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, though. See the first chapter for the rules by which the Pokewomen world operates by. Now, on with the story.
***
It was the day after Rick's fifth match, and Rick had already pseudo-randomly selected an opponent for the sixth round of the Indigo League.
Now that it was the sixth round, he could use all six Pokewomen instead of just three.
It turned out he would be fighting against someone named Assunta.
In fact, he was standing on the red platform in the Indigo Stadium right now. Rick had been chosen to be the Red trainer again.
Assunta was the Green trainer. She had blue hair and a red shirt. (Author's Note: Yes, this is the same Assunta that defeated Richie in the Pokemon show.)
"And now, a sixth round Indigo League match is about to begin!" the announcer said. "The winner of this match will go on to face the winner of another match in the final round!"
"You must be pretty tough to make it this far," Rick said.
"You too," Assunta said. "I'll warn you right now, I specialize in Pokewomen that are crosses between human and animal. The combination of instincts that results has resulted in my victory more than once."
"Don't get cocky," Rick said.
For this match, Rick decided to use the one Pokewoman that, so far, he hadn't used in the Indigo League.
"Go, Inque!" Rick said, sending out Inque.
"And Rick has chosen to send out Inque!" the announcer said. "What Pokewoman will Assunta use to counter this ink-like opponent?"
"Go, Amy Rose!" Assunta said, throwing a Poke Ball.
A pink hedgehog wearing red clothes that walked on two legs appeared.
Rick pointed his Pokedex at her.
The Pokedex said, "Amy Rose. This is a character from a series of Earth video games called Sonic the Hedgehog. She looks helpless, but is actually adept with a hammer."
Indeed, Amy Rose was carrying a hammer.
"Assunta has chosen Amy Rose!" the announcer said. "Now, let the battle begin!"
Amy Rose leaped at Inque and swung the hammer.
Inque merely formed into an in puddle, so when the hammer hit her, it had no effect.
Then, Inque formed into a hammer of her own, and repeatedly bashed Amy Rose in the head with it.
Eventually, Amy fell, unconscious, and Inque formed back into her real self.
"Amy Rose is unable to battle!" the referee said, raising the red flag.
On the scoreboard, one of Assunta's lights went out.
"Well that was a quick victory," the announcer said, as the audience laughed, and as Assunta recalled Amy Rose.
"I just wanted to get Amy Rose out of the way so I could use my more powerful Pokewomen," Assunta said.
She then threw a Poke Ball and said, "Go, Rouge!"
A cross between a bat and a human appeared.
Rick pointed his Pokedex at her.
The Pokedex said, "Rouge. This is a character from an Earth video game called Sonic Adventure 2. She can glide, and is extremely adept in kicking attacks. She is also very fond of money."
"This loser should pose no problem," Inque said, extending an ink tentacle at Rouge.
Rouge ducked the tentacle and rushed at Inque.
Inque found herself on the receiving end of dozens of kicks.
"Looks like Rouge is certainly an adept kicker," the announcer said.
Inque, however, didn't look like she was taking much damage from the kicks.
"Inque takes the licking, and Rouge keeps on kicking!" the announcer said.
Rouge was getting frustrated.
Finally, Inque decided to fight back.
She slammed an ink hammer down, but Rouge flipped away, gliding backwards to safety.
Rouge was certainly a tougher fighter than Amy Rose had been, but that was only because Assunta hadn't bothered to train Amy Rose well.
No wonder Assunta had wanted Amy Rose out of the way. If all of Assunta's more powerful Pokewomen were knocked unconscious, Assunta would have been left with only a not-very-well-trained Pokewoman.
Finally, Rouge made a mistake.
Rouge launched a jump kick at Inque, and Inque caught her in an ink tentacle.
Inque repeatedly slammed Rouge into the ground with the tentacle.
And unlike when Rouge had kicked Inque repeatedly, Rouge was taking damage from the attacks.
Eventually Rouge was slammed into the ground headfirst.
The impact knocked Rouge unconscious.
"Rouge is unable to battle!" the referee said, raising the red flag.
On the scoreboard, another one of Assunta's lights went out.
"This was a little longer, but Inque nevertheless has come out victorious!" the announcer said.
"This one won't be so easy," Assunta said.
She threw a Poke Ball and said, "Go, Queen Bee!"
A cross between a human and a bee came out.
Rick pointed his Pokedex at her.
The Pokedex said, "Queen Bee. Also known as Q-Bee. She is from a series of Earth video games called Darkstalkers. She is actually from a race of people like her, and most of her attacks are bee-related. She is not to be underestimated."
Queen Bee flew at Inque and repeatedly stuck her tail stinger out at Inque.
Inque slithered out of the way of each strike.
Inque slapped Queen Bee repeatedly with an ink tentacle, but then Queen Bee flew high into the air.
She came down at Inque, tail stinger outstretched, but Inque formed into an ink puddle, and Queen Bee sailed over her.
Then, Inque formed back into her real self.
Suddenly, Queen Bee glowed blue, and she grabbed Inque.
For some odd reason, Inque was transformed into an extremely large egg.
In fact, the egg was human-sized.
Queen Bee fell over and disappeared.
Then, to Rick's amazement, she hatched out of the egg!
Then the egg transformed back into Inque, who was understandably very dazed.
"What the heck?!" Rick screamed.
"Well that was...weird," the announcer said. "But it seems to have worked, and Inque has lost her bearings."
Then Queen Bee flashed lots of colors, and an extremely large globe of honey appeared in her hands.
She threw it at Inque, and since Inque was still trying to get her bearings, she got hit by the honey.
Now Inque was trapped.
The honey hardened solidified around Inque, trapping her even further.
"Assunta has come up with a brilliant strategy!" the announcer said. "With Inque now solidified along with the honey, Queen-Bee's further attacks won't simply be absorbed by Inque as Rouge's hits were. Now Queen Bee can actually do some damage!"
Queen Bee proceeded to do that.
She repeatedly struck Inque with her tail stinger, and Inque looked to be in some pain.
Finally the honey disappeared, apparently having only been there temporarily.
"Inque, now's your chance! Get her!" Rick shouted.
Inque transformed into a tidal wave of ink.
The tidal wave smashed into Queen Bee, slamming her against the wall with lots of force.
Queen Bee was knocked unconscious.
"Queen Bee is unable to battle!" the referee said, raising the red flag.
On the scoreboard, another one of Assunta's lights went out.
"All right! Folks, it seems that Inque has managed to achieve a comeback victory!" the announcer said.
Assunta recalled Queen Bee.
"Let's see how you handle this one..." she said.
Assunta threw a Poke Ball and said, "Go, Polly Esther!"
A cross between a cat and a human, leaning more toward cat, wearing pink armor, appeared.
Rick pointed his Pokedex at her.
The Pokedex said, "Polly Esther. This is a character from an Earth TV show called Samurai Pizza Cats. She appears sweet and docile, but in reality she has a violent temper. However, she is a heroine, and is a loyal Pokewoman. She is adept at martial arts, has a sword, can use her claws well, and can toss "love" bombs that are shaped like hearts but explode like any other bombs. As a miscellaneous skill, she is an expert flute player."
"Assunta has chosen Polly Esther!" the announcer said. "Something tells me this is no ordinary kitty."
"Inque, rush at her!" Rick shouted.
Inque rushed at Polly.
Polly, however, neatly back-flipped out of the way. Then she did a back-handspring, only to push off with her hands and end up doing a jump kick towards Inque.
The force of the blow knocked Inque back a centimeter, but Inque took no damage.
Inque tried to grab Polly with an ink tentacle, but Polly tucked into a ball, rolled under the tentacle, and came up swinging her sword at Inque.
The sword sliced through the ink that Inque was made up of, but Inque simply reformed the ink.
Assunta flipped out her Pokedex while this was going on and pointed it at Inque.
Rick strained to hear what her Pokedex said, but Assunta was too far away.
When Assunta's Pokedex was done speaking, Assunta put it away.
"Polly, I think we need a human solution," Assunta said.
Polly was confused.
"You know, it would be humane to beat this monster," Assunta said.
Polly was still confused.
Rick wondered what the heck Assunta was talking about. She sure was putting weird emphasis on the word "human".
Then Rick was hit with a wave of realization.
Too late, though, so was Polly.
"Hey, Inque, you think you're so tough, fighting me as some ink monster," Polly taunted. "But that's all you are! A monster! You couldn't pass for human if you tried!"
"Wanna bet, squirt?" Inque asked rhetorically.
"No, don't do it!" Rick said. "It's a trick!"
But it was too late.
Inque had already formed into human form.
"Sucker!" Polly said, tossing a "love" bomb.
The bomb hit Inque at point-blank range and exploded.
As the ink form Inque might have had a chance, but Rick had never had Inque battle in human form before, having never seen the need.
Inque was blasted into unconsciousness.
"Inque is unable to battle!" the referee said, raising the green flag.
On the scoreboard, one of Rick's lights went out.
"Well, folks, it seems that Assunta's Pokedex gave her the information she needed to combat the fearsome Inque!" the announcer said. "And the fact that Polly has such dexterity, speed, and grace didn't hurt, either. Does Rick have anything in his arsenal that can handle the ferocious feline?"
Rick thought that if Polly was so agile, she had to be stopped in her tracks for Rick to win.
And Rick happened to have someone perfect for stopping people in their tracks.
"Go, Birdie!" Rick said, sending out Birdie.
"Rick has chosen Birdie!" the announcer said. "Can Birdie stop the agile Polly Esther?"
"Trap her in a black ball!" Rick said.
Birdie concentrated, and suddenly Polly was trapped in a black ball.
Polly, however, simply used her sword to cut her way out.
Polly then jumped into the air and dived at Birdie.
Polly landed on Birdie, punching her repeatedly.
"We need a distraction! Some shards should do the trick," Rick said.
Birdie flung some ice shards in Polly's face.
The ice shards cut Polly's face.
Polly clutched her face in pain, jumping off of Birdie.
"Now's your chance! Freeze her!" Rick said.
Birdie shot some ice at Polly.
Polly was in too much pain to avoid the ice, and she was frozen.
"Polly is unable to battle!" the referee said.
On the scoreboard, another one of Assunta's lights went out.
"Looks like Birdie was the right choice after all!" the announcer said. "Now that Assunta's facing a different Pokewoman, she must adapt her strategy."
Assunta recalled Birdie.
"My second most powerful Pokewoman should be enough to take care of this one," Assunta said.
She threw a Poke Ball and said, "Go, Sonson!"
A monkey/girl cross carrying a staff appeared.
Rick pointed his Pokedex at her.
The Pokedex said, "Sonson. This is a character from an Earth video game called Marvel Versus Capcom 2. Her moves are unorthodox, but she is not to be underestimated. When well-trained, she can become a fighter highly feared simply because of her unorthodox fighting methods."
"Ok, so this one isn't as easy to beat as she looks," Rick said. "Birdie, some ice shards, please."
Birdie threw some ice shards at Sonson.
But Sonson, using her monkey-like agility, flipped over the shards and whacked Birdie a few times with her stick, flipping away afterwards.
Birdie rushed in and dealt Sonson a few punches, but Sonson dealt Birdie a few kicks.
Soon they were punching, kicking, and staff-hitting (in Sonson's case) in a "cat-fight".
Eventually they both jumped away from each other.
"Trap her in a black bubble!" Rick said.
Birdie concentrated, but as she was concentrating, Sonson pulled out some sort of weird object that could be a sack or a bottle, and rushed up to Birdie.
She trapped Birdie in the object, and then suddenly pulled a pot with boiling water out from thin air.
Sonson put the object with Birdie inside in the pot.
"What the heck is going on?" the announcer asked.
The object turned red, and then exploded, taking the pot with it.
Birdie was flung free, damaged a little by the explosion. "Come on! Freeze her!" Rick said.
Birdie shot some ice at Sonson.
Suddenly the arena seemed to flash for a second.
Then, Sonson transformed into a giant walking-upright freakin' ape!
What was worse, the ape started breathing fire!
The fire melted the ice, and Birdie had to scramble to get out of the way.
The ape then transformed back into Sonson.
Then, Sonson threw her stick into the air, and the arena seemed to flash for a second again.
Suddenly the stick that was in the air grew gigantic!
One end of it smashed down on Birdie, and then the stick transformed back into normal size.
"OWWWWWWW!" Birdie screamed.
"It's not over yet!" Assunta said.
Sonson dashed close to Birdie, and then, yet again, the arena seemed to flash for a second.
Then, she screamed, "POW!"
Then, the word "POW" literally came out of her mouth. It was yellow.
The word hit Birdie, and then something that would freak Rick out for a very long time happened.
Right before everyone's eyes, Birdie was transformed into a gigantic fruit!
Then, Sonson proceeded to eat the fruit!
Sonson picked a seed out of her teeth, and the seed transformed into Birdie, who was extremely dazed and confused.
"What the heck/i>?!" Rick screamed.
The audience wondered what the heck had just happened, too.
"Well...um...that was a very...unique...move," the announcer said.
Birdie then recovered her senses.
"Now, rush in and finish her off!" Assunta said.
Sonson rushed in again, but this time Birdie shot some ice.
Sonson skidded to a stop, but this time it was too late.
Sonson was frozen.
"Sonson is unable to battle!" the referee said, raising the red flag.
On the scoreboard, Assunta's second-to-last light went out.
"Well, that's one battle that will be remembered for a very long time," the announcer said. "Now Assunta has only one Pokewoman left. I hope she saved her best for last."
"I certainly did," Assunta said.
She threw her last Poke Ball and said, "Go, Felicia!"
Another cross between a human and a cat appeared. Unlike Polly Esther, though, this one was more human than cat.
And this one wasn't wearing any clothes. Her private parts were covered by fur, and in the case of her twin mounds of feminine excellence, not very much fur.
Rick pointed his Pokedex at her.
The Pokedex said, "Felicia. This is a character from a series of Earth video games called Darkstalkers. Her instincts are mostly human, but she fights more like a cat. As a miscellaneous skill, she is an excellent singer."
Rick had to restrain himself from making a perverted comment, reminding himself that it would be immature to do so.
The announcer did the same.
The male members of the audience (and the homosexual female members, which were few and far between), however, had no such conscience.
"Yeah, baby!" someone said.
"Rowr!" someone else said.
"Hey, babe!" some other wiseacre said.
Felicia and Assunta were pretty miffed at the audience.
Birdie seemed indifferent.
"Will you just battle me already?" Birdie said.
"I'll be happy to oblige!" Felicia said. "I'm not Assunta's most powerful Pokewoman for nothing!"
With that, in a show of blinding speed, Felicia rushed at Birdie.
Before Birdie could even blink, she was being pummeled by dozens and dozens of punches, kicks, and scratches.
And Felicia was merciless.
Rick couldn't believe how fast she was.
Felicia didn't let up.
She kept on attacking.
Birdie had been caught by surprise and was now unable to defend herself.
Rick groaned.
Felicia really was Assunta's most powerful Pokewoman.
It was over in a minute.
Birdie slumped to the ground, unconscious.
"Birdie is unable to battle!" the referee said.
"And now Birdie has been defeated!" the announcer said. "What Pokemon will Rick choose to battle this ferocious feline?"
"Go, Pixie!" Rick said, sending out Pixie.
"Rick has chosen Pixie!" the announcer said.
Pixie flew high into the air. Very high.
Felicia tried to use her cat-like reflexes to jump high enough to reach Pixie.
But Pixie had flown too high.
"No fair!" Felicia said, pouting.
Pixie aimed a sonic blast down at Felicia.
It was no contest. Felicia was knocked unconscious.
"Felicia is unable to battle! The winner of the match is the Red trainer, Rick!" the referee said, raising the red flag and pointing it to Rick.
On the scoreboard, Assunta's final light went out.
"Rick wins the match!" the announcer said, as the audience cheered. "He is now one of the two challengers who will face each other in the final round of the Indigo League!"
Rick knew he still had one more step to go before he could become a Pokewoman master, and if he failed...he wouldn't get another chance for another year...
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.