by Martial Arts Master
The original concept of Pokemon and all related characters copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc., 4Kids, TV Tokyo, Satoshi Tajiri, and Wizards of the Coast. All characters I use as Pokewomen are copyrighted by their original creators and owners. I made up Rick and Orville, though. See the first chapter for the rules by which the Pokewomen world operates by. Now, on with the story.
***
Rick suddenly found himself on an island.
He remember that he was teleported here by Sabrina's father.
He looked around, and saw the island was a lot more crowded than he thought islands should be.
In fact, there were people everywhere!
There were also lots of booths everywhere.
Some were booths that were being run by people who sold food, and other sold souvenirs.
"What the heck is going on here? I was told there was a gym here!" Rick shouted.
"No need to shout," someone said from behind him.
Rick spun around and saw a man with long blond hair, wearing sunglasses, and wearing red clothes with blue stripes.
"The gym's right over there," the man said, pointing behind him.
Rick looked past him and saw a small wooden shack that looked extremely broken down.
Many parts of it were rotting, and some were already broken. Clearly it was unsafe to enter.
"That's the gym?!" Rick asked incredulously.
"You see, the gym leader is called Blaine," the man explained. "Trainers who knew exactly what they were doing used to come, but now the only people that come to the island are people who care more about the attractions than about Pokemon. Some of them don't even have Pokemon!"BR> Then the man shouted, "Tourists! They've wrecked the island!"
"But why is the gym broken-down?" Rick asked.
"Because Blaine got tired of those people, and he stopped maintaining his gym," the man explained.
"But I have to earn the badge from the gym!" Rick said. "If I do, that makes seven, and I can finally enter the Viridian City gym."
"Well, Blaine did build another gym, but to make sure only serious trainers would come, he hid it," the man said.
"So how am I supposed to find it?" Rick asked.
"You'll find it in the place where firefighters could never win," the man said.
Rick closed his eyes in thought for a moment, trying to figure out what that meant.
He couldn't think of it, though, and opened his eyes again.
"What the heck is that supposed to---" Rick began, but the man was gone, having apparently left while Rick was thinking.
Now Rick was stuck with trying to figure out the riddle.
The first thought that came to mind was that a place where firefighters would never win would obviously have to be someplace too hot for even a firefighter to handle.
And considering how firefighters' specialties were handling fire and heat, the place would have to be really hot.
He thought of places that could be so hot.
The sun, the planet Mercury, the planet Venus...
No, the gym would have to be on this planet, because not just any man could go into space.
The center of the earth...
No, no ordinary man could go there either.
As Rick was thinking, he saw a volcano somewhere on the island.
Volcano! The word jarred in Rick's mind.
Rick pretty much doubted that firefighters could possibly win against a volcano.
So, with the riddle solved, Rick headed in the direction of the volcano.
Once he got there, he looked for an entrance, but he didn't see anything.
The entrance must be hidden, too.
Now Rick was mad. Blaine may have had a good reason for hiding his gym, but did he have to make it so hard to find?
He kicked a statue of a Gyarados's head in frustration.
And he stood in amazement as part of a rocky wall slid apart to reveal a flight of stairs going downward.
Rick climbed down the stairs and came to a metal door.
Instead of bothering to use the handles, Rick kicked the door open, going inside, eager to see Blaine.
Once inside, Rick began to feel really hot.
Now Rick figured he must be inside the volcano.
Rick looked ahead of him and saw a ring being suspended over lava by four chains, one at each corner.
And that man who gave him the riddle was standing there, too.
"What in bloody blue blazes are you doing here?!" Rick demanded.
"Here's another riddle," the man replied. "It keeps your head dry, and the only reason you wear it is because you already lost it."
Rick smirked. His father wore this regularly.
"It's a wig," Rick said. Then realization hit him.
"The only reason you would ask a wig question at a time like this is if that blonde hair is a wig!" he shouted. "And the only reason you would want to disguise yourself is if you were Blaine, the gym leader!"
"Very perceptive of you," the man said, taking off his wig and his sunglasses.
The man now revealed actually was bald except for a large amount of darkish-grey hair at the sides of his head.
"Yes, I am Blaine, the gym leader of Cinnabar Island," the man said. His voice was extremely different now; much harsher and more of an edge to it. Before, he'd been talking like the stereotypical "hippie".
"Then I am Rick, from Pallet Town, and I challenge you to a match!" Rick said. He wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Jeez, it's freakin' hot down here!" Rick bellowed. "Why on earth would you wanna build a gym in the middle of a friggin' volcano?!" "To see if you were serious," Blaine said. "I give the same riddle to all who want to challenge me. They usually figure out the answer's a volcano, and the more cowardly trainers or the less serious ones are scared off. Since you came here anyway, I accept your challenge."
"Well I'm definitely serious. How many Pokewomen do we each use to battle?" Rick asked.
"Three-on-three," Blaine said. Then he continued, "By the way, since you'll never beat me anyway, I'll tell you that I specialize in fire. The heat of fire plus the heat of this volcano have wiped out some of my opponents before."
"Not this one! Go, Inque!" Rick said, sending out Inque. He knew it would be suicide to use Birdie, because her ice powers would be completely useless in a place so hot the ice would melt. Besides, fire melted ice anyway, even if he weren't battling in a volcano.
So he'd picked Inque instead, because Inque was made of ink. Ink could boil from heat, but since Inque was made entirely out of ink, she couldn't feel the pain of boiling anyway.
Blaine realized this too.
"Excellent choice, but you can't beat me," Blaine said.
He then proceeded to throw a Poke Ball and said, "Go, Sailor Mars!" A black-haired teenage girl in a white-and-red fuku with a purple ribbon and red high-heeled shoes appeared.
Rick pointed his Pokedex at her.
The Pokedex said, "Sailor Mars. She is a character from an Earth TV show called Sailor Moon. She has four fiery attacks, plus she has charms that can ward off evil."
"And I happen to know that Inque is a villain," Blaine said. "That's why I picked Sailor Mars. Sailor Mars, you know what to do."
"I sure do!" Sailor Mars said, leaping into the air.
She drew out a white piece of paper with Japanese lettering on it.
"I call upon the power of Mars! Fireballs...charge!" she said, trying to put the charm on Inque's head.
But Inque turned into an ink puddle and slid out of the way.
"Smash her!" Rick shouted.
Inque turned into a hammer made of ink and tried to smash Sailor Mars.
But Sailor Mars had been trained well, and she easily leaped out of the way.
"Mars Fire Ignite!" Sailor Mars said, shooting a fireball at Inque.
Inque formed a hole in her stomach, and the fireball passed through it.
Sailor Mars then tried her second attack.
"Mars Firebird Strike!" Sailor Mars said, shooting a bird made of fire at Inque.
Inque had been trained well, too. She turned into a gigantic ball of ink and smothered the firebird out of existence.
"Mars Celestial Fire Surround!" Sailor Mars said, shooting dozens of firey rings at Inque.
That sliced Inque up a bit, but Inque easily healed her wounds by redistributing the ink in her body.
Sailor Mars was getting really frustrated now.
She tried her strongest attack.
"Mars Flame Sniper!" Sailor Mars said, shooting an arrow of fire at Inque.
The arrow stabbed Inque, and Inque doubled over in pain.
"Now, finish her off!" Blaine commanded.
Sailor Mars got ready for another attack, but Inque managed to violently expel the arrow from her body with her ink.
Sailor Mars was so surprised at having her own attack flung back at her like this that she didn't dodge.
The arrow grazed her waist, causing her to bleed.
Rick, mimicking Blaine on purpose to mock him, said, "Now, finish her off!"
Inque turned into a fist made of ink, and she scored a knockout with an uppercut to Sailor Mars's jaw.
Sailor Mars was unconscious now, so Blaine had to recall her.
"You're pretty good, kid, but now deal with my second strongest Pokewoman," Blaine said. He threw a Poke Ball and said, "Go, Dragon!"
An extremely huge purple female dragon popped out of the Poke Ball.
Rick pointed his Pokedex at her.
The Pokedex said, "Dragon. This is a character from a recently released Earth movie called Shrek. She has the ability to breathe fire, and she is a carnivore. In fact she is the embodiment of the stereotypical fairy-tale dragon, except that she can easily be swayed by flattery."
Inque overheard the Pokedex.
"Flattery? I don't need to flatter her to win!" Inque said, scoffing.
Rick's spirit deflated. Flattery was the best way to beat Dragoon, but Inque's pride refused to allow her to say anything flattering, even to win.
"Dragon, roast her!" Blaine shouted.
Dragon reared her head back and breathed fire at Inque.
Inque, however, turned into an ink ball again, smothering the fire.
Then, as the ink-ball, Inque rolled at Dragon, slamming into her head.
Dragon shook her head to clear it.
Inque then reformed back to her common form.
Dragon stomped the ground and momentarily knocked Inque off-balance. Then, Dragon breathed fire at Inque again.
Inque quickly recovered though, and she turned into an ink-ball again.
This time, though, instead of smothering the fire, Inque flew through it and blocked Dragon's mouth.
Angrily Dragon tried to breathe fire again.
This time, though, the fire had nowhere to exit, thanks to Dragon's mouth being blocked.
Any of you readers know how a volcano erupts? If you do, you'll know what happens next.
The pressure of the fire kept building up in Dragon's mouth, and eventually the pressure grew to be so big that eventually Inque was violently ejected from Dragon's mouth, along with a gigantic stream of fire.
Inque was scorched by the fire, but she was ok.
Dragon, on the other hand, had been knocked through the air by the force at which the pressure was released, and she had to fly to recover.
But by then she had inadverantly left the boundaries of the ring.
"Dragon has left the ring, so you win," Blaine said, recalling Dragon.
"But my strongest Pokewoman is too hot to handle," he continued.
He threw a Poke Ball and said, "Come out...Firey Card!" (Author's Note: Yes, I know the word's correct spelling is "fiery", but for some reason this card's name is spelled "Firey". So it's not a typo.)
A female spirit made entirely out of fire came out.
Rick pointed his Pokedex at the Pokewoman.
The Pokedex said, "Firey Card. This is a character from an Earth TV show called Cardcaptors. She is the embodiment of fire, and can control it. She is extremely powerful, and if she is hit by wind she becomes even more powerful. It has not been tested whether or not water alone can defeat her, but it is known that if she is hit by water and wind at the same time, she will be beaten."
Well, Rick thought, now was time to do that test. Inque was made of ink, not water, but ink was an inflammable liquid, so for all intents and purposes it was good enough.
"Burn her to cinders, Firey Card!" Blaine said.
"Kick her butt, Inque!" Rick shouted.
The Firey Card rushed at Inque like a firestorm. Rick thought that this attack would have to count right now, or Inque was toast.
Inque turned into a tidal wave of ink, and she washed over the Firey Card.
When Inque lifted, the Firey Card lay on the ground, beaten.
"How on earth did you beat my most powerful Pokewoman so fast?!" Blaine shouted. "I'm the second toughest gym leader in the league!"
"I had a great Pokewoman," Rick said, giving Inque a hug.
Inque dumped Rick on the ground, saying, "Don't you touch me like that again!"
Blaine burst out laughing, and then threw Rick a badge.
The badge looked like fire.
"This is the Volcano Badge," Blaine said. "You've earned it!"
"Thanks," Rick said, recalling Inque.
Then he rushed out of the volcano, happy to just to get out of that hot place.
He then saw it was already sunset, so it was already dinnertime.
After ordering fast-food for himself and his Pokewomen yet again, he checked into a hotel yet again.
But this time there were dozens of hotels to choose from, and Rick finally realized just how much of a tourist attraction Cinnabar Island had become.
After getting a room and going to it, Rick let out his Pokewomen, and they all fell asleep.
To be continued
***
You're probably thinking, "Oh no, not another new trainer fic that the author won't bother to finish!" Well, let me tell you, I hate those kinds of fics too, and let me tell you in advance that I DO plan on finishing this fic. I never start a fic that I don't intend to finish. In fact, if I'm lying about planning to finish the fic, may I get pounded by a madman. E-mail all questions and comments to bleifer@msn.com.