Chapter Nine

Previously:
"Just leave it alone…Guy's just had that job for too long." Lloyd said, as he pointed at the Underground Tunnel, "We gotta go under."

Tony opened the door to the underground tunnel, and a sharp breeze met him, whipping up his clothes. He heard Lloyd shiver behind him, and he stepped inside, Johnny and Lloyd following. Tony gasped loudly because he couldn't even see the exit form the tunnel, and the gasp echoed around before fading away. The tunnel itself was dimly lit, and a breeze was still evident. They walked forwards, their footsteps reverberating all around them. Another gust of wind sprang up, and blew in Tony's direction. There was a sudden sharp cry from Johnny, before all Tony heard was muffled yelling.

Spinning on his heel, Tony spotted Johnny peeling a piece of paper off his face. The breeze had blown it right into his face.

"Ack! I could have just died!" Johnny gasped, tossing the paper behind him. Lloyd grabbed the paper in midair just as another breeze arose.

"Look!" Lloyd suddenly yelled, showing Tony and Johnny the paper.

Johnny Rock!
Concert in Vermillion!
Don't miss it!
You'll be sorry!
One of a time deal.
FREE, FREE, FREE!

"No way!" Johnny exclaimed, and him and Lloyd nodded, running off to the exit, before Tony yelled at them, "Wait! What's happening?"

All Tony got in response was an echoed "See you in Vermillion."

Shrugging, Tony continued walking down the path on his own. He finally emerged from the tunnel, and was surprised to find it nighttime already.

"How long were we in there?" He asked himself. He suddenly noticed that Vermillion was completely illuminated, not to mention loud, as music and people talking drifted out from the city. Spotlights shown through the night sky to light up even the sky above Vermillion. Tony also noticed no trainers were present and wondering if he was going to be able to get anymore training done before he goes to sleep. On his way to the city, a sudden white blur nicked his pants, and he turned to find a Meowth with his Pokedex in its mouth. Tony clapped his hand to his back pocket only to find a hole there.

"Hey! Give that back you little thief!" Tony yelled, pointing at the small cat.

The coin glittered on its head as though taunting him, and it mewed before turning and running away.

"Hey! Butterfree, Go!" Tony yelled, and his Butterfree emerged.

"Paralyze that Cat!" Tony yelled. As fast as the cat was, Butterfree fluttered down and spread an orange powder all over the cat. It meowed as it hit the ground, the Pokedex skimming on the ground. The cat tried to get up, but a psychic blast from Butterfree sent it deeper into the dirt.

Tony lazily tossed a pokeball onto the cat, and prepared to retrieve his new pokemon. The ball wiggled, once, twice, before suddenly breaking as the Meowth hissed loudly.

Tony gaped and barely managed to dodge the Meowths claws as he fell backwards. Butterfree swooped in to protect its master, only to be on the wrong end of a scratch attack. Suddenly there was a loud crackling noise, and Tony looked to see the Electricity in Vermillion go out, blanketing them all in darkness. The Meowths coin sparkled when the moonlight hit it, illuminating it.

"So you're the little devil who keeps showing up in the dark. Wonder how you made it all the way to Viridian." Tony said, as his Butterfree fluttered above the Meowth. The Meowth only hissed again and leapt up to hit the Butterfree again. The Butterfree responded by releasing another round of dust, this one causing the Meowth to become drowsy and it fell to the ground, snoring. This time Tony's pokeball succeeded in capturing the cat, and it became Tony's newest pokemon.

The lights in Vermillion flared up like nothing happened, and Tony strode into the city for the first time. He healed up his pokemon and wandered to the concert that was taking place. He spotted Lloyd and Johnny and met with them.

"Isn't this awesome?" Lloyd yelled, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Yeah… Anyway, I just wanted you to know I'm going to go to the center and hit the hay." Tony replied, and Johnny nodded, along with Lloyd.

Suddenly the lights went dark again, and a Shirtless Guy with a guitar across his neck came riding onto the stage on a Rhyhorn. The huge Creature roared and snorted, while the shirtless guy applauded himself.

"Who's Ready to RAWWWWWWWK?" The man Yelled, holding the microphone out to the audience, who cheered, "I know I am! Now I'm gonna do y'all a favor, and I'm gonna challenge on of you loyal fans! Yeah! Can you believe it?" Johnny Rock yelled.

Tony shook his head and started to leave, when the spotlight shined on him.

"We have our challenger folks, but what's this? Is he running from me?" Rock laughed.

Tony growled, and spun on the spot, making his way through the crowd, towards Rock, who had dismounted his Rhyhorn.

"Don't disappoint me now, come at me with everything you've got!" Rock smirked.

"Go Butterfree!" Tony yelled.

The Rhyhorn charged at the Butterfree, roaring loudly as it neared, and Butterfree barely had time to flutter out of the way. Moving upwards so the Rhyhorn couldn't reach it, the Butterfree planned its next move. The Butterfree's eyes glowed with psychic power, and it launched a confusion at the Rhyhorn.

The attack hit the Rhyhorn head on, but its dull mind seemed unaffected. It roared again, and its body suddenly sparked, an electric blast hurtling towards the Butterfree. The bolt lanced through the butterfly, and it shook with electricity, before fainting and falling to the ground.

The crowd whooped and cheered as the display went on, and Tony grumbled, recalling his Butterfree. "Go! Meowth! Prove to me your worth keeping!"

The Meowth landed with a hiss on all fours, its tail standing straight out. The Rhyhorn acted fast, rushing across the stage at the scratch cat. The Meowth leapt up and landed on it's back, skillfully running across the Rhyhorn and landing on the ground behind it.

"Alright! Now! Do what I taught you!" Tony yelled.

The Meowth showed no signs of recognition, but its belly suddenly started expanding like it was going to spit up. The Rhyhorn slowly turned, just as the coin on Meowths head glinted bright, and a wave of water splashed out, drenching the Rhyhorn who roared. The water pulse hit directly, yet the Rhyhorn charged forwards anyway, slamming into the Meowth and sending it flailing off the stage into the dirt.

Growling, Tony recalled his Meowth and grabbed another ball. Suddenly the shockwave the Rhyhorn used earlier flashed through his mind, and he let go of the ball. Tony raised his hand and sighed. "I'm out of pokemon."

"What are you talking about?" Rock asked, pointing at his belt, "You've got more right there!"

"No…they will all lose! They are all water and weak to electricity! I don't fell like putting them through pointless suffering." Tony shook his head, stepping back.

"Well, if you want." Rock said, before turning back to the audience, "It looks like my Contender has giving up folks! Lets all give him a round of applause before we go back to Rockin'!"

The concert resumed after Tony left the stage, maneuvering through the crowd to reach the Pokecenter, where he healed his pokemon and went to bed for the night.

The next morning, Tony woke up and left outside after cleaning himself up. Despite having stayed up later then him, and being at a concert for the night, Lloyd and Johnny both managed to get up before him and both stood in front of the Vermillion city gym.

"Hey!" Tony called, waving.

"Morning." Lloyd said as Tony approached.

"I can't believe you guys like Johnny Rock…" Tony said, shaking his head, "He's a douche."

"No, I only go to the concerts to study his techniques, you know he's beaten all the gyms?" Johnny explained holding up a small used notebook labeled rather crudely, "My Awesome Tacticz!"

"Uh…" Tony said, eying the small book, "Anyway, I can't believe someone like him beat all the gyms."

"Uh-huh, he even challenged the elite four, but lost!" Johnny explained.

"Yeah!" Lloyd piped up, "They say that's why he challenges people in his concerts, to train."

"Oh…so…what are we doing here? Why aren't you in there fighting?" Tony asked.

Johnny sighed, "The path is blocked by one of those weird plants." While Lloyd replied sullenly, "I can't believe we actually have to do something with these stupid plants."

Johnny punched Lloyd in the shoulder, "Told you!" Tony looked around the area to see a large ship in the distance, "Look! The S.S Anne!"

"So?"

"So I have a ticket you idiots!"

"Oh…yeah…"

"But how are we all supposed to get on with one ticket?" Lloyd asked, and Tony shrugged, "I dunno, maybe I can convince the dude, it's worth a shot."

Tony started walking towards the large yacht, Johnny and Lloyd following after.

They approached a man in a sailor outfit, and he took the ticket from Tony with a smiling face. Tony looked back at Johnny and Lloyd before turning to the man, "Do you think you can let my friends come with me, even if they don't have tickets?" Tony asked.

The man's smiling face suddenly changed demeanor in the blink of an eye, and he scoffed loudly before saying No. Tony turned toward his friends as the man read over his ticket, "Sir, your stamp?" The man asked, And Tony extended his hand to be stamped.

"Sirs?" The man asked towards Johnny and Lloyd, who looked on in surprise. "Wha? But you just said no!" Tony asked, and the sailor nodded, "Yes, but I just read the ticket, it says right here, "This ticket includes two guests"" The man said, Stamping both Johnny and Lloyd's hand.

"Well that's cool!" Tony exclaimed, "lets go." He said, following the ramp leading into the large boat.

Inside the S.S. Anne, Tony and CO. found their room rather easily, and they rested in it for a second, before deciding what to do next. Johnny decided to take a nap, while Lloyd and Tony went to take a look around the ship.

As they walked down the hallways of the ship, a taunting voice came from behind them.

"Well, well, well." The voice repeated as Tony and Lloyd spun around. They spun around to see Tiffany, Kat, and Valarie.

"How did you get a ticket?" Lloyd asked in disbelief, as Tiffany flashed three tickets.

"We bought them! Tiffany's dad is rich!" Kat laughed, and Tiffany blushed, fingering her pokeball and looking at Tony, "How about a battle?"

"I'm ok, thanks, not really in the mood…" Tony sighed, putting his hand in his pockets as Tiffany pouted.

"I'll fight you!" Lloyd said, pulling out his pokeball, but before Tiffany could, Kat jumped in front of her, "I wanna take him on!" she smirked.

They both assumed battle positions, and Tony leaned in towards Lloyd, "Be careful, you don't know her strategy!" Lloyd only smirked, holding out his first pokeball.

They both released their pokemon at the same time. Lloyd's Charmander stood proudly on the polished floors of the halls, while A small brown pokemon holding a bone stood opposite. The Cubone, rushed forwards right away, and Tony got nervous, "Lloyd, be careful! Ground is good vs. fire!"

The bone struck the deck where Charmander was moments before, and it hissed, unleashing a ember at the Cubone, which scorched its skull armor, but did no damage.

The cubone leapt in victory, his bone coming down on Charmander's head with a crash. The Charmander still stood, and its claws glowed brightly, as it slashed at the stunned Cubone, striking it right across the belly. The Cubone leapt back, rubbing its tummy, before glaring at the Charmander through the slits in the bone.

The Charmander gleefully hissed, prancing around, taunting the Cubone. Angered, the cubone glowed an eerie red, before rushing at the Charmander again.

"Heh! We wont fall for the same thing twice! Charmander, show them the move we learned from Tony!"

Tony cocked his head in puzzlement and watched as the Charmander shifted its battle stance, and right as the Cubone reached him, jumped to the side, and struck with a mega punch directly into the Cubones stomach. The only sound was the bone clattering on the ground as the Cubone fainted across Charmander's shoulder.

"Ok then, you might want to stand back, this next one is a doozy!" Kat yelled.

Recalling her Cubone, Kat sent out her next pokemon. This pokemon filled up the entire hallway and more. The large Rock snake, Onix, roared loudly, causing several people to yell from their rooms.

Charmander shook visibly, before shaking his head to calm himself. Suddenly before he could prepare, the Onix's tail whipped from nowhere, crushing the Charmander into the wall, knocking it unconscious instantly.

"Holy crap, this Onix is in an entirely different bracket from the ones we've met before!" Tony said, astounded, as Kat blushed.

"Erg…ok! Go! Mankey!" Lloyd yelled, releasing the small pig monkey. "Ok! Unleash the move we talked about! The Patented Pig-Monkey Pummel!"

The Mankey snorted, jumping up onto the Onix's head. It shook to try and it get the monkey off, but it clung on the Onix's horn. Striking down on the Onix's head multiple times, the Mankey was showering everyone with chips of stone and dust. Climbing down the wounded Onix's body, the Mankey proceeded to beat franticly at the Base of the great stone snake. Finally the Onix couldn't take the abuse from the Mankeys powerful tiny fists anymore, and it shuddered before crashing to the ground.

Kat groaned in anger as she released her next pokemon, a Geodude.

Looking at the Mankey, one could've swore it had smirked as it grabbed the Geodude by both its arms and swung it around before jumping up and launching it into the ground, quickly ending the battle.

Lloyd rubbed the back of his head as he recalled his Mankey, and Kat looked angry, "You could've said you had a fighting type."

"You didn't ask!" Lloyd replied, sticking his tongue out.

"Wasn't there another guy with you?" Valarie asked, peering around.

"Oh, he was tired, so he's taking a little nap." Lloyd explained, before Tony nudged him hard, "Oh! Him! No, he's…uh...working out and doing manly things…yeah…" Lloyd said quickly, and Kat laughed.

"Are you sure you don't want to fight?" Tiffany asked Tony, pointing at him and making puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Tony said, before spotting Tiffany's Puppy dog eyes, his defenses breaking away, "Ugh…Fine…one quick battle!"

"Yippee!" Tiffany yelled, jumping up.

As Tony took Lloyd's place on the makeshift battlefield, Tiffany doing the same to Kat's, he smirked at Tiffany, "I hope you don't think I'm gonna go easy just 'cause your cute. I'm going all out!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Tiffany replied, smirking as well.

:::::Ugh, I have been gone for too long. Writers Block. Boredom. Laziness. Alien invasions. Anyway, I have got to get more focused! Slaps face yeah! That works…

Thanks and sorry to anyone who actually reads this crap, hopefully I can get back on track after this.