Jason Creight awoke to the sound of Fearow's squawking.
His eyes opened instantly, and his brain sent impulses roaring through him to get moving, no matter how sluggish he felt.
They were almost there. There would be no other reason Fearow was cawing.
Jason pushed himself into a sitting position and looked beyond Fearow's wing to the expansive ocean below. Directly below them was Pumello Island, the last in the series of Orange Islands he would be forced to visit before finally finding Daniel and Kelly.
*I won't let anyone get in my way of getting her back. Not Drake. Not Johnson. And, most certainly, not Daniel.*
The tingling in his legs was back again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if the tingling occurred whenever he had strong emotions about something... it was what had happened on previous occasion.
Perhaps it was a sympathy to his determination.
Whatever the reason, Jason couldn't worry about it. Day was breaking, and he had four days left to retrieve Kelly and have it out with his brother.
*I'll do it. Nothing will stop me.*
Fearow circled around, descending from its high altitude swiftly and smoothly. It seemed to sense the urgency of the situation, and it understood that its master needed to move very quickly.
Moments later, they touched down on a path near the island's coastline.
Jason climbed into his wheelchair, as he had so many times before, his legs providing him a strange sensation to be distracted by. He recalled Fearow to its capture ball; he knew that though it was a powerful Pokemon, it would stand less of a chance against Drake than many of his other Pokemon. His primary use for Fearow was transportation, something Fearow had understood and accepted from the beginning; now it was simply happy to serve its master in any way it could.
"You've done well for me, Fearow," Jason muttered to the ball, hoping Fearow could hear him.
He moved up the path toward the Pokemon Center; he would need to get his best team together, and quickly.
Any laziness would cost, both him and Kelly.
***
Amanda's scream resounded throughout the laboratory.
Oak stared ahead, expressionless, his eyes gleaming a bright yellow. He didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular... he simply stared right through Adam and Amanda, into space.
"Professor, what's happened to you?" Adam muttered, more to himself than the professor. He was still clutching his wrist in surprise from when Oak had suddenly grabbed it and popped a bone into place. He looked down at Espeon. "What happened, Espeon?"
Espeon closed its eyes and reached out with its mind, trying to touch Oak's, trying to discover what had caused this sudden transformation. It wasn't natural, whatever it was, they were sure of that... perhaps a search of Oak's memory was the only way to find out...
Oak suddenly seemed to gain focus, and he snapped his head in Espeon's direction. His face clouded, and yellow energy blasted from his eyes. Espeon saw it at the last instant and dodged; the energy beams left char marks in the floor.
Adam and Amanda jumped back even further at this. How had he become like this?
Oak got to his feet in one fluid motion, the glow in his eyes intensifying. It was also beginning to change color, shifting from yellow to orange, to red, to purple.
And, unexpectedly, another blast of energy seared at the grouping of humans and Pokemon. Everyone dodged; in the process, Adam fell onto his side, his shoulder grinding uncomfortably. He groaned.
The energy, however, still caught one creature after another, stunning all of them.
Oak glanced from one being to another. Apparently satisfied that they were all incapacitated, at least for the moment, he turned away from them and back to his computer console. He tapped in a command.
The overhead LCD screen sprang to life.
Across it, larger than life, was Giovanni from the shoulders up.
He glared down at Oak. "What do you think you're doing?! I told you I do not wish to be disturbed!"
Oak turned slightly toward the humans and Pokemon lying on the floor. Giovanni saw them, and his deep frown turned into a sadistic grin. "Well, well. We have guests, do we?"
He sat back and steepled his fingers. "I suppose it would be wrong to refuse to show them all possible courtesy... Wait there. I will arrive momentarily."
Adam struggled to stay conscious as Oak nodded and cut the link. His eyes darted around, trying to find Espeon... he found it lying on the floor about a meter away from him... just past arm's reach...
*What could make something like that happen to Professor Oak?* Adam wondered. *Genetic enhancements? DNA resequencing? No, no... nothing of that kind could manifest this quickly...*
Then, a more conventional thought came to mind. *Perhaps it's a Pokemon. One that's taken over his mind and body. But the only kind of Pokemon that could do that would be... ghost Pokemon...*
His left fingers, just millimeters away form his capture ball belt, crept toward the nearest slot...
Oak whirled, apparently having sensed what Adam was doing.
*It's got to be a psychic, at least... no other Pokemon could have--*
Oak's glowing eyes began to intensify.
*Oh, no...*
Adam took his chance, clutched the ball, enlarged it, and--
Oak's eyes blasted another pair of energy beams, catching Adam in his midsection.
Adam grunted and blacked out.
The ball dropped out of his hand and rolled to a stop on the floor.
Oak stared at it for a moment.
The ball opened by itself. A neon bolt lanced out, arcing in midair, and landed on the floor. The bolt solidified into a Pokemon.
And there stood Adam's Umbreon, ready to take on the Pokemon residing in Oak's body.
***
Jason was careful about his choices. He wanted a "full" team, a team that ranged widely in types. He was also careful to try and choose a team with very few weaknesses. Inevitably, he ended up with weaknesses, but hopefully they wouldn't be what Drake expected.
He wheeled himself over to Nurse Joy, who stood patiently at the front desk. She smiled politely at him. "Hello. Can I help you?"
"I'm looking to completely restore these Pokemon, whatever condition they're in. And I'm also looking to battle the Johto League champion. I've been given to understand he battles here."
"He does. If you'll hand me your capture balls, I'll take care of those Pokemon directly," she responded. "Then I'll take care of your registration."
"Thanks."
Nurse Joy handed Jason a tray with six half-sphere indentations in it, clearly meant to hold capture balls. He placed each of the six he'd carefully selected into the slots and handed it back to Nurse Joy. She smiled. "If you'll allow me a minute, I will be right back out."
Jason nodded. He could afford a minute. He imagined even Kelly, imprisoned though she was by his brother, could afford a minute.
His thoughts clouded. *But a minute in his captivity is still a minute too long. I need to get her out as fast as I can.*
Nurse Joy came back out. "It won't take long; most of your Pokemon are already battle-ready, and all of them are certainly battle-worthy. In the meantime, we'll take care of your registration. Your Pokemon license, please?"
Jason handed his license to Nurse Joy. Her brow rose somewhat when she read that Jason was a full-fledged Pokemon master; Jason smiled slightly. He rather enjoyed that reaction.
"Impressive record, Mr. Creight," she said. "These are tough leagues to defeat. I imagine the Orange League has been a piece of cake by comparison."
"It's had its difficulties," Jason told her.
"Hmm. I'll need your badges for authentication. You have all of them, I assume?"
"Yes." Jason removed each badge from his vest and handed them one by one to Nurse Joy. She entered them into a scanner, verifying that they were authentic Orange League badges.
"All right," she said. "You're qualified."
"Good. How soon can I battle Drake?"
"That depends on him."
"I really would prefer to take care of it as soon as possible. I don't want to stick around long."
"I understand, Mr. Creight, but Drake can't simply charge into battle at the drop of a hat," she responded, not unkindly. "He has to ready his Pokemon, just as you're readying yours. There's also the publicity... people around here don't get to see a Pokemon battle too often."
Jason swatted his hand through the air. "Forget the publicity... I'm in a hurry."
"Can you wait until tomorrow morning to do it?"
"Yes, but--"
"Tomorrow morning is the very latest that he will be available to battle. At the earliest, it would be this evening. I'm sorry, Mr. Creight, but you'll have to wait. He isn't even on the island right now... he's taking care of some urgent business of his own."
Jason breathed deeply, trying to calm himself. It's not as if it was really her choice, anyway. "Tomorrow morning?"
"Yes, Mr. Creight. Tomorrow morning, 9:00 at the very latest." Nurse Joy spoke in a calming voice, trying to quell Jason's exasperation.
He sighed heavily. "All right. Thanks. I'll be back later."
He turned and wheeled out of the Pokemon Center.
All he could do now was wait.
He might as well do what he could to pass the time.
***
Umbreon and Oak stared each other down, Umbreon's red eyes burning as fiercely as Oak's purple eyes.
Umbreon knew it couldn't hit the psychic without getting it out of Oak's body first, and that meant it had to attack Oak himself. It didn't like the idea; all the attacks it possessed were physical in nature, which meant it could do a significant amount of damage to Oak's body.
It glanced down at its fallen master, who was unconscious from the effect of the Psybeam that had been unleashed upon him. It knew that Oak stood a better chance of surviving if it tried to do as little damage to him... but on the other hand, it wouldn't purge the psychic if it did such weak damage.
It had to stall.
It charged forward and rammed its head into Oak's belly: a Quick Attack, dulled down somewhat.
The wind was knocked out of Oak and he smashed ino the computer console he'd been working at. He didn't utter a sound, which didn't surprise Umbreon; the psychic probably had not connected to Oak's pain receptors, in which case it wouldn't cry out.
Umbreon used its mouth to wrench a capture ball off Adam's belt. It dropped it on the ground, hit the enlarger button with its paw, and kicked the ball forward.
The ball opened, and Vaporeon came out.
It knew precisely what it had to do.
Oak got to his feet, and his eyes charged again.
Vaporeon blasted a stream of pressurized water from its mouth, sending Oak flying across the room and into another array of computers.
Umbreon padded at Espeon, trying to awaken it.
Oak struggled back to his feet, his face filled with fury.
Vaporeon sprayed him again, pushing him back into the console he'd landed on, now virtually destroyed.
Espeon's eyes opened sleepily; it hadn't completely fainted yet, despite the psychic assault.
Oak got back to his feet yet again, advancing toward them, his glowing eyes filled with vicious intent.
Espeon got to its feet, saw Oak coming toward them, and used a Psybeam attack. The multicolored energy blasted from the red jewel in its forehead, hitting Oak fully in the chest.
Oak opened his mouth and he emitted an inhuman shriek, something akin to the sound of tearing metal.
Adam jerked awake to the sound, his teeth automatically grinding at the vibrations it produced. His skin, from scalp to stump, was covered in goosebumps. He shuddered.
Espeon used another Psybeam on the creature. Oak screeched again.
A blast of water flew from Vaporeon again, knocking Oak into the destroyed console a third time.
The psychic Pokemon that had taken him over remained in place, held there by the Psybeam that was still in use. Oak was literally ripped away form the psychic... or perhaps it was the other way around.
Either way, the effect was the same.
They now faced a Misdreavus.
Wrapped in the Psybeam, it screamed defiantly at Espeon and its compatriots.
Espeon stopped the Psybeam and used a Psychic attack on Misdreavus. The surrounding area became dark, and Espeon seemed to gather all that light, turning into an entity of blinding energy. It sent that light roaring toward Misdreavus.
There was no way Misdreavus, still reeling from the Psybeam, could avoid the attack. The light hit it dead-on and threw it across the room.
Unable to even maintain a vaporous form, its suddenly solid body landed on the floor and stayed there.
Adam, mesmerized on the spot, took a few seconds to realize that it was over. He groaned and pushed himself up, crawling to Amanda's side. She was still unconscious, as were Magneton and Jolteon.
He shook her arm. "Amanda! Wake up! Amanda!"
Her head lolled to the side and she groaned softly.
"Amanda! We've got to get out of here!"
"Ridiculous. You're not going anywhere."
Adam whirled.
Standing in the middle of the entrance, blocking their only way out, was Giovanni.
***
Jason returned to the Pokemon Center a few hours later to retrieve his Pokemon, having meandered his way through the city stores and library. As he entered the center, Nurse Joy looked up and smiled.
"Good news, Mr. Creight. Drake is willing to battle this evening, 7:00. Is that a good time for you?"
"Any time is a good time for me, just as long as it's as soon as humanly possible."
"All right, then. I suppose you're here for your Pokemon, right?"
"I am, indeed."
"They're ready to be picked up. Just a moment."
Nurse Joy went through a door marked "Employees Only" while Jason waited. He was feeling less and less patient by the minute... he was afraid he would have none left by the time Nurse Joy came back out with his capture balls.
Fortunately, that didn't happen. Nurse Joy returned a moment later with the tray of capture balls he'd handed to her hours earlier.
"Thanks." He plucked each ball from the tray and placed them in appropriate order on his belt. "Any suggestions for a good place to eat?"
"There's a restaurant near the stadium called Twilight. It's supposed to have some pretty good food."
"Supposed to? You've not been there in all your time here?"
Nurse Joy shrugged. "We've got food supplies for humans and Pokemon here. After all, I need to spend a lot of my time here, as I'm sure you can understand."
Jason nodded. "Of course." He turned to leave.
"Remember, tonight at 7:00. Be at the stadium at 6:30."
"Right." Jason left the center to get some food. He felt rather guilty about doing such a thing... eating a nice full dinner, enjoying his freedom to what he wanted... while in some godforsaken area of the Orange Islands, Kelly was suffering at the hands of his brother.
It didn't seem fair.
*Probably because it isn't.*
But Jason really had no choice in the matter. There was no point in eating at a seedy place when he wasn't the one in captivity. He didn't need to act like he was the captive, not for Kelly's benefit. How would she benefit from such activities as that? He was no use to her when he was worse off than she was.
So he decided to find the restaurant.
It wasn't as if he had anything better to do.
***
Promptly at 7:00, the massive metal door rose swung outward, and Jason squinted at the sudden light flooding the doorway.
On the other side of the stadium arena, a similar door opened.
And there stood Drake.
He was dressed rather casually, in a loose, short-sleeved white shirt and a red vest over top. To contrast with the vest were loose blue pants... whether they were sweats or jeans, Jason couldn't tell.
His legs had been tingling, annoying him no end for the past three hours. Even when he rubbed at them, he couldn't seem to relieve the tingling. It had been mild at first, but now it had turned into pins and needles, much more unpleasant than what had begun after the surgery.
He tried to ignore it as the cheer of the crowd went up. Apparently, around Pumello Island, whenever there was a Pokemon battle involving Drake, at least half the population dropped whatever they were doing and rushed to the stadium to get tickets for the event. The other half asked the "dropouts" to go buy tickets for them... an "I'll pay you back later" type of deal that both amused and annoyed Jason. He'd hoped he could resolve this at least semi-privately... he'd had a secret battle with Lance to become a Pokemon master, after all.
He sighed. If this was how they were to settle it, then so be it.
He'd take whatever he could get.
Drake began to walk into the arena, and Jason started spinning his wheels, eager to get the match started. He paid little attention to the banter of the announcer ("Here they come, ladies and gentlemen! This should prove to be one of the more interesting matches we've seen lately!"), and concentrated on making it to his trainer's box. The earplugs they'd been provided with certainly helped in that matter.
Jason thought about his strategy. He was aware that Drake had strong Pokemon, and he'd heard rumors that there was a Dragonite in the mix. In that case, Jason knew he had to be cautious, had to try and take out Drake's other Pokemon fast and hard.
Drake smiled gamely at Jason. "Ready?"
"Whenever you are," Jason responded.
"And it looks as if they're ready to battle!" the announcer called.
A referee stepped up to the right boundary of the field, raised his arm in the air, kept it there for a moment...
The hand chopped through the air with one brisk motion. "Begin!"
Jason and Drake tossed their first capture balls at the same time.
Drake's was a tough-looking Ditto.
Jason's was Tommy's former Pokemon, Steelix.
Jason dived right into battle, wasting no time. "Steelix, Iron Tail!"
"Ditto, Transform!"
Ditto morphed into a Steelix that somehow looked softer, weaker than the veteran that snaked before it now.
Steelix loomed forward and swung its huge, spiked tail around, landing a solid blow across Ditto's middle. Ditto squirmed to the side and glared at its opponent.
"All right, Ditto, now use your own Iron Tail attack!"
"Steelix, Crunch!"
Metal screamed on metal as Ditto executed its first attack, and again as Steelix caught Ditto's flailing tail in its jaws and clamped down hard. Ditto shrieked a Steelix scream, and tried to wrench its tail out of Steelix's mouth. There was another sound of metal rending, and sparks flew in all directions as Steelix's teeth scraped against Ditto's copied body.
Again, Jason found himself thankful for his earplugs.
"Ditto, use Crunch!"
Jason shook his head. *Just copying my moves, now. Try this on for size.* "Steelix, use Dig!"
Ditto moved to exact revenge on Steelix for the damage it had done, but the pointed end of Steelix's tail began to whir, and it burrowed a hole deep into the ground before Ditto could catch it.
"Ditto, use your own Dig attack!"
But it was too late for Ditto to avoid Steelix through that method. Steelix crashed upward, bursting out from under Ditto and sending it flying. Its metal body hit the ground hard, and its groaning could be heard throughout the stadium like a giant electric beater in a mixing bowl.
Ditto struggled back up, and it burrowed into the ground as Steelix had.
Jason now had a grim smile. "Steelix, Earthquake!"
Steelix obliged its master immediately, raising itself at high as it could before finally letting itself topple to the ground facefirst. The resulting shock caught Ditto in its underground sanctuary, even though the transforming Pokemon was well-hidden from most other attacks.
The hit was enough. Ditto struggled back to the surface and flopped over the edge of the hole it had made. It reverted to its previous form, a blob of pink jelly.
"Ditto is unable to battle!" shouted the ref.
Up on the massive scoreboard mounted on one of the wide walls of the stadium, the picture of Drake's Ditto faded to gray.
"Nice going, Jason," Drake congratulated. "But you won't win so quickly against Venusaur!"
With that remark, Drake's next Pokemon hit the field. His Venusaur did indeed look tough, and against Steelix, it would be even more devastating, as Steelix was already damaged, resistant though it was to Grass types.
And Jason wanted to keep all of his Pokemon active, in case the rumors were true and Drake really did have a Dragonite in the mix.
*It would explain why he's got a Poke ball on a chain around his neck...*
"With Steelix, you'd probably be right," said Jason. "But it won't be Steelix you'll fight. Steelix, return! Go, Charizard!"
Jason's Charizard exited its ball with a roar. Now that it had been revitalized, it was ready to see some action against a true competitor.
Drake nodded in acknowledgment. "Very well. Venusaur, Vine Whip!"
"Charizard, Fly!"
Venusaur's vine whips flew out of its body and slapped at Charizard, who instinctively blocked the hits as best it could as it took to the air. Within seconds, it was out of Venusaur's reach.
Drake scoffed. "Venusaur, Sunny Day!"
Jason frowned. *He must be losing his mind. Sunny Day doesn't just power up Grass type attacks, it powers up Fire types, as well. Surely he knew that...*
In the meantime, any clouds in the sky were quickly dissipated by the mystic power Venusaur possessed, allowing the sun to burn more brightly. Jason squinted out at the battlefield, trying to see the warring Pokemon, then reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses.
It was now a new turn, and Jason took his chance. With Sunny Day in effect, he'd have no problem taking Venusaur out... "Charizard, Fire Blast!"
"Venusaur, Solarbeam!"
*Ohh, no... that's why he used Sunny Day.* Jason belatedly remembered that Solarbeam took only one turn instead of two with Sunny Day in effect, and Venusaur could attack right now with it, rather than wait for Charizard to fly out of reach...
Venusaur's reaction to the order was instantaneous, its flower collecting light energy at an unbelievable rate. The blast lanced out at Charizard before Jason even realized Venusaur was fully powered up.
The blast drove Charizard across the arena, roaring in pain and surprise. But its counterattack was just as fierce, the figure of fire blasting across the distance, more powerful than ever, to wash over its target in a bath of flame. Venusaur roared just as loudly as Charizard had, quite a feat, in Jason's opinion.
"Venusaur, another Solarbeam!"
"Charizard, Seismic Toss!"
Charizard took to the air and circled around behind Venusaur. Venusaur, confused by the action, held in its rapidly stored energy, and Charizard picked it up from behind, heaving the Grass type Pokemon onto its broad back and flying high.
Charizard had Venusaur in a firm grip, and high above the stadium, Venusaur preferred it that way. Charizard began circling in a huge loop, moving faster and faster until Venusaur was so off-balance that it was tempted to jump off Charizard's back just to make the spinning stop.
Charizard stopped spinning at that moment and flew straight down, down, down to the stadium far below, moving faster and faster with each instant...
It pulled Venusaur off its back and *threw* it to the ground, pulling up just in time to avoid the same fate. Venusaur hit hard, raising a cloud of dust and dirt from the field.
When the dirt cleared, Venusaur was down for the count.
"Venusaur is unable to battle!" the ref shouted.
On the scoreboard, the icon for Drake's Venusaur faded.
Drake recalled Venusaur and chose his next Pokemon silently this time, simply lobbing the ball into the field.
It was a Gengar.
*Ah, he's got one of his own, does he? Well, so do I... but I want this to be a smart match.* "Charizard, return! Go, Dragonair!"
As it had many times before, the area around the capture ball shone even more brightly than it normally did with the light from a neon bolt, as Jason's Dragonair revealed itself. Jason could hear the crowd and the announcer collectively gasp at his Pokemon... that he would possess a Dragonair, whose evolution was Dragonite, was rare enough... but to have one with such unique features...
The announcer said as much, and the crowd "oohed" and "aahed" at Dragonair.
Dragonair was having none of it, something Jason was grateful for. It was good to know he'd trained it properly... he recalled what he'd always told it: "Pay no attention to how other people think of you and just focus on the task at hand."
And the task at hand was beating that Gengar.
"Dragonair, Dragonbreath!" Jason called.
Dragonair responded by letting loose a stream of fluid blue fire from its mouth, blasting away at Gengar. Gengar groaned and glowered at its sparkling opponent.
"Gengar, Night Shade!"
A curtain of darkness lowered over the stadium as Gengar executed its psychic attack... the hit, while damaging, did little to affect Dragonair.
*He's got to be smarter than that,* Jason thought. *Maybe all he's got are psychic attacks. In that case, this should be a relatively easy win.*
"Dragonair, Extremespeed!"
"Gengar, Psybeam!"
A multicolored energy ball formed between Gengar's chubby hands and soared across the stadium to strike Dragonair. Dragonair shook it off and returned the favor, slamming into Gengar full force.
Gengar gave ground, stumbling backward from the blow.
"Gengar, Hypnosis!"
"Dragonair, Hyper Beam!"
Jason didn't actually expect the Hyper Beam to take Gengar out... on the other hand, if Gengar were to try Hypnosis and it actually worked, it was best to do the most damaging attack while he still could.
A ball of light appeared above Dragonair's forehead and increased exponentially in size. The ball emitted a red-orange beam aimed directly at Gengar and blasted its full contents out at the ghost Pokemon.
The beam hit Gengar in the midsection, knocking it across the arena and back toward its master. It cried out as it soared through the air. It landed hard and laid there for a moment... but it rose into the air again, still able and willing to battle.
Gengar opened its mouth and let out a shriek on a frequency too high to be heard by humans. That scream could still be heard by many Pokemon.
And Dragonair was apparently not among those Pokemon, staring at Gengar, wondering mildly if it was actually supposed to be doing something or not.
Jason grinned. *Another point for me.* Although it would take the rest of this turn for Dragonair to regain its strength, he wasn't worried now. Drake had virtually nothing on Dragonair as far as Gengar was concerned.
"Gengar, Psybeam!"
The attack struck Dragonair... but didn't do much more than that.
Dragonair perked up, whereas before it had looked slightly hunched; its strength was back, and it wanted to get back into the action.
It was a new turn. And Jason was ready. "Dragonair, Extremespeed!"
"Gengar, another Psybeam!"
*Apparently, Drake is content to tire out Dragonair's power points, if not its hit points.* It made no difference to Jason; it was another lost Pokemon for Drake, as far as he was concerned.
The Psybeam again was ineffective on Dragonair.
But Dragonair's Extremespeed attack was quite effective on Gengar.
This time, it didn't get back up.
Drake recalled his Pokemon. He then stepped back from his trainer's box.
The announcer took the opportunity to call out, "It looks as if the field is about to change, ladies and gentlemen!"
Jason backed his chair away from the field as well, knowing what was coming. He recalled Dragonair from the field.
The feeling of elation dissipating upon the retraction of Dragonair from the field was almost tangible. The crowd didn't "awww," but Jason could distinctly sense a feeling of... something akin to disappointment.
On the field, the two halves of the flat plain-like field parted and slid into hidden sections under the stadium ground, giving way to a new field rising out of the depths. This one was covered with rocks and boulders, giving Jason reason to believe that perhaps, Drake's next selection would be a Ground type.
After the field had finished shifting, Drake stepped back into his trainer box and considered his next Pokemon for a few moments. He then released his fourth selection... Onix.
*Nuts. I was hoping to avoid having to reveal Gyarados so early in the game... but with Hydro Pump, it's got the best chance. And a resistance to Ground attacks doesn't hurt, either.* "Go, Gyarados! Hydro Pump!"
"Onix, Rock Throw!"
Gyarados was fiercely bombarded with the boulders littering the field, but it wouldn't be stopped as a great blast of water flowed from its mouth, spraying Onix up and down. Onix roared, not expecting such a brutal attack so quickly.
When the Hydro Pump ceased, Onix already looked as if it were ready to faint. However, it did no such thing; it reared back and roared defiantly at Gyarados. The two giant snake-like Pokemon stared each other down.
Jason knew Onix didn't need another Hydro Pump to be taken down. "Gyarados, Dragon Rage!"
"Onix, Strength!"
Onix conjured a gigantic boulder from the smaller ones across the field, melding them into one. It used its tail to toss the rock at Gyarados. It landed... and broke over Gyarados's back.
Gyarados didn't even flinch.
Then it blasted a stream of blue-green fire across the arena, lighting up the crowd's mass of faces and setting Onix up for a fall.
And fall, it did.
Drake frowned. "Onix, return." He had only one active Pokemon on his belt now, and he tossed that one. "Electabuzz, let's see what we can do!"
Jason thought about this for a moment. *Gyarados could take it... so could any of the others... but it's probably best to keep my other Pokemon hidden.* "Gyarados, let's try this one out!"
The announcer was abuzz with this news. "Creight is keeping Gyarados out for this match! What will be the outcome?"
Drake ignored the announcer. "Electabuzz, Thunder attack!"
"Gyarados, Mirror Coat!"
A tower of lightning came searing down from the dark sky, landing atop Gyarados... but it brought its Mirror Coat up in time, and the attack was deflected straight at the Pokemon that had called it. Electabuzz was knocked backward by its own attack.
"Electabuzz, Thunder Punch!"
"Gyarados, Crunch!"
Electabuzz ran up and slugged Gyarados across the jaw, sparks flying from the blow. Gyarados's head spun around, but that became its advantage; it allowed itself to spin around and it lunged forward, catching Electabuzz up in its jaws and lifting it high above the ground. It sunk its teeth into Electabuzz, and the electric Pokemon cried out.
Gyarados spun its head around and around, finally releasing Electabuzz. Electabuzz flew off, but landed on its feet on the other side of the arena. The distance was between them once again.
"Electabuzz, Quick Attack!"
"Gyarados, Hydro Pump!"
And even before the order was out of Jason's mouth, Electabuzz flinched.
It hadn't heard a word Drake had said, and it wouldn't be attacking this turn.
Gyarados, on the other hand, would be. Water sprayed out of its mouth, shoving Electabuzz back with a hundred times the strength of a fire hose. Electabuzz was knocked over by the sheer force of it.
"Electabuzz, Swift!"
"Gyarados, Dragon Rage!"
The glowing spikes that Electabuzz conjured passed the stream of green-blue fire Gyarados emitted in midair, and the attacks struck with the same intensity; Gyarados was rudely slapped backward, and Electabuzz was singed badly.
"Quick Attack!"
"Crunch!"
Electabuzz slugged Gyarados again, and Gyarados used the same tactic it had before to catch Electabuzz in its mouth. It worked.
When Electabuzz was released, it stayed on the ground.
Jason could hear the announcer somewhere in the back of his mind... "Ladies and gentlemen, this is amazing! Creight has shut out Drake in this match! He is totally dominating the battle! But that may change, if Drake has an ace in the hole! What will he reveal?"
Drake recalled Electabuzz and spoke softly to the ball, something Jason couldn't hear over the deafening roar of the crowd.
Then, slowly, he reached to the ball on the necklace and pulled it from the magnetic cup that held it there.
The cheering rose to fever pitch and beyond... Jason had no doubt that wherever Daniel was, he could hear what was going on.
And he knew, with burning clarity, that the rumors had to be true.
Drake wouldn't provide him with such an easy battle. Not after he'd heard so much about what competition he provided.
Jason knew that Drake had trounced trainer after trainer.
And while he fully intended to win this battle, he was expecting more of a challenge.
He knew that with the contents of that one minimized capture ball, Drake would give him all the challenge he needed.
Drake enlarged the ball, waited another moment...
Then tossed it into the air.
The ball opened, spilling its neon contents.
Jason grinned.
The rumors had been true.
It was a Dragonite.
The crowd was deafening, almost through the earplugs. They were eating it up.
Jason began to nod. Somewhere, deep in his heart, he'd known it all along, even if he'd doubted it at first.
*I knew it.*
*But I'll take it on.*
Jason Creight nodded on.
To Be Continued
His eyes opened instantly, and his brain sent impulses roaring through him to get moving, no matter how sluggish he felt.
They were almost there. There would be no other reason Fearow was cawing.
Jason pushed himself into a sitting position and looked beyond Fearow's wing to the expansive ocean below. Directly below them was Pumello Island, the last in the series of Orange Islands he would be forced to visit before finally finding Daniel and Kelly.
*I won't let anyone get in my way of getting her back. Not Drake. Not Johnson. And, most certainly, not Daniel.*
The tingling in his legs was back again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if the tingling occurred whenever he had strong emotions about something... it was what had happened on previous occasion.
Perhaps it was a sympathy to his determination.
Whatever the reason, Jason couldn't worry about it. Day was breaking, and he had four days left to retrieve Kelly and have it out with his brother.
*I'll do it. Nothing will stop me.*
Fearow circled around, descending from its high altitude swiftly and smoothly. It seemed to sense the urgency of the situation, and it understood that its master needed to move very quickly.
Moments later, they touched down on a path near the island's coastline.
Jason climbed into his wheelchair, as he had so many times before, his legs providing him a strange sensation to be distracted by. He recalled Fearow to its capture ball; he knew that though it was a powerful Pokemon, it would stand less of a chance against Drake than many of his other Pokemon. His primary use for Fearow was transportation, something Fearow had understood and accepted from the beginning; now it was simply happy to serve its master in any way it could.
"You've done well for me, Fearow," Jason muttered to the ball, hoping Fearow could hear him.
He moved up the path toward the Pokemon Center; he would need to get his best team together, and quickly.
Any laziness would cost, both him and Kelly.
***
Amanda's scream resounded throughout the laboratory.
Oak stared ahead, expressionless, his eyes gleaming a bright yellow. He didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular... he simply stared right through Adam and Amanda, into space.
"Professor, what's happened to you?" Adam muttered, more to himself than the professor. He was still clutching his wrist in surprise from when Oak had suddenly grabbed it and popped a bone into place. He looked down at Espeon. "What happened, Espeon?"
Espeon closed its eyes and reached out with its mind, trying to touch Oak's, trying to discover what had caused this sudden transformation. It wasn't natural, whatever it was, they were sure of that... perhaps a search of Oak's memory was the only way to find out...
Oak suddenly seemed to gain focus, and he snapped his head in Espeon's direction. His face clouded, and yellow energy blasted from his eyes. Espeon saw it at the last instant and dodged; the energy beams left char marks in the floor.
Adam and Amanda jumped back even further at this. How had he become like this?
Oak got to his feet in one fluid motion, the glow in his eyes intensifying. It was also beginning to change color, shifting from yellow to orange, to red, to purple.
And, unexpectedly, another blast of energy seared at the grouping of humans and Pokemon. Everyone dodged; in the process, Adam fell onto his side, his shoulder grinding uncomfortably. He groaned.
The energy, however, still caught one creature after another, stunning all of them.
Oak glanced from one being to another. Apparently satisfied that they were all incapacitated, at least for the moment, he turned away from them and back to his computer console. He tapped in a command.
The overhead LCD screen sprang to life.
Across it, larger than life, was Giovanni from the shoulders up.
He glared down at Oak. "What do you think you're doing?! I told you I do not wish to be disturbed!"
Oak turned slightly toward the humans and Pokemon lying on the floor. Giovanni saw them, and his deep frown turned into a sadistic grin. "Well, well. We have guests, do we?"
He sat back and steepled his fingers. "I suppose it would be wrong to refuse to show them all possible courtesy... Wait there. I will arrive momentarily."
Adam struggled to stay conscious as Oak nodded and cut the link. His eyes darted around, trying to find Espeon... he found it lying on the floor about a meter away from him... just past arm's reach...
*What could make something like that happen to Professor Oak?* Adam wondered. *Genetic enhancements? DNA resequencing? No, no... nothing of that kind could manifest this quickly...*
Then, a more conventional thought came to mind. *Perhaps it's a Pokemon. One that's taken over his mind and body. But the only kind of Pokemon that could do that would be... ghost Pokemon...*
His left fingers, just millimeters away form his capture ball belt, crept toward the nearest slot...
Oak whirled, apparently having sensed what Adam was doing.
*It's got to be a psychic, at least... no other Pokemon could have--*
Oak's glowing eyes began to intensify.
*Oh, no...*
Adam took his chance, clutched the ball, enlarged it, and--
Oak's eyes blasted another pair of energy beams, catching Adam in his midsection.
Adam grunted and blacked out.
The ball dropped out of his hand and rolled to a stop on the floor.
Oak stared at it for a moment.
The ball opened by itself. A neon bolt lanced out, arcing in midair, and landed on the floor. The bolt solidified into a Pokemon.
And there stood Adam's Umbreon, ready to take on the Pokemon residing in Oak's body.
***
Jason was careful about his choices. He wanted a "full" team, a team that ranged widely in types. He was also careful to try and choose a team with very few weaknesses. Inevitably, he ended up with weaknesses, but hopefully they wouldn't be what Drake expected.
He wheeled himself over to Nurse Joy, who stood patiently at the front desk. She smiled politely at him. "Hello. Can I help you?"
"I'm looking to completely restore these Pokemon, whatever condition they're in. And I'm also looking to battle the Johto League champion. I've been given to understand he battles here."
"He does. If you'll hand me your capture balls, I'll take care of those Pokemon directly," she responded. "Then I'll take care of your registration."
"Thanks."
Nurse Joy handed Jason a tray with six half-sphere indentations in it, clearly meant to hold capture balls. He placed each of the six he'd carefully selected into the slots and handed it back to Nurse Joy. She smiled. "If you'll allow me a minute, I will be right back out."
Jason nodded. He could afford a minute. He imagined even Kelly, imprisoned though she was by his brother, could afford a minute.
His thoughts clouded. *But a minute in his captivity is still a minute too long. I need to get her out as fast as I can.*
Nurse Joy came back out. "It won't take long; most of your Pokemon are already battle-ready, and all of them are certainly battle-worthy. In the meantime, we'll take care of your registration. Your Pokemon license, please?"
Jason handed his license to Nurse Joy. Her brow rose somewhat when she read that Jason was a full-fledged Pokemon master; Jason smiled slightly. He rather enjoyed that reaction.
"Impressive record, Mr. Creight," she said. "These are tough leagues to defeat. I imagine the Orange League has been a piece of cake by comparison."
"It's had its difficulties," Jason told her.
"Hmm. I'll need your badges for authentication. You have all of them, I assume?"
"Yes." Jason removed each badge from his vest and handed them one by one to Nurse Joy. She entered them into a scanner, verifying that they were authentic Orange League badges.
"All right," she said. "You're qualified."
"Good. How soon can I battle Drake?"
"That depends on him."
"I really would prefer to take care of it as soon as possible. I don't want to stick around long."
"I understand, Mr. Creight, but Drake can't simply charge into battle at the drop of a hat," she responded, not unkindly. "He has to ready his Pokemon, just as you're readying yours. There's also the publicity... people around here don't get to see a Pokemon battle too often."
Jason swatted his hand through the air. "Forget the publicity... I'm in a hurry."
"Can you wait until tomorrow morning to do it?"
"Yes, but--"
"Tomorrow morning is the very latest that he will be available to battle. At the earliest, it would be this evening. I'm sorry, Mr. Creight, but you'll have to wait. He isn't even on the island right now... he's taking care of some urgent business of his own."
Jason breathed deeply, trying to calm himself. It's not as if it was really her choice, anyway. "Tomorrow morning?"
"Yes, Mr. Creight. Tomorrow morning, 9:00 at the very latest." Nurse Joy spoke in a calming voice, trying to quell Jason's exasperation.
He sighed heavily. "All right. Thanks. I'll be back later."
He turned and wheeled out of the Pokemon Center.
All he could do now was wait.
He might as well do what he could to pass the time.
***
Umbreon and Oak stared each other down, Umbreon's red eyes burning as fiercely as Oak's purple eyes.
Umbreon knew it couldn't hit the psychic without getting it out of Oak's body first, and that meant it had to attack Oak himself. It didn't like the idea; all the attacks it possessed were physical in nature, which meant it could do a significant amount of damage to Oak's body.
It glanced down at its fallen master, who was unconscious from the effect of the Psybeam that had been unleashed upon him. It knew that Oak stood a better chance of surviving if it tried to do as little damage to him... but on the other hand, it wouldn't purge the psychic if it did such weak damage.
It had to stall.
It charged forward and rammed its head into Oak's belly: a Quick Attack, dulled down somewhat.
The wind was knocked out of Oak and he smashed ino the computer console he'd been working at. He didn't utter a sound, which didn't surprise Umbreon; the psychic probably had not connected to Oak's pain receptors, in which case it wouldn't cry out.
Umbreon used its mouth to wrench a capture ball off Adam's belt. It dropped it on the ground, hit the enlarger button with its paw, and kicked the ball forward.
The ball opened, and Vaporeon came out.
It knew precisely what it had to do.
Oak got to his feet, and his eyes charged again.
Vaporeon blasted a stream of pressurized water from its mouth, sending Oak flying across the room and into another array of computers.
Umbreon padded at Espeon, trying to awaken it.
Oak struggled back to his feet, his face filled with fury.
Vaporeon sprayed him again, pushing him back into the console he'd landed on, now virtually destroyed.
Espeon's eyes opened sleepily; it hadn't completely fainted yet, despite the psychic assault.
Oak got back to his feet yet again, advancing toward them, his glowing eyes filled with vicious intent.
Espeon got to its feet, saw Oak coming toward them, and used a Psybeam attack. The multicolored energy blasted from the red jewel in its forehead, hitting Oak fully in the chest.
Oak opened his mouth and he emitted an inhuman shriek, something akin to the sound of tearing metal.
Adam jerked awake to the sound, his teeth automatically grinding at the vibrations it produced. His skin, from scalp to stump, was covered in goosebumps. He shuddered.
Espeon used another Psybeam on the creature. Oak screeched again.
A blast of water flew from Vaporeon again, knocking Oak into the destroyed console a third time.
The psychic Pokemon that had taken him over remained in place, held there by the Psybeam that was still in use. Oak was literally ripped away form the psychic... or perhaps it was the other way around.
Either way, the effect was the same.
They now faced a Misdreavus.
Wrapped in the Psybeam, it screamed defiantly at Espeon and its compatriots.
Espeon stopped the Psybeam and used a Psychic attack on Misdreavus. The surrounding area became dark, and Espeon seemed to gather all that light, turning into an entity of blinding energy. It sent that light roaring toward Misdreavus.
There was no way Misdreavus, still reeling from the Psybeam, could avoid the attack. The light hit it dead-on and threw it across the room.
Unable to even maintain a vaporous form, its suddenly solid body landed on the floor and stayed there.
Adam, mesmerized on the spot, took a few seconds to realize that it was over. He groaned and pushed himself up, crawling to Amanda's side. She was still unconscious, as were Magneton and Jolteon.
He shook her arm. "Amanda! Wake up! Amanda!"
Her head lolled to the side and she groaned softly.
"Amanda! We've got to get out of here!"
"Ridiculous. You're not going anywhere."
Adam whirled.
Standing in the middle of the entrance, blocking their only way out, was Giovanni.
***
Jason returned to the Pokemon Center a few hours later to retrieve his Pokemon, having meandered his way through the city stores and library. As he entered the center, Nurse Joy looked up and smiled.
"Good news, Mr. Creight. Drake is willing to battle this evening, 7:00. Is that a good time for you?"
"Any time is a good time for me, just as long as it's as soon as humanly possible."
"All right, then. I suppose you're here for your Pokemon, right?"
"I am, indeed."
"They're ready to be picked up. Just a moment."
Nurse Joy went through a door marked "Employees Only" while Jason waited. He was feeling less and less patient by the minute... he was afraid he would have none left by the time Nurse Joy came back out with his capture balls.
Fortunately, that didn't happen. Nurse Joy returned a moment later with the tray of capture balls he'd handed to her hours earlier.
"Thanks." He plucked each ball from the tray and placed them in appropriate order on his belt. "Any suggestions for a good place to eat?"
"There's a restaurant near the stadium called Twilight. It's supposed to have some pretty good food."
"Supposed to? You've not been there in all your time here?"
Nurse Joy shrugged. "We've got food supplies for humans and Pokemon here. After all, I need to spend a lot of my time here, as I'm sure you can understand."
Jason nodded. "Of course." He turned to leave.
"Remember, tonight at 7:00. Be at the stadium at 6:30."
"Right." Jason left the center to get some food. He felt rather guilty about doing such a thing... eating a nice full dinner, enjoying his freedom to what he wanted... while in some godforsaken area of the Orange Islands, Kelly was suffering at the hands of his brother.
It didn't seem fair.
*Probably because it isn't.*
But Jason really had no choice in the matter. There was no point in eating at a seedy place when he wasn't the one in captivity. He didn't need to act like he was the captive, not for Kelly's benefit. How would she benefit from such activities as that? He was no use to her when he was worse off than she was.
So he decided to find the restaurant.
It wasn't as if he had anything better to do.
***
Promptly at 7:00, the massive metal door rose swung outward, and Jason squinted at the sudden light flooding the doorway.
On the other side of the stadium arena, a similar door opened.
And there stood Drake.
He was dressed rather casually, in a loose, short-sleeved white shirt and a red vest over top. To contrast with the vest were loose blue pants... whether they were sweats or jeans, Jason couldn't tell.
His legs had been tingling, annoying him no end for the past three hours. Even when he rubbed at them, he couldn't seem to relieve the tingling. It had been mild at first, but now it had turned into pins and needles, much more unpleasant than what had begun after the surgery.
He tried to ignore it as the cheer of the crowd went up. Apparently, around Pumello Island, whenever there was a Pokemon battle involving Drake, at least half the population dropped whatever they were doing and rushed to the stadium to get tickets for the event. The other half asked the "dropouts" to go buy tickets for them... an "I'll pay you back later" type of deal that both amused and annoyed Jason. He'd hoped he could resolve this at least semi-privately... he'd had a secret battle with Lance to become a Pokemon master, after all.
He sighed. If this was how they were to settle it, then so be it.
He'd take whatever he could get.
Drake began to walk into the arena, and Jason started spinning his wheels, eager to get the match started. He paid little attention to the banter of the announcer ("Here they come, ladies and gentlemen! This should prove to be one of the more interesting matches we've seen lately!"), and concentrated on making it to his trainer's box. The earplugs they'd been provided with certainly helped in that matter.
Jason thought about his strategy. He was aware that Drake had strong Pokemon, and he'd heard rumors that there was a Dragonite in the mix. In that case, Jason knew he had to be cautious, had to try and take out Drake's other Pokemon fast and hard.
Drake smiled gamely at Jason. "Ready?"
"Whenever you are," Jason responded.
"And it looks as if they're ready to battle!" the announcer called.
A referee stepped up to the right boundary of the field, raised his arm in the air, kept it there for a moment...
The hand chopped through the air with one brisk motion. "Begin!"
Jason and Drake tossed their first capture balls at the same time.
Drake's was a tough-looking Ditto.
Jason's was Tommy's former Pokemon, Steelix.
Jason dived right into battle, wasting no time. "Steelix, Iron Tail!"
"Ditto, Transform!"
Ditto morphed into a Steelix that somehow looked softer, weaker than the veteran that snaked before it now.
Steelix loomed forward and swung its huge, spiked tail around, landing a solid blow across Ditto's middle. Ditto squirmed to the side and glared at its opponent.
"All right, Ditto, now use your own Iron Tail attack!"
"Steelix, Crunch!"
Metal screamed on metal as Ditto executed its first attack, and again as Steelix caught Ditto's flailing tail in its jaws and clamped down hard. Ditto shrieked a Steelix scream, and tried to wrench its tail out of Steelix's mouth. There was another sound of metal rending, and sparks flew in all directions as Steelix's teeth scraped against Ditto's copied body.
Again, Jason found himself thankful for his earplugs.
"Ditto, use Crunch!"
Jason shook his head. *Just copying my moves, now. Try this on for size.* "Steelix, use Dig!"
Ditto moved to exact revenge on Steelix for the damage it had done, but the pointed end of Steelix's tail began to whir, and it burrowed a hole deep into the ground before Ditto could catch it.
"Ditto, use your own Dig attack!"
But it was too late for Ditto to avoid Steelix through that method. Steelix crashed upward, bursting out from under Ditto and sending it flying. Its metal body hit the ground hard, and its groaning could be heard throughout the stadium like a giant electric beater in a mixing bowl.
Ditto struggled back up, and it burrowed into the ground as Steelix had.
Jason now had a grim smile. "Steelix, Earthquake!"
Steelix obliged its master immediately, raising itself at high as it could before finally letting itself topple to the ground facefirst. The resulting shock caught Ditto in its underground sanctuary, even though the transforming Pokemon was well-hidden from most other attacks.
The hit was enough. Ditto struggled back to the surface and flopped over the edge of the hole it had made. It reverted to its previous form, a blob of pink jelly.
"Ditto is unable to battle!" shouted the ref.
Up on the massive scoreboard mounted on one of the wide walls of the stadium, the picture of Drake's Ditto faded to gray.
"Nice going, Jason," Drake congratulated. "But you won't win so quickly against Venusaur!"
With that remark, Drake's next Pokemon hit the field. His Venusaur did indeed look tough, and against Steelix, it would be even more devastating, as Steelix was already damaged, resistant though it was to Grass types.
And Jason wanted to keep all of his Pokemon active, in case the rumors were true and Drake really did have a Dragonite in the mix.
*It would explain why he's got a Poke ball on a chain around his neck...*
"With Steelix, you'd probably be right," said Jason. "But it won't be Steelix you'll fight. Steelix, return! Go, Charizard!"
Jason's Charizard exited its ball with a roar. Now that it had been revitalized, it was ready to see some action against a true competitor.
Drake nodded in acknowledgment. "Very well. Venusaur, Vine Whip!"
"Charizard, Fly!"
Venusaur's vine whips flew out of its body and slapped at Charizard, who instinctively blocked the hits as best it could as it took to the air. Within seconds, it was out of Venusaur's reach.
Drake scoffed. "Venusaur, Sunny Day!"
Jason frowned. *He must be losing his mind. Sunny Day doesn't just power up Grass type attacks, it powers up Fire types, as well. Surely he knew that...*
In the meantime, any clouds in the sky were quickly dissipated by the mystic power Venusaur possessed, allowing the sun to burn more brightly. Jason squinted out at the battlefield, trying to see the warring Pokemon, then reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses.
It was now a new turn, and Jason took his chance. With Sunny Day in effect, he'd have no problem taking Venusaur out... "Charizard, Fire Blast!"
"Venusaur, Solarbeam!"
*Ohh, no... that's why he used Sunny Day.* Jason belatedly remembered that Solarbeam took only one turn instead of two with Sunny Day in effect, and Venusaur could attack right now with it, rather than wait for Charizard to fly out of reach...
Venusaur's reaction to the order was instantaneous, its flower collecting light energy at an unbelievable rate. The blast lanced out at Charizard before Jason even realized Venusaur was fully powered up.
The blast drove Charizard across the arena, roaring in pain and surprise. But its counterattack was just as fierce, the figure of fire blasting across the distance, more powerful than ever, to wash over its target in a bath of flame. Venusaur roared just as loudly as Charizard had, quite a feat, in Jason's opinion.
"Venusaur, another Solarbeam!"
"Charizard, Seismic Toss!"
Charizard took to the air and circled around behind Venusaur. Venusaur, confused by the action, held in its rapidly stored energy, and Charizard picked it up from behind, heaving the Grass type Pokemon onto its broad back and flying high.
Charizard had Venusaur in a firm grip, and high above the stadium, Venusaur preferred it that way. Charizard began circling in a huge loop, moving faster and faster until Venusaur was so off-balance that it was tempted to jump off Charizard's back just to make the spinning stop.
Charizard stopped spinning at that moment and flew straight down, down, down to the stadium far below, moving faster and faster with each instant...
It pulled Venusaur off its back and *threw* it to the ground, pulling up just in time to avoid the same fate. Venusaur hit hard, raising a cloud of dust and dirt from the field.
When the dirt cleared, Venusaur was down for the count.
"Venusaur is unable to battle!" the ref shouted.
On the scoreboard, the icon for Drake's Venusaur faded.
Drake recalled Venusaur and chose his next Pokemon silently this time, simply lobbing the ball into the field.
It was a Gengar.
*Ah, he's got one of his own, does he? Well, so do I... but I want this to be a smart match.* "Charizard, return! Go, Dragonair!"
As it had many times before, the area around the capture ball shone even more brightly than it normally did with the light from a neon bolt, as Jason's Dragonair revealed itself. Jason could hear the crowd and the announcer collectively gasp at his Pokemon... that he would possess a Dragonair, whose evolution was Dragonite, was rare enough... but to have one with such unique features...
The announcer said as much, and the crowd "oohed" and "aahed" at Dragonair.
Dragonair was having none of it, something Jason was grateful for. It was good to know he'd trained it properly... he recalled what he'd always told it: "Pay no attention to how other people think of you and just focus on the task at hand."
And the task at hand was beating that Gengar.
"Dragonair, Dragonbreath!" Jason called.
Dragonair responded by letting loose a stream of fluid blue fire from its mouth, blasting away at Gengar. Gengar groaned and glowered at its sparkling opponent.
"Gengar, Night Shade!"
A curtain of darkness lowered over the stadium as Gengar executed its psychic attack... the hit, while damaging, did little to affect Dragonair.
*He's got to be smarter than that,* Jason thought. *Maybe all he's got are psychic attacks. In that case, this should be a relatively easy win.*
"Dragonair, Extremespeed!"
"Gengar, Psybeam!"
A multicolored energy ball formed between Gengar's chubby hands and soared across the stadium to strike Dragonair. Dragonair shook it off and returned the favor, slamming into Gengar full force.
Gengar gave ground, stumbling backward from the blow.
"Gengar, Hypnosis!"
"Dragonair, Hyper Beam!"
Jason didn't actually expect the Hyper Beam to take Gengar out... on the other hand, if Gengar were to try Hypnosis and it actually worked, it was best to do the most damaging attack while he still could.
A ball of light appeared above Dragonair's forehead and increased exponentially in size. The ball emitted a red-orange beam aimed directly at Gengar and blasted its full contents out at the ghost Pokemon.
The beam hit Gengar in the midsection, knocking it across the arena and back toward its master. It cried out as it soared through the air. It landed hard and laid there for a moment... but it rose into the air again, still able and willing to battle.
Gengar opened its mouth and let out a shriek on a frequency too high to be heard by humans. That scream could still be heard by many Pokemon.
And Dragonair was apparently not among those Pokemon, staring at Gengar, wondering mildly if it was actually supposed to be doing something or not.
Jason grinned. *Another point for me.* Although it would take the rest of this turn for Dragonair to regain its strength, he wasn't worried now. Drake had virtually nothing on Dragonair as far as Gengar was concerned.
"Gengar, Psybeam!"
The attack struck Dragonair... but didn't do much more than that.
Dragonair perked up, whereas before it had looked slightly hunched; its strength was back, and it wanted to get back into the action.
It was a new turn. And Jason was ready. "Dragonair, Extremespeed!"
"Gengar, another Psybeam!"
*Apparently, Drake is content to tire out Dragonair's power points, if not its hit points.* It made no difference to Jason; it was another lost Pokemon for Drake, as far as he was concerned.
The Psybeam again was ineffective on Dragonair.
But Dragonair's Extremespeed attack was quite effective on Gengar.
This time, it didn't get back up.
Drake recalled his Pokemon. He then stepped back from his trainer's box.
The announcer took the opportunity to call out, "It looks as if the field is about to change, ladies and gentlemen!"
Jason backed his chair away from the field as well, knowing what was coming. He recalled Dragonair from the field.
The feeling of elation dissipating upon the retraction of Dragonair from the field was almost tangible. The crowd didn't "awww," but Jason could distinctly sense a feeling of... something akin to disappointment.
On the field, the two halves of the flat plain-like field parted and slid into hidden sections under the stadium ground, giving way to a new field rising out of the depths. This one was covered with rocks and boulders, giving Jason reason to believe that perhaps, Drake's next selection would be a Ground type.
After the field had finished shifting, Drake stepped back into his trainer box and considered his next Pokemon for a few moments. He then released his fourth selection... Onix.
*Nuts. I was hoping to avoid having to reveal Gyarados so early in the game... but with Hydro Pump, it's got the best chance. And a resistance to Ground attacks doesn't hurt, either.* "Go, Gyarados! Hydro Pump!"
"Onix, Rock Throw!"
Gyarados was fiercely bombarded with the boulders littering the field, but it wouldn't be stopped as a great blast of water flowed from its mouth, spraying Onix up and down. Onix roared, not expecting such a brutal attack so quickly.
When the Hydro Pump ceased, Onix already looked as if it were ready to faint. However, it did no such thing; it reared back and roared defiantly at Gyarados. The two giant snake-like Pokemon stared each other down.
Jason knew Onix didn't need another Hydro Pump to be taken down. "Gyarados, Dragon Rage!"
"Onix, Strength!"
Onix conjured a gigantic boulder from the smaller ones across the field, melding them into one. It used its tail to toss the rock at Gyarados. It landed... and broke over Gyarados's back.
Gyarados didn't even flinch.
Then it blasted a stream of blue-green fire across the arena, lighting up the crowd's mass of faces and setting Onix up for a fall.
And fall, it did.
Drake frowned. "Onix, return." He had only one active Pokemon on his belt now, and he tossed that one. "Electabuzz, let's see what we can do!"
Jason thought about this for a moment. *Gyarados could take it... so could any of the others... but it's probably best to keep my other Pokemon hidden.* "Gyarados, let's try this one out!"
The announcer was abuzz with this news. "Creight is keeping Gyarados out for this match! What will be the outcome?"
Drake ignored the announcer. "Electabuzz, Thunder attack!"
"Gyarados, Mirror Coat!"
A tower of lightning came searing down from the dark sky, landing atop Gyarados... but it brought its Mirror Coat up in time, and the attack was deflected straight at the Pokemon that had called it. Electabuzz was knocked backward by its own attack.
"Electabuzz, Thunder Punch!"
"Gyarados, Crunch!"
Electabuzz ran up and slugged Gyarados across the jaw, sparks flying from the blow. Gyarados's head spun around, but that became its advantage; it allowed itself to spin around and it lunged forward, catching Electabuzz up in its jaws and lifting it high above the ground. It sunk its teeth into Electabuzz, and the electric Pokemon cried out.
Gyarados spun its head around and around, finally releasing Electabuzz. Electabuzz flew off, but landed on its feet on the other side of the arena. The distance was between them once again.
"Electabuzz, Quick Attack!"
"Gyarados, Hydro Pump!"
And even before the order was out of Jason's mouth, Electabuzz flinched.
It hadn't heard a word Drake had said, and it wouldn't be attacking this turn.
Gyarados, on the other hand, would be. Water sprayed out of its mouth, shoving Electabuzz back with a hundred times the strength of a fire hose. Electabuzz was knocked over by the sheer force of it.
"Electabuzz, Swift!"
"Gyarados, Dragon Rage!"
The glowing spikes that Electabuzz conjured passed the stream of green-blue fire Gyarados emitted in midair, and the attacks struck with the same intensity; Gyarados was rudely slapped backward, and Electabuzz was singed badly.
"Quick Attack!"
"Crunch!"
Electabuzz slugged Gyarados again, and Gyarados used the same tactic it had before to catch Electabuzz in its mouth. It worked.
When Electabuzz was released, it stayed on the ground.
Jason could hear the announcer somewhere in the back of his mind... "Ladies and gentlemen, this is amazing! Creight has shut out Drake in this match! He is totally dominating the battle! But that may change, if Drake has an ace in the hole! What will he reveal?"
Drake recalled Electabuzz and spoke softly to the ball, something Jason couldn't hear over the deafening roar of the crowd.
Then, slowly, he reached to the ball on the necklace and pulled it from the magnetic cup that held it there.
The cheering rose to fever pitch and beyond... Jason had no doubt that wherever Daniel was, he could hear what was going on.
And he knew, with burning clarity, that the rumors had to be true.
Drake wouldn't provide him with such an easy battle. Not after he'd heard so much about what competition he provided.
Jason knew that Drake had trounced trainer after trainer.
And while he fully intended to win this battle, he was expecting more of a challenge.
He knew that with the contents of that one minimized capture ball, Drake would give him all the challenge he needed.
Drake enlarged the ball, waited another moment...
Then tossed it into the air.
The ball opened, spilling its neon contents.
Jason grinned.
The rumors had been true.
It was a Dragonite.
The crowd was deafening, almost through the earplugs. They were eating it up.
Jason began to nod. Somewhere, deep in his heart, he'd known it all along, even if he'd doubted it at first.
*I knew it.*
*But I'll take it on.*
Jason Creight nodded on.
To Be Continued
