Chapter 35 – The beach
"Leaf Blade!" James yelled. Sceptile's leaves glowed green, became razor sharp, and it crossed them in front of itself, blocking the vicious Ice Beam that had nearly dealt a punishing blow. They were at the beach, in the surf to be exact. The tide was coming in, and waves were rolling up onto the shore, buffeting James, Sceptile, and the wild Swampert he was attempting to capture. Grass attacks had a massive advantage against a water/ground type, and James had expected to win fairly easily. However it was as though this Swampert – a large male which had been chosen because of its strength – had been professionally trained. When Sceptile started to leap forward to attack, Swampert would fend it off with an Ice Beam. When Sceptile was struggling with the waves, Swampert would shoot a Muddy Water attack at its feet, and more waves rocked them, preventing James and his pokémon from regaining their footing. On the odd occasion that Sceptile did indeed manage to get to Swampert, the massive pokémon would smash the grass type with a Hammer Arm. At least battling in the water prevented its Earthquake attack from working. However, due to the fact that it knew Muddy Water – Swampert's special attack – it was free to learn an extra move, and had surprised Politoed with a Take Down, knocking it out.
However, James had a secret weapon, which he hoped would help.
"Carvanha, Bite!" He said. The tiny savage pokémon leapt from the water near Swampert, where it had been waiting quietly, and Bit down onto the mud fish pokémon's hand. Swampert swung it about, but Carvanha hung on.
"Sceptile, Leaf Storm!" James said. Sceptile cried out, and from its tail hundreds of leaves shot like bullets, toward Swampert. The water type dived beneath the waves, dodging the attack.
"Argh!" James yelled, "Ice Fang!" Carvanha, still hanging on, started to breath out cold air into the wound. However, then Swampert held his arm out, and blasted Carvanha with an Ice Beam, which, understandably, made it, let go. Then it was gone, swimming out to see so fast that Sceptile hadn't a hope of stopping it.
"Lets go back to the house." James said.
"Back in his kitchen, James put Carvanha in a bucket of water and plonked it on the sink. He then went to the fridge and grabbed a package from the butcher. Wrapped up in paper were some strips of ham. He cut these up and dropped them into the bucket. Carvanha was the first pokémon he had ever captured, yet it had stayed the same while the rest of his team grew stronger.
Well, that wasn't right. Carvanha had grown stronger. It had turned its feeble Water Gun into a much more suitable Aqua Jet, which suited Carvanha's more physical approach. But it hadn't evolved. James never forced his pokémon to become stronger, or to evolve, however all his other pokémon seemed to have done that if it was possible, but not his savage pokémon.
"Oi James, guess who's here," Aria said, coming into the kitchen, followed by Brendan.
"Hey mate," James said, "Why you here this time? Had a sudden urge to battle me again?"
"Actually," Brendan said, "I was invited this time – heard you are having some trouble catching a Swampert."
"Aria told you, didn't she?" James said.
"Yep, she also suggested that I take a wack at it." Brendan told him, "She thinks that the competitive drive in you will force you to finally catch it then."
"Right." James said, "Well I still haven't showered from last time, so do you want to go now then?"
"Sure," Brendan said, "I'll wait outside."
"Hey Aria," James said, "Why the heck did you invite him?"
"Like he said," Aria told him, "Your competitive, so if someone else is trying to capture the Swampert too, then you're sure to get it."
"Either that, or he'll capture it," James said, "And he'll have yet another hugely powerful pokémon on his team."
"Oh yea," Aria said, smiling in a way that made it plan she already knew this, "Well, good luck."
"Rhyperior, use Poison Jab!" Brendan said. Rhyperior, out in the water and making full use of its Solid Rock ability, went to punch the wild Swampert with its poisoned arm. The mud fish pokémon grabbed Rhyperior's arm, and flipped it over. As Rhyperior tried to get back on its feet, hindered by the shifting sand underfoot and the constant waves, Swampert smashed a Hammer Arm attack down upon it.
"Return!" Brendan said, recalling Rhyperior to its ball. "That Swampert is strong," He said to Aria, "Where's James, its his turn now." Aria shrugged, but then something in the sky made he stop. Brendan looked around too.
James flew on top of Salamence, followed by his Tropius. They flew across the sun, before heading toward the water. They flew high over the surf, and suddenly two red lights shot down into the sea. James had released some pokémon. Politoed burst from the water with a Bounce attack, smashing its feet into Swampert's face. Swampert took a step back in surprise, before being hit from behind by Carvanha's Aqua Jet. These attacks seemingly did nothing but distract the mud fish pokémon, however they did something else.
They prevented it from escaping.
"Solar Beam!" James said, and Tropius absorbed sunlight almost instantly, due to it being so high up, and blasted it down upon Swampert. The mud fish pokémon tried to cover itself with its arms, however the Solar Beam ripped apart the water, casting a spray high into the air, and blasted Swampert with a doubly super effective hit. If one wanted to do the math, Solar Beam had a power of 120. Times that by four, and Swampert was being hit by an attack with the power of 480.
Brutal.
"Now pick it up!" James said. Salamence flew down after the Solar Beam had ended and grabbed hold of Swampert, flying it to the sand. Salamence dropped it, before flying a few metres away and landing itself. Swampert, hurt but still battle worthy, stood up on two legs to roar, before going down onto four.
"Its gonna use Ice Beam," James said, seeing Swampert start getting ready to start the attack, "Fly up!" Salamence jumped into the air, just avoiding the lightning fast Ice Beam.
"Hydro Pump!" James said, and Salamence blasted Swampert with water. James reached inside his pocket, and brought out a special type of ball which he had seen at the shops the other day, and had instantly known that it was perfect for Swampert. The Dive Ball, which works better on water types.
"Go!" James said, throwing the enlarged ball at Swampert. It made contact, and Swampert disappeared in a flash of blue light. The ball landed on the sand, flashed for a moment, before falling still.
"Yea!" James said, running to pick up the ball.
"Good on ya!" Aria screamed excitedly.
"Great work," Brendan said, walking up to him, "Now I want to battle you."
"Go Swampert!" James said, throwing out his Dive Ball. His newest pokémon appeared in a flash of blue light.
"Rhyperior!" Brendan said, sending out his star battler.
"Swampert beat Rhyperior before, why are you battling with it?" James asked.
"It didn't win, I recalled Rhyperior before Swampert could hurt it, and this time I know what it might do."
"Whatever," James said, hoping very much that he would be able to win.
"Okay start." Aria said.
"Rock Wrecker!" Brendan said. Rhyperior shot a bolder at Swampert.
Lets try something different, James thought, "Catch it Swampert!" The mud fish pokémon rose onto its hind legs and caught the lump of rock on its chest. "Now throw it back!" Swampert pegged the bolder back at Rhyperior in an overarm throw, and managed to hit the drill pokémon in the face, knocking it over backward.
"Hammer Arm!" James said, and Swampert ran forward, before smashing its arm down upon Rhyperior's belly.
"Poison Jab!" Brendan said. Rhyperior quickly jabbed Swampert with one of its toxic arms, which made Swampert back off. However Poison moves weren't very effective on ground types.
"Earthquake!" James said. Swampert smashed its hind legs down upon the sand, which let loose a shockwave, spraying out sand and smashing into Rhyperior. However, despite it being a powerful move and super effective against rock types, Rhyperior shrugged it off.
That stupid Solid Rock ability again.
"Horn Drill!" Brendan said, and Rhyperior ran forward, its horn spinning.
Oh no, is that a one hit KO attack? Or is it Mega Horn? James thought.
"Hammer Arm!" James said, and Swampert ran forward. The two giants connected, and Swampert was knocked backward, passing out on the sand.
"Better luck next time," Brendan said, recalling Rhyperior. James was crestfallen. That stupid ability, James was sick of it. If only there was a way around it. Suddenly his eyes widened.
There was a way around Solid Rock.
And it was available to him.