Forces of Nature

"Venomilk, come out now!"

"Weasea, I choose you!"

It was time for Ace's rematch with Norton, the Bluemount City Gym Leader. His friends, Chris, Cammie, Annie, and his new friend, Henry, were all watching from the stands. "So, did Ace actually manage to teach Eevee Return?" Cammie asked Henry.

"I'm afraid not." Henry replied.

"Did he teach Eevee any new moves at all?" Annie asked. Henry shook his head. "Then why is he so confident?"

Henry smiled. "Wait and see, young lady. Wait and see."

"Venomilk, use Body Slam!" Norton commanded. Venomilk speedily slithered up to Weasea. Ace's friends all expected him to tell Weasea to dodge the attack, but Ace just grinned and let Weasea get hit by Venomilk. Fortunately, it could still fight, but it had taken a lot of damage.

"What is Ace doing?!" Cammie exclaimed. "He's not even doing anything!"

Henry chuckled. "Well, he's about to do something." He said.

Ace grinned. "Ready, Weasea?" He asked.

"Weasea!" Weasea squeaked excitedly.

"All right then! Use Brine!" Weasea charged up a huge blast of water, then shot it at Venomilk. Venomilk was pushed back several feet by the attack, and appeared to have suffered significant damage.

"So, that's why Ace let Weasea take the attack." Annie said, realizing Ace's plan.

"Why did he?" Chris asked.

"Brine is a move that's power doubles once its user is damaged enough." Annie explained. She turned to Henry. "So, Ace did succeed in training his Pokemon!"

Henry nodded. "And that's not the only trick he has up his sleeve." He said.

Back down on the battlefield, Norton looked especially impressed by Weasea's new attack. "Very nice!" He complimented Ace. "That move should come in handy in the future."

Ace grinned. "And it's gonna come in handy right now! Weasea, use Brine again!"

"Dodge it, Venomilk, and use Return!" Venomilk ducked under the water blast and rushed towards Weasea, glowing with a pink aura.

"Dodge it, Weasea! Quick!"

Weasea tried to jump out of the way, but it wasn't fast enough. Venomilk hit it, knocking it out. "Weasea is unable to battle!" Clyde the referee declared. "The winner is Venomilk!"

Ace returned Weasea to its ball. "You did great, buddy." He said to it. "Take a nice, long rest." He then pocketed that ball and pulled out another one. "Eevee, let's go!" He tossed the ball out and Eevee sprang forth.

"Vee!" It said confidently.

"Oh, no!" Annie said. "Ace is down to his last Pokemon!"

"And, if Eevee didn't learn any new moves, how is he going to win?" Chris asked.

None of the trainers seemed to notice that Henry was smiling.

"Eevee, use Swift!" Eevee whipped its tail around, sending a barrage of stars at Venomilk. The attack did very little damage, though.

"Venomilk, use Bide!" Venomilk started glowing red. Ace had been expecting this, but he was ready for it.

"Eevee, use Take Down!" He commanded. "Then jump back and use Double Team!"

Eevee rushed towards Venomilk and slammed into it. Then it jumped back and summoned several copies of itself. Venomilk released its Bide energy in the form of a white energy beam, but only hit one of the copies.

"So, you didn't teach Eevee a move to replace Take Down." Norton observed.

"Unfortunately, no." Ace admitted. "But we still have one secret weapon left with us! Eevee, run around the arena and keep using Take Down!"

Eevee and its remaining copies all ran around the battlefield to try and confuse Venomilk. The real Eevee lunged at the snake Pokemon several times, hitting it with Take Down again and again.

"Enough of this! Venomilk, wait for an opportunity, then use Return!"Venomilk waited until the real Eevee slammed into it again. With the real Eevee in its sights, nothing was able to stop its attack.

"Venooooomilk!" Venomilk slammed into Eevee with Return. The poor Pokemon flew backwards and slammed into the back wall of the battlefield, knocking it out.

"Eevee is unable to battle!" Clyde declared. "Venomilk is the winner, which means victory goes to-"

"Wait!" All eyes turned to Ace, who was holding one more Pokeball up in his hand. "I still have one Pokemon left!" He revealed.

Chris, Cammie, and Annie were all shocked, Norton smiled, ready for more action, and Henry smiled too as he recalled what had happened earlier in the woods…

…

"All good things are wild and free." Henry had said as he offered Ace a Pokeball. "Especially when it comes to Pokemon. Do you understand what you need to do now, Ace?"

Ace thought for a moment, then accepted the Pokeball and nodded. "You're saying I need to catch a new wild Pokemon." He guessed. Henry nodded.

"Indeed." He said. "These woods hold a virtual bounty of powerful Pokemon for you to use in your battle with Norton. All you need to do is search hard to find the right one."

Ace grinned and nodded. "Eevee, Weasea, come on!" He said. "Let's go catch a new Pokemon!" Ace ran off deeper into the woods with his Pokemon, followed closely behind by Henry. Ace looked around for quite a while, but couldn't seem to find anything. Until, that is, Weasea picked up a scent with its powerful nose.

"Wea! Weasea!" It barked, heading quickly down one path. Ace followed closely behind his Pokemon until they came to a clearing. Fortunately, unlike the last time he had followed Weasea's nose, there wasn't a giant beehive there. There was, however, a little Grass Pokemon.

"All right!" Ace said. "Let's battle!"

…

Ace looked down at the Pokeball in his hands. He was confident that this Pokemon could provide the key to his victory today. He looked back at Henry in the stands and gave him and his other friends a thumbs up. Then he turned back to Norton and threw out his Pokeball.

"Pinecupine, let's go!" A small, green porcupine-like Pokemon with a collection of huge, sharp pine needles covering its back appeared from the Pokeball.

"Pine Pine!" It said confidently.

"Pinecupine?" Annie pulled out her Pokedex to get Ace's new Pokemon's entry.

"Pinecupine," the Pokedex said, "the Pine Needle Pokemon. A Grass type. This Pokemon's back is covered in incredibly sharp, grassy needles that it uses to protect itself from predators."

"So, Ace got a new Pokemon." Chris observed. "That must be his secret weapon."

"And a very powerful secret weapon, at that." Henry said. "Just watch."

Ace grinned confidently. He knew he could win this battle. He just had to play it right. "Pinecupine, use Grassy Terrain!" He commanded.

"Pine Pine!" Pinecupine struck the ground with its fist, sending a surge of grass across the battlefield. The Grassy Terrain also seemed to power up Pinecupine a little bit, as it briefly glowed red.

"It says here that Pinecupine's ability is Grass Pelt." Annie said, still studying her Pokedex. "It boosts a Pokemon's defense stat while in Grassy Terrain."

"Wow!" Chris exclaimed. "Ace just might be able to win then!"

Norton was especially impressed with Ace's new Pokemon. "Nice move." He said. "Using Grassy Terrain to boost your Pokemon's defense. But I'm afraid it won't help you that much. Venomilk, use Return!"

Venomilk glowed pink and rushed towards Pinecupine. This was exactly what Ace was hoping for. "Pinecupine, use Spiky Shield!" He commanded.

"Pine!" Pinecupine turned its back to Venomilk and its grassy back needles glowed green. Venomilk slammed into them, causing no damage to Pinecupine, but a lot to itself.

"Now, Pinecupine, use Pin Missile!" Since Pinecupine was already facing its back towards Venomilk, it fired off a series of sharp shots at it. Because of the close range, Venomilk took a lot of damage and was actually sent flying back a few feet. "Venomilk, you okay?" Norton asked.

Venomilk got back up, though it took some effort. "Venom." It said confidently. Norton smiled.

"All right then! Use Bide!" Venomilk's body started glowing red. Ace knew he had to end this now.

"Pinecupine, get up close and use Razor Leaf!" Pinecupine jumped right in front of Venomilk and fired a series of extra-sharp leaves at it.\

"Venoooom!" Venomilk wailed as it got bombarded by the leaf attack.

"Now, finish him off! Pin Missile!" If this didn't work, at the close distance they were with each other, Venomilk's Bide attack would surely knock Pinecupine out. Pinecupine jumped up so it was level with Venomilk's head, then fired its Pin Missile attack.

"Pine Piiiiine!" It yelled defiantly.

"Venooooom!" Venomilk wailed as Pin Missle hit it directly in the face, causing a critical hit. The snake Pokemon flew backwards and dropped down to the floor. It wasn't moving. The battle was over.

"Venomilk is unable to battle!" Clyde declared. "The winner is Pinecupine, which means victory goes to the challenger, Ace!"

Ace's friends all cheered and ran down from the stands to congratulate him. Henry stood up and clapped for the young trainer as Norton came forward to present Ace with his badge.

"The Health Badge is yours now, Ace." Norton said, handing Ace the red cross-shaped badge. "Congratulations! You've earned it."

Ace grinned ecstatically and put the Health Badge in his badge case. It had taken a lot of practice and a lot of training, but he had finally come out on top. "Way to go, buddy!" Chris said, clapping Ace on the back.

"Yeah! That was a great battle!" Cammie added.

"Way to go, Ace!" Annie cheered.

"Ace." Ace and his friends turned to see Henry walking down from the stands towards them. "That truly was an impressive battle." He said. "I wish you and your friends good luck on the rest of your journey."

Ace smiled. "Thanks, Henry." He said. "I couldn't have won without your help."

Henry returned Ace's smile. "If you and your friends are still in town tomorrow, why don't you all stop by the Bluemount City Bookstore?" He said. "There's a special event going on there that I think you all would very much like to see."

"Thanks!" Ace said. "We'll be there!"

Ace and his friends left the Bluemount City Gym with a lot of pride. Ace couldn't stop looking down at the badge he had just won, all thanks to his new Pokemon, Pinecupine. With him, Weasea, and, of course, Eevee, Ace now felt like he could take on the world. He and his friends went back to the Pokemon Center to get a good night's rest. The four of them all went to bed with dreams of their next adventure swirling around in their heads.

What are these adventures that await our heroes tomorrow? We'll find out as the journey continues.