Dylan was called upon to send out the first pokemon. He sent out his bulbasaur to do battle. Collin responded with his vulpix.
The fire pokemon struck first, releasing a mighty flamethrower. Bulbasaur dodged, rolled to it's right and came up firing razor leaves. Vulpix re-aimed it's fire attack and burned the leaves out of the sky. While it had been defending itself, Bulbasaur had used it's vine whip to grab a hold of the fire pokemon's front legs. A hard jerk sent it flying. Another jerk slammed it into the ground.
"I wonder why he doesn't switch," I mumbled.
"He doesn't have a choice," David replied, not realizing I had been talking to myself. "Two of Collin's other pokemon have attacks that are super effective against his croconaw, but…"
He paused. I looked at him.
"What's his sixth pokemon?"
I had been curious about that myself. His first five pokemon were obvious. They were the ones he used on a regular basis. The final participant on his team was shrouded in mystery. He had expressed concern about using his zigzagoon a few days ago and I couldn't imagine his opinion had changed since then. He hadn't used his oddish recently at all as far as I could remember either. I shared all this with David.
David just scratched at his beard. "This should be real interesting then."
It had gotten interesting already. Bulbasaur had managed to stick a leech seed onto Vulpix which was slowly draining it's energy. Unfortunately that was about all the damage that it had caused. Vulpix's powerful flamethrower had kept Bulbasaur at a distance and cancelled out any attacks that could reach that far.
Dylan's eyes went hazy for a moment as something was clearly processing. "Use vine whip against the ground and jump!"
That was certainly new.
It was much like his totodile had done so long ago and I had stolen with my mudkip. The attack propelled the pokemon high up into the air. Unfortunately I couldn't see how this was going to help. Now Bulbasaur was in the air and immobile except for the power of gravity once it's jump reached it's peak.
"Razor leaf!" Dylan yelled for stage two of his plan.
A wide cloud of the dark leaves rained down on Vulpix. It took a few hits and then countered with it's flamethrower yet again. Charred leaves plummeted from the sky all around the fire pokemon. Bulbasaur kept producing razor leaves in a progressively losing battle. Vulpix was almost surrounded in a haze of the charred leaves.
Dylan commanded, "Return! Go Croconaw!"
The water pokemon landed with a mighty stomp of it's feet. As expected, Collin raised his poke ball to recall his now disadvantaged fire pokemon. His other hand reached for a different poke ball.
Yet Vulpix remained on the field.
The still descending roasted leaf remains were too thick for the laser of the poke ball to penetrate. The red beam got about three feet away from Vulpix and then faded. Collin attempted it again. This time it faded at four feet away.
"Brilliant," I whistled. I had not expected this outcome. "Now the field gets leveled."
"Croconaw, water gun!"
The torrent of water Croconaw released was more than powerful enough to cut through the haze of leaves. It slammed into Vulpix without stopping. The six-tailed pokemon was driven to the ground. Then it was water gunned again before Collin could attempt to recall it.
"Vulpix is unable to battle!" Nurse Sarah declared with a wave of her hand. "Croconaw is the winner!"
"I can't believe how well that worked," Vanessa said.
I snorted. "I can't believe that worked at all. I would've never thought to try and block the laser of a poke ball. I'm not sure if that's really legal."
"Pokemon can learn moves that don't let you recall another pokemon," David lectured. "Mean look or something like that. If an attack can do it, why not by some other means?"
"You got me there." I shrugged.
On the field, Collin had sent his jolteon back out. Dylan instantly recalled Croconaw. In it's place, he sent Bulbasaur back out. The brief rest in the poke ball didn't appear to give the grass pokemon any extra energy. Although it was no longer breathing heavily which I guessed was a step in the right direction.
"Jolteon, pin missile!" Collin shouted.
The spiky yellow fur straightened straight out from the electric pokemon. A white glow traced the outlines of it. Then it erupted. White streaks of energy with something like arrowheads literally screamed through the sky. It was like watching a big bunch of bottle rockets being set off. Bottle rockets of concentrated bug-type energy that exploded on contact.
"Dodge it!" Dylan yelled. "Then use take down!"
Bulbasaur took off at a full run, kicking up blades of grass in it's wake. The golden glow that made a take down different from a tackle flowed with it. All around the racing grass pokemon, pin missiles were slamming into the ground and exploding. The force of one effortlessly tossed Bulbasaur from it's path but the determined grass pokemon landed on it's feet and kept going.
Somehow Dylan's pokemon managed to weave through all the explosions and arrived at Jolteon still going full speed. Bulbasaur barreled into the electric pokemon and the golden glow slammed forward as well. With a high-pitched cry, Jolteon went sailing backwards. It righted itself and exploded with a thunderbolt.
Although it wasn't very effective, the green-skinned bulbasaur was clearly not enjoying itself. It gritted it's teeth and tried to wait it out. When it became clear that wasn't going to happen, Dylan countered with a blast of razor leaves. They shattered against Jolteon's pointed fur. It was enough of an impact to disrupt the current.
Collin changed gears. "Quick attack!"
Jolteon rapidly began closing the gap between it and it's opponent. Dylan called for a tackle and Bulbasaur started bounding towards the streaking Jolteon. I frowned. With the speed Jolteon was building up, Bulbasaur was going to get the worst of the exchange by far. When they got close enough, Jolteon went airborne.
"Go flat!" Dylan snapped. He sliced his hand to create an invisible line he wanted his pokemon below. "Then sleep powder!"
Bulbasaur flung it's feet out from under it's body and slid to the ground like a headfirst baseball slide. From the opening at the top of the bulb on it's back, a golden cloud formed. The powdery cloud drifted up and right into Jolteon's path. The cloud burst when the electric pokemon cut right through it.
Jolteon landed on it's feet. It turned to look at Bulbasaur and then shook it's body like it was trying to shake the water from it's fur. Golden powder floated off and disappeared into the sky. A final shake of it's tail gave off a small stream of powder.
Collin smiled.
Dylan frowned.
Jolteon sneezed a small puff of gold.
Collin's eyes got big as Jolteon developed a serious lean to one side. The electric pokemon's eyes got droopy. It held out as long as it could but Jolteon slumped down to the ground and began quietly snoozing. Both Bulbasaur and Dylan let out a sigh of relief.
"Return!" Dylan called and quickly released Croconaw. "Slash!"
Croconaw's claws glowed white and grew long. Dylan's throw of it's poke ball had been well planned. Croconaw was close enough to Jolteon that it could sweep a long clawed hand across the sleeping pokemon before Collin could get to it's poke ball.
"Again!"
This time Croconaw stooped down as it ran at the still slumbering pokemon. It's claws left deep trenches in the ground as it dragged it behind. Jolteon's eyes fluttered open as Croconaw swung it's claws to the heavens. A long, drawn out cry followed Jolteon as it soared backwards and skidded to a stop at Collin's feet.
Nurse Sarah made the call after Jolteon struggled to it's feet and then collapsed again. "Jolteon is unable to battle! Croconaw is the winner!"
Dylan's ability to rally from being down impressed me. I had half expected him to start coming apart once Gyarados had been defeated. Now I knew better. Now he still had a fresh Croconaw, a battered Bulbasaur and his mystery pokemon to battle Collin's raticate and presumably his toxicroak. Despite numbers, it was probably an even battle now.
While I had been thinking, Collin's raticate had reemerged onto the field. As Dylan called for a water gun, Collin countered with something called sucker punch. I never saw Raticate move but something purple slammed into Croconaw's stomach and then disappeared, doubling the pokemon over.
"Peculiar move set," David mused. "Two dark-type moves and an electric-type move. He must mostly use it in certain situations."
"Like what?" Vanessa asked.
"Well, like he did with Gyarados just now. Use the super-effective electric attack and then when the trainer goes to pull his pokemon back, bam! Hit 'em with pursuit for double damage. He's clearly good."
I snorted. "Pretty sure we could figure that out from the battle."
I refocused on the battle. Raticate was literally running circles around Croconaw using quick attack. The water pokemon was snapping it's head from side to side, trying to anticipate where the strike may come from. It turned out above was the correct answer. Raticate leapt into the air and swung down a glowing purple tail. The pursuit attack smashed Croconaw on the top of it's head and then Raticate followed up with another quick attack. It then went back to it's circling technique.
Croconaw was at Raticate's mercy. Ever time the water pokemon took a step, Raticate closed the circle a little tighter and cut Croconaw off. The route the raticate had been taken had made a circle about eight or so feet wide. Now it had been shrunk down to less than five feet. There was no way either pokemon could move without hitting the other now. A yellow streak now accompanied Raticate in it's race as it readied it's charge beam attack.
Exactly what Dylan had been waiting for. "Slash!"
Once Croconaw's claws had gotten their glowing extensions, it simply just had to extend it's arm out and brace itself. Raticate caused itself to have the claws rake across it's body with it's blazing speeds and poor stopping. The normal-typed pokemon tumbled away. The electric attack it had been readying diffused and shot harmless darts of lightning into the ground.
"Water gun!" Dylan tried to build upon the opening he had created.
Raticate was quick back up to it's feet. With a quick attack, it darted around the water gun. It raced in and leveled Croconaw. It followed up with a charge beam that kept Croconaw on the ground.
"Quick attack again!" Collin was now building on his opportunity.
As Raticate closed in, Dylan formed a plan. "Roll and crunch!"
Despite the big red spines on it's back, Croconaw managed to roll to it's side and out of the way of Raticate. The mouse pokemon ran past and Croconaw clamped it's jaws shut. There was a horrifying squeak and Raticate came to an abrupt halt. It's tail was firmly locked inside of Croconaw's jaws.
Dylan grinned. "Take it for a ride."
Croconaw began tossing it's head from side to side. Raticate was tossed around like a rag doll. Each flip of Croconaw's head slammed the raticate to the ground. Croconaw then began pivoting on it's feet. The water pokemon spun in two quick circles and then flung it's trapped opponent across the field.
"Rat! Rat-icate!" the mouse pokemon grunted as it bounced to a stop.
Much to everyone's surprise, Raticate then got back on it's feet. I was certainly surprised. With the onslaught that had been thrust upon it, I surely expected the raticate to be finished. It didn't look like it had a whole lot of life left to it but it was definitely still in the battle.
Dylan frowned. He apparently also thought that this particular round should be over. I couldn't imagine he had a whole lot more strategies to use here. If nothing else, his pokemon hadn't taken that much damage yet.
"Unless Raticate can get off like three or four uninterrupted charge beam, I think Croconaw will just wear it down," David said.
"I can't disagree," I said back.
Collin had apparently also been thinking along those lines and called for a charge beam. Unfortunately, like it's name says, it has to charge. Water gun on the other hand does not need to charge. A deep blue column of water punched Raticate square in the mouth and off it's feet.
The water gun had more or less signaled the end for Raticate. As it was trying to lift itself back up into battling position, Croconaw struck again. Another surging water gun buried Raticate into the ground. It didn't have the strength to even try and resist this one.
"Raticate is unable to battle!" Nurse Sarah announced.
"He's going to do it!" Vanessa squealed. "Collin's only got one pokemon left! Dylan's still got three!"
Next to Dylan, Croagunk looked like he agreed with Vanessa. Or if nothing else, was getting into the spirit of the match. The pokemon had it's long fingers curled into fists and had been shaking them in excitement. It seemed to incredibly grateful that the pokemon that were battling on it's behalf were winning.
I said "Maybe but I have a hunch Collin's last pokemon isn't going to be a pushover."
Collin was staring intently at the poke ball he had in his hand. He gave it a determined look. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, this match was important to him. He might not care if he lost his croagunk but he did care about losing his pride.
He fixed Dylan with an evil stare. "Toxicroak, go!"
I gave a little shudder as the poisonous fighting pokemon appeared a foot in the air and slammed to the ground. It crossed it's arms which gave us a good look at the red claws it had between and above it's fingers. The deep purple pokemon threw it's arms open and gave a mighty, somewhat frightening roar. The red sac under it's chin pulsed in anticipation.
"Here we go," David muttered.
"Croconaw return!" Dylan called. My eyebrows perked up as I thought we might see his mystery pokemon and then was disappointed as he followed with "Bulbasaur, go!"
The grass pokemon didn't look intimidated at all. I had to guess that it was at least a little bit. Toxicroak stood more than twice Bulbasaur's height and no one could deny that it's red claws weren't intimidating.
There was a moment of hesitation. No one moved. No one spoke.
"Razor leaf!" Dylan shouted.
"Poison sting!" Collin screamed.
Toxicroak's neck pouch ballooned out and it dipped it's head forward. A storm of purple needles exploded out. As they met with the spinning razor leaves, they began to shatter the leaves. Dark green and purple shrapnel was scattered throughout the field until the two pokemon ceased their attacks.
"Vine whip!" Dylan tried to gain the upper hand.
"Stop it," Collin said, suddenly the perfect model of calm.
The two vines roped across the field at Toxicroak. The poison pokemon simply reached out a hand and snatched them out of the air. My heart seized up in my chest. Dylan and Bulbasaur shared similar looks of surprise. We had all known that Toxicroak was going to be strong but we appeared to be getting a glimpse of how fast it might be.
"Finish it," Collin sniffed. "Poison jab."
The claw on it's left hand began to glow purple as Toxicroak yanked with it's right. Bulbasaur was hauled off it's feet and through the air. Toxicroak arched it's left hand back. Faster than the eye could track, it stabbed downward. Just as Bulbasaur arrived, helpless in midair.
"No!" Vanessa and someone else, probably Dylan, screamed.
Bulbasaur gave a tiny groan from it's position. It had been driven almost a foot into the ground, headfirst. Toxicroak remained in it's stance for a moment, point of it's claw still digging into the back of the grass pokemon's head.
It wasn't necessary but Nurse Sarah declared Bulbasaur unable to battle.
Dylan had a look of horror on his face that I had to imagine was mirrored on my own and surprisingly, Croagunk's . Sure, Bulbasaur had already battled a bit but it should've been able to take more than one hit. It wasn't even a super-effective hit. Dylan had to be wondering what kind of hole he might be in now.
He did his best to hide whatever misgivings he may be feeling. "Croconaw, go!"
Toxicroak stood taller than the water pokemon as well. Croconaw wasn't showed no fear. It hissed and bared it's teeth. Toxicroak ballooned out it's sac and let out a deep croak. I thought I might've seen the corners of it's tight might twitch up in a sadistic smile. I couldn't help but shutter again.
"Water gun!" Dylan shouted.
Croconaw reared back and blasted. Toxicroak arched forward and fired it's mud bomb attack. A barrage of small brown balls of mud met the water gun in the heart of the field. At first the two attacks held each other at bay. Then the ground-type attack began forcing the stream of water back. Croconaw's big red eyes got even bigger.
It only took a handful of seconds before Croconaw had been completely overwhelmed by the mud bomb. The balls of mud pounded into Dylan's pokemon and knocked it to the ground. The water pokemon rolled to the side and out of the path of the ground attack.
"Poison jab!" Collin yelled. "Finish it!"
The purple glow returned to Toxicroak's red claw. It took a handful of steps and then lunged. Leading with the glowing claw, it flew in at Croconaw. This could potentially be a battle-ending strike.
"Crunch!"
Croconaw perked up and snapped it's jaws. On the second snap, the powerful jaws clamped down on Toxicroak's hand. The poison pokemon's momentum pushed Croconaw back a little but it held firm. I wasn't sure how but Croconaw now had Toxicroak's hand inside it's mouth but not touching the poisonous claw.
"Slam it!" Dylan called.
His pokemon planted it's feet and then jerked it's head. Toxicroak was pulled off it's feet and slammed to the ground after an overhead arc. It was eerily similar to what Croconaw had done to Collin's raticate. Toxicroak was much stronger however. Still trapped in Croconaw's mouth, it got back up to it's feet.
"Show that croconaw how we do things," Collin snarled.
Toxicroak's sac pulsed and it flexed it's trapped arm. It grunted slightly. Then it heaved Croconaw into the air. If for no other reason but to demonstrate it's strength, it held the water pokemon straight up in the air. Croconaw's eyes bulged as it clenched it's jaws even tighter. If it loosened up even a bit, it might come into contact with the poisonous claw.
Dylan acted quickly and creatively "Water gun!"
Croconaw's cheeks bulged. Little jets of water began to shoot out from gaps in it's lips. Then the water pokemon opened it's mouth. The torrent it unleashed forced Toxicroak down to one knee and then launched Croconaw into the air.
Croconaw kept the water gun going for a surprisingly long time. Apparently it couldn't keep it up indefinitely and I learned that water pokemon had to breath in between water guns. Dylan let Croconaw get it's breath and then called for another water gun. He kept up the pattern. Croconaw was continually suspended in the air and Toxicroak was kept down on one knee, constantly taking damage.
"Slash!" Dylan shouted over the rush of water.
The water gun ceased and Croconaw began to drop. It fired another short blast to keep it's opponent down. Then the long white claws extended. Croconaw brought them both down hard as Toxicroak looked up. Toxicroak let out a deep, pained groan. Spinning in the air, Croconaw smacked the poison pokemon in the face with it's tail and used the impact to propel itself away.
"Nice combo," David said, echoing my thoughts.
Toxicroak rose back to full height having successfully weathered the barrage. Seeing it standing there formed a pit in the bottom of my stomach. Dylan wasn't likely to get another chance to inflict that kind of damage. I wasn't completely sure but it seemed to me like he had gone for broke there. And came up empty.
Now Toxicroak went on the offensive.
The pulsing of the sac under it's chin was it's tell that a poisonous attack was most likely on the way. It was also the only thing that gave Dylan any warning. Croconaw was able to dive away from the poison sting attack. The dive was sudden and uncoordinated and Croconaw was left sprawled out on the ground.
It was then that we found out just how fast Toxicroak was. It was far from the fastest pokemon I'd ever seen but it quite a bit faster than it's opponent. Croconaw was able to roll onto it's back but couldn't even begin the ascent to it's feet before Toxicroak towered over it.
Dylan tried to take advantage of the closeness with a water gun. Collin had seen it coming and had the toxicroak catch the attack. With palms out and slightly curved, Toxicroak held the water attack completely at bay. Croconaw's eyes bulged as it saw this. Slowly, Toxicroak shifted the brunt of the water gun to the center of one hand.
"Brick break!" Collin roared as his pokemon raised it's free arm.
Golden sparks began to crackle from the raised arm. With violent force, Toxicroak slammed it down. The strike cut right through the water gun. The ground fractured and soil and rocks were tossed into the air as Croconaw was driven into the earth. The water gun abruptly ended.
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. That had been a brutal hit. No doubt the spray that had been created from it's own water gun had prevented Croconaw from seeing it until it was too late. With all the other damage it had taken while battling Collin's raticate I had to imagine that this was it.
"Croconaw!" Dylan yelled to it, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Croconaw, use flail!"
From the crater that was shaped like the outline of it's body burst Croconaw, determination burning in it's eyes. Then it proceeded to wave it's arms with rapid speed almost looking like it was in a slap-fight. I half expected to start crying like a child as it did so. I didn't bother to try and hide the grin that formed on my face. The big, nasty Toxicroak was shielding itself from the flailing Croconaw.
The poison pokemon stepped into fissures that had opened up in the ground. It lost it's balance and fell to the ground. Croconaw ceased it's flailing and dropped back to the ground a few feet away. The look of determination hadn't left it's eyes.
"Croco-naw!"
I felt a shockwave in the air as Croconaw erupted in what I first took to be blue flames. Then I realized they were moving too fluidly to be flames and they shimmered just a little. After a moment I recognized what was happening. I had seen it before but only the fire variation of it.
"Torrent," David breathed, the first to name the ability out loud. "Water attacks get way stronger!"
Dylan already knew this. "Water gun!"
His pokemon whirled it's head around and dropped it's jaw. I wasn't sure how that much water could possibly coming from it's gaping jaws but I was seeing it first hand.
So was Toxicroak.
The poison pokemon took the blow right in the chest. There was no hesitation at all as it was flung off it's feet. The water gun deposited it into the ground with authority. We all held our breath, hoping that it wouldn't rise.
"Get up Toxicroak!" Collin snarled, anger in his voice. Not concern.
Toxicroak sat up and climbed back up to it's feet with little effort. It looked wet and annoyed and showing no signs of damage or fatigue. On the other side of the field, Croconaw was showing almost the exact opposite. The water pokemon sagged as it stood, gasping for air with ragged breaths.
I could see the wheels turning behind Dylan's eyes and I knew what he must be mulling over. He still had one pokemon remaining. A pokemon that had yet to enter battle at all. He could switch Croconaw out in hopes that his sixth pokemon could either defeat Toxicroak or weaken it to the point that a slightly rested Croconaw could beat it.
Personally I would've switched pokemon but I wasn't the one battling. So I just thanked my lucky stars that the choice wasn't mine. Dylan appeared to be leaning towards agreeing with me. His hand seemed to be making it's way, consciously or subconsciously, towards his belt holster.
The decision was made for him.
Faster than Dylan could get his hand on a poke ball, Toxicroak cleared the distance that separated it from Croconaw. The claw on it's left hand glowed that dangerous purple. It swung it up into the water pokemon's gut. Croconaw was lifted into the air. I half expected to see the point of the claw coming out it's back. Then as quickly as it had struck, Toxicroak pulled it's hand and claw back.
The other hand came smashing down. It crackled with the golden sparks of a brick break attack. Croconaw was driven downward with terrifying force. I closed my eyes and looked away. I had known Croconaw since it was a totodile and didn't want to see it like this.
There was a small caw from Croconaw. Only once I had heard the familiar sound of a poke ball laser appear and disappear did I turn back. The crater that had formed from the first impact of brick break had nothing on this new one. I was glad I hadn't had to see it formed.
A gust of wind rustled the grass. It reminded me of a showdown in a western movie as Dylan held his final poke ball down by his waist. He had gotten far more than he had bargained for when he'd picked this fight. We could all now only hope that he could seal the deal.
He moved to throw the poke ball but was stopped mid-motion. A horrible wail had cut through the air. It was deep and throaty and full of sorrow. We all looked around for the source of such a sad noise. Vanessa spotted it first and pointed at it: it was Croagunk.
The smaller poison pokemon had fallen to it's knees and thrown it's hands in the air. It had been overcome with grief. The poisonous pokemon had just watched five pokemon give it their all to win Croagunk it's freedom. Those pokemon hadn't even known Croagunk until that day with the exception of Croconaw but they had battled like they were old friends. The pain of seeing what had happened to them was too much for the poisonous fighting pokemon to bare.
"Croaaaa!" it screeched, the pitch of it's voice growing progressively higher.
I wasn't sure what to expect next but what happened was the last thing I could've imagined.
Croagunk jumped to it's feet. It took two steps forward and then took off in a flying leap. With a single flip in the air, it landed in the center of the battlefield and screeched again. The two red pouches in it's cheeks were pulsating wildly. It gave off an involuntary shudder as did Toxicroak.
Croagunk had just entered the battle.
I could see Dylan's mind race frantically. He clearly wanted to make sure that the pokemon really wanted to do this but knew that it might insult it or it's honor. Instead he took a deep breath and swallowed once. My friend didn't consult his pokedex at all. He had clearly anticipated battling with Croagunk at some point in the future.
"You've got to be kidding!" laughed Collin, almost doubling over. "You're going to battle with that weak little shit? I can't believe it! You might as well just give up now! Toxicroak pois-"
Dylan cut him off. "Sucker punch!"
Croagunk flickered across the field. Suddenly it was standing almost side by side with Toxicroak, each facing a different direction. Then it buried it's dark purple-glowing fist deep into Toxicroak's stomach. The evolved poison pokemon's eyes bulged and some spittle shot out of it's mouth. Most likely poisonous spittle.
Dylan hesitated, trying to recall what move a croagunk might know that would be a good follow-up. The croagunk on the field had no hesitation. The red finger in the middle of it's three-fingered hand began glowing a bright purple. Pivoting around the doubled over Toxicroak, it drove the poison attack straight up in an uppercut.
"What?" Collin spat. "That thing doesn't know poison jab! There's no way!"
I barked a laugh. "It learned it while watched the battle. That's certainly unexpected."
Still in the air from delivering the uppercut poison jab, Croagunk spun to face the downed Toxicroak as Dylan shouted "Mud bomb!"
Croagunk leaned in and opened it's mouth. Hard packed balls of mud pelted the downed toxicroak. It was only for a pair of heartbeats that Croagunk remained in the air. It also took that same pair of heartbeats for Toxicroak to mount a counteroffensive. A much larger barrage of mud bombs began pushing back Croagunk's.
Not wasting any time, Dylan commanded Croagunk to cease the mud bomb and get out of the way. He was well aware of how devastating a ground attack could be to the poison pokemon he was battling both with and for. Toxicroak only held up it's mud bomb for a moment longer, pelting the ground with thick brown mud.
A moment was too long.
Croagunk dove across Toxicroak's path, driving a poison jab into the side of it's face. The bigger poison pokemon tipped sideways and stumbled and gave Dylan the opening he was looking for.
"Mud bomb!"
Croagunk blasted Toxicroak with the super-effective ground attack again. As far as I could tell, their hope for winning lay in that one move. Everything else that either pokemon seemed to know was a attack type that wasn't very effective. I tucked that scenario into the back of my mind for later.
Toxicroak rolled through the hail of mud and came up firing a poison sting. Although it wasn't very effective, it was still strong enough to knock Croagunk off it's feet. It lost track of the unevolved poison pokemon for a moment as Croagunk rolled and spun away from the attack. Toxicroak moved to use poison sting again but Croagunk materialized in front of it. It buried the commanded sucker punch deep into Toxicroak's stomach again.
From down on one knee, Toxicroak swatted Croagunk away with a glancing brick break. It stayed down on one knee for a few moments. When Toxicroak rose back up it had a grimace on it's ugly face. The battle was beginning to take it's toll.
Collin was seething with hate. "Kill them! Poison jab!"
Toxicroak roared and charged but not at full speed. It's left leg dragged slightly. Whether from all the attacks or from just tripping in the fissures it had caused by pounding Croconaw into the ground, the left leg of Toxicroak was not at one-hundred percent.
I briefly made eye contact with Dylan. He had seen it too. I could only imagine Croagunk had as well.
"Poison jab!" Dylan shouted.
Croagunk began storming in as well. The two pokemon raced forward, eyes locked on one another. Each had their right hand pulled back with either a claw or finger glowing purple.
"Now!" Collin and Dylan yelled in unison.
Both pokemon thrust their glowing hand forward. Their glowing appendages hit each other. The glowing poisonous power in them could no longer be contained and detonated. The explosion was purple and huge and hurled the two pokemon back.
Croagunk rotated in the air and landed on it's feet. It slammed it's hands into the ground to keep itself upright as it's momentum continued to force it backwards. Long trenches were left by it's feet and hands.
Toxicroak repeated the motion that Croagunk had done. However Croagunk had done it with fresh legs. Toxicroak only had one good leg. It's left leg gave out and it crashed to the ground. The shockwave of the explosion carried to backwards, tumbling head over heels.
To my left, David took a deep breath. "This is it!"
"Croagunk, mud bomb!"
From it's steady position, Croagunk struck. It arched back and then lurched forward as it fired the ground attack. Toxicroak hadn't recovered from it's spill and had no chance to defend itself. The balls of mud pounded into the downed pokemon, continuing it's tumbling.
Dylan pointed inward. "Poison jab!"
Croagunk rushed forward. It drew back it's right hand as it closed the gap. Toxicroak shook it's head and raised up onto all fours. Clearly the mud bomb barrage had done a lot of damage. It looked up to locate it's opponent. The only thing it could see was Croagunk's incoming poison jab.
There was no chance for a counterattack or even a defense. Croagunk drove it's poison jab into the side of Toxicroak's head with all it's might. The bigger poison pokemon was lifted off the ground. The impact spun it almost one-hundred and eighty degrees around.
It wasn't just a strike. It was THE strike.
"Toxicroak is unable to battle!" Nurse Sarah declared with a wave of her hand towards Dylan and a hint of joy she was trying to hide. "Victory to Croagunk and Dylan!"
"Yes!" Dylan exclaimed. He dropped to his knees and pumped his fists. "We did it Croagunk!"
"Croagunk!" the pokemon cried and ran over to him.
I crossed my arms and smiled. Any idea I had about catching the croagunk had gone out the window. The way it was dancing around Dylan I could tell that it would follow him to hell and back.
If we had been in an episode of a TV show, the sun would be setting to provide a dramatic frame. Good had prevailed. Evil was supposed to stalk off into the sunset to never be seen again or to maybe learn a lesson. The screen would fade to darkness around the happy new team of Dylan and Croagunk.
This, however, wasn't television.
Collin had collected his pokemon and was storming towards Dylan. An impressive stream of curses was flowing from his mouth. Clearly he was not a happy camper about losing. Not just losing, but losing to a pokemon he had previously deemed to be inferior.
I moved to intercept him.
"This is bullshit!" I heard him snarl.
I got in front of him and put a hand on his chest to slow him down. "Hold on there."
He swatted my hand away. "Get away from me. This is bullcrap and you know it!"
"Excuse me?"
"He used me pokemon! That's illegal! I won this battle!"
I snorted. "Pretty sure you gave up Croagunk. Believe you called it worthless or something like that. You should just go away now."
He shoved me. "Piss off weakling!"
I arched an eyebrow.
"You are weak! Your friends are weak! Your pokemon are weak! You are a poor excuse for a trainer! I saw you battle! You do not deserve to even be in the same area as me!"
This was something new to me. I wasn't used to having people not just yell at me, but insult my entire life. I wasn't sure what to do in this situation so I did the first thing that popped into my brain.
I punched Collin in the face.
For being my first legitimate punch thrown in anger, it was a pretty good one. I caught the redhead in the jaw with a solid right hook. Collin hadn't seen it coming and it spun him around and took him to the ground. A poke ball fell off his belt and popped open to reveal it was empty.
I could hear Dylan and David laughing as I tried to shake the pain out of my hand.
"Well that was certainly unexpected," David said through laughs.
Collin picked himself up off the ground. He fixed me with an icy stare. I tensed up in preparation for the retaliation blow that never came. He rotated his jaw once and then walked away. At first I thought he was scared of me but then I noticed that David was standing behind my right shoulder and Dylan was fast approaching.
I explained to them why exactly I had just punched Collin. They all found it amusing. Dylan picked up the fallen poke ball and played a hunch. It turned out to be Croagunk's poke ball.
"Enough about that," I said as I continued to shake my hand. "I need to know something."
Dylan looked around and then realized I was talking to him. "Hm?"
"What was your sixth pokemon originally?"
He smiled and grabbed at his belt. The bigger man enlarged the poke ball and tossed it into the air off to the side of our group. What appeared was not what I had been expecting at all. It was a purple bug pokemon with green wings and big yellow eyes.
"A dustox?" I asked. "How?"
Dylan recalled his pokemon. "Remember when Professor Oak called you to say that your butterfree evolved and so did my wurmple?" I nodded, thinking back a few days. "Turns out that wasn't my wurmple. My wurmple had evolved probably not long after I sent it over there. It hatched a couple days ago."
My mind rewound an hour or so. "Is that the phone call you took before the match?"
He nodded. "One of Oak's aides had called me to explain what happened and asked me not to tell Oak because he was really embarrassed. I told him if he'd train Dustox up a little, I wouldn't say a word."
I could see David's mind working and then he smiled. "Dustox had a major type advantage over Toxicroak. Fighting and poison attacks wouldn't bother it at all. It probably knows confusion as well."
Dylan nodded. "It does. And gust and protect. It was my ace in the hole to go against Toxicroak. It's not as strong as my other pokemon but I figured I could wear Toxicroak down with my other pokemon and then finish it off with Dustox."
"Then why did you battle with Croagunk?" Vanessa asked. "You had a sure thing in your back pocket!"
"How could I refuse?" Dylan shrugged. "It was for it's freedom. If anyone needed to battle for Croagunk's freedom, it was Croagunk."
Nurse Sarah convinced us to come back into the pokemon center with her. She put Dylan's pokemon, now including Croagunk, into the healing machine. Then she went and got me some ice for my hand. She felt my knuckles and determined nothing was broken. Regardless, I was grateful for the ice. She gave me some gauze wrap and David wrapped the small bag of ice around my fingers for me.
It was certainly an interesting start to the day.