by Martial Arts Master
Pokemon and all related characters copyrighted by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc., Satoshi Tajiri, TV Tokyo, 4Kids, and Wizards of the Coast. I made up Iarumas, though. This fic takes place a long time after Ash defeated Bugsy. Like my "Father And Son" fic, this fic is intended to show that gym leaders are sometimes nicer than they seem to challengers. Okay, enough small talk; on with the story.
***
It was a beautiful day, and Bugsy, the Azalea Town gym leader, was inside his gym, training his three Pokemon.
He had suffered a narrow loss to Ash Ketchum.
Since then, he had studied up on the attacks that his Spinarak, his Metapod, and his Scyther had.
He had discovered a plethora of attacks for Spinarak that Bugsy had no idea Spinarak could do, like Leech Life and Spider Web.
He didn't discover anything else for Metapod, but he did discover a several new tricks for Scyther he hadn't known about, like Quick Attack, Leer, Pursuit, and False Swipe.
He had to become a better Bug-type Pokemon trainer. He was already a gym leader, but he wanted to become the best Bug-type Pokemon trainer on the planet.
Right now he was having his Pokemon exercise. The other Bug Pokemon who lived in the gym were careful to stay out of the way of Bugsy's Pokemon, because they knew Bugsy's Pokemon were more well-trained than any of them were.
In the middle of the exercise, however, a male trainer walked into the gym.
Bugsy quickly recalled his Pokemon and walked over to the trainer.
"Who might you be?" Bugsy asked.
"I am Iarumas!" the male trainer said.
"Iarumas?" Bugsy echoed in disbelief. "What kind of weirdo name is Iarumas?"
"My mother was drunk when she named me," Iarumas replied. "Now I should ask who you are."
"I'm Bugsy, and I'm the Azalea Town gym leader," Bugsy replied.
"Bugsy? Let me guess, you like Bug-type Pokemon," Iarumas said.
"I sure do! Bug-type Pokemon rule!" Bugsy said.
Iarumas smirked.
"Then I challenge you to a gym match!" Iarumas said.
"Challenge accepted," Bugsy said.
Later, Bugsy and Iarumas were standing on opposite sides of the gym.
Bugsy, as with all gym matches, had hired a referee.
"Begin the match!" the referee said.
"I choose Feraligatr!" Iarumas said, sending out a Feraligatr.
"I choose Spinarak!" Bugsy said, sending out his Spinarak.
"You'll never beat me!" Iarumas said. "I specialize in the Slash attack! Feraligatr, Slash attack!"
Feraligatr charged at Spinarak, drawing his arm back, preparing to slash Spinarak with its claws.
"Spinarak, Night Shade!" Bugsy said.
Spinarak stood on its legs and fired a burst of black energy from its back at Feraligatr.
Feraligatr was blasted backwards a few feet.
Bugsy mentally thanked himself for having studied after having lost to Ash. Before Ash Bugsy hadn't known Spinarak had such an attack.
"Feraligatr, lower its Defense statistic with your Screech attack!" Iarumas shouted.
Feraligatr opened its mouth and emitted a horrible screeching sound.
Spinarak covered its ears, its Defense statistic lowered greatly.
"Now the Slash attack will do more damage! Feraligatr, Slash attack!" Iarumas commanded.
Feraligatr charged at Spinarak again, and this time it was able to slash Spinarak with its claws.
Spinarak stumbled back a bit, weakened.
Bugsy, however, had a plan.
"Spinarak, give it a Screech of your own!" Bugsy said.
Spinarak screeched at Feraligatr, lowering its Defense.
"Now Leech Life!" Bugsy said.
Spinarak jumped onto Feraligatr, biting it and leeching its energy away and into Spinarak.
This actually knocked Feraligatr unconscious, to Iarumas's surprise.
"Oh, don't look so shocked," Bugsy said. "Screech lowers Defense, so physical attacks do more damage. Leech Life is a physical attack, so it did more damage, and it also gives life to the user, so the more damage the move did, the more Spinarak healed itself!"
"Spinarak has beaten Feraligatr," the referee declared.
Iarumas, muttering under his breath, recalled Feraligatr.
"Go, Sandslash!" Iarumas said, sending out a Sandslash. "Show them the mighty power of the Slash attack!"
"You rely way too much on Slash for some reason," Bugsy said.
Then he shrugged and said, "Well, every trainer has their own style. Spinarak, Fury Swipes!"
"Counter its Fury Swipes with your Fury Swipes!" Iarumas said.
Spinarak leaped at Sandslash and attempted to swipe at it repeatedly with its legs.
At the same time, Sandslash leaped at Spinarak and attempted to swipe at it repeatedly with its claws.
Sandslash's claws had a longer reach than Spinarak's legs, so it was Sandslash who ended up connecting with the attack.
"Now, Slash!" Iarumas shouted.
Sandslash used its Slash on Spinarak, knocking it out.
"Sandslash has defeated Spinarak," the referee declared.
Bugsy recalled Spinarak.
"Go, Metapod!" Bugsy said, sending out a Metapod.
"A Metapod? This should be easy! Sandslash, Slash!" Iarumas shouted.
"Metapod, Harden," Bugsy said.
Metapod glowed, hardening itself.
Sandslash's Slash attack connected, but it didn't do a lot of damage.
"Try again!" Iarumas said.
"Harden again," Bugsy said.
Again, Metapod hardened itself, so when the Slash connected, it did even less damage than before.
"Grr...let's see Metapod defend itself when it's poisoned! Sandslash, Poison Sting!" Iarumas commanded.
Sandslash jumped into the air, curled up into a ball, and sent lots of poisonous white needles at Metapod.
"Metapod, jump!" Bugsy shouted.
Metapod jumped into the air.
"Tackle!" Bugsy said.
Metapod slammed itself onto Sandslash's head, knocking Sandslash out.
"Metapod has beaten Sandslash," the referee declared.
"What the frick?!" Iarumas screamed. "Sandslash was beaten by a (expletive deleted) Metapod!"
"First, this Metapod's well-trained, and second, I must have gotten a critical hit," Bugsy said.
Iarumas uttered another swear word, recalling Sandslash.
"Now, my most powerful Pokemon! Go, Parasect!" Iarumas said, sending out a Parasect.
Bugsy was confused.
"Your most powerful Pokemon is a Parasect?" Bugsy asked.
"You'll see why," Iarumas said. "Parasect, Poison Powder!" Parasect sent a purple powder at Metapod, covering it.
Slowly, Metapod began to look sicker and sicker.
"Oh no!" Bugsy said.
"Oh yes!" Iarumas gloated. "Parasect's my most powerful Pokemon, and that's because it has the most experience because it wins lots of battles by both poison and the Slash attack. Speaking of which: Parasect, Slash attack!"
Parasect proceeded to slash Metapod.
In Metapod's hardened state, this normally wouldn't have knocked it out, but Metapod's Harden had no affect on being poisoned, so the poison combined with the Slash resulted in Metapod's defeat.
"Parasect has beaten Metapod," the referee declared.
Bugsy recalled Metapod.
"Congratulations on making it this far, but you'll never beat...Scyther! Go!" Bugsy said, sending out Scyther, his most powerful Pokemon.
From then on, this match was no contest.
Scyther was simply too fast, and Parasect was too slow.
Scyther just used its speed to dash around Parasect repeatedly, hitting it with Slash attacks...which, ironically, were what Iarumas specialized in.
It took only 57 seconds to knock out Parasect.
"Scyther has beaten Parasect, and Bugsy keeps the Hive Badge," the referee declared.
"Oh well, I might as well eat a snack before eating," Iarumas said.
Iarumas took out what looked to be some kind of meat, and began eating it.
Except...the skin on the meat was blue!
"What's wrong with that meat?" Bugsy asked.
"Beats me, but it tastes great!" Iarumas said. "I bought it before coming here."
"It might be poisonous," Bugsy warned. "The skin on meat shouldn't be blue."
"Who cares?" Iarumas said, walking out of the gym, eating his snack.
Bugsy turned to the referee, who had almost started to walk out as well.
"Do have any idea why the skin on that meat is blue?" "Perhaps," the referee said. "A new shop has opened in Azalea Town, and it's sold lots of what it calls 'The Tasty Blue Meat Of Mystery'. No one knows what the meat is, but because it tastes so good, no one has bothered to ask."
"Have you asked?" Bugsy asked him.
"I'm afraid it slipped my mind," the referee said.
"Go about your business," Bugsy said. "I'm checking out that meat myself. If the people running the shop haven't already declared what kind of meat it is, and if the skin on the meat is blue, then something's fishy around here."
"Well, good luck on finding out," the referee said.
Then, the referee walked out of the gym.
Soon, Bugsy recalled Scyther, put a "Temporarily Closed" sign on the door of his gym, and walked out.
Bugsy usually followed his instincts, and his instincts were telling him that something was really...really...wrong.
When Bugsy got to the shop that was selling the "Tasty Blue Meat Of Mystery", he walked right in.
The inside of the shop looked perfectly ordinary enough.
There was a man behind the desk, and Bugsy walked up to this man.
"Excuse me, sir, but I have a couple of questions about your meat," Bugsy said.
"What sort of question?" the man asked.
"Why is the skin blue?" Bugsy asked. "And why won't you say what kind of meat it is?"
Suddenly the man's expression changed to one of anger.
"Mind your own beeswax, you nosy brat!" the man said, tossing Bugsy out of his shop...
When Bugsy had gotten up and dusted himself off, he reflected on how sudden the man's reaction had been.
There had been no good reason for that sort of reaction.
If the man had been angry with Bugsy's questions, fine; but there was no cause for tossing Bugsy out of the shop.
This had to be investigated.
Soon, Bugsy saw the man hurriedly walk out of his shop, put a "Closed, We're Going Someplace Else" sign on the door, and then walk back inside.
Bugsy thought this was weird, too.
Why close up shop so suddenly after Bugsy had asked his questions...unless they had something to hide?
In the man's haste, he had left the door slightly ajar.
It was only slightly open...but that was enough so it wasn't locked.
Bugsy walked back inside the shop.
When he got back inside, though, no one was there.
That's when Bugsy noticed a trap-door in the corner.
Bugsy opened the trap-door and went down it.
What he saw...scared him nearly out of his wits.
He was in a large room, and there were members of the nefarious and infamous Team Rocket organization everywhere.
They were hurriedly packing up something, and there were machines with blades everywhere.
And on the walls...there was blood everywhere!
Bugsy hid behind one of the boxes in the room, so he wasn't seen.
He saw a Team Rocket member pass by one of the boxes, and what the Team Rocket member was carrying sent chills through his bones.
It was a Horsea, and it was in a cage.
It had a look of extreme terror on its face.
Now Bugsy saw that all of the Team Rocket members were carrying Horseas in cages.
Apparently they had started packing up to go somewhere else because Bugsy had showed up asking questions.
Now Bugsy strained his ears so he could hear what they were saying.
"Darn kid!" one Team Rocket member said. "He had to show up asking questions! If we don't get out of here soon everyone will show up asking questions!"
Bugsy wondered why Team Rocket was so paranoid...until he heard another one's next words.
"Yeah, and pretty soon our Horsea-slaughtering operation will be found out!" another Team Rocket member said. "We can't afford that! We spent a lot of effort to steal those Horseas so we could slaughter them and sell them as meat delicacies for big bucks!"
Bugsy thought he was going to be sick.
These heartless Team Rocket members were evil!
They were slaughtering poor, innocent, defenseless Horseas to sell them as meat for their own selfish gain!
Everyone knew it was illegal to slaughter Pokemon.
The source of meat for the Pokemon world was regular animals that weren't Pokemon.
To slaughter Horseas for money...that was just depraved.
Bugsy had to stop this, even if he had to take them all on himself.
He wasn't precisely alone, though.
He had his Pokemon.
And he was the Gym Leader. Sure he should be able to take out these losers. After all, Team Rocket was notorious for not training their Pokemon well.
"Stop, you sick-minded murderers!!!" Bugsy screamed, standing up and revealing himself.
Every Team Rocket Member froze, looking directly at Bugsy.
"You must be the kid who showed up asking questions!" one Team Rocket member said.
Another one breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Well now we don't need to move. All we need to do now is arrange for your untimely disappearance. That way, you'll never be able to plant suspicion in anyone else's minds like we thought you would."
They all started advancing on Bugsy.
"Spinarak, Metapod, Scyther, go!" Bugsy said, calling out his Pokemon.
One Team Rocket member pointed at another three.
"You three are the only ones here with Pokemon of your very own! Take care of his Pokemon!" that one said.
The three Team Rocket trainers sent out their Pokemon.
One Pokemon was an Umbreon, the second was a Magikarp, and the third was a Victreebel.
Umbreon and Victreebel looked ready for battle, but Magikarp was literally a "fish out of water", just flopping around on the land.
"Spinarak, you take on Umbreon! Metapod, take care of Magikarp! Scyther, get rid of Victreebel!" Bugsy said.
Spinarak quickly made short work of Umbreon with its Leech Life attack, Metapod was able to knock out Magikarp with one Tackle, and Scyther managed to finish off Victreebel with a Wing Attack.
Sweatdropping, the Team Rocket trainers recalled their Pokemon.
"That was pathetic," some Team Rocket member said.
"Never mind, get the kid!" another replied.
Bugsy smirked.
His Pokemon would take care of these people.
Sure enough, Spinarak went to work, unleashing barrages of Poison Stings on groups of members.
Metapod kept jumping and Tackling others.
What Scyther did was a no-brainer. It flew around the room making short work of whoever it encountered.
Soon, all of the Team Rocket members were lying on the ground, unconscious.
That is...except one, who had hidden behind Bugsy the whole time.
Now that one grabbed Bugsy by the throat, trying to strangle him.
"Ha! Let's see you get out of this one, chump!" the Team Rocket member said. "You'll die eventually with me holding back your air!"
But the Team Rocket member had just done a very stupid thing.
Bugsy was a Gym Leader, and he couldn't have become one without being a very good trainer.
Ergo, Bugsy's Pokemon were very, very loyal to him.
So, understandably, they were extremely pissed off that this Team Rocket chump was trying to kill their trainer by strangulation.
Scyther uttered something in Pokemon language that sounded sort of like, "LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU CREEP!"
Then Spinarak rammed into the Team Rocket member, ramming him off of Bugsy.
Bugsy dropped to the ground, gasping for air.
Meanwhile, Bugsy's Pokemon were now administrating a beat-down to the Team Rocket member.
Bugsy turned his eyes away so he didn't see what they were doing, but he could hear sounds of hits landing, and he could hear cries of, "Ow, stop it! Ow, quit it! Ow! Ow! OWWWWWWW! OWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"
Then, it was over.
Bugsy looked at the Team Rocket member, who he now saw had gotten a very serious beating.
Now all of the Team Rocket members were unconscious.
Bugsy thanked his Pokemon, petting them.
They looked like they were just glad to help, so Bugsy recalled them.
He then went around the room, scooping up the very small cages hold the Horseas, who, now that they were no longer in danger of being heartlessly slaughtered for meat, looked much happier...
Much later, all of the Horseas had been placed in the Pokemon Centers so they would lead happy lives until their trainers came to claim them or until it was found that they were wild.
Also, anyone who had bought and eaten the Horsea meat now looked disgusted that they had been unwittingly eating slaughtered Pokemon.
Except for Iarumas...he hadn't seemed particularly upset that he'd eaten a Horsea that had been slaughtered. He only cared that it had tasted great, and now thanks to Bugsy there wouldn't be any more.
Before he could complain to Iarumas, though, he took a look at one of the Horseas in the Pokemon center.
He saw how happy it looked to have been saved from certain death...and suddenly he felt guilty having been about to complain to Bugsy.
As for Bugsy himself, he was viewed by most as a hero for having stopped Team Rocket, the members of whom were arrested.
The only bad news is, not nearly all of the Team Rocket members had taken part, and the ones that did, and had been captured, weren't saying anything about their organization.
However...at least the innocent Horseas had been saved.
That was what counted, right?
The End
E-mail all questions and comments to bleifer@msn.com.