Oddball: Rise of Power
Did you know that once upon a time, there was a Pichu? His name was Oddball. Unlike other Pichus, he wielded power far beyond that of mortals…
Oddball ran through the sparkling halls of the Crystal Palace, scurrying as fast as his little legs could take him. Which is adequately zippy, but still not all that fast in the end. I mean come on; the guy's only got 60 base speed. Anyway, he zipped through the suspiciously-empty corridors and hallways of the massive palace until coming across a strange door. Of course, like any protagonist of a story based on video games, he instantly tried opening it, and found himself in the back courtyard of the palace. Unfortunately, not much out there…save for a small dome-shaped building and a small hill with the mouth of a cave on the front.
Oddball sighed, his curiosity lessened somewhat by the surprisingly boring backyard. He wandered into the cave in the hill anyway, silently cursing himself for being stupid enough to wander into a dark cave behind a big empty palace.
As it turned out, the cave was surprisingly safe considering how much one would assume there to be horrifying monsters or at least a couple sharp crystals to walk into. The cave descended down for a long while, down a roughly-carved stairwell. Oddball took the long trip down as a chance to reflect a bit on what he was doing.
Why am I here exactly?, he thought. Honestly, there wasn't much reason. He had simply been running through the frosty countryside when he had seen the palace.
What am I doing here?, he thought. That was easy, actually. He had seen the large, important-looking palace, and had instantly run towards it, his curiosity piqued.
Why was I so curious about this place?, he thought. Well, that would have been because he thought he might find something here that he really needed. Like, really REALLY needed.
What do I need? What am I looking for?, he asked himself. The answer to that was quite simple indeed.
Oddball the Pichu wanted power. Not the evil, corrupt-y kind, that turns you into a mad man, but more like the kind you get when you finally find that enchanted sword that can slay demons. You know, the good kind of power. Oddball liked to think he had a pretty good reason to want it, too.
So anyway, Oddball finally reached the bottom of the cave. He stepped out onto the flat ground, glad to be able to stand up straight again and not need to hunch in order to balance himself. He looked around, and was surprised to find that he could, indeed, look around. The long trip down the staircase had been in pitch darkness, but he was shocked to find that somehow, this bottom-most part of the cave was lit! The ground was solid icy crystal, and slightly reflective. The walls were dark blue and covered in jagged stalactites and stalagmites. And last but definitely not least, he looked up and saw that the ceiling was in fact a thick sheet of translucent crystal, going straight up to the surface where the sun shone down, lighting the cavern through the thick layer of icy crystal.
But perhaps the most striking thing about the underground cavern was the figure sitting in the middle of it, facing away from Oddball. It resembled a classic bedsheet ghost, with red feet, and a messy mop of blonde hair atop its head.
Oddball finally realized that a soft tune was playing throughout the cave. A slow, calm tune that made him feel both pleasantly chilly and cozy and warm at the same time. He looked back at the strange figure sitting away from him. He could see it holding something in its sleeve-like arms. Was it playing a flute or something…?
Cautiously, he approached the creature from behind. When he was finally right behind the thing, and it still hadn't noticed his presence, he spoke up.
"Hey!" he said, causing the figure to jump and the music to abruptly stop. "You gonna sit there fliddling your flute all day, or are you gonna get up and do something important? Like notice when a random vermin sneaks up behind you!"
The figure stood up, and turned to Oddball. His face was unfriendly looking. He had a large U-shaped unibrow with one extra brow sticking up from the middle of it, dark, cold eyes that seemed to pierce Oddball's very soul, and a crooked, jagged, zig-zagging mouth that looked like he had spent his entire life eating incredible sour hard candies. He spoke in a mildly deep, hissy, and commanding voice, with a hint of annoyance.
"Well lookee what we have here." he said. His mouth curved upward slightly at the side, forming a sick smirk. "A Pichu wanders into the Crystal Palace meditation cave, and has the gall to sneak up on and startle a duplighost mid-meditation. The Commander duplighost no less." he said. If Oddball was scared, which he really most sincerely was, he didn't show it.
"Yeah, man! We Pichus aren't all cuteness and adorability, y'know! Just cause I'm small doesn't mean I'm a doormat!" Oddball said, hopping up and down defiantly in front of the 'Duplighost'.
"So it would seem." the duplighost said, crossing his arms. He added, in a bored tone. "You know, usually I would have had you thrown in the dungeon and maybe dismembered by now…"
Oddball gulped.
"…but luckily for you, I'm actually incredibly bored right now. I've been left alone in the Crystal Palace for a short while, and meditation has never been my thing." he said. He sat back down, studying Oddball. "So as long as you're here, why don't you help alleviate by boredom? We can have a friendly battle. You, versus my entire Pokémon team. Sound fair?" Oddball wavered slightly, but despite that, remained steadfast and stubbornly confident.
"I'll take you on any day!" said Oddball.
"So be it."
The duplighost pulled out his first pokéball. He raised it high about his head and said:
"Go, Tentadoop!"
He threw the pokéball out towards Oddball. It opened, and out shot a blinding light that quickly took the form of a strange being, resembling a mix of a jellyfish and a squid, with a blue body and red dome-like protrusions on its head.
Oddball scoffed. "A Tentacruel? I could defeat 30 Tentacruels with my hands tied behind my back!" He said, squatting down as if preparing to pounce.
"Maybe. I think you'll find that this Tentacruel is a little stronger than what you might be used to. Tentadoop, use Barrier—"
"Thunderbolt!" Oddball cried. He jumped in the air and a jagged bolt of lightning shot out of him, hitting Tentadoop head on. The jelly convulsed, before collapsing on the ground.
"-Huh?" The duplighost's jaw dropped. Had Tentadoop really been downed in one attack by a Pichu?
"Yeah, see, I told ya! 30 Tentacruels. Hands tied. Behind my back." Oddball said, crossing his arms triumphantly and standing on the collapsed squid. It took a moment for the Duplighost to regain his composure.
"Heh… No matter. He was far from my strongest. Let's see how you fare against this! Go, Rose!—"
The poor Roserade never even had a chance. The moment the pokéball opened, releasing the humanoid plant creature with bouquets for hands, Oddball jumped in the air again and somehow summoned a terrible Thunder strike down from the sky, instantly knocking the plant thing down.
"…Urk ." Was all the duplighost could manage. He cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably. "Well, that's still only two out of six. I better pull out my electric type if I want to match your firepower." He said, holding up another pokéball, while also calling Rose and Tentadoop back to their own pokeballs. "Go Rotom." He said, throwing the new one out. There was a flash of light, and a bizarre, ghostly, thingy, emerged from within the ball.
"What the heck is that?" Oddball wondered aloud. The new arrival, "Rotom", as the duplighost had called it, was no taller than Oddball himself, but had little to no body. Rotom had only a head, with two staring eyes and a tiny smile. The rest of its being consisted of a spire atop its head, a small ball-shaped protrusion on the bottom, and an aura of plasma-like energy that formed a protective shell, as well as what might have been either arms, rotors, or wings. Or all three.
"Use Shadow Ball!" The duplighost cried. The Rotom drew its arms back, charging a dark purple ball of pure darkness, and launched it at Oddball. Oddball jumped out of the way just in time.
"Thunderbolt!" He shouted, shooting out a jolt of lightning at Rotom. To his dismay, when the attack hit, all Rotom seemed to do was shiver slightly in discomfort.
"Hahaha!" The duplighost laughed. "Your electric attacks won't be very effective on Rotom, I'm afraid! He's an electric type, just like you!" He looked down at Rotom. "Ominous Wind." he said.
Rotom floated higher off the ground and held its arms above its head. Dark energy swirled around it, forming a mini-cocoon of purple energy. Then Rotom thrust its arms forward, and the energy spread out, forming a large wall of dark energy, that crashed into Oddball. Oddball cried out in pain, and was sent flying backwards.
"T-Thunder!" He managed to stutter out just before the attack finished. He lifted his arms to the heavens, and a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, hitting Rotom dead on. Rotom held him arms up reflexively, and visibly took damage. But not much.
"That isn't gonna be enough, Pichu. Rotom, why don't we show this mousey how it's done? Thunder!" the duplighost commanded.
Rotom curled its arms up, charging electric energy. It raised its arms skyward, and a terrible lightning strike tore down, hitting Oddball dead on. Oddball almost collapsed, but he managed to hold on, and he sent another bolt of Thunder back at Rotom.
This time, the attack managed to do something. The thunder crashed down with much more force than it had before, and Rotom didn't have time to brace himself for it.
A critical hit!
And Rotom collapsed on the floor.
"Curses!" the duplighost snarled, calling Rotom back to its pokéball. "Stupid lucky crits.". He reached down and pulled out another pokeball. "This one should be able to finish you off. Go Blaze!" He said, throwing the pokeball out. There was a flash of light (again), and a large monkey wreathed in flame emerged from the tiny ball.
"Use Close Combat, Blaze." The duplighost commanded.
And before Oddball had time to react, the ape was upon him, pummeling his body from every angle with a flurry of powerful punches. Oddball cried out in pain as probably a couple of his ribs cracked and maybe a femur or two as well. The attack ended, the ape retreated, and Oddball collapsed on the ground, thoroughly beaten.
Music for your listening pleasure:
Prelude - Wandering the Crystal Palace: Snow Wood Boarding House (Earthbound)
Challenged! Trainer Dooplex: Rival Encounter (Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen)
Battle! Trainer Dooplex: Trainer Battle (Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum)
Chapter 1 of this thing. Kuh-raaaaazy.
