The Minty Five-Star Adventure
By: Minty-Fivestar
Part Seven: Weakness
[A free-for-all battle, then,] I told the young girl I faced, my eyes lit with psychic energy. She thought she could defeat me? She had no idea of what she faced.
"A free-for-all. Agreed," she replied. I watched her close her eyes in concentration, as her hand touched a Pokéball on her belt. Suddenly she smiled, and took the Pokéball firmly in her right hand. "Let's start this off! Go, Heishin!" she yelled, throwing her Pokéball into the center of the floor. The chamber was momentarily brightened as it flashed, releasing a powerful-looking Nidoking. It roared in determination.
How foolish, I thought to myself. Why should she use a Nidoking? Poison-types are weak against my Psychic power. I lowered myself to the floor and watched her scornfully. Perhaps she didn't know what she was doing. Perhaps she wasn't as skilled as I thought.
Her eyes lifted up to meet mine, and I was startled by the amount of determination I saw in them. Suddenly, I wasn't so sure that she was ignorant of the type match-up. Maybe she had chosen her Nidoking on purpose.
Was she trying to make fun of me?
Maybe. Maybe not.
I realized that maybe this wasn't going to be an easy fight after all.
"Ready to go, Heishin?" I called to my Nidoking, feeling pumped for the battle. I knew that Heishin had a type disadvantage, but I was counting on him to weaken Mewtwo. How? Well… that's a surprise…
Heishin growled and poised himself for battle. We had been through so many battles, ever since the day I had caught him as a feisty Nidoran, that we knew without saying what the basic strategy would be. That kind of trust between a trainer and a Pokémon can make all the difference in battle.
I watched Mewtwo carefully, and suddenly—he struck. His eyes grew purple, and Heishin was lifted several feet off the ground by psychic power. As my Poison/Ground-type struggled in the air, Mewtwo casually tossed his head, and Heishin was flung into the nearby wall.
"Heishin! You ok? Try Body Slam!" I called to him. I wasn't sure if that would work or not, but I needed him to get within range to fire off my special attack.
Mewtwo didn't say anything, but I could detect his scorn. He must have thought I was insane. Any strong Psychic-type could avoid or stop a physical attack like that. What was I thinking?
Oh, wouldn't you like to know…
Foolish girl. Body Slam me? Was she serious? I take back my last comment. This would be easy. Once more, I called upon my vast psychic power and lifted her Nidoking up into the air, and flung it aside carelessly. I stared down at her, into her fiery greenish-brown eyes.
[Heishin, eh?] I asked, a note of scorn apparent in my telepathic voice.
"Mm-hm. It means 'warrior,'" she explained, her arms crossed. "Why?"
[I was just curious,] I replied. [But against me, he is not a warrior, but an obstacle. One I will eliminate easily.]
Her frown deepened. "You don't need to insult him. Try fighting him one-on-one, with none of your psychic-ness. Then you'd be in trouble."
[I was not created to fight physically,] I replied tartly, noticing her Nidoking was back on his feet again. I was a bit surprised it was still in condition to fight, but I hid it from the girl. I didn't need her to poke fun at me any more than she already was.
"Heishin, you still up for more?" she asked her Pokémon. The Poison/Ground-type nodded, giving me a hateful look. Did this Pokémon trust its trainer so much, that it was willing to battle on even if it meant defeat? How pathetic. I couldn't imagine giving myself to another creature, least of all a human. I'd learned plenty about the deceit and greed of humans from those scientists that created me. It puzzled me as to why other Pokémon could become slaves to their influence.
"All right, Heishin, attack!" she commanded. Instantly the Nidoking sprang at me. Another Body Slam? Foolish girl. I waited for a moment to ram a barrier of psychic energy into the Pokémon when it got within range. A terrible mistake.
"Now, Toxic!" she yelled. Toxic? What was Toxic? Confused, I tried to bring up a shield around me, but that Nidoking was faster than its size would have you believe.
With a roar, it spit a nasty glob of purple venom at me, covering most of my left side. I repelled the rest of the Nidoking's charge with a psychic blast, and tried to shake off the sticky, burning goo. It strangely seemed to disappear… evaporate, almost. For a moment, I wondered if the attack had failed. But then, I began to feel dizzy and sick, and the areas where the Toxic had hit burned painfully. I felt frightened, for a spilt second. What had she done?
"Toxic is the most powerful poison attack known to Pokémon," the girl interjected softly, sounding almost sorry. "I'm afraid you'll be feeling the effects of it more and more as the battle goes on."
My fright was immediately replaced by anger, and hatred. [How dare you!] I snapped, feeling the painful, burning poison hurting me under my fur.
"I'm sorry," she admitted, "but I make it a point not to hold back in battle." She turned back to her Nidoking. "Heishin, Horn Attack!"
I rose up to prepare a counterattack, but I gasped in pain as the effects of Toxic really began to take effect. It felt as if I were on fire. Her Nidoking took advantage of this, and attacked me. I was rammed in the side full-force with the blunt side of its powerful horn, and I flew backwards. Only my psychic powers prevented me from hitting the floor.
"You've… never been poisoned before, have you?" the girl asked. "Never felt pain? You haven't really battled much at all."
I couldn't really think of a retort. All I could think of was how badly my injuries hurt. The Horn Attack had left a reddened, deep scrape across my side, and for a moment I thought my ribs were broken. But I took a deep breath. No… I would be ok.
"You've put too much pride in your power, your psychic abilities," she continued. "Being a clone, you haven't seen the world for what it really is. But… that doesn't mean you're any different from other Pokémon."
[Yes, it does,] I hissed. [Unlike your pathetic Pokémon, I will not be a slave to assist humans in their meaningless dreams and goals.]
Her eyes narrowed. "I meant that you can still feel pain, feel sadness, feel joy, and feel fear. Everyone, both humans and Pokémon, feel those emotions. Doesn't that mean something to you?"
I didn't reply.
"You wanted answers, didn't you?" she yelled. "What more do you want?"
[I want to know what my purpose is,] I replied irritably. Her continuous comments infuriated me. I hated how she, a little human girl, was lecturing me on what my faults were. On how I was wrong.
"Body Slam!" she snapped, reverting back to the battle at hand. Her Nidoking growled and charged forward, hoping to catch me off guard again. But I was prepared this time. I formed a ball of psychic energy in my hands, and shot it at her Pokémon with all the force of my hate, my fear, and my anger behind it. The Poison/Ground-type was flung backwards and hit the floor in front of her. I expected to get some pleasure out of seeing her face contort with concern for her Pokémon, but instead, I felt strangely… disappointed. I had defeated her first Pokémon, so why did I feel like the loser?
I watched her kneeling next to her weakened Nidoking, whispering words of praise to it and stroking his muzzle. I felt bitterly cheated of what should have been sweet victory. Why did I feel this way?
Maybe… I was wrong. And maybe she… was right…
No.
I refused to submit to this human. I would prove to her how different I was from a normal Pokémon. How superior I was.
And then I would be the one lecturing her.
