XIV : The Third Round : The Battle of the Bug Fearing Scyther
Steph Slices
Blair Dices
The knock at the door came three days later. By now, every one of the sliders knew who Amber was, and about Maxs' drunken reaction. Brian had just woken up, and headed to the door, praying it wasn't who he thought it was.
"Hellloooo Mr. McKay" The chirpy woman from before said.
"Oh God, not you. Ugh, alright, when and what field today?"
"Your match will be the second match of the day, on the grass field. Now, you can use a grass, poison, or bug type pokemon"
"I will be using a Scyther" Brian muttered. The woman smiled.
"Okay, and name?"
"Uh, Stephanie" The woman nodded.
"We hope you enjoy your match Mr. McKay"
"Ugh, it figures" Stephanie growled, as she shoveled pancakes into her mouth, "I had a bad night last night, and I get to go out and battle today"
"Well, at least you can get it done" Natasha pointed out, "My stomach is full of butterflies, because I never know when I might get called. It eats me up inside"
"I know how you feel" Jonah said. Everyone at the table stared at him.
"How could you know how we feel?" Ninetails asked, "How can you know how any one feels"
"No, I mean I know how it feels to be eaten up inside" Jonah pulled out his pokeblock case, and popped two green ones out. "I bought a bunch of green ones, because I didn't know what flavor they were" He fed one to Max on Stephanie's lap.
"Oh God, that's wretchedly bitter" Max wiped his tongue on his paw.
"I know" Jonah said, popping one in, "They're so bitter, and their supposed to make you smarter"
"Then shouldn't you be eating bags of those?" Max cracked.
"Fuck you" Brian sighed.
"Okay, that's enough children" He turned to Stephanie, "I remembered to bring my Microdex this time. It'll beep when our match information is up"
"You know what gets me" Rose asked through a mouth full of sausage. "We're in this tournament, playing to win it, so we can stop Grovyl from doing we don't know what. We don't even know what it has to do with the tournament!" Brian grabbed Rose in a hug.
"I know how you feel. But, we keep fighting"
"Even if we're fighting the wind?"
"Something like that" Rose nodded somberly. "Is something wrong?"
"I dunno, I just feel moody. At least I didn't throw up this morning" Brian kissed the side of her head.
"Yeah, their's that"
The intercom had buzzed, and now Brian and Max were in the preparation room, waiting for Brian's name to be called. As Brian sat down, his Microdex beeped.
"Oh shit, better pull out Steph" Brian muttered. As Stephanie popped out of the pokeball, she was sore all over.
"Dear god those things are uncomfortable" She exclaimed, "Now, who are we fighting?"
"Okay, we are battling a Miss Jessica Dalby, and huh?" Max peaked over Brian's shoulder, to look at the screen.
"What is it?" Stephanie asked, concerned.
"Oh, its nothing. Miss Dalby is also battling with a Scyther, interestingly enough named Blair" Stephanie back against the wall, processing this information. She slid to the ground, and began to hyperventilate.
"Steph, what's wrong?!" Max cried, alarmed, as he and Brian ran over to her. Grabbing her below the blades, they lifted the gasping Scyther over to the bench. Stephanie began to tear up.
"Shit, Max, go get Rose" As Max raced out of the room, Brian held Stephanie, who had begun to rock her self back and forth.
"Bugs bugs bugs bugs" Stephanie mumbled to her self.
"Come on super girl, what the matter?" Stephanie clenched her teeth, as she shrugged away Brian.
"I d-du-don't l-like bugs"
"No one does, but you" Stephanie slung her face in Brian's direction, their eyes locked.
"No, I mean I really hate bugs" Suddenly, Rose, followed by Max, rushed in.
"I heard something was wrong" Upon seeing Stephanie crying, Rose sat down and grabbed her in a hug. "Oh baby, what the mater?" She asked in a sympathetic tone.
"I can't go out there, I have a problem with bugs"
"Do you want to talk about it? That might help"
"…Yeah, alright" Stephanie swallowed, and attempted to wipe tears off of her face.
"It happened a long time ago, 31 years to be exact, when I was only 22. I had just left my husband of two years, when he pushed me through a sliding glass door" As Stephanie said this, her left blade moved over her lower abdomen. "I went to live with my mom and step-father in Hoenn. I was born and raised in north Johto, so Hoenn and me never got along, but that's irrelevant.
"Anyways, I said I would only stay with them a few weeks, which was true. But, during the second week I was there, my step-father, Professor Myrtle, said he had found a pokemon never found in Hoenn! Any guesses at what it was?"
"A Scyther?" Max asked.
"Give the drunk a prize, he is correct! It was a Scyther, though at the time I didn't know it. Myrtle wouldn't say what he had found, only that he was keeping it in his lab, which we lived over. Well, when he wouldn't tell me what it was, I decided I wanted to find out. I was curious, sue me.
"I waited till he and mom were asleep, then I kind of broke into his lab. I've learned how to pick locks, so it was easy to get into. Well, I get in, and flip on the lights, and there, in the center of the room, is that horrifying creature.
"Myrtle didn't believe in pokeballs, he found them to be cruel. Instead, he believed in cages with big iron bars. Yeah, that was more humane. Anyways, I walked over to the cage, and its standing against the back of it. As much as I hate to admit it, it was a beautiful creature. Also, its eyes were closed and it didn't appear to be breathing. I thought it was dead, so I reached my arm in, and knocked on its head"
"You knocked on its head!" Brian screamed, "How could you be so fucking stupid?" At this point, Ninetails slammed her fist on Brian's crotch.
"It was pissed off, to say the least" Stephanie continued, not hearing what Brian said, "Its eyes shot open, and the two of us stared at each other for about a minute. Then, it pointed its blade up, and brought it between the bars and into my stomach.
"The stabbing killed my instantly. As you know, experiencing your own death is horrifying. I felt my heart stop, and then, I could see my bleeding body on the floor, and still see that thing in the cage. That's when it got weird.
"The bug started to glow white! It was whiter then the sun, whiter then it would get if it was evolving. Then, it lost its form, becoming liquid like, and then it passed through the bars, and into the wound in my stomach. As it did, the blood sucked up, and I was going closer to my body. Finally, when it completely went in, I could see out of my eyes again. I took a giant, gasping breath, and sat up. I was alive.
"At first, I thought it was all a dream. I went back to bed, and pushed the incident out of my mind for a few hours, until I awoke to Myrtle screaming. After that, I didn't think about it for a few weeks, until by accident my thoughts turned to that night, and I turned into that thing, by accident. Needless to say, experiencing my own death has long sense turned me off to bugs"
"And ever since then, bugs have made you freak out?"
"Exactly" Brian thought calmly about how to approach this. Suddenly, the intercom buzzed.
"Look, Stephanie, I wish we could sit here a work through your issues. Unfortunately, we have got to head out there and kick some ass. If we don't, Grovyl wins. Do you want that?"
"No" Brian grinned. He held up her pokeball.
"You wanna go kick some ass?" Stephanie gave her wings a weak flutter, and nodded.
"On the red side, please welcome Brian McKay from Little Storping in the Swuff" Brian ran out, followed by Max, waving at the crowd.
"Do you think Steph will be able to hold it together?" Max whispered.
"To be honest, I don't know. We don't have much choice, do we?" Brian asked, as they ascended the trainers platform.
"And now, on the green side, please welcome Jessica Dalby from Fuscha City!" Jessica Dalby came rushing out, and Brians' jaw hit the ground.
"This is who I'm fighting?" She came out wearing giant pumps, black leather pants, a red top that barely stopped above her boobs. Their was so much jewelry on her, the sun blinded the crowd as she ran bye.
"This girl looks like she belongs on her knees, snorting coke" Dimitrius said, "Why in the world is a party girl coming out here to play trainer?"
"We don't know that she's bad" Cameron said, "Remember what we thought about JoAnn. This girl could be a brilliant trainer"
"Or" Jonah butted in, "She could be exactly like JoAnn, and be a dirty dirty cheating whore"
"You still mad because she smacked you, aren't you?"
"No" Jonah said defensively.
"Begin" The Ref yelled.
"Go Stephanie" Brian yelled, as Stephanie popped out, her head feeling like some one had taken a hammer to it.
"After this thing" Stephanie said, "We're going to smash that ball, do you here me?" Jessica pulled out her ultraball, decorated with little star stickers.
"Oh God, this is going to be a disaster" Jonah muttered, "Stephanie's going to massacre her Scyther"
"Come on out Blair" Jessica giggled, as she slung the ball. The Scyther that came out stood almost a foot taller then Stephanie, with nicks in its wings and blades that showed a history of battling.
"Hello my dear" It said, holding up one blade, "I look forward to battling you" Stephanie just stared at the blade, causing the male to drop his.
"Stephanie, use slash!"
"Blair, use" Jessica stopped, and thought, "Wait, what was it you can use?" Blair sighed, as it leapt up in the air, causing Stephanie to miss. Suddenly, Blair shot behind her and slashed.
"Ariel ace is a wonderful attack, don't you think?" Blair asked, dropping to his feet. Stephanie jumped around, glaring at Blair. "Incase you missed, my name is Blair, yours is Stephanie, right?"
"Fuck you, I don't talk to the enemy"
"That Scyther acted with out its trainers command" Max said, "I think it knows its trainer is a blithering idiot"
"I'm wondering who is training who. Stephanie, use double team, then x-scizor" Several doubles of Stephanie sprang out in a circle around Blair.
"Wait, sword dance is an attack right?" Jessica exclaimed, "Blair, use sword dance" Blair began to spin like a top, right as Stephanie jumped at him. She slashed, only to do no damage, due to the speed at which Blair span.
"Great, now use furry cutter"
"Stephanie, dodge" Blair stopped spinning, but used ariel ace again, this time much stronger. Stephanie had attempted to jump away, but ariel ace never misses, and she was sent sprawling to the ground.
"I'm sorry about this" Blair said, landing beside her. "You know, you probably also know ariel ace. But then again, I don't know, tell me, how do sliders learn attacks?" Stephanie stumbled as she got back up.
"How did you know I was a slider?"
"Oh please my dear, it was obvious. You see, when I extended my blade, all you had to do was tap it, as a sign of respect. Its something a Scyther learns at birth. You didn't learn it, so you were not born a Scyther. Pokemon can't change species, so you were born a human, am I close"
"Actually, your dead on the nose" Stephanie growled.
"Stephanie, use quick attack"
"Blair, use quick attack too!" The two rushed at each other, slamming full force.
"I don't understand, you don't listen to your trainer, why is that?" Blair scowled.
"That chuckle head? She's not my trainer, she's a little girl whose daddy bought her some very strong pokemon" Blair spat, with much bitterness.
"Bought you?" Stephanie asked, confused and with a twinge of sympathy. Blair finally won out in the double quick attacks, knocking Stephanie over, but she was able to recover. The two jumped around, to face each other.
"Stephanie, use agility"
"Blair, use uh slash" Stephanie jumped around, until she became a giant blur, while Blair stood there, doing nothing. He even closed his eyes, and folded up his arms.
"Now, use slash!" Stephanie leapt out at Blair from behind, her left arm high above her head. She prepared to slash, and Blair dropped backwards, causing Stephanie to miss. He threw his arms straight up, his blades striking her in the chest, and flipping her onto her back.
"Stephanie's getting her ass kicked" Dimitrius yelled.
"Yeah, well what can she do?" Jonah respond. "Ariel ace never misses, and he's faster then her once she's used agility. And now" Stephanie jumped back up, only to have Blair slash the air so hard that a wave of air smashed into her, causing her to flip three times before landing on her face. "And now he's using air slash"
"Brian needs to do something" Ninetails mumbled, "Stephanie hasn't landed a hit, she won't be able to recover soon"
"Stephanie, use night slash" Stephanie rushed at Blair, and slashed with a glowing dark purple blade, only to find it caught by Blairs' blades in x-scizor formation.
"Lets face it Ms. S" Blair said, holding Stephanies' blade up with no struggle, despite how much Stephanie was forcing it down, "You don't have a chance against me"
"I've always got a chance" Stephanie growled. Go down, damn it
"No, you don't" Blair stated matter-of-factly. "I could beat you with one direct hit. But, I'm willing to take a dive" Stephanie's head shot up, confusion all over her face.
"Why in the world would you do that?" Blair shrugged.
"I hate Ms. Jessica, and the rest of my team does. We've been looking for an opportune moment to quit, and I think I've found it. I'm willing to take a dive, if you will agree to meet me on the edge of the forest, tomorrow night"
"Wait, like a date? Fuck no" Stephanies reaction caused Blair to laugh.
"Of course not like a date, I've enjoyed your company, and I know you will enjoy mine. So, what do you say?" Stephanie growled.
"Alright fine"
"Excellent" Blair dropped his blades, and Stephanie slashed hard. Blair let it hit him, before leaping backwards. "Good, now jump at me using furry cutter" Stephanie ran, and began to rapidly slash Blair.
"I didn't tell Stephanie to do that" Brian said.
"You know what else?" Max said, "It looks like Blair is actually jumping into the slashes"
"Okay, now use giga impact to finish it" Stephanie jumped, shoulder out, so fast that energy began to swirl around her.
"Blair, dodge!" Blair ignored her, as Stephanie slammed into him, sending him flying like a golf ball.
"See you later" Stephanie said.
"It's a date" Blair called.
"IT IS NOT"
"Oh God, my body" Stephanie muttered, as the group made their way back to Brians' room.
"Yeah, but you fought hard" Natasha said, "We're proud of you"
"Uh, yeah, hard fighting is how I won" As they reached Brian's door, they found an envelope taped to it.
"What the hell is this?" Brian asked, pulling the envelope off. The group gathered around, as he opened it.
Three snap shots fell out, of Horatio turning into a Sudowoodo, and back into a human, along with a note.
I have the originals. You will contact no one. When I tell you to drop out, you will drop out, or else I will take the photo's to security. Their will be no more contact between us.