Chapter 25: Lucas versus Barry
Pastoria City was not as bad as Lucas was expecting, though it probably helped that it wasn't pouring when he got there. The teen had been avoiding going to the town for weeks after discovering it was near a marsh, but after winning the badge in Veilstone City, and the way to Sunnyshore blocked off because of electrical problems, he could no longer avoid the city and its Pokemon League required badge. It was clear it rained in the area a lot. Everyone there either carried an umbrella or a poncho but there were lots of canopies and shelters to hide under as well, something the rain-hating Lucas could truly appreciate. Morgan, whom he ran into at Lake Valor, continued to tease the young man about his dislike of rain as they headed to the Pokemon Center together. To outsiders, the two Trainers exchanging R-rated insults at each other looked like they hated each other, but at this point their constant arguing was a well worn ritual and in reality they were respectful, if reluctant, friends.
"Hey, Nurse. While you're healing my Pokemon could you please give my Stella a full examination, she's been acting sorta weird and I'm worried," Lucas asked the woman behind the counter of the Pokemon Center as Morgan waited for him.
"If you want a thorough examination I'm afraid I won't be able to give her back right away. Full examinations take a couple of hours because the test results tend to be a bit slower," The nurse replied.
"Is something wrong with one of your Pokemon?" Morgan asked with great concern.
"I don't know, maybe, I think so. A few days ago the Pokemon Egg I had hatched and the Pokemon inside has been acting really strange. At first she was fine, but after I took her out of the PC Box and tried to use her in battles, she just acts completely hysterical and whiny," Lucas explained as he stepped away from the counter, dumped himself on a Center couch and ran his hands through his hair, "But there isn't anything I can do until the nurse tells me if there's anything wrong,"
"I'm sorry about that, I hope it's nothing serious," the grim Trainer replied sympathetically.
Lucas changed the subject to try to get his mind off of his worries, "Hey, do you know anything about the Gym Leader here?"
"Not really. A year ago this Gym was still run by a water-type Leader named Crasher Wake. But he joined the Elite Four and I don't know anything about the person who replaced him. Though I have heard that the new guy's changed the Gym's type specialty, so I don't think it's a Water Gym anymore,"
"Well, guess that means I need to do some recon," Lucas sighed. He got back off the couch, stretched out his limbs and gestured farewell to Morgan, "Thanks anyway,"
"If you need me I'll be in the Great Marsh," Morgan replied.
"Since when have I ever needed you?"
"Since the five seconds ago when you asked if I knew anything about the Gym, dumbass,"
"Fair enough,"
The Pastoria City Gym was southwest of the Pokemon Center, and on his way there Lucas read all the signs and advertisements for the Great Marsh. The attraction appeared to be the city's main source of income and it seemed everyone tried to entice people to go there. But more frequent than the Great Marsh posters seemed to be pictures, statues and stencils of the poison-and-dark type, Croagunk. Lucas had fought one of the creatures in Veilstone and didn't find anything special about it. It certainly was an interesting Pokemon with its type combination and its creepy smile, but couldn't understand why the people of this area considered the Pokemon such an important creature.
Finally arriving at the Gym, Lucas tried his best to figure out his strategy for this next Leader. The sign for the Gym Leader was different than all the high-quality engraved plaques that existed in front of all the other Gyms in Sinnoh. The one for Pastoria looked more like a sign for a garage sale with its cheap paper and hand-written lettering. With the stacks of building supplies and tarps around the Gym's front Lucas could only assume it was still under renovation, though it was odd to still be under construction a year after the Gym Leader took over. Clearly who was in charge of this Gym now wasn't very organized. The sign was slightly difficult to read with its rushed, unclear letters, but the teen frowned even after finally making out the scrawl: Barry, The High-Spirited Fighter.
Up until now the Gym specialties were fairly easy to figure out based off the Leader descriptions. Only Fantina's Leader description in Hearthome City left the pierced young man puzzled, but now this new sign left him just as stumped. He tried to use the words as clues, but none of his ideas made much sense. Spirit could mean ghost, but Fantina was already the ghost Leader of Sinnoh, and he doubted the League would allow two Gyms to share the same type specialty. Fighter was out as well, as Maylene was the 'barefoot fighting genius.' Was 'high' the key word? Was this a flying-type Gym perhaps? When it was clear staring at the poorly made sign was not going to get Lucas anywhere, he decided to ask around town. Clearly a resident of Pastoria must know something about their local Gym.
The tattooed teen spotted two high school girls chatting with each other while absentmindedly swinging their pink plastic umbrellas, following jovially behind was a cheerful little Skitty that wove between the two girls' feet. Lucas decided they must be Trainers and called out to them, "Hey! Do you guys know anything about the Gym Leader here?"
"You mean Crasher Wake? Well, he's got like a TV show and he trains water Pokemon, I think," said the first girl.
The second girl nudged her in the ribs and chastised, "God, Melanie! Crasher Wake hasn't been the Leader here for over a year! You can be such a blonde sometimes!" She then turned to Lucas, "Uh, I don't know who the new Leader is, per se, but I'm pretty sure it's still a water Gym, the pool's still there,"
"No it's not, they tore the pool out eight months ago, that I remember," the slightly spacey Melanie said.
"Melanie, how can you pay attention that the pool got torn out but not know Crasher Wake is gone? You are so totally random," the second girl laughed.
"I dunno, I thought he was like, redecorating the Gym or something," Melanie shrugged.
"Um, yeah, well, thanks anyway," Lucas said with a sigh as he left the two girls still talking about Melanie's selective ability to pay attention. Other residents of town weren't any more help, though he did finally learn what was up with all the Croagunk. A very nice, but slightly batty, old lady spent a good ten minutes explaining how the poison-and-dark Pokemon was good luck and the mascot of the city since so many lived in the marshes just to the west of town, instead of answering Lucas' original question. He was amazed how no one in town knew who the new Leader was, or thought the mysterious Crasher Wake still ran the Gym. This still meant that he himself didn't know what this Barry used or how to counter him. The teen was flying blind.
A little while later Lucas returned to the Pokemon Center. There was still no word on Stella and her results. At the PC Box system, the teen tried to figure out how to set up his team. He had Gizmo, Donna, Hotrod, Sparky and Franky with him, while his Buneary was with the nurse. He had a Bidoof, Gastly, Geodude, Ponyta, Zubat, Gible and Budew, as well as several other Pokemon but they were all fairly low level, as well as a whole stack of Eevee eggs, having not had much time to train them properly. His Chimecho, Kadabra, Beautifly, Bronzor and recently caught Houndour and Rhyhorn were much higher level, but he had no idea whether any of them had a type advantage or knew any attacks that would work well. If Lucas' guess was right, and the Gym Leader did use flying types, bug, fighting and ground-types were out of the question. Electric, rock and ice moves would be best, but what if his guess was totally wrong? Thinking over the types on his current team, Lucas settled on his new Rhyhorn as his safest bet. It would leave him with the widest range of types and give him a chance, regardless of what the Leader used. Selecting his Pokemon, the teen noticed he had been unconsciously playing with his lip rings again, meaning he was more nervous about this fight than any other so far. The Mohawked boy let out a sigh, any confidence he had that he was becoming a better Trainer and smarter person was just about gone now.
The inside of the Pastoria Gym was even more ransacked and chaotic than the outside. Hanging wires, torn concrete, drop cloths, ladders and buckets of paint filled the massive hall. Now useless drainage switches seemed to be all that remained of the old water Gym. Lucas wondered if the reason no one knew much about Barry was simply because no one battled him. The Gym seemed to be closed since he took over. He didn't see a closed sign or warning tape but there were no Junior Trainers, not even any working lights. It would not come as a surprise to the teen to have the come to a closed Gym with no Leader. Based off of his past experiences with the Sinnoh League Gyms, he'd be more shocked to find the Leader in the Gym, with his Pokemon, waiting for an opponent. But if the Gym was closed how was he supposed to get all eight badges? Was there another Gym somewhere that made up for this one? Just as Lucas turned around to leave, a voice from the back of the building called out, "Hello, is anyone there?"
"Um, yeah, my name is Lucas, I've come to challenge the Gym Leader," Lucas shouted back.
"Alright! A challenger!" A boy with spiky blonde hair wearing a scarf leapt out from behind a pile of 2x4s and came racing towards Lucas, coming to a precarious stop only a few feet in front of him and seemed to keep bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet even though he stopped running. Lucas thought Maylene looked young for a Gym Leader, but this kid barely looked twelve. While the teen glanced over his next opponent, the boy seemed to speak a million miles an hour, "Sorry about the mess, the Gym's still being renovated. You know construction workers, they only seem to come every few days when they feel like it. I can't even get anyone to be my Junior Trainer yet because the Gym looks so bad. Most people assume the Gym is closed but it really isn't, I'm open all the time. I took over this Gym from my hero and mentor Crasher Wake. Crasher Wake is not only one of the greatest Trainers of all time, he's also an awesome wrestler! I used to watch him all the time on TV. So it's no wonder that he became part of the Elite Four. I was honored that he let me take over the Gym. Okay, so I sorta begged, for a really long time, but I still got it! That's why I changed the Gym's specialty, I didn't want to dare to try to surpass my hero! That's why I'm Barry, the High-Spirited Fighter!"
High-spirited? Try seventh level ADD on a sugar rush with a Red Bull chaser! Lucas thought to himself as he tried to absorb the wall of words the boy just spat out, "But what does that even mean? What kind of Gym even is this?"
"Oh, isn't that obvious? It's a poison-type Gym," Barry blinked at the teenager as though his question was the silliest thing he ever heard.
"How do you get 'poison-type' out of 'high-spirits'?"
"Spirits are a type of alcohol. Alcohol can be very poisonous if you drink too much or use the kind that's supposed to be for cleaning and not drinking," Barry explained with a beaming smile.
Somewhere along the line this kid's train of logic crashed and exploded into a fiery ball. Lucas shook his head. At least he had some good advantages. Like fighting-types, poison-types were super weak against psychics, and additionally were weak against steel, rock and ground Pokemon. He knew he would be okay against this spastic adolescent. "Well, Barry, I'm here for my badge, so let's go! Go Rhyhorn!"
"Go Tentacruel!" Barry didn't even bother to give himself some space as he summoned his Pokemon right where he was standing, just a few feet away from Lucas.
"Watch what you're doing you methed-up twerp!" Lucas swore and jerked away as the large jellyfish appeared in the Gym, giving the teen barely any time to escape its massive, stinging tentacles. The teen boy already didn't like this kid and now he disliked him even more as he scrambled to a safe place to give commands to his rock-type. Not only was the hyper Leader annoying, confusing and had summoned a Pokemon that was at a type advantage to his own creature, Barry's summoned Water-type had nearly grabbed the Trainer instead. The young man liked almost every Pokemon, even Zubat and Golbat, but the one set of Pokemon the boy simply could not like were Tentacool and Tentacruel. When he was a little boy visiting the beach with his family in Olivine City a washed up Tentacool stung him, and ever since he could not like the seemingly mean-spirited species with its painful venom. As long as the monstrosity was on the field, Lucas would not be a happy person. "Rhyhorn! Horn Attack!"
"Tentacruel! Bubblebeam!" Barry commanded. The rhino-like Pokemon rushed the jellyfish with all its might, but the foaming stream that came from the water-type threw it back and knocked it out instantly.
Lucas wasn't concerned yet. He still had Pokemon that could get the unpleasant creature off of the field as soon as possible. He pulled another ball off his belt and sent his next team member into the fray. All the while watching with mild paranoia that the Tentacruel's tentacles didn't come anywhere near him, "Donna! Psywave!"
The Espeon was a fraction of the size of the giant jellyfish, but in this round Donna more than had the advantage, "Bubblebeam again, Tentacruel!"
Once again the water-type's attack hit its mark directly. Though damaged and slightly slowed, Donna shook off the attack and commanded a wave of spiritual energy that hit the Tentacruel like a wall. The Pokemon twitched and quivered, its tentacles waving wildly as it was knocked out instantly. As far as the tattooed Trainer was concerned, the tide of battle had changed. Donna was speedy, strong and had a massive type advantage. The disorganized, hyperactive Leader had nothing he could throw at Lucas that he wasn't ready for. He wouldn't let those nagging doubts about his abilities persist. He let his call to John re-energize his ambitions. He would no longer let obstacles unnerve him or deflate his confidence.
Or so he thought.
Barry smiled cheerfully as though the previous round didn't affect him at all. He pulled out a second Pokeball and threw it with a hop, "Go Skutank!"
Lucas had never seen this type of Pokemon before. It was large, stocky-looking with a constantly irritated look on its face. The thing the teen noticed the most about this creature was its smell. Even from his vantage point, dozens of feet away from his opponent, Lucas could smell the rank odor coming off of the Pokemon's body. It reminded him of a pair of unwashed sweat socks he had found that had somehow wrapped around an old cheeseburger underneath his bed when cleaning out his room to move to Sinnoh. He was fighting the urge to vomit as he tried to call out an attack to Donna. Donna seemed in no better shape as she pawed at her nose as though it were hurt. There was no doubting this was a poison-type, one that had to get off the field ASAP, "Donna, Psywave again!"
The Espeon shook off the stench and did as she was commanded. Once again the wall of psychic energy came off of the Pokemon's body and slammed directly into the Skutank. The horribly smelling Pokemon yawned, nothing had happened to it. Donna and Lucas looked at each other in mutual confusion. Skutank was obviously a poison-type, why hadn't the attack worked? Barry blinked at his opponent's distress as though once again the teen had missed something painfully obvious, "What are you, stupid or something? Didn't you know psychic moves don't work on dark-types?"
"Of course I know about dark-types, but Skutank is a dark-type? I thought it was a poison-type!" Lucas snarled back.
"It's both. Skutank! Night Slash!" Barry commanded leaping in place and making his scarf bounce around. In an act of speed Lucas thought not possible from a Pokemon the Skutank's size and bulk, the sinister-looking poison-type lunged at the Espeon with claws fully extended. Donna, as well as her Trainer, was caught completely blind-sided as her eyes widened in surprise as blackened gashes appeared in her purple fur. As the stun of the attack wore off, she keeled over in complete exhaustion. The teenager looked frightfully at his opponent. He had seriously underestimated the boy, and his opponent knew it. Without losing his boisterous smile, and in an even tone without being condescending that Lucas somehow found even more irritating than if the boy was being cocky, Barry explained happily, "I know I tend to rush into things and can be very scatterbrained, but my rival and best friend Dawn is the current Champion of the Sinnoh Region, and my father is one of the Frontier Brains. I'm actually one of the strongest Leaders in Sinnoh. Between not knowing about Skutank and not knowing about me, you must be a very stupid and very pitiful Trainer,"
The statement hit Lucas like a knock to the gut. Lucas had been called a lot things in his life by people of authority based off of the failures in academics, athletics, morality and even romance, but not once had anyone accused him of being a lousy Trainer. Arrogant opponents, sure, but Leaders, professors, researchers—even his own brother and the Old Creeper, Major Mathias—had never outright called him bad at Pokemon battles. Any doubts about his skills and knowledge came from within. Yet somehow, this hyperactive kid with his happy-go-lucky attitude's comment jarred and angered the older boy in a way he hadn't felt in a long time, "I'll show you who the stupid Trainer is around here! Go Franky!"
Lucas heaved the Pokeball with all his might as his Gyrados rushed onto the field. The Gym Leader continued to smile cheerfully and without menace as he declared his next attack, "Skutank, Toxic!"
A spray of liquid that smelled even worse than the Skutank's body came from under the Pokemon's tail and hit the sea monster Pokemon directly. It didn't just smell bad as the normally even-tempered Franky roared and thrashed like a normal Gyrados. The water-type had been poisoned badly, and writhed in agony. Lucas spat in anger, he had forgotten to restock on Antidotes, and had no way of curing his Pokemon. He would have to finish the fight before the venom would fully affect his creature. Lucas called out his attack, "Franky, Rage!"
The Pokemon obeyed despite its pain and rushed the Skutank. Finally the other Pokemon had gotten damaged, but nearly enough as he needed. Lucas watched guilt-ridden as the poison continued to torture Franky. Barry ignored the suffering Pokemon and called out another attack, "Skutank, Fury Swipes!"
"Franky, Bite! No wait, that's not right. Rage again!" Lucas' confidence was wavering badly and began second-guessing his decisions. He couldn't think clearly as he watched Franky not only be shredded by the Skutank, but begin drooling from the effects of the toxins in his system. He tried to get a hold of himself. This was just another battle. This was just like any other battle. He had gotten out of tougher scraps. Barry may be a Leader, but he's also just a dippy, easily distracted kid. What did it matter what he thought? He could think on his feet, he tried to reassure himself. Just change tactics, "Franky return! Go Hotrod!"
"Toxic again Skutank!" Lucas' Pokemon was instantly poisoned, but unlike Franky, Hotrod never showed fear, pain or hesitation in a battle. His stoic determination was one of his strongest assets, but even then he showed some sweat on his scales as the Skutank's venom coursed through his veins.
"Franky! Flamewheel!"
"Skutank! Nightslash!" Lucas thought he finally had a handle on the battle. The Skutank was getting worn down, and Hotrod's last attack caused a burn. Now both Pokemon would slowly weaken from their respective injuries. The two Trainers continued to exchange blows, but even with all of Hotrod's grit and determination, he soon succumbed to the poison. Three Pokemon knocked out. Lucas tried to stay calm as Barry continued to stay up-beat, the words the Leader said earlier now playing in a loop in his head. It further unnerved him, he was falling apart, fear, anger and doubt blurring together as each of his Pokemon fell. Even at a type disadvantage Lucas was forced to send out Sparky. He whispered to the Pokeball before sending out his spacey electric ghost, "Sparky, I know you like to goof off during battles, but you just can't do it this time. This thing will knock you out the first chance it gets. Please, for me, so I don't have to watch you get hurt, please focus on the battle!"
Much to Lucas' amazement, Sparky did as it was told and arrived on the field ready for command. The teen had to admire the affection his Pokemon had for him, and was determined not to waste their trust. More damage was done to the Skutank, but in the end Sparky was at just too much of a disadvantage, even when fully focused on the battle. Two Pokemon left. The teen hesitantly summoned Franky back to the field. While the Gyrados was more composed now, it was still in great pain and seeing his sick Pokemon again made Lucas second-guess his decisions. Another two rounds and Franky was down for good, now knocked out the venom no longer harmed the water-type. Only one Pokemon now. All down to Gizmo. Good ol' Gizmo. His first Pokemon, the Pokemon everyone underestimated, the tiny Eevee had saved Lucas from near losses before, it was time to do it again. His composure came back. If Barry thought Lucas had underestimated him as a Leader, he was about to discover how much he underestimated Lucas as well, "Go Gizmo!"
"Skutank, Toxic!" The strategy wouldn't work this time. The nimble, speedy Eevee evaded the attack zipping around the hulking dark-type and diving underground. Finally an advantage, poison-types being weak against ground moves. It also seemed to catch Barry off-guard as well. If Gizmo hits, then the Skutank would be finished. Just like the speedy Lucario from Veilstone's Gym, this Pokemon would go down.
But it was not to be.
In a last second twitch, the Skutank pulled away from the spot that Gizmo had erupted from, completely missing his opponent. The gambit had failed. Barry wasted no time, "Skutank! Flamethrower!"
The Eevee was not the only Pokemon with surprise moves. Once again, Lucas was caught completely off-guard and exposed, just like poor Gizmo. The force of the blast threw the normal-type into the air, before thudding on the ground in a cloud of charred fur. The teen stared at his poor, defeated Pokemon, once again as unconscious as he was when the boy raced to the Pokemon Center in Eterna City, a sight that always sickened Lucas to his core. But it wasn't until Pastoria's Leader began to speak that the gravity of what just happened fully touched Lucas. As Barry spoke in his speedy, jabbering manner, with his wide-eyed expression, it felt like every syllable of his wall of words was a slap across Lucas' face, "It was really impressive with your final Pokemon to have it know Dig like that. But still, I'm really surprised that you've gotten this far in the League. If you were against Crasher Wake you probably wouldn't have even been able to knock out one Pokemon, but like I said, he was a lot better than me. It seems to me if we're being honest, you're not a very good Trainer at all,"
"I-I lost," with that final statement, croaked awkwardly out of his throat, the prideful, cocky young man sank to his knees in defeat.