WHO"S THST POKEMON?

It's… Dractail! Charmander Hero came close once again, even naming the pokemon in her review, but she chose Dractail's EVOLUTION, Dracbite. It's all right, though. The two are really similar. Now, don't we have a Gym Battle to attend?

Smith was standing in front of the front door, the front porch serving as a makeshift referee stand. "This match will be a two on two Gym Battle between Kurogasa Kururugi of New Bark Town and Leader Stoak of Crystalline City!" Sam was mouthing the words as they came out of Smith's mouth, as he was still sour over the fact that Smith was chosen over Smith as the referee.

Kurogasa pulled out a pokeball at the same time Stoak did. Stoak said, "Alright Kurogasa, I've seen your friend Sam in action, let's see if you're as good!" Stoak threw his pokeball, and out came a Ponavel, the rocks on its back seeming to flare up as it laded and neighed.

Kuro mused, "A Ponavel, huh? Hey Sam! Pull out your pokedex?"

"Why don't you do it yourself?"

"My Pokedex doesn't get reception on any pokemon outside the Johto-Kanto connection."

Sam sighed, pulling out the red device. He pointed it at Ponavel, and it read, Ponavel, the Boulder Horse Pokemon. It polishes its body made out of rock daily and matches a Rapidash in speed. Its diet consists of grass and small rocks.

"Thank you, Sam!"

"Up Yours!"

Kurogasa turned back to Stoak. "Alright, Stoak. Now that I know about Ponavel, I choose you, Flame!" He threw his pokeball, and the Volcano Pokemon appeared.

Stoak smiled. "Alright, you can have the first move!"

Kuro smiled. "Alright Flame, let's go! Use Flamethrower!"

Flame opened his mouth and out came a large jet of red-hot flames, which hit Ponavel head on for a direct hit. Ponavel had tried to dodge, but it was too slow. "Ponavel!" Stoak shouted. Then he directed his attention at Kurogasa. "Your Typhlosion is really fast! But so is Ponavel! Let's go, use Rock Polish!" The rocks on Ponavel's back glowed red for a moment, and then they returned to a normal brown.

"Flame, use Flame Wheel!" The fire that spouted from Flame's back grew and, as Flame spun, encircled his entire body. Flame Wheel raced towards Ponavel, but this time, Ponavel expertly dodged it with no trouble. Kuro grimaced. "I expected as much after Rock Polish… We won't go down! Flame, use Rollout continuously!" Flame curled up again, but the flames didn't encircle him as they did before. He rolled towards Ponavel, who dodged again. Flame changed directions, and rolled back towards Ponavel, who was on Kuro's side of the field.

Stoak knew that each time Flame made a rotation, he would get faster and faster. "Ponavel, use Bounce!" Ponavel jumped as high as it could, just as Flame rolled to where Ponavel had been. Flame uncurled and looked up in amazement.

"Flame, don't just stand there, use Flamethrower straight up!" Flame did, and it hit Ponavel, who was unable to dodge. Ponavel fell, landing on Flame, despite 100 to 1 odds. Flame struggled to get out from under the sixty-eight pound deadweight.

While Flame struggled, Stoak shouted, "Ponavel, use Take Down!"

Kuro was amazed. "What? Ponavel is barely conscious!"

Stoak grimaced. "If Ponavel can't win, then neither can Flame! Go Ponavel, do it!"

Ponavel struggled to get up, but in doing so, freed Flame. The Pokemon stood up proudly and shouted, "PHLOSION!"

Kuro smiled. "That's the way! Use Lava Plume to end it!" Flame opened his mouth, and red smoke with fire erupted around his mouth, sending a wave of fire at Ponavel.

"Ponavel, dodge it and try to use that Take Down!" Ponavel ran straight at the wave of fire, being scorched on the way. Then, a dim streak of light was left behind Ponavel, as it began to sag. Ponavel was definitely going down, but not before Flame went with it! Ponavel was almost there…

"Flame, dodge!" Then before Ponavel's fading vision, the giant lizard-like pokemon jumped out of the way. Ponavel fell, but Flame didn't.

Smith raised a hand. "Ponavel is unable to battle! The round goes to Flame! Stoak, send out your next pokemon!"

Stoak pulled out the other Pokeball that Sam had delivered. Sam, by the way, was riveted to the battle. Stoak smiled. "You're just as tough as Sam, but I won't loose twice! Let's go, Onix!" Stoak threw the second pokeball, and out came the giant rock snake. Sam remembered how his dad used to have an Onix. One wonders what happened to it. He turned attention back to the battle. Kuro didn't ask for a pokedex reading; who would need one? This was one of the most famous rock types ever discovered. Almost every prominent Rock trainer owned one, so Kuro was probably ready. Kuro smiled. "Alright, let's use Flamethrower!"

Flame opened its mouth spewing large flames. The fire surrounded Onix, but it hardly flinched for a moment.

Stoak smiled at Kuro's amazement. "Onix and I have been training long and hard. Onix has a defense for almost every type. I'll bet Onix didn't feel a thing! But Flame will when we use Rock Tomb!" Onix roared and slammed its tail into the ground, causing stone buried beneath the soil on the ground to rise up and form a circle around Flame, trapping it. Flame tried to jump, but the rocks were too high. Stoak smiled. "Now use Earthquake!" Onix slammed its tail into the ground again, and shockwaves flew outwards in a ring and the two battlers almost lost their footing as the earth became even unstable. When the shockwaves reached the tomb of rocks, the group could hear Flame cry out in pain.

Sam couldn't see, but he knew that inside the Rock Tomb, Flame was being tossed against the walls endlessly, unable to do anything but be hit in the face over and over. Finally, the Earthquake ended, and Stoak called, "Alright Onix, release them from Rock Tomb, and see if they're still standing. No pokemon has ever withstood THAT combo before!"

The rocks retreated into the ground, and Flame was on the ground, knocked out. It was what everyone there had expected. Kurogasa was surprised. "Wha—We've spent so long on our defense! …But it's all right. Flame, take a nice break. You did your best, and I'm proud of you." Kuro put Flame's pokeball back, and pulled out the next one. "Go, Flash!" The Sparchim appeared on the field, ready for battle.

Stoak said, "Now I know why you went with Flame in the beginning. You had no pokemon with an advantage! But that's behind us! Onix, Sandstorm!" Onix spun around in circles until a good cloud of sand was rustled up, and then it kept spinning, aggravating the dust and creating a real sandstorm. Flash was instantly sucked into the tornado, where any attack launched would be absorbed by the sand.

Flash kept its footing, but was trapped. "Flash, wait it out! When the Sandstorm dies down, use Thundershock! If Onix attacks before it's over, use Double Team and then use Quick Attack!" Flash heard, and began to settle down. Soon, Sam could see through the sand, and knew that the attack was almost over. Then, Sam saw the beginning of the Thundershock inside the tornado of sand. Then, it erupted, hitting Onix square in the face. Onix grunted, which was surprising, seeing as Onix was supposed to have an immunity to Electricity.

"Onix, use Rock Tomb!"

"Flash, jump away!" Flash jumped at the exact moment that Onix struck the ground, therefore, the Rocks didn't know the target, so they were scattered around the field. "Great! Now use Quick Attack!" Flash darted towards Onix, flitting through the rocks like a Combee through a flower field. Flash slammed into Onix, causing the Rock Snake Pokemon distress. It didn't necessarily hurt, just caused discomfort. And, as most people reading this story know, prolonged discomfort is a real bitch.

Flash bounced right off Onix, leaving a small mark. Onix didn't notice yet, but Sam thought it probably felt a slight need to scratch the spot. His prediction was right, because when Stoak ordered another Sandstorm, Onix ignored, opting rather to put its mouth to the spot where Flash had hit. Stoak was taken aback. "Onix, what's wrong?"

Kurogasas smiled. "My Flash has a a little trick called Static. Paralyzes on contact, you know. Of course, it shouldn't have done anything with the immunity, but I sure am lucky. Flash, let's go! Use Thundershock, close range!"

Flash ran towards Onix while Onix was scratching, charging up power at the same time. When Flash was practically touching Onix, it let loose hundreds of volts of electricity. While only a few were actually absorbed by Onix, it was enough. Because Onix was already partially paralyzed by static, and the fact that it wasn't used to electricity, Onix cried out, and fell, fainted. "Onix!" Stoak ran out and tried to cradle Onix's giant head.

Sam muttered under his breath, "Come on, evolve… evolve, come on…" But Flash did not evolve. Then, Sam was hit with sudden realization. Not to why Flash didn't evolve, but to why he could override the immunity. He pulled out his pokedex, looked at the picture of Sparchim, then looked at Flash… There it was.

Meanwhile, Stoak was congratulating Kuro on his victory. Smith had ran inside to get Kuro's badge. When Smith ran back out, he announced, "I present to you, Kurogasa, the Pebble Badge! This will be your first stop on the way to the Yinji League."

Sam stood up. "Well, this is great, but we need to get going. And Kuro, I have to explain something to you. Let's get moving!"

WHO'S THAT POKEMON?

This pokemon can freeze its fur to needle-points to protect from damage.

I think you know that you shouldn't use the pokedex by now, so I'll stop saying it.