shaped like one long hallway with golden bricks on the wall, much like those on the inside of the pyramid. The floor was covered completely with sand. In one corner of the room, there was a hole in the floor with a ladder extending through it. And in the other corner, a man stood who resembled the man back in the Goldport gym.

“Hey, it’s you again!” the man said happily. “Listen, I’ve got some advice for you that will be invaluable for you when you challenge this gym. Do you want to hear?”

“Let me guess: cash, check, or credit?” Kenny replied sarcastically.

“Actually, I’m also accepting debit,” the man retorted. “So, would you like the standard package or the premium package? The premium package is slightly more expensive, but gives much more information.”

“I’m not paying you, weirdo!” Kenny exclaimed. “And anyway, I thought you only worked at the Goldport gym.”

“Nah,” the man explained, “I travel a lot. Whatever gym you go to, I’ll always be there, no matter what!”

“…That’s really creepy,” Kenny responded. “Well, we don’t need your help anyway. This gym looks pretty straightforward. Come on, guys.” Kenny motioned for Eli and Clair to follow him through the sand-filled hall of the gym.

“You’ll be sorry!” the man called out from behind.

Kenny, Eli, and Clair were able to get through this hall with absolutely no trouble. Eli could have sworn that he felt the floor sink under his feet a few times, but he just decided it was him imagination. Soon enough, the exit to the back of the gym was visible. “Awesome,” Kenny said as he ran ahead, “We’re almost there!” However, Kenny’s prediction was misguided. As he was about to come up to the door, the ground completely collapsed beneath him. A whole bunch of sand fell out below the floor, bringing Kenny down with him. Eli and Clair looked down the hole that had formed in the ground. Kenny landed on a hard surface beneath him with a loud thud. After a few moments, he called up, “I’m okay!”

“I told you you’d be sorry!” the man called out from the back of the hall.

“Okay, Clair,” Eli said cautiously, “Apparently, parts of this floor can collapse. Just watch your step.” Eli and Clair walked around the hole in the ground, slowly putting their feet down with each step. With each careful step, Eli and Clair eventually got to the end of the hall. Clair stepped forward and pulled the stone door open, allowing Eli and her to get through. When they stepped through, there was a large room with a similar design inside. However, there was no sand on the floor and Litho stood at the other end patiently.

“Ah, there you are!” Litho said to them. “It’s about time you showed up. I thought there were three of you?”

“Kenny fell through the floor,” Clair explained. “He’ll come back when he’s ready, I guess.”

Litho thought for a second. “In that case, how about we have a double battle? I use four of my pokemon, and each of you uses two of yours!”

“That sounds great!” Clair agreed, looking at Eli. He nodded in approval. “Let’s do it!”

“Okay, then!” Litho lifted up his turban and picked out two poke balls from underneath. He threw both of them out into the battle simultaneously. “Krokorok and Nidoking, I choose you!” With that, the forms of two familiar pokemon appeared on the battlefield.

Clair then took a poke ball off her belt and threw it into the battlefield. “Let’s go, Jigglypuff!” There was a flash of light and Jigglypuff appeared on the floor, wearing its signature white and red hat.

Eli then thought for a second, and picked up Hoothoot from his shoulder. “Hoothoot, make me proud!” He placed Hoothoot on the floor and it bounced forward into position.

“Peach Cake!” Clair complained, “Hoothoot is just a baby! It’s never been in battle before. It doesn’t stand a chance!”

“Don’t worry,” Eli said cleverly with a wink. “I have a plan.” After that, each trainer issued their commands.

“Nidoking, use Poison Jab! Krokorok, Earthquake!”

“Jigglypuff, use Sing!”

Eli didn’t give any orders. Nidoking was the first to move, running forward straight toward Jigglypuff. Its arm glowed purple as it jabbed its arm forward, striking Jigglypuff directly. Jigglypuff gave out a brief cry, but quickly got back to its feet. Just then, Krokorok started executing its attack, banging its arms and legs on the ground, starting an earthquake.

“Quickly, Clair!” Eli shouted quickly. “Withdraw Jigglypuff and send out Gastly!” Taking his advice, Clair returned Jigglypuff right before the earthquake started and sent out Gastly. Gastly floated in the air and was unaffected by the ground-type attack. Meanwhile, Hoothoot was flapping its feeble wings hard enough to hover in the air avoid the attack. Once the ground stopped shaking, Hoothoot returned to the ground. “Now, Hoothoot!” Eli shouted again, “Use Mirror Move!”

In response, Hoothoot started bouncing up and down quickly, causing the ground to shake. The ground then erupted underneath Nidoking and Krokorok, tossing them into the air and sending them crashing down. Due to the type disadvantage, Nidoking was taken out right away from the attack. However, Krokorok was able to get back up.

Litho reluctantly returned his fainted Nidoking to its poke ball and pulled out another from under his turban. He threw the ball into the battle and called out, “Go, Sandslash!” An unfamiliar pokemon emerged from the poke ball. It had long claws at the end of its arms and many brown spikes on its back. Suddenly, Eli’s pokedex rumbled at the sight of this new pokemon. He took out the pokedex and listened.

“Sandslash, the mouse pokemon. Its back is covered in sharp spines that allow it to inflict damage on foes that it rolls into. Its sharp claws are well-adapted for digging.”

“All right, Hoothoot,” Eli said calmly to his little owl pokemon, “That’s quite enough excitement for now.” He bent down and picked up Hoothoot, placing the bird on his shoulder. He then took out a poke ball from his belt. “All right, Shellos, let’s do it!” Eli threw the poke ball and Shellos flew out, looking confidently upon its ground-type foes.

Litho then barked out commands to his pokemon. “Sandslash, use Crush Claw! Krokorok, Bite!”

“Gastly, quickly, use Hypnosis!”

“Shellos, use Water Pulse!”

Just as Krokorok was about to run toward it, Gastly started spinning around slowly in a small circle. It stared at the enemy Krokorok and moaned, “Gaaaaassstlyyyy…” The Krokorok stared directly at Gastly, growing drowsy, and eventually collapsing on the floor. Meanwhile, Sandslash rolled up into a ball and started rolling toward Shellos. It quickly uncurled in front of the target and slashed Shellos with its long sharp claws. Shellos cried out when the attack hit, but quickly prepared an attack of its own. It started spitting out rings of water at Sandslash at point blank range. The water splashed all over Sandslash’s body, causing it to shriek in pain. It started rolling on the ground helplessly, and then stopped moving. It didn’t get back up.

“My goodness!” Litho cried out at the sight of his fainted pokemon, “Another one? Oh, well.” He returned his exhausted Sandslash and put its poke ball back in his turban. He then pulled out another poke ball. “I guess this calls for one of my stronger pokemon. Let’s go, Vibrava!” Litho threw the poke ball out into battle and out came an insect-like pokemon, resembling a dragonfly. Its wings were green and rhombus-shaped. Suddenly, Clair felt a rumbling in her pocket, so she took out her vibrating pokedex in response to the unfamiliar pokemon.

“Vibrava, the vibration pokemon, and the evolved form of Trapinch. The flapping of its wings can create sonic waves capable of giving people headaches. Its wings aren’t fully developed, however, so they can’t fly very far.”

Without hesitation, Litho started by giving his orders. “Vibrava, use Dragonbreath! Krokorok, please wake up…”

“Shellos, use Water Pulse on Krokorok!”

Before Clair could give an order, Gastly quickly flew through the air with a smug grin on its face. It extended some of its gas, forming the shape of a fist. It then threw this fist straight at Vibrava, catching the pokemon by surprise.

“Wow, that was cool!” Clair called out, seeing her Gastly execute that move. “I think my Gastly learned Sucker Punch!”

Vibrava then recovered fron Gastly’s attack and opened up it mouth, shooting out a rainbow-colored beam. This beam hit Shellos directly. Shellos fell over from the force of the attack, but was able to shakily get back up. It then started shooting rings of water out of its mouth which traveled over to Krokorok. These rings doused Krokorok in water, causing it to wake up. However, it wobbled around unsteadily. The Water Pulse attack caused it to become confused. “Quick, Krokorok!” called out Litho, “Use Bite on that Gastly!” Krokorok started snapping its jaws in response to its trainer’s orders, but then placed its own arm in its mouth. It clamped down on its own arm with great force, causing it to screech in pain and fall to the ground.

“Aw, shoot,” sighed Litho as he reluctantly returned his fainted Krokorok to its poke ball. “I’m down to my last pokemon!” Vibrava sat on its side of the battlefield by itself, expressionless. “Well, we may as well try. Vibrava, use that Rock Slide and Rock Tomb combo we’ve been practicing!”

“Shellos, use Water Pulse before it attacks!”

“Gastly, try Hypnosis!”

Gastly started looking at Vibrava and spinning around, but Vibrava looked away. It was too busy gathering rocks scattered around the floor. Right as Shellos was about to execute its Water Pulse attack, Vibrava used its thin insect legs to heave a bunch of heavy rocks into the air toward its enemies. Gastly and Shellos simply looked on in fear as the rocks flew through the air toward them. A huge shower of boulders covered the bodies of both Shellos and Gastly, completely burying them. A few seconds later, Shellos poked its head out of the rocks, but immediately slumped over. Gastly floated out of the rocks, slowly drifting toward the floor. They were both knocked out.

“Great job, Vibrava!” Litho congratulated. Vibrava simply smiled and flapped its wings happily.

Clair pulled out a poke ball and threw it out onto the battlefield. “Go, Jigglypuff!” she shouted as her pink ball of fluff emerged onto the floor, complete with its signature hat.

Eli, however, reluctantly took Hoothoot off his shoulders. He then thought for a second and put him back. He explained, “There’s no way I’m letting you battle after a powerful rock move like that.”

Clair’s Jigglypuff was alone on its side of the field. Litho then shouted out his orders to Vibrava. “Vibrava, use Dragonbreath!”

Clair was just about to order Jigglypuff to use Sing. However, Jigglypuff started moving by itself. It threw off its white hat and started rolling in place on the floor. It spun faster and faster until it was spinning at a blinging speed. It then launched itself forward, rolling at incredible speed toward Vibrava. It struck Vibrava with great force. However, the opponent seemed more or less unfazed by the attack.

“Whoah, cool!” Clair said, checking her pokedex. “I think Jigglypuff learned Rollout! Too bad it doesn’t help very much, though, since it’s a rock move and Vibrava’s a ground type.”

Vibrava then shot a rainbow beam out of its mouth toward Jigglypuff. The target stopped rolling once it was struck by the attack.

A figurative lightbulb appeared over Eli’s head. He picked up Hoothoot and placed it on the ground. “Hoothoot, quickly, use Mirror Move!” Hoothoot then opened it beak wide and started shooting out a rainbow beam identical to Vibrava’s Dragonbreath attack. The beam struck Vibrava hard, sending it flying back a couple feet. It flipped over onto its back, twitching its thin legs uncontrollably. It subsequently stopped moving completely.

“Oh, man!” Litho shouted as he returned his fainted Vibrava to its poke ball. “That was my last pokemon! Your Hoothoot is a very skilled battler, despite being a newborn. I can tell it will be a valuable asset to your team. Well, since you defeated me in battle, I suppose I owe you some of these-“

Just as Litho started searcing around in his turban, the stone door flew open, slamming against the wall and shaking the entire room. Kenny stormed into the room with complete rage. He stopped right in front of Eli and Clair. Clair was trying hard to stifle a laugh. “I can’t believe you left me like that! Do you have any idea how many times I fell into the floor back there? And every time I came back up, that guy kept annoying me! He didn’t stop! It was so annoying! And to top it off, you guys decide to battle without me? I just can’t believe you would do that!”

“Sorry, Kenny!” Clair giggled.

Kenny walked right up to Litho. “You! I demand a one-on-one battle, right here, RIGHT NOW!”

“Well, certainly, Kenny,” Litho responded calmly. “Just head to the other end of the arena and we can begin. This will be a single battle, and each of us can use only two of our own pokemon. Understood?”

Kenny let out a deep breath and calmly sauntered over to the other end of the battlefield. He turned around quickly and pulled a poke ball off his belt. In response, Litho reached up under his turban again and pulled out a poke ball. He threw the ball in the air and shouted, “Go, Claydol!” With a burst of bright light, a black pokemon with a proportionally large head and red eyes all the way around its head came out. Kenny took out his pokedex in response to its shaking and examined this odd pokemon.

“Claydol, the clay doll pokemon. It is said to have come to life from a mysterious clay figure created by an ancient civilization. It can shoot powerful beams from its hands.”

Without hesitation, Kenny then heaved his poke ball through the air, calling out, “Rotom, destroy!” The friendly plasma pokemon appeared on the battlefield, confidently facing the large enemy pokemon. Each trainer then proceeded to give their commands.

“Claydol, use Psybeam!”

“Rotom, hit it with Shadow Ball!”

Rotom immediately started forming a bunch of dark energy in front of it. This blob of shadow was fired off straight for Claydol. Claydol took the attack, flying back a few feet from the impact. It floated back into position quickly and started emitting strange, psychic waves from its eyes. These waves struck Rotom, causing its smiling face to quickly change to a frown. Rotom wasn’t too damages by the attack, however, and got right back into the battle spirit.

“All right, Claydol,” Litho ordered, “No more fooling around. Hit it back with your own Shadow Ball!”

“Rotom, use Shadow Ball again!”

Each of the pokemon in the battle started building up dark energy and forming it into a ball. Claydol released its Shadow Ball first, but Rotom was able to shoot off its own right before the attack struck. The two attacks collided close to Rotom, creating an impressive explosion that knocked back both of the pokemon. The room was filled with a burst of black energy. Rotom took the full blast of the explosion and its frailty caused it to faint. Claydol was also damaged considerably, but was barely able to hang on. It floated back into position.

Kenny recalled Rotom to its poke ball. He reached his hand down to his belt and pulled off a golden poke ball. He cast this poke ball into the battlefield, shouting, “Magikarp, don’t disappoint me!” The flopping golden fish appeared on the ground.

Clair put her hand to her face as she moaned at Kenny’s poor pokemon choice. “This is an important gym battle! Why would Kenny use a weak pokemon like Magikarp?”

Despite Clair’s disdain, each trainer gave their orders for the next turn.

“Magikarp, destroy it with Tackle!”

“Claydol, use Psybeam again!”

Before Claydol was able to charge up its attack, Magikarp bounded forward at impressive speed and jumped up into the air, striking the Claydol with a hard Tackle. The weakened Claydol couldn’t stand up to the attack, so it slowly fell to the ground, unable to move its limbs. Litho quickly called back his fainted Claydol, placing the poke ball in his turban. “Hm…” he mused, “Tackle is the only move that Magkiarp can learn, so I have the perfect pokemon for that!” He pulled a poke ball out of his turban and threw it into the battle. “Golurk, I choose you!”

With a huge burst of light, a massive humanoid pokemon appeared before Magikarp. It was mostly blue with gold rings around its arms and legs and a glowing yellow crack over its chest. Kenny’s pokedex rumbled in his pocket, so he took it out and listened to what it had to say about this gargantuan pokekemon. “Golurk, the automaton pokemon. Its internal energy is kept under control with the golden seal on its chest. It can fly through the sky at mach speeds.”

“Oh, poop,” Kenny groaned as he saw the ghost-type pokemon before him, knowing that his last pokemon knew only normal-type moves. However, before he could even think about surrendering, Magikarp started to glow brightly. Its body was completely enveloped in bright light. Everybody looked on, mouths agape. Magikarp was growing much larger before their very eyes, growing a long, serpentine body and taking up much of the room with its enormous size. Finally, the glow disappeared and Kenny could gaze upon his new pokemon. It was red with cream-colored designs on the bottom half of its body. Its face showed a constant expression of rage with a gaping mouth and two long barbels on each side of its face. Kenny immediately pulled out his pokedex before it even had a chance to vibrate.

“Gyarados, the atrocious pokemon. It rampages for no apparent reason and will continue to rampage until everything around it is laid to waste. It is said to appear in times of strife.”

“Oh my God,” Kenny gasped in awe, “I guess training that Magikarp was worth it after all! Now there’s no way I’ll lose!”

Litho simply sighed and continued with his battle. “Golurk, use Mega Punch!”

“Gyarados, try your Bite attack!”

Gyarados flew up to Golurk in rage, but didn’t follow Kenny’s commands at all. Its tail started to glow red and blue and it struck Golurk with its tail. Golurk was tossed aside, but Golurk got up rather easily. “No, Gyarados, I said Bite!” Gyarados simply looked back at Kenny and roared ferociously. Golurk started aiming at Gyarados and preparing a punch, but Gyarados narrowly avoided the massive punch.

“Okay, Golurk, this time try Shadow Punch!”

“Gyarados, use Bite this time!”

This time, Gyarados obeyed and opened its massive jaws. It bit right down on Golurk’s tiny head and picked up the pokemon with relative ease, tossing it around and throwing it against the wall. Golurk got back up on its feet and started preparing another punch. This time, its arm became cloaked in dark purple energy as it punched. Gyarados tried getting out of the way, but the punch connected, causing Gyarados to fly back at the wall. Gyarados simply became more enraged at the Golurk and didn’t wait for orders to retaliate. This time, it clamped down with its jaws on Golurk’s arm and swung it toward the wall. Golurk got back on its feet shakily, but once it did, the glow disappeared from Golurk’s eyes and chest and the massive golem tumbles to the ground. It did not move after this.

Litho returned his fainted pokemon incredulously. Kenny then took out Gyarados’s golden poke ball. “All right, nice job Gyarados. Return.” However, Gyarados simply flailed around in rage and charged straight for Kenny. Its tail started glowing again, and Gyarados flung its tail straight at Kenny, sending him tumbling to the floor. Kenny coughed loudly and held up Gyarados’s poke ball, pressing the button, causing Gyarados to go back inside.

Clair ran over quickly and bent down. “Oh my God, Kenny!” she cried, “Are you all right?” Kenny simply sat up. Clair helped him get back up to his feet. He continued coughing. “Are you trying to say something?” Clair asked with concern. Kenny held up his hand and coughed a few more times.

“It’s too strong,” Kenny gasped as he caught his breath again.

Litho walked up to Kenny slowly. “Well, you’ve defeated me,” he said, “But your Gyarados seems very disobedient. It probably gained confidence when it evolved and had a huge change of disposition. But if you give it time, I’m sure your pokemon will bond with you and learn to respect you.”

“You’re probably right,” Kenny concurred. “Well, do we get any badges for that?”

“Yes you do indeed!” Litho said happily as he took off his turban and searched around in it with his hand. He then pulled out three small badges that were triangle shaped, much like a pyramid. “These are the Geo Badges,” Litho explained. “They signify that you have defeated me and will help grant you access to the Elite Four once you beat all the gyms. You deserve them, so please take them!” Kenny, Eli, and Clair each took one of the badges, examined them, and placed them in their backpacks.

“Oh, yes, I also have some TMs for you!” Litho said before the trio left. He dug around some more in his turban and pulled out three light brown disks. Each of the three battlers took a disk. “Those TMs teach the move Dig. It’s a very helpful move in battle that can help your pokemon avoid attacks temporarily.”

“Well, thanks,” Kenny said as he was about to turn around and leave the gym.

“Oh, wait!” called out Litho again. “One more thing! My good friend Venerol sent me some TMs to give to you. He said he forgot to give them to you in the gym. Here they are.” Litho took out of his turban three purple disks with a note attached. Each trainer took a TM and Kenny ripped off the note that was attached to his and read it:

“Dear Kenny, Eli, and Clair,

I’m terribly sorry that I neglected to give you these TMs while you were at the gym. I sensed that you would be at my friend Litho’s gym soon, so I had them sent to him immediately. Chou was more than happy to run through the desert to have them delivered. Anyway, they contain the move Venoshock, which doubles in power when used on a poisoned pokemon. I’m sure you can make good use of this move. Use it wisely, and best of luck on your travels.

~ Sensei”

“Awesome!” Kenny said as he stuffed the other disk in his backpack. “Well, we better be going. See you!” Kenny, Eli, and Clair walked through the door as Litho waved them goodbye. In the other room of the gym, the ground was completely filled with gaping holes.

“My goodness!” Clair exclaimed, “How many holes did you fall into?”

Kenny scowled. “I think I found them all,” he growled.

“I tried to tell him!” the advice guy at the end of the hall said. “For a very low price, you can get all the advice you’ll ever need! I bet you guys lost to the gym leader, didn’t you? Well, just for today, I’m offering a twenty-five percent discount on advice for how to beat him! You want to hear or what?” The group simply ignored the man and passed through the gym doors, back out to Sandstone city.

“Well,” Kenny said confidently, “We’re done with that gym. Let’s get out of this stupid desert, I’m fed up with all this heat.”

“Good idea,” Eli commented. “Hey, you think you can fly on your Gyarados to get us out of here?”

Kenny thought about it. “Probably, but it won’t let us. It still hates me for some reason, remember?” Before anybody responded, Kenny thought and suddenly got an idea. “Wait here!” he shouted as he turned around and ran toward a stone building on the street. The sign above it read, “Butcher’s Shop”. A few seconds later, Kenny emerged from the store holding a large, premium steak. He grabbed a long wooden rod that was leaning against the wall of the building. He then pulled some rope out of his backpack and tied up the steak, then tied it to the end of the stick. He held out the stick like a fishing rod, satisfied. He then walked over to where Clair and Eli were standing.

“Get ready to climb onto Gyarados as fast as you can, all right?” he ordered Clair and Eli. They nodded in approval. Kenny then pulled out Gyarados’s poke ball from his belt and opened it up. The massive red serpent emerged onto the ground, looking around as if it were ready to rampage. However, Kenny climbed on its back and up right behind its head. He held out the rod with the dangling piece of meat at the end right in front of Gyarados’s face. Gyarados focused its eyes on this piece of meat and licked its lips. Clair was able to climb on right before Gyarados started flying through the air at nearly supersonic speed, pursuing the piece of meat.

However, Gyarados disappeared into the sky right as Eli was about to climb on. Thinking fast, he held up Hoothoot above his head and clutched it by its foot. He then quickly barked out a command. “Hoothoot, use Mirror Move! Follow that Gyarados!” Hoothoot obeyed the command and started flapping its pitiful wings furiously, providing enough lift to get Eli off the ground. It then started soaring through the air at impossible speed, carrying Eli below him.

 

[Treecko's Awesomeness]

Great! The whole idea of Eli flying through the air on a bird the size of his head just made me laugh. The gym battle was written well, and I liked how Kenny was angry after being abandoned in the gym. Time to stop procrastinating, and write The Nova Travels! Adios!

-TA

 

[Gelatino95]

Come on, guys, it's only been one day and this thread is already on the second page? How'd that happen? Oh well, here's the next chapter.

Chapter XXII: Poke Man Dan

Gyarados sped through the sky at speeds that rivaled Dragonite’s. It kept spiraling in one direction with Kenny and Clair hanging on for dear life on its back. It continued to follow the piece of meat that was dangling in front of it. Kenny looked ahead and saw that the desert was disappearing beneath him, replaced with green plains all around. He also saw that the paved road was fast approaching, so he immediately jerked the wooden pole to the left. Gyarados responded by making a sharp turn to the immediate left and continuing after the meat. When Kenny decided that they had gone far enough, he tossed the meat out in front of him. It fell straight to the ground. Gyarados was quick to follow it, diving straight down. Once Gyarados had stopped to chew up his meal, Kenny and Clair took the opportunity to climb off the pokemon’s back. Close behind them, Eli was flying toward them at incredible speed, hanging onto Hoothoot’s single foot. Hoothoot dove straight for the ground like Gyarados, causing Eli to land with a crash. However, he was able to pick himself up and dust himself off, sustaining no injuries. He then picked up his bird pokemon and placed it on his shoulder.

“Well,” Kenny sighed, “That went pretty well.” Just then, Gyarados swallowed its meat and roared at Kenny. “Oh, give me a break,” Kenny said as he took out Gyarados’ gold pokeball and returned the beast.

“I think we’re pretty close to Monopolis,” Clair observed. “It’s the biggest city in the Fushi region. I used to live there, you know.”

“Cool,” Kenny replied. “Let’s check the map.” Kenny then pulled out a folded piece of paper out of his backpack and unfolded it, revealing the huge region map. Eli looked on as he and Kenny scanned the map. Clair simply crossed her arms and refused to look. “You’re right!” Kenny exclaimed. Still looking at the map, he pointed down the road to the east. “Monopolis is that way,”

“I could have told you that,” Clair pouted.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Kenny lead the way as Clair and Eli followed. Not very many people were walking along this street, which was strange, considering there was a busy city just ahead. As they walked forward along the straight path, they came upon a road branching off to the north. Way off in the distance, a huge mountain loomed over them. The peak of the mountain seemed to be missing.

Before Kenny could take out his map again, Clair explained, “That’s Sun Mountain. It’s an active volcano. It’s a well-known fact that the entire Fushi region was created by that very volcano. Isn’t that fascinating?”

“Yeah, totally,” responded Kenny, apparently missing the point that Clair was trying to impress him with her knowledge of the region. He took out his map anyway and gazed at it. “Yeah, I see. There’s another town at the foot of the mountain called-“

“Called Silver Spring!” interrupted Clair.

Kenny continued, “Anyway, there’s a gym in that town. We should probably head up there before we go to Monopolis.”

However, Kenny simply frowned as he lowered his map. There was only a small opening created by a gap in the dense forest that surrounded the path. And there was a small tree sitting right there in the middle of the path. Kenny walked up to this immature tree and tried pushing it out of the way, but it didn’t budge an inch. “Well, there goes that idea. I wonder how far this forest goes.” He then started taking out the map again.

“Too far for us to walk through,” Clair interjected.

Looking at the map, Kenny concluded, “Too far for us to walk through. I don’t feel like trudging through some dumb forest right now, so let’s just head for Monopolis.”

“I’m sure someone will need to get to Silver Spring and just get rid of that tree for us,” Eli observed.

The group then started walking forward on the paved path. Soon enough, towering skyscrapers were visible on the skyline. As they grew closer and closer to the city, more buildings showed up along the path such as bike shops, restaurants, clothing stores, and more. Eventually, they reached the official entrance to the city and were greeted by an elaborate display of fountains, statues, and gardens. A huge, decorated gate welcomed them into the city. “Welcome to Monopolis!” it read.

As soon as they stepped through the gate, they all knew why it was known as the biggest city in Fushi. Skyscrapers were placed all over the city, with other important establishments on every corner. Fast food restaurants, apartment buildings, convenience stores, department stores, parking garages, everything. In addition, the street was riddled with automobiles of all sorts. Sometimes there were taxis carrying people around, and sometimes city buses zoomed by. This city also had its fair share of pokemon wandering around the streets. Some Trubbishes could be seen loitering around an overflowing dumpster. A Scrafty was visible in a dark alley as the group walked by, flipping a coin in its hand. The first thing that the group looked for in this immense city was a pokemon center, which they found almost immediately. This pokemon center was much more crowded than the other ones that they saw in other parts of the region. However, the group was still able to heal all their pokemon with ease and leave back out to the street. As they passed by a towering apartment building, Clair started jumping for joy.

“Oh! Oh!” she exclaimed, “This is where I live! Sorry, guys, but I have to go say hi to my parents while I’m here. You can go ahead and wander the city if you want. I’ll be able to catch up to you. See ya!” With a short wave, Clair sprinted straight for the front door of the building and pushed it open, disappearing inside.

“Well, I guess it’s just you and me now, huh?” sighed Kenny. “Well, let’s see if there’s anything interesting going on around this place.”

As if in response to Kenny’s statement, as soon as they turned the corner, they came upon a huge open park area right in the middle of the city. There was grass growing on the ground and trees scattered around in various places, with many paved paths and benches through it. However, a large tent was set up right in the middle of the park, with people swarming all around. “Hey, check it out!” Kenny observed in response to all the commotion, “Looks like something important. Let’s go check it out.” With that, the duo started hiking down to this park.

When they were down near the tent, they had to push through a large crowd of people moving in every conceivable direction in order to finally get to the giant tent. The entrance was wide open and people were coming in and out. Once Kenny and Eli got inside, they could see a large wooden stage set up near the back with some people moving around on it. The duo was able to walk up to this stage and climb up on top. They walked around and looked, then saw a familiar person behind a table…

“Hey, Dan!” Kenny greeted.

The man in a black tuxedo and top hat looked up at Kenny. “That’s Poke Man Dan to you, kid!” he stated as he pointed upwards. Kenny and Eli looked up to see a gigantic banner on the inside of the tent that read, “Poke Man Dan’s Pokemon Festival!”

“Holy Crap,” Kenny exclaimed, “When you said you were going on tour, you meant it!”

“And you guys are the ones who made it happen!” Dan ecstatically said as he got up and patted each of the boys on the back. “Okay, now listen. I’ve got a plan for you two. I’m having an elimination-style battle tournament planned for today and tomorrow, okay? All the spots are filled up, but I can get you guys in the final rounds planned for tomorrow if you like, and you don’t even have to enter today. Are you okay with that?”

Kenny didn’t even have to think for a second. “Sure thing!” he agreed instantly. “That gives us all day to prepare. Hey, maybe we can challenge the pokemon gym in this town while we’re at it! Hey, Dan, do you know where the gym is in this town?”

Dan frowned. “Actually, the gym is closed for the duration of my festival. The gym leader, Ferris, is participating in my festival to help me gain publicity. However, I bet you could make a deal with him. Maybe he’ll let you have the badge if you beat him in the tournament.”

“That would be awesome!” Kenny exclaimed happily. “So, is there anything else going on in your festival?”

“Absolutely!” Dan started walking away, which Kenny and Eli took as a cue to follow him. Dan walked down off the stage and found a large board near the edge of the tent. He pointed to the board. “This shows all the activities that are going on. We have quite a few, so I’m sure you can find something that you like! They’re all going on later today, so don’t miss ‘em!” Dan then walked back up to his desk on the stage, leaving Kenny and Eli at the board.

This board was riddled with activities of all kinds. There were sand castle-building contests, ice cream and hot dog eating contests, figure skating contests, footraces, flying races, everything imaginable. Kenny looked at the first event on the list: the swimming race. He was always good at swimming and absolutely loved it, but the rules stated that you needed a pokemon to swim with, and he didn’t have any water-types. Eli had a Shellos, but it wasn’t much of a swimmer.

“Man, I really want to enter the swimming contest,” Kenny complained, “But I don’t have any pokemon to swim with!”

Eli paused and looked around the tent. “I think I may have a solution for that!” Kenny looked at where Eli was looking. Through the door of the tent, Kenny could see a small white canopy erected outside in the park, with a sign that read “Trading Center” above. There were quite a few people around this area.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Kenny mused, “But do I even have any pokemon to trade away?”

“Well,” Eli chimed in, “You’ve never actually used that Krookodile you caught out in Sandstone desert.”

Kenny looked down at the Ultra Ball. “Yeah, you’re right. I bet someone would love a Krookodile. Let’s go check it out.”

Kenny and Eli exited the tent and walked over to the trading center. Under the white canopy were a bunch of strange-looking machines with two poke ball-shaped slots on the front and a touch screen in the middle. People were placing their poke balls in these slots and using the touch screen, causing the poke balls to disappear into the machine and reappear on opposite sides.

Kenny walked up to a small area next to the trade center. He then took the Ultra Ball off his belt and pressed the button on the front, releasing Krookodile into the crowd. Kenny whispered to his pokemon, “Krookodile, can you get these peoples’ attention?” Obeying its command, Krookodile let out a loud, piercing roar into the air. Everyone in the crowd grew dead silent and turned to see where the noise was coming from.

Once Krookodile was done, Kenny spoke up. “All right,” he shouted to the crowd, “I’ve got a Krookodile here up for trade! I’m looking for a pokemon that I can use in the swimming race later today! If anybody has something to trade me, then come on and trade already!”

Once Kenny’s speech was over, everybody went back to what they were doing. However, one boy rushed out of the crowd and bolted straight for Kenny and Krookodile. He stopped right in front of them and caught his breath. Then, he stood up and spoke to Kenny. “Hey, I heard what you said! I’m looking for a pokemon to help me with the sand castle building contest, and I bet your Krookodile would be a great help! Well, I have the perfect swimming pokemon for you!”

The boy dug around in his pocket and took out a poke ball, then threw it up in the air. “Floatzel, come on out!” The poke ball then burst open and revealed a short orange pokemon that appeared to have a tube draped around its neck. It had long blue fins extending from its arms. Suddenly, Kenny felt a rumbling in his pocket, so he took out his pokedex.

“Floatzel, the sea weasel pokemon. It is known to rescue people from drowning by carrying them on its back. Its floatation sac helps it stay afloat in the water, allowing it to swim at high speeds.”

“Oh, man, that thing looks sick!” Kenny exclaimed. “I’ll take it!” Kenny returned his Krookodile to its Ultra Ball without even asking for its opinion on the matter and walked over to the trade machine with the boy. They each put their pokemons’ poke balls in a slot on the machine. Kenny then went over to the touch screen, tapping the button that said, “INSTANT TRADE”. Just then, the two balls were converted into energy and sucked into the machine. Some data processing occurred, and a moment later, the poke balls appeared on opposite sides. Each trainer took the poke ball on their side and exclaimed happily.

“Sweet!” the boy cried, “I’m gonna get first place for sure!”

“Same here,” Kenny replied, looking at his new poke ball. “Well, let’s check this guy out. Come on out, Floatzel!” Kenny threw his poke ball in the air, causing it to break open and put Floatzel on the ground in front of him.

“Hey, Floatzel,” Kenny said soothingly as he patted Floatzel’s head calmingly. Floatzel made a contented noise as Kenny rubbed his fur. The pokemon’s fur was very thick, likely waterproof. Kenny asked his pokemon, “Can you swim well, Floatzel?” Floatzel nodded in approval and started pantomiming swimming motions with its arms. “Excellent,” Kenny said with a smug grin. “This swimming contest will be a piece of cake.”

Eli then chimed in. “That Floatzel of your looke really tough, Kenny. I bet ti does really well in battle too. Don’t you want to practice swimming with your Floatzel before you enter the contest, though?”

“That’s a great idea,” concurred Kenny as he reached for his backpack, taking out the map. He unfolded it and glanced over it. “There’s an ocean just to the east of this city. You think we should head over there?”

“Sure thing,” Eli agreed. “Let’s go right now.”

“Oh, wait,” Kenny said before he walked off, “I still need to buy a swimsuit. I didn’t bring one with me.”

Eli smiled at that observation. “Well, guess what I brought with me before I left home!” Eli reached into his backpack behing him and started reaching around. He continued reaching around for a few seconds, the realized that his Hoothoot was holding the swimsuit he was searching for in its beak. Eli snatched the shorts out of its beak. “I brought a swimsuit with me before I left, in case I needed to go in water or anything. But I’m not entering the swimming race, so you can borrow them.”

“Awesome!” exclaimed Kenny as he took the shorts and stuffed them in his backpack. “Thanks a lot, man. Now, let’s get out of this ciy and go to the ocean!”

The duo turned around and started walking off out of the park with Floatzel walking along at Kenny’s side. Behind them, a girl was running up to them rapidly. She rushed straight up to them and hit them on the shoulders. Kenny and Eli nearly jumped out of their skins in surprise. “Hey, guys!” Clair shouted. “I told you I could catch up to you!”

“Jeez, Clair,” Eli complained, “Why did you have to surprise us like that?”

“Sorry, Peach Cake!” she continued. “Are you guys thinking of entering an event in the Pokemon Festival?”

“Definitely,” Kenny replied confidently. “I’m entering the swimming race. Check it out; I just traded my Krookodile for this Floatzel!” Floatzel gave a friendly wave to Clair. “We were just going over to the ocean to practice swimming! You know, the race is today, so we don’t have a lot of time to prepare.”

“That sounds awesome!” Clair responded. “I’ll come with you guys. I don’t really have anything else to do.”

With that, the entire group walked out of the city together.

~~~~

“So, this is what the ocean in Fushi looks like?”

Kenny, Eli, Clair, and Floatzel looked out on the calm water of the ocean, penetrated by the short waves that rolled up to the shore. “Yep, that’s what it looks like,” Clair replied.

“Well, I guess Floatzel and I should start practicing our swimming. I’m going to go change, I’ll be right back!” Kenny then ran off into the woods bordering the beach, disappearing into the bush.

“Well, since we’re here, I may as well let out my pokemon to play in the beach,” Eli said as he grabbed for both of his poke balls on his belt. “Come on out, guys!” Eli threw both of his poke balls into the air, and with twin flashes of light, Quilava and Shellos appeared on the ground. Shellos immediately started crawling over to the wet sand at the edge of the beach sand. Quilava, however, shied away from the water and instead started rolling around in the sand happily. It spewed flames out onto the sand, forming little balls of glass. “You can go play too, Hoothoot.” Eli lifted Hoothoot off his shoulder and placed it on the ground. Hoothoot was reluctant to leave Eli, but it soon started hopping toward the ocean water.

“I should let out my pokemon too,” Clair said in response to seeing all of Eli’s pokemon playing happily. “Come on out, guys!” Clair threw all of the balls on her belt into the air, causing all her pokemon to come out. Jigglypuff looked elated and started running toward the water, holding its hat on its head. Gastly and Lunatone, however, looked bored. They clearly didn’t have a carefree attitude like all the other pokemon, so they simply sat around. Gastly squinted, apparently disliking the bright sunlight, and floated over to the trees at the edge of the beach, hiding in the shade. Lunatone just sat there for a while in one place. Floatzel was still standing around waiting for its trainer.

“My pokemon are no fun,” Clair moped. “Except Jigglypuff.”

“Don’t worry,” Eli reassured, “I’m sure they’ll find something fun to do.”

Just then, Kenny emerged from the forest wearing his swimsuit. Floatzel ran up to him on all fours. “All right, Floatzel! Are you ready for our training?” Kenny then saw everybody’s pokemon out of their poke balls. “Oh, wait a second.” Kenny checked his pants that he was still holding and took all four of the other poke balls out. “Come on out!” he shouted, throwing the balls in the air. They all opened up, revealing Kenny’s other pokemon. Trapinch immediately started digging a hole in the sand right where it was standing. Gyarados roared ferociously. Kenny quickly returned it to its poke ball so it wouldn’t cause any trouble. Primeape went over to Trapinch and started digging its paws into the sand, helping Trapinch with its hole. Rotom didn’t seem to like the bright sunlight either, so it flew over to the shade with Gastly.

“Okay, Floatzel,” Kenny said, “Now we can really get practicing!” Floatzel jumped for joy and followed Kenny running down to the ocean water. As soon as Kenny was about to jump in the water, he instead slid on an ice floe. Lunatone had floated to the water’s edge and started using Ice Beam on the water, causing small chunks of ice to float up to the surface.

“Lunatone, stop freezing the water!” Clair yelled. “You’ll make the water too cold!” Lunatone simply rolled its eyes and floated over to the middle of the beach, dropping itself on the ground and burying itself in the sand.

Floatzel jumped into the water right in front of Kenny, doing a backstroke in a circle. Kenny swam up to Floatzel and grabbed onto its unusually buoyant body. “All right, Floatzel, show me what you got!” Floatzel immediately focused on the water and started paddling its feet furiously. It started waving its finned arms through the water as it moved forward. Kenny grabbed on to its shoulders as it accelerated rapidly, tossing all the water behind it into the air. Floatzel swam in a huge circle around the ocean quickly, with Kenny hardly able to hold on.

As one final display of skill, Floatzel dove underwater with Kenny still hanging on. It then rushed straight towards the surface and lept straight out of the water and high into the air, doing a somersault in the air. However, before it could make a perfect landing, something rammed into Floatzel’s body, sending it tumbling back to the surface alond with Kenny. They both splashed down and immediately swam to the surface to see what the problem was. There was a blue pokemon above them. It had a lighter blue underside and huge, wige fins on each side of its body.

Clair was watching the whole thing. She saw this same pokemon from the beach. She suddenly felt something shake her pants. She pulled out her pokedex, which displayed a small image of the pokemon she saw. “Mantyke, the kite pokemon. Its antennae can detect even the slightest change in the flow of seawater. They often live in groups and enjoy jumping out of the water with others.”

Just like the pokedex said, there was an entire group of Mantyke skipping along the surface of the water around Kenny and Floatzel. Clair ran up to the shore to watch these pokemon frolicking around. “Look, Peach Cake!” she called to Eli, who came over to watch as well. “Aren’t they so cute?”

“Yeah, I guess Kenny and Floatzel really make great friends, even though they just met.”

“No, silly! I was talking about the Mantyke. I wish I had one so I could hug it…”

“You could always catch one,” Kenny suggested.

“That’s a great idea!” Clair agreed. “Hey! Hey Lunatone!” Clair’s Lunatone erupted from under the beach sand upon hearing her call. “Can you use Ice Beam on one of those Mantyke?” Lunatone was more than happy to oblige to Clair’s orders. It focused on the Mantyke way off in the distance with its wide, red eyes. It slowly opened its beak, targeting one of the Mantyke jumping up and down through the water. Without hesitation, Lunatone fired a chilling white beam straight toward the group of Mantyke. It struck one of the pokemon jumping out of the water directly, completely encasing it in a block of ice and causing it to splash back down in the ocean. The chunk of ice floated up to the surface, still showing the Mantyke’s smiling expression.

Floatzel immediately stopped treading water and flung its body over to the block of ice, swimming like a fish. It picked up the frozen Mantyke and placed the block on its back, then started swimming back to shore. When it got to the water’s edge, it picked up the block and placed it at Clair’s feet.

Eli looked at the block and then glanced over at one of his pokemon. “Hey, Quilava!” he called. Quilava had fashioned a large castle made of glass. It came out of the castle, wearing a glass crown on its head. It then hopped over to Eli, awaiting orders. “Can you thaw out this block of ice without hurting the Mantyke inside?” Quilava took off its glass crown and concentrated on the block. It started spewing a few light flames out of its mouth which struck the ice. Steam started coming off the block as the ice shrinked around Mantyke. Soon enough, the ice had more or less completely disappeared from its body and it slumped down on the beach, unconscious.

“Oh dear,” Clair said, “I think I need to get this Mantyke over to the pokemon center quickly. Kenny, do you want to stay here and practice?”

“Sure thing,” called Kenny, who was playing with Floatzel in the water.

“I’ll come with you,” Eli decided.

“Fine, Peach Cake. But that means Kenny needs to watch all our pokemon for us. Is that all right with you, Kenny?”

“All right!” called out Kenny.

With that, Clair and Eli started walking away from the beach with Clair carrying the unconscious Mantyke in her arms. Kenny and Floatzel continued swimming around the ocean, practicing for their big race later that day.

 

[Gelatino95]

Chapter XXIII: The Swiftest Swimmers

Kenny had finished swimming with his Floatzel. Now, he and the rest of the pokemon were just relaxing on the beach. Kenny pulled a towel out of his backpack and laid down on it, but Floatzel was perfectly happy just lying on the sand. Quilava was ruling his castle made of glass wearing his glass crown. Hoothoot wore a glass soldier’s helmet, standing guard on top of the castle. Trapinch and Primeape dug a deep, conical pit, and now Primeape was trying its best to climb out of the hole, but kept falling back in the hole. Shellos and Jigglypuff were splashing around in the water. Lunatone had fashioned a mountain made of ice and was floating at the top, observing all that happened below. Gastly and Rotom were simply chatting away in their mysterious pokemon language, hiding in the shade.

Kenny saw someone approach him. He covered his eyes from the blinding sunlight to see Eli standing before him, alone. “Come on, Kenny!” Eli said, “It’s almost time for the swimming competition. Clair is already practicing at the pool.”

Kenny did a double-take at that statement. “Clair’s entering the contest?”

“Oh, yeah. She made friends with that Mantyke and now she’s using it in the contest.”

Kenny lay back down. “I guess that means I’m competing against her.”

“Yeah. She made it very clear that she intends to beat you.”

Kenny immediately sat up. “Oh, did she now? I guess that means we better not be late. Come on, Floatzel.” Kenny took Floatzel’s poke ball off of his pants and returned it. “You guys, too.” Kenny then returned all his other pokemon.

“Clair trusted me with all her other pokemon, so I better return them all too.” Eli fumbled with all the poke balls in his hands, but eventually pulled out the balls for Clair’s three pokemon. He returned them all. “All right, Quilava, play time’s over.” Eli then returned Quilava, leaving the castle vacant. “You too, Shellos.” Shellos was the dragged away from the water into its poke ball. “Let’s go, Hoothoot.” The owl pokemon tossed off its glass hat and jumped into Eli’s arms, and was then put on his shoulder. “Come on, Kenny, let’s go!”

Kenny grumbled reluctantly and slowly got up from his towel, shook it off, then stuffed it in his backpack. He also placed the rest of his spare clothes in the backpack. He slung the backpack over his body. “Let’s go already.” He and Eli then started off toward Monopolis city.

~~~~

After a bit of walking, Kenny and Eli found the pool where the race would be taking place. It was a really long pool clearly designed for racing, with long ropes that divided the pool into many lanes. Tons of people were already gathering on the seats that lined the edges of the pool area, eager to watch the race. Some of the racers had already lined up by the end of the pool, stretching their muscles and allowing their pokemon to exercise before the big race.

A few moments after they arrived, a man in a swimsuit started striding into the pool area. The entire crowd came to an uproar as the man approached, walking by the seats as people started taking pictures. Following him was a blue, bipedal pokemon that had an avian appearance. It had a trident-like set of horns on the front of its face. Kenny’s pokedex was in his backpack, so he couldn’t feel it vibrate, but Eli immediately took his out and listened. “Empoleon, the emperor pokemon. It can swim as fast as a motor boat. It uses its sharp wingtips to slice through ice floes. However, it is also very self-conscious and prideful.”

A raucous fan had approached Kenny and Eli and started taking photos of this man. Kenny bent over and whispered, “Hey, who is that guy anyway?”

The fan looked up in disbelief. “You don’t know who that is? That’s Ferris, the gym leader of this town! He specializes in steel types, you know, like that Empoleon! He’s a local celebrity around this town. Hardly anybody can beat him in battle because he’s so good.”

“Well, I’ll be the judge of that. If he’s that strong, then I’ll probably be battling him in the final rounds of the tournament,” Kenny boasted proudly. The fan seemed to take no notice and simply continued taking snapshots.

A voice then came over the loudspeaker. “Ladies and gentlemen, the race is about to begin! Will all contestants please take your places at the front end of the pool.”

Everybody the walked forward with their pokemon, ready to race. Kenny took his place right next to Ferris, the town legend. His Empoleon stepped forward and splashed in the pool, treading water. Kenny then checked his backpack and pulled out Floatzel’s poke ball, opening it and sending it out. Floatzel looked more than happy to dive into the pool in front of it, patiently waiting for the race to begin.

Kenny turned his head over to Ferris, who was stretching out his legs. “Hey, Ferris,” Kenny called out over the roar of the crowd, “My name’s Kenny. Pleased to meet you.”

Ferris looked over and held out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Kenny,” Ferris said as he shook Kenny’s hand. At least he’s polite, Kenny thought. “You ready for this race?”

“Absolutely. I’ve been practicing with my Floatzel for a while.” Kenny paused shortly. “Hey, I have a question. Are you in the final rounds of the tournament?”

“That’s right,” Ferris confirmed proudly. “Of course, everyone expects me to win the tournament.”

“That’s cool,” Kenny responded, getting to the point. “I was thinking of challenging the gym in this town, but I heard that you were in the tournament and the gym was closed. Let’s make a deal. If I can beat you in the final round of the tournament, then that counts as a gym battle and you can give me the badge. What do you think?”

Ferris thought for a second, and then nodded. “Sure, that sounds all right.”

Kenny simply looked back at the pool ahead of him. The pool looked much longer than when he was entering the pool area at first. It seemed to stretch on indefinitely in front of him. While he was deep in thought, he saw someone come up in the lane next to him accompanied by a pokemon floating in the air. This blue water pokemon floated down and splashed down in the pool, looking happy to be in the water. Kenny looked next to him and saw someone familiar.

Clair was standing there in her two-piece bathing suit, looking at Kenny. “Sorry I’m late!” she apologized. Kenny had no time to respond as his jaw nearly dropped at the sight of Clair in her swimsuit. He couldn’t really keep himself from staring, and he could almost feel drool dripping out of the corner of his mouth. Clair simply giggled at that sight. “What are you staring at?” she smiled. “I hope you’re ready to lose, Kenny. I’ve been training with my Mantyke in this pool, and we can’t possibly fail! Good luck, buddy!”

Kenny shook his head and looked away from Clair’s body, instead looking at Eli standing behind him. “Dude!” he whispered, “Do the thing we were talking about!”

In response, Eli took one of the poke balls off his belt and opened it up with a flash of light, revealing Shellos on the ground. “Shellos, use Rain Dance!” Eli ordered, causing Shellos to start waving around rhythmically. Just then, a couple of storm clouds opened up right over the pool and rain came pouring down. A couple people gave out a loud, “Awww…” as they were disappointed at the sudden bad weather, but Kenny’s Floatzel gave a completely different reaction. It looked up at the rain clouds and grinned maliciously. Kenny knew that Floatzel’s Swift Swim ability was being activated by the rain, which will double its speed!

“Oh, how convenient!” taunted Clair sarcastically, seeing Kenny’s plan. “How fortunate that this rain should come along, since my Mantyke happens to have the Swift Swim ability!”

Kenny nearly cursed under his breath at this flaw in his plan. Then, a voice came over the loudspeaker. “Ladies and gentlemen, despite the inclement weather, the race is ready to start! Contestants, take your places!”

At that, everybody jumped in the pool, sitting behind their pokemon. Kenny and Clair followed suit, grasping their Floatzel and Mantyke respectively. Shortly after, the countdown began. “Are all racers ready? Then let’s begin. This race will be all the way to the end of the pool and back. You must touch the end of the pool before coming back. Are you ready? On your marks… get set……………… GOOO!”

A starter pistol shot in the air as everybody pushed off from their end of the pool. The spectators could barely see what was going on as a wall of white foam erupted behind the racers, soaking all the people behind, including Eli. Kenny’s Floatzel was far ahead from everybody else. It was pusing its fins through the water and swimming forward faster than ever before, seemingly fueled by the rain. However, it wasn’t long before Clair came bouncing along the surface of the water on her Mantyke, nearly passing Kenny.

“Come on, Floatzel, don’t let them beat us!” Kenny called out to his pokemon as it tried its hardest to swim even faster. The end of the pool was approaching faster than Kenny would have expected. Clair reached the end of the wall first, then pushed off in the other direction. Not a moment later, Floatzel planted its feet on the end of the wall and pushed with all its might, rocketing itself forward in front of Clair. The finish line was approaching even faster than before. Adrenaline pulsed through Kenny’s system as he came even closer to the finish line with no sign of Clair next to him. He closed his eyes in excitement as he passed by the finish line…

The crowd roared. When Kenny opened his eyes, a bunch of racers were already past the finish line, coming in after Kenny. Overwhelmed with excitement, he jumped up on the concrete ground out of the pool. He nearly jumped for joy. Clair got out of the pool right after him. A man started walking over, holding a gold metal in his hands. Kenny prepared for the man to place the medal around his neck.

But the man passed right by him and put the medal around Clair’s neck. He took Clair’s arm and held it high in the air, earning an even louder cheer from the crowd. Kenny was completely dumbstruck at this. “What the flesh?” Kenny exclaimed in exasperation, “I thought I won the race!”

“Nah,” the man said, “She passed you right on the home stretch! It was the closest race I’ve ever seen! Don’t worry, kid, you still got second place.”

Kenny retained every ounce of pride he had left as the silver medal was placed around his neck. A man holding a bronze medal walked over to the third place winner, who was a freakishly tall and skinny guy with an enormously gigantic red and white afro. Standing near him was his Ludicolo, which he must have been swimming with. There was some trouble getting the bronze medal around the man’s freakishly large afro, but they managed to squeeze it through.

“Let’s give it up for our winners!” the loudspeaker shouted as the crowd erupted in cheer once again. Clair smiled and waved to the crowd. Kenny simply pouted, completely disappointed that he didn’t win. Floatzel tried to reassure him by patting his back.

From the corner of his eye, Kenny caught a glimpse of a man walking into the pool area. He looked over and saw Dan, in his tuxedo and top hat as always. Dan walked in carrying a wireless microphone. He then spoke into it. “Wow, what a spectacular display of sportsmanship! Let’s have another round of applause for our competitors. You were all fantastic!” The crowd gave out another short cheer, and then quieted down when Dan began to speak again. “Now, ladies and gentlemen, don’t forget about our big event coming up tomorrow, the final rounds of the Pokemon Festival Tournament! The finalists from today’s rounds will be competing against the previous champions of the tournament from Goldport city! Set your alarms early, because you do NOT want to miss this! That will be all. Thank you for coming, everyone.” Dan then exited the pool area, leaving the spectators to exit as well and for the racers to leave.

Ferris came up to Kenny before he left. “That was incredible! You are just an amazing swimmer with your Floatzel. Don’t be ashamed because you got second place, it’s still a great accomplishment! Well, I guess I’ll see you at the tournament tomorrow. See you!” Ferris then walked away with his Empoleon at his side. Kenny turned around, only to be met by Clair.

Clair smiled at Kenny, making his face turn red. “Oh, what’s the matter, Kenny, angry that you didn’t win?”

“Yes,” Kenny replied, stifling a scream.

“Well, you did a great job anyway. Even though you lost. Come on, Mantyke.” Clair’s Mantyke jumped out of the water, following her out of the pool.

Eli came up to Kenny, his clothes still completely soaked. Hoothoot didn’t seem to like its feathers being all wet either. “You were awesome. Who cares if you got second place, you were still amazing. Come on, it’s starting to get late. We should probably find a hotel to stay the night until the tournament tomorrow. I plan on entering too, you know.”

“Cool,” Kenny replied. “Maybe we’ll fight each other. That would be pretty cool.”

With that, Kenny returned his Floatzel and walked out of the pool with Eli. They walked all the way through the park and out onto the street, searching for a hotel to stay at for the night until they could go join the tournament tomorrow, and hopefully win a gym badge without even challenging the gym.

 

[GuardChomp]

Another great Chapter. Not one typo, I loved the twist & the character development ment. No Nova grunts this chapter, So I'm expecting something to happen. Out of curiosity, is the dude with the big Afro important at all?

 

[Gelatino95]

Out of curiosity, is the dude with the big Afro important at all?

He's a character in Pokemon Colosseum and XD named Miror B, who's obsessed with dancing. He's just so funny, I couldn't leave him out of the story,

 

[Treecko's Awesomeness]

Wow, great chapters! Sorry I haven't reviewed in a while. I liked your beach/pool scene, and it kind of reminded me of the one in my fic, although, once again, you did it better! I loved the reference to Miror B, as he was one of the best characters in any pokemon games. All in all, great job once again, and I'd like to be on the PM list to make sure I don't miss anything!

-TA

 

[Gelatino95]

^ Adding you.

 

[Gelatino95]

All right, guys, get ready for a super long chapter this time. I had to fit the entire tournament in, so most of it is pretty much just battles. Enjoy.

Chapter XXIV: Tournament Takeover

Alakazam floated next to Oberon’s desk, a large bandage over its forehead. Oberon sat at his desk with his hands on his forehead, deep in thought.

“What are we going to do?” Oberon thought out loud. “We’re nearing the execution of our primary plan, but Kenny and his friends are still out there, and I’m sure they’re close to the Sun Mountain by now. They’re just going to foil our plans like they always do.”

Alakazam spoke up. “Sir, if we gain control of the legendary pokemon, then Kenneth and his friends don’t stand a chance against us. Perhaps we should just go ahead with our plan as quickly as possible and forget the child?”

Oberon simply shook his head. “No, no, that’s too risky. The primary objective must be completed with no obstructions whatsoever! We must ensure that the main threats to our plan are eliminated beforehand.”

“In that case,” Alakazam suggested, “Perhaps we can set up a trap in Monopolis? That is where the children are now.”

Oberon looked up in surprise. “You can tell where they are? That is very helpful indeed. Anyway, your plan is good. Monopolis would be the perfect place to get attention, and I’m sure we can easily set up a plan that would draw Kenny in. Alakazam! Do you know any positions that would make an ideal trap?”

“Well, you could always try taking control of one of the major corporations in the city. There are tons of buildings in Monopolis that house important companies, so I’m sure Kenneth and his friends will try to come to the rescue if you send some of our men out to seize control of the building.”

“That is an excellent plan,” Oberon said. He grinned maliciously as he pressed a button on the PA system sitting on his desk, then spoke into it. “Calling all Team Nova admins. Report to Oberon’s office immediately. Repeat, report to Oberon’s office immediately.”

Oberon reclined in his swivel chair, looking happy. Alakazam then said, “Do be careful with your plan, sir. You know how Kenneth and his friends have been able to foil our plans in the past despite the care you put into planning them. I almost envy the child’s strategic mind.”

“Don’t worry yourself, Alakazam. I don’t want to get my hopes up either.”

~~~~

Kenny and Eli marched out of the hotel and found the park where the Pokemon Festival was taking place. This time, a great big white rectangle with a poke ball symbol in the middle was painted on the grass in the park. Tons of spectators were gathered around the battle area on picnic blankets, some with video cameras. A large wooden stage was set up right along the side of the battlefield, painted and decorated with banners. Dan stood on the top behind a microphone. A bunch of people were lining up on the stage. Dan saw Kenny and Eli from a distance, waving them over. In response, Kenny and Eli started running up to the stage as fast as they could. Once they came up, Dan greeted them graciously.

“Ah, Kenji! Eddy! Thank you so much for coming. Here, take your places up on the stage.” Dan motioned toward the end of the stage, where there was some space left for them.

“That’s ELI!” Eli called out as he took his place.

Once everyone was on the stage, Dan got up to the microphone, tapped it, and then started speaking. “Could I please have everyone’s attention?” The crowd grew quiet as Dan’s resonating voice boomed out of the speakers set on the edges of the stage. “Thank you all for coming today. As many of you know, the final rounds of the tournament will be marking the end of the Pokemon Festival in Monopolis. We’ve had a great day yesterday with all our battles and competitions and whatnot, so let’s have this festival go out with a bang, what do you say?” At this, the crowd roared with cheer.

Once the crowd quieted down, Dan continued. “Now, the people up on the stage are the finalists in the battle tournament from yesterday. These competitors will battle each other in an elimination-style tournament. Each of the semifinal rounds will be two-on-two battles, and the final round will be a three-on-three battle. Whoever wins the final round will be the champion of the Pokemon Festival!” The crowd cheered once again. Kenny took this time to look over at the competition. He saw a few familiar faces on the stage. One of them was the man with a red spiky mohawk that Kenny recognized from cycling road. Another was Ferris, standing among the others proudly. Another was the man with the enormously huge red and white afro from the swimming race. Dan continued his speech. “Also, I’d like to welcome two special guests who will be competing in the final rounds of the tournament. They won the previous battle event held in Goldport city.” Dan walked over to Kenny and Eli. “Please welcome Kenji and Eddy!” Eli protested at that, but he wasn’t heard over the applause of the crowd. “Without further ado, let the challenges begin! Some of our contestants will be battling on the arena set up here, while others will be taken to our alternate battle area, to ensure that this event is finished swiftly. Will the contestants please move to their battle places!” Dan went up to Eli. “Eddy, I have you set up in the other battlefield. Please come with me. Kenny, you’re up first, so you can set yourself up on your side of the battlefield immediately!”

With that, Eli walked away with some other challengers as Kenny jumped down from the stage and rushed over to the great big battlefield set up in the park. The crowd cheered for him as he stepped up to his area. Shortly after, another battler stepped over to the other side of the arena. It was the red spiky mohawk guy, the leader of the biker gang known as the Sharpedoes. He still had the patch in his pants from when Trapinch bit him. The man looked furiously at Kenny, shouting over to his side of the arena. “I told you you’d be sorry that you messed with the Sharpedoes! Now get ready to feel the pain!”

A judge in a black and white striped shirt walked up to the middle of the battlefield. He started reading off a card and shouting, “Our competitors Kenji and… uh… Sharpedoman(?) will be battling in the first round of the tournament.” The judge held up two flags in the air. “Contestants, you may now take out your pokemon!”

The mohawk man apparently named “Sharpedoman” took out a poke ball from his leather jacket pocket. He then threw the poke ball out and yelled, “Scrafty, pound his face in!” The orange, lizardlike pokemon known as Scrafty emerged from the poke ball with its arms crossed.

“All right, then,” said Kenny, carefully deliberating his pokemon choice. He then pulled a poke ball off his belt and tossed it into battle. “Let’s go, Primeape!” he shouted as the round figure of Primeape landed on the ground and ferociously eyed its opponent.

“All right, battlers,” the judge called out, “You may now begin the battle!” He waved both of the flags down simultaneously.

Sharpedoman gave the first order. “Scrafty, Dragon Dance!”

“Primeape, hit him with Karate Chop!”

Scrafty started doing a mysterious dance and glowed red and blue. Meanwhile, Primeape was rushing forward at the opponent’s Scrafty with an outstretched paw. It struck Scrafty with its hand, causing it to tumble to the ground. Scrafty simply got back up and started dancing again. When the dance was over, the trainers gave their orders.

“Now, Scrafty, use your Hi Jump Kick!”

“Primeape, quick, use Cross Chop!”

Primeape was just about to run forward with its arms crossed when it saw Scrafty approach at surprising speed. The pants lizard flew up in the air, planting its foot right in Primeape’s face. Primeape was barely hanging on from the attack, but still managed to get back up. It ran straight for Scrafty with its arms crossed. It jumped in the air straight for Scrafty, ready to strike it with both paws. However, Scrafty nimbly jumped out of the way, causing Primeape’s attack to miss completely. Completely enraged, Primeape ran back to Kenny’s side of the battlefield.

“Now, Scrafty, Hi Jump Kick again!”

“Primeape, grab it and use Seismic Toss!”

Scrafty started running forward at terrifying speeds again. It jumped up and aimed its foot for Primeape once more. However, this time, Primeape was able to grab onto Scrafty’s foot. It used the terrified pokemon’s forward momentum to swing it around in a circle and plant the pokemon’s face straight in the earth, creating a small crater. Scrafty lifted up its head, revealing a hole in the ground with an impression of Scrafty’s face in it. However, the lizard couldn’t get back up and simply fell down face-first.

“Scrafty is unable to battle!” the judge called out.

“GRRR!” Sharpedoman growled as he withdrew his fainted Scrafty, “This isn’t over yet, punk! I’ve still got another pokemon!” Sharpedoman took out another poke ball from his pocket and flung it out into the field. “Sharpedo, destroy!” A shark-like pokemon came out of the ball and floated in the air. It had four fins all around its body and a gaping mouth filled with razor-sharp, pointed white teeth. Sharpedo menacingly chomped the air in front of it. Kenny felt his pokedex rumble at the sight of this new pokemon, so he took it out.

“Sharpedo, the brutal pokemon. It can swim at speeds of up to 75 miles per hour. Its sharp fangs and strong jaws are capable of ripping holes in solid metal hulls of ships.”

“Okay, Primeape,” Kenny called out to his exhausted pokemon, “That’s enough. This looks like a job for Rotom. Rotom, come on out!” Kenny took another ball off his belt and threw it out, revealing Rotom floating in the middle of the field. The trainers then issued their commands.

“Sharpedo, use Crunch!”

“Rotom, quickly, Discharge!”

Before Rotom could fire off an attack, Sharpedo rocketed through the air at nearly blinding speed, as if it were swimming through the ocean. It opened up its jaws and clamped its razor sharp teeth down on Rotom’s body. The crowd gave out a loud “Oohhh…” when they saw Rotom crushed in the jaws of Sharpedo. However, before Sharpedo let go, Rotom discharged a massive amout of electric energy straight into the shark’s body. Sharpedo relaxed its grip as it started flailing around in pain. Rotom didn’t survive the attack and slowly floated to the ground. Sharpedo had returned to its side of the arena and was still twitching with jolts of electricity coursing over its body.

The judge then shouted, “Rotom is unable to battle!”

Kenny quickly returned Rotom and took out Primeape’s poke ball again. He tossed out the ball and yelled, “Primeape! Finish him off!” Primeape landed on the ground, still panting from its previous battle experience.

Sharpedoman then shouted, “Sharpedo! Hit it with Ice Fang!”

“Primeape, Cross Chop, quickly!”

Sharpedo started jetting forward, but it was much slower than before. It kept jerking along through the air, constantly stopped by surges of electricity in its system. While Sharpedo was fumbling around, Primeape ran forward at high speed, jumped up in the air, and struck Sharpedo right on the head with both paws forming an “X” shape. Sharpedo slammed into the ground and was incapable of getting up, twitching around uncontrollably.

“Sharpedo is unable to battle!” the judge shouted. “Kenji is the winner!”

Kenny basked in the glory of the cheering crowd around him as Sharpedoman stomped on the ground in rage. He returned his fainted and paralyzed Sharpedo and stormed out of the battlefield, not saying a word. Just then, a woman in a nurse uniform walked up to Kenny holding up a hexagonal tray with space for six poke balls in it. “Can you put your poke balls in the tray please?” she asked politely. Kenny obliged and took out all of his poke balls, placing them in slots on the tray. The nurse pressed some buttons on a device connected to the tray, and then gave Kenny back his balls. “There! Your pokemon are all healed.” She walked away.

The judge then called, “Will the next fighter please step into the arena!”

Kenny waited patiently as the man with the gigantic red and white afro moonwalked to his place on the other end of the arena. This time, the man was wearing a purple unbuttoned shirt that showed his chest. The man spun around before striking a pose that caused the crowd to cheer for him. The man then looked at Kenny. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” the man said in a somewhat annoying singsong voice. “A young trainer! Listen, kid. You can’t keep up with dance steps like these. I’ve given up my life of crime and dedicated it to pokemon and dancing! Let’s see you try and match my style! Let the music play!” With that last statement, the man pulled out a boom box from his afro, placed it on the ground, and pressed a button. After that, epic music started coming out of the stereo.

“Our challengers Kenji and Miror B will be competing in the next round,” the judge shouted. He then raised two flags in the air. “Contestants, you may now take out your pokemon!”

Miror B reached in his afro again and took out a poke ball this time. He tossed the poke ball into battle, and out came a pokemon with a pineapple-shaped body and a lily pad on its head. It had a duck-like bill on its face. As soon as it was out, it started dancing energetically and clapping to the beat of the salsa music coming out of the stereo. Kenny took out his vibrating pokedex and listened. “Ludicolo, the carefree pokemon. When it hears upbeat music, it can’t help but dance to it. The dancing causes the pokemon’s battle capabilities to be enhanced.”

Kenny observed Ludicolo’s energetic dancing and took out a poke ball of his own. “Floatzel, come on out!” Kenny called as he threw the poke ball in the air, which burst with light and revealed Floatzel, sitting on the grass in a battle stance.

“All right, let the battle commence!” the judge yelled as he lowered his flags.

“Ludicolo, use Rain Dance!”

“Floatzel, use Crunch!”

As Floatzel started rushing toward the opponent, Ludicolo pulled off a few stylish dance steps before it was attacked. This summoned a few rain clouds, which poured down a torrent of rain on the field. In response to the rain, Floatzel doubled its running speed and clamped its jaws down on Ludicolo’s arm. Ludicolo was only thrown off a little from the attack, but it got up and continued dancing.

“Now, Ludicolo, Leech Seed!”

“Floatzel, Ice Fang!”

Before Ludicolo could make a move, Floatzel rocketed forward at impossible speed and opened up its mouth, fangs encased in ice. Its frozen fangs clamped down right into Ludicolo’s body, leaving a few shards of ice sticking out. However, these shards melted away quickly as Ludicolo continued dancing, seemingly unfazed by the attack. Ludicolo grasped a small seed in its hand and tossed it straight at Floatzel, who was still standing nearby. The seed struck Floatzel and dug into its furry skin, producing a bunch of long vines that wrapped around the pokemon’s body. These vines completely covered Floatzel, not restricting its movement, but slowly sapping away its health.

“What the heck!” Kenny shouted through the dousing rain, “My attacks are hardly doing any damage!”

“That’s because my Ludicolo has Rain Dish!” Miror B sang as he danced wildly to the music. “It just keeps recovering health and taking away health from your pokemon!”

Kenny took this into consideration as he gave his orders. “Floatzel, use Ice Fang again and this time keep holding on!”

“Ludicolo, Giga Drain!”

Floatzel managed to keep battling despite the energy-sapping vines growing around its body. It stuck out its legs and started running over to Ludicolo on all fours. When it arrived, it sunk its ice-cloaked fangs right into Ludicolo’s body. It had so much health that it didn’t seem to notice and continued dancing to the music with Floatzel still hanging on. However, Ludicolo started to turn light blue and start dancing much slower. Eventually, the dance stopped as Ludicolo ceased dancing and fell to the ground, frozen solid. It was now encased in a large block of ice. Floatzel let go and looked at its work. Miror B kept dancing, but looked at his frozen pokemon in horror.

“Now, Floatzel! Finish it off with Swift!”

Floatzel jumped back and started forming star-shaped pieces of energy in its hand, then threw them at Ludicolo like ninja stars. The block of ice shattered around Ludicolo, causing it to fall to the wet grass and make no attempt to get back up.

“Ludicolo is unable to battle!” the judge called out.

Miror B looked annoyed at this. He took Ludicolo’s poke ball and returned it, stuffing the ball into his afro. “Oh, no no no! This simply will not do! Looks like this calls for drastic measures.” Miror B pulled another poke ball out of his afro, identical to the first. He flung it out and it opened up, revealing another Ludicolo on the battlefield.

“You’re using the same pokemon?” Kenny inquired incredulously.

“I don’t have any other pokemon with the right groove!” Miror B responded. Ludicolo was dancing to the energetic music just like the previous one. “All right, Ludicolo, use Giga Drain!”

“Floatzel, Crunch!”

This time, however, Ludicolo executed its attack at incredible speed, much faster than Floatzel could react. Before Floatzel could even run forward, a bunch of green balls started floating away from its body. Floatzel could feel its energy being drained away as the green orbs flew through the air over to Ludicolo, who was looking as sprightly as ever. Floatzel tried running forward to attack Ludicolo, but it didn’t have the energy. It slumped on the ground and couldn’t move.

The judge then shouted, “Floatzel is unable to battle!”

Kenny promptly recalled his fainted Floatzel. “How the heck is that Ludicolo faster than Floatzel?” complained Kenny. “My Floatzel has Swift Swim!”

“Oh really?” Miror B sang out from his side of the battlefield, “What a coincidence! My Ludicolo happens to have that very same ability! The rain helps him keep up with the beat.”

“Hmm…” pondered Kenny, “I think I have a great solution to that problem. Rotom, let’s go!” Kenny then reached for his belt and took off a poke ball, throwing it into the air. Rotom was released from the ball.

“Rotom, use your Thunder Wave!”

“Ludicolo, Bubblebeam!”

Ludicolo started blowing bubbles out of its mouth at blinding speed, sending them straight for Rotom. The plasma pokemon was struck by hundreds of bubbles popping all around it. Rotom didn’t seem to enjoy losing its static electricity, but it continued the battle nonetheless. It shot a weak jolt of electricity through the air and hit Ludicolo with it. Ludicolo didn’t visibly take any damage from the attack, but small sparks could be seen jumping all over its body. Occasionally, its dance was interrupted by sudden electricity-induced spasms.

“Oh, dear,” Miror B sighed at the sight of his paralyzed pokemon.

“Now, Rotom,” Kenny ordered, “Use Shadow Ball!”

“Don’t give in, Ludicolo! Giga Drain!”

This time, Ludicolo was unable to move first. It was held back by its paralysis. Rotom had started building up a ball of dark matter in front of it, and then fired off the ball straight at Ludicolo. Ludicolo took the attack, and then started moving. It got up and tried dancing again as green orbs came off of Rotom’s body, flying through the air and traveling straight back to Ludicolo. Ludicolo seemed to grow more powerful from the attack.

Before Kenny could give a command, Rotom started building up crackling electricity around its body. Rotom was glowing brightly, flooding the entire area with light. The crowd gave a loud “Ooohhhh” at the blindingly bright Rotom. All of a sudden, Rotom discharged its pent up electricity in a bright blue bolt that struck Ludicolo directly. A large burn mark appeared right in the middle of Ludicolo’s body. It suddenly stopped dancing and simply fell face-first into the ground.

“Hey!” Miror B protested, “Did that pokemon just learn Thunderbolt? That must be against the rules, yo!”

“Ludicolo is unable to battle!” the judge shouted. “Kenji is the winner of the match!”

“Oh, no no! What is this? I’ve lost to a little brat? This simply won’t do!” Miror B turned off his stereo and stuffed it back in his afro, recalling his Ludicolo at the same time. “Well, rules are rules. Kid, you’ve got a rhythm of your own going on there! We’ll meet again, and I won’t lose next time!” With that, Miror B moonwalked out of the arena. The nurse from before came up and healed Kenny’s pokemon completely.

The judge yelled, “Now, the next competitor will step forward for the semifinal round! This battle will decide who fights in the final round of the tournament!”

Kenny stood proudly at his place in the battlefield. He saw the next opponent walk up to the opposite end, but he was somewhat taken by surprise that the next battler was Eli.

“Surprised to see me?” Eli shouted. “I won all the other battles, and I guess you did too. That means we’re finally up against each other! I’m not going easy on you, Kenny!”

“Me neither,” responded Kenny. “Let’s see if you’ve improved since last time we battled.” Kenny reached for the first golden poke ball on his belt and tossed it out. “Let’s do it, Trapinch!” With a flash of light, the form of Trapinch appeared on the ground before him, clamping its jaws in the air in an intimidating manner.

“All right, then,” Eli said as he smiled smugly. He took a poke ball off his own belt and threw it in the air. “Let’s go, Gastrodon!” The poke ball burst open and Kenny saw a three-eyed, pink and brown pokemon that sort of looked like Shellos, except it was much larger. Brown skin covered the top half of its body and it had horns on its head that resembled a Viking helmet.

“Woah, what the flesh?” exclaimed Kenny, taken by surprise once again.

“Yeah, that’s right, my Shellos evolved!” boasted Eli from the other end of the field. “It evolved while I was battling some hothead named Zook. Jeez, what a whiner.”

The judge held up two flags in his hands. “The competitors, Kenji and Eddy, will be competing in the semifinal round! You may commence the fight!”

Eli was about to shout out a command to his Gastrodon, but Kenny called over his Trapinch first. Trapinch walked over to Kenny as he pulled out a small brown disk from his bag. Kenny then held up this disk to Trapinch’s forehead and a bunch of bright white energy poured into Trapinch’s head. Suddenly, the disk stopped emitting energy and Kenny returned it to his bag. “There you go, Trapinch,” Kenny said, pushing his Trapinch back to its battle position.

“Are you quite finished?” Eli complained impatiently. Kenny nodded. “All right, then. Gastrodon, use Water Pulse!”

“Quickly, Trapinch, use Dig!”

Gastrodon started shooting rings of water out of its mouth. These rings flew straight over to Trapinch. However, Trapinch had already started frantically digging with its front feet and scooping dirt out of the ground with its jaws until it was completely submerged underground. The Water Pulse attack tried to follow Trapinch, but just soaked the ground around it.

“Did you just use that Dig TM we got from the gym?” Eli exclaimed.

“Sure did,” Kenny said smugly. Eli sighed and gave his orders for the next attack.

“All right, Gastrodon. You can’t hit Trapinch, so use Rain Dance!”

With that, Gastrodon waved around from side to side rhythmically. A bunch of storm clouds were summoned from the sky over the battlefield, causing rain to pour down and causing people in the audience to moan once again due to the bad weather. Just as Gastrodon was finishing its dance, the ground below it started to rise. Suddenly, Trapinch popped out of the ground and flew up in the air, causing Gastrodon to be tossed aside and fall on its head. Gastrodon quickly rolled over and assumed its battle stance.

“Quick, Gastrodon, before Trapinch can get underground again, use Water Pulse!”

“Trapinch, use Dig again!”

Gastrodon, however, refused its trainer’s orders. Instead of rings, Gastrodon started shooting out a forceful stream of brown water out of its mouth, spraying like a fire hose. Trapinch had already started excavating the muddy ground, but looked up in terror as a torrent of unsanitary water crashed down on it. Once the stream of water finished pounding down on Trapinch’s helpless body, the pokemon was left sitting face-first in the mud.

“Sweet!” Eli shouted ecstatically, “I think Gastrodon just learned Muddy Water!”

The judge then decided, “Trapinch is unable to battle!”

Kenny groaned as he returned his fainted Trapinch to its poke ball. He then looked around on his belt for another pokemon to send out. Meanwhile, Eli called over Gastrodon and started whispering to it. “Okay, Kenny’s gonna choose Floatzel because of the rain. I want you to prepare a Mud Bomb attack for when it comes out so we can move first, all right?” Gastrodon nodded in approval as it started lifting up some mud from the ground and forming it into a compact ball.

However, Kenny decided to pull another gold poke ball from his belt. He then threw this ball into the air and shouted, “Gyarados, destroy!” Out of the poke ball flew a massive red serpent that roared in the air. The crowd stared in awe at the massive shiny Gyarados before them.

Gastrodon, expecting a Floatzel to come out of the poke ball, threw its ball of mud straight at the Gyarados. However, the Mud Bomb simply splatted on the ground below the flying Gyarados. Its eyes filled with fury, Gyarados glared down at the cowering Gastrodon beneath it.

“Oh, poop,” Eli said flatly.

“All right, Gyarados, use Dragon Rage!”

“Gastrodon, try Muddy Water!”

Before Gastrodon could even think of shooting any water from its mouth, Gyarados slapped the poor pokemon with its enormous tail, sending the sea slug flying through the air and landing on its back. The crowd winced at the attack. Gastrodon made no attempt to move after that.

“Gastrodon is unable to battle!” the judge called out.

Eli withdrew Gastrodon. “Well, I know I’m going to lose, but I won’t go down without a fight!” Eli then pulled his only other poke ball off his belt. “Do your best, Quilava!” He tossed out the poke ball and Quilava emerged onto the field with a burst of light. Quilava didn’t seem to be enjoying the rain caused by Gastrodon.

“Come on, Quilava, hang in there! Use Flame Charge!”

“Gyarados, use Bite!”

Gyarados continued thrashing around the same way it did before. It did a back flip in the air and swung its massive tail down on the ground, narrowly missing Quilava. Quilava then started charging forward, its body covered in scorching flames. It jumped up in the air and hit Gyarados’s body, doing very little damage. Gyarados simply scoffed at the attack. Quilava, however, returned to Eli running at much faster speed than before.

“Quilava, use Swift!”

“Come on, Gyarados, Bite!”

Quilava moved first this time. It started forming balls of energy in its hands, forming them into star shapes. It then threw these stars straight at Gyarados, barely even making it flinch. Gyarados obeyed orders this time and flung itself toward Quilava, clamping down on the pokemon’s body with its sharp fangs. Quilava squealed in fear as it tried wriggling out of Gyarados’s grasp, but failed. Gyarados whipped Quilava around in its mouth a few times before throwing it to the ground in front of Eli.

“Quilava is unable to battle!” the judge called out. “Kenji is the winner of the match!”

The dejected Eli withdrew his Quilava. “You won fair and square,” Eli conceded. “Good luck on the final battle.” The nurse came back and healed Kenny’s pokemon as usual.

Eli walked off the battlefield, leaving Kenny by himself as the crowd continued to cheer. Not a moment later, Dan stepped up to the stage near the field and walked up to the microphone. “Wow, what a fantastic performance!” he boomed. “We’re nearing the end of the tournament and the end of the Pokemon Festival this year. Only two contestants remain in the tournament, and the final round is about to begin! Let’s all give it up for Kenji, who was able to advance this far in the tournament!” The audience started cheering raucously for Kenny, who basked in the glory of his fame. “And the other competitor who has made it to the final round of the tournament is none other than the town gym leader and local celebrity, Ferris!” The crowd cheered even louder once Ferris walked up to the other end of the field. The audience promptly grew silent, waiting patiently for the battle to commence.

“So, Kenny,” Ferris called out, “I see you’ve made it this far in the tournament. I suppose you plan on getting that gym badge?”

“Sure do!” Kenny shouted enthusiastically.

Ferris chuckled. “Well, I don’t give up my badge that easily. I’m going all-out on you, understand? I plan to win this tournament, even if it means you have to miss out on your gym badge. Are you ready to fight?”

The judge stepped forward holding his flags. “Kenji and Ferris will be competing for the final round of the tournament!”

Ferris took a poke ball out of his shirt pocket. He elegantly threw this ball into the air, shouting, “Metang, I choose you!” With a flash of light, an unfamiliar blue pokemon had its feet planted in the ground before Ferris. Its body seemed to be made of metal. It had two long arms extending from either side of its flat body. Kenny immediately took out his pokedex to research this strange beast.

“Metang, the iron claw pokemon. Its brain is composed of two Beldum that are magnetically linked. It packs incredible force with the metal claws on its arms, allowing it to tear up sheet metal with ease.”

“Hmm,” Kenny thought, “I’ve got the perfect thing for you. Go, Trapinch!” Kenny then took out his gold poke ball and threw it into battle, revealing Trapinch, who landed on the ground and chomped the air happily.

The judge then came forward, waving his flags down and receding out of the arena. “Let the battle commence!”

“Metang, use Magnet Rise!”

“Quick, Trapinch, stop it with Sand Tomb!”

Metang started pulsing yellow, filling itself with magnetic energy. However, Trapinch started pounding the ground with its feet as fast as it possibly could. Before Metang could lift itself off the ground, a great vortex of sand opened up beneath it and dragged it in, forcing it to stay firmly on the ground. Metang didn’t seem too happy from the Sand Tomb attack.

“All right, Metang, no more fooling around. Hit it with Metal Claw!”

“Trapinch, keep using Sand Tomb!”

Metang was able to climb far enough out of the tunnel of swirling sand to swipe at Trapinch with its long, metallic claw. Trapinch was hurt by the attack, but it was able to regain its composure easily. Metang started glowing red all of a sudden.

“Hah!” shouted Ferris. “Metal Claw raised Metang’s attack. That’s perfect.”

Trapinch started stomping on the ground even harder than before. The vortex of sand spun even faster, dragging Metang back inside and throwing it around a little bit.

“Trapinch, keep doing your thing!”

“Metang, get yourself out with Take Down!”

Metang suddenly threw its whole body forward and struck Trapinch on its way out of the swirling sand. Trapinch was barely hanging on to whatever energy it had left. It feebly got back up and harshly clamped its jaws down on Metang’s body. Despite having a body made of steel, Metang seemed to react negatively to the attack. Trapinch dragged the metal pokemon in its jaws and threw it back in the Sand Tomb. Metang swirled around a little bit. Soon enough, the sands disappeared and Metang was left unconscious on the ground.

“Whoa, did my Trapinch just learn Crunch?” Kenny exclaimed. “Cool!”

“Metang is unable to battle!” came the familiar voice of the judge.

“Grr…” Ferris growled as he recalled Metang. “You still won’t win this, kid! I’ve got more pokemon!” Ferris pulled out yet another poke ball from his shirt pocket and cast it out into the battlefield. “Let’s go, Empoleon!” he shouted as the familiar figure of Empoleon emerged on the field. It brushed itself off a little bit before getting in its battle stance.

“Trapinch, use Sand Tomb again!”

“Empoleon, Aqua Jet!”

Before Trapinch could even think about stomping around on the ground again, Empoleon shot itself forward like a torpedo. Water flew out from behind as Empoleon flew forward, hitting Trapinch head-on with an impressive tackle. The weakened Trapinch could no longer hold on. It fell back to the ground on its head and couldn’t get up.

“Trapinch is unable to battle!”

Ferris grinned as Trapinch was withdrawn. Kenny knew the perfect pokemon to take on Empoleon, however, so he grasped for a poke ball on his belt. He then heaved the ball with all his might and called out, “Rotom, I choose you!” Rotom’s small electric body appeared on the field in front of Kenny, eyeing its opponent. Empoleon looked uncomfortable against the electric-type pokemon.

“Now, Rotom, use Thunderbolt on it!”

Just as Rotom started building up energy, Ferris called out, “Okay, Empoleon, switch out!” Kenny watched in shock as Ferris withdrew his pokemon and quickly swapped it for another poke ball. “Go, Excadrill!” he yelled as he threw out the other poke ball, revealing a mole-like pokemon with metal claws on its hands and head.

Confused, Rotom simply let out all its pent up electricity on the foe. However, the enemy’s Excadrill took no ill effects from the attacks whatsoever. It didn’t even budge an inch from the attack. Once Rotom was finished, Excadrill simply smiled evilly. Kenny took out his pokedex to examine this newfound pokemon.

“Excadrill, the subterrene pokemon. The metal sections on its claws and head form together to make a drill. This pokemon spins rapidly while holding the three together to rapidly dig underground.”

“Hmm…” Kenny thought out loud. “I don’t know if Rotom has any moves that will help against this one. Nonetheless, I have to try.” Kenny then shouted, “Rotom, try Shadow Ball!”

“Excadrill, Hone Claws!”

Rotom started forming a ball of dark energy in front of it. Meanwhile, Excadrill was swiping its metal claws in the air, which were visibly becoming sharper. It then took on a red aura that indicated its attack power was rising. Just then, Rotom fired off its Shadow Ball attack. Excadrill crossed its arms in a defensive pose, causing the shadow ball to hit it and knock back the pokemon a little. The shadow ball then dissipated into the air.

“Rotom, keep hitting it with Shadow Ball!”

“Excadrill, Rock Slide!”

Rotom built up another ghostly ball of energy and shot it off. The ball struck Excadrill as it was running forward, carrying a few rocks in its hands. It barely even noticed the attack. It started to throw a bunch of rocks in the air, all of which fell right down on top of Rotom’s body, crushing it on the ground. Rotom was feebly able to get back up and push through the pile of rocks covering it.

“All right, Excadrill, Rock Slide again!”

“Rotom, keep using Shadow Ball!”

Rotom was weak from the powerful rock-type attack, but it started building up a ball of dark energy in front of it anyway. However, its attack was too slow and Excadrill had already started throwing rocks in the air. A shower of stones fell down on Rotom, pinning it on the ground, unable to get back up.

“Rotom is unable to battle!”

“Crapsicle!” Kenny exclaimed in exasperation. He returned Rotom and looked around on his belt for another poke ball. “All right, Primeape, you’re my last hope! Destroy this fool!” Kenny took the poke ball and flung it toward the battlefield, and Primeape emerged from the ball. It furiously looked over at Excadrill.

“Excadrill, Drill Run!”

“Primeape, grab it with Seismic Toss!”

Primeape patiently waited as Excadrill put its metal claws up to its head, forming a drill shape. The pokemon then started spinning around rapidly and flying toward Primeape at high speed. Right before it hit the opponent, Primeape grabbed Excadrill right by the drill and used its forward momentum to fling it around in a large circle. Primeape then let go, causing Excadrill to fly off far into the distance. The entire audience followed Excadrill with their eyes as it sailed through the air for a while and eventually landed far away from the field, causing an audible crash. The crowd winced at the poor Excadrill as it landed. Ferris looked at his pokemon in terror as it refused to move any more, just lying still on the ground.

“Excadrill is unable to battle!”

Ferris calmly took out his poke ball and returned Excadrill from the great distance away, pulling it back inside the ball. “Oh, dear, this doesn’t look very good for us, does it?” Ferris observed. “Oh well, Empoleon, I guess it’s up to you. Don't disappoint me!” Ferris threw his last remaining poke ball into battle, revealing his Empoleon once more.

“All right, Primeape, Karate Chop!”

“Empoleon, Aqua Jet!”

Primeape was just about to start charging forward when Empoleon shot itself forward with a burst of water behind it. Empoleon threw its body through the air and charged straight for Primeape. It struck Primeape with its three horns, hurting it a little, but Primeape was quickly able to recover. Primeape took the opportunity to land a crushing chop right on Empoleon’s body, throwing it back to its side of the field.

“Now, Empoleon, Surf!”

“Primeape, finish it off with Cross Chop!”

Primeape ran forward furiously. Meanwhile, Empoleon started building up a gigantic wave of water behind it from seemingly nowhere. However, before the wave could crash down on Primeape, the ape pokemon jumped in the air and crossed its arms, slamming Empoleon with two outstretched paws. Empoleon flew back on the ground and its wave of water crashed back down on it. Empoleon could no longer move.

“Empoleon is unable to battle!” the judge called out. “Kenji is the winner of the tournament!”

Ferris was taken by utter shock at the sight of his fainted Empoleon. Kenny simply looked proud as the roaring of the crowd and the flashes of cameras flooded him. Primeape came up and gave Kenny a bone-crushing hug, which he graciously accepted. Ferris dejectedly recalled his fainted Empoleon and walked up to Kenny.

“You were amazing, Kenny,” he said in a somewhat annoyed tone. “I still can’t believe I lost to you… Anyway, the league rules state that I have to give you a badge now. So take it! It’s yours.” Ferris pulled a silver, metallic badge out of his pocket and held it out to Kenny. It had a jagged, spiky design on it. “This is the Ferrum Badge. I hope you enjoy it. And here are some for your friends, too. I don’t really feel like battling any more.” Ferris handed Kenny two more badges and walked off without saying another word. Kenny almost felt bad for publicly humiliating the gym leader, but graciously accepted his prizes.

Soon after, Dan came walking up to Kenny with his wireless microphone. “Wow, that was an incredible finale to our tournament, don’t you think?” The crowd erupted in cheer once more. “Since Kenny is our winner, he receives the cash prize. Take it, Kenny, it’s yours!” Dan pulled a large wad of cash out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Kenny, who accepted it greedily. “In addition, our champion gets a very special gold crown!” Dan took out a realistic golden crown and placed it upon Kenny’s head. “I hope all of you had a fantastic time at the Pokemon Festival, and don’t forget that it’s coming back next year! Goodbye everyone!” Dan patted Kenny on the back and the crowd started heading out of the park. Eli ran up to Kenny from the sidelines.

“That was incredible!” Eli commented. He then took Kenny’s crown off his head. “Hey,” he remarked, feeling the crown in his hands, “This crown is made of plastic! What a cheapskate!”

“Yeah, whatever,” Kenny responded, “But at least I won! And hey, we all got gym badges for that battle! Check it out!” Kenny held out the three Ferrum badges in his hand.

“Sweet,” Eli said, taking his badge. “I wonder where Clair has been this whole time.”

As if in response, Clair pushed her way through the receding crowd and walked up to the duo. “Pretty impressive, Kenny. You beat the gym leader, and all those other fools. You even beat Peach Cake. Man, I should have entered the tournament too so I could beat you and get those badges for you.” Clair then took one of the Ferrum badges out of Kenny’s hand. “Speaking of, I think this belongs to me.”

“You seriously think you can beat me?” Kenny scoffed incredulously. “Come on, Eli only beat me once, and that was so long ago. You couldn’t possibly win against me.”

“Oh yeah?” Clair shouted angrily, “You want to settle this right now?”

“No, of course not,” Kenny retorted. “Let’s save that battle for later, okay? I’ve already done my fair share today.”

Before anybody could say another word, there was a loud, piercing explosion that rumbled the entire city. Civilians were screaming and running on the streets. Kenny looked around frantically and saw a black helicopter hovering above a skyscraper. A man holding a megaphone was barely visible standing on the helicopter.

“Citizens of Monopolis,” the man boomed, “This building is being taken over! Do not enter the building, or there will be severe consequences!” The man got back on the helicopter and landed on the roof of the building. Kenny could have sworn for a second that the voice sounded familiar, but he discarded the thought immediately.

“I bet anything that I know who’s trying to take over that building,” Kenny sighed in exasperation. “I wonder what building that is anyway?”

Kenny was about to take out his map when Clair explained, “That’s the Silph Co. building, I believe.”

“Silph Co.?” Eli inquired. “I thought they were set up in Kanto.”

“They have branches in other locations,” explained Clair. “One of their locations is set up right here in Monopolis.”

“Well, I guess we should go check it out, what do you say?” Kenny asked.

“I don’t know,” Eli said cautiously, “Those people could be dangerous.”

“Come on, Eli!” Kenny shouted, “How many criminal syndicates do you know in this region?”

Eli didn’t even have to think before responding, “Just one… Team Nova.”

“Exactly. And just from past experience, is Team Nova dangerous?”

“…No…”

“Then let’s get going already!” Kenny turned toward the Silph Co. building and started hiking, followed closely by Clair and Eli.

 

[Treecko's Awesomeness]

Awesomeness. Pure awesomeness. I actually turned on the Miror B music while reading the fight! I loved the battles, and can't wait to see how Kenny, Clair, and Eli handle the invasion of Silph co. Those people really know how to get invaded by an evil team. I was disappointed at the number of typos, however. It's just this chapter, but if you continue to have trouble, you might want to find a beta reader. Anyway, I liked it as always!

-TA

 

[Gelatino95]

Awesomeness. Pure awesomeness. I actually turned on the Miror B music while reading the fight! I loved the battles, and can't wait to see how Kenny, Clair, and Eli handle the invasion of Silph co. Those people really know how to get invaded by an evil team. I was disappointed at the number of typos, however. It's just this chapter, but if you continue to have trouble, you might want to find a beta reader. Anyway, I liked it as always!

-TA

Yeah, as for the spelling errors, Microsoft Word found a ton of errors due to pokemon's names not being in the dictionary. So there were so many red lines, it just sort of gave up and stopped showing mistakes. I'll proofread it right now and check for mistakes.

And I'm glad you like that chapter, seemed like it took forever to write. Next chapter is in the works and should be up tomorrow.

(By the way, I accept no credit for the music idea. Missingno. Master had the idea first. Even had the same music.)

EDIT: I'm done proofreading. All spelling errors should be fixed, as well as unnecessary repetition.

 

[Gelatino95]

Edited the OP with updated character teams, including known moves.

 

[Gelatino95]

I made sure to proofread this chapter before posting. There should be no spelling errors at all.

Chapter XXV: Silph Co. Shakeover

Kenny, Eli, and Clair walked up to the front of the building. It was a well-decorated, bright blue skyscraper with glass walls. A strange “S” symbol was displayed above the door. The gigantic building seemed to stretch on forever into the sky, and it made Kenny dizzy just looking up at it for too long. Everybody had evacuated the area around the building, so the street was deserted.

“Well,” Kenny decided, “Let’s go in.”

The front glass door to the building was completely unlocked, so the trio marched right into the building. Inside, there was a great big lobby that probably took up the entire floor. In the middle, there was a lower area with an indoor fountain in the middle adorned by a revolving silver “S” symbol identical to the one outside. There was a desk in one corner of the room, but nobody was behind it. The only people in the room were standing guard by the door to the elevator in another corner of the room. The guards were wearing the trademark Team Nova black uniforms with black trench coats.

“Hey!” one of the guards shouted from across the room, “Where do you think you’re going? Didn’t you hear the guy on the roof with the megaphone? Get lost!”

“I should have known it would be you Team Nova jerks,” Kenny sighed. “Now, are you going to get out of our way or do I have to make you?”

One of the grunts stepped forward. “I’ve had about enough of you, kid. I was informed to show no mercy to anybody who entered this building, so if you don’t get out RIGHT NOW, my pokemon will show you the way!” The grunt reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out a poke ball. “Last chance.”

“Heck no,” Kenny replied. “I can take you on.”

“All right, then. Probopass, destroy them!” The grunt threw the ball forward and it opened up with a burst of light, revealing a massive stone pokemon floating above the floor. It seemed to be a massive blue stone head with a proportionally huge nose and a bushy, metallic mustache underneath. Two beady eyes stared straight at Kenny. He felt a vibration in his pocket, so he dug out his pokedex and listened to what it had to say about this strange pokemon.

“Probopass, the compass pokemon. It uses a powerful magnetic field to control three separate parts of its body called ‘Mini-noses’. It uses these to attack from different directions.”

“Oh, God, that thing is hideous!” Kenny called out. “Do us all a favor and take it back!” At that comment, Probopass let out a small tear from one of its eyes.

“Kenny!” Clair cried, grasping his arm. “That’s not nice…”

The Team Nova grunt was furious. “Nobody insults MY Probopass!” he hissed in utter rage. “Probopass, hit ‘em with your EARTH POWER!”

“Wait, I haven’t taken out my pokemon!” complained Kenny. He was quick to realize, however, that the attack was being directed at him as the ground below him started to well up and glow red. Thinking fast, Kenny took out a gold poke ball and sent it out. “Gyarados, save us!” he called as the massive red serpent emerged. The trio immediately grabbed onto Gyarados’s body and were inadvertently lifted up in the air, allowing them to avoid a shower of lava and superheated rocks flying out of the ground.

“Dude!” Kenny shouted once the attack ended and he jumped back on the ground, “Are you trying to KILL us?”

“Yes.”

Kenny was about to give Gyarados a command, but Eli stepped in front of him quickly. “Don’t worry, Kenny,” Eli reassured him, “I got this.” Eli then took Hoothoot off his shoulder and gently placed it on the ground in front of him. “Hoothoot, use Mirror Move!”

Hoothoot squawked into the air maliciously as the ground beneath Probopass started turning red. Suddenly, it exploded right underneath the pokemon, spraying Probopass with lava and rocks. Probopass had an expression of terror as it was struck by this explosion. Once the ground turned back to normal, Probopass fell on its side. The mini-noses which were originally floating beside Probopass clattered on the ground.

“Why, you…” the grunt growled when his pokemon fainted, “I can’t believe you! My poor Probopass… You’ll be sorry!” The grunt returned his pokemon and stormed out of the Silph Co. building through the front door. The other grunt standing by the elevator shrugged and followed his companion out the entrance.

“But… but…” stuttered Kenny incredulously, “That Hoothoot is just a baby! How could it take out a strong pokemon like Probopass in one hit?”

Eli lifted Hoothoot back onto his shoulder. “Remember, Kenny. Mirror Move uses the opponent’s move against it. Besides, Probopass has a severe ground-type weakness. Now come on, let’s go check out that elevator.”

The group walked over to the elevator door. It was just a red door with an “Up” button on a panel next to it. Above them, a display showed the countless number of floors that the building had.

“Well,” Kenny mused, “if that guy was just on the roof, then chances are, he’s on the top floor, right? Let’s go check it out.” Kenny tried pressing his finger on the “Up” button, causing the elevator doors to slide open almost immediately. Inside, there was a green carpeted floor and plastic paneling on the walls. The three of them stepped in the elevator and the door quickly closed behind them. Inside, annoying elevator music filled everyone’s ears. Kenny searched the enormous list of buttons for the highest one and immediately pushed it. With that, the destination floor’s number appeared on a screen and the elevator ascended.

After about a minute of foot-tapping and whistling, the lights in the elevator went off and the trio was left in complete darkness.

“Oh, poop,” Kenny’s voice said. “I think the power’s out or something.”

Clair commented, “They probably found out we were coming and cut the power.”

Within a second or two, the entire elevator was filled with disorganized bickering voices.

“Hey, stop bumping me!”

“I didn’t bump you!”

“Yes you did!”

“Actually, that was me. Sorry.”

“Don’t touch me again! You’re disgusting!”

“Oh, I’m disgusting?”

“Yeah!”

“Oh, shut up, will you?”

Kenny then spoke up. “Guys! Guys! We’re never going to get out of here unless we do something about it.” The elevator grew silent. “Now, I have a plan.” Kenny reached down at his pants in the dark, fumbling around to find the right poke ball. Kenny then pulled a ball off his belt and pressed the button on the front. “Rotom, come on out!”

A blinding flash of light came as an invisible pokemon emerged somewhere in the elevator. “Rotom?” Kenny called, searching for his pokemon.

“EEEEEEEEEK!” Clair screamed in pain. “SOMETHING’S BITING MY LEG! GET IT OFF!”

“Oops,” Kenny meekly replied. “That must have been Trapinch. Probably afraid of the dark. Trapinch, return.” Kenny held out the poke ball and Trapinch was withdrawn back to its ball. Kenny reached for his belt and pulled off another poke ball. “Okay, Rotom, let’s do it this time!”

This time, when Kenny opened up the poke ball, a faint light illuminated the room as the glowing figure of Rotom floated silently in the air. “Good. All right, Rotom, do you think you can energize this elevator?” Rotom nodded in response and started floating down to the panel of buttons and melted through. Without warning, the lights in the elevator turned on, this time glowing orange instead of white. The speakers that originally played elevator music started blaring out heavy metal in everyone’s ears. The button for the top floor lit up as the elevator began ascending much faster than before. Everyone had to hang on tight to the support rails conveniently mounted on the wall as the Rotom-powered elevator sped up faster and faster. Suddenly, the entire elevator slid to a quick halt. Everyone was flung off the floor with great force. The doors then flung open and a brief fanfare sounded from the speakers. Everyone immediately stepped out the doors. Once everyone was out, Rotom emerged from the elevator happily.

“All right, great work, Rotom,” Kenny praised. He then returned the proud Rotom to its poke ball.

Eli was wavering around uneasily. “I think I’m gonna be sick…” he moaned.

“Don’t you DARE throw up on me, Peach Cake,” Clair warned.

Kenny looked out into the great hall that stretched forward before him. Way at the end of the hall, there was a door. “Hey, guys, stop wasting time! Let’s go check it out.” Kenny immediately started marching down the hall. The doors on each side of the hall were relatively nondescript, but once he approached closer, he saw that the door on the end of the hall was adorned with a great golden plaque that read, “Manager’s Office”. Kenny immediately waked up and pushed open the door, which was surprisingly enough unlocked.

The trio stepped into the room. It was a relatively small office space with a great big mahogany desk directly opposite the door. The desk was cluttered with papers and a closed laptop. On the opposite side of the room, a great big pane of glass stretched across the entire wall, revealing a magnificent view of the city below. There was a tall swivel chair on the other side of the desk that was turned toward the window. From the reflection in the window, Kenny could see someone sitting in the chair. He couldn’t make out the man’s face, but he saw the man twiddling his fingers on his lap.

“Hey, Oberon!” Kenny called. “Is that you?”

A great big flash of white light flooded the entire room. Just as quickly, however, the light dissipated. Once everybody’s eyes had adjusted, they saw another man standing next to the mahogany desk. He wore a black pinstripe jacket with a purple button-down shirt underneath and a red and white bowtie. Next to him stood an Alakazam, who had a bandage over its forehead.

“Somebody called me?” smiled Oberon from his side of the room. Suddenly, the swivel chair turned around, revealing the man sitting in it to everybody. It was the bald man that Kenny fought and lost to way back at Goldport city, long ago in his journey. The man smiled maliciously as he pounded his fist into his hands menacingly. “Oh, dear,” Oberon said calmly, “I’m terribly sorry to interrupt. You two can go ahead and finish your meeting. I’ll be waiting outside.” There was another brief flash of white light as Oberon and Alakazam teleported out of the room.

“I remember you kids,” the bald man said in his usual deep voice. “Except I don’t remember the girl. Why don’t we settle the score right now and get it over with?” The bald man stood up and kicked the mahogany desk, sliding it over to the edge of the room. He then took a poke ball out of his black trench coat pocket.

Kenny was about to pull out a poke ball of his own when Clair touched his shoulder. “Kenny,” she said, “You’ve already done your fair share today, remember? I want to take this guy on myself.” Clair stepped forward and pulled out a poke ball of her own.

“Aww, the wittle girl wants to pway?” the bald man taunted. “I’m not going easy on you just ‘cause you’re a girl!”

“Good,” Clair retorted.

The bald man threw the poke ball in his hand straight into the room. He shouted, “Gabite, destroy!” A tall, dark blue and red pokemon that seemed to have jet turbines on each side of its head emerged from the ball. Clair’s pokedex vibrated at the sight of this new pokemon, so she took it out and listened.

“Gabite, the cave pokemon. They constantly dig to expand their nest. Sometimes, they dig up rare gems while building their nest. Because of this, thieves often target them.”

“A Dragon type?” Clair thought. “This is too easy.” Clair pulled out a great ball and threw it up in the air. “Lunatone, I choose you!” With a burst of light, the floating moon rock emerged into the air and floated in place.

“Gabite, use Dragon Claw!”

“Lunatone, Ice Beam!”

Gabite rushed across the floor with ninja-like swiftness. It jumped up toward Lunatone, its claws glowing red and blue. It raked its glowing claws against Lunatone, causing some discomfort, but Lunatone recovered instantly. It started scanning the target carefully. It slowly opened its beak and followed Gabite’s movements. Finally, Lunatone launched a frigid ray of energy straight at Gabite, freezing it solid in an instant. The frozen Gabite simply stood there with a look of shock. It fell to the ground like a statue and the ice coating its body shattered, leaving the pokemon defeated in one hit.

“What the…” the bald man gasped.

Clair smiled. “Is that all you’ve got? Come on!”

The bald man growled with fury and pulled out another poke ball after returning his Gabite. He threw the ball in the air and yelled, “Cacturne, show her who’s boss!” Out of the ball came a green, humanoid pokemon covered in darker green spikes and wearing a strange hat. Clair’s pokedex immediately started shaking, so she took it out.

“Cacturne, the scarecrow pokemon. It remains motionless during the day. At night, however, it will silently pursue prey in a group until the prey becomes exhausted.”

Clair thought out her plan. “All right, Lunatone, you know the drill. Ice Beam again!”

“Cacturne, hurry up and use Sandstorm!”

Lunatone took careful aim at Cacturne. However, before it could execute the Ice Beam attack, sand started streaming out of Cacturne’s body and flying around the room with great force. Everybody had to shield their eyes from the swirling sand that filled every corner of the room. Lunatone was finding it hard to see in the lowered visibility caused by the sandstorm. It shot its Ice Beam, but the attack missed completely and made a small chunk of ice on the floor.

“Cacturne, use your Needle Arm!”

“Lunatone, keep trying with Ice Beam!”

Lunatone frantically looked around the room for its target. It felt a sharp pain behind it as it was knocked far forward. Cacturne had come up behind it and flung its sharp needle-covered arm right in Lunatone’s back, sending it flying. Lunatone, however, regained its composure almost instantly and shot a frigid beam straight at Cacturne, which was now standing very close. Cacturne’s body was turned light blue and coated in a smooth layer of ice. Cacturne fell to the ground, frozen solid. Once it struck the ground with its brittle body, one of its arms cracked off. Cacturne got back up on its feet, but fainted at the sight of its arm sitting on the ground.

“Oh my God!” the bald man yelled in exasperation. “It’s gonna take months for that arm to grow back! I guess I better finish this thing off quick.” The bald man took back his Cacturne and pulled out another poke ball from his belt. He flung the ball out into the room, shouting, “Krookodile, I choose you!”

The familiar form of Krookodile emerged onto the ground, snapping its jaws in the air. Kenny took on a confused look when he saw the pokemon. The Krookodile saw Kenny and waved to him. “Hey, I had a Krookodile just like that!”

The bald man chortled loudly. “Hah! That’s because this is your Krookodile! One of our grunts went undercover and traded you for it, then gave it to me! Now that I have one of your pokemon, I’ll be unbeatable!”

“That’s just mean!” Kenny protested. “I never would have traded it away if I knew you were getting it!”

“Don’t worry, Kenny,” Clair reassured, “Krookodile is weak to Ice Beam. My Lunatone can take it out easily.”

“Don’t count on it!” the bald man shouted back. “Krookodile, use Crunch!”

Lunatone opened up its beak and charged a sub-zero beam attack at the enemy Krookodile. However, before it could launch the beam, Krookodile ran up to it at full speed and chomped down on Lunatone’s body with immense force. Despite having a body made of solid rock, Lunatone was severely damaged by the attack. In a state of panic, Lunatone released its Ice Beam attack at nothing in particular. Krookodile swung Lunatone around in its mouth, causing the Ice Beam to freeze everything in sight. Krookodile finally let go of Lunatone, flinging it in the air. Lunatone floated in the air for a second, but then its eyes went black and it fell to the floor like the stone that it is.

“Hah! What did I tell you?” the bald man announced proudly. Clair reluctantly withdrew her fainted Lunatone and reached down for another poke ball.

“Let’s go, Jigglypuff!” Clair shouted when she threw the poke ball in the air. Out came Jigglypuff, who was still wearing its red and white hat.

“Seriously?” the bald man taunted. “I don’t care what kind of pink, cuddly pokemon you use, I’m still not going easy on you. Krookodile, use Bulldoze!”

“Jigglypuff, quickly, Sing!”

Krookodile ran up to Jigglypuff and was about to start pounding on the ground. However, Jigglypuff started singing its soothing song and Krookodile stopped to listen. At the sound of Jigglypuff’s voice, everybody in the room, including Hoothoot on Eli’s shoulder, put their hands over their ears. However, the bald man didn’t know this procedure. He started growing drowsy and tumbled over on the floor, snoring loudly. By this time, Krookodile had done the same thing. Jigglypuff giggled at the sight of the sleeping opponents.

“Clair,” Kenny whispered, “He’s asleep. Why don’t we just throw him out the window or something?”

“What? No!” protested Clair. “What’s your problem? Our only choice is to beat him, otherwise they’ll just stay in the Silph Co. building. Now, Jigglypuff, use Rollout!”

At Clair’s order, Jigglypuff started spinning in place on the ground. It spun faster and faster until it was sparkling and glowing. Finally, Jigglypuff flew straight at the Krookodile while spinning rapidly. It hit Krookodile directly, but it didn’t seem to be damaged by the attack very much. Jigglypuff circled around the room, rolling even faster, and struck Krookodile again. The pokemon was still asleep.

Just then, the bald man woke up to the sight of Jigglypuff ramming into the sleeping Krookodile once more. “Hey, Krookodile!” he shouted, “Get up! That thing’s attacking you!”

Krookodile woke up to the sound of its trainer’s voice. It looked around groggily, only to be met by a smack in the face by the rolling Jigglypuff. By now, Jigglypuff was rolling at blinding speeds. Krookodile barely even had time to get up before it was struck once more with enough force to knock it back, despite the unfavorable type matchup. Jigglypuff kept circling around the room. However, this time when it approached, it flew straight into Krookodile’s gaping jaws. Krookodile picked up Jigglypuff as it rolled and swung it around in its mouth. It then let go of Jigglypuff, who deflated like a balloon.

“Jigglypuff, return!” Clair sadly said as she withdrew Jigglypuff to its poke ball. “All right, then, this calls for strategy. Mantyke, let’s go!” Clair took another ball off her belt and flung it, revealing her recently-caught Mantyke floating in the air with its optimistic smile.

“Mantyke, use Bubblebeam!”

“Krookodile, Crunch!”

Krookodile started running toward Mantyke as quickly as it could. However, Mantyke started blowing a shower of bubbles out of its mouth at high speed. Krookodile was somewhat impeded by the bubbles popping all around it, but it still managed to run forward. It was about to clamp its massive jaws down on the little Mantyke’s body, but Mantyke swiftly flew above Krookodile’s reach. Krookodile tried jumping up in the air to catch the high-flying Mantyke, but it couldn’t reach and simply gave up.

“Now, Mantyke! Try Bubblebeam again!”

“Krookodile, keep using Crunch!”

Krookodile ran up to Mantyke again and tried chomping at it. However, Mantyke narrowly avoided the attack and started launching a ton of bubbles through the air with great force. Krookodile was completely surrounded by popping bubbles spraying water in its face. Finally, Krookodile couldn’t take any more. Once all the bubbles were gone, it slowly fell onto the floor, shaking the entire building beneath it.

“What the…” the bald man gasped. “How the heck did I lose with one of your pokemon???”

“Well, in my defense, I never actually used the Krookodile,” Kenny explained.

The bald man returned Krookodile and looked at the trio maliciously. “You’ll be sorry for this, punks!” he growled through bared teeth. “One day, I will destroy you, and I don’t care if my boss tells me to or not!” The bald man pushed through the group and stormed out the door.

The room then grew silent, except for a banging sound that could be heard coming from somewhere in the room. Kenny looked around and saw that there was another door in this office. A door was situated on one of the side walls in the room. A banging sound kept coming from that door, like someone kicking it.

“Whoa, let’s go check that out,” Kenny suggested. He then strode over to the door and turned open the lock. He opened the door to see a man wearing a brown coat and hat. He had duct tape over his mouth and his hands and feet were tied together. “Oh God,” Kenny said as he ripped off the duct tape covering the man’s mouth.

“AHHHH!” the man screamed when the tape was taken off. Kenny saw that there was a bunch of hair stuck to the tape. “Oh God, couldn’t you take that tape off slower? That mustache is going to take forever to grow back!”

“Sorry,” Kenny apologized sheepishly. “Who are you?”

“I’m the Silph Co. manager!” he said in a low voice. “Now, would you please untie my arms and legs?”

Kenny bent down and started untying the rope on the man’s arms. However, the knot was too tight and he couldn’t get it undone. “Don’t worry, Kenny,” Eli said from behind. “I’ve got this. Quilava, come on out!” Eli took out Quilava’s poke ball and sent out his pokemon. “Quilava, burn off that rope!”

“Wait! Wait!” the manager pleaded. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”

“Yeah, Eli, just stand back,” Kenny suggested. He then took off a poke ball of his own. “Floatzel, help us out!” he said as Floatzel emerged from its poke ball. “Floatzel, bite off this rope, will you?”

The manager felt the warm, wet breath of Floatzel on his hands as the pokemon gnawed off the rope. Floatzel then got to work on the man’s feet. When he was free, the manager got up and stretched. “Well, I suppose I owe you thanks for getting those thugs out of my building and freeing me.”

“Aw, pssh,” the trio said modestly in unison.

“No, I’m serious,” the manager affirmed. He walked over to his desk which was cast aside in the battle and opened up a door, pulling out a poke ball. “This ball,” he explained, “Contains a very rare pokemon. Since you guys are trainers, I think you could make better use of it than I could. Here you go.” He handed the ball to Kenny, who accepted it graciously.

“All right, let’s see what’s in here!” Kenny said as he pressed the button on the front of his new poke ball. The ball opened up and gave a bright flash of light. Out of the ball came an oddly-shaped green pokemon that seemed to be surrounded in green jelly. Kenny took out his pokedex to examine this odd new pokemon.

“Duosion, the mitosis pokemon. It has two brains, so it often tries to take two courses of action at once. When the two brains are thinking in unison, it becomes much more powerful.”

“Whoa, cool!” Kenny exclaimed. “A psychic type!”

“That’s right, bub,” came a voice from nowhere in particular.

“What was that?” Kenny asked.

“I didn’t say anything,” Eli responded.

“Me neither,” confirmed Clair.

“That was me, dimwit!” came the voice again. Kenny looked at Duosion with a look of surprise. Duosion winked at him.

“Wow, you can talk!?” Kenny exclaimed happily.

“I didn’t hear anything!” Eli said.

“Me neither,” Clair agreed once again.

Duosion turned its head toward Clair. “You hear me now, pretty girl?” it said to her.

“Wow, you can talk!” she agreed. “And you think I’m pretty!”

“I said no such thing!” Eli argued defensively.

Duosion looked Eli in the eye. “You got to calm down, weirdo.”

“Oh my God,” Eli affirmed, “Are you using telepathy?”

“Totes,” the Duosion replied.

“That’s awesome!” Kenny ecstatically said. “I always wanted to know what it’s like to talk to pokemon.”

“Well, now you know,” Duosion said gruffly. “Now, can we get out of here? This room is ugly and a mess. And I’m hungry. When do we get something to eat?”

“Jeez, what a whiner,” Kenny complained. “Well, thanks again mister manager. I think it’s about time for us to head out.”

“All right, then, good luck on your journey,” the manager said. He then looked around at his office, which was completely cluttered and covered in water, sand, and ice. “I guess I’ll have to call in a cleaning crew to get all this mess up.”

The trio, followed by Duosion floating through the air, left the Silph Co. building. A crowd of civilians was waiting outside, expectantly waiting to hear the news. Kenny quickly realized this.

“Uh…” Kenny thought, “We got rid of the bad guys. You can use this building if you want.”

The crowd erupted in cheer at the group. Confetti and balloons flew in the air as the crowd jumped for joy, many of them rushing into the Silph Co. building immediately. “Oh, man,” Duosion complained, covered in glitter, “All this stupid confetti is getting in my cytoplasm. Let’s get out of here and find something to eat already. I’m starving.” At the conceited commands of the irritating Duosion, the group walked through the streets of Monopolis looking for some type of eating establishment.

 

[Treecko's Awesomeness]

Great chapter! Kenny, how dare you hurt the poor probopass's feelings? I loved it when trapinch bit Clair's leg, and when lunatone kept spamming ice beam. I honestly have no complaints for this chapter! Keep up the good work!

-TA

 

[Gelatino95]

Glad you liked it, and I can assure you that Kenny's hatred for Probopass will return. Without further adieu, here's the next chapter.

Chapter XXVI: Little Lord Fauntleroy

Duosion floated along with the rest of the group, chomping a burrito which was floating around in its cytoplasm. “Man, this is good,” Duosion commented between bites. “We might not make such a bad team after all.”

“Yeah, as long as we don’t stop shoveling food into your mouth,” retorted Kenny.

“Hey, what can I do? I’m a pokemon. I have to eat sometimes.” Duosion continued stuffing its face.

As the group was walking away from the Silph Co. building after their great victory against Team Nova, they saw an oddly dressed man standing in the middle of the street, looking up at the towering skyscraper. It was a man wearing a black fedora and a dark purple jacket, with a black cape billowing behind him. He wasn’t too much older than the trio, probably in his early twenties. This man saw the group approach and walked up to them. “I saw what you did in there,” the man told the group. “You guys were very brave, standing up to that man.”

“Excuse me, but who are you?” Kenny asked immediately. “You dress like you’re a member of Team Nova. And that wasn’t a compliment.”

“Oh dear, pardon my manners,” the man continued. “My name is Fauntleroy. I travel the Fushi region a lot, and I happen to have seen you quite a few times along the way. I never found the time to introduce myself until now.”

“You were following us?” Clair said in surprise. “Wow, what a weirdo.”

“I’ll say,” Duosion chimed in, its mouth full.

“Well, at least we finally get to meet,” Fauntleroy smiled.

Just then, however, a man came walking up the street to the group. He was wearing a black jacket with a red tie underneath. He had a short goatee and mustache. On each side of him were men dressed in the standard Team Nova grunt uniform.

“Well, well, well, what do you know? It’s the Kenny brigade once again! What a pleasure to run into you again!” Kenny immediately recognized this man as Sir James the Third, who worked for Team Nova.

Before Kenny could say anything, Duosion whispered, “You might want to consider the Kenny Brigade as a name for the group. Maybe the Duosion Brigade if you’re feeling generous.”

“Get lost, jerk!” Kenny shouted, ignoring Duosion’s suggestion . “We’re just trying to make conversation!”

“Ah, James, is it?” Fauntleroy said calmly, ignoring Kenny’s rude interjection.

“That’s Sir James the Third to you, pretty boy!” James hissed.

Fauntleroy continued. “I suppose you remember me, don’t you? Of course, everybody in Team Nova remembers me. The name’s Fauntleroy. Look it up.”

“Fauntleroy!” James shouted. “You are very high on the Team Nova threat list! Not quite as high as Kenny and his friends, but still very high! Oh, dear, I suppose we’ll have to take care of all of you. Men! At arms!” At James’s order, both of the Nova grunts beside him pulled out a poke ball from their trench coat pockets. James pulled out a poke ball of his own as well. “Come on, take out your pokemon! I dare you!”

Fauntleroy yawned and started taunting sarcastically. “Oh, dear,” he said, “Do I really have to fight you? I’m much too scared. Oh, well, I may as well at least try.” Fauntleroy reached in the pocket of his shirt and pulled out a black poke ball with green circles around it.

“Hmm,” James grunted. He threw his poke ball in the air and shouted, “Gallade, let’s go!”

The two other grunts then threw their own poke balls. “Go, Mightyena!”

“Venomoth, I choose you!”

Three unfamiliar pokemon appeared in front of the group at this point. The one standing in front of James looked somewhat like his Kirlia from the previous battle, except with no hair-like protrusions from its head, and its arms had long blades at the elbows which resembled swords. In front of a grunt, there was a big black and gray canine pokemon with yellow eyes. The other grunt had a big purple moth with big, beady eyes. All at once, Kenny, Eli, and Clair felt their pants rumble. They each took out their pokedexes and looked up the new pokemon.

“Gallade, the blade pokemon. It is very protective and will defend people with all its might. They use the blades on the ends of their arms like swords in battle.”

“Mightyena, the bite pokemon. It trusts trainers which recognize is superior ability in battle. It intimidates the foe before attacking with sharp, vicious fangs.”

“Venomoth, the poison moth pokemon. Its wings are covered with fine poisonous scales, which create toxic clouds of dust when this pokemon flaps its wings.”

“Oh, please,” Fauntleroy scoffed at the pokemon choices of the opponents. Kenny was about to run up and battle alongside Fauntleroy, but he was stopped. “Don’t worry, Kenny, I can take care of these guys myself.” He then cast the green and black poke ball in front of him. “Chandelure, let’s teach these guys a lesson, shall we?” Out of the ball came another unfamiliar pokemon, this one being primarily black and purple. It had two blank yellow eyes on the front of its face. On each side, elegant arms that resembled parts of a chandelier waved in the air, each one adorned with purple flames. There was a large flame coming out the top of its head.

Kenny’s pokedex started to speak again. “Chandelure, the luring pokemon. It burns up the spirits of its foes using the mysterious flame that burns inside it. It lures foes with its glowing flames.”

“That looks super cool,” Kenny commented. Just then, Fauntleroy gave a command to his pokemon.

“Chandelure, use Heat Wave, please.”

All the other battlers began to give their orders. However, before they were heard, Chandelure pointed the top of its head straight at the three enemy pokemon. It started shooting out an intensely hot wind out, causing the air around it to crackle with heat. The three enemy pokemon burst into flames immediately upon coming into contact with the wind. They couldn’t bear the attack and they all fell straight to the ground, their bodies singed all over.

“What is this?” James spat angrily. “My pokemon didn’t even get to make a move!”

“Well, do you have any more?” Fauntleroy tauntingly asked.

James looked over at his cohorts. They each shrugged sheepishly, indicating that they were out of pokemon. “Oh, you two are worthless,” he exclaimed. “I suppose I have to take care of this menace myself.” After returning his fainted Gallade, James took out one more poke ball. He threw it and yelled, “Go, Shuckle!” The familiar form of Shuckle emerged on the battlefield before them, hiding most of its body inside its shell at the sight of the powerful Chandelure.

“Shuckle, show him your Rock Slide attack!”

Fauntleroy yawned once more. “Chandelure, Heat Wave again.”

Before Shuckle could even make a move, Chandelure started blasting out super hot wind from its head straight at the opponent. Shuckle tucked its body inside its shell before the attack hit. However, as Shuckle was enveloped by the red-hot air, it started to glow red and a distinct sizzling noise could be heard inside. Once Chandelure finally stopped the attack, Shuckle’s head emerged, completely blackened. It then slumped over, knocked out by the attack.

“Why, you… you son of a Stoutland!” James shouted in utter rage. “You’ll pay for messing with Team Nova! You’ll all pay! Come on, chaps, let’s get out of here.” James and the other grunts with him started running back down the road. Fauntleroy rubbed his shirt with pride as he returned his Chandelure.

“Jeez,” Duosion commented, “For someone who dresses like a gentleman, that guy sure is a hothead.” Everybody nodded in agreement.

“Wow, that Chandelure is freaking strong,” Kenny observed.

“Yeah, well, I train my pokemon a lot,” Fauntleroy beamed modestly. “It’s what I do. I’m on a journey, just like you guys. And hey, guess what? I’ve got something to help you guys out on your own journey.” Fauntleroy then procured a blue labeled disk from his pocket and handed it to Kenny, who accepted it curiously. “It’s a Hidden Machine. They’re like Technical Machines, except better and more important. That one contains Surf. Not only is it a very powerful move in battle, but it will help your pokemon move across water with ease. Even those that can’t normally swim, but only if they are compatible with the HM.”

“Even my Gastrodon?” Eli inquired curiously. “It’s not really the best swimmer…”

“Yeah, sure,” Fauntleroy confirmed. “Pretty much all water types can learn it. I hope you find it useful. Well, I really have to get going on my journey. See you guys.” Fauntleroy then walked off down the street without saying another word.

“Man, what a creepozoid,” sighed Kenny when Fauntleroy was out of hearing range. “Who is that guy anyway? Has he been following us this whole time? He’s probably a spy that works for Team Nova.”

Clair observed, “But then why would he destroy those Team Nova members?”

Kenny thought. “…Good point.”

“Come on, guys,” Eli said, “Let’s try out that Surf HM we just got.”

“Good idea!” Kenny exclaimed. “Why don’t we go to that beach we were practicing at before?”

“Definitely,” Clair replied. “While we’re there, we can go out to the ocean and find Coraline Town. I’m fairly sure that there’s a gym there.”

“A town in the middle of the ocean?” Kenny thought out loud. “Sounds like Pacifidlog town. I never really liked that place. Every time you want to go across some logs, your shoes get filled with water.”

“Well, I’ve been to Coraline town,” Clair continued. “The ground is all rocky and dry, so you should be fine.”

“Awesomeness!” Kenny replied. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

~~~~

The trio finished walking through the forested path to the east that led out of Monopolis city and went straight to the ocean. Once again, the group was met with the fascinating sight of the glistening sea that stretched out an impossible distance ahead. “I hate water,” Duosion complained. “It gets stuck in my cytoplasm and it’s really annoying. Same with sand. That’s why I hate the beach.”

“Oh, shut up already,” Kenny griped. “You’re been running your mouth nonstop ever since we got you.”

Duosion responded, “Well, don’t any of your other pokemon talk?”

“No!” Kenny replied. “They’re all quiet and never say anything, like you should be!”

“Or,” Duosion continued, “Maybe you just never listen to what your pokemon have to say. Did you ever think of that?”

“Please,” Kenny pleaded. “Stop talking already or I’ll put you in a poke ball so we don’t have to hear you.”

“Oh, God no!” Duosion shouted. “Poke balls are so small and uncomfortable. The walls are all hard and there’s no room to relax. Maybe you could consider getting me a luxury ball, and then maybe I’ll stop talking so much.”

“That’s not such a bad idea,” Kenny retorted. By now, they had arrived at a long boardwalk that extended out into the ocean. “Well, let’s teach our pokemon Surf and see if it works.”

Kenny took off a poke ball on his belt and pressed the button, causing his Floatzel to appear on the boardwalk. It looked up at him curiously as Kenny pulled the blue disk labeled, “Surf” out of his backpack. He then took the disk and pressed it to Floatzel’s forehead. White light energy started flowing into Floatzel. Suddenly, the flowing stop and Kenny pulled the disk off of Floatzel’s head. Floatzel, filled with energy, jumped off the pier and dove face-first into the ocean with a splash. It started swimming even more nimbly than before.

“Well, I think it worked on Floatzel,” Kenny observed. “He could already swim pretty well, but I guess now he can swim farther distances while holding me. All right, who’s next?”

Kenny handed the disk off to Eli, who took Gastrodon out of its poke ball. Eli repeated the same procedure on Gastrodon, causing it to learn Surf. Gastrodon then slithered across the pier on its belly and climbed over the edge, splashing down in the water below. Somehow, it was able to keep its heavy body afloat as it stayed at the water’s surface, ready for Eli to climb on.

Clair did the same exact thing to her Mantyke. It excitedly flew into the ocean below and splashed down. It floated at the surface, waiting for its trainer to climb on.

“Hey,” Clair giggled at the sight of her energetic pokemon, “I think it worked.”

“Only one way to find out!” Kenny jumped off the pier without hesitation and landed right on top of his Floatzel, sitting at the surface. Floatzel seemed to suffer no ill effects from its heavy trainer jumping on its back. Floatzel was able to keep its back above the water, keeping Kenny dry as it speedily flew through the ocean at surprising speeds. Kenny whooped and yelled as if he were in a rodeo as Floatzel swam around. “Guys, you got to try this!” he called out. “This is AWESOME!”

Eli hesitantly climbed over to the edge of the boardwalk. He slowly sat down and hung his feet over the edge. He gradually started to climb down, holding on to the edge with his hands while the rest of his body hung directly above his Gastrodon, reluctant to get down. “Oh, live a little, Peach Cake!” Clair said impatiently as she stomped on Eli’s hands. He suddenly tumbled down and landed safely on Gastrodon’s back. Once he righted himself, Gastrodon rode through the water at a gentle speed. Eli smiled slightly as he floated around.

“All right, Mantyke,” Clair giggled as she pushed her body over the edge. She landed on Mantyke’s small body, which was surprisingly able to hold her up. She held on to Mantyke’s antennae like handles as Mantyke gracefully glided across the water’s surface.

Duosion floated down to the water along with everyone else. “You better not splash any water in my cytoplasm. Ocean water is filled with Magikarp pee, you know.”

“Oh, grow up!” shouted Clair as she sped forward on her Mantyke, way off to the south in the ocean. The others assumed she knew where she was going, so they all followed. Kenny flew along on his Floatzel and Eli glided forward on his Gastrodon as Duosion floated through the air close behind, all of them heading for Coraline town way off in the remote ocean.

 

[Treecko's Awesomeness]

I love it! Duosion has a really well written personality so far, and I'm interested as to what role Fauntleroy will play in this. Oh, and you can fix the problem with the pokemon names on Microsoft word by just adding one to the dictionary every time you use it. That's what I do, anyway. I'm really excited to see what happens next!

-TA

 

[Gelatino95]

Yeah, that's what I've been doing with the pokemon names so far. I'm glad you like Duosion, he's one of my favorite characters so far.

I just started PMD Explorers of Time and I'm really into it (got Cyndaquil as my character and Bulbasaur as my partner) so I don't know if I'll have a chapter up tomorrow, but I'll try my best.

 

[The Oncoming Storm]

Read the first couple of chapters and I have to say that I like that you have created your own region. I also like the way he started out in the enemies HQ. I look forward to reading the rest of this.