Chapter Four
I sighed; of all the people in Edo, it had to be Nicole who turned up. Nicole, who thought she was better than me because her dad was a famous Pokemon Master . . . blah blah blah. If I knew her - and unfortunately I did - she was looking for a opportunity to brag about the Pokemon she had caught on the way to Brightspring. "So, Neet," she said, trying to sound as though she was making polite conversation, "I guess you're a trainer now. How many Pokemon have you caught?" It seemed an innocent enough question, but the way she pitched it gave it a subtext of: "I bet I caught more than you."
"Two," I admitted. Nicole always rubbed me the wrong way. And I wished she would stop calling me Neet!
"Only two? I've got five already." And, with that, Nicole opened up her bag to reveal five Poke Balls. I knew one of them must contain her Absol, but I had no way of knowing what was in the other four. However, I had a feeling I would find out sooner or later; there was bound to come a time when Nicole and I would have to face each other in a Pokemon battle. And, if she got any further ahead of me . . . "But that's not all," Nicole added, taking a Badge case identical to the one I had been given in Meadowlea out of her bag. She opened it to reveal a shiny metallic Badge in the form of a green circle divided in half by a blue line, the latter wavy like an elongated letter S.
"What do think of that?" asked Nicole. "I've just won the River Badge, but I doubt you've even been to the Gym." She was right about that; I hadn't been to the Brightspring City Gym yet, partly because I didn't think Deerling, Combee and Poliwag were quite ready for a Gym Battle, but also because I didn't know where the Gym was. That was something I would have to find out. In the meantime, I had to listen to Nicole gloating, telling myself I would defeat her one day. Just let her wait until I had trained my Pokemon up a bit more . . .
"Well, Neet," Nicole said at length, "much as I'd love to challenge you to a battle, I'm afraid none of my Pokemon are up to it right now." She handed her Poke Balls to Nurse Joy who placed them in the machine. "But, since I'd beat you anyway . . ." I did not hear what else she said because I decided the most sensible thing to do at this point was to walk away, but I doubt it was anything complimentary.
Over by the vending machine, Aidan gave me a look which said: "What was that all about?"
I shrugged. "Oh, it's just Nicole. She likes to think she's better than everyone just because her dad's a famous Pokemon Master." And, before I knew it, I was telling Aidan all about how Nicole's Absol had defeated my Deerling, how I had decided to make a Pokemon journey because I wanted to prove that I could beat her. But, before I could get to the part where I left Greenvale, I was rudely interrupted.
"Did I hear someone mention my name?"
I turned round to see Nicole walking towards the vending machine. "Oh, it's you, Neet," she said, giving me one of her "I'm better than you" looks. "Been telling your boyfriend . . ." She nodded in Aidan's direction. ". . . what a great Pokemon trainer I am? Though it's hardly surprising I'm so good. Runs in the family, you know. My dad's a . . ."
But she got no further, before I suddenly decided to give her a piece of my mind. "Listen, you!" I said through gritted teeth. "One: Aidan is not my boyfriend! Two: I'm sick of hearing about your dad being a Pokemon Master! Three: if you're so damn good at Pokemon battles, why don't you prove it?!" The moment I said those words, I regretted it - Nicole was sure to take them as a challenge - but it was too late how. There was no way I could unsay them. Yes, I know "unsay" isn't really a word, but you know what I mean.
Nicole laughed. "OK, if you're that desperate for me to beat you, I'll be outside." With that, she tossed her bag over her shoulder and turned to go. "Don't keep me waiting!" she called over her shoulder.
"I won't!" I called back. I tried to sound confident, but the words "now you've done it" kept echoing in my mind. The last time Nicole and I faced each other in a Pokemon battle was back in Greenvale - and I've already told you how that turned out. But I could hardly back down now; I would just have to do my best and hope Deerling, Combee and Poliwag came through, somehow. I had a little more experience now, but I had no way of knowing what Pokemon Nicole had caught; I knew she had an Absol, but what else did she have? I would just have to wait and see.
I found Nicole standing outside the Pokemon Centre, holding a Poke Ball in her hand. "Ready to battle?" she asked, tossing her Poke Ball into the air and catching it again. "All of mine against all of yours?"
I shook my head; since she had five Pokemon to my three, this would give her the advantage of having two extra Pokemon. "I can't," I told her. "Not unless we're more evenly matched. Three on three?" I wondered what was in the Poke Ball Nicole was holding. Her Absol? Somehow, I doubted it, though; Absol was her strongest Pokemon, so she'd almost certainly keep him in reserve. But, whatever she had in that Ball, I knew I would soon see it for myself.
"Fine by me," said Nicole, who clearly wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. "See what you make of . . . this!" She threw the Ball, but did not call out the name of the Pokemon inside it. I watched as the Pokemon took shape, revealing a red-and-black centipede with a squat body and two pairs of antennae, one on its head and one on its tail. A Venipede, a Bug/Poison Pokemon - which of my Pokemon should I use against it?
Deerling was out of the question; as a Normal/Grass Pokemon, she was weak against both of Venipede's Types. That left me with a choice between Combee and Poliwag: a Bug Pokemon that looked like a honeycomb or a Water Pokemon that looked like a tadpole with a spiral on its belly. I made my decision and threw out a Poke Ball. "Poliwag, go!" I called, watching as Poliwag materialised in front of me. Small blue body, short legs, long tadpole tail . . .
"You're kidding, right?" Nicole asked from where she stood behind her Venipede. "Well, you asked for it . . . Venipede! Rollout!" she added, pointing to my Poliwag.
As Venipede formed into a tight ball, I quickly planned my counterattack. Rollout was a move which increased in power the longer it went on and, since Nicole already had an advantage in terms of experience, I didn't want her to get the upper hand too soon. Maybe if I could knock Venipede off balance . . . "Poliwag! Use Water Gun!" I called, just as Venipede began to roll towards my small Water Pokemon.
A jet of water shot out of the spiral on Poliwag's belly, knocking Venipede back several feet. "Way to go!" I cheered as Venipede's Rollout was successfully neutralised. But, needless to say, Nicole was not about to give up so easily, not that I would have expected anything else from her.
"Venipede! Poison Sting!" And Venipede reared up and sent a volley of needles in Poliwag's direction. Poison Sting, a move which could leave your Pokemon Poisoned if it hit. That meant your Pokemon would grow steadily weaker as the battle continued, eventually become so weak that it fainted. And only Poison and Steel Type Pokemon are immune to being Poisoned, the former because they have developed a resistance to their own poisons, the latter because of their hard, metallic bodies. But Poliwag was neither a Poison nor a Steel Type. I had to act fast; the last thing I wanted was for Nicole to gain an advantage over me. And that was precisely what would happen if I was down one Pokemon.
"Poliwag!" I shouted. "Dodge it!" Moving with surprising agility, he jumped up, avoiding Venipede's Poison Sting. "Now! Water Gun!"
Again Poliwag squirted a jet of water at Nicole's Venipede. This time, however, Nicole countered by having her Bug/Poison Pokemon dodge out of the way. Well, I suppose it was only fair that, if I was allowed to have my Pokemon dodge Venipede's Attacks, Venipede should be allowed to do the same. Anyway, Venipede dodged Poliwag's Water Gun and then came Nicole's next command. "Venipede! Solar Beam!"
As Venipede began to absorb the light of the sun, I knew I had to act fast. Solar Beam is a very powerful move and, since a Venipede doesn't learn it naturally, I could only assume Nicole must have taught it to her Venipede. I should have known she'd do something like this; after all, she'd taught her Absol Ice Beam before she'd even set out on her journey. And, since a Water Pokemon like Poliwag is weak against Grass Attacks like Solar Beam, I knew I would have to stop the Bug/Poison Pokemon from finishing his attack. Fortunately, a Solar Beam (unless backed up with Sunny Day) takes a while to build up power - I must use this to my advantage.
"Poliwag! Try putting it to sleep!" I called. "Use Hypnosis!"
"Poliwag!" Poliwag stared intently at Venipede as the spiral on his belly began to spin round. Nicole was so absorbed with watching her Pokemon to see if he had absorbed enough sunlight that she did not realise what Poliwag was doing until it was too late. Within moments, Venipede was fast asleep and, though Nicole yelled at him to "get up and fight", she eventually had to concede. Having a sleeping Pokemon in battle isn't a good idea, unless it knows moves such as Sleep Talk.
"Round one to Juanita!" Aidan, who had been watching our battle, called.
"I'm just getting started!" retorted Nicole, recalling her Venipede and readying another Poke Ball. "Go, Noibat!"
Within moments, I found myself looking at what had to be the most bizarre creature I had ever seen, a creature with bat-like wings and enormous ears. So this was what a Noibat looked like? I'd never seen one before and I certainly hadn't battled one. So I decided a consultation with my Pokedex might help; pulling the device out, I pointed it at Nicole's Noibat as I had been instructed back in Meadowlea.
"Noibat, the sound wave Pokemon," said the electronic voice of my Pokedex. "This Pokemon emits ultrasonic waves of 200,000 hertz, capable of knocking out even the most powerful wrestler."
"Yikes!" I thought. How on Earth were my Pokemon going to stand up to this?
"Noibat! Screech Attack!"
A deafening high-pitched sound started coming from Noibat's ears, a sound which set my teeth completely on edge. And, judging by the way he was staggering around, Poliwag didn't like it much either. But he had to resist it; I wanted to land at least one blow against Nicole's Noibat. "Poliwag!" I called. "Shake it off and use Water Gun!" He did as I told him, shooting a powerful jet of water at Noibat and forcing the bat-winged Pokemon to dodge instead of Screeching at my Pokemon. I told Poliwag to keep it up, hoping to keep Noibat busy dodging Water Guns.
"Noibat! Attract!" called Nicole. And a shower of pink hearts suddenly appeared around Noibat, before converging on Poliwag. The effect was instantaneous; Poliwag stopped in his tracks, a dreamy expression on his face, his attention focused solely on Noibat. But he wasn't preparing to attack; in fact, it looked as though battling was the last thing on his mind. I had a bad feeling about this, having heard what Attract could do if used against a Pokemon of the opposite gender to the one using it. It was something which only the Oblivious ability could prevent.
I tried to fight back. "Poliwag! Use Hypnosis!" This move had already worked against Venipede and I saw no reason why it shouldn't work again. But Poliwag didn't move; he just continued to stare at Noibat as if he was infatuated with her. By having her Pokemon use Attract, Nicole had given me a very definite clue as to its gender. I told him to shake it off, but, for all the good it did, I might as well have saved my breath.
"Don't you know anything?" Nicole said scornfully. "My Noibat is a female. Your Poliwag, judging by the way it's staring at her, is a male. Attract makes an opponent of the opposite gender fall in love with your Pokemon - and that stops them from fighting back half the time. Now, Noibat," she added. "Use Leech Life!"
Before I could take any kind of action, Noibat swooped on Poliwag and siphoned off his energy, using it to make herself stronger. I knew there was only one thing I could do. "Poliwag, return!" I ordered, calling him back into his Poke Ball. Once he was removed from battle, he would instantly get over his infatuation with Noibat. I've since learned that a Pokemon using Attract emits powerful pheromones which affect the mind of almost any opposite gender Pokemon, making it fall in love with its opponent and, as Nicole had just pointed out, causing it to refuse to fight 50% of the time. Fortunately, the effect wears off the moment the affected Pokemon is withdrawn from battle.
Now, I too was down one Pokemon. I put Poliwag's Poke Ball back on my belt and grabbed another, without checking to see which of my two remaining Pokemon I was sending into battle. Seconds later, Combee appeared directly opposite Nicole's Noibat.
Nicole made no attempt to hide her scorn at the sight of my cute little Bug Pokemon. "Is that the best you can do?" She turned to her own Pokemon. "Noibat! Tackle Attack!" And Noibat flew towards Combee, preparing to knock her out of the air, not that I was about to let that happen.
"Don't underestimate my Combee," I said, thinking fast. Being a Pokemon trainer means you often have to make split-second decisions about which move to use. "Dodge it!" I called to Combee, watching as she flew out of range of Noibat's Tackle. "Now, Gust!"
Combee flapped her wings at high speed, whipping up a powerful gust of wind which she then aimed at Noibat. But, then, Nicole countered by ordering Noibat to use Gust too; no doubt she was trying to take advantage of the fact that Bug Type Pokemon like Combee are weak against Flying Type moves like Gust. But, since Combee had already used Gust, this meant there were two winds coming at each other from opposite directions; these met in the middle, trapping Noibat and Combee in a swirling vortex. "Hang in there, Combee!" I called. I knew she was weak against Gust, but her own Gust was probably hurting Noibat too. So, if she could stay in the air long enough, I might still be able to win this.
In the end, Combee and Noibat both crashed out at the same time. Aidan looked at them lying on the ground, then made his decision. "Both Pokemon are unable to battle. It's a tie!"
Now, Nicole and I had both used two out of the three Pokemon we had agreed to use in this battle. For both of us, it would be our third Pokemon which decided things. But, while Nicole still had three Pokemon (including Absol) to call on, I only had Deerling. So I sent her out, hoping she could handle whichever Pokemon Nicole chose next. "We have to win this one, OK?" I told her, watching as she adopted a fighting stance.
Nicole's only response was to start laughing. "So, the little pipsqueak wants to battle." She selected a Poke Ball and prepared to throw it. "All right, then - take this!" And with that, she sent the Poke Ball spinning through the air; it burst open and the Pokemon within emerged in a flash of light. A cream-coloured horse with flaming mane and tail - a Ponyta, a Fire Type Pokemon. And, since Deerling was Normal/Grass, I knew the odds were not in her favour.
"Aren't you going to use Absol?" I asked, partly to stall for time, partly because I'd genuinely been expecting him to show up in this battle.
But Nicole had an answer for this. "Oh, he's so much stronger than my other Pokemon, I've decided to let him take a back seat for a while so they can catch up. Not that it's going to affect the outcome," she added. "Ponyta! Tackle!"
And Ponyta began to gallop towards Deerling, head down ready to knock her flying.
My best hope at the moment was that Nicole's Ponyta did not yet know any Fire Attacks. Knowing Nicole, however, she probably did and that meant the best strategy I could adopt was to try and defeat Ponyta before she could use her fire. "Tackle back, Deerling!" I called, watching as Deerling began to gallop towards Ponyta.
The two Pokemon collided, then stood facing each other, psyched up for battle. I knew I had a huge Type disadvantage, but I couldn't let Nicole beat me, especially after she had called my Deerling a pipsqueak. It was a matter of pride; I had to find a way to win this. "Deerling! Sand Attack!" With a bit of luck, having sand in her eyes would slow Ponyta down, but I couldn't keep relying on this strategy. As soon as this battle was over, regardless of the outcome, I would have to work on my Pokemon's moves.
For now, though, the battle continued. Deerling whipped up a tornado of sand, then sent it flying towards Ponyta, but Nicole countered by having Ponyta dodge out of the way. Then came the command I'd been dreading from the moment Nicole's third Pokemon was revealed. "Ponyta! Use Flamethrower!" Flamethrower, a Fire Attack, a Grass Pokemon's worst nightmare. Unless I did something, Deerling would be crisped.
As Ponyta prepared to send a jet of flame in Deerling's direction, I thought of something that might just turn things around. "Deerling! Camouflage!" I called. I'd never had her use that move before, but this might be my only chance of beating Nicole and her Ponyta. Camouflage changes a Pokemon's Type to match its surroundings and, since we were battling on a path, that meant Deerling would temporarily become a Ground Type, strong against Fire. Sure enough, though she still took a hit from Ponyta's Flamethrower, she did not take as much damage as she would have done had she still been a Normal/Grass Pokemon.
As Nicole looked on, completely speechless for once, I decided to wrap things up. "Deerling! Double Kick!" Before Nicole could snap out of her stunned state and issue a command to her Ponyta, Deerling galloped over to the Fire horse, reared up on her hind legs and kicked her in the head two times. Then, to finish off, she kicked Ponyta in the flank and sent her sprawling on the ground. Aidan watched for a moment to see if Ponyta would get up, then announced his verdict.
"Ponyta is unable to battle. Juanita wins!"
There was a scowl on Nicole's face as she recalled her Ponyta. "You got lucky, that's all," she told me. Putting Ponyta's Poke Ball back in her pack, she turned to go. "See you in Masonbury Town - if you even make it that far."
And, with that, she walked away without so much as saying goodbye. Not that I'd expected anything else; we were hardly what you would call friends.
