CHAPTER 13
I own nuttin'
Cory rolled to his feet and again tried to escape the electric mice. He could see the arcs of electricity and he knew he managed to move out of their path, but again the bolts hit him.
Cory swore as he passed out.
~000~
Ben sniffed at the air and made a turn to the left. Stephanie stopped and watched him "Hey! Where are you going?"
Ben turned to face her and pointed in the direction he'd started heading "I smell something burning, I hear buzzing and I feel something wrong. All in that direction. I'll tell you three things about Cory, he stinks of smoke, I never listen to him so all I've ever heard from him is buzzing and he is the most incorrect person I've ever met. The signs say he's that way"
Stephanie raised an eyebrow "Oh yeah? Well my woman's intuition tells me it's that way" Stephanie pointed in the opposite direction "Now that we're done comparing superstitions which way do we go?"
Ben crossed his arms "Okay, fine. We'll go in your direction, and miss out on whatever is being barbecued in my direction" Stephanie smiled and began walking in the direction she'd indicated.
Ben grabbed her backpack and hauled her towards the smell of smoke.
Ben and Stephanie pushed through the greenery, as they travelled the buzzing got louder and the smell of burnt meat got stronger. Several shrubs and a half hour later and the pair were gawking at Cory as he tried to run for the fourth time since they'd arrived, never realising that the weapon he'd stolen from Kabuto was attracting the lightning attacks like a golf club or a lightning rod.
Ben shook himself out of the stupor and checked his belt, trying to figure out what might be useful in taking on twenty odd yellow electric rodents. Stephanie reached back and pulled a ball of her own out "Charge I choose you!" the little Pikachu squeaked its name as it emerged from the poke-ball and assumed a battle stance. As an afterthought she also called forth Doll the female Nidoran and Fuzz the Eevee. Ben nodded, but realised he needed to contribute too so he pulled three poke-balls off his belt and summoned Pest the Rattata, Kit the Eevee and Apocalypse the Weedle. Stephanie raised an eyebrow "Apocalypse?"
Ben grinned "It started out as sarcasm, but I think he's gonna earn it now. Six verses twenty will go down in the history books if we can win it"
Stephanie sighed "We don't have to win with just six against twenty, we get Cory out of there and he can add...ah crap, he can only add two really"
"Maybe we..." Ben started "...ah hell. Apocalypse, Kit, Pest. ATTACK!" The Rattata and Eevee rushed forwards leaving the Weedle crawling along behind them. Stephanie ordered her three forwards as well and Doll was left behind just like Ben's Weedle.
Ben and Stephanie sprinted out of the bushes and began hurling poke-balls at the Pikachu as they were struck by their pokemon's attacks. The vast majority of balls were broken out of by the electric rodents, but some were unable to fight their way out and were held fast.
Cory dug the short sword into the ground and used it as a crutch to pull himself to his feet. Ben's mind clicked and he dropped his shoulder and charged, knocking the shorter youth off his feet and away from the metal blade moments before the electrical blast hit it.
Cory shook his head and rolled to his feet, he reached to his belt and pulled the poke-balls containing Dumbo the Nidoran and Moocher the Eevee.
Stephanie took a deep breath and calmed herself before taking in the situation with clear eyes.
Five Pikachu were in poke-balls belonging to Ben or herself, fifteen were still in the open, either on the attack or pulled back out of ball throwing range and eight pokemon belonging to the three trainers had been reduced to four. Dumbo, Moocher, Kit and Doll. Kit had taken a bolt to the leg and was hobbling on three, but the tides were actually in the trainer's favour "Now!" Stephanie yelled "Send in the flying types!" Cory and Ben looked at her like she was mad but Zubat, Racer and Cory's Spearow were summoned to the field along with Freebie and Buster. The remaining Pikachu ignored the exhausted pokemon that were already on the field and targeted the easy win over flying types. Fifteen electrical attacks were launched at once and all zeroed in on the sword that had been planted in the ground by Cory.
The explosion rocked the Forest and the Pikachu scattered, racing into the undergrowth and disappearing from sight.
Cory swayed as he staggered over to the sword and pulled it from the ground.
"What the HELL did you do to my blade!" Cory, Ben and Stephanie looked towards Kabuto in surprise. The samurai kitted youth glared at them in desperate frustration.
"Well..." Ben began "...he did use it as a machete"
"And an axe" Stephanie offered.
"A walking stick" Ben pointed out.
"A hammer" Stephanie supplied.
"A knife" Ben mused watching Kabuto's face as it passed through some rather appealing shades of red and white.
"And a lightning rod" Stephanie finished.
"ENOUGH!" Kabuto screamed "I will KILL YOU!" He pointed a shaking finger at Cory and pulled a poke-ball off his belt with the other hand "GO! Beedrill!" the pokemon emerged from its poke-ball and landed in front of its trainer. Beedrill looked like a bipedal wasp but packed two lance-like stingers on what looked to be its arms. Its black and yellow stripes suggested an electric type similar to Pikachu but Cory knew this pokemon was the evolved form of Weedle, a poison and bug type.
Cory called his pokemon and considered them as they headed towards him. Dumbo and Moocher were pretty banged up and Cory quickly recalled them to their poke-balls. That left Spearow and Racer, his two flying types who had avoided any damage thanks to Stephanie's lightning rod tactic. Cory recalled Racer to its poke-ball, knowing he would probably need his starter later in the battle.
Kabuto nodded sagely "A wise decision...eh?" he looked down as Ben ushered him aside and picked up one of the poke-balls containing a Pikachu. Ben waved his hand apologetically and retreated off the battle-field with the ball. Kabuto raised an eyebrow and watched him go before resuming his speech "A wise decision to go with a flying type against a bug type, but my Beedrill is far superior to any Spearow"
Cory grinned "Everything is far superior to Spearow, but he'll surprise you if you look down on him like that" Cory pointed to the sky "Spearow. Show them what it means to fly!" Cory's Spearow shot skywards in a tight spiral and on Kabuto's orders the Beedrill took off in hot persuit.
The two pokemon powered upwards until both became specks in the sky. The two dots came together and one of them began to grow. Ben grabbed Stephanie and hauled her back away from the battlefield and the two of them turned to watch as the dot became the Beedrill and crashed into the ground.
Kabuto ran over to his unconscious pokemon and looked at the gaping hole that passed through both wings on its right side in shock "You've cheated!" he hissed at Cory.
Cory folded his arms and tilted his head to the side "Peck is a move recognised by the Pokemon League. It was your own fault your monster was so high when it happened"
Kabuto cursed and recalled his Beedrill "Fine, lets see how you deal with this" he returned the Beedrill to his belt and pulled off another poke-ball "Paras!" a crab-like creature emerged from the red blaze and waved its pincers about.
"That's it!" Cory stammered incredulously "SPEAROW!" he roared "PECK ATTACK!" the dot in the sky quickly grew in size and took the shape of Cory's tiny bird pokemon.
Kabuto tried to keep the smile off his face as the bird closed the gap on his pokemon and commanded "Paras...stun spore" the crab like pokemon dropped its pincers and the trainers noticed the mushrooms on its back for the first time as they shook a cloud of dust into the air between the host and its attacker.
Cory's Spearow flew directly into the cloud and froze, the Paras scuttled to get out of the way but was too slow and was sent spinning by the inert flying type. The orange bug skidded to a halt and rolled back to its feet, staggering slightly but still standing. Cory's Spearow in the other hand lay in a crumpled heap, unable to move due to the effects of the dust-like spore cloud. Cory withdrew it and struggled to meet the Samurai's smug gaze evenly. He recalled his Spearow and re-attached its poke-ball to his belt before summoning Racer. The Pidgey shot skywards just like the Spearow had but peeled early and circled on its broader wings, conserving energy. Cory grinned "Racer GUST!" the Pidgey chortled and flapped hard, pressing the spore cloud back towards its caster.
Kabuto grinned right back "Paras DIG!" the dual grass-bug monster rolled its pincers like a boxer and disappeared into the ground.
Cory scanned the area "Ha! That's not accomplishing anything but a stalemate" Racer wheeled about in the sky, searching like Cory for any sign of the crab monster.
Kabuto flicked his fingers with a snap and clouds of spore began drifting up from around the battlefield, all four corners were enveloped in the dusty haze which quickly covered the field and began to rise.
Cory, Ben and Stephanie all stepped away from the area as the cloud began to spill away from the arena and towards them.
"HOLD!" Kabuto roared, his voice muffled by the samurai mask and a handkerchief, he pointed at Cory "If you step away from the battlefield you lose"
Cory gritted his teeth and stayed put "Racer, blow the spore over the beetle-brow idiot. It won't hurt him but it might give us some breathing space...Gust NOW!" the little Pidgey flapped its wings in an attempt to blow the spore across the battle-field, but only succeeded in stirring it higher and forcing itself upwards until it dispersed into the morning air.
Cory blinked in surprise "That's it...Racer! Fly in circles around the top of the spore-cloud! QUICK ATTACK!" the bird pokemon responded with a loud chirp and accelerated hard, flying rings about the top edges of the hazy cloud. The Pidgey was too small to completely control the spores and Cory felt his skin tingle as the paralysing dust landed on him. His aching electrocuted muscles froze and he collapsed to his knees.
"Giving up so soon?" Kabuto crowed "I'd have thought the mighty...eh?" The spore cloud rose high into the sky like a tower and shadows were beginning to swoop and soar around it. Kabuto squinted as he tried to figure out what the shadows were.
"Pidgey and Pidgeotto" Cory supplied "They hunt at dawn and eat bugs. Your Paras is safe underground, but with that much spore in the air those birds must believe it's a feast around here, sooner or later they'll dig it out"
"But that's an interference!" Kabuto roared in frustration "You can't bring more pokemon to the battle!"
"What are you whining about?" Cory gave a pained chuckle "You helped! Might as well have used bait"
~000~
Cory winced as the sunlight pierced his eyes, not a normal feeling for him since he didn't drink. He scanned the room to see Ben speaking to the video link as he sat by Cory's bed in a white room "Yeah...he's fine, the Doctor says he'll wake up soon. The Stun Spore got him pretty good and being electrocuted several times before hand didn't help matters...ahh the Doctor also pointed out that neither did Stephanie spraying him with Paralyze Heal, turned the spore to a kind of film that was nearly impossible to get off him"
"Hmm...it seems like a logical decision, but so far I've only ever heard of a pokemon product working on you, the potion. Anyway, I have another errand for you while you're in Pewter City. There's a student of mine doing some field work in the nearby caves around Mt Moon. Brown haired chatty kid goes by the name of Delia. You'll need the Gym Leader's permission to get to the caves though so you'll have to visit Pewter Gym and tackle Flint. Oh just a heads up he uses a rock type Geodude"
Cory tried to remember what a Geodude looked like but his mind came up blank and he sighed in frustration, drawing the attention of both Ben and Professor Oak "Well" said the Professor "Look who's done with beauty sleep. Hello Cory"
"Prof...I picked up Pewter, hospital, student and Gym...what did I miss? Did I win the battle?" Cory looked from Ben to Oak and back again trying to find any early hint on the results.
"More like a double knock-out I'd say" Ben mused "Kabuto's in here too, got beat up pretty bad trying to protect his Paras from those Pidgeotto" Ben grinned "I passed by the ward they're keeping him in about an hour ago, he was screaming about vengeance and calling you a soul rapist"
Cory winced "I actually feel kinda sorry for him...So where's Stephanie?"
"Stephanie is at the pokemon centre getting all our pokemon patched up and offloading all those extra Pikachu we caught, well, sending them to Professor Oak anyway"