Chapter 10: Battling the Ninja !
Surf. It was an elusive Machine, but highly sought after, hence giving it the name of Hidden Machine. Trainers wanted it for its immense power. Many people found it peculiar that Pokemon like Blastoise and Gyarados needed to learn move for it to swim, but that is not the case. In reality, the HM gave Pokemon the ability to summon a vast amount of water, so that the move could be executed. However, not everyone was allowed to climb on a Pokemon as it swam, since people needed considerable expertise before they could venture into the wide blue seas. Hence the move was confused with the actual ability of a Pokemon to travel in water.
There were several rumors as to the location of the HM. Some people said that it is more commonly found on seashores, while others say they are present in lakes. However, it is certain that the HM can only be found in nature, and is not sold anywhere. Hence people go around looking for them, sometimes finding them within a few hours, sometimes taking weeks.
And that is what Lance was doing. Lance had heard that there were an abundance of Surf HMs in the Safari Zone. He had looked far and wide, but hadn't come across any hint as to its location.
Lance went deeper into the Safari Zone. Just as his time was about to get over, he came across a lake. As a final effort to find it, he called out Gyarados. "Gyarados, go underwater and see if you find anything that looks like this." He showed Gyarados an image of the Surf HM. Gyarados roared and dived underwater.
Lance stood outside the lake for half an hour. He was about to call Gyarados back and leave, when suddenly he saw Gyarados surface. He had something trapped in his horns. He bowed down to reveal the elusive HM that rested in his horns. Lance was happy that he finally found the HM. He thanked Gyarados and said, "You'll be the first to learn this move, Gyarados!"
Gyarados roared in happiness and pride, and Lance returned him to his Pokeball. Lance head out from the Safari Zone so that he could train for his upcoming Gym battle.
"Are you ready, Weepinbell?" Lance asked his Grass type friend.
Weepinbell made a noise voicing his eagerness to get started.
Lance had in his hand the Leaf Stone Erika had given him. Over the past week, Weepinbell had shown his eagerness to evolve into Victreebel.
Lance touched Weepinbell with the stone, and Weepinbell started glowing. Lance moved back as Weepinbell started growing. He seemed to grow a tail like appendage, and became upright. A leaf began appearing and covered the top of his pitcher-like body. The glowing stopped, and the new Pokemon shouted, "Victreebel!"
Lance smiled, "Well done, Victreebel! You've finally got your wish." Lance scanned the newly evolved Pokemon.
Victreebel, the Flycatcher Pokemon – Male. Ability – Chlorophyll. Moves – Vine Whip, Giga Drain, Toxic, Growth, Magical Leaf, Stun Spore, Acid, Leaf Blade.
"Wow, Victreebel, you learned Leaf Blade! I couldn't be happier." Lance said with a smile.
Victreebel used Lead Blade on a fallen tree. The tree was neatly sliced in half. Lance grinned and recalled Victreebel. He then head towards his next Gym battle.
"Greetings, I am Koga, the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City Gym. What is your name, challenger, and how many badges do you have?" A man wearing a ninja suit asked.
"My name is Lance, Leader Koga, and I have five badges." Lance replied.
"Very well. This is a 4 on 4 battle. Are you ready?" Koga asked, taking out a Pokeball.
"Yes." Lance replied, taking his own Pokemon out.
"Aid me in battle, Venomoth!"
"Battle time, Charmeleon!"
"Start with Toxic Spikes, Venomoth!" Koga commanded. Venomoth released a large number of purple spikes that landed on Lance's side of the field, and then disappeared into the ground.
"Charmeleon, Flamethrower!" Charmeleon let loose a large stream of fire that Venomoth tried to dodge. The attack hit one wing of Venomoth's, and made it difficult for it to fly.
"Venomoth, Psybeam." Koga called out.
Venomoth released a Psychic beam towards Charmeleon.
"Charmeleon, counter with Flamethrower." Lance said.
The moves cancelled each other out and resulted in an explosion in the middle of the field.
"Quick, use Dragon Rage!" Lance said. Charmeleon's draconic move hit Venomoth, and injured him.
"Venomoth, Psychic and Signal Beam!" Venomoth let loose the two moves. Charmeleon dodged the Signal Beam, but got caught in the Psychic. Charmeleon was thrown across the battlefield and crashed into a wall.
"Charmeleon!" Lance cried out. The Pokemon moved the rubble and got out, roaring at Venomoth.
"Well done, use Flamethrower!" Charmeleon used themove, which caught Venomoth head-on. As the flames stopped, it revealed a fainted Venomoth on the field.
"You did well, Venomoth. Go, Weezing!" Koga returned his Venomoth and immediately released his next Pokemon.
"Weezing, Toxic!" Weezing released a purple ball towards Charmeleon, who was too exhausted to dodge it. As it hit him, he took on a purplish hue, and winced, indicating that he was poisoned.
"Charmeleon, you can do it, use Flame Rage!" Charmeleon mustered his energy and released the draconic fire ball towards Weezing. Weezing's eyes widened as it caught it in the face, causing an explosion. As the smoke cleared, it revealed a Weezing who looked mostly fine. However, it too, like Charmeleon, winced. Clearly, Weezing was burned.
Before either could call another attack, Charmeleon collapsed, fainted.
Lance returned Charmeleon, thanking him.
"You're up next. Kadabra, battle time!" Lance released his psi Pokemon.
Kadabra appeared on the field, ready for battle. Kadabra was Lance's main counter against Koga, and he intended to use him to take down the rest of the team.
"Weezing, Toxic!" "Kadabra, Teleport and Psychic!" Kadabra teleported out of the way and appeared behind Weezing, shooting off an extremely strong Psychic.
Weezing blasted across the field and landed in front of Koga, knocked out.
Lance stared at the Weezing, shocked.
'I think you have become very strong now.' Lance thought in his head.
Yes, it seems so. The meditation helped me control my Psychic capabilities, hence making me much stronger as I gained more control.
'I see.'
"Well done, Weezing. Lance, I see you have a very powerful Pokemon there. But can it match my Arbok?" Koga released the huge snake. It seemed to tower of Koga and looked very intimidating. Arbok bared his fangs towards Kadabra, ready to battle.
"Arbok, Glare!"
Arbok's gaze sharpened and his eyes becamee blue. Kadabra suddenly winced and seemed to become more sluggish.
"Good, now Crunch!" Arbok slithered towards Kadabra, his fangs glowing white.
"Kadabra, try to use Psychic to stop Arbok!" Kadabra's Psychic hit Arbok, and slowed him momentarily. However, he quickly grabbed Kadabra and bit down on Kadabra's shoulder, who shouted in pain.
"Kadabra, try to Teleport and Recover!" Kadabra managed to teleport away from Arbok, and started to glow. The wound started closing slowly, but suddenly stopped halfway through, the paralysis taking hold.
"Arbok, go for another Crunch!" As he approached, Lance yelled desperately, "Kadabra, one final Psychic, you can do it!"
Kadabra focused, and just before Arbok bit down on him yet again, released his most powerful Psychic yet, Kadabra's eyes glowing brilliantly.
Arbok was thrown across the field, and in the blink of an eye, was smashed straight into the opposite wall in a storm of stone and dust. As the dust cleared, it revealed an Arbok stuck in the wall, clearly in no way capable of battling further.
Koga silently returned Arbok, shocked at the power displayed by Kadabra. Kadabra looked at Lance, communicating silently with him.
I am not capable of fighting much longer. The last move exhausted me.
Saying this, Kadabra closed his eyes, and went into a meditative pose.
Lance returned Kadabra, while saying, "You were brilliant, I couldn't have asked for any more. Have a good rest."
Koga smiled. "Never have I seen a Pokemon taking down two of my own so quickly and efficiently. Arbok was arguably one of my stronger Pokemon, but I shall now use my strongest Pokemon, Muk!" Koga released a Pokemon from its ball.
Out of it came a huge mass of what looked like sludge. The Pokemon seemed to be a pile of toxic waste. It seemed to radiate a horrible stench.
'That is one strong Muk.' Lance thought. 'The stronger the stench, the more powerful the Muk. This is going to be difficult.'
"Come on out, Dragonair." Lance called, taking out his ace.
The serpentine Pokemon appeared on the field, and immediately readied itself for the battle.
"A Dragonair? How interesting. Muk, use Toxic, followed by Sludge Bomb!"
"Got it!"
"Dodge with Extreme Speed and follow with Twister!"
Muk released a two purple balls, both heading towards Dragonair very fast. Dragonair suddenly seemed to disappear and reappear on another part of the field. He released a tornado by waving his tail, which was glowing. The tornado rapidly made its way towards Muk.
"Muk, try to dodge and use Sludge Wave!"
Muk avoided majority of the Twister, but was still damaged by it. Muk roared and released toxic sludge on all sides.
Lance realised that Dragonair would not be able to avoid the move. "Dragonair, endure the move and then use Flaming Rage." Dragonair stood still as the move hit him, wincing a bit, but looking more or less fine, and released the jet of draconic flames at Muk, who couldn't dodge the move.
"Sludge Wave again, Muk!"
"Dragonair, Extremespeed followed by Dragon Rage from up close."
"Sludge Bomb when he comes close, Muk."
Dragonair was hurt a bit from the move again, but did as Lance said, firing a Dragon Rage from point blank. Muk was greatly injured and roared in pain, but he still managed to release the Sludge Bomb which accurately hit Dragonair, who cried out in pain as well.
By now, both Pokemon were panting quite a bit, and both trainers realized that the match could end in a single move.
Lance told Dragonair, "One last Dragon Rage, Dragonair, you can do it!"
"Muk, Sludge Bomb!"
Both moves connected, and resulted in a large bang, both Pokemon being pushed back, however, Dragonair did not stop the draconic move, and it hit Muk, who couldn't endure the move and collapsed, fainted.
Dragonair was heaving, and looked ready to collapse as well, but let out a roar of victory.
Lance cheered for Dragonair, "You did it! I'm so proud, Dragonair! Take a good rest."
"Thanks a lot!" Dragonair said as he was called back into his Pokeball.
Koga recalled his Muk and walked to Lance. He smiled, and said, "It has been some time since someone defeated Muk with a single Pokemon. Your Dragonair is very well trained and I see a bright future ahead of you. Now, in recognition of your victory, I officially present you with the Soul Badge." Koga handed him a heart shaped badge.
"Since this is your sixth badge, you are now allowed to cross the seas riding your Pokemon. Now that you have two badges left and are allowed to Surf, I assume you have both Blaine and Giovanni left to battle. Both are extremely hard to beat, and I don't think anyone has beaten Giovanni yet this year. You are in for some tough battles ahead, and I wish you the best of luck."
Lance left the Gym and immediately went to the Pokemon Center to get his Pokemon healed. After that, he called his Master to let him know that he was going to head out for Seafoam Islands after a couple of days. However, he was informed by Wan, "Your time for carrying Horsea is coming to an end. You will need to leave a Pokemon with me. Which Pokemon do you want to do send me?"
After discussing with his Pokemon, Lance said, "I'll leave Nidorino. I'll switch him with Charmeleon to rotate their training."
"Very well, send him over. I'll take good care of him."
After he went to his room, Lance called out all his Pokemon. He told them, "Guys, we'll be heading out to Seafoam Islands in a couple of days after I stock up on supplies. We're gonna train hard so that we can beat Giovanni and Blaine, who are both extremely hard to beat. I'm sure you'll all be great!" All his Pokemon roared in agreement.
Lance's Pokemon -
Charmeleon - Scratch, Growl, Dragon Rage, Metal Claw, Flamethrower, Smokescreen
Gyarados - Tackle, Bite, Aqua Tail, Twister, Flamethrower, Ice Fang, Surf
Dragonair - Aqua Tail, Slam, Dragon Rage, Twister, Extremespeed, Dragon Tail, Flamethrower, Dragon Dance
Kadabra - Psychic, Calm Mind, Teleport, Recover
Victreebel - Vine Whip, Giga Drain, Toxic, Growth, Magical Leaf, Stun Spore, Acid, Leaf Blade
Horsea - Bubble, Leer, Smokescreen, Signal Beam (Locked)
Aerodactyl (Fossil) - ?
At the Den -
Nidorino - Poison Jab, Horn Attack, Fury Attack, Peck, Double Kick
A/N - Updating after more than a year! Sorry for the wait. Writer's block/lack of time together just makes it hard to create stuff. I hope I can update more often. But be prepared for irregular updates.
Please R&R.
BannerMan3375, Over and Out