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Destination Indigo
by Sailor Chronos
Chapter Ten: The Mouse that Roared
Heather had two matches the next day, both qualifying rounds that took a relatively short time to pass. The first was on the Water field, where Loki took care of a Weepinbell, a Slowbro, and a Seadra all by himself. The second was on the Rock field and provided more of a challenge. Eagle bested a Weezing and Loki had little problem with a Kangaskhan. However she had to use both of them and Shadow in long, harrowing battle against a Gengar which she barely managed to win.
Her friends took her out to a celebratory dinner, but she didn't enjoy herself as much as she would have otherwise. Even though she had proven herself by getting through the first four rounds, it still felt unfair to not be able to battle with Skye and Blaze.
During dessert, Christy rounded on her. "Would you stop griping about that! If you use them you'll be disqualified, end of story. Do you want that after all you've been through to get here?"
Professor Linden waved at Christy to quiet her down. "What you can do is train your less experienced Pokemon more, or find Techniques for them. You must have enough money to buy one."
Heather sighed. "Yes, but I was saving it up so I could apply for the Certification exam and open a Gym in my home town. I want to do it on my own, since you were so kind as to sponsor me at Pokemon Tech."
Craig spoke up. "I have a suggestion. Instead of splurging on a Technique, why not teach your Pokemon to use their abilities in ways that others won't expect? For example, I once had Raid use his Mega Kick to create a tremor in the field that unbalanced his opponent, which gave me an advantage."
"He's right," Linden said. "Don't think just in terms of abilities and techniques, or strengths and weaknesses. Try to be inventive."
This got Heather thinking. As she looked at it from that standpoint she realised that she had been relatively lucky so far. She had played by the rules and used her Pokemons' abilities as they were meant to be used, but by doing so she hadn't taken full advantage of any other possibilities. In retrospect, that battle with the Gengar might have been won more easily if she had taken more risks. "You've got something there," she admitted. "I think it's time I looked at the forest instead of just the trees."
At last she was facing the biggest event of her career. Heather couldn't help but feel nervous, despite knowing that her friends were in the stands, as she walked onto the stadium floor to meet her next opponent. As usual, Loki was with her, his yellow fur gleaming brightly in the warm morning sunshine.
This was going to be an official six-on-six battle, and she hoped that she and her Pokemon would have the stamina to last. It wasn't unknown for such matches to take a long time.
"Welcome one and all to the fourth day of the Indigo Tournament," the speakers blared. "Our first battle of the day is between Heather Drake of Twilight Village and Christina Souris of New Bark Town."
This was a surprise! Heather knew from her studies at Pokemon Tech that New Bark Town was the closest town in the Johto Province. Johto had its own League tournament every year as well, and the region was home to many types of Pokemon that were hardly ever seen here in Kanto. What was this girl doing so far from home?
Christina walked out to the ring. She was a slim girl, almost frail looking, with short blonde hair and a slight gap between her two front teeth. Her manner was anything but frail, though. "Nice to meet you," she said. "By the way, I prefer to be called Mouse." She held out a PokeBall and a Pikachu appeared. "And here's why! Let's battle!"
Sparks jumped from Loki's cheeks, but Heather held him back. "Not this time, Loki. I want you to be ready for later." She threw one of her own PokeBalls. "Shadow, I choose you!"
The crowed murmured. "An interesting choice by Heather," the announcer said. "Will her Zubat be able to stand up to the shocking attacks of a Pikachu?"
"Begin!" called the referee.
Mouse attacked first. "Pikachu, Thundershock!" Lightning coursed through the air toward Shadow, but the Zubat dodged easily.
"Shadow, spiral in!" Her Pokemon dove down and began to fly circles around the Pikachu, who looked just as confused as its trainer.
"What kind of trick is this?" Mouse demanded. "Obviously you're not serious about this match. Pikachu, hit it with Thunderbolt!"
So, she had the Thunderbolt Technique. "Shadow, Bite!" Before the Pikachu could launch its attack, Shadow latched onto the back of its neck. It cried out in surprise and fear, and struggled to get the offending Pokemon off.
Mouse was annoyed that her Pokemon was in trouble so soon. "You've got to get that thing off! Blast it with Thunder!" she yelled.
"Shadow, high five!" As the Pikachu started to power up its Thunder attack, Shadow let go and flew high above the arena. The Pikachu couldn't see where Shadow had gone and didn't project its attack very far. When the lightning dissipated, it looked around wildly for its opponent, but Heather wasn't going to give it the chance to strike. "Shadow, Confuse Ray!"
Taken completely unawares, the Pikachu took the full blast. It started to stumble around, waving its arms as if to grab an imaginary adversary. "Pikachu!" Mouse hollered. "Snap out of it! You've gotten through worse than this!"
"And you said I wasn't being serious?" Heather said. "Shadow, beat around the bush!" Her Zubat flew low and tripped up the still-confused Pikachu, then circled around and knocked it down again when it tried to get up.
After the third hit though, the Pikachu finally came to its senses. "Pikachu, Swift attack!" its trainer called. Unfortunately Shadow was too close to the ground to avoid it, and due to the nature of Swift, she was unable to retaliate. "That's more like it!" Mouse crowed.
Although weakened, Shadow was still in the fight, and Heather was now going to finish this round. "Shadow, Leech Life!" The Zubat swooped down and latched onto the Pikachu once more, only this time she drained away her opponent's remaining energy.
"Pikachu is unable to continue!" called the referee when the Pokemon collapsed. "Zubat wins the round!"
"With some very unorthodox moves, Heather has taken Mouse off guard," the announcer said. "Will she be able to continue this approach successfully, or will Mouse find a way to counter it?"
Heather battled hard, but Mouse did have a few tricks of her own, and soon they were both down two more Pokemon. Mouse released a Sandshrew after her Pikachu was defeated, and Heather's inexperienced Zubat was at a disadvantage when it came to Ground types. She quickly came back with Firey, but he in turn was defeated by a Zubat.
Taking a huge risk, she brought out her Butterfree, which she had never battled with. The round was brutally short as the two flying Pokemon went head to head, and eventually ended up knocking each other out with simultaneous Confusion attacks. The match was tied.
"You're good," Mouse complimented her. "Let's see who can last through the second half of this match!" She loosed a Rattata.
Heather smiled; now she could go on the offensive. "Guess who's coming for dinner," she said. "And your Rattata is the main course! Eagle, I choose you!" Mouse stared as the Pidgeot emerged. The Rattata soon fell to the larger and stronger Pidgeot, and Heather was becoming confident that she had the match well in hand. However, Mouse next called up a blue mouse-like Pokemon with a jagged tail.
"Huh?" She flipped open her Pokedex. "Marill, the aqua mouse Pokemon. No further information." She exclaimed in dismay; the Pokedex couldn't help! In desperation she dug through half-forgotten lessons about unusual Pokemon to remember which moves a Marill had.
"Don't tell me you don't recognise a Marill when you see one," Mouse said with considerable surprise. "Granted," she continued smugly, "they're only seen on the Seafoam islands very rarely. Are you just going to stand there or are we battling?"
"I never back down from a match!" Heather retorted. She and Eagle soldiered on. Eagle used his Reflect Technique to stop a Double Edge attack and hit the Marill hard with a Wing Attack. Unfortunately an unexpected ability of Marill's proved his undoing. Mouse did a combination of Rain Dance and Water Gun to soak him down, rendering him barely able to fly and therefore vulnerable to a Rollout maneuver.
Gritting her teeth in frustration, she summoned Loki, who dealt with the Marill in his usual lightning-fast manner. Now Mouse was down to one Pokemon. Heather felt that with her best Pokemon up, she could deal with anything.
What came next stunned everyone. Mouse grinned and threw her last PokeBall. A small blue Pokemon with red spots that looked vaguely like a hedgehog emerged. Thin flames shot out of its back.
"Cyndaquil!" it squeaked.