by Martial Arts Master
Pokemon and all related characters copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc., Satoshi Tajiri, 4Kids, TV Tokyo, and Wizards Of The Coast. Ash is my favorite Pokemon character, but just for a change of pace, this fic stars Falkner, the Violet City gym leader. Poke Actor makes a cameo in this fic, with his permission. Now that I've said that, you can read the story now.
***
Falkner was in his gym, training his Pokemon.
His Pokemon were HootHoot, Dodrio, and Pidgeot. He was having them do flying drills, and he'd studied up on their attacks.
He knew full well that though he was very tough, he was in fact the easiest gym leader to beat.
He realized that this was because he didn't know enough of his Pokemon's attacks.
Well, that had changed.
Now that he'd studied, he knew that HootHoot, for example, had all sorts of interesting attacks besides Tackle and Peck.
Falkner now knew HootHoot had skills like Hypnosis and Dream Eater, which were excellent skills.
He also knew now that Dodrio could learn skills like Swift, the 100% accurate attack, and Pursuit, the attack that did double damage if the opponent tried to switch Pokemon.
As for Pidgeot, Falkner hadn't learned too much about Pidgeot that he hadn't known already, but he did learn of a move almost nobody knew Pidgeot even had: Mirror Move.
Mirror Move was the move that could copy the last move used on Pidgeot.
At a glance, Mirror Move was usually judged to be useless, since most, but not all, types of attacks weren't very effective against their own types of Pokemon.
But damage wasn't everything, Falkner realized.
If an opponent did something like paralyzing Pidgeot, Pidgeot could paralyze them with Mirror Move to even the odds.
Falkner's mind snapped back to the present as his Pokemon finished their drills.
"Good job, you three," he said, recalling them.
Falkner sometimes won battles, and sometimes lost.
The important thing was that he was learning.
Falkner's goal was to be the best Flying-type Pokemon trainer in the world.
Now for all he knew, he was already, but he wanted to be sure.
Suddenly the door to his gym opened, and a little boy and a man walked in.
"You must accept a challenge from my son," the man said.
"Excuse me?" Falkner asked.
"My son's name is Jarret, and he'd like to challenge you to a gym match for your Zephyr Badge," the boy's father said.
"Why can't your son speak for himself?" Falkner asked, confused.
"I'd like to battle you for a badge," Jarret said timidly.
"Well, I have no choice but to accept challenges," Falkner said.
Privately, though, Falkner was confused.
Why was the boy's father here? Almost no trainer brought his or her parents with him or her.
Nevertheless, Falkner said, "This will be a three-on-three Pokemon battle."
"I only have one Pokemon," Jarret said. "Maybe I should quit."
"HEY!" Jarret's father said sharply to him. "How dare you try to back out, you coward! A true trainer stands and fights no matter what the odds! Now apologize to Falkner for challenging him and then trying to back out!"
Falkner was about to say that the boy had been timid about challenging him in the first place, but Jarret said, "All right, I'll continue with the battle."
"Do you think your one Pokemon can beat my three Pokemon?" Falkner asked.
Jarret nodded.
Falkner's followers (Author's Note: You know, the followers from the "Fighting Flyer With Flyer" episode, the ones who kept saying "Let's go Dodrio! Let's go Dodrio!" and "Pidgeot, get up! Pidgeot, get up!") walked over to battle, eager to witness what they thought would be a victory for Falkner.
Jarret and Falkner stood on opposite ends of the gym, Jarret's father and Falkner's followers looking on.
"Go, Poke Actor!" Jarret said. (Author's Note: Poke Actor, this is your cameo. I hope you enjoy it, it's a pretty large part.)
A Larvitar came out of the Poke Ball.
"A part-Rock-type," Falkner said. "This could be a problem, considering what types all my Pokemon are. But if my Pidgeot could beat a Pikachu once, then my Pokemon should be able to overcome Rock types, too."
Falkner sent out one of his Pokemon, saying, "Go, HootHoot!"
HootHoot appeared from its Poke Ball.
"Let the battle begin!" one of Falkner's followers said.
"HootHoot, Tackle attack," Falkner said.
HootHoot rushed at Poke Actor the Larvitar, ready to tackle it.
But Poke Actor jumped over it.
"Poke Actor, Leer!" Jarret said.
Larvitar's eyes glowed yellow, leering at HootHoot, lowering HootHoot's Defense.
"HootHoot, Take Down now!" Falkner said.
HootHoot rushed at Poke Actor even faster than before, using a more powerful attack then Tackle.
But Poke Actor sidestepped the attack.
Falkner was amazed. Larvitars were supposed to be slow! In fact, a Larvitar's worst statistic was supposed to be Speed!
"HootHoot, Hypnosis!" Falkner said.
HootHoot tried to hypnotize Poke Actor.
"Poke Actor, Thrash!" Jarret said.
Poke Actor rushed at HootHoot and began punching it repeatedly.
Falkner couldn't believe it. He'd trained HootHoot well enough to be able to hypnotize a Pokemon very quickly. This Larvitar was very well trained.
"HootHoot, Peck attack!" Falkner said.
HootHoot dived at Poke Actor.
Poke Actor merely jumped over HootHoot.
HootHoot dived at Poke Actor again, but the same thing happened.
And again. And again. And again.
This is humiliating, Falkner thought. Larvitars are supposed to be slow, but my HootHoot can't even land a hit on it!
"Poke Actor, Rock Slide!" Jarret said.
Poke Actor slid at HootHoot, feet encased in rocks that had appeared out of nowhere.
HootHoot was hit, knocked into the air.
"Again!" Jarret said.
Poke Actor did another Rock Slide, this time jumping into the air and doing it downward.
HootHoot was slammed into the ground, instantly knocked unconscious.
"Poke Actor the Larvitar wins," the follower who was the referee said.
Falkner recalled HootHoot.
"You've trained Poke Actor well, but few of my opponents have beaten my next Pokemon," Falkner said.
Falkner sent out his next Pokemon, saying, "Go, Dodrio!" Dodrio appeared from the Poke Ball.
"Let the battle begin!" said the referee.
"Dodrio, Agility!" Falkner said.
Dodrio used its Agility and zipped around Poke Actor at high speeds.
"Larvitar, Bite!" Jarret said.
Poke Actor leaped into the air and, despite Dodrio's speed, successfully bit down on one of Dodrio's head.
It turned out to be the head that represented anger. (Author's Note: Remember, Dodrio's three heads each stand for something, and those three things are anger, joy, and sorrow.)
"Dodrio, Fury Attack!" Falkner said.
Dodrio repeatedly pecked at Poke Actor with each of its three heads.
But Poke Actor dodged each attack.
"Dodrio, use your Agility again! Go faster this time!" Falkner shouted.
Dodrio zipped around Poke Actor at even higher speeds.
"Poke Actor, Scary Face!" Jarret said.
Poke Actor used its Scary Face attack, reducing Dodrio's speed.
"Now, Crunch attack!" Jarret said.
Poke Actor used its Crunch to bite down hard on all three of Dodrio's head.
Dodrio screamed in pain, and then collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
"Poke Actor wins," the referee said.
Falkner couldn't believe it. He'd lost again, and Dodrio had never even landed a single hit on a Pokemon that was supposed to be slow!
It was time for the trump card.
Falkner recalled Dodrio and sent out Pidgeot.
"Let the battle begin!" said the referee.
"Pidgeot, Quick Attack, now!" Falkner said.
Pidgeot zipped at Poke Actor, but, unbelievably, even though Pidgeots were supposed to be fast and Larvitars were supposed to be slow, Poke Actor spun out of the way.
"Poke Actor, Screech!" Jarret said.
Poke Actor let out a horrible screech, and Pidgeot had to cover its ears with its wings.
"Now, Rock Slide!" Jarret said.
Poke Actor did its Rock Slide move again, slamming into Pidgeot.
Falkner was furious. Pidgeot was his prize Pokemon, and this Larvitar was ringing its bell as though it was a mere Pidgey!
"Pidgeot, Mirror Move!" Falkner shouted.
"Poke Actor, Hyper Beam!" Jarret said.
While Pidgeot was copying Poke Actor's Rock Slide, Poke Actor blasted it with a Hyper Beam.
Pidgeot screamed, and fell unconscious.
"Pidgeot is unable to battle. The victory goes to the challenger: Jarret!" the referee said.
"Yippee, I won!" Jarret said.
"You idiot!" his father snapped at him. "You're getting cocky! Never get cocky while training; it'll be your downfall! Falkner, hurry up and toss my son his badge so we can leave. I have to teach myself a lesson."
Falkner really didn't like Jarret's father's tone, but since he'd lost, he had no choice.
Falkner tossed Jarret the Zephyr Badge, Jarret recalled Poke Actor, and Jarret's father dragged Jarret out of the gym.
Falkner was extremely suspicious. What the heck was going on? Poke Actor was way too well-trained to be normal, and Jarret's father seemed a bit mean.
Falkner had a way of finding out.
Falkner turned to his followers and said, "I need to leave the gym for a bit. I need to find out what the heck is going on with that kid and his father. Something's not stirring the Kool-Aid, to quote a phrase from that movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective." (Author's Note: That movie is copyrighted by its creators.)
"But one of us will have to take over your gym," one of them protested. That one, Falkner knew, had a Fearow. In fact, besides Falkner, that follower was the only one with an evolved Pokemon.
"You can do it," Falkner said.
"All right!" the guy cheered. But then he wondered something.
"How, exactly, do you propose to find out what's going on?" that follower asked.
"I understand another one of you has a collection of disguises," Falkner replied. "Is that true?"
"Yeah, it's true," another follower spoke up. "You wanna borrow one?"
"Yes," Falkner said.
"Ok, I'll be right back," that follower said, dashing out of the gym.
Later, he returned with an old man disguise.
"Here, you can disguise yourself as an old man," the follower said. "I hope it works for you."
"It'll be perfect," Falkner said. "If this helps me find out what's going on, you can be sure you'll be rewarded for your contribution."
The follower nodded.
Falkner then turned to the follower he had chosen to be in charge while he was gone, and he said, "I temporarily hand control of my gym to you. I hope you do a good job."
That follower nodded. Falkner put on the old man disguise, and left the gym.
It didn't take long for the now-disguised Falkner to catch up to Jarret and his father; those two were about to leave Violet City.
Falkner imitated the stereotypical "old geezer" laugh.
"I was flying my personal 'Kitty Hawk' style airplane, and I saw your match," he said to Jarret's father. Then, Falkner put his plan into motion.
"So, how'd your little young 'un get his Larvitar to be so darn well-trained? You must have taught the little feller quite a lot!" the disguised Falkner continued, playing his stereotypical "old man" act to the hilt. Falkner was counting on the fact that Jarret's father would let the praise go to his head.
Falkner was right. Jarret's father smiled.
"Oh, you wouldn't believe how easy it was to mold my son into the perfect trainer," he replied. "I'm a pretty experienced trainer myself, and I decided to follow my son on his journey. Every time he makes a mistake while training, I either beat him up or scold him severely. Eventually he became so afraid of me that he never made any more mistakes while training."
"You beat your son up sometimes?" Falkner asked, horrified.
"You betcha! Oh, I know it's 'child abuse', but hey, it works," Jarret's father said.
Holy shoot, this guy doesn't seem to care about his son's feelings, Falkner thought.
Falkner angrily threw off his disguise.
"You moron! It's me, Falkner!" Falkner said. "How dare you! You may have molded Jarret into your idea of the perfect trainer, but as a person, you've crippled your son! He's terrified of you! And you don't even care!"
"Mind your own business, you nosy gym leader!" Jarret's father said.
"Why should I do that? Don't you care about your son?!" Falkner shouted.
"Of course I care about him! I molded him into the perfect trainer so he could accomplish his dream of winning the Johto League!" the father shouted back.
"What's the matter with you? You think your style of molding's gonna work? Sooner or later your son's gonna snap!" Falkner screamed. "Your son would be better off without you!"
"Well, why don't we test that little theory?" Jarret's father asked. "My son will pit his Pokemon against mine, and we'll see who triumphs."
"Fine, I'll referee!" Falkner said.
Later, father and son were facing each other.
"Go, Poke Actor!" Jarret said, sending out Poke Actor the Larvitar. (Author's Note: Poke Actor, here's your second appearance.)
"Go, Beedrill!" Jarret's father said, sending out a Beedrill.
That's when the battle began.
It was quite a battle, at that. Poke Actor and Beedrill were repeatedly dodging and attacking furiously.
The battle would be impossible to describe, except the final outcome.
The final outcome was that Poke Actor used a Hyper Beam to knock out Beedrill, and Jarret won the match.
"Yeah! I won! I won! I beat my own father!" Jarret said. Then he gave Poke Actor a hug.
The father was stunned.
"Now you have no excuse to follow your son," Falkner said. "If your son can beat even you, and if you consider yourself such a great trainer, then maybe you've done enough for your son already."
Falkner said 'done enough for' sarcastically.
"Oh, fine," the father said, angrily storming off.
"Thanks for what you've done," Jarret said.
"I was glad to do it, kid," Falkner said.
Then, Falkner turned around and went back to his gym.
On the way back, he reflected.
Jarret's father may very well have meant well for his son, but his methods were dishonorable. It was a good thing Jarret would no longer be harassed by his father.
When Falkner got back to the gym, having bought an ice cream sundae to give to the follower with the disguises, and after giving the sundae to that follower, Falkner took the gym back from the follower with the Fearow.
"Oh, by the way, Falkner, I lost a match since I only had one Pokemon, who got creamed," the follower with the Fearow said.
The End
E-mail all questions and comments to bleifer@msn.com.