Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Pokemon.
Character thoughts are italicized.
Nick was asleep in the middle of the night when he was startled awake by a noise from outside. Unsure of it, Nick looked around the room only to find it empty. "Where'd Eevee and Hitmonchan go?" He asked himself in between yawns. He then noticed that the window was opened and walked over to it. To his surprise, Eevee and Hitmonchan were outside training. It seemed as though the loss was hard for them as well.
"Vee!" Eevee cried out as it fired off multiple shadow balls at Hitmonchan. The punching pokemon was working on dodging multiple attacks at once. It knew that he would need to be faster if he was to beat Electabuzz.
"Chan." He said, panting from exhaustion. He quickly put his fatigue in the back of his mind. "Chan, chan!" Hitmonchan expressed, wanting Eevee to continue attacking. Each attack Hitmonchan dodged with ease, but in fact he was having a hard time due to his exhaustion.
Nick watched from the window as his two pokemon were training during the night, wanting to grow stronger for him. He decided that if they weren't sleeping, neither was he. He quickly threw a black sweatshirt over his white t-shirt and put his shoes on and walked out side.
"What are you two doing?" Nick asked, trying to sound upset at them. "Its the middle of the night and you're both outside training." He said, trying to keep his act going. "You both go head inside now!" He watched at how his pokemon looked disappointed in themselves, he couldn't help it and started smiling. "Unless, you let me train with you." He said, finishing his conversation with them.
Both of them changed their expressions as they went back onto the field to train. The group spent the whole night practicing outside until the early hours of the morning.
"Okay guys, that's enough." Nick told the two pokemon while yawning. Hitmonchan and Eevee both copied him as they both let out yawns, showing just how tired they were. The three stumbled their way back inside, falling asleep in Eevee's room.
After what seemed like only a short amount of time Nick heard a knock at the door and went to open it. On the other side stood his three friends, coming to check up on Eevee.
"Nick, you look terrible." Janine said, pointing out how little sleep he got. "We were just coming to see how you were doing. Nurse Joy told us how a carnival is in town for a few days, but by how you're looking maybe we should go another day." The three trainers started to walk away, deciding to let Nick rest.
Nick opened his mouth to speak, but ended up yawning instead. Once the yawn stopped he yelled down the hall after his friends. "I'm fine. We need a break after everything we've been through." He explained. Nick then returned his pokemon to their pokeballs and left the room.
Nick met up with Samurai, Janine and Ebony in the Center's main lobby. They were already talking amongst themselves when Nick arrived.
"So where is the carnival anyway." Ebony asked, she had still been getting up when Nurse Joy told Janine about the carnival.
"Well," Samurai began before pulling out his maps. "If what Nurse Joy told Janine was correct, then the carnival should be over in this area." He said, circling an area of the city on his maps.
"Why do I feel like this won't end well." Nick said, ending his sentence with a yawn.
Samurai was tired of everyone talking badly about his maps. "Hey, there isn't anything wrong with my maps. They've led us in the right direction plenty of times." He argued, starting to become stubborn in defending his maps.
Janine didn't want them to fight so she decided to be the peacekeeper between them. "Maybe his maps are outdated, but they do get us to where we're heading. We can at least trust them to begin with."
They were all in agreement as Samurai led the way to the carnival. Unfortunately, the maps were really outdated and Samurai ended up getting everyone lost. Instead of the carnival, the group were standing in an abandoned alleyway.
"Great. Those wonderful maps got us lost again." Nick told everyone. "Now what way should we head?"
Before anyone could answer, a man wearing a mask and a cape with a Sandslash jumped down into the alleyway and landed in front of them. Everyone didn't know what to expect so they all reached for their pokeballs, just to be ready if this guy tried something.
The man stood there, cape flying in the wind watching them. Once he saw the trainers reach for their pokeballs his whole demeanor changed. Instead of being calm and cool, he started to act worried. He immediately waved his hands in front of him, trying to tell them he meant no harm.
Seeing this action, everyone relaxed and took their hands off their pokeballs. Nick noticed that the man was pointing to his mask, as if he wanted it removed. "Guys, I think his mask is just stuck." He said, pointing out the obvious. Nick then walked over, removing the mask to reveal A.J being behind it.
"Phew." He said, letting out a sigh of relief. "Do you realize how hot it is with that on?" Everyone just stared at him in disbelief.
Nick was confused the most, he was wondering why A.J would be dressed that way and why he was in Vermilion City. "A.J what are you doing?"
A.J rubbed the back of his head out of embarrassment. "Well, I was traveling through here and saw a carnival in town. I decided to stop for the day and relax. While there I was convinced into buying that mask and cape, the salesman told me it would make me seem mysterious at the league." He explained, both he and his Sandslash were turning a light shade of red before continuing. "Unfortunately, the mask was too small and got stuck. I guess I should have checked the size before buying it." He let out a light chuckle because of the situation. "I've been looking for someone to remove it for me because I couldn't reach the clip myself, but everyone ran away scared of me."
"Why didn't you just ask someone, I'm pretty sure if you explained yourself someone would help." Samurai said. People say he can be clueless at times, but A.J had him beat this time.
"The mask was so tight that everything I said just came out all mumbled."
"Wait." Ebony said, cutting A.J off. An idea had come to her. "If you know where the carnival is, do you mind showing us the way? We were heading to it when we got lost."
"Well, you guys did help me out. Its the least I could do. Even Sandslash couldn't get the mask off of me." A.J said, turning towards his pokemon.
"Slash." The pokemon said, scratching the back of it's head. Sandslash was a useful pokemon, but it wasn't much help with a situation that required fingers.
"So that is your Sandslash after all." Nick said, sounding disappointed. "I thought it was just following you, I was going to catch it."
"Oh no. I was going to catch it!" Samurai argued, butting heads with Nick.
"You? Sandslash isn't even a bug type!"
"So what. It still looks cool. Besides, who said I can't catch other types of pokemon." Samurai said, not backing down. "I love bug types, but I also like other pokemon."
A.J, seeing that this could go on for a while decided to step in. "Sandslash was my first pokemon ever. My parents had given it to me as a birthday present and actually caught it right down the road in route 11." He said, pointing in the direction that the route was. "You two head along that way. I'll show the others where the carnival is and then catch up with you two." A.J said, walking in the direction of the carnival.
"Well, you heard him." Nick said, walking in the opposite direction. Samurai quickly followed him while Ebony and Janine followed A.J.
After a short walk the two trainers reached route 11. The whole route was just a flat, wide open area covered in grass. Occasionally the duo would spot a tree here or there, but not too many of them. As they walked through the entire route they noticed many different pokemon, but none of them were a Sandshrew.
"Do you think he told us we could find a Sandshrew here just so they wouldn't hear us argue?" Samurai asked, starting to sound impatient due to their lack of success.
"Knowing A.J, probably." Nick said, agreeing with Samurai's assumption. Both trainers lowered their heads in disappointment, both of them thinking they'll never catch a Sandshrew.
Both trainers were about to head back when they heard a rumbling sound from underneath them. The two trainers watched as a small pokemon dug up from under the ground, appearing before them.
"I guess its my lucky day." Nick exclaimed, rubbing his hands together out of excitement. "I'm going to catch myself a Sandshrew." Nick reached for a pokeball, only to be pulled back by Samurai.
"You mean its my lucky day." He said, starting to reach for a pokeball only to be pulled back by Nick now. "What are you doing? I'm trying to catch a pokemon, let go of me!" He yelled, shaking Nick off of him.
"Don't act so offended, you did the same to me." Nick said, defending his actions. During the argument, the wild Sandshrew dug underground, getting away. He then looked around, noticing that the Sandshrew was missing. "Great, now we lost the only Sandshrew we've seen."
"Shrew, shrew!" The Sandshrew cried out, digging back above ground, only a few feet away.
"There it is!" Samurai yelled, before running over to it. Nick followed shortly behind. "Since we can't act mature right now, why don't we let Sandshrew choose who it wants to battle." He said, facing the mouse pokemon. "So, Sandshrew, who do you want to battle?" Samurai moved his hand back and forth between himself and Nick, trying to help Sandshrew decide.
The ground type looked back and forth between it's two choices as if it was having a hard time deciding. Sandshrew raised one hand as if it were ready to choose, but instead of pointing at a trainer it instead flung mud at both of them. "Sandshrew, shrew." It cried, laughing on it's back.
Nick could tell that this Sandshrew was somewhat of a prankster and imagined what it would be like having it be on a team with Kingler and Gastly. The only thought that ran through Nick's head was him constantly being on the receiving end of a prank. "You know what, I don't really want to catch a Sandshrew. This one's all your's." Nick told Samurai, pushing the trainer towards the ground type.
Elsewhere, the group of three trainers walked down towards route 11. "Do you think they bought it?" Janine asked, kind of nervous that their friends would figure out they were lied to. "I don't like lying to them, but this might be the only way we can help Nick." She was clearly distraught over their actions.
"I don't know why you're worried so much, Janine." Ebony said, slapping the ninja's back. "We both know that Nick can be stubborn so this is the only way we can help him. We were just lucky to find A.J walking around." She said, trying to reassure her friend.
"Before we continue," A.J began, interrupting the girls' conversation. "I was wondering, did Samurai know that this is all staged to help Nick? I mean, if he knows then he really knows how to sell something. He even has me believed that he wants to catch a Sandshrew."
Both Janine and Ebony let out a light laugh. "Well you see, we didn't trust Samurai with keeping this a secret." Janine explained, A.J now started to laugh from hearing the truth. "He really thinks there is a carnival today." She lowered her head due to a little embarrassment. "Everything that he is doing, isn't acting. He truely believes everything that we've made up."
The group's laughter grew a little louder now before A.J silenced them. He then pointed over to a cliff that overlooked the whole route. "We can watch them from up here. Then when its time, we can find them easily." He explained, laying down on his back. "So, go over this once more."
"Well," Ebony started, sitting down next to A.J. "Nick can get overconfident at times. It was evident during his match with Lt. Surge yesterday. He also can lose his ability to think clearly when something big happens. We need you to belittle him during a match and show him how his overconfidence will be his downfall." She said, now laying down on the grass with her body stretched out.
"Why do I want to help him, what's in it for me? Honestly why would I make one of my competition stronger, especially with the league this close." He asked, having a good point. He sat up now, facing the other two trainers.
Neither of them could come up with a good reason. The two sat there speechless, thinking over any positives for A.J. Finally Ebony spoke up. "Well, it allows you to see what pokemon he has. Plus you can see his battling style, break it down and then use it against him during the league." She explained, A.J seemed interested now and Ebony noticed. "Now you see why this could be good for you?" You know, now that I think about it, this might not be such a great idea. She thought to herself, having one of Nick's rivals know almost his whole battling style might not be the best thing. He could work on his overconfidence, but could he change his whole battling style?
A.J stood up now, clearly excited to see how Nick really battles. "You've got me. I'll help him out." He then walked over to the edge of the cliff. "How long do we let them chase that Sandshrew?" A.J asked, pointing at Samurai.
The young trainer was chasing after the ground type with his Venonat following beside him. The small group could hear him yelling from where they were located. "Stop throwing mud in my face!... Don't run away, fight like a real pokemon!... Nick! Help me out by blocking that path!" Were some of the things he was yelling.
"Knowing Samurai he could be at it all day. If we stop him now, we'll never hear the end of it." Ebony explained. "Sometimes he can just ramble on forever about bug pokemon. One time I stopped him from talking, he wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the day." She finished laughing.
"He is stubborn isn't he. I remember first meeting him, I accidentally insulted his brother without realizing it. He was ready to jump down my throat. Its best to let him catch this pokemon." A.J said, laughing alongside Ebony about Samurai's quirks.
Janine was the only one not joining in. "He isn't that bad. Its just his determination to spread awareness about how great bug types are. Plus he cares about his family's honor."
Ebony wasn't having any of it. "You honestly enjoy his lectures on how to properly raise bug pokemon?" She asked, not buying anything Janine said. She then got a look in her eyes. "Or are you just sticking up for him because you like him."
Janine's face flushed a light red at this, as she tried covering Ebony's mouth before she could finish the sentence. She was too late, and looked over to A.J who had been watching Samurai chase the Sandshrew. "You're lucky he didn't hear." Janine whispered to Ebony, the young girl just smiled back at her.
Down on the ground Samurai was still chasing after the very same Sandshrew. Every time Samurai thought he had the ground type cornered, the little rascal managed to escape. The small section of route 11 they were on was now covered in holes and mud was everywhere
"This is harder than we thought, isn't it, Venonat?" Samurai asked his bug and poison type pokemon, having lost sight of the Sandshrew.
"Venonat." It replied cheerfully. No matter the situation it always seemed to have energy. The pokemon was running around Samurai's legs before stopping and pointing in a direction. "Veno!" It cried before running in the direction it faced.
Samurai followed the bug type towards the taller grass, hoping that it found the Sandshrew. "Thanks to your amazing eyesight, you can easily spot this Sandshrew from miles away. After it hid underground, you must have spotted it dig above ground. Didn't you, Venonat. You've been working really hard today, thank you." He said, praising the pokemon.
The duo reached the pile of grass only to find it deserted. "Veno?" The bug type asked itself. It was sure that a Sandshrew was here a minute ago.
"Sandshrew!" The ground type called out, now standing behind them. It seemed to be calling them to come closer, as if it wanted to battle them.
"You hear that, Venonat. Sandshrew wants to battle us." The two ran over to the Sandshrew, ready to do battle, but before they could do anything the ground collapsed beneath them. The two had fallen into a pit dug by Sandshrew.
"Shrew, sandshrew." It cried out in laughter, rolling around on the ground. It clearly was enjoying itself, making it seem like it was smarter than Samurai.
"What's the big idea!" He yelled, out of anger. "When I get out of here, you'll regret messing with me. Venonat, use signal beam!"
Venonat fired off the light blue beam of energy. Unfortunately due to where they were, the beam hit the side of the pit. This caused rocks to tumble down into the pit, falling onto Samurai and Venonat.
"Sandshrew!" The Sandshrew cried out, it was overwhelmed with joy from being able to do so much to this trainer. The ground type walked over to the edge of the pit and faced its back towards Samurai. It then started to slap it's behind, trying to insult the trainer even more. It then rolled up into a ball and disappeared from view.
Samurai was upset, even more than he usually could get. "Just wait until I find that Sandshrew. I'll make it wish that it decided to come with me easily instead of all of this." Samurai then tried to climb out of the pit, but was unsuccessful in his many tries. He decided to do the only thing left that he could. "Nick!" He yelled out, hoping to get his friend's attention.
"Venonat!" The bug type yelled while running around the pit. It was copying it's trainer, even if it wasn't acting in the same way.
Nick had been sleeping under one of the few trees on this route when he overheard what sounded like someone yelling his name. "That sounds like Samurai. I wonder what he got himself into this time." He said to himself. The young trainer stood up and then stretched himself out before following the voice. After a short walk the voice started to grow louder. That definitely is Samurai, but I don't see him. Where is he? Nick thought to himself. He then came upon the pit that Samurai had fallen for and noticed Samurai sitting there, looking defeated. "What happened?" Nick asked, he really wanted to know what happened here.
"Sandshrew happened. That little jokester dug a pit for me to fall into, and that's exactly what I did." Samurai said, getting to his feet. He then reached a hand up towards Nick, who met it halfway and helped pull Samurai out of the pit. The duo were now sitting on the ground, trying to figure out a way to beat Sandshrew. "Everything I've tried has failed. I honestly don't know what to do. Normally this always works."
Samurai's words struck an idea into Nick. "Maybe you need to switch up your idea. No offense, but your tactic has always been used on bug pokemon that don't have access to so many ways of escape." He explained, Samurai seemed to be understanding as he finished Nick's thought.
"So if I slow it down, I should have no problem at all." He finished, jumping up off the ground. He reached for another pokeball as he opened it. "I need your help, Parasect."
"Para?" The duel type pokemon asked, kind of surprised by it's surroundings.
"Parasect." Samurai said, getting it's attention. "There's a pokemon I'm trying to catch and I need both your's and Venonat's help in catching him."
"Parasect." It cried out, trying to help out Samurai. Unfortunately it was shaking from it's timidness.
Samurai noticed it immediately and tried to calm it down. "Its alright, you're not the one battling today. I just need you to spray your spores around. Okay?"
"Para!" It cried out, this time more confidently.
"Now that's what I like to hear." He said, praising Parasect's new found attitude.
As Samurai was pumping his pokemon up for their encounter with the Sandshrew, Nick noticed the familiar ground type rolling across the field towards them. "I hate to interrupt, but your friend is back." He said, pointing at Sandshrew. "Whatever you plan on doing, do it soon."
Samurai turned around and saw what Nick was talking about. He quickly faced his two pokemon, ready to deliver some commands. "Venonat, use your supersonic attack!"
Venonat fired off multiple high pitched waves that were invisable to the naked eye. The waves traveled straight at Sandshrew, who because of it rolling forwards ran right into the attack. Sandshrew immediately lost it's balance and had to stop rolling. As it tried to stand up it only fell back down, too dizzy to move at all.
Samurai, seeing his chance, decided to continue his attack before Sandshrew could recover. "Parasect, use your stun spore attack!"
Parasect shook it's giant mushroom as a yellowish brown cloud of dust emerged from it. The dust cloud traveled straight towards the confused Sandshrew, covering it in the stun spore. Sandshrew tried to shake off the attack, but was unsuccessful and became paralyzed from it.
"It worked!" Samurai cried out in joy, pumping his fist into the air. He then reached for Parasect's pokeball. "Great job, Parasect. Take a good rest." As Parasect was recalled into the pokeball, Samurai noticed that Sandshrew was starting to run away. "Venonat, quick follow that Sandshrew. We can't let it get rid of it's paralysis." He told his bug pokemon as the chased after the pokemon.
Nick watched as the duo chased after the now slowed down Sandshrew and decided to follow them. "I might as well, what if they fall into another hole." He said to himself before running after them.
After chasing Sandshrew across the route, Samurai managed to corner it. The ground type knew it as well. To it's back was a cliff and in front of it was Venonat. Sandshrew thought about digging but knew it wouldn't get too far away because of the stun spore.
"Shrew... shrew." It panted. Sandshrew was growing tired from being chased the whole day. It had never seen a trainer this persistent, but no matter how persistent he was, Sandshrew was not going down without a fight. Sandshrew reached down towards the ground and flung mud at Venonat, trying to create a distraction.
Samurai wasn't going to give it any chances though. "Venonat, dodge the attack and then counter with signal beam!"
Venonat rolled to it's left barely dodging the oncoming attack. The bug type then regained it's balance before firing the energy beam at Sandshrew. Sandshrew tried to dodge the attack, but it's paralysis kicked in. The whole attack collided with the ground type, causing some decent damage.
"Okay, now's my chance. Pokeball, go!" Samurai yelled as he tossed an empty pokeball. He watched as the pokeball struck Sandshrew and pulled it into the ball. The pokeball rocked back and forth, Samurai feeling more and more relieved the longer it shook. Just when they thought it was captured, Sandshrew broke out of the pokeball. "So, you still have some fight in you. Venonat, use confusion!"
"Venonat." The insect pokemon cried as it's eyes and antennae glowed blue. A large blast of psychic energy formed between it's antennae before being launched towards Sandshrew.
"Sandshrew!" The troublesome pokemon cried out as it forced every muscle in it's body to dig underground. The mouse pokemon managed to dodge the attack barely and was now waiting for the perfect opportunity to launch a counter attack.
"Venonat, be ready. Sandshrew could attack from any direction." Just as Samurai warned his pokemon, the ground type came flying out of the ground while using a rollout attack. The attack was a direct hit and caused Venonat to be sent flying. "Venonat, are you alright?"
"Veno.." It managed to say. Both pokemon were growing tired from the intensity of the battle, but neither one was backing down.
"Alright, if you're good then so am I." Samurai said, agreeing with his pokemon. He too was starting to reach his limit and figured that if Sandshrew got away this time, then that was it. There would be no way he could continue chasing after it. Samurai looked up from Venonat to see Sandshrew charging straight for Venonat with a rollout attack. "Venonat, use your signal beam once more."
Venonat charged up the familiar attack once again, aiming straight for the incoming Sandshrew. "Veno!" It cried out, launching the attack with everything it had. Both it and it's trainer watched as the beam collided with the Sandshrew. They watched as it managed to tear through the signal beam with ease, neither of them knew what to do and could only watch as Venonat was launched again.
"Venonat, you've done great. Let's call it a day!" Samurai called out, hoping his pokemon would listen. However, Venonat was getting back up, bracing itself for another rollout attack.
Venonat didn't want to let Samurai down. Samurai trusted it, believing that the bug type was strong enough to help him capture this pokemon. The insect pokemon watched as Sandshrew drew closer, it's rollout picking up momentum after each hit. "Venonat!" It cried out, opening it's mouth as it's fangs glowed purple and grew in size. Venonat managed to catch Sandshrew in it's mouth and tossed it into the cliff.
"That was poison fang. What was the odds of it learning it right now?" Nick said, completely amazed at the insect pokemon.
"Way to go Venonat. Now's our chance, pokeball go!" He yelled as he tossed another pokeball at the Sandshrew. He watched as the ball rocked back and forth multiple times. His eyes were locked on the pokeball, watching it continue to shake. Finally it stopped moving and dinged, signaling that Sandshrew was caught. Samurai walked over to the pokeball, picking it up triumphantly. "We did it Venonat!"
"Veno, venonat.." Venonat said while falling down to the ground from exhaustion. For the first time ever, the bug type had absolutely no energy whatsoever.
Samurai reached for Venonat's pokeball and went to recall it. "Thank you for everything today, Venonat. You did amazing, now take a nice rest." Samurai then turned to Nick, he had a question on his mind and he just couldn't figure it out. "Hey, why do you think poison fang managed to inflict so much damage. I thought poison was weak to ground?"
"I was thinking that also. Maybe the pokedex would know more." Nick reached for his pokedex, using it for the first time in forever. He skimmed until he reached Venonat's page. "Here we go, hopefully we find something useful."
"One of Venonat's known abilities is tinted lens. When using a move that isn't very effective on a pokemon, that move's power is doubled." The pokedex explained in it's monotone robotic voice.
"I get it now." Nick said, putting the pokedex away. "Venonat must have the tinted eyes ability. So when it used poison fang on a ground type, the power was doubled."
"Ya, I guess it came in pretty handy." Samurai said, before adding on. "Well, you know, it was part of my strategy." He said, laughing.
From up on their cliff the group of three were waiting for Samurai to finally catch that Sandshrew so A.J could go challenge Nick to a match. Ebony was growing bored from all the waiting and A.J had fallen asleep from the long wait.
"Hey, I think he finally caught it." Janine said, looking up from her binoculars. "I don't see Sandshrew anymore and they seem to be laughing about something."
"They're probably talking about how they were outsmarted by a Sandshrew of all pokemon. Honestly, they were at it for hours chasing that one Sandshrew." Ebony said, standing up off the ground. "I guess its time to wake sleeping beauty up." Ebony then walked over to the sleeping A.J, wondering what the best way of waking him would be.
"Oh, I've got an idea." Janine said, reaching for a pokeball. "Grimer, I choose you."
The pile of sludge appeared in front of the two trainers and Ebony immediately realized what Janine had planned. "I never thought you would do something like this." Ebony teasingly told Janine.
"I've just never had a reason to do this." She replied back. "Okay, Grimer use your stench to go wake up A.J. He's the one over there." She explained to the poison type.
"Grimer." It said, seeming to enjoy this. It walked over to the sleeping trainer and then raised it's two arms up, causing a horrible stench to fill the air. Even Ebony and Janine were affected by the smell, but they fought to withstand it until A.J woke up.
"What is that smell!" He yelled while sitting up. Once he was up, he started coughing due to the stench of Grimer. He then noticed the Grimer standing right beside him. "Next time you want to wake me, why not be a little more civilized about it." A.J said, staring at the two girls with a little anger in his eyes. "I take it they finally caught it."
"Ya, just a short time ago. We think now would be a good time to challenge Nick." Janine told the trainer. She then quickly recalled Grimer to it's pokeball.
"Fine, I'll go over to him, just don't wake me up like that ever again." A.J told the two trainers before making his way down the cliff. It didn't take him too long to climb down, he was used to climbing down cliffs like this from his training with his pokemon. A.J made his way over to the two trainers, neither of whom noticed him at all. "So, did I miss anything interesting. It took me longer than I thought to get over here." He said, lieing to the others.
"You didn't really miss much." Samurai began, before pulling out a pokeball. "Except me catching a Sandshrew." He was now holding the ball protectivly in his hands.
A.J decided to use this to his advantage. "Wow, Samurai won between you two. You must really be a great trainer."
"Well," Nick started. "I decided that I didn't want a Sandshrew after all and I let Samurai catch it." He wasn't going to be insulted.
"Ok, everyone knows that only a great trainer can handle a Sandshrew and it's evolution." He told the two boys. A.J watched as Samurai looked impressed while Nick seemed a little upset.
Nick fired right back now. "Well, it takes being a great trainer to handle all the pokemon I've caught."
A.J knew Nick took the bait and was on his hook. Now was the time. "You know what. Why don't you show me just how great you really are, how about a battle. We can have a full six-on-six battle."
Nick's face looked determined before he lowered his head in disappointment. "I'd love to, but I only have five pokemon on hand."
"Only five, a real trainer should have six by now. Especially you, considering how long you've traveled." A.J told Nick. "But, I'm in a good mood. How about a five-on-five instead."
"Ya, that's fine with me." Nick said, raising his fists in determination. He then walked over to one side of an open field while A.J did the same. "I've already beaten you once, this should be quick."
Wow, they weren't kidding. He really gets overconfident easily. A.J thought to himself as he grabbed a pokeball. "Lickitung!" He yelled as the pokeball revealed a pink pokemon with a huge tongue and a short pink tail.
"Okay, Kingler I choose you." Nick yelled as he tossed the pokeball. Kingler appeared on the field and looked at Nick. He knew exactly what kingler was thinking and ducked under a stream of water that was shot at him. "Not this time, Kingler. This battle is important okay."
"The match will be between Nick and A.J." Samurai said, being the referee of the match. "The first side to have all five pokemon be unable to battle will lose. Begin!" He yelled, signaling to both trainers.
Like it says on my profile page, I have started school again so I won't be updating as often. However, I will update at least once a week, sometimes twice depending on how much schoolwork I have.
Reviews:
PerilousFate: Thank you for all the tips and advice. I will use it as I continue writing this story. However, I don't plan on changing the first chapters as I want to see if I improved at all by the end of it. Like I've told others before, I rushed through Viridian City to Cerulean City. I did it because I always hated that area in the anime. For the rivals, picture like Unova where some get along while others don't. Nick won't battle everyone at the league, but I won't say who he does and doesn't.
Team:
Nick- 6 badges:
Eevee- swift, quick attack, dig, shadow ball
Kingler- water gun, crabhammer, stomp, mud shot
Charizard- flamethrower, ember, dragon rage, brick break
Gastly- night shade, venoshock, hypnosis, dark pulse
Hitmonchan- mach punch, agility, comet punch, thunderpunch
At Oak's:
Beedrill- poison sting, fury attack, twinneedle, hyper beam
Shellder
Samurai- league exam badge:
Pinsir- x-scissor, bulldoze, harden, revenge
Venonat- supersonic, tackle, foresight, signal beam
Parasect- energy ball, stun spore, fury cutter, slash
At home:
Butterfree- aerial ace, sleep powder
Janine- league exam badge:
Venonat- psybeam
Zubat- wing attack, supersonic, venoshock
Grimer- sludge bomb, poison jab
Vulpix- ember, flame charge, attract.
Ebony- 8 Badges:
Chameleon- fire spin, overheat, rock slide, protect
Meowth- thunderbolt, fury swipes
Magneton- electro ball, thunder wave
Seel