I Don't Own Pokemon
It had taken a little longer than I would have liked to get to Vermilion but I was here and that's what really mattered so I didn't really care. After all I didn't miss the last few ferries that where heading out, so it didn't bug me any. After getting into the city, I made my way over and bought a ticket for the second to last ferry that would be heading towards Cinnabar.
The reason I chose that one was because it was the only one that would be heading out the same day I had gotten into the city. While I didn't mind hanging around, I really wanted to get the second to last Gym badge before looking into any of the other gyms in the region.
Because if anyone thinks I'm stepping foot in Viridian anytime soon, then they need to schedule an appointment to the bloody loony bin. Like hell am I, after what happened in Celadon, going to get close to Giovanni. From what I've been told form the police after the fact, Team Rocket took a crippling blow from that 'raid' I did, not to mention the mental state the leader would have to be in after Mewtwo escaped.
I had heard on the news that the Viridian Gym was blown up recently, it was said to be because of a challenger decided to pierce a gas pipe to try and win by making a massive explosion. I knew it was completely false but everyone else seemed to accept it as fact, so that also gave me a great excuse to not be anywhere close to that place.
Shaking my head out of that line of thought, I refocused myself to what was happening around me. I was in the process of walking up to the gate with my ticket in hand, showing it to the two men at the entrance to the bridge that was connecting the ship to the port. Getting a quick nod after the one of the left scanned the ticket, I was ushered into the ferry being told that my cabin number was on the ticket.
Walking into the interior part of the ship, I looked down at my ticket, made sure to memorize my room number before placing it into my pocket. Now all I need to do is find the room, looking around, I noted the small help desk before moving my eyes away from that, more focused on the two posters on the wall next to the desk.
One was a small guide map for the ship, telling people where certain numbered rooms are, like where one threw twenty are located. I found my number pretty quick, before focusing my eyes on the second poster, it appears that their is some kind of mini tournament going to take place in about two hours after the ship leaves the dock.
Nothing to incredible and it didn't even list what the prize was, just that their was one for winning. Rules wise, the only main one was, the Pokemon couldn't be massive or put the ship and the passengers in danger, and that people could only use one Pokemon for the entire thing.
I wasn't really sure if I should, I'll be honest, I've seen most of the trainers that were boarding in front and behind me while I was waiting to give the two men at the front a look at my ticket. Most were quite young, younger than me. It wouldn't really seem fair, but then again...Charmeleon has been annoyed at the lack of battles he's gotten to participate in recently.
And now that I'm thinking about it I don't really care about the other kids. Yeah why not, it would be good for Charmeleon as since he evolved his seemed to grown out of his timid nature into the most battle eager member of the group. Yeah why not, I'll sign up for it a little bit, right now I want to find my room.
It was very easy winning all the rounds so far, out of the total rounds, six in total with their being about thirty two trainer on the surprisingly big ship. Currently I had just won round four and was moving onto the 'semi finals' and while it wasn't exactly that hard to win against most of the newer trainer, Charmeleon seemed to enjoy it nonetheless.
And while I haven't really cared to look into the other three trainers that were still in this small competition. I didn't get any names, or at least if I did I quickly forgot them because I am terrible with new names. Either way, from that I've heard is that one of the Pokemon is very tired, sadly that one wasn't my opponent.
No my opponent, was a girl using, from what I've heard, a Slowbro, something that I would have to be careful of. While Charmeleon was easily the most tanky member of my team, that didn't mean he had completely out grown his type disadvantages. It was something I've been working on correcting for most of my team but non of them yet can say they've overcome type just yet.
Anyway after this battle, the other opponent of mine that I was almost completely sure would win was some older dude, about mid twenties that has been using surprisingly enough, a Claydol, judging from what I've also heard, the guy is probably from Hoenn. Which is interesting, because then this would be the first person that isn't from Kanto, well besides me.
But I don't think that really counts, so I wasn't going to. Anyway another fact I had heard from the crowd around me was taht he so far has swept the completion as easily if not even more easily then I have, so I was looking forwards to see if he was as good as everyone seemed to like.
As I was thinking on the random information I've heard from around me, was interrupted, by a voice from nearby where I was sitting with Charmeleon resting my my leg.
"Hey there you are! Kyu right? You're next battle is starting in a few minutes, come on dude!" I nodded before standing up with Charmeleon doing the same, as I began to make my way towards the small part of the court in the front of the ship that the battles where taking place on.
Making my way to my marked out section of land where I would be standing, I waited for a moment as my opponent and her Pokemon walked onto the makeshift field. As her Slowbro walked up, and stood before Charmeleon, the makeshift ref walked up and stated the rules that I already knew, before throwing his arm down, and with that I called out calmly.
"Flamethrower" So far I didn't really have to think up any real plan of attack, mostly winning with only just straight power, so if it works then why fix it, but it seems this one actually had some experience as she quickly called out.
"Water Gun Slowbro!" The attacks collided making a big puff of steam in the air, as I looked around it doing my best to keep track of where and what the Slowbro could be doing in this cover, but I didn't have to think long as she called out right after.
"Now Slowbro! Water Pulse!" Oh right, Psychic type, slowbro doesn't have to see to attack, that's annoying.
"Take it and attack where it came from, Dragon Pulse" It might be overkill but my Fire type was taking a Water Gun to get the opportunity to attack, I wasn't going to let it not do the most damage available. As I listened to my lizard take the attack before roaring out a attack in the same direction, I nodded to myself as I heard the attack connect.
"Wait for the steam to clear up a little more then Iron Tail" I didn't have to wait long before I could mostly see threw the smoke, and could acutely see Charmeleon slamming his tail in an upward angle into the slowbro's chin. The slow Pokemon seemed to stumble back for a second before getting a grip, but I wasn't going to let it stay up.
"Flamethrower' The attack while not very effective, still came from a quite strong Fire type on a Pokemon that was already low on health, ending the fight right then as the slowbro fell over. Looking over at Charmeleon, he didn't even seem fazed by the attack he took, which meant, my opponent wasn't that strong or didn't have as much left in the chamber as it first appeared.
The slowbro probably had to use most of it's remaining water reserves to counter Charmeleon's first attack. I ignored the ref calling out I was the winner, and all the other flavor text they added on to the end, and instead gave a nod to the woman across the stage, before gesturing for Charmeleon to come over while we walked for the last fight to come around.
Looking at Charmeleon as he approached, this time he seemed a little put out. Sitting down on the ground, mostly ignoring the man with the claydol, who seemed to be wearing an obvious wig, as they made their way up to where I had been standing. And instead asked Charmeleon as he got close to me.
"Something wrong?" He just looked up at me for a second before crossing his arms and seemed to pout before telling me.
"I like that I've won so many battles in succession Master, but none of them have been enough to really get me excited" I nodded at that, after all I could understand it. It was kind of boring just sweeping all that we fought. It's the reason that I've begun to rush to Cinnabar, non of the fights with the trainers that have challenged me while I've traveled have been interesting.
The only real time I've had to give a fight some serious thought is during Gym battles, and even then some have been a little lack luster. I didn't let that get to me though as instead I gave my friend a pat on the head before telling him. While noting something from the corner of my eye.
"Don't worry, their are plenty of strong Pokemon out there to fight, just it takes a while to get there. Actually if I'm right you'll be getting into one pretty soon. That guy with the claydol seems to have already finished his fight" He gave a nod, seemly more excited now that I thought that a good battle was about to happen.
Ignoring the same guy that got me the last time, I stood up and made my way back to the stage before giving the man in front of me a look. There wasn't really anything of interest, besides the before mentioned wig, something which I wasn't sure why they where wearing in the first place. Judging from how it's placed on his head, he still has hair.
Looking away from him, I focused on the claydol that was about to be in battle against Charmeleon. It seemed to be in about the same state Charmeleon was in, and by that, I mean it didn't even looked winded, though to be fair it was quite hard to tell with a Pokemon like this. After a second the ref stepped up and after some talking swung his arm down before jumping back as we both called out.
"Charmeleon Flamethrower/ Claydol Confusion, then into the air" The flames seemed to stop in their tracks before dispersing as the claydol floated into the air and out of reach for a Iron Tail. Fine then, this will be target practice.
"Ember, rapid fire" Dozens of small pits of fire rushed out of Charmeleon's mouth in a shotgun like spread as the trainer in front of me called out quickly.
"Light Screen" Interesting, they're playing on the defensive for some reason, no for an obvious reason, Claydol will out last Charmeleon if all he is doing is dodging and blocking. I can't have that.
"Swift, Charmeleon, the flank and use Flame Burst" The stars of Swift quickly filled up the front of the Light Screen, allowing Charmeleon to get behind quickly enough to shoot up a burst of fire that splashed against the body of the Claydol, but it didn't seem to do much as the trainer called out as the Light Screen completely encompassed the Pokemon protecting it from anymore attacks.
"Now use Zen Headbutt" The Pokemon that was still wrapped in the dome of special attacking neutralizing shield, sped at my lizard with a surprisingly amount of speed. I quickly called out in a slightly louder tone of voice than the calm I had been using since I started in this tournament.
"When it gets close the Iron Tail, pin it to the ground" The trainer seemed to understand what I was going for as they were about to call out for their Pokemon to stop but it was to late as Charmeleon's tail light up as he slammed it into the Pokemon pushing the Ground type onto the ground, while also breaking the concentration of the Light Screen.
"Flamethrower. Point blank" The fire quickly gathered into my lizard's mouth but just as the attack made contact, my opponent called out.
"High into the air now" The claydol lifted itself up into the air with Charmeleon tagging along with the Flamethrower still active, though the Ground type didn't seem to notice, something that was beginning to worry me about its defenses. But I didn't let it show as I called out.
"Switch to Dragon Pulse" This time the attack did a lot more obvious damage, but that might have been because of the trainers reaction rather than the Pokemon's.
"Rapid Spin, throw it off of you Claydol" I frowned as Charmeleon was launched into the ground of the ship, something I was very glad was fortified as it felt like the ship seemed to dip a little in the direction where Charmeleon landed. It was a very strong hit and before he could stand back up the trainer called out once more.
"Now Ancient Power, pin it to the deck" My frown increased as I tried to call out a warning as the claydol seemed to glow before dozens of rocks seemed to float out of the ocean below us as the started to smack around my Pokemon for a second and seemed to be going for the pin when I called out.
"Iron Tail now! Break your way out!" I was half aware I was almost actively shouting out my commands now as Charmeleon's tail glowed once more, breaking and crushing multiple of the rock projectiles but wasn't fast enough to get all of the dozens of rocks and was quickly pinned to the ground.
"Dragon Pulse straight up!" A roar was heard before a dark bluish purple seemed to rip threw the rocks as Charmeleon jumped out of the opening, looking way to damaged for such few attacks as he launched the still on going attack at the claydol, which was quickly blocked as the trainer called out.
"Protect Claydol" Damn, Charmeleon was actively panting now but seemed to be having fun as he barraged the Protect that was protecting the Pokemon on the other side. And I could also admit that I was having fun as well. As I moved my arm forwards and called out.
"Stop, start using Smokescreen" Pure power wouldn't work, something Charmeleon was the best at, which was annoying but I could work around it. but right now I needed him to get some rest no matter how small, before starting up again. The trainer didn't seemed to like that plan as they called out.
"Claydol, blow away the smoke with Rapid Spin, then Zen Headbutt" I threw my arm forward out of instant as I called out a little louder.
"The second you see it Charmeleon, Dragon Pulse" I felt my heartbeat increase as the spinning Pokemon blew the smokescreen away and while continuing to spin slammed into Charmeleon, with its psychic power backing up the damage. Watching as my lizard flew backwards I frowned and was close to returning him as I noted the claydol still didn't seem to damaged.
But I was interrupted as Charmeleon tried to stand only to fall back down, after a second he seemed to growl to himself before pushing himself to his feet, when a glow seemed to faintly appear for a second before the light exploded out of his form as he quickly grew in size.
I felt a grin appear on my face as I pulled out my dex to check on in he learned anything interesting. I felt my grin spread as I saw a few new items on the list that I recognized as new. Clicking my pokedex closed I waited until the glow finalized as Charizard let out a roar before letting out a massive breath of fire.
"Ok then lets give this a try, Charizard Twister" The result was instant as my 'dragon' seemed to appear straight into the air and with his new wings let out a Twister that could easily rival if not surpass, Pidgeotto. Dragging the claydol into the Twister, bouncing it off the walls of Dragon typed energy with the water from the ocean it dragged into the attack.
"Claydol! Break out with Earth Power" The trainers calm seemed to have finally broken, at least a little. As I watched dozens of rocks that were ripped from the ocean bed, fly straight at Charizard, trying to make him dodge and break off the attack, I instead called out.
"Dragon Pulse straight down! Then get out of there!" I could feel my excitement spike as a grin appeared on my face, as the two dragon type attacks made contact before exploding in a massive show of power as the few rocks that the claydol could still control from taking such sudden amount of damage from all sides, were easily dodged by Charizard.
The battle was now taking place over the open ocean as the two of us seemed to ignore the rules as we both ran to the side of the ship to continue to call out commands. I felt myself get invested as I tuned out the rocking of the ship underneath me as the waves from the Twister made contact as I called out.
"Wing Attack into Iron Tail, throw it into the water!" All composure was lost as I shouted the command out as loud as I could to make sure my Pokemon could hear my orders as the trainer besides me did the same.
"Reflect, then get it away with Ancient Power at max!" I grinned as what seemed to be almost a hundred rocks seemed to float from the ocean as I called out to Charizard right after.
"Get above all of those rocks and use a full power Inferno, destroy all of them in one go!" It was like watching a movie as hundreds of small rocks seemed to orbit the Ground type before all of them seemed to launch at my Pokemon, only for a massive all encompassing wave of pure fire ripped threw the small projectiles and if it wasn't for the near massive barrier the claydol made with Protect it would have hit it as well.
This is what I've been missing, something I hadn't had since my first few battles, a fight on equal footing, where I didn't have to work around some annoying plan made by my opponent to stall out the fight, like covering the arena in attacks or disabling my moves, no this was something that was on equal footing.
Me and this trainer having to out think each other because that was the only way to win, and even then he seem to have a counter for my counters, he was actively keeping up with my orders and countered just as fast, only for me to rush and change tactics, something I never realized I hadn't been able experience, I've always seemed to be a bit ahead mentally in fights, but here? It was a challenge.
"Iron Tail!" Charizard seemed to fly straight threw the fire that almost still appeared to be burning in the air and slammed his tail into his opponent. Sending it hurtling straight down, only just stopping before hitting the water.
"Claydol! Charge Beam! Then Calm Mind" Throwing my arm out I yelled to my team member, as I saw the speed rushing at the newly acquired Flying type.
"Protect!" It wasn't near as strong as what the Claydol had been using but the shield still held, if barely as I called out right after.
"Don't let it! Flamethrower!" The wave of fire, that I could feel from here, approached quickly on the still motioned Pokemon. Only for it's trainer to call out.
"Teleport above it, then Confusion straight down!" I felt myself panic slight as Charizard was thrown into the ocean but after a few second, he busted out looking much more damaged and very very pissed as his tail seemed to gain a blue hue to it. I felt my grin increase as I recognized Blaze activate. Though from the panic in my opponents voice they knew what is was as well.
"Finish this Claydol! Hyper Beam!" I felt my eyes widen as a massive beam of pure white energy formed into front of the Pokemon, before calling out to Charizard as I recognized this would be our last attacks.
"Use everything you have left! Inferno!" He opened his mouth as a pit of blue fire appeared as it grew and grew before it was unleashed at the same time as the Hyper Beam. I had to shield my eyes as the two attacks connected as an massive explosion ripped threw the air as I felt the ship under me seem to be pushed backwards.
After a few seconds, as the smoke that had gathered in the air cleared, I felt shock run threw my system as I watched as Charizard slowly fall towards the ocean, in a state of clear unconsciousness. My body reacted on instinct as I pulled his ball off my sash and returned him.
It was then, that I realized that I was panting hard, looking over at my opponent as he to returned his damaged Pokemon. I noted that the wig he was wearing had fallen off, to reveal light blue hair. That was enough to draw all the conclusions I needed as I looked down at the pokeball in my hand before grinning like a psycho, before placing it back in its place.
Looking over at the man besides me, I thought about it for a second before, coming to a conclusion. With that I held out my hand to the man and said.
"That, I can honestly say, was the best battle I've ever had Steven" He looked at me for a second before grinning at me before grabbing my hand, as I withheld my wince at the contact, and told me.
"No kidding, kid you are quite the amazing battler, I wasn't really battle serious until your Charizard there evolved but, afterwards? I haven't had a fight like that in months since my last fight with one of my Elite Four" I gave him a nod, before letting go of his hand and turned to the crowd that had gathered during our battle.
They all looked at us for a second in dead silence before someone started clapping, which quickly turned into cheering. I tuned it out and instead reviewed the fight in my head. Charizard was now clearly my strongest Pokemon, at least in terms of rounded-ness, I think Luxray still is the strongest in terms of pure power and is still a good bit faster, even with the new wings Charizard has.
While Charizard is a bit behind in terms of raw strength he has a lot more lasting power, in the form of endurance, and is probably closing in terms of stamina as well. But he still lost to one of Steven's comparatively weaker team members, at least compared to his metagross.
It seems that I still have a little longer to go before I'm in Champion class, but I got to say, for my first lost, I don't think anyone could say I didn't put up one hell of a fight. Still, I felt almost disappointed that the fight was over, not because I lost, no because of how fun it was. I don't think I've felt like that since my first battle against those two Team Rocket idiots.
Well, now I know that the Elite Four and Champion's are the ones I need to get to then, only thing left to do is get the rest of the badges.
That was easily my most favorite battle I've written so far, it was a great battle of power and it shows that at the moment his strongest Pokemon only managed to almost defeat a Champions Pokemon that wasn't really trying for most of the fight. It puts perspective on what a Champion is, along with giving a more clear set goal for Kyu to reach. I also kind of went over board and had the battle almost be twice the length of a normal chapter, about three thousand words, which I wrote in about two hours, which is a little concerning. Any, See ya.
