Pokemon 101

Season 1-Kanto

Chapter 11-It's A Trap!

Demitri and co. continued to walk through the forest silently, save for a few occasions wherein Anne would squeal as a bug Pokemon came crawling or flying by. The path seemed to extend on forever; the sky was starting to become a deep orange color, a sign that night was coming on fast. "Are we there yet?" Anne shouted in irritation.

"Well," Ranoku began, glancing at her slightly. "Do you see any buildings?"

"No," Anne responded, folding her arms with a huff. "But it feels like we've been in the same spot for hours!"

Demitri rolled his eyes at this. "That's very unlikely."

"I said it FEELS!" Anne retorted in irritation, hanging her head with a groan.

"Regardless, we should be close to getting out," Ranoku responded, crushig another empty energy drink can and depositing it in his satchel. "Then we can get a good night's sleep, and prepare for the Gym battle."

Demitri shrugged at this, Anne sighing again before looking up. Her eyes widened. "Hey, what's that over there?"

Several feet away was a portion of the forest that had opened up slightly, allowing for a somewhat large building to be seen. "Is that it? Are we finally out of this forest?" Anne asked, rushing towards it.

Demitri furrowed his brow at this, Ranoku shrugging. "I think I remember some refreshment station being set up somewhere near the border of the forest."

"You think that's it?" Demitri asked, looking at Ranoku as they approached the building, Anne looking around; the building was surrounded by more forest, as well as another path still headed down the same way they were previously going.

"NO FAIR!" Anne cried, slumping down on the ground and beating it with her fists. "I WAS GETTING HOPEFUL TOO!"

"Calm down," Demitri uttered, looking at the door to the building; which was fairly rusted and seemingly old-looking. "...it seems abandoned."

"Oh, come now," Ranoku responded with a shrug, throwing open the doors and stepping into the doorway. "There is such a thing as people forgetting to put some lubrication on the handles." The teen fell silent for a moment, only to break into a large grin and begin snickering to himself, bending over slightly. "...which is what she said..."

Demitri and Anne were unable to suppress a sweatdrop, the duo looking at each other. "Are you SURE he's a competent Pokemon Trainer...?"

"Well of course!" Anne retorted in irritation. "He's just a little...weird sometimes, is all!"

"Sometimes being 'all the time'?" Demitri mumbled flatly, watching as Ranoku stepped into the building. "...we've gotta follow him, huh...?"

Anne gulped, nervously following Ranoku into the building. "W-...wait for me!"

Demitri sighed in irritation, following the two inside and looking around at the dimly lit room. Although it was lit only by the afternoon light outside, Demitri was able to see the decrepit insides, accompanied by a fairly large amount of dust settled everywhere. The entrance room was fairly large, with several outdated kiosks advertising several different beverages or snacks. "...are you SURE this place isn't abandoned?"

Ranoku looked around for a moment, shrugging. "Eh. Now that you mention it, there IS a lot of glaring evidence."

Demitri facepalmed in irritation, turning towards the doors. He prepared to step out, only for them to abruptly slam shut, the teen blinking in surprise. "What the..."

He rammed his shoulder against the door for a few moments, frowning in irritation. "The hell...?"

On the other side of the building, the middle of the doors was currently having a barrage of embers being fired down it, managing to weld the two together. "Alright, that ought to do it. Good job, Charmander."

The orange lizard let out a cheer in response, turning to Zack and Hayden. The smaller child looked up at Zack, murmuring, "You sure that's not going overboard...?"

Zack shook his head, smirking confidently. "I've come to the conclusion that Demitri is no moron. He'll find a way out of there, believe me. And by the time he does, we should be pretty far off."

Hayden furrowed his brow slightly. "You're giving him an awful lot of credit..."

The older boy looked at Hayden with a slight frown. "C'mon, he beat me TWICE in a row. He's got to have a bit of skill."

With this comment, Zack began walking back into the forest, Hayden looking at the building again and following after him. Back inside, Demitri had began kicking at the door in irritation, panting slightly. "Damn it...it won't budge."

Ranoku cleared his throat, lightly pulling Demitri out of the way and stepping towards the door. "Leave it to me." He proceeded to spit on both hands, rubbing them together and slamming them against the door. "Open sesame!"

Several moments passed in silence, a vein popping from Demitri's head. "Let me handle it, I'm blasting that door down."

He pulled out a Poke Ball at this, Ranoku quickly turning towards Demitri. "Don't!"

"Why not?" Anne asked with a frown.

"Because," Ranoku responded, turning to her and folding his arms. "We're not going around destroying stuff. That's both barbaric and a disgrace to this place."

Anne stared at Ranoku for a moment, Demitri rolling his eyes. "Look, this is a choice between being stuck here, or worrying about desecrating an abandoned refreshment stand."

"Don't worry," Ranoku responded, waving a hand about. "We'll find a way out of here, don't you worry."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Demitri asked with a frown.

Ranoku put a finger to his chin. "Hm...lemme think..."

A few more moments passed in silence, Demitri turning to the door. "I'm going to blast the door down whether you like it or no-"

Demitri's comment was cut off by a resounding, echoing laughing sound going all throughout the room, Demitri and Anne looking up slightly. "What now...?" the teen mumbled.

Anne quickly clung to Ranoku, who shrugged slightly. "Maybe this place is haunted."

"H-haunted?" Anne squeaked in a panic, noticeably trembling.

"Yes," Ranoku responded, advancing towards Demitri with a crazed expression, wiggling his fingers. "And they're here to get you for thinking about desecrating this most sacred place by blowing down doors! Ooooooooooo!"

Demitri proceeded to plant a palm on Ranoku's face, pushing him back. "First off, I don't believe in ghosts. Second, even if that were the case, it just gives us more of a reason to leave."

The laughing persisted, followed by a feminine voice calling out. "Oh Ranoku...always coming up with oddball solutions when the answer is right in front of you. You STILL haven't changed at all."

The voice seemed to cause Ranoku's formerly crazed expression to turn to one deadly serious, Anne's eyes widening. "Is...is that..."

Demitri furrowed his brow in curiosity, his attention brought to one of the balconies overlooking the large room. Someone was standing on it, the figure abruptly leaping off and landing on the ground. Ranoku turned back to the figure, Demitri able to get a good look at them; a teenage girl with waist length, jet-black hair, wearing a blue tank top over a long sleeved, black shirt, and a blue and black striped pair of jeans. A smirk was carved into the teenage girl's mouth, Demitri narrowing his gaze. "Who are you...?"

"Ilohe," Ranoku uttered with a dark tone, narrowing his gaze and stepping forth. "What are you doing here?"

The girl, Ilohe, chuckled again, still smirking widely; it was almost creepy to watch. "Oh, isn't it obvious what I'm here for? I'm just lucky I managed to find you here." She tapped the side of her head. "Woman's premonition. Never fails."

Ranoku kept a serious expression, quite different from the playful, seemingly incompetent teen Demitri had seen previously. He glanced at Anne, mumbling, "What's going on?"

Anne turned to Demitri with a blank expression. "That's Ilohe...some crazy Trainer who's obssessed with defeating Ranoku. Lord knows why."

Ranoku fished in his satchel for a moment, pulling out a Poke Ball. "So you're going to try and defeat me again?" With this comment, a smirk came onto Ranoku's face next. "Bad idea. You know what happened all the other times we faced off. I mopped the floor with you."

Ilohe's smirk changed to a frown, prompting her to reveal a Poke Ball from her own satchel. "Don't start getting arrogant, Ranoku. This time will be different!"

Ranoku glanced at Demitri and Anne out of the side of his eye. "Step back. Ilohe's a tough customer, not one to be taken lightly. Especially by inexperienced Trainers."

Demitri furrowed his brow slightly, but was pulled back regardless by Anne. "Go get her, Ranoku!" Anne shouted. "Kick her butt!"

Battle Situation
Pkmn Trainer Ranoku vs. Pkmn Trainer Ilohe
Location: Viridian Forest
Single Battle

"I don't think so," Ilohe responded, hurling her Poke Ball forward; it burst open, revealing a large, dinosaur-like Pokemon with blue skin, several spikes on its back and head, and seemingly feminine features.

Nidoqueen, the Drill Pokemon. The evolved form of Nidorina. Its hard scales provide strong protection. It uses its hefty bulk to execute powerful moves.

"I do think so," Ranoku responded, tossing his first Poke Ball forward; the Pokemon that was unleashed was a large, pink Pokemon with a rather dopey expression and a large, spiral shaped shell attached to its tail.

Slowbro, the Hermit Crab Pokemon. The evolved form of Slowpoke. The Shellder that latches onto Slowpoke's tail is said to feed on the host's leftover scraps.

Once both Pokemon had been called forth, Ilohe pointed forward, shouting, "Go! Superpower!"

With this comment, Nidoqueen began charging forward, arm glowing brightly. It wound up in preparation for an attack, only for Ranoku to shout, "Quick, dodge!"

Slowbro let out a dopey yawn, abruptly stumbling out of the path right next to Nidoqueen, Demitri managing a slight blink. "He managed to get a Pokemon with such awkward mobility to move like that...?"

Nidoqueen made several more swinging motions towards Slowbro, the Water-type avoiding each one with several more, seemingly uncoordinated steps. Ilohe let out a grunt in irritation, Ranoku commanding, "Now, hit it with a Psychic!"

Slowbro's eyes began glowing blue at this; Nidoqueen's fist came mere inches in front of its face before the dinosaur-like Pokemon was sent flying backwards, landing with a crash onto the ground and slowly staggering back to its feet. Ilohe narrowed her gaze, uttering, "So, you wanna play a long-ranged fight, mm...? Earth Power!"

Nidoqueen abruptly plowed a fist into the ground, several cracks making their way towards Slowbro. The Hermit Crab Pokemon looked down as the ground underneath it exploded, sending Slowbro high into the air with a low groan. Ranoku frowned as Nidoqueen leaped up after it, Ilohe's smirk returning. "Now, hit it with an Iron Tail!"

With this command, Nidoqueen's tail begin glowing rather brightly, the Drill Pokemon abruptly spinning around and slamming its tail onto Slowbro's head, sending it rocketing back to the ground. A loud crash was heard upon collision, Nidoqueen landing with a powerful thud on the ground. Ilohe continued to smirk, only for the resulting smoke cloud to finally dissipate, revealing a mostly unharmed Slowbro to be seen, still on its feet with the same, dopey expression as before. Ilohe frowned, grumbling, "Tch...resilient thing..."

"Wouldn't you know it?" Ranoku asked with a smirk, pointing forward. "Now, finish it off with a Surf!"

Slowbro let out a rather mild-mannered yawn, some water beginning to collect under its body. Demitri and Anne looked down as Slowbro was abruptly lifted up on a rather large wave, headed straight for Nidoqueen. Ilohe's eyes widened, and she quickly hopped out of the way as the wave crashed into Nidoqueen's body, sending it flying back as Slowbro skidded to a halt, the Drill Pokemon collapsing with a low groan. "Gah! You!" Ilohe growled, quickly returning Nidoqueen to its Ball. "Don't even think this is over yet!"

"I'd be disappointed if it were," Ranoku responded plainly, Ilohe pulling out another Poke Ball. "Then thrashing you about over and over would get too boring."