A/N: Warning, moderate use of swear words. Nothing too bad, just some soft swears are abound.
It was incredible. The three teens gawked at seeing the entryway of Pokestar Studios! The place where movie stars are born and names are immortalized thanks to their talent. As they walked onto the red carpet which lead them past the gilded entry gate, the teens saw two men whom spotted them.
"Oh, I know you! Champion Iris! I feel honored that such a prestigious character has appeared in our presence!"
"Yeah yeah, nice to meet you too." Iris brushed the praise off, having grown bored of it. "We're here to watch something in the meantime while Roxie can get ready to battle my friend here, Hugh."
"A wonderful decision. Friends of Iris, let me introduce you to the CEO of Pokestar Studios."
"Bonsior! I'm Stu Deeoh! Charmed I'm sure." He spoke in a French accent. Hugh snickered from the connection of the CEO's name and the company. "I'm sorry, but I'm a very busy man, so I'll let my scout show you around."
"Absolutely! Let me show you all of what of makes Pokestar Studios the best place in Unova!"
"Marvelous to hear! Movies, they're amazing! They inspire and move people all over the globe! Show them all the charms! Well, I'm off! Au revoir!" Stu Deeoh then left the group to prepare something.
"Now, as I give you a tour, let me briefly tell you what Pokestar Studios is all about!"
"This place makes movies." Hugh interrupted. "I'd rather not listen to whatever line cards you've memorized written by whoever wrote it. I just want to see a good old fashioned action movie." The scout looked a bit deflated.
"Well shoot my tires flat why don't you? Alright, since you're obviously here only for the big picture, just follow me." He walked towards the theater in the top left corner of the compound. Upon entering, Roxie's dad approached the scout with an ecstatic look.
"Hey, John! Thanks to you, I made my movie debut!"
"Glad to hear it! Come on, let's watch his movie and witness this rising star reach immortality!" John the scout recommended. They were all ushered into the theater and sat down in their seats. The screen began to play. A star appeared along with two determined eyes within it. The picture shifted to the title card. Brycen-Man. A carnival appeared of blue and green cut out people were in a carnival, and text appeared.
"A place of never ending smiles. Everyone's ideal place to play. The amusement park! But a threatening shadow lurks over this happy place... the stage is set for trouble. However! It's darkest just before the dawn! A hero has appeared on the scene! And that hero's name is...Riolu-Man!" A man in a purple suit with black gloves, boots and a lime green cape appeared.
"Pawniard, let us commit evil!" He called out as he let loose his Pokemon."
"No, I am here to stop you, and your evil ways, Brycen-Man!" Riolu-Man appeared and said. He wore an obnoxiously bright blue and yellow outfit with a red mask that barely covered his face and his black hair was pulled back into a small ponytail. "Riolu, let's bring these evil-doers to justice!" The Pokemon battle of good and evil has begun.
"You fool! My evil Pokemon will destroy everything in this theme park! Who do you think you are?!"
"The messenger of truths and ideals, Riolu-Man! And I'm here to tell you the truth that it's not nice to do bad things! So stop it right now!"
"An amusement part, a place of idle dreams or, perhaps, ideal dreams, I have no use for ideals or dreams! And also, no! I will not be told what to do by heroic dork!"
"We'll see about that! Riolu, use Force Palm!" Running up to the dark/steel type, Rioly pressed a palm against its chest, and an explosion erupted from said hand. Blown back onto its back while crying out in pain, Pawniard was defeated.
"No! Grrr, I'll deal with you later!" Brycen-Man growled as he returned his Pokemon. "Go, Vullaby!" Sending out a replacement, it was a baby vulture wearing the shell it was born in like a diaper. A cardboard cutout of a person started speaking, likely recorded messages.
"Hey, what's going on? Is this one of those superhero skit?"
"You might've took my Pawniard down in one hit, but despite that, you will be brought down to your knees before me when I end you with my dark secret arts! Prepare to be finished!" Vullaby's wings glowed as she flapped her wings to use Air Slash, attacking the Riolu, yelling as it was blown back, was sent flying into Riolu-Man, whom collapsed onto his back.
"Ah, NOOOOO! Riolu! I'm scared!"
"BWAHAHAHAHA! How pitiful! Why should I waste my precious dark arts on such a coward?! This is the end of you, Riolu-Man! Now I'm going to destroy this amusement park!" As he laughed evilly, the injured Riolu-Man cried.
"I wasn't hero material after all." Facing the masked Brycen-Man, Riolu-Man lost all his strength to fight. However, no one will ever possibly forget...how much he timidly fought like a cowardly lion with all his mediocre might. Thank you Riolu-Man? Good-bye. The credits started to roll.
"Well..." Nate was at a loss of words.
"Well, that was..." Iris wasn't sure how to respond to the movie. But Hugh did.
"Wow, that sucked." The remaining six people out of the 27 that were the rest of the audience agreed with Hugh's brutally honest opinion and were considering getting their money back as they got up and left. The three teens and Roxie's dad left the theater room, and he looked crestfallen.
"Um, are you okay?" Iris asked the depressed looking father. He gave a few empty chuckles before responding,
"I've always dreamed of making my debut on the silver screen. I did it. Everyone has different talents. I knew it all along. But I see my daughter striving to balance the responsibility of being a gym leader while pursuing her own dream of being in a band. Although I'm a father, I really wanted to pursue my own long-held dream. If you stop pursuing your dreams, your life might as well be over, right?" None of them said anything. "I'm going back to my duties as a ship captain. I hope someday, I can return to the big screen. Until that day comes, I'll just leave the starring roles to the actual stars." He then left.
"Wow, he took it quite hard, huh?" The champion inquired, concerned about how he was doing.
"The life of an actor isn't as easy as the stars make it out to be." John the scout admitted. "While we accept anyone to make movies, only the true A-list actors actual make a name for themselves. Everyone is just washed away due to not turning in the bucks."
"Yeah. When you put it like that, I don't think I can be an actor." Nate considered. "Especially since I'll be traveling as a Pokemon trainer.
"Same. Acting would just distract me from my number one goal." Hugh nodded his head as he crossed his arms. "I do feel sort of bad now for saying it sucked right in his face."
"Saying sorry would certainly help." Iris said. "Right Axew?"
"Axew." The little dragon type answered as he nodded.
"Well, if that's how you feel, I won't stop you guys, but if you ever want to come back, we can always use the fresh talent.
"Cool. Say, how do you guys make a movie within a day?" Hugh asked. "I mean, even if you get the take in one shot, it's probably a lot of time to set up the scenery, the writing, the special effects and post production."
"Sorry, but I have no idea. I'm only a talent scout after all." John replied.
"Fine. I'm going to check if Roxie is available now." The black haired trainer then left, followed by his friends. However, as they approached the gym, they spotted Roxie and her dad facing off against three Team Plasma grunts.
"So, you punks are Team Plasma, huh?" The gym leader snarled.
"That's right, we're Team Plasma!" The center grunt said. "Two years ago, we were betrayed by the man we respected as our king and hero! So our conquest of the Unova region ended in failure. However, we'll never give up! We'll never surrender! We already have another plan in motion."
"Shut up!" Hugh screamed at them, suddenly furious. "You guys are worse than trash! You talk about saving Pokemon, but you're just rotten thieves! I'll never forgive you!"
"Hey, I remember hearing about you." The grunt on the right remembered. "You chased one of us in that forest by the ranch. Some kid who chased him in an extreme rage."
"That's right, and you'll experience the same just like him! Feel my Brooklyn rage! Herdier, let's go!"
"Ha, your Pokemon will be helping us take over the world in a few seconds! Patrat, go!" The others let loose a pidove and purrloin.
"No need to concern yourself Hugh. I've got this." Roxie held the boy back as she stepped forward. "Muk, let's rock!" Summoning one of her best Pokemon, a living pile of purple sludge with small eyes, a big gaping mouth and one arm. It growled in a real deep, threatening tone.
"Muk."
"Patrat, use Bite!" The leader ordered. The others also ordered for air cutter and fury swipes, but the three attacks barely did anything against the liquid creature, absorbing the weak attacks.
"Sludge Wave." Roxie said, her confidence oozing from how simple she said it. Forming a purple ring around itself, the Sludge Pokemon sent a ring of poison that not only swept away all the Pokemon in one move, but the three grunts as well. Although Herdier was inadvertently hit as well and was pushed away to the side, howling in agony from such a strong attack.
"Hey, what's the idea hitting my Pokemon?!" Hugh called her out.
"Sorry. Should've told you to return it." She apologized sheepishly.
"Augh! It burns! The sludge is inside my clothes!" The leader screamed as they squirmed in excruciating pain.
"You deserve worse than that you Plasma scum!" Hugh yelled at them, uncaring that they were poisoned. He then went to a nearby trashcan, lifted it up with a scream, and threw it at the leader to both hurt him even further and pin the guy down, yelling in even more discomfort. "Alright you disgusting creep, tell me, do you know anything of a stolen purrloin five years ago?!
"Ow! Stop hurting me!"
"Hey, chill out dude! He's suffering enough as is!" Roxie tried pulling him off. Iris joined her.
"He isn't worth the effort Hugh!" Once the angry teen was pulled away, the police were able to come and arrest the badly hurt and poisoned Team Plasma grunts, and took them away.
"Sheesh dude, I know a thing or two about tempers, but tone it down from 11, will ya?"
"You don't know anything! Everyone that's Team Plasma deserves to be beat up, along with burned, poisoned and paralyzed all at once!"
"Look, I get it. Sometimes you just want to beat something that you hate into a bloody pulp, but what will that get you? Nothing productive that's for sure. And if it's a person, all you're going to get is a traumatized person with broken teeth unable to speak, and warrant of arrest for unreasonable assault and battery."
"Hmph." Hugh scoffed, unwilling to listen to such dribble. The gym leader sighed.
"Alright, how about this. Cool it with the hot-headed attitude, or I won't accept your challenge."
"What?!" He shouted, freshly enraged.
"I don't accept challenges from people who have their heads up their asses. So are you going to calm down, or are you going to let your toxic grudge poison your future?" Hugh's face started to go from his usual color to red as the infuriated trainer went and kicked the at a brick wall, and then kicked said building. As he kept kicking, his pent up anger was starting to subside little by little until he got most of it out.
"Alright. I got it out of my system. I'm...sorry." He apologized, still feeling grumpy.
"Let me give you some advice. Looks like that one thing we have in common...is a tendency to let our anger get the best of us and take it out on something. But the only thing that I've ever hit was trash cans. It may make the sidewalk dirty but at least no one is hurt. But you...you're willing to beat the crap out of people, if deserving of it anyway. Now I ain't going to ask what your problem is because it's not my business to know what pisses you the hell off, but you'd better focus that anger if not outright quell it. What if you hurt someone innocent, or worse, your friends?"
"I'd never hurt my friends!" Hugh countered.
"Do you actually? Have you ever hit someone that didn't deserve it, or destroyed something that meant a lot to someone else? If you let your anger blind you, you're not only dirtying your hands with unnecessary blood, but scaring your friends. What if you hit them while in a blind rage? They'll be scared of you. They won't trust you. You'll just be seen like a bouffalant that's a ticking time bomb." Hugh didn't retort anything back, looking away no longer in anger, but guilt. "Yeah, I see that my words are getting through. I just have one more thing to ask then. What do you have to say for yourself?" The gym leader questioned, wondering how he'll respond. Still looking downward towards the ground, he turned to his friends.
"I'm...sorry if I've been acting like a jerk. I was so...fixated on my ultimate goal, I was forgetting it's not just about me. Nate, I'm sorry for all the times I've taken my anger out on you. I never hit you, but I bet I've hurt you anyway. You are my best friend after all. You stick with me even with my temper after all. Iris, I'm sorry for being indifferent about you. The truth is, it's nice to have someone like you around. Trying to keep things-me level. I respect you, though it's not just because you're the Pokemon champion, but because you're also my friend."
"Thank you Hugh. That was very kind of you." Iris accepted with a smile and nod.
"Axew!" The Tusk Pokemon agreed as well, popping out of her hair.
"It's okay Hugh. I know why you react so heatedly around Team Plasma. You may go overboard, but it's not like you're inherently violent to an indiscriminate degree." Nate told his best friend, placing a hand on Hugh's shoulder.
"I promise, I won't attack Team Plasma, or anyone else in a blind rage again."
"Good. Now with that settled, how about I heal your Herdier and then we can get our match started?" Roxie offered.
"That would be nice, thanks."
"The battle of the Virbank Gym is about to begin!" Billy Jo shouted once again. "Our challenger is Hugh Brooks of Aspertia City, going up against Virbank City's Roxie Rosenfeld! Both sides will use four Pokemon, and only the challenger may substitute! When either side is unable to battle, the battle is history! Now, let's rock and roll!"
"Trubbish, let's rock out!"
"Flaaffy, let's go!" He summoned his pink skinned, white wooled sheep which had a blue orb at the end of his tail.
"Use Toxic Spikes!" Roxie started first.
"Use Charge!" Hugh ordered. Flaaffy started to crackle with electricity while Trubbish sent a second orb of toxic energy like the last battle, poisoning the challenger side of the field again. "Now use Thundershock!" With the charged electricity, Flaaffy blasted the living trash can, inflicting a lot of pain since it was enhanced from the charge. Trubbish strongly groaned as it tried to stay in there.
"Counter with Sludge!" Roxie pleaded. Regurgitating a purple blob, it flew right at the electric sheep, and splattered a bit against the Pokemon. The attack looked like it hurt, but wasn't overly damaging. "What the-why didn't that work as good?!"
"You didn't use that Acid Spray. That was your first mistake. Thundershock!" Taking the opportunity again to strike, the Trash Bag Pokemon fainted from too much electricity, falling onto its face.
"Trubbish is unable to battle! The winner is Flaffy!"
"Trubbish, return. Sorry buddy. I should've used a more efficient strategy. But I know what to do now. Seviper, let's rock!" Once the Fang Snake Pokemon was out, Roxie commanded, "Use Sludge Bomb!" Spewing a barrage of brown blobs, they exploded against the electric sheep, hurting much more than Trubbish did, based on the pained expression and cry from the Wool Pokemon as he was blasted onto his back.
"No! Use Thunder Wave!" Hugh pleaded.
"Stop it with Poison Tail!" Roxie tried to intervene. The poison snake slithered across the field, hissing as his tail glowed bright purple, and slashed the sheep with said tail. Flaffy cried in agony as he was hit by the sharp tail, and was promptly defeated from such a strong attack.
"Flaaffy is unable to battle! The winner is Seviper!" However, electricity sparked over the poison types' body, hissing from discomfort.
"No! You're paralyzed?!"
"Ha, despite beating my Flaaffy, he got you good with his static ability! Flaaffy, return. Elekid, let's go!" It was another electric type, this time it was mostly yellow with some black stripes around its body and forearms. Two horns adorned its head in the shape of the prongs of a plug, with the pattern of a wall plug on its back. However, the toxic spikes poisoned the electric type. "Use Shockwave!" Glowing with white blue electricity, Elekid fired a blast of lightning that zapped the snake, inflicting some damage as the Fang Snake Pokemon twitched in pain.
"Use Venoshock!" Roxie shouted, but Seviper couldn't move.
"Shockwave again!" Hugh ordered. After blasting the poison type with more lightning, Seviper was ready this time.
"You won't be lucky this time! Use Venoshock!" Spewing some green toxic slime, Elekid was drenched in so much powerful poison, he was knocked out by the the horrible smell and stinging of the poison.
"Elekid is unable to battle! The winner is Seviper!"
"Hmph, return. Good job Elekid. You did well. Pignite, let's go!"
"Pignite!" It said once he was summoned, but groaned when the field made him poisoned.
"Quick, use Venoshock again!" Once again attacking with green toxic slime, Hugh was prepared this time.
"Use Flame Charge as a spinning defense!" Pignite started to generate fire. A lot of fire. Then when he started to spin thus creating an intimidating fire tornado, and when the Venoshock got mixed in, the base of the tornado exploded, forcing Ash, Roxie and Billy Joe to brace from the shockwave.
"He's doing rather well. Better than I was doing." Nate observed.
"Yeah. But Roxie's still making him work for his victory." Iris noted.
"Axew." The little dragon said. From the smoke, a red aura glowed through, and with a breath of fire, Pignite roared as his ability activated.
"Pigniiiiiite!"
"Oh yeah! Use Flame Charge to finish it!"
"Poison Tail!" With its glowing tail, the poison snake hissed its name as the two Pokemon clashed. Or at least Seviper tried to. Even though it wasn't paralyzed stiff that turn it was still way too slow to contend with the speed enhanced fire type as it was bashed into by the fire starter. With a cry, the Fang Snake Pokemon crashed into the ground, defeated.
"Seviper is unable to battle! The winner is Pignite!" Billy Joe declared.
"Yeah, you rock Pignite!" Nate cheered.
"Keep going!" Iris encouraged. Pignite gave a thumbs up to them, but then groaned and bowed to one knee from the poison taking its toll.
"Seviper, return. You did well. Rest easy. Roserade, rock out!" Once her ace was out, she commanded, "Use Venoshock!"
"Flame Charge!" Even with the better than average speed of a roserade, the Bouquet Pokemon couldn't fire the strong poisonous move fast enough before the fire engulphed Pignite was able to dodge, and land a critical blow against the grass/poison type with such speedy force, it was sent flying, crying out in pain as she crashed into the stage where the band played. Knocked out cold indeed.
"Roserade is unable to battle! The winner is Pignite!"
"Man, you are on fire Pignite! Literally!" Hugh complimented his Pokemon, whom smiled but again groaned from the pain. "Just hang in there! One more and we'll win!"
"We'll see about that! Whirlipede, let's rock on!" Once the Curlipede was on the field, Hugh chuckled.
"Easy win. Flame Charge!"
"Iron Defense!" Roxie quickly yelled at the same time as Hugh. Whirlipede was able to glow shiny just as Pignite rammed into the bug type, moving the spiky wheel back some. Pignite was by now on his last leg, losing consciousness from the poison.
"Flame Charge, again!"
"Protect!" Running back around, the fire starter tried finishing off the enemy, but he instead ran into a green force field. The impact along with the poison finished Pignite off as he collapsed onto his back.
"Pignite is unable to battle! The winner is Whirlipede!"
"Alright, I now know Hugh is going to win this." Ash nodded. Iris wondered what he was talking about.
"Now I can see why Ash had a difficult time. You've definitely earned your title of gym leader." Hugh complimented Roxie.
"Thanks, though I get a hint that's not all there is, is there?" She asked, a suspicious grin on her face.
"Yes. The thing is, the reason Ash struggled so much...is that his Pokemon was less optimal for you. Unlike mine. Magby, let's go!" His last Pokemon was another fire type. It is a bipedal Pokémon that has a red body with a yellow, flame-shaped marking on its stomach. Its head is covered with large lumps, and it has a rounded, yellow beak. Its arms are short and clawed. The little fire type screeched in discomfort as he became poisoned.
"Doesn't matter! We'll beat your Magby anyway! Whirlipede, use Poison Tail!" The spikes around its shell glowed purple, and then it started to spin like a tire, faster and faster until it started rolling fast.
"Brace for it!" Hugh shouted. Nate and Iris were shocked to see him not choosing to evade as the Live Coal Pokemon lowered his head in preparation. Whirlipede came in hard as it rammed into his head, pushing him back across the field, but due to friction, Magby was able to hold on and push back all the way to the edge of the battle field on Hugh's side, stopping the bug/poison type dead in its tracks.
"Flame Burst." Roxie gasped as Magby charged a fireball in front of his beak, and blew it point blank right into the shell of Whirlipede, pushing it back into the air from how much force it was. Everyone was stunned when the Curlipede Pokemon crashed in a fiery explosion on Roxie's side, and when the smoke cleared away, it was beaten.
"Whoa. Whirlipede is unable to battle! The winner is Magby, and thus the victor is Hugh Brooks!"
"Haha, great work Magby, I knew we could do it!" Hugh celebrated, the fire type looking happy before being returned so that he wasn't hurt by poison anymore.
"So that's what his strategy is. He was saving his fire types for the Pokemon that were weak against it." Iris realized.
"Yeah. She was setting up and hitting hard quicker than with me, but Hugh is smart in going for the weak points, even if his mindset is about brute force."
"Heh, looks like you're not just another hotshot. Well, you've earned it. The Toxic badge." The gym leader offered the prize to Hugh.
"Thank you."
"Oh, and don't think that just because you have a couple of fire types mean that facing Burgh will be a cake walk." Roxie warned with a laugh, then walked off to talk to her guitarist. Once the teens left the building, Nate took a look at his Xtranciever.
"Yeesh, it's after midnight. I think it's time we call it a day." Nate suggested.
"You guys go on ahead. I...need some time to think about stuff. I'll see you guys later." Hugh told them before walking off.
"What do you think is on his mind?" Iris asked Nate.
"Probably about what Roxie said about his temper. I'm not sure it'll stick, but that's the first time someone really gave it to him like that. We'll help him if he needs it. But for now..." The trainer then yawned while stretching. "...I could use some sleep."
"Yeah, same here."
A/N: How did I handle Hugh here? Did I make him too violent even if it was on a Plasma grunt? I figured that someone like Roxie could tell him how toxic his attitude is and that he should start early on not letting it get to him. Certainly much sooner than Clay or whoever said it first. What did you think of this chapter? Review please. This is chapter five so I'm surprised no one's said anything yet by now about this story.