Last chapter, Lows battled his opponents in the quarter finals and the semi finals. After some struggles, he returned from the downfall and defeated Regis and his friend, Disc. And now, he's going to battle Harry, who mocked him for treating his Pokémon nicely. Will Lows prove him wrong in the finals?
Chapter 9 - The Chance to Prove Him Wrong
Alright, so... I only know that Harry has Machop and Marshtomp, and I know nothing else about his other two! Welp, I guess we have to try hard for the win...
No matter if I win or lose, I need to prove him wrong for treating his Pokémon bad, and this is the chance! Lows, you can do it!
After the resting time is over, I walked back to the battlefield, with Harry on the other side, having a smirk on his face, thinking that he's going to win. I might not win, but it's good to try!
After we're ready, the host came to the center of the battlefield and said, "Welcome back, everyone to the 1 to 2 gym badges championship match! May the two contestants, Harry and Lows show their skills in this battlefield! Let's start... right now!" The audience cheered to us, but I felt that many people was cheering for the "Hoenn Hero" who almost won the Indigo League's Junior Division tournament, Harry.
I tried to ignore the audience cheering for him and threw a Pokéball. "Let's do this, Surfer!" My water type Pokémon appeared in the battlefield, eager to battle.
"Go, Machop!" He sent out Machop, the Superpower Pokémon recognized me and bowed to me, and I nodded at him with a smile. But, I can tell that he still doesn't like battling, or with Harry at least.
"Surfer, start off with Water Gun!" Surfer immediately spit out a stream of water towards Machop, and Harry commanded, "Machop, dodge and use Mach Punch!" He then quickly rushed towards Surfer, but slipped and fell down in the battlefield."
I immediately asked Machop in concern, "Machop, are you okay?" He nodded at me, but his head turned down when Harry shouted at him, "What are you doing, clumsy Machop? Get up and battle!" I got angry by his attitude, while Machop slowly got up, having a sad expression.
I felt like it would be the best to end this off fast. "Sorry Machop... Surfer, use the Water Gun and Water Pulse combo!" Surfer immediately spit out the stream of water, ride on the waves and shot water rings towards Machop. Harry gave his command, "Machop, dodge!" Machop tried to dodge but fell down again. He got hit by the stream of water and the water rings, and no doubt, he collapsed, unable to battle.
"Machop is unable to battle! Surfer wins!" But my upset feelings increased even more when I saw the scars on Machop's right leg.
No wonder why he couldn't dodge at all, his right leg got hurt! I ran to the Machop and asked, "Machop, are you okay? I'm sorry that the battle got you hurt so much." The Machop shook his head and replied with tears on his face. "Don't...don't worr-" Without finishing his sentence, a red light beamed towards him, and he got send back to his Pokéball.
Harry threw another Pokéball and said, "Go, Torkoal!" He sent out a Pokémon looking like a turtle, but much more bigger than Surfer. I scanned it with my Pokédex. [Torkoal, the Coal Pokémon. It burns coal inside its shell. If it is attacked, it belches thick, black smoke and flees.]
Why did he use a type disadvantage on Surfer? This might be a trap, I must be careful...
"Surfer, good job. Return!" I returned Surfer and threw another Pokéball, "Do your best, Ziggs!" The Tiny Raccoon Pokémon appeared in the battlefield, growling at his larger opponent.
"Torkoal, start off with Ember!" Torkoal shot small flames towards Ziggs, and I immediately gave Ziggs my command. "Ziggs, dodge and use Headbutt!" He dodged the flames and lowered his head, rushing towards the Coal Pokémon. Just then, Harry smirked and said, "Torkoal, counter with Body Slam."
Just when Ziggs hit Torkoal with his head, Torkoal fought through the pain and slammed Ziggs hard with his body. Then, Ziggs couldn't reduce the impact and fell onto the ground, but he slowly got up. I concernly asked, "Ziggs, are you okay? Be careful, don't push yourself too hard!" Ziggs nodded, and I commanded, "Ziggs, use Rock Smash!" When Ziggs rushed towards Torkoal to attack, Harry commanded, "Looks like this Zigzagoon is going to faint. Torkoal, finish off with Overheat!"
Overheat...? Just when I'm thinking, I suddenly saw Torkoal shooting many big fireballs towards Ziggs. Ziggs got nowhere to go and got hit by the fireballs. He winced in pain and collapsed in the battlefield, unconsious.
"Ziggs is unable to battle! Torkoal wins!"
I ran to Ziggs and quickly returned him from his Pokéball to protect him from any harm. After that, I asked Harry angrily, "Ziggs is about to faint already, why did you ask Torkoal to use an attack that is so powerful?! This is ridiculous!"
Harry smirked at me and replied, "Weak Pokémon are just useless, who cares about them anyways?"
I got angry and said, "You will regret saying that! Let's do this, Surfer!" Surfer appeared again from the battlefield, and it seems like he saw everything in his Pokéball, as he is very angry with Harry.
I saw that the Torkoal is exhausted after giving out his powerful attack. He panted hard and I thought this is our chance and said, "Surfer, end this fast with Water Pulse!"
Surfer shot water rings and Torkoal couldn't dodge it because of his slow speed. He then collapsed from the super effective attack.
"Torkoal is unable to battle! Surfer wins!" Although I won this battle, I am still going to be careful in every step I take, because I know that it would be harder from here.
"This should be the end of your luck. Go, Marshtomp!" He then threw a Pokéball and Marshtomp appeared in the battlefield. I scanned the evolved form of Mudkip and the Pokédex said, [Marshtomp, the Mud Fish Pokémon. It is the evolved form of Mudkip. It is at its best when on muddy ground with poor footing. It quickly overwhelms foes struggling in mud.]
Let's try the type advantage again... I returned Surfer and threw another Pokéball. "Let's win, Woody!" When Woody appeared in the battlefield, he remembered Harry, and angrily growled at him. I petted him to make him calm down while looking at Harry, who stunned a bit for unknown reason, but quickly retained his position.
"Woody, start off with Bullet Seed!" Woody quickly shot five seeds towards the Mud Fish Pokémon, but Marshtomp slightly dodged it. Harry then commanded, "Marshtomp, use Rock Tomb to surround Woody!"
The next scene I saw is Woody getting surrounded by big boulders. I started to panic and thought, oh no, what do I do?
Then, I heard Woody shouted to me, "Lows, don't panic! Think of how I can get out!"
Alright... Think Lows, think! Suddenly, I thought of an idea that might work, but it will be risky... Well, it's worth a try!
"Woody, keep using Quick Attack on the boulders until they break!" Woody then kept on running towards the boulders and hit them over and over again. When he finally broke the boulders, I noticed that Woody is very tired.
"Woody, one last shot-" Just before I finished my command, I heard Harry saying, "Marshtomp, unleash your energy!" Then I realized Marshtomp with bright red face rushed towards Woody and gave him a big punch. Oh no, Marshtomp was charging his energy all along using Bide!
Then, I saw Woody in the battlefield, trying to stand up, but his last energy is used up and he collapsed.
"Woody is unable to battle! Marshtomp wins!"
I asked worriedly, "Woody, are you okay? Rest up, you did well." Woody used the energy he had left and nodded, and I returned him to his Pokéball.
"Let's avenge our teammate, Surfer!" I threw Surfer's Pokéball, and I realized Surfer didn't rest up enough, but he still gave me a trustful smile. I then commanded, "Surfer, let's ride the waves and use Water Pulse!" He then did the usual tactic and ride on the waves, shooting water rings towards the Mud Fish Pokémon. Marshtomp couldn't react in time and got hit by the rings. He tried to not get confused by shaking his head.
Harry smirked and commanded, "Marshtomp, use Mud Sport to make the battlefield muddy!"
Marshtomp then threw piles on mud and the mud filled the entire battlefield. I then thought of what the Pokédex said: Marshtomp is at his best in muddy areas. I guess Surfer can't rush towards Marshtomp to attack...
"Surfer, use Water Pulse!"
"Marshtomp, counter with Mud Shot!"
Surfer shot the water rings towards Marshtomp, while Marshtomp hurled mud towards Surfer. Both Pokémon got hit by the attack, but Surfer couldn't endure the impact of the mud and couldn't battle, while Marshtomp is still standing, panting.
"Surfer is unable to battle! Marshtomp wins!" I returned Surfer and thanked him for his hard work. Then, I started to become very nervous.
Marshtomp took out two of my Pokémon in a row, just like Regis' Cotton! What am I to do... Then, I felt Grace's Pokéball shook vigorously, as she wanted to avenge her teammates.
Well, I did my best, and I have no regrets. Let's do this! I determinely thought and yelled, "Let's have fun, Grace!" I threw Grace's Pokéball and she appeared in the battlefield, saying, "Let's try our best, Lows!" I nodded with a smile and commanded, "Grace, use Psybeam on Marshtomp!"
"What a weak move! We should win this with no sweat. Marshtomp, counter with Water Gun!"
When they both release their attacks, I realized that the water seemed to pushed back the psychic energy and hit Grace. Grace winced in pain, but didn't seem to take much damage.
"Grace, use Double Team!" Grace created several illusions but Harry smirked. "Marshtomp, use Mud Shot on all of them!" Marshtomp then threw a big pile of mud towards all of them, and the illusions were hit, but Grace quickly tried dodging the mud. But, I realized that she got hurt by some of the mud.
"I'm sorry Master Lows, I might not be able to defeat him. He's too tough..." I know that Grace's weakness is taking physical attack, but we can't give up!
"Just... do your best, alright?" Grace nodded at me, while Harry sarcastically said, "I guess you're going to 'win', weakling. Let's end this. Marshtomp, use Mud Shot!"
"Grace, stay calm! Use Teleport!" Grace teleported away from the mud. And the next thing I see is the angry Grace looking at Harry. I've... never seen Grace so angry before.
"This is not the way you treat Pokémon, Harry! We are not tools for trainers to win!" I ran to her and petted her, making her calmed down a bit. "I'm sorry Master Lows, I just can't hold back my feelings..."
"Don't worry Grace, I'm also mad with his attitude. Let's prove him wrong by trying our best!" Grace nodded with a smile.
On the other side, Harry ignored Grace's cries and commanded, "Marshtomp, finish this with Water Gun!"
Marshtomp shot a stream of water towards Grace. I didn't have to time to tell her to dodge, but the water is suddenly pushed back by itself. Then, I saw a white glow shining on Grace. The white glow has an powerful force which pushed the water back.
Grace is evolving too?!
After the white glow disappeared, the Feeling Pokémon is looking taller now. The humanoid Pokémon has two green horns on her green hair, and she appeared wearing a tutu. Her red eyes looked at me and smiled.
I scanned her with my Pokédex excitedly and it said, [Kirlia, the Emotion Pokémon. The cheerful spirit of its Trainer gives it energy for its psychokinetic power. It spins and dances when happy.] After the entry, I saw Grace spinning around happily, as she is happy that she evolved.
"Grace, how do you feel? Much stronger?"
"Definitely, Master Lows! We have a better chance now!" She said with a deeper feminine voice.
"I can't let you guys get the advantage! Marshtomp, use-" before he can finish giving his commands, Grace suddenly shot leaves with different colours towards Marshtomp.
No way! Grace learned the perfect move that can defeat Marshtomp, Magical Leaf!
The Mud Fish Pokémon got hit by the super effective attack and finally collapsed.
"Marshtomp is unable to battle! Grace wins!" The audience are getting more excited for the results as the intensity goes higher and higher. They cheered for all of us, but most people cheered for Harry still.
"Grace, try your best with the last opponent, alright?" Grace nodded and stayed in her position.
Harry then threw another Pokéball and said, "I cannot believe a weakling like you will hold up this long. Finish this, Roselia!" A Pokémon with two rose-looking arms with different colours appeared in front of my eyes. I scanned Harry's last Pokémon with my Pokédex. [Roselia, the Thorn Pokémon. Its flowers give off a relaxing fragrance. The stronger its aroma, the healthier the Roselia is.]
"Grace, let's try our best! Grace, use Psybeam!" Grace shot the psychic rings towards Roselia, but she dodged them easily.
Harry then smirked and said, "Roselia, use Magical Leaf!" She then shot leaves with different colours, just like what Grace did before.
"Grace, dodge!" Grace dodged the leaves, but I got shocked when Harry said, "You've fallen into my trap! Stun Spore!" Roselia then shot yellow spores towards Grace, but I thought of an idea that might turn the tides.
"Grace, stay there and fight through the paralysis!" Grace nodded and stayed there. Slowly, sparks emitted from Grace and she tried to fight through the paralysis. But soon, sparks are also emitting from Roselia.
Yes, my plan worked! Grace's abilities is Synchronize, so she passes on status problems to her foe! I just hope that she can hold on... I can see that Harry is shocked too, but he commanded, "Roselia, finish this with Magical Leaf!"
"Grace, counter with Psybeam!"
The two attacks collided, and formed a huge dust...
"So, Lows, I thought you made a promise to us before the finals..." Ziggs said with an exciting tone.
"Alright, alright, as I promised, we shall all go to the restaurant and buy delicious food for all of you guys' hard work. But don't order too much!" We all cheered, but we stopped when we saw Harry sending out Machop, and scolding him badly.
"What's wrong with that Harry guy? He already won the tournament, but why is he scolding Machop?" Surfer asked in confusion.
Oh yeah... We didn't actually won, by the way. After the huge dust has faded, Grace collapsed after getting hit by the leaves, while Roselia barely made it. So the winner is Harry, but I'm still proud of my Pokémon.
We heard Harry shouted, "You did terrible throughout this entire tournament! I shouldn't have use you for the tournament!" Machop lowered his head while trying to hold back his tears.
After scolding Machop, Harry threw Machop's Pokéball on the ground and crushed it with his legs. Then, he said, "Get out of here, weak Pokémon. You're no longer my Pokémon!" Machop can't hold back his tears anymore, and he ran away slowly, as he was hurt earlier.
"What did you do to Machop?!" I yelled at Harry angrily. Harry finally noticed me and said, "Oh, it's you, loser. I've released Machop. Who cares about weak Pokémon anyways?"
I got angry and upset at the same time. I thought I could prove him wrong, but he didn't seem to learn anything at all! I still said, "Machop didn't deserve anything to get scolded and released by you!"
Harry sneered. "If you are so concerned with him, then go find him, loser."
"Of course I will, and I will bring him back safely." I then ran towards the direction of where Machop ran.
His right leg got hurt, so he shouldn't run far... I send out everyone and said, "Alright everyone, let's split into groups and find Machop. Woody and Grace shall go search on the right side, while Surfer, Ziggs and I shall search on the left side. Understand?" They all nodded, and we started searching.
When Surfer, Ziggs and I found nothing and decided to go search for the other two, I saw Woody running towards us and said, "Lo...Lows... We...fou...found..."
I saw him panting because of his fast running. "Woody, take a rest first before talking."
Woody took a short rest and after he's completely recovered, he said, "Lows, we found Machop! His leg is injured and we have to call you to help him!"
We immediately ran to Grace and saw the injured Machop sitting on the floor. I immediately asked, "Are you okay, Machop? Let me take you to the PokéCentre." I carried him to the PokéCentre and asked the nurse to heal him. Then, I waited while thinking of something.
Suddenly, the nurse said, "Lows, Machop has been healed." I thanked the nurse and took Machop. The Machop thanked me and said, "Thanks, Lows... I shall go now, I don't want to hold you back. Goodbye..."
I stopped him and said, "Machop, you didn't hold me back, I was the one who wanted to find you. I knew that you had an injured leg and cannot battle, but Harry really shouldn't do that. When did you injured your leg?"
Machop sheepishly lowered his head. "I got hurt in the quarter finals match in the tournament, but Harry didn't notice and he doesn't understand our language... I'm so clumsy, just like what Harry said..."
I immediately replied, "No, no! You're actually quite good. All you need is some practice with battling."
He suddenly burst into tears. "But I hate battling with Harry! He's always so mean to us!" He then continued, "Harry never complimented us even if we worked hard. When we made a small mistake in battling, he will always scold us after the battle... Battling with him is just a nightmare!"
I got even more angrier at Harry's attitude. "Machop, don't worry, at least you are out of his team now..."
He nodded and said in a sad tone, "Yup, I shall leave now. I'm sorry for bothering you..."
Machop can definitely be a strong Pokémon if he is treated the right way. Maybe I should...
Just when he is about to leave the PokéCentre, I yelled, "Machop, wait! I have something to tell you."
Machop turned his head and asked, "What's... what's wrong, Lows?"
I took a deep breath and asked him, "Machop... would you like to join my team?"
Machop immediately asked in confusion, "Why... why, Lows? I'm just weak and hates battling..."
"I know that you hate battling with Harry, but I know that you can be a strong Pokémon. Why don't you try to battle with me and see how it goes? I will try my best to be responsible as a trainer to raise you well."
Machop is still hesitant. "What if... what if your Pokémon doesn't like me?"
Surfer suddenly said, "I would like to have a new Pokémon friend! We can do many things together!"
Ziggs then continued, "What he means is, we would like you to join our team. We all have our own weaknesses and strengths, and we can accept each other and learn from each other."
After thinking of my suggestion and Ziggs' words, he finally nodded. "I... I would like to try in your team, Lows."
I nodded and asked, "Why don't I call you Power? I think it would suit you." He nodded, liking his new nickname while I threw a Pokéball and yelled, "Welcome to the team, Power!"
The Pokéball caught Power and shook three times. I happily thought, I will make sure to treat you nicely, Power.
Suddenly, I heard clapping and turned my head towards the clapping sound. It was Disc and he said, "I guess you got Harry's Machop, or your Power now."
I nodded and asked, "Yeah, he is. What are you doing here?"
Disc smiled and replied, "Just wanted to say goodbye before we part our ways."
"Alright then. Hopefully, we'll see each other again soon?"
"Yes, Lows! We shall meet each other again somewhere else, and when we meet, we shall battle again."
We then bid farewell and part our ways. I then send out my Pokémon and asked excitedly, "Who is ready to go to Mauville City?"
"We are!" All my five Pokémon yelled with happy jubilation, and we walked to our next destination: Mauville City.
That's it for Chapter 9! Thanks for reading! See ya all in the next chapter :D
Lows' Pokémon Team:
Surfer (Wartortle, Male) Jolly Nature, moves: Withdraw, Bite, Water Pulse, Water Gun
Ziggs (Zigzagoon, Male) Naive Nature, moves: Tackle, Growl, Headbutt, Rock Smash
Grace (Kirlia, Female) Calm Nature, moves: Teleport, Magical Leaf, Double Team, Psybeam
Woody (Treecko, Male) Lonely Nature, moves: Pound, Quick Attack, Bullet Seed, Absorb
Power (Machop, Male) Timid Nature, moves: Focus Energy, Mach Punch, Karate Chop, Low Kick
Questions of the Chapter:
Who do you think deserve the win more?
How do you think of Power?