Damian and Jack had left the arena to start their journey. With their Pokédex and Pokémon with them, the two were excited about the journey. "So Jack, what're your plans?"Damian asked, Jack was known to be a bit of a wild card, he was laid back and usually just went with the flow and did what he felt was right.
"To be honest man, I unno yet, I'm thinkin of trying out the Gym Battles, but unlike you I don't think I'm ready for it yet, so I'll probably train with Cubone and Staravia for a bit. We'll go with ya till the next town, but I think we'll be going our separate ways from there man."Jack shrugged and yawned, he was actually thinking about the journey ahead which took Damian by surprise.
"Hmm, wanna stock up on some Pokéballs before we head out?"Damian asked and just as he did, Jack took out the Pokédex. After a few minutes of toying with it a hologram of a Pokéball projected from the screen. It then solidified in seconds and Jack was then able grab it. It was now a real Pokéball. "Whoa! How the-?"
"It's the magic of digitization. Apparently the Pokédex Is like a portable pc, you can access a storage component. This thing is capable of digitizing things like Pokéballs, berries and other items. It then stores them in its memory. When you need a specific item, you can access the stored data and have it de-digitize it and turn it back into an actual object. I don't really understand what makes this possible but what I do know is it's really useful. The Prof. gave us each ten Pokéballs so we could start catching Pokémon right away."Jack explained, he sounded fairly knowledgeable on the subject.
"How do you know all this?"Damian asked dumbfounded, Jack knew more about it than him, it wasn't that Jack was stupid it's just he was so laid back and carefree, this was very odd of him.
"The Prof. told me, when I left the room, she called me back in and explained the Pokédex, you had already left, so she told me to tell you about it too."Jack said in response. "Anyway, The storage system is just so you can carry excess items without weighing yourself down, she said you keep at least one or two Pokéballs within reach at all time, ya never know when a wild Pokémon is gonna jump out atcha"
"That is true…I guess."Damian withdrew five Pokéballs from the Pokédex's storage. "Oh yea, so what would happen If we have more than six Pokémon?"
"The Pokédex will automatically transport the Pokémon to the Prof. to take care of since a trainer is only allowed to carry six Pokémon at any given time."Jack explained. "You can also check the stats and moves your Pokémon knows as well as its nature, likes and even where you met it, when and how. The Pokédex is an essential part of a trainer's journey. There's even a mini GPS in it so you can find out your location as well as Phone and Radio. Apparently the new Pokédex designs were created by Omnicore Inc. and- "
"Alright, let's head for nearest town with a gym!"Damian shouted cutting Jack off mid sentence. He pumped a fist in the air.
"That would be Raslex Town across the west bridge. We'll probably get there quickly by taking a bus."Jack commented.
"Alright then, let's go!"Damian yelled as he ran for the nearest bus stop. Jack ran after him.
"Same old Damian, impatient as always…HEY MAN WAIT UP!"Jack yelled but Damian didn't even look back until he made it to the bus stop. A bus had already arrived and Damian held it up so Jack could get on. Public transportation was free for Pokémon trainers if they showed their Identification, which of course were registered in their Pokédex. The two sat near the back, Damian put his hand behind his head and closed his eyes.
"Hey Jack, wake me up when we get there alright?"Damian said with a yawn, he closed his eyes, leaned his head against the window and then fell asleep. He had been feeling very tired recently and oddly enough so had his Eevee, Eon.
"Aw come on dude, I was gonna say that!"Jack groaned. "Alright fine, enjoy your nap"
The bus had begun crossing the bridge within ten minutes, it was a fairly quick ride. That was until the bus had made it halfway across the bridge, it was now stuck in a traffic jam. Cars had literally surrounded the bus and all of the drivers were irritably honking their horns. All the noise and the lack of movement by the bus woke Damian up. "Jack, I thought you said this would be fast, what the heck is going on?"Damian asked keeping his eyes shut tightly.
"We're uh…heh heh…kinda stuck in a massive traffic jam."Jack said laughing nervously. He already predicted Damian's reaction and what he was going to say.
"Alright, screw this. I don't have all day. Jack, do you have Abra with you? Just have it teleport us to the other side of the bridge"
"Ha ha, I knew you were gonna say that."Jack chuckled, he reached for his Pokéball containing Abra and tossed it up. It put its hand on Damian and Jack's shoulders and in a flash they were gone. They appeared outside of a cave on the other side of a bridge. This was the Nesturnal Cave, home to many Zubat, a rather dangerous path, but it was also the quickest to Raslex town.
"Looks like we don't have much of a choice now, It's either go through the cave or waste time in traffic. Unless, has Abra ever even been past this cave?"Damian asked.
"Nah, the farthest we came was to this end of the bridge, that's when I caught Staravia. We turned back though 'cause it was getting late."Jack shrugged, a frown on his face. Abra couldn't go places with Teleport that it had never seen so they didn't have any choice but to traverse the cave, especially since Damian couldn't stand traffic. Damian took off his bag and opened it. He reached in and began searching for something, he was carrying spare clothes and some food. However he also brought with him something he'd really need for cave/night exploration, a flash light. Though this thing was more like a flood light with amount of light it produced. Damian put his bag back on and the two entered the cave. Just as Damian had thought it was fairly dark inside the cave and visibility was fairly low without the flash light. This was no surprise seeing as it was home to Zubat. They kept walking forward, screeches of the bat Pokémon could be heard all around. If so much as a drop of water dripped into a puddle, it would echo throughout the cave.
"You couldn't have just let us stay on the bus could ya Damian."Jack groaned. The place was freaking him out. He had achluophobia, fear of darkness. If you factor in the unwanted noise and constant dripping of water echoing through the cave, this place was like a nightmare for Jack.
"Heh, come on you big chicken, keep moving. We'll never get out of the cave if you keep walking so slow. I'll even give you the flashlight if you just walk a little faster!"Damian said jokingly as he handed Jack the flashlight.
"Come on man, cut me some slack here, I can't help it!"Jack whined, his fear of darkness was simply there since he was little, even he didn't remember how it started. The two boys came to a fork in the cave, there were two paths, one on the left and one on the right.
"Hmm…which wa-a-a-a-ay?"Damian was cut off by a rather large tremor, the cave had begun to rumble and the Zubat hanging from the ceiling of the cave went through the left tunnel, flying over Damian's head. Damian was about to go over to the right when a boulder came crashing down, splitting them from each other and blocking the only way back. "Jack! You okay?"
"Yea, I'm fine, I still have the flashlight!"Jack yelled. There was yet another tremor and more of the cave started to fall, the two boys rushed down the path they were in front of, Damian took left and Jack took right. The way back was blocked for both of them now. On Damian's side of the cave, it was very dark and getting darker with every few steps he took. Eventually the path he was taking widened and the cave brightened up just a bit. Damian was in a cavern with a rather large lake and there wasn't any path around it.
"Hm…I wonder…"Damian smiled as he took out his Pokédex. He took a look at the data on Mudkip, mainly to check its moves. "Perfect, Mudkip, come on out."Damian threw the Pokéball for the Mudkip and the blue Mud Fish Pokémon came out of it. It had a very plain expression on its face. It was standing there waiting for a command and Damian had just one in mind for it. "Mudkip…hm, I should probably give you a nickname… how about Doro?"
The Mudkip tilted its head and gave a mini shrug as though it didn't really care. A drop of sweat went down the back of Damian's head. "Well uh, think you could freeze a bridge to the other side using Ice Beam?"Damian asked hesitantly, Doro nodded and complied with his request, opening its mouth. A ball of light blue energy formed in front of it and fired as a semi-scattershot beam towards the lake. However, it didn't freeze a bridge across. Instead it froze the entire top layer of the lake at the very least. The water in the Lake was still flowing as normal, it seemed Mudkip only froze the top layer of the water and not the whole thing. It looked smug about having produced enough power to do so. "Holy crap…you're a tough little guy aren't you Doro?"Damian said with a smile as the two began crossing the ice covered lake. The Mudkip laid down on its belly, it then let out a strong Water Gun which upon impact with the wall sent it sliding towards the other side very quickly. Damian looked at the blue Pokémon in surprise, it was pretty smart if It knew that it could use Water Gun to push itself across the Ice like that. Damian slid across the ice as though he was skating on it but Doro had made it across already and was waiting by the next tunnel. The fin on its head began to shake a bit, its blank stare quickly changed to serious look, it sensed something approaching and it let out a cry to warn Damian of approaching danger. Damian saw the look on its face and instinctively turned around. There they were, diving at him at high speeds, a swarm of twenty-one Zubat. They were being led by one that was astonishingly large in size, far above the average size of Zubat. The size of this particular Zubat was comparable to that of a Pidgeotto. Damian dove to avoid their attack and Doro rushed towards him.
"Tch, Zubat huh? Guess they're out for dinner, but I'm not about to get the blood sucked outta me…Doro use Ice Beam!"Damian said. The Zubat swarm swooped upwards and turned back towards Damian diving at him. Doro made it to Damian and fired another Ice Beam, this time it moved its head from left to right so the beam would hit the entire swarm instead of just one or two. Almost all of the Zubat were hit and frozen solid, falling to the floor like flies. They weren't able to see except by echolocation and by the time they 'saw' it coming, it was too late to get out of the way. Only one remained untouched and unfrozen, it was the large Zubat, the leader of the swarm. It dove at Doro and high speed. "Doro, use Ice Beam one more time!"
Doro began charging energy for the Ice beam and as he did, the Zubat spread its wings back. The Mudkip fired the beam at the Zubat, it was much larger than the previous attacks it had fired. The Zubat flapped its wings forward and let loose a wave of flames, it was somehow using 'Heat Wave'. It collided with the Ice Beam diminishing the attack and continuing on towards Doro. Despite being a water Pokémon, Doro was damaged by the attack, this Zubat was clearly of much level than the Mudkip. Damian reached for his Pokéball and as he did the Zubat used Supersonic. Damian covered his ears and attempted to get Eon to help out but it was no use, the Pokéball wouldn't open. Zubat's Supersonic was strong enough that it jammed the Pokéballs, so not only couldn't Damian bring out his Eevee, he couldn't get Doro back into its Pokéball and to top it all off. Doro struggled to get back up, It was a very proud Pokémon and it wasn't about to go down from a fire attack and especially not from this oversized bat. It fired another Ice Beam at the Zubat before it could use heat wave again. One of the Zubat's wings was frozen by the attack and it fell to the floor. Damian through a Pokéball at the Zubat before it could make another move. The ball shook once, then twice, and then a third time and then burst open. The Pokémon came back out of the ball but it wasn't the same. It had evolved into an even larger Pokémon, a Golbat. Damian gulped, the Zubat that had weakened Doro and left the Pokéball with Eon in it unable to open, had gotten stronger. It had even gotten larger, matching the size of a Aerodactyl. What made matters even worse was that its wing was unfrozen and it could fly again. The Golbat flew at Damian. Damian checked had checked Pokédex as soon as he saw Golbat emerge from the Pokéball. It said that Golbat can drink 10 ounces of blood at once and if it drinks too much it gets too heavy to fly. Damian had an idea, as the Golbat swooped down Damian had Doro use Water Gun and aim for the Golbat's mouth. Not only did the bat Pokémon get blown back into a wall by the sheer force, but it was starting to get engorged with water.
"Doro, just keep it up a bit longer, If It drinks too much it won't be able to move as fast as before or maybe even at all."Damian said as he took out another Pokéball. The Mudkip was running out of energy for Water Gun much more quickly than it would have if it had used it in multiple blasts rather than one continuous one. The Golbat was swelling up with Water and was about to faint when Doro ran out of power. The Golbat attempted to fly however it was too engorged with water. It wrapped its wings around itself as it would have if it was sleeping. Damian threw yet another Pokéball at the Golbat, once more the ball shook three times. It remained still afterward but then suddenly the bat Pokémon once more burst out, using Heat Wave again. The attack came from its mouth as well as its wings and steam could be seen wafting off the Golbat. The attack had caused the water within the Pokémon to evaporate. Doro used Ice Beam to counter the Heat Wave but once more was badly injured and this time blown away by attack. However, the Ice Beam it fired managed to graze the Golbat's left wing. Doro was now knocked out, it had sustained a lot of damage before and after getting hit with a Heat Wave from the Golbat, the little Pokémon could not stay conscious. Damian was now defenseless and vulnerable to attack. The Golbat turn away and used Heat Wave again, this time to defrost the Zubat that had been frozen earlier. It apparently told them stay back and 'watch' its new power in action. The Golbat dove at the fainted Mudkip baring its fangs. It was going to use Leech Life on the little Mud Fish. "Wait, It's going use Leech Life…but Doro has already fainted…maybe It's more damaged than it looks. Tch, what the hell am I doing just standing here thinking about this! If I don't do something quick Doro won't get to see tomorrow!"
"Doro!"Damian yelled as the Golbat closed in on Mudkip, It was moving slower than it originally was and it's left wing seemed to be acting up. Damian rushed towards his fainted Pokémon and as he stopped in front of it, the Golbat had reached its target. He let out a painful scream. Doro's eyes opened for a split second, It looked up and saw Damian, the Golbat had sunk it's fangs into his right shoulder, it then passed out again. Damian pulled out one more Pokéball, the pain from the Golbat's bite was intense yet he was still hell bent on beating. The Golbat was surprised by Damian's rash action and how he defended his Pokémon, Instead of draining his blood, the Golbat attempted to remove it fangs from his shoulder. Damian slammed the Pokéball into its left wing and the Pokémon once more went into the Pokéball. The ball dropped to the floor. It shook once, then twice and then one final time. The ball stopped shaking, the Golbat had been caught. Damian grinned. "You were a…pain in the neck…literally…but I caught you!"He said letting out one last prideful yell. He felt his vision blur, the pain from his wound was getting to him. The Zubat who had just heard their leader was captured dove at Damian and the Mudkip, all using Supersonic. Damian was in so much pain he couldn't even scream now, his vision blurred even more and he soon fell forward, losing consciousness before he even hit the floor. The Zubat flew towards Damian, they were also weakened since Doro had hit them with an Ice Beam, only three of them actually managed to fly again.
"JEEZ! I can't even get some peace and quiet down in a CAVE?"A voice yelled out. From the tunnel on the other side of the frozen lake, a figure emerged. Beside this person was a rarely seen Pokémon, a Smeargle. The Zubat's halted their flight toward Damian turned towards the new person on the scene. They flew at him as fast as they could. "Smeargle…Extreme Speed."The person, who was apparently also the trainer of the Smeargle, said. The Pokémon beside the person jumped forward, moving at incredibly high, almost god like speed. It slammed into the three Pokémon one by one striking each of them down in a single attack before any of them could counter. The Smeargle landed on the iced over lake and slipped, falling on its face. It got up and walked over to the now unconscious Damian and Doro. The trainer took a step forward and the slid on the ice similar to how Damian was doing before. "Ugh…so this kid is the reason for the noise? Well, it's not like we can just leave him here."
The trainer picked up Damian's Pokéball which he had caught the Golbat in as well as the injured Mudkip putting it on Damian's stomach, he then lifted Damian up. "Alright Smeargle, Teleport us back to the Pokémon Center."The trainer said and the Smeargle grabbed his hand and used Teleport bringing them both back to a Pokémon Center. The town they were in was the exact place Damian was heading before he passed out, Raslex Town. The trainer that had gotten Damian out of the cave had gotten the Pokéball for Doro and Eon repaired. He handed them, along with the newly caught Golbat's Pokéball to the Nurse at the Pokémon Center who placed each of them in the recovery machine. The three Pokéballs lit up when the machine was activated and began to glow. The machines were built to release a similar energy to the move 'Lunar Dance' used by the legendary Lunar Pokémon, Cresselia. The Pokémon had their health restored to full very quickly and the nurse gave the Pokéballs back to the trainer. Damian was put in a room as well. Nowadays Pokémon Centers were not just for Pokémon thanks to the recovery machine, but also a hospital for trainers. Several hours passed and finally Damian woke up with a jolt. The time was around seven pm, but since it was summer, the sun was still up though it was getting close to setting. Damian looked at the table beside his bed, his Pokédex, bag and the Pokéballs containing his Pokémon were all on there. He remembered what had happened back at the cave, Golbat had bitten into his shoulder and he used the opportunity to capture it though he ended up losing consciousness from sheer pain in the process.
"How…did I get here? Where the heck am I anyway?"Damian yelled getting out of bed. On his right shoulder and the pectoral area near it, his clothes had 4 holes in it from where Golbat had bitten him. Oddly enough though, there was not even so much as a scratch on him now. Damian picked up his stuff and exited the room. He headed down the hallway and through a door, he was in the main area of the Pokémon Center.
"Oh, you're Damian Acacia correct? Are you feeling better now?"The Nurse near the recovery machine said. "You were brought here by the Gym Leader of this town, Vent. Apparently you were bitten by a Golbat and were out cold when he found you."
"Yea I'm perfectly fine, tha- wait did you just say Gym Leader? Where is he?"Damian asked impatiently. He wanted to get his three badges and return home as quick as possible.
"Uhm, he's probably at the Gym by now, he left a few minutes ago after apparently 'catching some shuteye in the other room since the cave wasn't peaceful today' or at least that's what he said."The Nurse said with a bit of a confused look on her face, the Gym Leader was one hell of an odd ball. Damian rushed out of the hospital before the Nurse could even say another word. Little did Damian expect however, that the gym would be right in front of the Pokémon Center.
"Alright time to challenge the gy- wait! I forgot about Jack!"Damian said remembering how he and Jack had gotten separated just a bit before the Zubat had attacked him. Now that he was in town he could try and contact Jack. He remembered Jack mentioning the Pokédex all possessed a phone function. There was a number pad on the Pokédex, it usually used to search up Pokémon by their numerical order but if you switched it from encyclopedia to phone mode, it would work as a dial pad for the phone. The problem was now that Damian did not know what number to dial to contact Jack. "Well now…crap…There's no way of getting back so I won't be able to just go look for him…I hope he's okay…"Damian sighed and looked to floor. He then raised his head and barged into the Gym. There were two sets of stairs near the entrance and there was also a large battle field for the Pokémon challenges. There was also a machine similar to what Pokémon Stadium back in Metroplex City had, the 'Second Space' generator. "I'm here to challenge the Gym Leader of Raslex Town, Vent!"There was no response. "….Anybody home? I'm here to challenge the gym!"Damian yelled again and again, he received no response. "DAMN IT MAN! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE AND BATTLE ME!"
Suddenly there was a thumping sound coming from the right staircase, someone was coming down, it was the Gym Leader Vent Namakemono. He was nineteen years old, messy brown hair
"You're a noisy brat aren't you?"Vent stretched his arms and yawned, a sheepish look on his face, his eyes were closed as though he was sleepwalking but he was awake. He walked right past Damian towards the back of the gym where the machine was, all the while muttering complaints. "First my nap in the cave is interrupted by the Zubat's using Supersonic…then I had to save some passed out kid, I'm not getting any breaks today am I?"
"Hey, don't just freaking ignore me!"Damian growled, today hadn't gone very well for him so far. He had to stack chairs, crawl through an air vent, got blasted by a Hydropump, separated from his friend and bitten by a Golbat. This was seriously just not his day.
"Calm down. I'm just activating the second space…"Vent responded sleepily. He got to the machine and opened his eyes. He typed in a sequence of letters and number and the machine lit up. It produced a 'grassy plain' projection. 'Second Spaces' were special in the way that they were not only projections, no, they were the real deal, this grassy plain was real and even wider than the gym itself. The 'Second Space' is literally a temporary dimension created by the machine and the boundaries of the place they projected in, that dimension cease to apply. "Alright, let's get this over with. You can use as many Pokémon as you have, I'll be using the two I have…"Vent said as he laid down on his back, arms behind his head.
"Huh? Wait, So I can use all three of my Pokémon?"Damian scratched the back of his head then shrugged. "HEY! Don't lie down! This is a Pokémon battle not nap-"
"Go…Slakoth…"Vent lightly the Pokéball before Damian finished his sentence. The Pokémon, Slakoth, was also lying down and it looked as if it would fall asleep any minute. "Come on…send out your Pokémon…I wanna get to sleep after this is over"
"Even his Pokémon is lazy? Jeez, how is this guy a gym leader?"Damian smacked his forehead, irritated by this. "Whatever…alright Doro, you're up!"He tossed the Pokéball that had the Mudkip in it. It had been healed to full health at the Pokémon center. The blue Pokémon looked at Damian and smiled, turning back towards its opponent, it remembered how Damian was willing to risk his own neck to save it, literally. There was a sudden pulsation from Damian and Doro. Damain's eyes were once more shrouded by the same shadows they had been covered by in his battles with the proctor and the thief. Without having been given any commands, Doro used Ice beam. This caught Vent's attention.
"Huh? What's going on with this kid's Pokémon? It's attacking on its own?"Vent pondered this for a second. "Slakoth, don't move…"Vent instructed, the sloth Pokémon already seemed to know where this was going. It stood its ground, so to speak, and took a direct hit from the Ice Beam and luckily it didn't freeze. It then mustered up its strength and rammed into the Mudkip, it was using the revenge hit move, Endeavor. Endeavor was a move that reduced the opposing Pokémon's health to the same level as the Pokémon that used the move. In this case it seemed as though Doro and the Slakoth had both received a heavy amount of damage from attacking each other like that. Doro jumped back and away from the Slakoth and used Water Gun, the Slakoth, due to its ability, was unable to move.
"Hm…yet again, his Pokémon used a move and he didn't give it any commands…are they communicating through psychic waves? No…this kid isn't psychic…even psychic trainer's Pokémon don't move this quickly when they aren't given a command…he's just standing there…ah well, whatever he's doing won't help him win…especially since Slakoth here is still holding back a good deal of his power…not to mention…"Vent was trying to figure out how the Mudkip was attacking without commands from Damian but then decided to leave that matter alone for now and just focus on winning, he stood up. Vent was an extremely lazy Gym Leader, but Damian was actually bringing the fighting spirit out of him. "Slakoth, use Return!"
The Slakoth jumped back and then jet forward towards Doro, it moving at abnormally high speeds. Doro blasted another Water Gun at the Slakoth since it was moving too fast to dodge, the least it could do was try to lessen the impact. The hit sent Doro skidding backwards to Damian's feet, it was close to its limit. Slakoth began to glow all of a sudden and as its body turned pure white, it started to grow larger. Doro fired an Ice Beam before the glow faded. Within seconds in place of the glowing Slakoth, a new Pokémon was standing there in its place. This Pokémon was called 'Vigoroth', a vicious fighter with more energy than a raging bull. However the Vigoroth had been frozen by the Ice Beam Doro had just fired.
"You're a vicious battler…attacking while my Pokémon was evolving…and since it had been hit by the Water Gun, the chance of Ice Beam freezing it was drastically increased…however what you probably didn't realize is that…"Vent closes his eyes, yawned and stretched. When he opened his eyes you could see the seriousness, the fire for battle in them, Vent wasn't going to take this battle against Damian lightly now. "That Vigoroth are the most HOT blooded and energetic Pokémon and it can use one extremely powerful attack!"
As Vent said these words, his Pokémon broke free from the free. It was immediately blasted by another Water Gun. The Vigoroth dodged the move and its hand began to give off a tremendous energy as it rushed forward towards Doro. It seemed however Doro knew what was coming, it didn't even need to use the fin on its head to tell. It simply stood its ground, taking the full force of the 'punch' from Vigoroth. As it was hit by the attack it slammed its tail into the Vigoroth but it didn't do much. "That was a focus punch, the strongest fighting type move. It may not be super effective, but your Mudkip is not going to be able to withstand that blow so you might as well switch to your next Pokémon…wait, what the hell?"Vent couldn't believe his eyes, Doro was still standing, just barely though. "Tough little guy huh? Sorry but you can't beat Vigoroth!"
Doro smiled, its legs were shaking, but it knew something that Vent didn't. "Look again Vent…"Damian finally spoke out, he pointed to Vigoroth who was actually out cold but still standing, this was probably due to its pent up energy from when it was a Slakoth, it would keep standing till it's body was worn out. Vent was completely shocked by this however, he smiled.
"Heh, guess I got over confident, I shouldn't have let my guard down just because my Pokémon evolved. You used counter, didn't you? That's why Vigoroth went down, It was hit with double the power of its own attack…"Vent sighed as he withdrew his Pokémon. "Heh, sorry buddy… You evolved, I thought we had this in the bag, but I was overconfident and I let you down…this kid is something though, his Mudkip used counter as if it already knew what I was going to do and it didn't even use it's fin by the looks of it."Vent threw his second Pokéball to the field and from it came forth the Pokémon that Vent had used to save Damian from the Zubat back in the cave, it was none other than Smeargle. "This is my last Pokémon, the Painter Pokémon. Let's see if you can match it in power…"
"Hey uh, I'm just going to call a TKO on Doro okay? He may want to go on but he's hurt pretty bad, I'm not gonna let it fight in this condition."Damian said as he scratched the back of his head and withdrew Doro. He took out his Pokédex. "Eon's a normal type so he won't be very effective against Smeargle, especially with the moves he knows. Taking that into consideration and the nature of this Pokémon, who knows what skills this Pokémon knows, after all, its signature move is Sketch. Well, let's do this! Looks like I'll be using you…Crow."Damian looked at the Pokéball containing the Golbat he had caught. It seemed very sad about what it did to Damian, even though he hadn't been the target. Damian just smiled, he tapped his ear for a few seconds and threw the Pokéball. "Come on out, Crow!"
The Golbat let out a screech as soon as it came out of its Pokéball. "Alright, Crow use Heat Wave!"Damian said.
"Wait, he's giving commands now? …Is it because he just caught this Pokémon recently…wait, If that's the case why does it know Heat Wave? Golbat can only learn that through being thought how. If he caught it recently that also means it was probably the one that bit him and the one that attacked. It must've been weary of Pokémon trainers…since it most likely had one and was abandoned by him or her…"Vent thought. "Smeargle, dodge with Teleport and then attack with Extreme Speed!"
The Golbat flapped its wings and let out blazing gale force winds, however the Smeargle simply warped out of the way. It slammed into Crow full force from behind. The attack was even stronger because Smeargle and the move it had used were both Normal types. Crow returned, it didn't even look damaged at by the attack however.
"Tch…how's it able to attack like that?"Damian muttered. "Crow get in close and use Leech Life!" Crow flew towards Smeargle at high speeds.
"Heh…didn't you learn from using Heat Wave? We can dodge your attack! Smeargle, Teleport and use Extreme Speed!"Vent commanded, he was getting really into this battle and he hadn't felt this kind of rush from a challenge in a while. Smeargle once more dodged with teleport, it appeared behind Crow. "You were saying, 'how is it able to attack like that' correct? Sketch, the signature move of Smeargle, has allowed it to copy the moves of Pokémon it has encountered in the past, that's why it knows Extreme Speed and Teleport!"
"No, I didn't mean that, I meant how it can attack while it's confused. I mean, it's used three moves without falling all over itself. I know it doesn't have 'Own Tempo' as its ability, I scanned it with my Pokédex and found that much out when you set it out. Its ability is 'Technician', so it can't avoid being confused, that's all."Damian chuckled. Smeargle was just standing there behind Crow in a daze, it fell and hit the floor. Crow used Leech Life, it bit into the Smeargle while it was down and still confused, however the pain snapped the Pokémon right out of it. Crow drained a bit of Smeargle's vitality and backed away, it couldn't take too much or it wouldn't be able to move as fast.
"Confused? Tch, how'd this happ-"Vent's eyes widened. He remembered how Damian had tapped his ear just before throwing the Pokéball and how Golbat used let out a screech as it came out of its Pokéball. "You signaled Golbat to use Supersonic while it was still in its ball…clever…heh, damn. It has been a whie since I've had a battle THIS satisfying. You're one hell of a challenger! Smeargle…ICE SHARD!"
Smeargle created a blue energy ball in its hand and flung it towards the opposing Golbat, from the ball burst forth a barrage of icicles. They were flying fast, but Crow wasn't a slow Pokémon itself.
"Hey, you're not half bad yourself!"Damian said with a grin. "Trying to land a super effective with a fast move like Ice Shard huh? Well then Crow, use Heat Wave one more time! Burn through the shards!"The bat Pokémon flapped its wings with more force than it had during its previous attack. The Heat Wave was much stronger than before, it melted the Ice Shards and kept going fast. Smeargle was hit before it got the chance to move out of the way. It had been hurt very badly by the attack and it afflicted with a 'burn' status, white smoke rising from its body.
"Ha ha. You landed an attack that's three times more powerful than normal…a critical hit. This is it…the last one. Smeargle use HEAT WAVE!"Vent roared. The weakened Pokémon used the last bit of strength it had and unleashed a power blazing gale from its mouth. The attack moved at the even greater speeds than the one Crow had fired. The Golbat was blasted by the attack, it was abnormally high in power.
"Critical hit…"Damian said disdainfully. "However, Crow is still able to go since he isn't burned like your Smeargle". The Golbat continued to fly in place, it was at very low health however Smeargle would faint any second now from the afflicted burn. The Smeargle was down to its last bit of vitality, more of the white smoke rose from its body and it fell forward onto the grass. Vent laughed, he had lost to Damian but he wasn't upset in the least. He withdrew Smeargle and as he did, the 'Second Space' flashed and faded away, they were now back in the gym, the gentle breeze that was blowing in the field had stopped. Damian gave Crow a thumbs up, the Pokémon looked very happy to have been of some help in this battle and Damian then withdrew him. Vent reached into his pocket and pulled out the badge he had to award to Damian since he had won. It was 'Trainer' badge, the design was simple. It was basically a flat Pokéball, the top was red in the front and white in the back and vice versa for the bottom. "That's your first official Pokémon league badge, the Trainer Badge makes it so Pokémon up to level 30 will obey you and the success rate of your Pokéballs will actually increase a bit, so you'll probably have an easier time when trying capture Pokémon. I'd recommend heading to Teslite town and challenging the leader there."Vent explained. "Come on, let's go get out Pokémon healed, they're pretty banged up after that battle."
Damian nodded and the two headed out of the gym, it was around eight o'clock and just across the street and back into the Pokémon center. The nurse seemed worried but took their Pokéballs and put them in the recovery machine. As soon as the Pokémon were healed, the lights in the Pokémon center went out. "What the-"Damian looked around in confusion. "A blackout?"
"…It's back…"Vent scowled. It was as if he knew the blackout hadn't happened normally, as if it had been caused by something. "Rotom… Tch, looks like it's time to make a call."Vent said taking out his Pokégear.
"To who? The Ghost Busters?"Damian asked half-serious. He looked up 'Rotom' in his Pokédex and it said it was part Ghost part Electric type.
"No, to the guy who has been after this Pokémon for weeks and is the only who has ever managed to get close to Rotom."Vent explained "Gym Leader of Teslite Town, the 'Energized Enemy' Theo Kobayashi". The call failed. "Looks like the phone lines are dead…you're lucky kid, I'm about to save you the trip to Teslite Town. Come on out Smeargle! Teleport us to Teslite Town!" Vent threw the Pokéball and Smeargle burst forth from it. The Smeargle grabbed both Damian and Vent's hands and they all disappeared in a flash.