Chapter 6: Aftermath
Uggghhhh...
Can I... open my eyes...
No...
Fading...
"How is he?"
"He's stable but he did have some minor smoke inhalation. His Pignite saved him from the brunt of the flames and burns, however, using the heat as energy to run."
Nnnnngh...
"I think he's waking up. He took quite the beating. What a trooper."
"I hope he's alright."
Aggghh... I'm in so much pain... what happened...
"Open your eyes... Come on!"
Alex awoke to an oxygen mask pumping in air and machines beeping. His arms were sticky and in pain, his right leg was bruised and throbbing, but he somehow managed to open his eyes. His vision was blurry, but he managed to figure out his surroundings. He was lying in a hospital bed, with a doctor examining him with his white lab coat and stethoscope, his intern making notes on a clipboard. Darius was seated on a chair to his left, his eyes lighting up as he noticed Alex's return to consciousness. The doctor gently removed the oxygen mask upon Alex's return to consciousness, allowing him to speak.
"How long was I out for?" Alex asked.
"A solid 17 hours, I'd say. There's nothing seriously wrong with you thanks to your heroic Pignite, and both Pignite and Pikachu are in the Pokémon centre resting. I'm assuming your battle caused the forest fire?" The doctor inquired.
"Forest fire?" Alex gasped, astonished.
"Yep, you cleared a pretty big section of the woods, but the firefighters got there before any major harm came to the area. Took a Rain Dance or two, but it was out pretty quick." The doctor said with an amused look, like he had witnessed a child cause some minor mischief.
"Am I free to go?" Alex asked.
"As long as Darius accompanies you for the next little while, I don't see the problem." The doctor nodded. "Don't do anything too strenuous, now."
"Thanks, doctor! I'll be good. Hehe." Alex sheepishly grinned as he walked out of the room.
As Alex went back to pick up his Pokémon, he couldn't help but notice the low-cut top the nurse's young assistant was wearing. She was a Latina girl with big hoop earrings and she looked to be around 20, and she was well-endowed in the chest area like many Latina girls are. What Alex didn't notice, however, was how quickly the assistant pivoted on her heel as she delivered a jaw-shattering SMACK to the boy's face, sending him reeling back.
"Pervert." She snarled at Alex as she tossed the Pokéballs to the dazed young trainer. Darius was doubled over in hysterics at the scene, and the nearby clerks at the Pokémart were also chuckling to themselves, enjoying the break in their normally mundane routine. Alex slunk out of the Pokémon centre, cheeks thoroughly red from humiliation as well as the slap itself. Darius was wiping away tears as he followed out of the centre after him, face red as a Pokéball from his fit of laughter.
"Smooth, bud." Darius grinned, the normally neutral, calm expression replaced by a grin that could have only come from mirth and schadenfreude at his friend's humiliation.
"Did you SEE those things?" Alex said in protest.
"I saw them in a more discreet manner, not BUUUUUH BOOBIES BUH like you, ya goof." Darius smacked Alex playfully.
"To be fair, they were amazing." Darius nodded in agreement to Alex's statement.
"Bosoms are indeed rad. Anyway, let's head to the gym, I wanna see your Pikachu in action." Darius was still grinning as he sauntered casually towards the gym, Alex rushing past him, eager to redeem himself after the humiliation at the hands of the nurse's assistant.
"Hey guys, good to see ya." Robert walked up to the pair casually as they entered the basement portion of the building that was used as the gym, his hands in his jean pockets, with a small smirk on his face that betrayed no real emotion. "Anything interesting happen recently?"
"Well, Alex here got slapped by the nurse's assistant for staring at her ta-tas." Darius grinned evilly while Alex turned bright red with rage.
"Latina with huge knockers?" Robert commented.
"Yeah." Darius was still smirking until he noticed Robert's face turn from casual and calm to a face that could be only interpreted as pure rage.
"WHAT TH-" Alex was suddenly hoisted by his shoulders and slammed into the wall of the gym.
"If I ever hear about you even looking at my girlfriend's chest ever again, I will make sure your body is NEVER found." Robert snarled, before his face suddenly changed back to his normal expression. "Just kidding, I'm glad you can appreciate how lucky I am. Hehehe." Robert gently put the stunned Alex onto the floor and turned to Darius. "What kind of battle do you want?"
"3-on-3. I just caught another Pokémon yesterday." Darius said calmly as he called out his Snivy to battle.
"Very well. Whismur, you're up." Robert sent out his Whismur to battle Snivy, but this Whismur looked more menacing than the average Whismur. While most Whismur are timid, this Whismur looked just about ready to give Snivy the beating of its life. Its battle shriek was well-nigh deafening, and left Alex slumped over in a daze, but Darius didn't look like he was faring much better. Robert seemed to be completely unfazed by the attack, however.
"Snivy, stop the attack with Leaf Tornado!" Snivy's grimace of pain turned to a look of concentration as leaves began to spin around him. Whismur's wailing finally stopped just long enough for it to be tossed into the air by the whirlwind of cutting leaves.
"Whismur, Pound." Whismur lunged at Snivy, who easily dodged the attack.
"Tackle." Snivy rammed Whismur, but it easily recovered from the attack.
"Shadow Ball, Whismur, now!" Whismur started gathering dark energy around its mouth, emitting a low hum as it concentrated.
"Snivy, Growth!" Snivy began to glow as its eyes closed in concentration. Its muscles began to swell as the dark blob landed a direct hit, obscuring the grass Pokémon in a cloud of purplish smoke from the resulting explosion. The smoke cleared, however, to reveal a much bigger Snivy with swollen muscles and longer, bladed leaves, the shadow ball having only caused it to become angrier. "Vine Whip!"
The vines shot out instantaneously, and one brutal lash sent Whismur into the wall, unable to continue, the spots where the vines hit having turned purplish and bloody by the sheer power of the attack.
"Patrat, let's go! Hypnosis!" Patrat came out of the ball, standing rigidly on full alert as its pink eyes lulled Snivy to sleep.
"Snivy, return!" Darius recalled his sleeping Snivy. "Gligar, you're up!"
Gligar glided out of the Pokéball, pincers at the ready and tongue lolling, as it awaited its trainer's command. It was standing on its tail in an almost precarious way, but stayed perfectly still as it surveyed its target.
"Tackle, now!" Patrat ran headlong towards the immobile Gligar, but the attack made literally no effect on the Gligar when it hit.
"Harden." Gligar stiffened, increasing its physical defense.
"Crunch, Patrat!" Patrat bit down hard on Gligar's tail, but it still seemed to cause Gligar little concern. Darius' defensive play was beginning to frustrate Robert as he gritted his teeth.
"Fury Cutter." Gligar began furiously slashing at the Patrat, each hit doing more damage than the last.
"Patrat, retreat!" Patrat let go and ran, but Gligar simply flew after it and began strafing it from the air.
"Confuse Ray!" Patrat tried to confuse Gligar, but Gligar simply swatted it away with his tail, knocking it out.
"Hmmm... well-played, my friend. That was an excellent display of defensive power. Unfortunately, this ends here." Robert's final Pokémon materialized: a Teddiursa.
"Fury Swipes." Teddiursa ran over to Gligar and landed a series of slashes on Gligar's torso. Unlike Patrat's earlier attacks, it doubled over in pain from the attack's power. "Finish it with a Faint Attack." Teddiursa sucker-punched Gligar, causing it to slump over, unable to continue.
Darius' eyes went wide at the sudden reversal of fortune, but sent out his sleeping Snivy, hoping it would be able to wake up. Snivy had returned to normal size, however, and the added power from Growth has since left its body.
"Close Combat, Teddiursa, finish it." Teddiursa rushed at Snivy, claws raised, and threw its first punch.
Unfortunately for Teddiursa, this was enough to wake up Snivy and send it into a frenzy of Vine Whip attacks. Due to Close Combat's reckless nature where it leaves the attacker unguarded, Teddiursa sustained heavy damage and was subsequently rammed by a tackle from Snivy. However, it still managed to climb to its feet and scratch back, clawing Snivy across the face and causing it to bleed. Snivy began to fall when its body glowed green.
"Overgrow again. Now this will work better." Darius thought.
"Leaf Tornado!" Snivy began to spin on its back, almost as if it was breakdancing, while an enormous whirlwind of leaves obscured the whole battlefield. Teddiursa was thrown into the air and held there as the leaves began to make it bleed underneath its fur.
"Faint Attack, Teddiursa!" As the leaves died down, Teddiursa was nowhere to be seen, until it suddenly dropped from behind Snivy and kicked it in the back of the head, knocking it out cold on the floor. It was clear that Snivy would no longer be able to battle, which left Darius with only his least experienced Pokemon.
"You're up! Elekid, let's do this!" Elekid came out of the Pokeball, its horns crackling with electrical energy as it stared down its opponent. Despite its cute looks, Teddiursa's power was frightening to behold, as it took out Gligar and Snivy easily with Faint Attack, and Elekid's initial confidence dissipated when it sensed its Trainer's wariness. Clearly, its cute looks were a deception that belied its true power.
"Elekid, Thundershock!" Elekid's arms began to windmill as it charged up for a Thundershock.
"Teddiursa, dodge!" Teddiursa easily sidestepped the electrical bolt, before kicking Elekid in the side with a surprise Faint Attack, causing it to cough up blood as it felt a rib crack from the unexpected assault. Regardless, Elekid got up, fists raised, still looking like it could go all day. "Now, Close Combat." Teddiursa rushed in, ready to finish Elekid off, but Darius noticed it had left itself unguarded again.
"Low Kick." Elekid caught Teddiursa's heel, crashing it to the ground, before releasing a brutal Thundershock at close range. Teddiursa was paralyzed by the hit as electricity crackled around it and it strained to get up. "Perfect."
"Fury Swipes, Teddiursa." Teddiursa rushed with blinding speed at Elekid, scoring numerous hits with its sharp claws. Elekid screeched with pain at the abnormally fast onslaught when Teddiursa suddenly froze in place and stopped attacking."
"Now's your chance. Low Kick, once more." Elekid did another sweep, but Teddiursa nimbly dodged the kick despite being paralyzed. "H...How... How is it even faster..."
"Quick feet allows Teddiursa to become superbly fast when it's afflicted with a status condition, even paralysis." Robert smirked. "Now even your Elekid cannot match it in speed, and your advantage is gone. Close Combat, Teddiursa, finish it."
Teddiursa ran over to Elekid with agility comparable to that of an Infernape as it prepared a brutal onslaught of punches, kicks and slashes.
"Low Kick, Elekid." Teddiursa backflipped away from the attack easily, but remained unguarded during the dodge. "Now, Quick Attack."
Robert cried out for his Teddiursa, but it was too late. Elekid's increased speed allowed it to overcome the defenceless Teddiursa, slamming it with incredible speed into the wall, where it slumped onto the ground in defeat. Teddiursa was completely out cold. Robert's face was one of utter shock from his defeat, his first in 4 months, but he pulled out the Simple Badge as recognition of Darius' victory, the first of many in his Pokemon league challenge. Will Alex be able to pull off a victory of his own?
