TO BE A TRUE MASTER - THE JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME!
Part 22 - Everyone Has To Have A Rival, Right? (Continued)
At the last second, in a streak of light Wartortle sprang into the air, hovering for a few seconds.
"High Jump Kick, Wartortle!" Jeffrey called smoothly, then grinned at me. In a shining ball of light, Wartortle crashed into Blastoise. Painfully slowly, Blastoise crashed to the ground, then withdrew into his shell, fainted.
"Bulbasaur, go!"
Bulbasaur trotted out to the battle. Ninetales and Arcanine sadly pushed Blastoise back to rest beside a still snoring Pidgeot.
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur growled, and stiffened. Before anyone could say anything, though Jessie, James and Lark were valiantly trying to wake up Pidgeot, something unexpected occured. Bulbasaur evolved. Right on the spot, he started sweating and straining. The next moment, he had undergone a successful evolution into Ivysaur.
Unlike many trainers who would have spent the battle rejoicing at the evolution, I kicked into fighting mode instantly. "Ivysaur, Stun Spore!"
Jeffrey's Wartortle was caught off guard, as it was still staring stupidly. Though he tried to escape the attack by hiding inside his shell, Ivysaur aimed a stream of the powder into his shell, paralyzing him.
"Wartortle!" Jeffrey moaned. "Up!"
Obediently, yet slowly, Wartortle came out of his shell. "Now, rage!"
"Waaaar! Wartorte tortle!!"
Wartortle began hopping up and down and all around like a maniac, building up his fury and power.
"Ivysaur, prepare to defend yourself with Vine Whip!" I ordered. No sooner had I said the words then the angry Wartortle turned and lit into Ivysaur, not affected by the Stun Spore anymore. Sickening punching sounds resounded up and down the beach, and Ivysaur flew into the air.
"Ivysaur!" Ivysaur yelped as he hit the ground, then rolled over and faced down the now-charging Wartortle. It was at that point that Ivysaur gained the advantage in the battle. Fifteen vines exploded from his bulb, then started slapping and punching Wartortle mercilessly, throwing his to the ground several times. Totally dedcated to the fight, Wartortle jumped back up and threw a unch at Ivysaur.
The plant type swung out of the way, caught Wartortle with all his vines, and threw him into the air. Without my order, Ivysaur began to absorb sunlight, learning his new SolarBeam Attack. Just as Blastoise had fired his Hydro Cannon at Poliwrath, so ivysaur let loose a blaze of golden energy at Wartortle in the air.
Wartortle skidded to the sand several seconds later, quivering inside his shell.
In a skilled way, Jeffrey recalled Wartortle and tossed out a sharp-looking Golduck in one move.
"Golduck, Psychic attack now!"
"Ivy-" I began, but never finished. Golduck held his temples for a moment, and glowed dark red. Ivysaur was mysteriously blasted off the ground and towards me as if by a rocket.
"Ivysaaaaaur!" Both me and Ivysaur yelled. Without thinking, I snapped out my arm, and Ivysaur hit it. We both were thrown into the air, where we flew for several seconds, before skidding to the ground, Ivysaur resting on my arm, groaning.
Coughing, I croaked "Go.... Go Ninetales!"
As Ninetales pranced out to take his fighting place, Lark and James helped me up, while Jessie took Ivysaur over to lay beside Blastoise and Pidgeot.
After finally restoring air to my lungs, I thought over tactics while Golduck and Ninetales faced each other down.
'Jeff here seems to be a master of the unexpected. His Squirtle's a fighter, when he shouldn't be. His Poliwhirl knows Flamethrower. His Blastoise is his weakest. Now... Golduck's supposedly a fighter, which would be trouble for Ninetales. But... since his other ones are fighters, the true fighter probably won't be....'
"Golduck, Water Gun!" My thoughts were broken. No more time for thinking!
"Ninetales Hyper Beam!"
Golduck sent a long stream of water on a straight line towards Ninetales.
"Niiiiiiiine!!" Ninetales squealed, and stood up on its hind legs. When the water hit him, he was kicking his paws in the air, mocking Golduck by faking pain.
In reality completely unaffected, Ninetales astounded the crowd when he smirked and swept a Hyper Beam across the shocked Golduck. The fastest battle yet. The Hyper Beam was incredibly effective against Golduck, detonating on impact. Fire and crackling energy surrounded Golduck in a perfect ball, and no noise could penetrate the explosion.
Quacking in its own language, Golduck stumbled from the destruction and collapsed, jerking, to the sand in front of Jeffrey.
Ninetales glorified in the maddening clapping and cheering, yelling and hooting from the Cinnabar natives. Ninetales was, by nature, a vain animal, and he suddenly forgot he was still in a battle, and began trotting around, accepting pats and attention from his instant fans.
Jeffrey snickered at me and quietly released his last pokemon. Squirtle. That genetic freak pokemon of his.
"NINETALES!" I screamed. Too late. Ninetales was unexpectedly hit from the side by a hard Take Down from his unseen attacker. People cleared out of the way as Ninetales skidded back across the sand. Ninetales staggered up, weaving slightly, and was hit again by a Skull bash. That was all it took. Two hits. Ninetales slowly collapsed to his front feet, then slumped to the sand.
Everyone looked to Arcanine. With a low snarl, he padded out to stand ten feet from the leering Squirtle.
Jeffrey and I both called out our orders together. "Mega Punch, Squirtle!"
"Agility Arcanine!"
This was the deciding factor of the battle, out last pokemon. For some reason, this battle semed monumental to me. A real desire to actually win burned in my heart, and in Arcanine's, and Jeffrey's Squirtle.
Both pokemon sprung into action at once, and a battle of speed began. Squirtle launched himself at Arcanine, fists moving in a glowing blur. Arcanine began leaping wildly, avoiding Squirtle's hellbent advances. Squirtle threw himself at Arcanine, trying insanely to hit him. Likewise, Arcanine flashed around the battle, and Squirtle was left punching air.
"Arcanine, Body Slam!"
Arcanine whipped around and dove at Squirtle. Squirtle jumped into the air, and dropped behind his foe.
"Squirtle, Bubblebeam!"
"Arcanine, blast away those bubbles with Flamethrower!"
Squirtle opened his mouth and released a harsh cloud of dark blue bubbles.
Arcanine rushed straight through the attack with a shield of fire, and it was at that moment the he truly went into battle. I could see in his eyes the determination to win.
"Arcanine, Ember!" I yelled.
Arcanine tossed his head forward and spat out a large sphere of fire. The ball struck Squirtle and burst, sending the tiny water type rolling head over heels.
"Take Down!"
Squirtle stood up, shaking his head. It looked up, and only had time for its eyes to bulge and a loud squeal before it was thrown ten feet back by Arcanine's harsh hit.
"Flamethrower!"
Squirtle rolled over slowly and staggered to his feet. Arcanine swept a volley of connected fireballs across Squirtle, engulfing it in fire for eight seconds.
"Arcanine, finish it! Fire Spin now!" Arcanine, who was breathing hard, summoned his strength for one last blow. Squirtle popped out of his shell, looking badly hurt and confused. Arcanine roared and let out a long blast of fire. As Squirtle watched stupidly, it was surrounded by a ten foot high wall of fire. Then, the wall imploded down around Squirtle, exploding into smoke and roiling balls of heat.
The crowd was silent, even Jeffrey was for a change, as we all waited for the smoke to clear. It did, but it did so all at once. the smoke as swept away as if someone were parting it like a curtain.
"No possible way...." I whispered. Lark came up behind me, watching with fascination as well. Jeffrey smirked.
Squirtle was floating about five feet over the ground, in a pink bubble, with eyes closed and arms crossed over its face. As we all watched, Squirtle's eyes opened. Arcanine gave a pitiful whimper and stepped back slightly.
The silence was broken by none other than Jeffrey Silph. "Psychic bubble attack now, Squirtle!"
Squirtle's arms parted wide, and from his shell came dozens of blood red bubbles. The first one hit Arcanine, and he yelped and jumped back. Then they all popped against him, causing howls of pain from the mighty fire wolf.
Still in his protective bubble and still hovering, Squirtle darted around the pained wolf, awaiting orders.
"Surf attack now, Squirtle!"
People scattered quickly as a wall of water built up in the sea. Arcanine growled and stood proudly on his hind legs in front of it. The wave lifted from the sea and poured down onto Arcanine, taking him from my sight instantly.
"ARCANINE, NOOO!" I cried, running out to him. Just as the water cleared and I saw Arcanine, wet but proud, something strange happened. A sudden, painful pressure engulfed my body, then I was lifted into the air, a strange purple aura shimmering around me. I looked up, and saw Squirtle glaring at me with red eyes.
"Aaa, aaaaeeeeahhh," I gasped as my lungs constricted. Then, just as suddenly as it had happened, the psychic attack halted, and I was thrown back at a fast speed. James howled as I slammed into him, and we both tumbled across the beach. Jessie and Lark helped us up quickly, but I noticed Lark muttering something in Jeffrey's direction.
Freeing myself from the hard grips of Lark and James, I staggered back over to the battle zone, where Arcanine was watching me, looking worried.
"Hyper Beam!" I growled sternly. Arcanine nodded and turned to face Squirtle.
"Let's show him a real Hyper Beam, Squirtle!" Jeffrye called out, renewing his confident smirk as he watched me.
Squirtle dropped softly to the ground, where he instantly started powering up. Arcanine did the same, tensing up and straining as he accumulated vast amounts of power.
Jeffrey and I watched too, sweating as we watched our pokemon preparing their most powerful attacks.
Arcanine started snarling, and looked up at where Squirtle was looking exhausted.
A ball of golden energy appeared in Arcanine's open mouth, crackling and popping. Squirtle held an identical sphere in his paws. Suddenly, the two balls let out a jagged string, which crashed into each other between Arcanien and Squirtle. The Hyper Beam vines tangled together for a moment. Then both pokemon released everything they had.
Arcanine was engulfed in yellow light as he pumped out his Hyper Beam. Squirtle disappeared as he too released his.
The balls impacted each other in the center of the beach, and exploded. People screamed as the air filled with flying sand, blowing air, and a gradually growing ball of electricity which expanded from where the two Hyper Beams had struck. The last I saw of Arcanine, he had been hit by a monstrous white beam. Then sand swirled around me, and I was forced to turn away.
Later that night, in my hotel room, all my pokemon were let out of their pokeballs for a well-deserved rest. Pidgeot had finally woken up, and was receiving all the details of the battle from Blastoise's distorted view. The water giant had spent the battle cowering inside his shell after a heavy kick from an unevolved form of himself. Raichu and Ivysaur were having a wrestling match which the latter appeared to be winning. Ninetales was (proudly even) sleeping at the foot of my bed. Nobody was fooled. The vain animal was watching the rest of the pokemon and contemplating whether or not to compromise his dignity and have some fun.
Arcanine was laying beside me, bending the bed down as he kept dropping a paw down on the mattress, chasing a bug. I did him a favor and snapped a magazine out, ending the bug's terrified flight.
Arcanine looked up at me with an expression saying 'That was MY kill!'. I grinned and rubbed his head, ruining his beautiful mane. "You put up a great fight today, Arcanine," I said genuinely.
He shrugged modestly and layed his head on his paws. "But don't blame yourself. Squirtle's a water type, therefore has a natural advantage over you, no matter the attack." I was lying through my teeth, and we both knew it.
We had, in fact lost the battle. Sorta. When the Hyper Beam attacks had cleared, Arcanine collapsed in near critical exhaustion, and Jeffrey's Squirtle was standing, barely. Two seconds after we witnessed Arcanine's fall, Squirtle did the same. By the fact that Squirtle had survived longer, Jeffrey won. And he didn't let ANYONE forget it. The crowd followed Jeffrey off to the pokecenter, leaving Jessie, James, Lark, Me and my pokemon to care for our own wounds. I had a pulled muscle in my arm from catching Ivysaur, and several bruises from Squirtle's attack. After five hours in the pokecenter healing machine, my Pokemon were rejuvenated.
Ten minutes later, the time being 10:15, my friends runnign around the hotel room followed habit and curled up, popped inside their shells, folded their wings, and wrapped their tails around themselves. Arcanine remained partly awake, stretched out beside me, staring tiredly at the door.
A quiet tap at the door seemed to surprise Arcanine, as he cocked his head and gave a questioning growl.
I looked up from a 'Pokemon Watcher' Magazine and called out for the person to enter. The door opened, and Lark stepped into my dimly lit room.
"What's up?" I asked cheerfully as she picked her way across my Pokemon littered floor.
"Just couldn't sleep," she muttered, watching Arcanine. The tiger-like animal suddenly rolled over onto his back playfully, inviting Lark to pet him. She did, rubbing his stomach like a dog. Arcanine growled contentedly.
"Umm, can I sit down?" Lark asked nervously after a minute of this.
"Sure. Arcanine, move over," I said flippantly. The big tiger head snapped over and looked at me in mortification.
With a frustrated growl, and a suspicious glare at Lark, Arcanine hopped off the bed. "Nice shirt," I commented as Lark crawled up to sit next to me. She leaned back against the pillows beside me, then grinned.
"Jack...." She whispered, looking up at me with those incredible blue-green eyes again "Do you think I'm a bad trainer?"
I scoffed out loud at the very idea. "Aww, heck no, Lark, where'd you get that idea?"
She suddenly got very interested in her fingernails and muttered quietly. "Well... I lost that battle with Jeffrey-"
I quickly interrupted her. "Lark, everyone loses battles. I lost to the Pewter Gym Leader, but I just went right back to him, and won! Moping around feeling sorry for yourself never does ANYONE good, except the competition."
She looked up, her eyes sad. "I didn't just lose, I stank! I hardly even got in one hit against his first pokemon! You Knocked out all of his pokemon with one each!"
"But Lark, you train fire pokemon-" I ventured feebly, but she interrupted as well.
"Jack! Three of my five pokemon have the advantage over water types!"
"Well... Okay, I'll put it this way. You are a good trainer, Lark. It's just that Jeffrey's better. Everybody HAS to meet someone that's better than them, but at the same time, there're plenty of people they're better than. You're a good trainer, it's just that you've finally met someone better than you."
She seemed to look a little more hopeful, so I continued. "Don't forget your day in Celadon City," I lured her. She broke into a grin.
"Thanks," she said quietly, then, unexpectedly, she moved over and hugged me. Naturally, I turned bright red, but she didn't notice this, since our heads were opposite ways.
"By the way," she said, releasing me after a minute, "I didn't come in here cause I couldn't sleep, I came over because my room is infested with bugs."
I broke into laughter. "So that speech I gave was for nothing?"
She gave me a small, unsure smile. "Well, it was kinda nice."
"Really?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah, it made you sound kinda like the actual 'smart leader'"
"You mean I don't sound smart any other time?"
"Well, yeah, but only about pokemon, never about... Other things." She suddenly seemed a little nervous as she knelt in front of me. Really close in front of me.
"What other things?" I demanded, hardly noticing her inching closer to me.
Oh," she began, and her hand somehow found its way to my shoulder. "Stuff like..." Realization blossomed as she leaned forward, her head slightly turned sideways. "This...." Her lips were half an inch from mine, when we were interrupted.
"Rrrrrr...." We both turned, with Lark's hands still on my shoulders. Arcanine's head was resting on the bottom of the bed, glaring at us both, but more at Lark. I also noticed Blastoise watching interestedly, and Raichu and Ivysaur looking on with childlike curiosity.
Lark choked out a laugh at Arcanine's expression, and a moment later I joined in. Arcanine didn't think it so funny, and bounded up onto the bed, looking back and forth between us with a suspicious look. Then, he dropped down in front of us, watching closely. He had his sleeping post for the night. Our laughter died down as Raichu hopped up too, curling up beside Arcanine. Ivysaur followed, laying down beside his comrades. Pidgeot chirped tiredly and rested himself on my side of the bed. Ninetales stretched out, then dropped down on Lark's side.
I chuckled as all the pokemon watched us, some with amusement, some with mild interest, and others (if you know what I mean) with outright suspicion.
"Well, if you can find a place to sleep on this pokemon invaded bed, you can stay," I said to Lark. She looked at Arcanine, then gave me a mischievous grin.
"I have found a place," she said, making sure Arcanine could hear her. Then, she just curled up against me, and layed her head on my shoulder. "Just follow my lead," she whispered.
I grinned and stretched out an arm, wrapping it around her shoulders possessively. We both smiled at a now fuming Arcanine. We fell asleep playing our little joke on my pokemon, but, personally.... I rather enjoyed it. I doubted Lark wanted to move anytime soon either. Involuntarily, before she fell asleep, she gave a little sigh of contentment, and relaxed fully into me.