I feel that this chapter gets a little boring or badly written at some points. I apologist as I'm trying to get the main part of the story finished before the anniversary on the 15th. There will be a long prologue bat that will probably be after that date. Till then I hope you enjoy and that all the battles currently aren't to boring or tedious.
As the large red doors slammed closed behind them Joe and the exhausted Ralph found them standing yet again in the pitch black. Having just entered the thin hallway between the two arenas they had currently just defeated the second member of the Elite Four, Bruno. Now they were waiting to be allowed in to fight the third member. Lights flickered on ahead of them, illumination another small area with a bench and refreshments table. On the table was another coffee machine and a bowl of packet biscuits. Joe walked up and took a seat, sighing with tiredness and lulling his head forwards in exhaustion. Ralph sat next to him, giving the exact same expression, making the exact same action. Bruno had been a real challenge to defeat. In fact they'd been lucky to defeat him at all. They nearly didn't. If his Machamp had successfully hit Ralph then they probably wouldn't be waiting to move on but rather back in the lobby, mopping about and planning to train more. Joe chuckled and turned his head to Ralph. He was laying wings spread out and back arched against the bench back. He was clearly trying to get some rest before they went out for the next battle.
"That was close." Joe said. Ralph mumbled in agreement. Joe smiled a little. "Tired?" He asked. Ralph shook his head. "Well you should have a rest. That machamp really did some damage. I think we got lucky in defeating it." Ralph nodded. Joe looked back at the floor. Then he sat up sharply. "I need to heal the others." He realised. He took off his bag and began rummaging through it for his revives. He found five of them lying near the bottom of the bag. The small diamond shaped medicinal packs fitted safely in his palm like gems. He took them one at a time and applied them to each of his pokémon's pokéballs. The small packets dissolved into them with ease and began giving his team energy to fight again. One it was done he put his pokéball belt back around his waist and sat down, closing his eyes. He and Ralph sat there for a few seconds, eyes closed before finally they both fell asleep.
They were awoken an hour later by a small siren, warning them that their third battle with the elite four was coming in a few minutes. Joe jolted awake sharply, looking around and quickly realising what was going on. He looked down the corridor to see that the empty black end was now lighting up. Two red doors were sliding slowly open and light from the arena was escaping through. He stood up. Ralph joined him, his ears aching from the sirens blaring. The door swung open completely and tapped against the walls, creating a light echoing 'Dink' sound on the metal. Joe and Ralph looked at each other and then stepped forwards, towards the light.
When their eyes regained proper sight they found themselves standing in another domed arena, almost exactly the same as the last. Again there were only two major differences. The first was the colour. Both the walls and floor was shaded an eerie purple grey colour which made them look non-existent. The second was there was a low, thin layer of fog floating over the field which added to the levels of creepy that the arena already portrayed. It reminded Joe of lavender town's pokémon tower. He winced. That was a location he didn't want to remember so quickly. The crowd had already been put into their seats and again they were now chatting with each other, the sound of conversation echoing like the hum of a great engine around the dome and into the arena itself. On the opposite side of the field to Joe a pair of purple doors was closed shut. They looked to be the same kind he had just walked through. The only major difference was the colour. All the others had been a deep red. But it wasn't that important. The announcer's voice suddenly blasted out around the ring, taking everyone by surprise. He sounded even more excited than the last two times, if that was even possible.
"Wwwwwwwwelcome back, Ladies and Gentlemen, to yet another battle against the Elite Four." He repeated. Joe could have sworn that all his dialogue was completely scripted. That or he was very repetitive and incredibly quick to make commentary. "In the last battle our courageous challenger took on Bruno, the fighting type master, and won with just one pokémon still able to fight. Now he's had time to rest and heal up his team with whatever items he had and is ready to move on and take on the third member of the elite four. This is what we are here to witness today, ladies and gentlemen. Today we are here to watch our challenger either take a grand step forwards or three humble steps back. This is his battle with the third member of the Elite Four!" The crowd burst into cheers. They called out both name and the names of his pokémon.
'Joe, Joe, Joe!' Some of them cheered. Others cheered 'Ralph, Ralph, Ralph!' Joe felt himself bow slightly. It was quite amazing the amount of admiration he was getting. The large purple doors ahead of him began to slide open. Thick black mist was billowing from the slowly growing gap.
"And now enters the second strongest member of the Elite Four. You all know her name, folks. You know her as 'The master of ghost types', 'The holder of nightmares' and 'The creepy old lady from next door'. Please give it up for… Agatha!" There was a round of vigorous applause. The large purple doors slid completely open now, dark black mist flowing out like heavily polluted water down a small babbling stream. But for almost a minute no one walked through. There was a quiet sound of something tapping the plastic floor which gradually drew closer and slightly louder. Then out of the mist, almost a minute after the announcement was made, a small, greying blonde haired old lady walked out, holding a wooden walking stick in her right hand. She seemed to be wearing a purple maids dress with a white fold on the front of the long skirt. She had possibly the creepiest stare anyone as old as her could have. It was bone chilling, sending shivers down the spines of anyone who saw it. She herself looked like some kind of undead ghost. Slowly she stepped towards her end of the battle field, using her walking stick to move, making a slow tapping noise which echoed lightly off the walls and glass. Then finally she stopped, looking straight at Joe. Her eyes seemed to pierce his soul with a strange kind of fear. It made his knees want to give in and his body collapse into a weak kneeling bow. She coughed, held up her free hand which didn't have the walking stick in it and began to speak.
"Welcome all to another battle with me, Agatha, the ghost type user of the Elite Four." There was no applause. Everyone in the audience seemed to be frozen by her stare and by her voice. It sounded hardly any different to any other old ladies voice, except maybe that it was slightly shriller, but it had an odd tone to it. It seemed to petrify people to their seats. It had an evil resonation in it, as though behind that sweat old lady shell there was something hideous waiting to break out. But of course all this just came from the way she looked and sounded. She was probably lovely underneath. She lowered her hand down. "I'm not one for saying much…" She continued. "So I'll get straight to the point. This young man wishes to challenge me. Few who do ever win. So I accept his challenge. His pokémon shall be pushed and his skill tested. I shall see if you are ready for the strongest of our order, and then you will leave. In which direction we will see. So, challenger, are you ready?" She asked suddenly. Joe gulped. Her looks and voice had managed to paralyse him to his spot. He nodded slowly.
"Uh… uh… yeah?" He said, weakly like a timid puppy. Agatha smiled. It looked like she was about cackle.
"Really? You don't sound to ready to me." She mocked. Joe shook himself awake again. His head fell down over his fringe, covering his eye slightly. He wiped it aside.
"Yes, I'm ready." He said, this time a lot more confidently. Agatha nodded.
"Good." She said. The creepy in her voice reverberated like the toll of death's bell. "The last thing I'd want is for you to not be ready and loose in one second flat. That's happened before, all right." She smiled larger, revealing horrible yellow teeth. She said nothing more. Instead it was the announcer who broke the silence.
"Trainers, ready your pokémon!" He called. Agatha unclipped a pokéball and held it in her cold, wrinkled hands. Joe reached for a pokéball and thought about who was best for this match. In the end he chose and pulled the ball out. There was a short silence of anticipation. Then the announcer broke it, starting the fight. "Let the battle… begin!"
Two pokéballs flew through the air. Agatha's ball sailed through the air and released a large, ghostly purple Gengar. Joe's pokéball sailed through the air and released the tall, lanky legged fighting pokémon, Carter. Agatha's eyebrows rose slightly.
"Hitmonlee?" She said. "Interesting choice." Joe had a valid reason for picking Carter. He knew his team didn't have much to fight ghost types with and, while Carter was a fighting type and most of his moves wouldn't hit a Gengar, he did have the one move which could. That was because Ghost types cannot be hit by Normal or fighting type moves. There was one attack move that Carter knew that wasn't a fighting or normal type move. Joe was hoping that his resistance to Ghost types would allow him to win and that that one move would make it easier for him to do so. Agatha pointed her hand out. "Shadow Punch." Gengar disappeared in a flash of shadow. Carter looked around confused, unsure where it had gone.
"Carter, concentrate!" Joe called. "Use Meditate!" Carter closed his eyes and sat down, folding his legs and opening his mind. For several seconds nothing happened. Then suddenly Gengar reappeared, jumping out of Carter's shadow and throwing a ghostly punch at him. Carter did not move or react. "Now, use Blaze Kick!" Joe called as Gengar reappeared. Carter suddenly spun around, fixing his body onto one foot and swinging the other one up, encased in fire. The attack hit Gengar in the chest and sent it rolling back before its attack could even land. The large ghost pokémon rolled backwards, hitting the ground and almost falling through it. It quickly got back up, however and prepared to fight again.
"Double Team!" Agatha commanded. Gengar stuck out its tongue and suddenly there were three of it… then five… then seven…then nine….then eleven. The number of gengars kept growing and growing, each of them sticking out its tongue, till finally there was a huge ring of them around the attacking Carter. They began to spin, moving like a ban saw over the plastic floor. Carter looked at each of them in turn, unable to figure out which was real. Then one of them jumped at him. The attack struck him in the side of the chest, causing him to flinch and step back where another gengar jumped out and hit him, this time in the spine, sending him stumbling forwards.
"Concentrate!" Joe instructed. Carter did so. He squinted his eyes and tried to focus on each of the gengars, trying to see which the real one was. Hopefully he wouldn't have to wait too long. "Ready a blaze kick!" Joe added. Carter's right foot ignited randomly. The audience held their breath. The Gengar lunged, throwing a shadow punch. Carter spun around, saw the cackling Gengar flying towards him and brought his foot up. The attack sailed up in a fiery arch and missed as Gengar vanished back into the shadows. The rotating images faded away in front of him. Carter kept his eyes open, preparing for it to jump out suddenly and attack.
"Sorry about Gengo." Agatha chuckled. Her supposed-to-be sweet elderly laugh created an aura of malicious cunning and positive evilness. "She tends to like being evasive. I'll imagine she's going to jump out of your shadow in a second." As if it was an instruction, Gengar suddenly jumped out of nowhere directly in front of Carter. Unfortunately for him, his original shadow was directly in front of him. (It was his original shadow because it was the one created by the sunlight shinning through the roof. The other five shadows were created by the stage light. Gengar did not jump out of them because they aren't exactly real shadows. Anyone who knows how stage lighting work knows that the use of multiple lights from each direction usually creates a large amount of fake, pale, light shadow. You can tell which ones they are because they're the ones that look like someone painted the floor a slightly darker shade.) "Ah, there she is." Agatha said in mock surprise. Gengar struck out with a punch and hit Carter in the face. He had no time to react. The punch hit him square in the centre of the nose and set him stumbling backwards again, rubbing the flat area of face just below the gap between his two eyes. His eyes crossed and he shook his head, regaining focus. Gengar had disappeared again. Currently it was lurking within the shadows of the stands. There were a few small screams as members of the audience were taken by surprise by its disturbingly creepy form of movement as it travelled around the stands. Joe spun around slowly, trying to see where the Gengar was going.
"Carter, keep an eye out, and ready a blaze kick." Joe whispered. Carter nodded. His foot ignited again and cocked, ready to strike. He squinted his eyes, trying to spot any tell tale detail that gave away where it was hiding. Then Gengar jumped out of the stands and flew through the air, a punch pulled back and glowing purple-grey, towards the prepared hitmonlee's back. Carter turned and saw it flying towards him. He swung his leg up to follow the movement. There was a small flame of arc and a whooshing sound. Then there was a 'Thwack!' and a figure flew backwards. It sailed back through the air, hit the ground and rolled for several metres before finally stopping, lying on its face. Gengar did not get back up. Carter couldn't believe his luck. His attack had worked. Not only had it worked, it had knocked the opponent out. The crowd began to clap. It wasn't as excited as the previous times but it was a clap all the same. The announcer reappeared like an annoying little child pestering for a sweet.
"That's one of Agatha's strongest pokémon down already, folks. Can she turn it around at the last minute? Only time will tell." Then he disappeared again. Joe had literally come to believe that there wasn't a man behind that microphone at all but that everything they were hearing was in fact pre-recorded somehow. Even though it would be impossible for a recording to know what was happening he really did think that that was the only way such a character could ever exist. He rolled his shoulders. This fight was going easily so far. Agatha silently withdrew Gengar from the field, not making a form of comment afterwards. She then proceeded to release her second pokémon.
"Go, Golbat!" She said, her voice a shouting whisper. A large purple skinned golbat flew out onto the field, flapping its wings frantically. Joe smiled to himself. He turned to Ralph.
"Looks like you're up." He smiled. Ralph smiled back, looking very excited. Joe held out Carter's pokéball. "Carter, return!" He called. Carter was quickly absorbed back into the ball by a flash of red laser. Ralph flew up and took place where Carter had been, flapping slowly and glaring intimidating at the opponent. Golbat gave the same glare back. Then Agatha began throwing commands out.
"Wing attack!" She instructed. Golbat flew forwards, wings outstretched and razor sharp.
"Ralph, Fly!" Joe called. Ralph shot high into the air and rocketed back down, wings folded back. Both bat pokémon shot towards each other in a diagonal angle. Then they hit. Golbat was sent spinning back, its attack hitting harmlessly and its wings crumpling against its side. Ralph kept on flying, shooting past the now stunned opponent and swirling around to come back for another attack. Golbat managed to regain the ability to fly and saw Ralph coming back.
"Dodge!" Agatha demanded. Golbat rolled aside in mid air, leading Ralph to miss by only an inch. His screaming form sped on and slowed as he realised he'd missed the target. He stopped in mid air and turned back around, waiting for a command.
"Poison Fang!" Joe called.
"Bite!" Agatha called. Both flying pokémon flew forwards, fangs bared to bite. Ralph was first to land his attack. He reached Golbat and threw his head at the creature, biting down hard on its wing. Golbat did the same, grabbing Ralph's front left wing. This resulted in the two of them spinning around in mid air as they tried to fly away and hang onto each other at the same time. Ralph's attack was seemingly doing very little to hurt Golbat. Golbat however was causing a lot of pain to Ralph. He winced and tried to pull his wing free but Golbat's jaws were too tight and its fangs were too sharp. Finally it let him go, leaving him to spin backwards as he tried to regain the ability to fly. Once he had managed to stop himself spinning he saw Golbat coming back in with a wing attack.
"Steel wing!" Joe called. Ralph growled and sped off again, bringing in a glowing silver wing to strike. Golbat opened its jaws to attack only to receive a mouthful of metallic wing which hit it straight in the joint. The attack was so powerful it knocked Golbat out of the sky, leaving it to plummet back to the ground like a stone. Ralph chuckled to himself. Although a steel type move shouldn't be effective on a poison type it had enough force to do enough damage. Golbat's wings unfurled and it floated like a leaf till it tapped the ground again, lying unconscious on its back. Agatha withdrew it. Again she made no comment but instead reached for another pokéball. Instead the announcer made the comments for her.
"That's two of Agatha's pokémon down already, folks. What is she planning, if she's indeed planning anything? There must be some strategy to letting two pokémon faint. What it is we shall see in due course." Then he evaporated again. Agatha unclipped a pokéball. Then she spoke out for the first time since she'd entered the ring.
"You think you are strong because you took out my two weakest pokémon?" She asked. Her voice was the same evil tone from her commands except this time it was directed like a beam at Joe. He shuddered slightly. The room suddenly felt colder. She shook her head. "Ha. Such an arrogant assumption. A strategy I have, yes. And trust me from now on it won't be that easy to win. I'll make you work for your victory." Then she released the pokéball. It burst open and out of the pokéball jumped another gengar. This one looked much stronger, however. Its skin was slightly darker, its eyes were keener and it was slightly taller than the previous one. As well as this there was black fire sparking around it as it appeared. That black fire quickly disappeared back into Gengar's shadows. Agatha put both hands on her walking stick and leaned against it. "Shadow Ball!" She commanded. The new Gengar jumped forwards into the air, grey and purple energy forming between its small hands.
"Ralph, look out!" Joe called. Ralph rolled aside just in time as a large sphere of ghostly energy flew past his head, travelling through where he had been and continuing on till finally it evaporated and sprinkled energy over a far wall. Ralph looked back to see that the new gengar was cackling manically, its tongue lolloping on its bottom jaw and suddenly jutted out randomly like a chameleon. Its evil eyes focused on Ralph up above. Ralph glared down at it, feeling a narrowing urge to grab its tongue with his teeth and rip it out. Even if he did do that he probably wouldn't succeed. The tongue probably wasn't real and it would likely disappear if he tried to bite it. Instead he focused his annoyance into his wings, which was where most of his attacks came from. Then Joe called a command. "Fly!" He yelled. Ralph smiled. While Gengar may own the shadows, the air was his territory. He soared higher up into the air. Then he dived, nose forwards and wings folded. Gengar readied itself for the hit. It wanted to use its favourite attack but Ralph's eyes were currently closed.
"Sludge Bomb!" Agatha instructed. Gengar's mouth filled with purple goo and, making a horrific gagging sound, it spat the nasty sticky substance out in the form of a huge purple ball. The ball flew through the air and fell down, directly aimed at Ralph's trajectory path. He saw it coming and rolled aside, skimming above the ground like a flat stone skimming over water. The ball landed right next to him, hitting where he would have been. Unexpectedly, however when the ball hit it didn't just burst. It exploded. Bits of purple gloop flew around the arena, showering it with the likely toxic substance. Ralph got a few bits hitting him in the back and felt wing. They stung slightly but didn't debilitate his ability to fly. He kept on flying like an arrowhead and eventually struck his target. Gengar was knocked completely over purely from the force of the attack. Ralph flew back up high into the air and stopped, shaking himself quickly to get the bits of sludge of his back. When he felt he was free again he looked back down into the arena. Gengar was back onto its tiny feet again, shaking an angry arm up at him. Ralph laughed. This was fun. Playing tag with a ghost type was surprisingly entertaining, especially when he was the tagger.
"Screech!" Joe called. There was an ear-splitting scream sound which echoed around the arena. The audience covered their ears. Joe covered his ears. Gengar covered its ears. Agatha didn't move. Then it fell silent again, but the sound of the screech echoed in everyone's ears, deafening them. Joe looked back up at Ralph who was still waiting for his next command. "Good job." Joe called up, speaking a little louder then he normally would because his ears were deafened right now. "Now, strike it while it's unaware!" He added. "Ralph nodded and dived. His show forwards, wings outstretched and flying above the ground like a purple jet. Gengar had its back to him. He was twenty metres away from his target. He flew closer. Fifteen metres. Still Gengar had its back to him. Then Agatha's aged yet sinister voice called out from around the field.
"Hypnosis." She said. Gengar turned around. Its face was giving a horribly knowing grin which sent shivered down a dozen spines. Its body seemed to inflate like a balloon. But its eyes… Its eyes… Ralph began to feel drowsy. He was still flying in for the attack but he couldn't tare himself away. He could hardly move. Gengar smiled a wide Cheshire cat smile at its now caught opponent. Its eyes were glowing purple pink and faint pink rings were floating out of them. Those same rings were now hitting Ralph in his own eyes, lulling him asleep. Ralph's eyes began to droop. Joe suddenly realised just how much trouble he was in.
"No Ralph! Don't look! Close your eyes!" He called. But by then it was already too late. Ralph couldn't think. He couldn't move. He couldn't willingly shut his eyes. All he could do was fly onwards, his gaze fixated upon Gengar. Then, suddenly, he dropped, hitting the ground and sliding along, finally stopping at Gengar's feet. He didn't budge. He didn't wake up. Slowly a quiet snoring sound became audible from under the unconscious purple mass. Joe sighed sadly, his arms drooping at his side. "Ralph?" He asked weakly. Ralph did not respond. Instead he slept away, his face buried in the floor. Gengar was smiling, malicious ideas creeping into its head. Agatha also gave a small creepy smile.
"Now, Gengar…" She announced. Disturbingly creepy knowing was vibrating in her words. Gengar looked back at her, waiting for more commands. Her smile grew to her ears now. Her eyebrows fell, turning her eyes into sinister triangles. "Send our little friend into a nightmare." She told it, speaking subtly yet at the same time having no subtlety in her words at all. Gengar smiled and nodded, turning back around to face Ralph. It rose up its hands, cackling madly. Ralph began to shudder and shake as Gengar invaded his mind. His wings rustled and flailed as his body tried to fight back but his mind was already trapped by Gengar's power.
"NO!" Joe exclaimed. There was nothing he could do to stop the horrible ghostly creature. Finally, after several seconds, it lowered its arms again and stood still smiling down at the tormented crobat. Ralph was still shivering, unable to wake up and almost hidden in the low fog. The nightmare that Gengar had sent him into wouldn't allow it. Gengar took a step back. Nonchalantly it began waving at the crowd around it. There was a short silence followed by the blaring of clapping cheers and appreciative whistles. Gengar bathed in it like rain from heaven. Joe felt defeated. It had defeated his strongest pokémon in one swift movement. Quickly he ran over and scooped up the unconscious crobat in his arms. Ralph was shivering with cold and fear. He tossed and turned, lashing out with his wings and nearly hitting Joe in the face. "Damn thing." He muttered. He glared out of the corner of his eyes at the showing off Gengar. A small growl escaped from his mouth. "Somehow I've got to knock it out." He decided in his head. "It's the only way to free Ralph from its grasp." He sighed. "But how do I do that. It's clearly very good at enduring and it packs a lot of power. Plus it's likely to use that hypnosis move again and knock out my other pokémon. It'll take them out one by one and put them in the same situation as Ralph." Slowly he walked back to his end of the battlefield and laid Ralph down a foot away from him, making sure he was comfortable before continuing with the battle.
"Oohh. So now Agatha's ace card is revealed! Her second Gengar and its Hypnosis/Nightmare tactic have defeated hundreds of foes with ease. Can our challenger hope to defeat her now? We shall see, Ladies and Gentlemen. We shall see." The announcer popped in for a quick announcement before disappearing again through the proverbial exit into non-existence. Joe looked back around and, to his actual surprise, he saw Agatha withdrawing Gengar from the field. He raised an eyebrow. Why was she doing that? He looked back down at Ralph. Sadly he was still lying asleep on the floor, still shaking from the nightmare he was having. So withdrawing Gengar wouldn't remove its attack. He realised. He turned and sighed sadly. It looked like he'd have to knock it out completely when it comes back into play. Till then he'd have to defeat whatever pokémon Agatha sent out next. She put Gengar's pokéball back onto her belt and readied a forth pokéball. Wordlessly she threw it and it opened, releasing a long, purple Arbok onto the field. Joe reached for his own pokéball and readied it. If she was going to play with poison he might as well great it with his own form. He gripped the pokéball and threw it like a baseball bowler. The ball sailed forwards and opened, releasing the massive attacking form of Pitt onto the field. He growled menacingly at Arbok and whipped a few vines. He stomped his front legs heavily on the ground. Arbok shook its tail tip in the air, intimidating. Agatha pointed a finger.
"Bite!" She commanded. Arbok slithered forwards with surprising speed and agility, its tail lashing behind it like a whip.
"Tackle it!" Joe instructed. Pitt ran slowly forwards, head lowered. Arbok reared back and lunged, fangs bared. At the same time it left itself open to be hit in the stomach. Its strong snake jaw bit down on Pitt's shoulder, causing him to flinch. He kept running, however, ramming his bulky shoulder into Arbok's gun, knocking it back and over onto its head. Pitt sat on top of it, pinning it to the ground. Arbok hissed and lunged a few times; trying to bite Pitts neck but he dodged his head aside with quick movements. He then brought his head down, striking Arbok on the nose with his flat forehead and stunning it. The large snake's eyes rolled painfully, its brain befuddled from the impact. Pitt stepped back of it, leaving the snake trying to recover on the floor. "Good work." Joe complemented. Pitt smiled and looked back. "Now earthquake it while it's down!" He continued. Pitt rose up on his back feet and fell forwards, landing heavily on his front feet. The ground rippled and shook, sending large cracks across the field and shooting spikes of earth up out of it. Arbok shook about, taking some amazing damage and somehow surviving. When the quaking stopped it rolled back onto its front and reared up again, spreading the skin at the back of its head and showing of two intimidating large eyes. The fake eyes glared down at Pitt. His knees began to knock slightly but he didn't back away. "Stay strong, Pitt." Joe hissed, confidently. Agatha made another command.
"Sludge Bomb!" She called. Arbok's mouth swelled with poison and it spat out a large ball of toxic sludge. The sludge flew forwards and hit Pitt on the face. Then it exploded. Lumps of purple goo flew everywhere, covering everything for thirty square metres. Pitt stepped backwards, taking slow damage from the sludge already touching him. He yelled slightly as the burning toxic sensation from the gloop tickled his skin and dissolved it at the same time. He shook his head, trying to get it off. A few small clumps flew away onto the misted floor. Pitt began to growl angrily at the reared up snake before him. Arbok hissed back. Now it was a battle of who could make the most intimidating sound. "Bite!" Agatha commanded. Arbok lunged, fangs bared.
"Protect!" Joe called. Pitt concentrated. A small green force field grew around him suddenly, appearing seconds before Arbok's attack hit. Its head struck the almost invisible barrier and bounced back, taking a surprising amount of recoil damage. Arbok made no sound as it reared up straight like a stick. It didn't even screech in pain. Not even a hiss escaped its gaping mouth. It simply fell quietly backwards, straight as a pole, till finally it hit the flat ground with a light thud. It lay there, its eyes staring into its own head, its jaw lulled open and its tail wriggling with the last attempt to grab at consciousness. Then it fell still. There was sudden applause from the audience. They cheered and whooped and clapped as Pitt's protect faded away and he sat down, resting from the fight for a second. Agatha withdrew Arbok from the field. The crowd grew louder as chanting started up again. They were cheering for Joe. They were cheering for his team. They were cheering for him. Graciously, Joe gave a small bow. A few young women fainted in the audience. The announcer popped back into existence.
"That's three of Agatha's pokémon down, but she still has her strongest pokémon left. This could still go either way. Let's see was happens folks." And he promptly disappeared again in a blurt of feedback. Pitt stomped a foot in anticipation.
"Alright, Pitt." Joe called, encouragingly. No matter what she brings out next just do your best. She's still got Gengar so look out for that. Stay focused and you can do this." Pitt nodded back at him. He turned back and a shadow ball hit him in the face. He recoiled backwards as Gengar stuck its tongue out at him. While Joe had been giving his encouraging speech Agatha had released her strongest pokémon out again. Pitt looked back at the annoying ghost type. A small angry growl escaped from his mouth.
"Again!" Agatha called. Gengar fired another shadow ball. The sphere of ghost energy struck Pitt in the head and he stumbled back, suffering some mild damage. His growl grew larger. Without command he reared up and fell forwards, creating another earthquake. The ground shook and ripped open. Several small fissures open up. The field cracked and began to fall apart. Gengar however didn't move an inch. In fact it hardly noticed the ground moving bellow it. It wasn't even standing on the ground. It was standing with its feet slightly in it. For some reason ground type moves weren't hitting it. It cackled madly as it hovered above the floor. Pitt gasped and took a step back. How had his attack not worked? Gengar smiled evilly. "Hypnosis!" Agatha called. Gengar's eyes lit up and Pitt collapsed to the floor. His eyes were shut and he was snoring soundly. Joe stood worried and open mouthed looking down at his unconscious pokémon. He reached for Pitt's pokéball and withdrew him before Gengar could use its nightmare attack again. He then put Pitt's pokéball back onto his belt. That was two of his pokémon out now because of that thing. Gengar looked disappointed. Agatha tapped her walking stick and Gengar ran back to her side, waiting for her next instructions. Joe thought for a second, considering who he should send out next. Eventually she chose and released his next pokémon. Onto the field Sirena appeared, giving a small melodic song upon arrival.
"Alright, Sirena, use Psychic." Sirena nodded, readied her attack… and fell asleep. Her head lulled forwards and hey eyes slammed shut. "Wha…?" Joe started, confused. He turned and saw Gengar back on the field, its glowing eyes fading back to normal. It cackled happily and jumped back to stand next to Agatha. Joe looked from his unconscious pokémon to Gengar, then back to Sirena who was snoring peacefully. "Do you think you could give my pokémon a chance to fight before you knock them out?" He asked, sounding a little annoyed. Agatha's head tilted a little to the right. It was neither a nod nor a shake. She looked at Joe from the corner of her eyes.
"No." She said, coldly. Gengar stuck its tongue out again. "Sorry, but I'm not going easy, not for a second." She tapped her stick again and Gengar jumped back into the battlefield. Joe withdrew Sirena, feeling that her time in the battle had been way too short. The he released another of his pokémon. Carter returned to the field. He flicked his legs out, stretching them, readying to battle again.
"Alright, Carter. When Gengar uses hypnosis you need to shut your eyes. If you don't then you'll be out of the battle like that." Joe explained before letting him fight. "Do you understand?" He asked, finally. Carter understood. He nodded to let his trainer know so. Joe smiled. "Ok." He pointed a finger. "Now, Blaze Kick!" He called. Carter's feet ignited as he readied two blaze kicks. He ran forward, leaving a small trail of fire in his wake.
"Hypnosis!" Agatha instructed. Gengar used the move and Carter slammed his eyes shut.
"Yes!" Joe shouted in encouragement. "Now land the attack!" Carter nodded. He remembered where Gengar had been and jumped, lunging forwards with his attack. When he hit the ground with a painful thud he opened his eyes again. Gengar wasn't there. It had moved aside as his attack came in. It had seen that Carter avoided its sleep attack and instead had stepped aside, allowing him to sail past and hit the ground. Carter stood up again and turned, only to be hit in the chest by an exploding bomb of sludge. The force of the attack knocked him over again. He got up again and was hit by another attack, this time a shadow ball. Finally Carter didn't get back up. His eyes were spinning from loss of fatigue. He sat up and saw that Gengar was standing in front of him. It smiled down at him evilly.
"Finish him." Agatha muttered in a whisper that was just audible from the other end of the room. Gengar chuckled, menacingly. Then it reached out and grabbed Carter by the side of the head. If Carter had had ears Gengar would have grabbed them instead. It pulled its huge, ghostly head back and then it brought it forwards. Its tough fat head butted Carter in the face and the fighting pokémon fell backwards, cross-eyed. He did not move after that. The crowd burst into more cheers again.
"Wow. What a comeback, folks. Gengar has managed to take out four of our challenges pokémon consecutively. Now it' and it's still open for either of them to win. But can our challenger pull back from this sudden change in direction? We shall see." The announcer… oh you get the idea! He jumped in to say something after several minutes of silence and then went back to saying nothing again. It's such a boring job describing everything he does because there's only so many times you can use the words 'disappeared' to describe a voice before it becomes repetitive. The writer wondered how he'd ended up telling this story at all. He reconsidered his life choices. Joe stamped a foot in annoyance. That was three of his pokémon that Gengar had just taken out. It had hardly left them a second to recover.
"God… Damn… Ghost… Pest!" He muttered in annoyance. "I've come too far to be defeated by you. Way too far! How can I take you down without losing all my pokémon at the same time?" He pondered the possibilities for a second. There wasn't really any obvious one right now. But maybe he'd be able to distract it, or at least stop it from using its hypnosis attack again. He looked back down at Ralph. He was shaking harshly now. Cold sweat was pouring down his face. He lashed out with a wing and tapped Joe's foot. Joe looked sad. "Hang on, bud." He muttered, real sadness in his voice. He looked back at the field and saw Carter still lying where he was. "Can you get up?" Joe asked. Carter responded with a painful grown. Joe sighed. "That's a no then." He raised Carter's pokéball and withdrew him. Carter disappeared in a flash of red light. Joe put his pokéball back to his side. Then he reached for one of the two pokéballs with still conscious pokémon left in it. He unclipped it and threw it. "Go Cinders!" He yelled. The ball opened and the flaming charizard burst out, roaring fire.
"Shadow Ball!" Agatha instructed simply. Gengar fired a small ball of shadow energy. Cinders hardly had time to realise what was going on before the attack was thrown at him. He dodged aside, avoiding the flying sphere and flew it, breathing purple fire. The dragon rage hit Gengar in the face and knocked it over, causing its arms to flail and its body to rock on its small feet. When it finally got its stability back it stuck its tongue out, defiantly. Cinders flew back past, glaring.
"Fire Blast!" Joe instructed. Cinders sent a burning star of fire in Gengars direction. The ghostly shadow pokémon jumped, fell back to the ground and disappeared into its own shadow. The attack flew harmlessly past where it had been. Cinders spun his head around, trying to find where the annoying spectre had gone. Then there was a whistling cackling sound coming from above. It was slowly getting closer and louder. Cinders looked up. Gengar was falling towards him from above, head first and mouth spewing purple sludge. "Look out" Cinders stepped aside and Gengar hit the floor, falling straight through it and on into shadowed nothingness. The sludge it had been discharging from its mouth fell around in droplets on Cinder's head and back and wings. It stung like acid. He looked on, a small growl escaping his clamped jaws. He wasn't very happy about it. He looked down and Gengar reappeared. It jumped out of his shadow, reached his face, punched his nose and faded back into nothingness, reappearing a few metres away out of the wall. Cinders growling grew louder, suddenly becoming a defiling roar. Fire and smoke flayed at the edge of his sharp toothed mouth. A plume of orange flame erupted from down his throat and out into the air. Gengar seemed to chuckle to itself. What it found so funny would be up to interpretation.
"Shadow Ball!" Agatha commanded again. Gengar jumped forwards and threw the shadow ball with one hand. It flew through the air and hit Cinders in the chest, knocking him back slightly. He continued to growl and flexed his fingers.
"Steel Claw!" Joe commanded. Cinders took to the air and flew forwards, glistening silver claw pulled back. He readied to attack, came in and…
"Hypnosis!" The dreaded words echoed within itself, creating an ongoing continuous resonation of dread. Joe flinched, knowing what was coming next.
He went to yell "Don't look" but he knew it was already too late. Cinders began to slow, his body growing limper. Yet still he kept moving, pressing the attack. In fact he was standing right in front of Gengar now. The annoying ghost was standing right in front of him, eyes glowing pink. Cinders weakly pulled its claw back and, just before falling unconscious swung out. The steel tipped nails dug through the air and slashed across Gengars face and struck its eyes.
"What?!" Agatha yelled in surprise. Gengar wailed in immense pain and grabbed at its face, trying to stop the throbbing sensation behind its eyes. Cinders collapsed backwards, finally falling asleep. But thanks to his attack now Gengar wouldn't be able to use Hypnosis anymore. Joe couldn't believe his luck. Now he had his chance back. The crowd held their breath. Quickly Joe withdrew Cinders. He wasn't able to fight anymore. Wordlessly he slipped the ball back onto his belt and sent out his last pokémon still conscious.
"Go, Pippy!" He called. The small yellow Pikachu jumped out, looking very determined. While Gengar was busy trying to calm the cuts on its face Pippy was able to take it by surprise. "Thunderbolt!" Joe called. Sparks flew and a long bolt of electricity shot from the small mouse's cheeks and struck Gengar in the side.
"No!" Agatha growled. She gripped her walking stick in her hands like a bat.
"Again!" Joe called. Pippy fired another thunderbolt, hitting Gengar in its shoulder.
"Fight it!" Agatha cried. Gengar turned and opened its eyes. No hypnosis was going to come from them anymore. Its eyes had gone milky gray and scared. It was hard to tell if it could even see anymore. Apparently it could because when it threw a shadow ball it nearly hit Pippy. He rolled aside just in time, firing another thunderbolt. This thunderbolt hit Gengar in the chest. Small sparks of static shuddered around it. This time it could not attack back. This time it was stuck where it was. Pippy smiled and readied to finish it off. "NO!" Agatha exclaimed.
"Strike now!" Joe called. "Take it out!" Pippy jumped. His sparking static ball form rose into the air in front of Gengar. His body blocked out the light onto its face, creating an eclipse. Gengar could do nothing but watch. Pippy spun around like a cutter, rotating faster and faster as he hovered in time above the ground. Then he exploded into a field of static. A thunderbolt shot out of his body and hit Gengar square in the forehead. Pippy landed back to the ground on all fours, looking up at the stunned ghost. Gengar slowly crossed its eyes to where it had been struck, let out a weak cackling laugh and fell backwards. Its fat body hit the ground with a light thump and its eyes closed. There was silence and then there was cheering. The crowd erupted in excitement. Everyone roared their approval. The announcer… (Insert description here.)
"What an A-Mazing performance we've seen here today, ladies and gentlemen. It looked like Gengar was going to wipe out our challenger's whole team when this happens. Now it's just Pikachu Vs Agatha's final pokémon. Does she still stand a chance at winning without Gengar? We'll soon find out!" And he disappeared again. Agatha looked stunned at where Gengar lay. Her mouth was hanging open like a vice.
"You… defeated Gengar." She stammered. She looked up at Joe who was also looking quite surprised. "How? I had you. I had you!" Joe shrugged, unsurely.
"I had confidence." He told her honestly. "I just trusted my pokémon to take it out and it did." All form of sinisterness seemed to disappear from Agatha suddenly. It was like watching the petals fall away from a nightshade flower. She closed her mouth, looking defeated already.
"Oh." She stammered. Then she withdrew Gengar. She clipped his pokéball back to her pocket. "I see. Right." She finished. Her voice sounded tired and sad. Then she released her final pokémon. A haunter. The pokémon looked ready to fight but also very young. It clearly wouldn't stand up to a beating. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to use him." She explained, her voice not rising in any form of happiness. "Let's get this over with." Suddenly there was a low furious growl from behind Joe. He turned in surprise to see Ralph rising slowly in the air. He was awake, he was fuelled and he was VERY angry. His jaw was clenched so hard it could crush rock. His wings flapped slowly, looking surprisingly intimidating for a creature that usually didn't succeed in being so. He stopped gaining height when he reached the same level as Joe's head, his eyes fixed on Haunter. He was not happy.
"Ralph?" Joe said, slowly. Ralph didn't respond. He just kept staring at the opponent who was looking actually quite scared. Then suddenly he was gone, flying forwards, wings out, aimed in an X shape at the opponent. There was a short fight and then it was all over. Haunter barely managed to fight back. It never stood a chance. The sad ghost pokémon hit the floor, an unconscious mist of purple and grey. Ralph floated above it, growling quietly. Agatha's jaw dropped again. Joe looked stunned. Even the crowd were quite amazed. They had never seen such a sudden turn around, especially against Agatha. Then there was furious, furious clapping. The crowd burst into cheering and yelling and applause and gratuitous wails of delight. They all seemed so amazed that he had won like that. Even the announcer sounded quite stunned.
"Um…" He stuttered over the microphone. "Folk… I have no idea what to say. Our challenger here just took out Agatha. He's the second one to have done so this year. And I've never seen anyone do so like that before. That takes some real power and confidence. Please give a big round of applause for Joseph Glende, The Slayer of Ghosts!" The speakers switched off again. Joe thought to himself. 'The Slayer of Ghosts.' It wasn't exactly the most imaginative title but he liked it all the same. He wanted to hold onto it and save it for another time it may come in useful. Ralph flew back over to him and nuzzled his head. Joe chuckled.
"Well you're okay again." He laughed. Ralph purred and hugged him. Pippy joined in, grabbing Joe's leg and hugging it with all four legs. Joe looked down at him and smiled. "Alright, get off you two." He shook himself and both pokémon jumped off him, taking a few steps back. "I think it's time for you two to rest." He told them, unclipping Pippy's pokéball and withdrawing him. As he clipped the pokéball back to his belt he turned to see Agatha sadly withdrawing Haunter. She looked very disappointed with herself. Joe went to go over to her.
"Now that our challenger has defeated the third member of the elite four he can go on to take on the last of them. If he wins that then he might become the champion. Might. We shall see when we get there. In the meantime we're going to be given a short display of the ghost type pokémon and the grace they can have in movement. During which we shall be setting up the final arena and in an hour we can move on to the final battle. Till then… See you later!" The microphone's switched off. Joe reached Agatha. She was staring miserably at the floor. He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged him off.
"Are you ok?" He asked. She didn't respond. Joe stepped back, trying to give her space. "I…I'm sorry if I disgraced you." He told her, kindly. Agatha seemed to give a weak chuckle.
"You disgrace me?" She repeated. "No. Don't worry, child. You've not disgraced me. I've disgraced myself." Joe felt a little taken aback. "I underestimated you and I lost. I won't do that again. But even so I feel you would have won either way." She turned to him, giving a small smile. It was much warmer then the last time. Instead of looking sinister it looked kind. Warming. Welcoming. She nodded behind him. Joe turned and saw that the opposite wall doors were opening up. The final hallway and the final arena lay beyond. Agatha smiled at him. "Now go." She said. "Go kick ass." Joe smiled back. He then looked up at the crowd. They were cheering him on, all of them. They all wanted to see him win now. He nodded to them and turned, heading for the door. With the confidence and grace of a film star he walked towards the doorway. He stepped through it and turned back around. Ralph joined his side. Both of them smile through the doorway at the crowd. Agatha had released a small ghost pokémon from a black pokéball and it had begun making fluttering movement in a dance style. Joe waved at her. She waved back. Then the doors slid back shut. Joe breathed out, heavily. The excitement of the battles was getting to him. He'd never felt so alive.
"That's three down already." He said aloud, turning his head to Ralph who was smiling and buzzing with excitement too. They both nodded heads to each other as the doors closed shut and left them in the dark. "Only one left. And then… the Champion!"
You heard the man! Only one chapter left! "And then... The Champion!"