Last time on Tony's Journey...
Sir Mystico, one of the four Plasma Knights, stole the Dragon Skull from the Nacrene City Museum, also kidnapping Hawes, the husband of Gym Leader Lenora to use as a hostage. However, just as Mystico was about the hand the Dragon Skull to the Plasma Sage Grom, when it was stolen back by Burgh, the Gym Leader of Castelia City. Burgh threatened to smash the skull if the Plasmas didn't let Hawes go, and Mystico complied... but only long enough to sucker punch Burgh and his Leavanny by having his Chandelure sneak up on them from behind and attack. Burgh lost the skull and Mystico's Cofagrigus grabbed it, leaving Burgh at the mercy of the Plasma Knight!
What will happen next? Find out now!
Burgh really, really didn't want to die - well, not now, anyways. Yes, it was true that everyone dies eventually and he was no different, but like most people Burgh wanted to die of good old age. He did not, however, want to be fatally stabbed by a clown in a jumpsuit. Especially when a friend was in danger.
Still, he couldn't really argue with Mystico when he had a sword at his throat, ready to end his life at a moment's notice. So, he sat there, his mind at a complete blank, waiting for Mystico to slit his throat. His Leavanny, his childhood friend, stared at the sword in Mystico's hands, growling angrily at the Plasma Knight, but too afraid for Burgh's life to make a move.
Mystico stared down with his dark eyes, still smiling. After a second, he surprised Burgh, along with everyone else in the clearing, by retracting his sword. "Get up," he ordered.
Burgh stared. "Eh?"
Sage Gorm looked over Burgh distastefully. "He is giving you a chance to save yourself, Gym Leader, though you do not deserve it. Stand up and fight, if you want to die with any sort of dignity."
Mystico laughed. "If I'm going to finish you, I'd prefer to finish you in a battle - not while you're lying on the ground like a pathetic child. So stand up - I suppose I owe you that much."
Burgh scowled - this Mystico guy was arrogant, cruel, and he also outdressed him, three things he couldn't stand from another man. So, he slowly stood up. "I will take Hawes back," he promised Mystico and the Plasmas.
Mystico smirked as he raised his sword again. "You will try. Cofagrigus, Toxic, Chandelure, Fire Blast!"
"Mmmmeheheheh!" Cofagrigus laughed, tossing huge blobs of toxins at Leavanny, while Chandelure blasted at the Bug/Grass-type with a massive star-shaped Fire Blast.
"Leavanny, Protect!" Burgh shouted.
"Leah!" Leavanny cried, raising his bladed arms and surrounding himself with bluish shield. The poisons splashed against the force field, followed by a fearsome wave of fire. The reek of boiling sludge filled the clearing, but Leavanny remained unaffected.
Burgh pulled out a second Pokeball and opened it. "Dwebble, spinning Sand-Attack! Leavanny, spinning String Shot!" he ordered as Dwebble emerged from his Pokeball
"Leah!"
"Dweeb!"
Both Pokemon set to work, spinning around rapidly and unleashing their attacks: Dwebble doused the area with frigid earth, striking several Plasmas with huge clods of dirt and sand, while Leavanny spat huge globs of webbing, splattering against other Plasmas and tying them up in sticky webbing. All of the grunts backed away, swearing and spitting. Several of them placed themselves in front of the currently untouched Gorm, trying to keep him safe, or at the very least clean.
The Plasmas retreat gave Burgh more room to act against Mystico, who remained completely unimpressed as a huge blob of webbing wrapped around Chandelure, and clods of sand began to smack against Cofagrigus. "Hmm..." the clown droned. "Not bad... but pretty unimpressive coming from a Gym Leader!" He snapped his fingers, and his Pokemon took action: Chandelure burst into flames, vaporizing the webbing, while Cofagrigus retreated into his coffin shell, the sand harmlessly striking him to no effect.
"Alright, stop!" Burgh told his Pokemon, knowing that this tactic wouldn't be effective now. "Leavanny, Razor Leaf on Cofagrigus, Dwebble, Smack Down on Chandelure!"
Mystico laughed. "Hoohoo! Chandelure, Cofagrigus, switch places!"
All four Pokemon did what they were told in a split second: Leavanny spun about and unleashed leafy blades the size of steak knives, and just as sharp, launching them at Cofagrigus while Dwebble leaped into the air and retreated into his shell, body slamming towards Chandelure. However, Mystico's Pokemon were just as fast, if not faster. Cofagrigus and Chandelure shifted positions in an instant, a fatal blow against Burgh's strategy. Leavanny's Razor Leaf sailed towards Chandelure, the leaves bursting into flames before they could hit and turning to ash, drifting harmlessly to the ground. Dwebble sailed down and struck Cofagrigus, barely doing any damage. To make matters worse, black tendrils leaped out of Cofagrigus's arms, tying up Dwebble in blackish gauze. The Bug/Rock-type gave a whimper as he collapsed onto the ground, immobilized by the Mummy.
Burgh gaped while Mystico chortled. "Well, well!" the Plasma Knight taunted. "This is the power of a Gym Leader? How pitifully pathetic!"
Burgh was beginning to feel pathetic. He was an award winning artist and a Gym Leader as well, and he was getting beaten by a clown, out-matched by every move Mystico made. He knew he wasn't the choicest of candidates for the position of Gym Leader - a few of the Unova Gym Leaders, such as Clay, the Ground-type specialist, and Brycen, the Ice-type specialist, couldn't even believe it when Burgh was made the Gym Leader of Castelia City. Now, even Burgh was having trouble believing it. He silently bowed his head, feeling thoroughly horrible.
Mystico smirked. "Don't you think it's time we call this off?" he asked. "Looking at you right now, beaten and broken... why, it hurts me to see a grown man in such a position! Don't you think you should just give up? You know, surrender?"
Burgh's hands began to shake, and he looked up at Mystico, forcing a competitive grin to his face. "Ladies first!" he shouted, pulling out a third Pokeball and opening it up, releasing his third Pokemon: it was a Whirlipede, the second form of Venipede, a rounded creature with a thick, purple exoskeleton, free of legs or mandibles, with large feelers and toxic spikes sticking out of his skin. The tire-shaped Pokemon landed on the ground with a chittering grunt, ready for Burgh to give the order.
"Use Poison Tail!" shouted Burgh, pointing to Chandelure.
"Whirrr!" Whirlipede chirped, spinning around in place like a tire, kicking dust in the air before shooting at the Chandelure like the tire of a sports car, poison dripping from his spines and feelers.
"Whoo-hoo-hoo!" Mystico chortled. "Cofagrigus, Psychic on Dwebble!"
"Mmmeheheheh!" Cofagrigus raised an inky hand and used telekinetic power to lift the still mummified Dwebble into the air.
"Now, use him to block off Whirlipede!" cackled Mystico.
"Mmmeheh!" Cofagrigus shifted the struggling Dwebble in the air and blocked Whirlipede off; as he did, the blackish tendrils leaped off of the Bug/Rock-type and swiftly bound up the surprised Whirlipede as well, wrapping up the feelers that it used to roll its body across the ground and immobilizing it. Cofagrigus chuckled as he dumped both of the mummified Pokemon to the ground. That left just Leavanny to deal with two much stronger Pokemon.
Mystico was laughing hard now. "I-i-is that it?!" he giggled. "If all Gym Leaders are this pathetic, we may not even need Resh-!"
Gorm coughed aloud, shutting Mystico up. "Sir Knight..."
"Ahem... Right..." Mystico murmured. "Well," he said to Burgh, "you'll find out soon enough! Oh, wait - no you won't. Finish 'em off, boys!"
"Mmmeheheheh!"
"Luuuure..."
So, there Burgh was: caught in the Pinwheel Forest against a magician clown, down to one Pokemon who could actually fight, who happened to be going against horrible odds. The artist, however, never was a quitter, and wasn't willing to give up, especially with Hawes's life on the line. He looked over to Leavanny; the look on the Nurturing Pokemon's face was all he needed to know what he had to do.
Burgh glared at the still chortling Mystico and his Pokemon. "Leavanny, Razor Leaf!"
Unbeknownst to Burgh, The Plasma Grunts, Mystico, Sage Gorm, or their Pokemon, a pair of electric blue eyes were watching them from the safety of the bushes. He sat there in a tense silence, observing Burgh's losing struggle against Mystico, deeply worried. "Oh, man..."
Tony quietly groaned as he turned around. Of course, he thought, miserably. Of course there'd be trouble.
"Waaaad."
Tony swiftly put his hand over Sewaddle's mouth. "Shh!" he hissed. Annoying thing napped the day away when they didn't need to be stealthy, but when they did need to be quiet it just had to open its big mandibles. Thankfully, the Bug/Grass-type got the hint and shut up, though she pouted as she did it. Tony returned his attention to the much larger problem at hand: Burgh was in trouble, and he was the only one who could help him.
But how?
Tony rubbed his head as he tried to come up with something that he could do. First things first - Hawes had to be rescued. Even if Burgh did beat Mystico, he could just fall back on his hostage and render Burgh helpless. Tony had a hunch that the co-curator was still inside of the coffin that Cofagrigus was holding, but that left the big question: how to get him out?
Lucky was exhausted, as were Lancelot and Sunny. That left Tony with two options: Sewaddle... He looked over the sulky-looking Sewing Pokemon. "Okay, not gonna happen..." Or his new Venipede...
Suddenly, an idea popped into Tony's head, and he grinned. He slowly pulled Venipede's Pokeball from his belt; the Centipede Pokemon stared up at him with lazy eyes, and then turned his attention to the napping Sewaddle.
Tony slowly peered out into the clearing: Burgh and his Leavanny were struggling against Cofagrigus and Chandelure, while the Plasmas all watched the Gym Leader dance for their amusement (metaphorically.) Tony hefted the Pokeball in his hand. "I think I might have a nickname for you if this works..." he told the Venipede.
"...How about... Strike?"
Author's Note:
First things first: HA! IT'S DECEMBER 24TH, 2012, AND I'M STILL ALIVE! BITE ME, MAYANS!
Secondly: Happy Holidays, everyone! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or that other thing, have a happy one!
Well, it took a while, but we've finally had a real Gym Leader vs Plasma Knight battle... and, boy, did it end up badly for the Gym Leader. As mentioned before, Plasma Knights are chosen by the Plasma King and promoted to their rank immediately, which would mean that they're relatively tough from the very beginning, and this fight proved it. From the very beginning Mystico was tossing Burgh around and toying with him, easily countering any move that the Gym Leader made against him. It seems pretty obvious that if the fight keeps going, Mystico would wipe the floor with him - and keep in mind, Mystico is the only Plasma Knight we've gotten a good look at so far! Imagine how tough the others must be...
So, reader question time! If you had to be a member of any evil Pokemon Team, which one would it be? I'd probably be a member of the older Team Plasma, because they eventually turn good - well that, and they get that epic battle theme. So, which one would you chose? Answer after you review!
Burgh: "Uh... reviews would be nice... Because then the author will write me out of this crazy situation faster!"
1: Lucky, female Butterfree
Ability: Compound Eyes
Move Set: Bug-Buzz, Confusion, Sleep Powder and Dream Eater
2: Sunny, female Larvesta
Ability: Flame Body
Move Set: Ember, Flame Charge, Leech Life and Morning Sun.
3: Lancelot, male Karrablast
Ability: Swarm
Move Set: Fury Cutter, X-Scissor, Peck and Endure.
4: Female Sewaddle, on loan from Burgh
Ability: Swarm
Move Set: Bug-Bite, Razor Leaf, Tackle and String Shot.
5: Strike, male Venipede
Ability: Poison Point
Move Set: Rollout, Screech, Poison Sting and Pursuit.
