Chapter 23: Truth and Ideals
"Go Floatzel!" Catalyst said, sending out her orange weasel Pokemon.
"Go Beedrill" Red said sending out the large, bee Pokemon. The only Pokemon he used last round.
"Floatzel, use Aqua Jet"
"Beedrill, set up Toxic Spikes"
Beedrill fired an orb of purple energy that then scattered and hit all across the ground on Catalyst's side. Now, any Pokemon she would send out would be poisoned. But that didn't seem right... I thought Red was going to blow the match... maybe he was trying to avoid suspicion?
Floatzel cloaked himself in a veil of water and launched at Beedrill, hitting him, but not doing to much damage, surprisingly.
"Beedrill, set up more Toxic Spikes"
Beedrill launched another purple orb into the air that scattered across Catalyst's side. Now her Pokemon would be badly poisoned when they came out. The same affects as using Toxic. Now I know if he was going to throw the match, he wouldn't do that. Was he actually going to try and beat his boss?
"Floatzel, use Ice Fang!"
"Beedrill, use Twineedle"
Floatzel charged at Beedrill and tried to bite down with his fangs that were imbued with ice. Beedrill, however, jabbed Floatzel right in the head before the attack could land. He used his other arm and jabbed at Floatzel's side. It actually looked painful, like the attack had the intent to kill. Floatzel recoiled in extreme pain.
"Now, Beedrill finish him with Poison Jab."
Beedrill's stingers glowed purple and he jabbed Floatzel once more and he went down. Catalyst recalled him.
"Go Rapidash!" Catalyst said sending out a horse with a single horn and flames all around its spine. As Rapidash landed, the Toxic Spikes took effect, causing a purple shockwave to go up Rapidash's body, badly poisoning her.
"Rapidash, use Flare Blitz!"
"Beedrill, Poison Jab again."
Rapidash cloaked herself in flames and charged right at Beedrill. However, Bedrill flew out of the way as Rapidash ran right into a large boulder on the battlefield. Beedrill then jabbed Rapidash's back with its poison infused stingers. Rapidash then seemed to suffer from the poison. ALready, Rapidash was looking really weak.
"Rapidash, come on, beat it using Bounce!"
"Beedrill, use Venoshock."
Rapidash leaped into the air and the tried to land right on top of Beedrill, but failed. This was because Beedrill fired a strange green goo from its stingers. The goo covered Rapidash and seemed to cause her extreme pain. Rapidash fell on the ground, defeated. Catalyst recalled her.
"Fine then, go Glalie!"
The large, floating Pokemon with horns appeared. The purple shockwave appeared and surrounded Glalie as well.
"Glalie, use Ice Beam!"
"Beedrill, Twineedle."
Glalie fired a powerful blast of ice energy. For what felt like the first time in this battle, Beedrill was hit, and hard this time. However, he kept going. He charged right at Glalie and struck him with one stinger, then the other. Red's battle style seemed so... brutal... harsh... I was really beginning to think that he didn't want his leader to win. Glalie shuddered from the poison damage that only kept getting worse.
"Beedrill, use Venoshock."
"Glalie, use Blizzard!"
Beedrill fired that green goo again. It covered Glalie, but not before he could unleash a powerful blizzard onto the field. Beedrill couldn't avoid damage this time, he was completely surrounded. Finally, Beedrill went down, forcing Red to recall him. Glalie looked incredibly weak. He shuddered once more before all the poison took him out. Catalyst recalled him.
"Go Pidgeot" Red said, sending out a brown bird with flowing red and yellow feathers on top of his head.
"Go Raichu!" Catalyst said, sending out her small, brown electric Pokemon.
"Pidgeot, use Aerial Ace"
"Raichu, use Thunderbolt!"
Raichu sent a powerful bolt of electricity hurtling toward Pidgeot. However, Pidgeot dodged the attack and slashed at Raichu with his beak. Red's Pokemon really knew how to dodge attacks.
"Raichu, Volt Tackle!"
"Pidgeot, Giga Impact."
Raichu cloaked himself in electricity and began to rush forward. Pidgeot cloaked himself in a white veil with green streaks and swooped down. The two Pokemon collided, pushing against one another. Neither of them budging, both of them pushing against each other. Finally, Pidgeot won and forced Raichu back. Pidgeot landed right next to an unconscious Raichu. Catalyst recalled her electric mouse.
"Dammit... go Meganium!" she said, losing confidence. Her frustration was becoming more and more evident.
"Pidgeot, use Aerial Ace"
"Meganium, Petal Dance!"
Meganium produced several pink flower petals. He then shot them right at Pidgeot. As Pidgeot got in closer, he dodged some of them, only making contact with a few of them, and then slashed right at Meganium with his beak. Things were already not looking well for Meganium, he took quite a bit of damage from that one attack.
"Pidgeot, finish this with Brave Bird"
As Meganium sent more pink flower petals shooting at Pidgeot, Pidgeot become cloaked in a light blue aura and charged right into Meganium. Meganium went down easily. Catalyst recalled Meganium. Red, oddly, recalled his Pidgeot, as well.
"Dammit Red!" Catalyst screamed, her frustration with her second in command now clearly evident. "I'm the one that's supposed to win this tournament! Go Haxorus!"
"Let's finish this. Go Ditto." Red said calm as ever. He was beating his superior, and didn't seem to care. Would he be punished for this?
The tiny pink blob didn't seem like anything compared to the large dragon in front of it, however that soon changed.
"Ditto, use Transform."
Ditto began to act really strangely as it began to take on the shape of Haxorus. Then his color. Soon, Ditto was an exact replica of Haxorus. Haxorus was clearly disturbed by this, seeing as how he took several steps back.
"Ditto use Outrage."
"H-Haxorus, use Dragon Claw!"
Haxorus swiped at Ditto, but Ditto's full force attack hit faster. The attack combined with the shock value of the perfect replica transformation made the battle short. The crowd went silent and then roared with applause at the incredibly entertaining battle they had just witnessed. Catalyst walked off the arena, fuming mad. Red walked off just as calmly as he was in the battle. I honestly wondered what this meant for him. I mean, he just beat his leader... Why? If his leader was the one that needed to win, why did he not throw the match? In fact, he went all out. It was honestly very brutal the way he battled. Not something I'd expect from the second in command to do to the leader...
I walked back to the underground lobby. I knew Michael would be down there. His battle was later tonight, after Skylar and Greg's. I hope Michael would have something to say about that battle.
"Something seemed off about that last battle" I heard from behind me. I turned around and saw Skylar against the wall. I looked around to make sure that he was actually talking to me before responding.
"I didn't think the Leader would lose so easily..." I responded
"Exactly" Skylar said as he walked towards me. "Its either she isn't the real leader, or she was stupid enough to chose someone stronger than her as her second in command."
Skylar then walked towards the entrance to the arena. He was going out to fight Greg now. This match was bound to be very interesting, seeing my two brothers fight each other in such a big tournament. As he was at the entrance, he stopped dead in his tracks.
"It seems you'll have to face the Red character in the next round" He said. I felt the chills run down my back as the realization hit. "You better be the one that makes it the final round, not him." And with that Skylar continued through the tunnel.
I kept walking until I found a screen that was displaying the match. Conveniently, Michael stood watching the match begin. I walked next to him and stared at the screen. The arena had changed from the rocky one from the previous rounds to one that was covered in ice. Greg had his Swanna out while Skylar was using his Jolteon. Swanna flapped her wings and a large storm was whipped up. Now the arena was icy and covered in rain water. The storm was pretty powerful too, I could hear it banging on the roof of the underground lobby.
"So..." I said "what do you think about that last match?"
Greg's Swanna sent a powerful Hydro Pump that completely engulfed Jolteon. Jolteon slid back several feet on the ice.
"There was definitely something up" Michael said. "I think Red just completely went against what Catalyst planned"
Swanna flapped her wings and created a powerful wind, an incredibly powerful Hurricane. Jolteon sent out an incredibly large bolt of electricty, a nasty Thunder. The attacks hit their respective targets. Jolteon struggled to get up, but Swanna went down and had to be recalled.
"You think?" I asked
Greg sent out his Excadrill now. Jolteon ran up and tried to land a Double Kick, but Excadrill was able to use Drill Run and knocked Jolteon right out, causing Skylar to recall him. The rain was still pouring down hard.
"Yeah. Catalyst was frustrated when I saw her get back from the battle" Michael responded. "It wasn't an act."
Skylar now had out his Lucario. Lucario fired a powerful Aura Sphere that hit Excadrill. Excadrill retaliated with a strong Earthquake.
"Why do you think he did that?" I asked
Lucario got in close and fired off several powerful punches. It was a mean Close Combat. Excadrill then attacked back by using Drill Run again. Both Pokemon were pretty tired out now.
"I think, from what I'm getting so far, is that Catalyst was an awful leader" Michael said
Lucario fired one more Aura Sphere and Excadrill was down. It was a tough fight for both of them. Whoever Greg sent out next would probably easily take out the very weakened Lucario
"What do you mean?" I asked
Greg sent out his Emboar to battle next. The rain was still pouring, so fire attacks wouldn't do too well, but I know not to underestimate Greg's battling, even in unfavorable conditions.
"Look at what we've seen so far..." Michael said
Emboar hit Lucario with a powerful Hammer Arm attack. Lucario went down hard. Skylar recalled him.
"...The grunts never seemed to accomplish what was given to them..."
Skylar sent out his Flygon. Emboar went in to deliver another Hammer Arm. Flygon hit back with a powerful Dragon Claw.
"...they're not too terribly secretive about stealing the Legendary Pokemon..."
Emboar was cloaked in flames and did a powerful body slam into Flygon. It was one powerful Heat Crash. Flygon then hit back with an Earth Power that hit Emboar pretty badly, but not enough to knock him out yet.
"...not to mention what they did to Lucy just for losing. Doubtless she made them do the same to Count Silver and Master Black" Michael finished.
At this point Emboar went down thanks to Flygon's powerful Dragon Tail attack.
"They did do that to them" I confirmed.
The rain continued to pound hard. Greg now had out his Vanilluxe. One well aimed Ice Beam from Vanilluxe was enough to take down Flygon, causing Skylar to recall him.
"I have a feeling Red didn't agree with that" Michael said
Skylar now had his Scolipede out. Vanilluxe fired another powerful Ice Beam. Scolipede retaliated by poisoning Vanilluxe with Toxic and then using Venoshock for more damage.
"I talked to Jared after I beat him..." I said
Vanilluxe surrounded Scolipede with a powerful Blizzard. That didn't stop Scolipede, however, from using Steamroller. After that attack, the poison took out Vanilluxe, so Greg had to recall him.
"Was that Master Black?" Michael asked. "What did he have to say"
Greg now had his Galvantula out. It fired a powerful Electro Ball that hit Scolipede. Scolipede retaliated with a Poison Tail.
"He was sad" I answered "He knew they were going to take away all of his memories."
Now Galvantula used the rain to his advantage and sent out a Thunder attack that hit Scolipede dead on, knocking him out. Skylar recalled him, both of my brothers now had two Pokemon left.
"Then he asked me not to remind him of his time in Team Cataclysm" I finished
By this time Skylar had his Gliscor out. Gliscor was flying around and slashing at Galvantula from all sides. Galvantula tried to attack back, but Gliscor was immune to his electric attacks.
"Weird thing is though" I added "Is that Master Black is the one who built the machine they're going to be using."
Gliscor landed a powerful Acrobatics attack onto Galvantula. Galvantuala went down. Greg recalled him and sent out his final Pokemon, Musharna.
"So then..." Michael said "How are they going to operate their machine without him? That must've been the final straw for Red making Catalyst lose so brutally."
Musharna fired powerful Psychic attack. It hit Gliscor dead on, but then Gliscor swooped in and hit Musharna with a fairly weak Fury Cutter.
"Where do you think they are anyways?" I asked "Red and Catalyst I mean"
Musharna tried to use Hypnosis to put Gliscor to sleep, but she missed. Gliscor then swooped down and hit her with another Fury Cutter, this time it was slightly more powerful.
"As soon as this match is over, I think we should search the corridors here" Michael said
Musharna fired an Energy Ball that hit Gliscor. Gliscor stumbled back a bit, but then got back up to deliver yet another Fury Cutter. The attack was getting stronger still.
"I think we could go now, this match is just about done" I said
As Michael and I turned around to begin our search, Gliscor landed one last Fury Cutter and Musharna went down. Skylar just won against our older brother, Greg. Not surprising, though I am proud that Greg really did have Skylar on the ropes for most of the match.
We kept walking for what seemed like an hour. Michael had to leave to go get prepared for his match, leaving just me. I knew he would do well against Lord Diamond. There was no doubt about it. Michael is just an amazing Pokemon trainer. If anything, he is up there with Skylar.
I kept walking until I got to that corridor that led to the door where I first found Celebi. The room Michael and I blew up. I went in to see if something Red had disappeared into here. I have now bitterly regret my decision to enter that room, and I always will.
In the corner of the room, someone sat. I got closer to see Catalyst herself slumped over. I walked up. First thing I did was check her pulse. Nothing. Then I removed that horrid tie-dyed mask to reveal an even more horrid face. What was once the face of a very attractive young woman in her early 30s was now frozen in the cold horror of death. A small amount of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. Her face forever in an expression of agony. I instantly got dizzy at the sight of her.
"Well... I wasn't meaning for anyone to see this icky mess" I heard the familiar voice of Red say from behind me. I slowly turned around to see him looming over me. I got even dizzier.
"No matter" he said "its not like you can really do much about it now anyways. Let me tell you, though, why I did it. Its simple really: her ideals were very wrong. She wanted to complete elimination of all humanity. You see, that's not the solution at all. Humans help bring out the potential in Pokemon. Without humans some Pokemon like Golbat or Kadabra would not be able to reach their full potential through evolution. Even more so, Pokemon such as Kabuto and Porygon wouldn't be around today without humans. No. Eliminating all humans is not the answer, but that's what Catalyst wanted. Eliminating only a certain handful of humans is the solution to making our world a better place. Specifically, humans that don't have good ideals or truths. Those are the ones that need to be eliminated. Now you can see why I had Lord Diamond take Reshiram and Zekrom. Catalyst needed to be taken down. And this battle just gave me an excuse to do so."
I stood up and began to walk past him, I was so dizzy now. I felt like I would throw up at any moment. I fell to the ground.
"Now, I must tell you. Your other friend, the one that you didn't save, she'll be back at the hotel we're staying at tonight. We have no use for her now that her sister is dead. I hope our fight in the Semifinals will be one we both can remember" Red said "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must ask you to leave. I have some... unfinished business to attend to."
I got back up and stumbled my way out the door. Red's voice was so calm, yet so horrid. As soon as I got out of there I fell to my knees and resisted the urge to puke. I got back up and made my way to watch Michael's match. What I just witnessed was the most horrid thing I have seen.
A/N: Hey readers! So here's my next chapter. I really hope you enjoy this one, its one I've been wanting to write for a long time. As always, please tell me how I did, thoughts, criticisms, etc. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and the next one will be up ASAP!