Right now, for me, it is Wednesday. And this will be the day I put up each new chapter of this story. Since it is going to be quite long, a schedule like this is important for me, especially now that I'm starting class tomorrow.
Unfortunately, my other stories will be written as I have time. Sorry about this. But at least Ludwig and Feliciano's adventures will be constant (unless something happens and I'm unable to update. I'll let you know if I won't be able to.)
So without further ado, here is Ludwig's first gym battle!
Ludwig's Party:
"Charlotte" (Charmander) – Lvl 14
"Scimmia" (Mankey) – Lvl 10
Feliciano's Party:
Uccello (Pidgey) – Lvl 42
Bella (Pidgey) – Lvl 3
"Sandshrew, let's show this guy who's boss!" George shouted, tossing the ball out on the field to release the tiny ground type.
Ludwig felt the display was unnecessarily flamboyant. A good soldier would never clue in their enemy like that. So, silently, he released his mankey.
The boy laughed at the sight of the fiery-tempered pokemon. "Seriously? That little thing can't beat sandshrew in a million light years!"
Scimmia was infuriated by the insult. He stamped the ground, letting loose a furious cry. Ludwig smiled grimly. Only an idiot would insult another's pokemon before even beginning the battle.
"Light years are a distance. Now Scimmia, karate chop," Ludwig commanded calmly, remembering to use the nickname Feliciano had originally given the mankey.
The pokemon let out an alien strangled sound that Ludwig could only describe as a war cry, launching its body at the sandshrew with flailing arms.
"Sandshrew, quick dig to escape!" George shouted quickly.
Sandshrew had been trying to dodge its opponent. The sudden command threw the pokemon off, and it stumbled in its attempt to change its course of action. That was all Scimmia needed to land a solid hit square on the ground types head.
The sadistic smile forming at the corners of Ludwig's mouth widened. Obviously there wasn't much coordination between this trainer and pokemon. George was just a big-mouthed sorry excuse for a gym trainer.
A shiver ran down the sandshrew's back. Slowly, it tilted, and finally fell onto its back, knocked out cold by Scimmia's furious attack. George stared at the sight, open-mouthed, like he couldn't believe his mediocre strategy would ever fail him.
Ludwig crossed his arms, smile never fading from his face. "I believe I won," he said with a nod toward the stands, where Feliciano was jumping around enthusiastically, cheering at the top of his lungs.
"YAY, LUDDY! YOU DID IT, YAY! YOU WON!" he was cheering. Elise was smiling softly at him from her seat next to him, surprising considering her painfully shy first impression she'd given them. Ludwig would have thought Feliciano's antics would scare her off.
George returned his pokemon, refusing to look Ludwig in the eye. "Yeah, sure whatever. Lucky shot. You still can't beat Vash!" he declared, spinning on his heel and running back through the door he had entered from.
Not too long after, a girl poked her head from the room. "Hello," she greeted Ludwig, bowing her head slightly. "So you beat George? He was very upset."
Ludwig nodded, unapologetic. "Ja, I did. One strike," he said, returning Scimmia to his ball.
The girl giggled. "Actually, I'm not surprised. To be quite honest, George talks big, but he's really weak." She paused to laugh again. "I'm Haley, and I'll be you're next opponent. And I won't be quite so easy to defeat," she finished with a confident grin.
Ludwig removed his charmeleon's ball from his belt. "We'll see about that," he said.
Haley grabbed one of the two pokeballs dangling from little silver chains on her belt loop, like some kind of stylish charm. "Strong, silent type? I can deal with that. Let's go then, Zubat!" she called, releasing the bat pokemon.
"Now, use ember," Ludwig commanded the second Zubat burst from the ball of white light.
Charmeleon obeyed immediately, releasing a ball of fire much stronger than anything her previous form could have ever produced. The nimble airborne pokemon swooped beneath it, and the fire hit the far wall, bursting apart harmlessly.
"Excellent, Zubat! Now confuse ray!" Haley shouted.
The zubat released an iridescent ball of its own, sending it shooting at Charmeleon. Fortunately, she dodged backwards, and returned with a second ember, which missed.
"Zubat, swoop in for a leech life!"
"Metal claw!"
Zubat shot at Charmeleon, fangs bared. At Ludwig's quick command, Charmeleon readied herself, claws a bright silver, preparing for a fierce counter attack. Haley smirked.
"Zubat!"
Charmeleon swung just as Zubat suddenly opened its wings wide, slowing its descent so much that the metal claw attack missed, and Charmeleon was thrown off balance. Using this to its advantage, Zubat blasted another confuse ray at her, succeeding in hitting her directly in the head.
Ludwig gritted his teeth, furious with himself. It wasn't good that he allowed himself to be fooled by such a juvenile tactic. A good soldier must be sharp, and keep his wits about him at all times. Even if he thinks he knows the enemy's plans, a soldier must proceed with caution, in case something like this happens.
"Ember, go!" Ludwig shouted.
Charmeleon shook her head hard, as if to clear it of conflicting thoughts. She swung around, staring at Ludwig confusedly, not quite understanding him. The confuse ray was a success.
"Attack that zubat!"
That time she understood and turned back to her opponent. The zubat flitted around in her field of vision, sometimes darting forward with a tackle. Most of the attacks she batted away, but a couple landed. The barrage of attacks further confused her, and she finally launched forward with a headbutt.
It would have hit its mark if she had actually aimed properly. The zubat was behind her, and what she thought was an enemy pokemon, in her confused state, was actually a rock.
Haley giggled as Charmeleon slammed headfirst into a rock, causing long cracks to shoot through the boulder. "Silly pokemon, my zubat is behind you. Leech life!" she commanded cheerfully.
Zubat dipped down and sunk its fangs into Charmeleon's neck. The crimson pokemon, which had been attempting to stand, fell to her knees as her energy was drained away. Although she batted the bat away quickly, Ludwig could see that she was fatigued.
This was no good. Even though he was loathe to admit it, his charmeleon was no match for the swift zubat. He needed to switch out.
"Return," he said reluctantly, recalling Charmeleon back into her ball. Hopefully she would sort out her confusion inside. In place of her, he released Scimmia.
"Scratch attack, now," he commanded solemnly. Haley had been right, she was much stronger than George. But he would win, no matter what.
"Dodge it, Zubat, and confuse ray!" Haley called. Her smile had widened as Ludwig was forced to return Charmeleon to her ball.
Zubat managed to dodge the first furious swipe Scimmia aimed, but the second knocked the bat pokemon from the air. It hit the ground hard, bouncing against the same rock that Charmeleon had attacked in her confusion.
"Don't let up, Scimmia. Destroy it," Ludwig said. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He was going to win this battle, no matter what.
Scimmia obeyed gladly, pouncing on top of the fallen pokemon, attacking with a succession of wild scratches. The zubat may have been crying out, but whatever sounds it was making were too high pitched for human ears. Not mankey ones, however, and Ludwig could see that what Scimmia was hearing enraged it into an uncontrollable fury.
Haley gasped, her smile transforming into a horrified, open-mouthed gaze. "No, Zubat! Return!" She thrust her pokeball out, the red light shooting out from the center.
Scimmia was nearly completely covering the zubat, however, and the red beam shattered against the mankey's body. The girl's face tightened into a panic. "No! Return, Zubat! Come on! Return!" she screamed, trying again and again to recall her pokemon.
In desperation, she looked over at Ludwig, who was standing with his arms crossed, a satisfied look on his face. "Stop your pokemon! Let me switch out Zubat!" she pleaded.
A corner of Ludwig's mouth tilted up. "Not until this battle is finished," he replied cooly.
Haley looked like she was about to cry. "You're a monster! A brute!" she yelled at him. When he didn't reply, she cried out in frustration. "Fine, I give up! Just stop hurting my pokemon!"
Ludwig obliged, immediately returning Scimmia. Haley ran over to Zubat, throwing herself on her knees by the pokemon.
"Zubat! Are you ok? Zubat?" she was saying, her hands hovering over her pokemon's mangled body, too afraid to touch it lest she hurt it even more.
The pokemon weakly lifted a wing. The tears Haley was holding back dropped freely now. "Oh thank Arceus, you're alive. Don't worry, Zubat. I'll get you to the pokemon center, and you'll be fine!" she said as she recalled Zubat.
She stood as soon as Zubat was safely in its ball, glaring at Ludwig. "You're the worst! I hope Vash crushes you!" she screamed at him, before she sprinted out of the gym.
Ludwig let her words bounce off of him. If she wasn't prepared to lose her pokemon, then she shouldn't have sent it into battle in the first place.
He looked up at the stands. Elise had tears streaming down her face, staring blankly down at the arena. She didn't seem to register that Feliciano had his arms around her, hugging her tightly, his own face buried in her thin shoulder. Ludwig remembered that she had been kidnapped before. Did he remind her of those… those criminals?
No, that was impossible. He was going to one day protect Kanto; he wasn't like those lawless men.
The door swung open yet again. A man with blond hair reaching just down to his chin stepped out. His hard, glaring, emerald eyes were locked onto Ludwig as he exited the back room. He stood opposite of the arena from Ludwig, crossing his arms as he stared over at the larger, blue-eyed trainer.
"I watched your gym battles from the cameras," he said.
"I see," Ludwig replied.
"You're strong."
Ludwig nodded.
"And ruthless."
Ludwig set his jaw. "Anything to win."
Suddenly the man exploded with anger. "You're the worst kind of man! You just fight and fight, never stopping! And if you see a way to get what you want, you'll take it! Even if others are hurt in the process! Just like that vile Team Rocket who hurt my sister!" he shouted.
Ludwig remained silent, glaring back at the man. That was a lie, he wouldn't hurt the people of Kanto, no matter what.
His maintained silence further angered the man. "Don't you have anything to say?" he demanded.
"Like an apology? No."
The man yanked a pokeball from his pocket. "I am Vash Zwingli, leader of the Pewter City Gym. My rock pokemon and I will crush you like the disgusting bug you are," he said.
Ludwig selected Charmeleon again. If he was going up against the gym leader now, it was better to start off with the weaker of the two. "We'll see about that."
Simultaneously, the competitors threw their pokeballs out into the arena. A geodude burst out from Vash's ball as Charmeleon burst from Ludwig's. Vash gave a short laugh. "A fire type against a rock? Not very smart," he said.
Ludwig ignored the jibe. "Metal claw," he commanded.
Charmeleon rushed forward. Before Vash could say anything, she slashed the geodude with brightly glowing claws. They cut deep into even Geodude's rock body, and sent it flying into the opposite wall. Geodude crashed hard, leaving a sizable crater in the wall, and fell to the ground, unconscious.
Ludwig smirked as Vash's jaw dropped. "You were saying something about me not being smart?" he asked.
Vash recovered from his shock. "I was caught off guard. Trust me, it won't happen again. Onyx, tackle!" he called, releasing his pokemon at the same time as giving the command.
Before the white light could even clear, the large rock snake lunged forward, slamming hard into Charmeleon. She was unconscious before she even hit the wall.
"How about that?" Vash said, crossing his arms.
Ludwig shrugged, readying Scimmia's ball. "She was near fainting anyway," he said, nonchalant.
Vash's mouth twisted into a snarl. "You're horrible," he said,
"So you've told me," Ludwig retorted, releasing the mankey. "Scimmia, karate chop."
"Rock throw!" Vash commanded.
Onyx was much too big to dodge Scimmia, but it could always counter the attacks. It's tail wrapped around a sizable boulder, hurling it at the monkey-like pokemon. Fortunately for Ludwig, mankeys were small and nimble like monkeys, as well as having the appearance of them. Scimmia dodged the projectile and landed a solid chop on the rock pokemon's body. A network of cracks spread out in every direction.
Ludwig opened his mouth to command Scimmia to do another karate chop, but Vash shouted out, "Onyx, screech then rock throw!"
The rock type opened its jagged jaw and let loose a terrible screeching sound. Ludwig flinched, resisting the urge to cover his ears with his hands. Even Vash looked like he was in great pain, although he was obviously trying to hide it. In the stands, both Elise and Feliciano shamelessly plugged their ears, hunched forward with eyes shut tight.
Scimmia got the worst of it. With the pokemon's sensitive ears, the screeching must have been almost a physical assault on him. He stood rooted in place, eyes screwed shut and hands flattening his ears against his head. This left him defenseless as Onyx picked up another boulder and hurled it at him. And this time it hit him square on.
The fighting type was knocked back several feet. It was a miracle that he wasn't sent sprawling.
"Scimmia, use karate chop, and don't let up until you break it!" Ludwig said.
As the mankey jumped to obey, Vash glared. "Oh no you don't. Bind it, Onyx, and don't let it escape!" he called.
Scimmia managed to land a single hit when Onyx's body suddenly constricted, wrapping about the mankey so tightly that he couldn't move, let alone free his arms to continue his attack. The irregular edges of Onyx's body jabbed hard into Scimmia. If he didn't pass out from suffocation, then he surely would from the pain.
Ludwig took a deep steadying breath, trying to stem off the building frustration threatening to make him panic. There was still a way he could win this, he knew there was.
"Go, Scimmia! Go Luddy! You can do it!"
Right, Feliciano. This mankey was quite fond of his previous owner. And while Ludwig didn't believe that such a bond actually made a pokemon any stronger than one that lacked the bond, at least it could give the pokemon some motivation to escape and win.
Besides, there was nothing left to try.
"Come on, Scimmia! Escape! Do it for Feliciano! Don't lose this!" Ludwig shouted, feeling almost awkward cheering on the pokemon.
"I know you can do it, Scimmia! Do your best!" Feliciano cheered, jumping around the stands in his excitement.
Amazingly, that did the trick. With both his former trainer and new trainer cheering him on, Scimmia managed to free one of his arms. It wasn't much, but it was enough to give the Onyx a single, hard chop. The rock snake pokemon jerked, suddenly releasing Scimmia as pain shot through its body. Scimmia dropped to the ground, exhausted and a little worse for wear, but still able to battle.
"Don't let it snag you again, Scimmia. Jump onto its body and attack the head!" Ludwig commanded, allowing himself to feel a little thrill that his pokemon managed to escape the binding.
Scimmia clambered up the body, his long, thin fingers easily finding the crevices and footholds in the rock type's body. The bulky pokemon couldn't do anything to stop Scimmia from getting onto its head and unleashing a strong karate chop.
Onyx bucked its head wildly, trying to throw the other pokemon off, but Scimmia held on tightly, refusing to let go. The exertions were wearing on the large pokemon, and still Scimmia remained on top. Literally.
"Ram your head into the wall, Onyx!" Vash yelled.
Ludwig remained silent. Vash must be desperate if he was commanding his pokemon to damage itself in order to hurt Scimmia. And he knew Scimmia wouldn't allow itself to be crushed against the wall. He knew Scimmia would be the victor.
Onyx lurched forward, head bent so as to hit the mankey against the wall with the headbutt. Scimmia held on tightly, and for a frightening moment Ludwig felt that he had thought wrong, and Scimmia really wasn't smart enough to jump out of the way of danger. He didn't see the result, however, as both he and Vash ducked and shielded their eyes as a burst of dust and rocks filled the arena when Onyx hit the wall.
Cautiously, Ludwig lifted his head, looking through the cloud of dust with squinted eyes. There was a silence on the field as everyone watched for the results with bated breath. Did Onyx succeed? Was Scimmia now a mess of mankey jam? Or did he manage to emerge victorious.
The smoke cleared, and there was Onyx. The rock snakes great body was on the ground. The crash had rendered the pokemon unconscious. Scimmia stood atop the onyx, crying out victoriously, beating its chest proudly and doing what could only be described as a victory dance.
Despite his efforts to remain stony, Ludwig couldn't help but feel a great soaring pride fill his chest. His training had paid off. He had won his first gym battle, and he was one step closer to be army-fit.
"Yay! You did it, Luddy! Great job Scimmia! You won, you won!" Feliciano cheered.
Vash returned Onyx to its pokeball, looking grim. "Yes, you won," he admitted reluctantly. He pulled a small object from his pocket and approached Ludwig. When he reached the victorious man, he thrust his fist out to him.
Ludwig held out his hand, and Vash dropped the small Pewter badge into his waiting palm. "Watch yourself on your quest for power. If you get too hungry, I'll make sure you're taken down," Vash warned him.
He removed a small case from his pocket and pinned it neatly to the cushioned lining. "Same to you," he replied, remembering Vash's quest for strength of his own—the reason the man became a gym leader, according to those cashiers at the mart.
Vash let out a humorless snort. "Except I'm working to protect someone dear to me," he said.
Ludwig kept his expression cool and composed. "As am I. All of Kanto," he replied.
Another short laugh. "Right. You've got a lot to learn before you're fit to protect anyone."
To that, Ludwig didn't deign to reply. Instead, he turned and walked out of the gym, pocketing his badge case. Feliciano hurried to follow.
"Bye, Elise~! I'll see you again sometime soon, ok~?" Feliciano called out behind him.
And to everyone's surprise, Elise said, "Goodbye, Feliciano," in the tiniest voice Ludwig had ever heard.
"Elise? You spoke!" Vash was saying as the doors closed behind them.
Ludwig looked down at Feliciano. How could this pathetically weak man get a mute to actually speak to him?
"How did you do that?" he asked, unable to contain his awe.
Feliciano looked up at him bemusedly. "Ve? Do what?"
"Get her to talk. She hasn't spoken at all since she was kidnapped," he said. Well, at least he was sure that was the case. He couldn't see any reason why Vash would be so surprised at her speaking.
Feliciano shrugged, still looking puzzled at Ludwig's astonishment. "Ve, I was just being nice to her. I'm nice to all the pretty ladies," he said, waving Ludwig's question off.
There was definitely something about Feliciano, perhaps something that even the carefree Italian didn't even know about himself. The only thing Ludwig knew was that an innate power like that could be very useful. Not in the battlefield, of course, but perhaps in other critical situations.
Maybe it was worth keeping Feliciano around after all.
