(Okay, I'm back. I'll tell you now, though, THIS IS ARGUABLY THE BIGGEST "FILLER CHAPTER" OF THE WHOLE FIC. I just thought up this battle one day and HAD TO WRITE IT. I'm sure you'll understand. I promise, this is some of my best work!)
Love and Pokeballs
Chapter Ten: A Master at Work
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Hi there. I don't think we've been formally introduced. I am Jose. Nice to meet you. Okay, this story may not seem like it has any place here, and, admittedly, most of it doesn't, but bear with me, okay. It has a lot of importance to me.
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"You're looking a little tired this morning." Claire commented. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine." I said with a yawn. "I just need some caffeine."
I hated keeping secrets from Claire, but what could I do? If she knew I was up late helping Michael, she'd kill me!
I walked over to the nearest coffee stand outside the registration building and got a cappuccino, then went and found a table and sat down. I was about to take a sip when—
"Excuse me." A male voice politely asked from behind me. "I hate to bother you, but is your name Jose?"
I turned around to face him. He was just a boy, thirteen tops, with shoulder-length blonde hair, a blue sweatshirt, and a headband around his forehead.
"Yes, it is." I replied. "Why do you ask?"
"My name's Morty." He told me. "I'm your next opponent, and I wanted to meet you in person before our battle. You see, I saw all your previous matches, and I'm real impressed by your strategies."
"That's very kind of you." I said, just before taking a sip of coffee. "I'm sad to say that I missed yours."
"That's okay." He said. "I'm just glad to be battling you. I'm a big fan of your battle style. You see, I've always considered strategy to be the most important part of any battle."
"Excellent." I said, standing up. "I've always believed that how you battle is much more important than what you battle with. Well, I'm sure it'll be a pleasure battling you. Now, if you'll excuse me," I said, taking my coffee. "I need to select my team for our match."
"Okay, then." He said with a smile. "See you then!"
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A couple of hours later I was entering the arena for my match. I had done my homework on Morty before the match. It turns out he uses nothing but Ghost-types.
"All right," the announcer said as Morty and I walked into the arena and our pictures appeared on the scoreboard. "For our next match, we have Jose, the master strategist from Sootopolis City, vs. Morty, the Ghost-type aficionado from Ecruteak City! How will this go down? Let's see."
"It's a real honor to be battling you." Morty said with a smile. "I can't wait to see what Pokemon you use."
"Actually," I told him. "I've decided that since type doesn't decide everything, I'll use Pokemon that are all weak against yours."
"Well, this is a shock!" the announcer exclaimed. "Jose has bragged that he can win by using nothing but type-disadvantaged Pokemon! Can he live up to this promise, or will he fizzle out? Let's find out after selecting who will choose first!"
Instantly, Morty's picture lit up on the scoreboard.
"Okay." Morty said, pulling out a Pokeball. "Go, Gastly!"
Morty threw the Pokeball into the arena and a Pokemon appeared. This one looked like a black ball of gas with big eyes and a thin mouth with small fangs, and was surrounded by a thinner, lavender-colored gas.
"And Morty has chosen Gastly!" the announcer said as Gastly's picture appeared under Morty's. "How will Jose counter?"
"I choose Onix!" I announced, tossing a Pokeball and causing my giant, snakelike Pokemon that appeared to be made of a chain of boulders to appear with a roar.
"Jose chooses Onix!" the announcer said as Onix's picture appeared under mine. "True to his word, he's using a Ground-type against a Pokemon with the Levitate ability! What does he have planned?"
"Onix," I ordered. "Start with Stealth Rock!"
Onix roared and released half a dozen rocks that zoomed to the edges of the battlefield.
"And Jose's started off smart with Stealth Rock!" the announcer recapped. "As everyone knows, Stealth Rock activates and strikes whenever an opponent's Pokemon enters the battle!"
"If I can't switch out, I'll make sure you can't, either!" Morty said. "Gastly, use Mean Look!"
"Onix, take advantage of this time!" I called. "Use Rock Polish!"
Just as Gastly stared at Onix, its eyes glowing red for a second as it did so, Onix's body began to glow and became much shinier.
"Uh-oh," the announcer said. "Morty has stopped Jose from switching out with a Mean Look attack! What will Jose do?"
"Gastly, use your Night Shade!" Morty ordered.
"Gastly, gastly." Gastly said, firing a black beam from its eyes at Onix.
"Onix, use Dig!" I commanded.
Onix roared and burrowed underground face-first, avoiding the black beam before emerging on the opposite side of the arena and trying to ram Gastly. Gastly, however, simply floated out of Onix's reach.
"Did you forget that Ground-type attacks don't work on Pokemon with the Levitate ability?" Morty laughed. "Now, Gastly, use Lick!"
"Gastly." Gastly said, stretching a long, wide tongue toward Onix.
"Dodge it with Dig!" I ordered, Onix complying and burrowing another hole, not too far from the first one, and then erupting on the opposite side of the arena and attempting and failing to strike Gastly.
To avoid boring you, let me just say that essentially this kept repeating itself another six times, with Gastly trying to attack, Onix moving over to make another hole, then burrowing and emerging on the opposite side of the battlefield and failing to harm Gastly. So I'll just summarize by saying that a few minutes later, there were sixteen holes around the arena, and Morty, Gastly, the announcer, the crowd, and even the judge were getting antsy.
"Are you ever going to learn that Dig won't work on Gastly?" Morty asked, annoyed.
"Yes, I suppose you're right." I said. "Onix, use Dragonbreath!"
Onix roared and shot a wave of green breath at Gastly that struck it and caused a small electric spark to appear on its body.
"Looks like Onix's Dragonbreath has paralyzed Gastly!" the announcer said. "What will Morty do?"
"Gastly, use Night Shade!" he commanded.
"Onix, Iron Tail!" I ordered.
Before Gastly could do anything, Onix, balancing on its body's midsection, raised its now-glowing tail and slammed Gastly to the ground, knocking it out.
"Gastly is unable to battle!" the judge declared as Gastly's picture went dark.
"And Gastly is finally down!" the announcer said excitedly as Morty recalled Gastly. "What will Morty do now?"
"Okay," Morty said, pulling out another Pokeball. "Haunter, let's go!"
Morty threw the Pokeball and yet another Pokemon appeared. This one was slightly bigger than Gastly, and a deep shade of purple. It looked like a wide, bodiless head with spiky protrusions on the sides and back. It had small, triangular eyes and a wide, jagged mouth like a jack-o'-lantern's. Two detached purple hands were floating in front of it.
"Haunt-haunt-haunt-haunt-haunt!" it laughed, just before the six rocks that Onix had launched zoomed up and smacked into it from all angles at once before returning to their original positions.
"Morty has chosen Haunter!" the announcer said as Haunter's picture appeared under Gastly's. "Unfortunately, it's fallen prey to Stealth Rock! Can Morty still win this?"
"No problem." Morty said. "Haunter, use Mean Look!"
Haunter nodded and shook off the damage before staring at Onix with glowing red eyes.
"Once again, Morty has stopped Jose from switching Pokemon!" the announcer commented.
"Now use Confuse Ray!" Morty said.
"Haunthaunt!" Haunter laughed, holding its disconnected hands together and producing a glowing ball, which it threw at Onix.
"Onix, use Iron Tail!" I ordered.
Onix ignored me. Instead, it lifted its tail and began bashing it against its own head, roaring in pain as it did.
"Looks like Haunter's Confuse Ray took a toll on Onix." The announcer said.
"Now use Night Shade!" Morty ordered.
"Haunter!" Haunter chuckled, launching a dark beam from its eyes that struck Onix in its belly, knocking it out.
"Onix is unable to battle!" the judge announced as Onix's picture went dark.
"And Onix is down!" the announcer said as I recalled Onix. "What will Jose do next?"
"Okay," I said, pulling out a Pokeball. "Let's try this one."
I threw the Pokeball into the arena and another Pokemon appeared. This one looked like a purple, humanoid pig that stood on two legs, with black arms, legs, and ears, a pink nose, and a pink, spring-like tail. It had a big, black pearl in its stomach, and two smaller ones in its forehead, one just above the other.
"Grumpig." It said cheerfully.
"Jose has chosen Grumpig!" the announcer said as Grumpig's picture appeared under Onix's. "Once again he has lived up to his promise by matching a Ghost-type with a Psychic-type!"
"All right, Haunter," Morty said. "Use Mean Look!"
"Future Sight, Grumpig!" I commanded.
Haunter and Grumpig stared at each other, Haunter's eyes glowing red while Grumpig's shined yellow.
"Now use Confuse Ray!" Morty instructed.
Haunter laughed and produced another glowing ball, which it threw at Grumpig. When it hit, though, Grumpig just smiled and cocked its head.
"What!?" Morty exclaimed. "Why didn't it work?"
"Grumpig's Own Tempo trait." I explained. "Outside forces can't confuse it."
"Then use Lick!" he shouted.
"Haunthaunt!" Haunter said, shooting its long, wide tongue at Grumpig.
"Grumpig, into a hole!" I instructed.
Grumpig nodded and sat back, using its tail to bounce up and avoid the attack, then dove into the nearest hole.
"Now find an exit and come up with Psybeam!" I said.
"Grumpig!" it said, leaping out of a hole to Haunter's left and blasting it with a rainbow-colored beam before diving back into the hole.
"Grumpig hits Haunter with a surprise attack!" the announcer recapped.
"So that's why you kept using Dig!" Morty realized. "So you could dodge my attacks and launch your own in between!"
I didn't say anything. I just smirked.
"Well, it won't work!" Morty said. "Haunter, find it with Shadow Punch!"
"Haunt, haunter!" Haunter laughed, just before launching its detached hands off in opposite directions into two different holes.
"Get out and use Psybeam, quick!" I commanded.
"Grumpig, grum!" Grumpig said, leaping out of another hole and blasting Haunter with another rainbow-colored beam.
Just as Grumpig was falling back into the hole, though, Haunter's detached hands zoomed out of the hole and struck Grumpig in the rear, causing it to fall to the ground on its face as Haunter's hands returned in front of it.
"Now grab it and get it close!" Morty instructed.
Haunter nodded and shot its hands toward Grumpig. They grabbed it and bound its arms to its side, then carried it up, its back to Haunter's face.
"Grumpig-pig!" it squealed, trying to squirm free.
"It's over." Morty smirked.
"Yes," I agreed. "But not for Grumpig."
"What do you mean by that?" Morty demanded.
"You'll see," I said, counting down on my fingers. "In four…three…two…one…now."
As soon as I said "now", a white blast of energy shot down from out of nowhere and struck Haunter in the back, knocking it out as Grumpig landed safely on its feet.
"Haunter is unable to battle!" the judge announced as Haunter's picture went dark.
"Looks like a well-timed Future Sight spelled the end for Haunter!" the announcer laughed.
"Wow!" Morty exclaimed. "How did you know when that would happen?"
"Future Sight always takes the same amount of time for the same Pokemon." I explained. "I've memorized exactly how long it takes for Grumpig. I just had to wear Haunter down until it happened."
"Awesome!" Morty said, recalling Haunter and pulling out another Pokeball. "But it won't work again! Go, Gengar!"
Morty threw the Pokeball and yet another Pokemon appeared. This one was slightly shorter than Haunter, but much wider. It had a big, round, purplish-black body with spikes all over its back and small arms and legs edged with tiny hands and feet. It had no head, though. Instead, its face was on its chest and stomach, with piercing red eyes and a huge mouth filled with straight white teeth that were stretched in a grin to rival the Cheshire cat's.
"Gengar." It said, just before the rocks flew up and pummeled it before returning to where they were.
"And Morty's final Pokemon is Gengar!" the announcer said as Gengar's picture appeared under Haunter's. "What will Jose do?"
"Grumpig, return!" I said, returning Grumpig to its Pokeball.
"Jose has recalled Grumpig!" the announcer said as the background of Grumpig's picture went dark. "What will he do next?"
"I'll win." I said, pulling out another Pokeball. "Go, Marowak!"
I tossed the Pokeball and, you guessed it, mutant kumquats invaded the planet Neptune. Seriously, though, this Pokemon looked like a short, brown, humanoid gopher with a white animal skull on its head and a white bone (possibly a femur, or maybe a humerus) clutched in its hand.
"Marowak!" it said, raising the bone threateningly. "Maro, maro!"
"It's Marowak!" the announcer recapped as Marowak's picture appeared beneath Grumpig's. "True to his word, Jose's third and final Pokemon is a disadvantaged type! What does he have planned?"
"Doesn't matter." Morty said. "I'll win, anyway. Gengar, start with Mean Look!"
"Warm up with Swords Dance." I instructed.
"Marowak." Marowak replied.
As Gengar stared with temporarily glowing eyes, Marowak began twirling its bone in its hand, then began switching between hands as the speed of the twirling increased. Finally, Marowak stopped the twirling and struck a dramatic pose, looking more confident than ever.
"Now use Bone Rush!" I commanded.
"Marowak!" it said, running forward and repeatedly swiping the bone in front of it. "Maro-wak! Maro-wak! Maro-wak!"
"Did you forget?" Morty asked. "Ground-type attacks don't work on Pokemon with the Levitate ability!"
True to Morty's word, Gengar effortlessly floated up, just out of Marowak's reach, leaving Marowak to strike nothing but the ground.
"They do if you can get close enough." I said. "Marowak, keep going! Don't let up!"
Marowak nodded and continued to move forward and attack, just missing Gengar each time, and instead hitting the ground.
"This is just sad." Morty said. "I thought you were good. Gengar, hit it with Energy Ball!"
"Gengar." Gengar said, conjuring a ball of green energy between its hands and firing it at Marowak. "Geng…gar!"
"Deflect it, then continue the Bone Rush!" I instructed.
"Marowak." Marowak replied.
Just as the orb neared Marowak, it raised its bone like a baseball bat and knocked the orb into the sky before continuing to charge at Gengar and swiping its bone, attempting (and failing) to get an attack in.
"Try a Night Shade!" Morty said.
"Gengar!" Gengar said, firing a dark beam from its eyes.
"Dodge it, change course, and continue the Bone Rush!" I ordered.
Marowak nodded and leapt aside to avoid the beam, then turned and continued trying (and failing) to hit Gengar.
Okay, once again, I'm gonna skip ahead and just give you the general summary of what happened. Marowak continued to chase Gengar literally all over the arena with its Bone Rush, hitting only the floor of the arena. Gengar kept firing attacks at Marowak, but Marowak always dodged or deflected, then continued its attack, usually changing direction as it did. Things went on like this for about ten minutes before anything happened.
"Enough already!" Morty shouted. He was impatient, like everyone else watching this match. "When are you going to get it through your head that Bone Rush won't work? I mean, I used to think you were smart, but look at this! Your Marowak's exhausted, and the only thing it's done any damage to is the ground!"
He was right. Marowak was rather winded, and the floor was covered in cracks.
"Perhaps you're right." I sighed. "Marowak, time to go on the defensive. Dive into a hole and get in the tunnels."
"Marowak." Marowak replied, running over to the nearest hole and jumping in.
"Big mistake." Morty said. "Gengar, follow it!"
"Gengar!" Gengar replied, its smile even bigger than usual as it followed Marowak underground.
"Gengar battles at its best in small, dark places!" Morty laughed. "Marowak won't make it out of this one!"
"Maybe so," I retorted. "But neither will Gengar. Now, Marowak," I commanded. "Head to the nexus point and strike the ceiling with the strongest Bone Club you can muster!"
"Marowak!" I could hear it shout from within the tunnels. "Maro-WAK!"
Suddenly, there was a loud THUMP! from the center of the tunnels, where they all intersected, just under the largest cluster of cracks.
Quickly, the cracks grew larger and spread all the way across the battlefield. The ceiling was collapsing!
Soon enough, the whole ceiling fell in, enveloping the field in a layer of dust.
When the dust cleared, Morty and I could see our Pokemon, nearly buried in the rubble, lying on their backs, their eyes filled with swirls.
"Both Pokemon are unable to battle!" the announcer said as our Pokemons' pictures went dark and the scoreboard declared me the winner. "Victory goes to Jose and Grumpig!"
"Wow, folks!" the announcer said over the cheering fans as Morty and I recalled our Pokemon. "Jose's won, despite using all type-disadvantaged Pokemon! He has truly proven that what you do is much more important than which Pokemon you do it with!"
"Awesome!" Morty said, running up to me. "You planned that whole battle, didn't you?"
I nodded. "I'm always three steps ahead." I told him.
"Well, it was incredible!" he said. "Using Onix to carve all those tunnels with Dig, then having Grumpig use the tunnels to launch surprise attacks, then switching out and having Marowak keep striking the floor and disguising them as failed attacks toward Gengar, and then, finally, leading Gengar into the tunnels and collapsing them! And even though it also hurt Marowak, it was okay 'cuz you still had Grumpig!"
"I know." I said with a smile. "I was there."
"Well, it was still great!" he said. "I always admired strategists. In fact, I was planning on opening a gym someday to show off my strategies to everyone, and test theirs, too. Guess I need a little more training, though, huh?"
"Don't worry," I told him. "I'm sure you'll accomplish it someday."
"Thanks." He said, just before his eyes went wide. "Oh! I almost forgot—I'm supposed to give you this."
Morty reached into his pocket and handed me a small, white envelope.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Don't know." He shrugged. "A guy gave it to me before the match and told me to give it to you."
I nodded and opened the envelope and pulled out a note written in messy handwriting on a torn piece of paper. It read as such:
Meet me behind the rejistrashun bilding at 9 pm. Come alone. I don't want any witnises for this.
--Tank
P.S. Okay, bring your Pokemon. No people though!
"I'll bet anything he wants a rematch." I thought. "Either that, or he just wants to beat me up, or scare me out of the tournament. Well, no matter what he's trying to do, it won't work. I'll be there, and I'll send him home crying!"
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(Was I right, OR WAS I RIGHT? THAT WAS AWESOME, WASN'T IT. The final move kinda reminds me of an episode of Chaotic called "The Thing About Bodal", though, BUT I THINK I CAME UP WITH THIS FIRST. Well, now it's time for this chapter's Pokemon In-Depth. This one's on—)
Magmar, the Spitfire Pokemon. In the wild, these Pokemon usually lay and hatch their eggs near active volcanoes, the only areas hot enough for them. This Pokemon's body temperature is nearly 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit, and it is always burning with orange flames.
(Yikes! NO WONDER JOSE COULDN'T TOUCH IT!)
Exactly. This Pokemon's body gives off a wavering, rippling glare that is similar to the sun. This allows it to easily hide among flames. It dislikes cold places, and when it finds itself in one, it blows scorching flames until the area is hot enough for its liking. In contrast, this Pokemon moves very quickly in superheated areas, and can even heal itself by dipping its wounds in lava.
(Awesome! Got any more information?)
Yes. In battle, Magmar blows out intensely hot flames from all over its body to intimidate its opponent. This Pokemon's fiery bursts create heat waves that ignite grass and trees in its surroundings. Due to its Fire-type nature and burning tail, some speculate that this Pokemon is related to Charmander and its evolutions. This is unlikely, though, as it cannot breed with any of them. This Pokemon's appearance is based on a duck or booby (a sea bird) and a mythical salamander of fire. Its name is a corruption of "magma", which is molten rock underneath the Earth's crust, and its Japanese name, "Boober" is likely a corruption of "booby", the bird it may be partially based on.
(Very nice, Dex-ter.)
I live to serve.
(Uh, technically, YOU DON'T LIVE AT ALL. You're a machine, remember?)
It's a figure of speech.
(WHATEVER. Anyway, I'm tired of always having to decide the Pokemon for the In-Depth every time, so, this time, I'm letting you readers do it. AFTER YOU REVIEW, CHECK OUT MY PROFILE. I PLACED A POLL WITH THREE CHOICES FOR THE NEXT ONE. Whichever one gets the most votes will be the next one. One vote per person, please, though. WELL, NOTHING LEFT TO SAY BUT "See ya next time!"