Wow! It's only the second chapter and I'm already writing super long chapters. Hopefully this battle meets everyone's expectations. You'll get a glimpse of Danny's mind link ability in use! Yay!
Pop some popcorn and enjoy the battle!
Chapter 2
Danny Vs. Paul
Ash and everyone else heard Paul challenge Danny to a battle.
"Hi Paul," Ash greeted. "Do you wanna battle Danny or something?"
Paul sneered at Ash. "What, did you think I asked him to have tea with me?" he asked sarcastically. "I've waited patiently and I got my final Gym Badge like I said I would. I just want Daniel to hold up his end of the bargain and accept my challenge."
Danny gulped. He did not like this guy one bit. In fact, he scared him! Danny could feel negative vibes coming from Paul just by looking at him. He's pretty sure his friends could feel it too, especially Sam.
"Fine!" said Sam. "But after you battle Danny, I challenge you to a battle! I will not let you insult my friends like this and get away with it! It's time someone put you in your place!"
"Whatever," Paul grunted. He then turned to Danny. "So, are we going to battle or not?" Seeing that Paul would not take no for an answer, Danny reluctantly accepted. The gang cleaned up the rest of the picnic to make room for the battle. Jack and Maddie set up chairs for everyone to sit on.
Jazz stepped in-between the Trainers. "I'll be the referee," she declared. "This battle will be a three-on-three battle with no substitutions! First Trainer to beat the other's Pokémon wins."
"Magmortar, standby for battle!" Paul called as he threw his Pokéball. A humanoid Pokémon made of fire appeared in a flash of light.
Danny's eyes turned bright green as he threw a Pokéball. "Going ghost, Skulker!" A Cyclops-like Pokémon called Dusclops appeared in a flash of light.
"Dawn, sweetie, could you decide who gets to go first?" Maddie asked sweetly.
Dawn nodded. "Call it!"
"Heads," said Paul.
Dawn pressed the Coin Toss app of her Pokétch. "It's tails. Danny goes first."
"Let the battle begin!" yelled Jazz.
"Skulker, start with Night Shade!" said Danny. Dark energy shot out of Skulker's eye and hit Magmortar.
"Magmortar, use Will O' Wisp," said Paul. A ball of blue fire shot out of Magmortar's mouth. It hit Skulker, burning him.
"Skulker!" Danny cried in concern.
"It's nothing, whelp. This guy is like me; he favors brawn over brains and so does his Trainer."
"Actually, he plans first then lets brawn take over. Let's try that new combination Sam taught us."
"The element of surprise, my favorite!"
"Now, use Fire Punch!" Paul ordered. Magmortar's fist became engulfed in flames and charged at Skulker.
Danny's eyes flashed. "Skulker, counter it with Shadow Punch!" Dark energy enveloped Skulker's fist. He charged at Magmortar. Both Punch attacks collided with each other and struggled to overcome the other. Danny, however, had a trump card. "Skulker, use ThunderPunch with your other fist!"
"What?!" said a surprised Paul. Electricity ran through the Beckon Pokémon's other fist as it punched Magmortar in the stomach, shocking him.
~0~0~0~
Dawn stared at the battle in awe. "Whoa! How did Skulker do that?"
Sam smiled smugly. "I helped Danny come up with some battle combinations for when Paul comes back to battle him. I thought Paul favored battling head-on so I figured he'd never expect Contest combinations while battling Danny."
Dawn smiled. "Cool strategy."
"I remember Ash's battle strategy during the tournament. I thought I'd use that to our advantage."
"Hopefully this strategy is good enough to beat Paul," said Dawn. "He's a tough cookie."
"Speaking of which, do you have a cookie for me?" Jack asked Maddie. She gave him a chocolate chip cookie. He took it and wolfed it down.
~0~0~0~
Flames flashed over Skulker's body causing more damage to be done to him.
"Don't give up, Skulker!" Danny encouraged his Pokémon. "Use Dark Pulse!" Skulker shot a beam of purple energy and black rings at his opponent.
"Flamethrower!" Magmortar shot fire from his mouth, hitting Skulker.
Danny's eyes flashed again. "Use Dark Pulse again!" Skulker repeated the attack, hitting the Fire Pokémon. Flames flashed across Skulker's body again.
Paul wasn't done yet. "Now use Rock Tomb." Magmortar summoned a bunch of large rocks that surrounded Skulker. The rocks then closed in on Skulker practically crushing him. When the dust cleared, Skulker was knocked out cold.
~0~0~0~
Jazz then stepped in. "Skulker is unable to battle. Magmortar wins!"
Danny's eyes returned to its natural icy blue. "Skulker! You okay?"
"Dus-clops," Skulker answered.
Danny gave it a sad smile. "Nice job. Can you get up?" Skulker struggled but he was able to get back on his feet. Danny then turned to his mother. "Mom, did you bring a first aid kit?"
Maddie pulled out a white box with a red cross on it. "I'll look after him, sweetie," she said. "Brock, could you be a dear and please help me?"
Brock nodded. "Sure, Mrs. Fenton."
Skulker limped to Maddie's side. She, Brock and Brock's Happiny then went inside the RV and started giving the Ghost Pokémon medical treatment.
Dawn winced after looking at Skulker's injuries. "Does it hurt, Skulker?"
"Dusclops," Skulker said nonchalantly as he waved his hand like it was no big deal.
"You sure put up a good fight," complimented Ash. Skulker rubbed the back of his head humbly.
~0~0~0~
Paul grunted. "I'll admit, Daniel, you know how to put up a fight. If I win, you'll tell me why your eyes change color every time you battle."
Danny became nervous. "Um…okay. Then if I win…uh…you'll battle Sam…after this?" he offered hesitantly.
Paul narrowed his eyes. "…Deal."
Neither boy noticed Sam giving Danny a thankful smile. Danny then pulled out a Fenton Ball (crafted by Jack). His eyes flashed green again as he called out, "Going ghost, Spooky!"
SLURP!
A Gengar appeared from the Fenton Ball and immediately started licking Danny's face affectionately. "We talked about this! No licking my face in-between battles!" The Gengar called Spooky then went on the battlefield ready to fight.
"Since Danny lost a Pokémon, he gets to make the first move," said Jazz. "Now begin!"
"Spooky, use Dark Pulse!" ordered Danny.
"Magmortar, use Flamethrower," said Paul. Fire met purple energy with black rings. Eventually it created an explosion. When the dust cleared, only Magmortar was on the battlefield. "What? Where?" Paul asked in bewilderment.
"Heh, heh, heh! Bet he didn't see that coming!"
"No, he didn't. Remember to thank Jazz who came up with this idea."
"Yeah, yeah…"
"Spooky, use Night Shade!" Danny ordered confidently. Spooky, with his ability to hide in shadows, jumped out of Magmortar's shadow and shot dark energy at his opponent.
Paul growled in frustration. "Rock Tomb!" The Fire Pokémon summoned more large rocks that surrounded Spooky. They then closed in on him.
Danny was ready. "Spooky, dodge and use Night Shade again!" Spooky gracefully dodged each rock that came toward him, all the time shooting Night Shade from his eyes every chance he got.
This was confusing Paul. "What's going on?"
"I'm a wiz at dodge ball," said Danny, "or in this case 'dodge rock'. It's only natural that Spooky would learn a few tricks."
Paul growled at Danny's battle style. Spooky then blew a raspberry tauntingly at Magmortar, ticking it off. Paul didn't like that either. "How childish," he muttered. "Magmortar, use Will O' Wisp." Magmortar shot blue fireballs at Spooky who dodged every one of them.
"Spooky, wrap this up with Dark Pulse!" Spooky then shot another beam of purple energy with black rings at Magmortar, knocking him out.
"Magmortar is unable to battle! Spooky wins!" announced Jazz.
~0~0~0~
Spooky and Danny gave each other a high-five. Paul scowled at the two.
"Paul, I could patch up your Magmortar for you," Maddie offered sweetly.
Paul turned to her. "I would appreciate that," he said coolly. Ash took note of this change in Paul's behavior. Paul rarely showed respect toward anyone except for certain Gym Leaders, Nurse Joy, and Professor Rowan. Since Paul is acting politely towards Mrs. Fenton, he must have some respect for her.
"Jack, could you bring Magmortar over here?" Maddie asked her husband.
"You got it, baby!" Jack ran onto the battlefield and helped Magmortar to his feet. Jack then put the Fire Pokémon's arm over his shoulder and walked it over to his wife.
Danny's friends also noticed Paul's sudden change in behavior.
"Okay, what's up with Paul?" asked Tucker. "One moment he looks like a member of the army, the next moment he's Mr. Nice Guy!"
Sam rolled her eyes. "Ever heard of the phrase 'Respect your elders'? Paul is just being polite to Mrs. Fenton."
Ash nodded in agreement. "He tends to show respect to very few people."
~0~0~0~
Paul then pulled out another Pokéball. "Weavile, standby for battle!" A bipedal feline-like Pokémon appeared in a flash of light.
"At least he has good taste in types," Sam muttered under her breath, referring to her love of Dark-types.
"Begin!" Jazz yelled.
"Weavile, use Blizzard," said Paul. A snowstorm blew out of Weavile's mouth, hitting Spooky.
"Spooky, use Dark Pulse," said Danny. Spooky shot another Dark Pulse at Weavile, doing minor damage.
"So what's the plan?"
"Remember when we fought Phantom in the tournament?"
"Is that before or after he literally dragged me through the dirt?"
"Before."
"…Oh yeah! I hope this guy doesn't remember us doing that trick!"
"We have to get Weavile close to us though. Otherwise they'll figure it out and we're toast!"
"Weavile, use Ice Beam," said Paul. Weavile shot a cold beam of ice from its mouth. Spooky again dodged the attack, further irritating Paul.
"Spooky, use Night Shade!" Spooky shot dark energy out of his eyes again.
"Metal Claw," said Paul.
"Gotcha!"
Weavile's claws lit up and he charged towards Spooky. As soon as he was close enough, Danny quickly said to Spooky, "Now, Spooky, use Lick attack!" Spooky's tongue shot out of his mouth and wrapped around Weavile's waist, cancelling out his attack in the process.
"What the?" said Paul.
"Now, use Giga Drain!" said Danny. Spooky's tongue glowed green as he drained Weavile's strength.
Paul suddenly saw an opening. "Weavile, use Ice Beam." Weavile shot another cold beam from his mouth onto Spooky's tongue. Spooky cried out in pain as his tongue let go of Weavile. The Ghost Pokémon held his head in pain.
"BRAIN FREEZE!"
"Calm down! Shake it off!"
At this point Weavile looked pretty tired. Spooky's Giga Drain did a lot of damage than either Trainer thought. Danny knew Spooky wasn't going to cut it any slack. "Okay, use Dark Pulse!" Spooky attacked again with Dark Pulse.
"Quick, use Ice Beam!" Paul ordered. Weavile shot another Ice Beam at the oncoming Dark Pulse. Both attacks collided and created an explosion. When the dust cleared, Weavile was barely able to stand.
"Now, Spooky, use Lick again!" Danny cried. Spooky's literally licked Weavile's face, sending a chill down its spine. "Now use Giga Drain!" Spooky's tongue wrapped itself around Weavile again. His tongue glowed green again draining more of Weavile's strength.
"Blizzard!" yelled Paul. Weavile blew another snowstorm at Spooky's face making him let go.
"Spooky, finish it off with Night Shade!" Dark energy shot out of Spooky's eyes, hitting Weavile and knocking it out.
"Weavile is unable to battle!" announced Jazz. "Spooky wins!"
~0~0~0~
Danny's friends cheered for Spooky's second victory. Pikachu and Piplup were also cheering for their ghostly friend.
Paul glared at Weavile as it slowly got up. "I'll deal with you later," he growled. Weavile looked downcast as it slowly walked toward Maddie.
Danny's eyes returned to normal as he stared at Paul. "And I thought Lancer was harsh," Danny muttered under his breath.
Ash and Dawn were also impressed with Spooky. "Wow! Danny's done an excellent job raising Spooky," Ash noted.
"Well, those two have been together since Danny was seven years old," Dawn recalled.
"After spending that long together, it's only natural that Spooky is Danny's best Pokémon," said Tucker.
"Guys, have you noticed something odd about Paul's behavior?" asked Sam.
Brock walked over to the group. "I've been watching from the sidelines and I've also noticed how Paul's been acting throughout this battle," he said.
"It looks like Paul's mad at Danny for some reason," said Tucker.
"He's probably mad that the Pokémon prodigy he's been hearing so much about isn't what he thought he was," Brock guessed.
"I think Paul is mad that Danny's battle strategy is actually working," Ash assumed. "The way Spooky was behaving throughout this battle is probably making Paul think that Danny isn't taking this seriously."
Sam rolled her eyes. "Well, that's where you're wrong. Spooky may be acting immature but that's just the way he's always been. Jazz has been trying figure out that Ghost for the longest time and she hasn't even scratched the surface on that Pokémon's psyche."
"I think Paul is forgetting that most Ghost Pokémon are natural pranksters," said Brock. "Paul is a serious Trainer. Having a prankster on his team would most likely slow him down."
~0~0~0~
Paul had enough of Spooky's monkey business. He pulled out another Pokéball. "Electabuzz, standby for battle!" A yellow cat-like Pokémon with black stripes appeared in a flash of light. Spooky didn't seem intimidated at all with it. He simply blew a raspberry at the Electric Pokémon and laughed.
"Spooky, this is serious! Quit clowning around!" Danny scolded.
"Now, let the battle continue!" Jazz announced.
"Electabuzz, use Light Screen!" Paul ordered. A cube of light surrounded Electabuzz, raising his Special Defense.
Danny wasn't going to let that stop him. "Spooky, use Night Shade!" he ordered as his eyes flashed green again. The Ghost Pokémon unleashed Night Shade from his eyes. The attack hit the Light Screen, cutting the attack power in half. Night Shade hardly did anything to Electabuzz.
"Dang it! I hate it when my opponents use those Barrier-like moves!"
"There's nothing we can do about it. Let's try to keep it up until it wears off."
"Easy for you to say."
"Now try Dark Pulse!" Spooky shot another purple beam of energy with black rings at Electabuzz. Light Screen was activated again, halving the power of Dark Pulse.
"Electabuzz, Thunder!" Paul ordered. Electabuzz unleashed a storm of electricity onto Spooky. "Now use ThunderPunch!" Electabuzz's fist ran with electricity as it punched Spooky in the face, finally knocking him out.
"Spooky, no!" Danny cried as his eyes returned to blue.
"Spooky is unable to battle! Electabuzz wins!" Jazz declared.
~0~0~0~
Danny ran over to his Pokémon. "Hey, you okay?"
"G-Gen…gar…" Spooky replied weakly, giving him a peace sign. The purple hair on his head stood on end from Electabuzz's attacks.
"Hey, you were awesome! Our plan worked great. Now go see my mom and get healed up," said Danny, "…and your hair fixed."
Spooky walked over to where Ash, Pikachu, Dawn, Tucker, Piplup, and Sam were sitting.
Ash smiled at the Ghost Pokémon. "Don't beat yourself up, Spooky. That was one intense battle. You were amazing!"
"Yeah, Spooky," Tucker joined in. "You were as tough as Rocky Balboa!"
"Gar!" thanked Spooky. He rubbed the back of his head, blushing.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed. "Pika-pika-chu-chu-pika-pikachu!"
"Piplup!" Piplup agreed.
"Gar?" asked Spooky. He then smiled confidently. "Gengar!" He then walked over to Maddie to receive first aid.
~0~0~0~
Danny then got out another Pokéball as his eyes turned neon green. "Spectra, you're up next!" A Froslass appeared in a flash of light.
"And begin!" yelled Jazz.
"Spectra, use Confuse Ray!" yelled Danny. Spectra's eyes began to glow and Electabuzz eventually became confused.
"I love that move! It's funny when they hurt themselves."
"Should I be concerned?"
"No. It just makes battling so much easier."
Paul wasn't going to let that slow him down. "Electabuzz, use Thunder!" Electabuzz charged up his attack but ended up shocking Ash and everyone else watching the battle instead (luckily Maddie was inside the RV healing the injured Pokémon).
"Spectra, use Ice Beam!" Spectra fired a cold beam from her mouth, hitting Electabuzz. Unfortunately, Light Screen hadn't worn off yet so Ice Beam didn't do as much damage as everyone hoped.
"ThunderPunch, now!" Paul ordered. Electabuzz charged up his fist but he punched himself instead of Spectra. Light Screen was activated again but it then suddenly faded away.
"Finally," said Tucker. "Light Screen is gone!"
"Spectra, use Blizzard!" said Danny. Spectra unleashed a snowstorm at Electabuzz, finally snapping out of confusion.
"Electabuzz, use Thunder!" Paul yelled. Electabuzz then unleashed electricity from its body, shocking Spectra.
"Spectra, use Double Team!" said Danny. Spectra's body glowed white for a split second and then created several copies of herself.
Paul wasn't finished. "Electabuzz, use Thunder again!" Electabuzz released more electricity from its body at each copy, trying to figure out which one was the real deal.
"Spectra, quick, use Ice Beam!" Danny said quickly. The real Spectra appeared and fired another cold beam, knocking out Electabuzz.
"Electabuzz is unable to battle!" Jazz announced. "Spectra wins and the winner of this battle is Danny!"
~0~0~0~
Sam and Tucker cheered for their friend's victory over – as Tucker called Paul – "Captain Jerkface". Ever since the festival, Sam and Tucker have been looking forward to Danny's battle with Paul, despite Danny's protests. Sam was especially happy to see Paul seethe in anger at his loss to this seemingly clueless Pokémon prodigy. She quickly took a picture of Paul's angry face when no one was looking. She had to savor this moment.
"Nice one, Spectra!" Danny complimented his Ice Pokémon.
"Froslass," Spectra replied proudly.
Electabuzz slowly got up, clearly annoyed by its loss. He begrudgingly walked over to the RV for medical attention. Maddie poked her head out of a window. "Kids! How about we take an intermission? I've made cookies!"
Jack's face lit up immediately and ran inside the RV. Ash, Sam, Dawn, Pikachu, Piplup, Tucker and Jazz followed close behind.
Danny looked at Paul and shrugged. "Well, how about you get some refreshments…before you battle Sam?"
Paul just grunted and walked up to Danny. "The way you raise your Pokémon is unusual. Do you take your battles seriously? Because it seemed to me that your Pokémon were only goofing around."
"Uh," Danny stammered as he rubbed the back of his head, "its only Spooky that does that. He often fights like that. I've tried to get him to battle seriously but I can't change a Pokémon's behavior overnight. Eventually I gave up and tried training him from a different angle. I combined my battle style with Spooky's behavior and we've been using that ever since."
"You obviously didn't try hard enough to discipline him," said Paul.
Danny frowned. "I disciplined Spooky plenty!" he defended. "I was only seven years old when I met him. I've put ten years of discipline into raising Spooky so don't tell me I didn't try hard enough to discipline my Pokémon!" Danny then went into the RV to cool off with his friends.
Looks like Danny got over his nerves with Paul. Maybe the adrenaline hasn't passed through his system yet.
Time for a little payback! Sam is going to battle Paul next! Start placing your bets, people!
Don't worry! I put in some DxS fluff in the next chapter too! ;)
