Chapter 26: Tough love

"You did WHAT?!" Shannon yelled at me. "Giving all your Pokeblock to wild Pokémon. I can appreciate what you were trying to do, but how are you going to get your Pokémon ready for a Contest?" I asked Shannon if she would stop scolding me if I went out to pick some Berries to make more. "Fine" she said. "But don't be late."

Route 114 had a few trees so I picked some berries. The air was a lot better than the ashy nightmare that was Route 113.

As I picked the last of the berries, I heard fighting. Maybe it was a Trainer battle! I followed the sounds and it was in fact a battle between two Wild Pokémon. One was white, had sharp claws and a red letter Z across its stomach and face.

Zangoose

123

Normal Type

Cat Ferret Pokémon

4'03" (1.3 m)

88.8 lbs (40.3 kg)

Memories of battling its arch-rival Seviper are etched into every cell of Zangooses's body. This Pokémon adroitly dodges attacks with incredible agility.

The other Pokémon was serpentine shaped, navy in colour which a yellow pattern across its body, a sharp red tail and two, long red fangs sticking out.

Seviper

124

Poison Type

Fang Snake Pokémon

8'10" (2.7 m)

115.7 lbs (52.5 kg)

Seviper's swordlike tail serves two purposes – it slashes foes and douses them with secreted poison. This Pokémon will not give up its long-running blood feud with Zangoose.

I watched the two of them go at it, back and forth they battled. Zangoose used its sharp claws and Seviper used its jagged tail. It was quite a sight to behold, but a winner had to be declared. Seviper dealt the final blow with a move called Poison Tail. It's tail glowed purple and hit Zangoose, finishing it off.

I clapped for Seviper telling it that was a good job. I then asked if it wanted to come with me on a journey. It was at low hit points from the battle, so I threw a Pokeball and caught it.

"This Seviper is amazing!" Shannon told me. "3 of its moves are Tough! They are doing the Basic Rank Contest today so you should enter it!" I wasn't sure. I had only just caught Seviper. "Oh come on I insist!" she said. First though, I better make some Pokeblock.

I made some sour Pokeblock and gave it to Seviper. Seviper spat it out. "Your Seviper has a Hasty Nature" said Shannon. "It hates sour flavours. Won't get much out of it but let's just see how the Contest goes."

"It's time to show how Tough you are!" announced Rudy as we all walked on. "Of course, this is Normal Rank so we can expect a first timer or two out of the four that we have here. But without further ado, let's start the show! First up, the motorcycle fanatic from our very own Fallarbor Town, it's Bruce and Koffko!" Out came a teenager on a motorbike. He landed on stage and showed a purple, gaseous Pokémon names Koffing.

Koffing

108

Poison Type

Poison Gas Pokémon

2'00" (0.6 m)

2.2 lbs (1 kg)

If Koffing becomes agitated, it raises the toxicity of its internal gases and jets them out from all over its body. This Pokémon may also overinflate its round body, then explode.

Koffing with all its strength lets out a huge ball of gas. Everyone gave a small applause.

"Next, from the small town of Littleroot, it's Gym Leader Norman's son, Brendan and Seviper!" I ran out and sent out Seviper. Seviper smashed the ground with its tail, letting out a small shockwave. I got a good applause.

"Next up, when he's not lifting weights he is training for contests! Ladies and Gentlemen, from Mossdeep City, it's Rocco and Nosey!" Out game a beefy man and his Nosepass. Nosepass jumped up and Rocco lifted it. However, Nosepass was too heavy and dropped onto Rocco's foot. Everyone gave a pity applause.

"Finally, she likes to talk beyond the worlds. You know her as a Ghost Girl on Mt Pyre, it's Rita and Sheddi" A creepy girl floated on. Just then, a brown Pokémon with a halo over it fell from the sky, stopping at the last minute sending out a huge shockwave. Everyone really cheered.

Shedinja

044

Bug/Ghost Type

Shed Pokémon

2'07" (0.8 m)

2.6 lbs (1.2 kg)

Shedinja's hard body doesen't move – not even a twitch. In fact, its body appears to be merely a hollow shell. It is believed that this Pokémon will steal the spirit of anyone peering into its hollow body from its back.

Appears if Ninjada evolves from Ninjask when there is a space in the party and a Pokeball is included.

Now it was onto the move round. We were second after Shedinja. Shedinja used Harden to stop jamming, but it was fine as Seviper got three hearts plus an extra one for applause from its Wrap attack.

Things went casually otherwise. The big cheer came from when Koffing used Smog and everyone got excited. Seviper managed to Jam these quite a bit through.

"So this brings another Contest to a close. But who will walk away with a Ribbon?" The lights danced about on stage. They all centred on Rita! "Congratulations Rita!" said Rudy, putting the Ribbon on Shedinja.

Later that night, I stood under the stars with Seviper. Seviper was feeling quite bad that it lost, but I told Seviper that I also shouldn't have fed it Pokeblock which it clearly didn't like. We came to an agreement; no more Contests unless Seviper ends up learning moves that aren't Tough.

"Well, you win some you lose some" Shannon said, walking over. "Seviper did great! It seems like its debut might end up being its only appearance though. That's fine."

With that, we sat under the stars till we drifted off.