Chapter 9

Fuchsia City Pokémon Center

29 Ananeosis, 30 Zenoheld / March 30, 20—

After numerous slashes at the unyielding rock, Scyther had finally managed to break a hole in the barrier surrounding it. The Mantis Pokémon glanced through the hole that it had created, only to discover that its opponent had shown no hesitation: Rhyhorn was charging at it full speed, and gaining fast.

A moment later, Rhyhorn's Horn Attack shattered the Rock Tomb, sending Scyther and rubble flying. When the rubble settled, Scyther was badly bruised.

Finally, a way to hit that annoying bug! Volt thought. Better strike while the iron is hot, though.

"Rhyhorn, use Rock Tomb again!" Volt commanded.

Rhyhorn erected another Rock Tomb around the buried Scyther.

"Horn Attack!" Volt ordered.

Rhyhorn charged towards the rock-entombed Scyther again, eager to take its opponent down in one final charge.

The Spikes Pokémon crashed through the Rock Tomb, sending Scyther and a lot of rubble launching past Tracey and landing halfway between the Trainer and the wall behind him. Scyther was out cold.

Nurse Joy raised an arm in Volt's direction. "Scyther is unable to battle! Rhyhorn wins!"

"Good work, Rhyhorn!" Volt said.

Rhyhorn grunted in affirmation.

Tracey ran towards his battered Pokémon. "Scyther, are you OK?" he said, worried.

Coming to, the battered Pokémon was able to utter a weak "Scyther."

"It's good to hear your voice, buddy," Tracey said. "You deserve a good rest. Scyther, return!" The Poké Ball now in Tracey's hand shot out a red laser beam, which turned Scyther into a mass of red plasma that was then sucked into the Poké Ball.

"Rhyhorn, return!" Volt said, pointing his Poké Ball at the Pokémon. Just like with Scyther, Rhyhorn returned to its Poké Ball.

"That was a good battle, Mr. Luster. Using Rock Tomb to trap Scyther was a good strategy," said Tracey, returning to his position at the side of the battlefield. "But don't expect the next round to go so easily!"

"I'm ready when you are," said Volt, eager to resume the battle.

"It's not every day that somebody manages to beat Scyther," said Tracey. "But now let's see how you handle my next Pokémon. Venonat, I choose you!"

Emerging from Tracey's Poké Ball was what appeared to be a ball of purple fuzz. It had big, red compound eyes, two antennae that emerged from points between the eyes, stubby hands and feet, and an insectoid mouth.

Volt pointed Dextra at the bug.

"Venonat, the Insect Pokémon," Dextra said. "Its coat of thin, stiff hair that covers its entire body is said to have evolved for protection. Its large eyes never fail to spot even miniscule prey."

He's sending out another Bug-type? Volt thought. Is he deliberately using Pokémon that are weak against mine?

"Hey, Tracey!" Volt called out. "Are you trying to go easy on me? I may be a new Trainer, but I don't need your pity!"

"Don't you underestimate my Venonat," Tracey replied. "I know that your other Pokémon is a Charmander, but don't think that it's going to be a walk in the park just because you have a type advantage!"

"Fine, then," Volt said. "Pokémon, brawl!

"Rise, Charmander!"

Upon emerging from its Poké Ball, Charmander loosed a stream of embers into the air.

Volt looked at Dextra's entry on Charmander's moves. So, it knows Ember, Growl, Scratch, and Smoke Screen. Well, I know what to do here.

Volt started to issue a command: "Charmander—"

But he got interrupted by Tracey: "Venonat, use Supersonic!"

At its Trainer's command, Venonat issued an odd-sounding screech at Charmander. As the insect's screech reached its opponent, Charmander started wobbling on its feet.

"Charmander?" Volt said warily.

"Venonat's Supersonic confused Charmander," Nurse Joy explained. "It will snap out of it eventually, but until it does, its attacks might miss or even hurt itself.

"If you don't want to take that risk, you can switch back to Rhyhorn; a Pokémon immediately snaps out of confusion once it returns to its Poké Ball."

Volt pondered his options. If I switch back to Rhyhorn, I will certainly win—I doubt that Rhyhorn could hit itself even if it tried. But let's see how effective this "confusion" thing is.

"Charmander, use Ember!" Volt commanded.

At its Trainer's command, the Lizard Pokémon fired a stream of embers from its mouth. However, its attack, badly aimed due to the confusion, widely missed its target.

If I get closer, I shouldn't be able to miss. "Charmander, use Scratch!"

Charmander raised its arm and charged towards the Venonat.

"Venonat, Confusion!" Tracey ordered.

Venonat's eyes glowed blue. A blue aura surrounded Charmander as Venonat used its telekinetic power to lift the lizard off of the ground. Still in the throes of confusion, Charmander was still moving its legs, believing itself to be getting ever closer to Venonat.

After a while, it swiped its claws—

—and was snapped back to reality as it Scratched its own leg.

"Char!" the Pokémon cried out in its pain.

To add insult to injury, Venonat chose that very moment to release Charmander from its psychic hold, dropping the Pokémon right on its tail. Another cry of "CHAR!" could be heard at the moment of impact.

After it cried out, Charmander sat up, its eyes suddenly bright. It then shook its head, and having regained its bearings, it rose and confidently shot a stream of embers into the air.

It must have snapped out of its confusion. Volt thought. Now let's see what those embers can actually do against an opponent.

"Charmander, use Ember!" Volt commanded.

"Venonat, Signal Beam!" commanded Tracey.

At their Trainers' commands, the Pokémon fired their attacks at each other. The projectiles met midway between the two, scattering light and embers in all directions.

"Don't give up, Charizard!" Volt encouraged.

"Venonat, give it all you've got!" said Tracey.

The two attacks pushed against one another for what seemed like an eternity. However, after a few seconds' struggle, the Signal Beam started to push the Ember stream back. Before long, Charmander was knocked down by a direct hit from Venonat's attack.

"Char," the Pokémon said weakly as it lay supine on the floor.

"Charmander, are you alright?" Volt asked. "If this is too much for you, I can let Rhyhorn take over the battle."

In response, Charmander got onto its feet after great effort, turned towards its Trainer, and shot another stream of embers straight up into the air.

"You don't give up that easily, don't you?" Volt said.

"Char, char!" Charmander said, shaking its head.

But the little guy's taken so much punishment already. It would make more tactical sense to switch to Rhyhorn.

Then again, if I switch, that might come back to haunt me in the long run. Best to show Charmander that I won't give up on it. Even if it loses, I'll still have the opportunity to finish Venonat off with Rhyhorn.

"OK, then," Volt concluded. Pointing towards Venonat, he added, "Let's show that purple fuzzball what you can really do!"

"Char!" Charmander said, flexing its arms in a show of determination. It then turned back towards Venonat.

"What passion! What determination! I just had to take a sketch!" said Tracey, who had taken out his sketchpad during the exchange. He was now sketching the face of the Pokémon that was staring down his Venonat.

"Well, prepare to take a sketch of your Venonat cringing in defeat!" Volt replied. "Charmander, Smoke Screen!"

At its Trainer's command, Charmander belched a cloud of thick black smoke that completely enveloped it.

"Don't think that you can trick Venonat that easily! Its eyes are like radar," said Tracey.

"Then I won't give it time to scan!" replied Volt. "Charmander, Scratch!"

Before Venonat knew it, Charmander emerged from the Smokescreen and clawed at the insect.

"Keep Scratching! Don't let it get the chance to concentrate!" Volt commanded.

Charmander hit Venonat with a barrage of swipes from both arms, the Insect Pokémon withering under the assault.

"Don't think that you've won just yet!" Tracey retorted. "There are quite a few surprises hidden under Venonat's coat. Venonat, Sleep Powder!"

Sleep?! I cannot afford to have Charmander doze off in the middle of a battle! "Back off, Charmander!" Volt commanded.

Charmander obeyed in the nick of time, managing to get just out of range of the blue cloud that was now emanating from Venonat.

"Now finish it off with Ember!" Volt commanded.

Charmander took another step backwards, took a deep breath, and let loose a red-hot stream of embers towards Venonat. A pained cry issued from the Insect Pokémon as it succumbed to the super-effective Fire attack.

When the stream of embers stopped, Venonat, covered in ashes, fell to the ground.

"Venonat is unable to battle," announced Nurse Joy. "The winner is Charmander!" Turning to Volt, she continued, "That means that the winner of the battle is Volt Luster!"

"Char!" cheered Charmander as it ran toward Volt. Once it was a few feet away, it jumped towards its Trainer, who picked it up and let it wrap its arms around his head.

"That was a good battle, Charmander," said Volt.

"Char, char!" said the Pokémon, bursting with pride.

After setting Charmander onto the ground, Volt said, "You know, I think I might have a nickname for you after all."

"Char?" said the lizard, head cocked at an angle.

"The way you brawl—uh, I mean 'battle'—you remind me of a hero of old. He had a fiery spirit and was fierce in battle. Tell me: how would you like to be called 'Apollonir'?"

"Char-man-der-char," said Charmander pensively, as if saying the name to itself. "Char…" it said, a claw to its chin.

After a second, Charmander smiled and nodded. "Char!"

"Then it's settled," said Volt. "From this moment on, your name is Pyrus Apollonir!"

"Char, char!" Charmander affirmed.

Volt took Apollonir's Poké Ball from his belt.

"Apollonir, return!"

A/N: And thus ends Volt's first battle. And yes, I did just have Volt name Charmander after one of the Six Legendary Soldiers of Vestroia. I picture Volt as someone who admires strong battlers, even if they are his enemies. And given that Charmander's final evolution looks like a dragon anyway, I think that the name fits.

As for Tracey's choice of Pokémon, I know that he has a Marill. However, it would have been a total loss for Volt if Tracey were to use it. So, in a sense, Tracey did go easy on Volt—he gave Volt a difficult victory instead of a total loss. Just don't tell that to Volt!

In the next chapter, Team Rocket returns!