Pokemon Tales: Red Chapter 30: Trial by Alex.
It was another normal day on the camping grounds east of Vermilion City. There was a lot less people there than at the beginning of fall. The person responsible for creating the building housing the various facilities put in even more money into the project in order to keep the interest in the place even during the colder months.
"You know... I started to doubt if anyone's ever going to beat the guardian." one person said to their friend while handing them hot chocolate they bought at the restaurant which was now one of several in the growing community of buildings.
"Well, anyone thinks that at some point but then comes a day when someone gets really close and your hopes rise again. Remember that guy that that made the guardian drop a part of the bridge onto itself?"
"Yeah, but... At this point like 90% of tickets go to regulars. I've seen Blue fight it today about 20 times and it doesn't seem like she's any closer to defeating it than she was when she first arrived here."
"You really shouldn't say that."
"Wait. Is she behind me?" they turned around, a little afraid, but it turned out that there was no one there.
"It's not that. I just think we should keep on believing in them. How much money did we already waste by staying here? The only chance we have of feeling better about this is if someone finally defeats it."
"I guess. But how long unt..." they almost bit their tongue mid-sentence when someone accidentally bumped into them while running somewhere "Hey! What gives?!"
"It's Blue! My friend called me and said that it looks like it could be it!" the person yelled without stopping.
The other two looked at themselves and that was enough to confirm that they decided the same thing. They put away their drinks before also starting to run towards the bridge.
. . .
"Look at that! This may finally be it." said one of the people responsible for taking care of Snorlax, while observing the battle between it and Blue's Pokemon.
"That's what that boy said." commented the nurse that Red talked to the day he faced the guardian "But each time she seems to be getting close to doing it, it looks like something's holding her back from finishing it."
"Is that so?" asked the other person "I've never had a Pokemon battle so I guess everything seems impressive to me. But hasn't she already defeated a lot of other people here who decided to challenge her because of her popularity?"
"Yes, but... It doesn't look like her experience as a Pokemon trainer is the thing preventing her from winning. It's something more... But what do I care? We've got a lot of new, strong trainers in the last couple months and we even got these new facilities so I couldn't be happier about how things are going."
"But wouldn't seeing the guardian being beaten bring in even more people? They would think like "If this girl could defeat it then so can I"."
"Or it could have the exact opposite effect. Something along the lines "It was defeated by someone already? Then there's no point in fighting it anymore"."
The other person couldn't find a good response so both of them kept quiet while continuing to watch the battle.
"Use Vine Whip to dodge!" Blue shouted to her Weepinbell who did accordingly, which allowed him to slip past the Hyper Beam shot out by their opponent.
The girl waited for the guardian's reaction while going over the things that didn't work out the last time they fought. Since Sleep Powder didn't seem too effective, she decided to replace it with another move that would work in a combination with what they already had.
"Use Wrap!"
Bell jumped out while shooting his vines towards Snorlax's arm, pulling himself closer before attaching himself to it.
"Now move to its back so that it can't reach you!"
Snorlax tried to grab its foe but the task seemed impossible.
"Now it's time for Poison Powder!" the girl shouted confidently.
The Grass Pokemon released a rain of purple flakes which covered the massive opponent who immediately felt the burden of being poisoned.
"Now are you rea... Wait... It could..." Blue seemed to realize what would be Snorlax's next move even before the Pokemon did itself but she stopped herself from giving her partner a command that would help him avoid what was about to come.
Snorlax arrived at an idea that, although not a normal way to fight, fit in the situation it found itself in. It just needed to fall backwards and crush its opponent with the weight of its body. That wouldn't provide a definitive victory but would rather lead to an endurance test in which they would see if it was more resistant to poison than Bell was to its weight. Right as the Grass Pokemon was about to be squished, the girl reached out with a pokeball, making him return to her. The guardian seemed confused for a second after falling down but it soon understood what happened and immediately stood up in order to allow the nurses to help it out with its affliction.
"Seems like I lost again." the girl said after noticing the disappointed looks of the people around her.
"Maaan, I thought this would be the one" she heard someone say as people walked away with lost interest.
She glanced at all the tickets she had and saw that she still had 5 chances to defeat Snorlax before someone's else turn but she decided to take a rest and handed them over to the closest person. A girl who hanged around her ever since her arrival was among the crowd and, as soon as Blue started living, approached her.
"Hey. What's going on? Are you not feeling well?"
"Oh. It's you, Maiia. No, I'm alright. It's something else." she responded without stopping to have a longer chat but the other one insisted on following her.
"That's the thing though. Although we've known each other for around 3 months, I still can't decipher what you're thinking most of the time. It's not that I want to pry into your business. I guess I just want to see you smile more."
Blue was surprised by these last words but they were definitely food for thought since she came up with a response not too short after hearing them "There was a time when I wouldn't care. I could forget about my worries and just have fun with a friend. I couldn't control how my feelings changed and even though I eventually managed to come to terms with them, especially after our talk..."
"I'm not sure I follow."
"I understood that Red didn't love me and I accepted that if he still won't after we meet again, I will give up and try to be just his friend again. I didn't intend on staying in this place for so long but... I've been thinking about all the merchandise with my face on it that I allowed them to sell in the gift shop. If there was a way for me to become like a brand... There wouldn't be a need for me to continue my Pokemon journey. Winning the Pokemon League is such an unsure thing, but this... this could work. I could help my parents. I could help all of the Sevii Islands."
"Does that mean... you're not happy?"
"I want to continue my journey. I want to meet him again. But it shouldn't be about what I wan..." she stopped before she could finish as she felt a powerful slap hit her face.
"It should be about you!" Maiia yelled, attracting even more glances than what she did right before that "You shouldn't do something if you don't like it! Of course your parents are important to you but do you think they would support what you're doing if they saw how miserable you were? If your time here was so hard on you then that probably means you don't even consider any of us your friends and that I have no right to tell you what to do but... I do consider you my friend and just how you are worried about your parents, I'm worried for you!"
"You don't think that I've already went over all of this a thousand times in my head? A slap to the face and some words of encouragement won't be enough to..."
Maiia slapped her again, looking more angry by the second "Then I'll slap you again! And again, and again, until you come to your senses! I understand now that we're nobodies to you but if you can't think about yourself, take a moment to think about all the people here! They've been waiting all this time, putting their trust in you, hoping that you would defeat the guardian, but you've just used them to earn money! How can someone so considerate act like that?!"
"Hey! Is that true?!" someone yelled.
"Yeah! What the hell, man?" another voice joined.
Blue looked around and saw that the eyes of what seemed like 60 or 70 people were on her, waiting for her answer.
"It's not... I truly wanted to defeat the guardian when I first arrived here..."
"Is that so? And when did that stop? When did you decide to sell yourself out?"
Blue looked at Maiia, almost ready to cry from all the pressure being put on her.
"You destroyed what I've been working towards."
"You may be angry at me now but this way you'll be able to return to the happy times you've spoken so fondly of. All these people heard what we've talked about but you still have a chance to save your face." the girl lowered her voice so that no one else could hear them "I'm sure you have a tactic that's sure to give you a victory against the guardian. Defeat him and everyone will shut up. Instead of a fraud, they'll remember you as the legend who was able to do the impossible. After that, you can stay and see if that will increase the sales of your merch or for once try to do something for yourself, leave and be happy. Remember that I did this because I care about you. You also should."
Blue kept quiet, trying to piece together everything that just happened but her mind was a mess and she needed some time to calm down and think it over. She pushed Maiia aside and continued walking towards the buildings in order to get to her room. Although some people in the crowd gave her dirty looks, most of them decided that it would be in their best interest to get out of her way for the time being.
"What was that all about?" someone asked Maiia, but she also needed time to cool down.
She couldn't fully control what was coming out of her mouth so she was worried if she wasn't too harsh or didn't say too much. There was also a thought in her head that maybe what she did was a malicious reaction to the fact that Blue didn't consider her a friend.
. . .
"Vaporeon." Red repeated the Pokemon's name while staring at it with his jaw hanging low.
He remembered checking his Pokedex to learn about the evolutions of Eevee so the image of this water dog was still in his mind. This caused him to think of his oldest partner and his instinctive reaction was to walk over and touch Vaporeon but it jumped back and lowered the front of its body as if it was getting ready to leap at him as a response to his sudden movement.
"You shouldn't do that. She's trained in such a way that she won't allow anyone besides me to approach her." said Alex.
Red looked at the man, and then at the cautiously observing him Pokemon, before walking back to his side of the room with a dejected look on his face. Nidorino looked at him with a puzzled expression but the boy just signaled with his open hand that everything was fine and the Pokemon turned back towards his opponent.
"I'll allow you to make the first move!" Alex announced while posing with one leg lifted in such a way as to create the shape of a bow with the other one, one of his hands placed on his forehead, and leaning back so much that it looked like he was about to fall down.
"That's nice and all but what does he expect me to do?" the teenager asked himself.
Green, who already went to the observation area after putting Jynx back in her pokeball, already saw through the Admin's plan. He planned to crush them at the very beginning in order to establish his dominance. Without knowing their new Pokemon and their moves, there were slim chances of victory. The fact that he wanted to repeat every day meant that he wanted them to get frustrated and have the idea of beating him be the thing occupying their minds as they would spend their free time training in order to get a chance to win. If at any point they would get close enough to actually defeating his Pokemon, he would make it seem like he lost on purpose and give them praise that would make them feel like it was an important accomplishment. All these thing were mind games meant to make them forget their previous lives and focus on being Team Rocket members. At least that was what Green suspected after getting to know the Admin and analyzing him each time they met.
"Does he really think that we will fall for that? After what he..." Green stopped himself since he remembered that he didn't have a chance to have a conversation with Red and the fact that he seemed so enthusiastic began to worry him "...Don't tell me I'm the only one..."
Back in the main part of the room, the battle has already started with Red ordering Nidorino to charge at the opponent. Even if he didn't know what this particular Pokemon was capable of, he knew his species enough to wager some guesses. What was however more important to him was getting to learn Vaporeon's move set. Even though he had no intention of losing the battle, he wanted to know every trick the other pair had up their sleeves in the case that they would lose, make it easier to prepare for a rematch.
"Just dodge it, Vaporeon."
The dog was easily able to avoid being hit by swiftly moving to the side while keeping her eyes on her Poison Pokemon.
"You've met my Ditto who is kind of a jack of all trades. Vaporeon and the other two each have a different thing I trained them to specialize in. You would think that hers is speed but she's actually the slowest of the bunch. That's why we have to make up for it with this:..." Alex said while proudly looking at his Pokemon "Quick Attack!"
"Use your horn!" was all Red could do since he still wasn't able to get into the groove of things.
Vaporeon's reaction were fast enough to get past Nidorino, spin around and attack him from the back before he had a chance to understand what was going on. Red looked a little worried but a smile suddenly appeared on his face. Although he didn't know Nidorino's move set, he knew of the ability Poison Point and was ready for it to kick in any moment. If Vaporeon would be poisoned, it would be slowed down at least enough to allow them to come up with something instead of just falling into their opponents' pace. To his surprise, even after a couple seconds passed, nothing happened and the dog was ready to hit Nidorino. again.
"How is that possible?! Why didn't Poison Point work?!"
Alex looked at him with a confused face but after understanding what was going through the boy's mind, he had to stop himself from laughing.
"Oh, man. You mean to tell me that you've come this far without knowing that each Pokemon species can have more than one ability?"
That information hit Red like a train. He never considered it before but it could be possible that he was too over reliant of his Pokedex which he often used in order to gain the understanding about the possibilities of his opponent's Pokemon. If he had it with him, he would be able to know what types of commands he should give to Nidorino. But he didn't want to believe that he was helpless without it. He focused as hard as he could on his next move but his mind kept wandering and for some reason his eyes moved in the direction of the window behind which stood Green.
"Of course." he uttered, hope returning to his eyes "This may not work how I hope but there's no point if thinking about it. Let's just try."
Even without receiving any orders, it seemed like Nidorino was conditioned enough by the people who bred him that he was able to stay his ground and avoid taking in critical hits from Vaporeon's continuous Quick Attacks.
"Use Double Kick!" Red ordered, surprising everyone present.
Since Vaporeon was constantly trying to deal damage to the horned Pokemon, it was hard to avoid being hit when she was already running at him. Alex seemed to know it would be pointless to warn her as his Pokemon herself decided to try and reduce the damage, allowing herself to be hit in the body instead of the head.
Meanwhile, Green smiled to himself after instantly understanding what that look Red gave him meant. He must have remembered that time he saw his rival's Nidorina during their time on St. Anne and assumed that since the species are related, he could take a chance and try one of the moves Green's Pokemon used at that time.
"So you decided to finally attack? Or maybe that was your plan all along? You hoped to fool me?" Alex said, feeling more excited, by the fact that he didn't expect this turn of events, than he would like to admit "But we've only just begun! You still haven't witnessed my darling's specialty!"
"Maybe I don't want to!" Red retorted before giving his next command "Poison Sting!"
Nidorino opened his mouth, releasing a barrage of purple needles which would have hit Vaporeon, had she not swiftly jumped to avoid them.
"We've got her now! Don't let up!"
Vaporeon was too far from the walls and the floor after jumping which meant that she was an easy target for the next Poison Sting.
"Water Pulse!"
The dog released a wave of blue energy which knocked back the needles and allowed her to land, ready for her trainer's next order.
"Damn it. I've got nothing else." Red said to himself while stressing over the fact that he may have forgotten something that could be useful to him in this situation.
Nidorino growled at him. It was hard to tell if the Pokemon was angry at his trainer or if that was how he normally behaved but it seemed like he wanted to suggest something by tilting his head up, showing off his horn.
"An attack with your horn? A horn... attack. Horn Attack. Yes. There's something like that, isn't there?" the boy's expression immediately changed to an excited one after understanding what his new partner was trying to get across "Let's do that! Horn Attack!"
Nidorino let out a sigh of relief, after seeing that the boy took the hint, and proceeded to run at his opponent, his horn starting to shine with a bright a light and seemingly growing in size, starting to resemble a lance.
"He's shown us a lot already. I hope doesn't actually hope to have a chance at winning here." Alex commented while considering his response to the incoming attack "I couldn't possibly bring myself to destroying his hopes, could I? But then again, I don't want him to live in delusion any more than he already has. But!,,, That doesn't mean I can't have fun while destroying them."
Vaporeon waited for Nidorino to strike with a wall right behind her, hoping that his horn would get stuck in it after she would side-step his attack but his trainer expected that sort of trick.
"Hit to the right!"
Although her speed made it possible not do be struck directly, she still was hit by the side of the horn which brought results similar to a baseball being hit by a bat, as the dog was sent flying through the room before hitting another wall. Nidorino was immediately ready to repeat this move and Red tilted his hand forward, signaling that he was allowing him to do that.
"That's enough. For a Poison type opponent, this move seems weirdly suited. Use Acid Armor!"
Right as she was about to be hit by the enormous horn, Vaporeon's body seemed to disintegrate and below it was a new Vaporeon, made up completely of what looked like a slightly dark water. The horn pierced this liquid body, going into the belly of the Pokemon and doing seemingly no damage.
"What is this?!" Red couldn't believe his eyes.
Green was seemingly shocked. Although he heard of the move, he never encountered a Pokemon able to use it.
"Keep on trying!" Nidorino's trainer started getting desperate, although hoping that the attack not working was just a fluke.
The Poison Pokemon couldn't properly use Horn Attack at close range but he still tried to Vaporeon with his horn as fast and as many times as he could, effectively using Fury Attack instead.
"It may look like Vaporeon's invulnerable to my dear opponent but I really shouldn't be taking any chances if I want to look as good as I want to." Alex talked to himself again "Let's add Aqua Ring!"
"Watch out!" not knowing what was about to happen, Red warned his Pokemon who immediately jumped back to what he thought could be a safe distance, in order to try and see if he could counter the move.
Three rings of floating water appeared out of thin air, surrounding Vaporeon's body, constantly moving around. At first slow, they started to speed up. Adding to that the fact that the dog started moving forward, all the motion made it hard to understand what was part of her body and what wasn't. She started jumping from side to side, disorienting both Nidorino and his trainer, until finally jumping right in front of him and splashing on the floor, turning into a puddle. This was so confusing to the horned Pokemon that he didn't notice a trail of water moving away from the puddle in order to recreate the form of Vaporeon behind him.
"Behi..."
Red's reaction was too late. Vaporeon charged at Nidorino, losing her shape and dragging him along like a powerful wave before both crushed into the wall, the main difference being that she landed on the floor without receiving any damage. Nidorino tried to get up but she jumped at him, enveloping his head with her body, trying to take out his breathing. He was trying to stab her with his horn but it was a vain attempt.
"Water Pulse!" Alex gave an order, confident that it was what would finish the battle.
Instead of sending the wave of energy through the air, the dog created it in her body, making Nidorino feel as if his head was about to be squished. Red couldn't stand that sight and called the Pokemon back to his ball as quickly as he could. After seeing that the battle was over, Vaporeon's watery body started turning back to normal. Alex passed her, giving her a proud look, while on his way to Red.
"I hope that wasn't too much." he said, trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice.
"Nope." Red replied, seemingly not moved at all by how horribly he lost "If we train a little, I'm sure we'll be able to face you on even grounds."
"That's good to hear." Alex felt like he should be annoyed but the fact that there was someone besides the other Admins who genuinely believed they stood a chance against him, made him quite excited "I said before that I wanted us to fight every day but... that might be too much. Just let me know when you think you'll be able to give me a decent fight. Even if you don't win, if I'm satisfied with the experience, there will be a reward waiting for you. Now how about..."
"I'm ready." Green announced, already standing next to them.
"Great. Vaporeon isn't too tired but I want to be fair so you'll fight another one of my Pokemon. Hmm... Is there something I'm forgetting?" Alex grabbed his chin while trying to remember "Oh, right. Did you figure out what was Vaporeon's specialty?"
"Cheating." Red replied, showing that he wasn't happy about the way he lost.
"Trickery." Green gave his answer.
"It... It was defense. Seriously, guys?"
Who's a doody poopoo head? This guy. It's me. I'm useless. I don't post anything in over two weeks and then I arrive with this short chapter that's not even a full story. I'm not even sure what's my excuse. There's just a lot of days when I don't feel like writing. I wanted to condition myself to write at least a bit each day but nothing came out of it. Instead it works in a way where I don't write anything for like a week, then a write like 2000 words and then I take another week of break. It's not like I'm doing anything important. Taking aside my job, I should have around 7-8 hours of free time every day. I like writing and I want to continue this story so I can't tell what's holding me back. But I wanted to give you something sooner than later so that's why I decided to split this into two parts. I'll try to be quicker with the next one but any promises on my part would be worthless.
Let's talk about the chapter itself. I'm slightly torn about the way I portrayed Blue. I mader her seem more assholeish than I originally intended but then I was weirdly happy with the fact that I made one of the main characters a "bad guy" in their own story. Of course, she has her circumstances. She talked about her dreams as far back as Chapter 6 and it's just her wondering what way she should go about them. I hope that you understood that she was still not sure about what she's done. We'll see next chapter what her final decision about this matter is going to be. Overall, with how Red-centered this story already is, I wanted to give Blue something more to be concerned about besides her feelings for him. I already gave hints about what's Green personal story is going to be like and you'll probably see more of that soon.
I think Vaporeon being able to turn into water and just destroy Nidorino without any effort is just really cool. It's the first battle in a long time where I did everything I had in plans. I'm already excited for the rematch.
I have a lot of fun writing Alex. Someone who comes off as one dimensional while actually being an emotionally complex person, changing his moods based on the slightest thing... I don't know. It's just a pleasant feeling. Like if I got shivers all over my head.
The title is based on the phrase "trial by fire" which makes no sense since, as you know, there were no Fire type Pokemon in this chapter.
Not related to the chapter, I finally bought myself a Switch. I didn't have time to play yet but I already have Breath of the Wild. I also got myself a case with Pikachu surrounded by like a blue energy and white lightning.
Red. Team: Nidorino.
Stasis: Eevee, Charmeleon, Raichu, Gloom, Gyarados, Pidgeotto.
Badges: 4
Green. Team: Jynx.
Stasis: Venusaur, Nidorina, Jigglypuff, Hitmonlee, Vulpix, Horsea.
Badges: 3
Blue. Team: Weepinbell(Bell), Wartortle(Tori), Zubat(?), Graveler(?).
Badges: 3
Alex. Team: Ditto, Vaporeon, ?, ?.
Angie. Team: Dragonair, Sandslash.
Peter. Team: Dodrio, Haunter, ?.