In our last episode. Seth was able to overcome many challenges and defeat his first gym. Meanwhile, Zeke has made it to his own gym and is ready to fight his battles. But what has become of Jax?
"You've got to be kidding me!" shouted a very irritated Jax.
"I'm sorry but it's not my fault the map's destroyed," argued Camilla.
"Maybe, but you said that we had to go in this direction for about three miles and we'd be at the settlement!"
"I did say that, but that was before we were attacked by Murkrows again. We most likely got disoriented by them!"
"Camilla's right," said Mack, stepping into the argument. "Come to think of it, I don't think the sun was to our let before the latest Murkrow attack."
Jax groaned. "Seriously, something has to be done about these Murkrow! They've been coming at us non-stop for days now!"
"You know, we have tried. But they always retreat and come back after a few hours. They're very desperate to get my jewelry," mused Camilla.
"Why don't you just give it to them?" asked Jax. "We can't go on like this."
Mack nodded. "Earlier I would have spoken against that, but now I'm not so sure."
"Why don't we just take them down once and for all?" asked Camilla.
Jax clutched his head in frustration. "You really do have severe short term memory loss. Didn't you just say we've tried and they keep coming back?"
"It's not that severe. And what I mean is that everytime we drive them away. But why stop at simply shooing them off. What's stopping us from pursuing them and completely finishing them off so they won't think about coming back?"
"I see your logic," said Mack. "But it's not that easy. This is a flock of about thirteen Murkrows. And they know all of our tricks at this point."
Jax raised an eyebrow. "I know this is a bit off topic, but isn't a group of Murkrows called-"
"I do have a point though," interrupted Mack. "Recently, it's been harder and harder to drive the flock off."
"They're actually called-"
"That just gives us more of a reason to drive them off. We're only delaying the inevitable. Eventually, they'll find a way to defeat us."
"Why are you guys interrupting me? It's as if you don't want me to correct you. A group of Murkrows is called a murder! What's so wrong- oh."
"You've figured it out," said Mack facepalming.
"Well making a big deal out of it isn't helping either. Anyways, I totally agree with what Camilla's saying. However, if we can set up a trap for them. We'll have a bigger chance of taking them out."
Mack slammed a fist into his palm. "I like that. We can set up a perfect trap, if we have the perfect bait."
Camilla noticed Mack looking pointedly at her. She glared at him and took a step back.
"I hope you're not saying-"
"Please Camilla," said Jax. "It will be better in the long run if we get rid of them now. It was your idea to get rid of them anyways. If you'd prefer, you can take your jewelry off and put them on a rock."
"Fine, I'll do it."
Jax turned to Mack. "See Mack, if you ask nicely, people will be more ready to agree."
"Or maybe she just listens to you," he said. Glancing suspiciously between the two of them.
Zeke's Group
Zeke walked through the gym hallway, ready. He crossed the gym stadium, eyes fixed on the person approaching him.
The person was a lady with blondish orangish hair and a yellow crop top. Zeke immediately recognized her as Misty.
They met each other in the middle and shook hands.
"You probably know who I am, so I'll keep this brief. I'm Misty."
"Zeke Enator."
"Well then Zeke, good luck."
They walked to their places in the field as the referee came.
"White, blue!" shouted the referee, pointing at Zeke and Misty respectively.
"The rules are simple, this is a two versus two! Each trainer is allowed one switch! First trainer to lose both Pokémon loses! Are we ready?"
Zeke gave a thumbs up as he chose Ga'hoole's pokéball.
The referee waved her flags excitedly. "Then let the battle begin!"
"Out, Ga'hoole!"
"Go, Staryu!"
The two Pokémon came out and faced each other in the ring. Zeke wasn't surprised at the Pokémon, as he knew Misty had a Starmie from when he used to watch her when he was young.
"You may think having a grass type guarantees victory! But I'll show you otherwise! Staryu, use Rapid Spin!"
"Dodge it and use Leafage!"
Misty's Staryu rushed head on at Ga'hoole, spinning horizontally. Ga'hoole flapped his wings and leaped into the air, avoiding the spinning star. The Staryu spun away as Ga'hoole used Leafage.
"Hmm, it's going to be hard for Ga'hoole to dodge Rapid Spin as the Pokémon gets faster. It was a narrow miss that time. Hitting it with Leafage is also going to be hard. There has to be a way I can slow it down. I can't be on the defensive or the Staryu's going to get extremely fast. Ga'hoole, use Leafage and don't let up!"
Ga'hoole rushed forward and opened his wings, causing leaves to fly out at the Staryu. The Staryu used Rapid Spin again and cleanly avoided the leaves. It flew in a horizontal arc and slammed into Ga'hoole.
"Now Staryu! Signal Beam!"
"Watch out Ga'hoole!"
Before Ga'hoole hit the ground, he tucked in his short legs. As the beam was coming at him, Ga'hoole hit the ground and started rolling. He easily dodged the Signal Beam and sprang to his feet, opening his wings and using Leafage again.
Zeke watched as the Staryu dodged again, expecting the horizontal arc, Ga'hoole dodged it narrowly. Zeke couldn't help but notice that Staryu was getting faster. He knew if it got too fast, defeating it would be a pain.
"Everytime I try using Leafage, the Staryu always dodges it and attacks. That means the only way to defeat it is to attack it while it's attacking since it's too fast. But once it gets too close with Rapid Spin, Ga'hoole won't be able to use Air Cutter or Leafage fast enough. I'll have to resort to using Astonish, and then try having Ga'hoole couple the attack with Leafage. Get ready Ga'hoole!"
"Staryu, use Signal Beam!"
"I can counter a ranged attack! Leafage, then dodge it!"
As the Staryu powered up Signal Beam, Ga'hoole sent his leaves flying at the Pokémon. He dove right as he sent his leaves and avoided the Signal Beam. Likewise, the Staryu dodged the leaves with Rapid Spin and was coming straight at him in another horizontal arc.
"Get ready!"
"Not this time. Staryu, flip yourself!"
Zeke watched in surprise as the Staryu flipped onto its side and spun in a vertical arc, attacking from above.
"Ga'hoole, use Astonish!"
"Dodge it!"
"Leafage!"
As Ga'hoole used Astonish, the Staryu altered its course and moved more diagonally, avoiding the Astonish and allowing the Staryu to immediately come back for another attack horizontally without moving away too much. However, this gave Ga'hoole the time needed to ready and use a Leafage right as it was about to hit. The leaves struck the Staryu and sent it flying, it dug into the ground while spinning before coming to a halt.
"You relied too much on speed and took a gamble on whether or not we could adapt to your Staryu's attacks. Reaction time is a greater kind of speed, use Leafage!"
"Staryu, use Rapid Spin. Stay on the ground!"
The Staryu avoided the Leafage and rolled on the ground like a living wheel. It charged at Ga'hoole. Who was about to flap his wings and fly over it.
"No wait! Ga'hoole, dodge to the side!"
Zeke's assumption turned out to be correct. He knew that it seemed so easy for Ga'hoole to dodge the Staryu if he just flew over it. But Zeke knew it couldn't be that obvious. Right as Ga'hoole dodged to the side rather than fly over it, the Staryu tilted and took to the air, barely missing Ga'hoole as he dodged.
"Dangit, this thing is too fast. I might have to switch in to Abba and rely on how much of an area she can cover with Revelation Dance. But I have faith in Ga'hoole, I know he can win! Watch out!"
Ga'hoole dodged another attack from the Staryu, the Pokémon moved like a shooting star. Its next strike hit Ga'hoole and sent him staggering.
"This Pokémon may be fast now, especially when it uses Rapid Spin, but there isn't too much force behind attacks. Still, Ga'hoole can't just take endless amounts of damage, so we can't hope to wear it out. Pokémon expend energy to not be seriously hurt by attacks. If Ga'hoole were to keep dodging endlessly like this, he won't have enough energy to properly defend himself and that'll cost us the battle. But I notice the Staryu isn't attacking so ferociously. Wait, Misty's staring at me, I haven't asked Ga'hoole to do something in a while. I-"
"Uh, hello?" asked Misty, waving to try and catch his attention. "You kind of blanked out there."
"Sorry, I was just formulating a plan to defeat you! Ga'hoole, use Leafage!"
"I'd like to see what this plan of yours is! Rapid Spin!"
Zeke watched as the Staryu dodged the attack again. Spinning straight for Ga'hoole.
"Astonish!"
"Dodge it and use Signal Beam!"
Zeke winced as the attack took Ga'hoole completely unprepared. But Ga'hoole easily got up as if he'd never been hurt.
"That Rapid Spin, I've got it! Everytime Ga'hoole attacks with Leafage, it always uses Rapid Spin to dodge. And it always does it in the same horizontal arc in the same direction. Alright Ga'hoole, get ready to use Leafage!"
"This again? Dodge it like always."
Zeke waited for a split second to verify its path before sending out his next command.
"That way! And then use Air Cutter!" he shouted, pointing in a particular direction.
Misty didn't realize what he'd been planning. The Staryu flew on a direct course towards the leaves, and neither of them realized it until too late.
The leaves smacked into the Staryu harder than usual and sent it flying. The Staryu struggled up, but then fainted.
"Staryu is unable to fight! Send out your last Pokémon!" the referee shouted, pointing her blue flag at Misty.
"How did your Pokemon manage to hit that?" she asked, genuinely surprised.
Zeke chuckled. "Allow me to explain. I noticed that whenever your Staryu dodged Leafage, it would always use Rapid Spin in a horizontal arc to the right. I knew that for Ga'hoole to lead his shot without it being too obvious, I would need to make the leaves move faster. That's where Air Cutter comes in. Air Cutter is basically extremely fast wind, so I used the move to boost the speed of Leafage seeing as Air Cutter would eventually catch up to the leaves even with the head start. With that small boost, the Leafage attack was able to hit your Staryu right after Air Cutter did. Air Cutter wasn't going to do too much because it won't deal any super effective damage, but it served to stop Staryu's momentum so that Leafage could hit. Also, I noticed that when Ga'hoole hit your Staryu the first time with Leafage, the move didn't have much effect because of how fast Staryu was spinning. Air Cutter however is a faster and more direct attack, thus breaking the Rapid Spin and allowing Leafage to deal normal damage."
Misty gave him a look. "Well that was a long explanation. But, I doubt your Pokémon can take my next Pokémon out! Go, Gyarados!"
The gigantic water dragon that is not a dragon appeared. Staring the small Rowlett down.
"Hmm, you're right with your assessment. Return Ga'hoole."
"Zeke has returned his Pokémon and is switching! He is out of switches for the rest of this match!" announced the referee, waving her white flag at Zeke.
"I choose you, Abba!"
The Pom-Pom Oricorio appeared, sparks dancing around her as she waved her pom-poms.
"You really have something against water types don't you?"
"No, the stars simply aligned for me when I met my wonderful Pokémon. Even if they didn't have the type advantage they'd still win! Abba's going to win easily."
Misty raised an eyebrow. "You wanna bet on that?"
"Why not? I bet Abba could beat you in three moves."
"Do so and I'll give you something? If you don't, I get something."
"All right. Two Revelation Dances and this will be over."
"That depends on if you can hit them. Dragon Dance!"
"Great, Misty seems to like fast Pokémon. Unfortunately, I can only use three moves unless I want to lose something. And I don't have much on me. Get ready to dodge Abba, we can't be attacking recklessly!"
"Good idea. Gyarados, use Ice Fang!"
"Now Abba!"
Right as the Gyarados came for her, she leapt away and caused it to miss. It rushed at her again, only for her to twirl out of the way.
"Alright, Revelation Dance!"
Before the Gyarados could recover, Abba waved her pom-poms and created a burst of electricity that slammed into the Gyarados. It shrieked in rage as it recoiled. It turned around and put some distance between it and Abba.
"Great, that's one! However, I think that Gyarados has learnt its lesson. It's most likely not going to behave as recklessly as before. Abba, we should play defensive."
"Really, after a powerful attack like that you're being defensive?"
"When I said Abba could beat your Gyarados with three moves. I was being serious."
"Alright then, Gyarados, use Dragon Dance again!"
"Again? Dang it, Air Cutter!"
Abba sent sharp blades of air rushing at the Gyarados. The Pokémon shrieked and shook its head, trying to clear the pain from the attack. Unlike Revelation Dance, Air Cutter had a faster execution and traveled faster, allowing it to effectively break the Gyarados' Dragon Dance.
"I'm surprised you did that rather than Revelation Dance. No matter, use Waterfall!"
"Dodge it!"
Abba twirled away from the Gyarados, causing it to whip around and lash out of frustration.
"Use Ice Fang!"
The Gyarados tried over and over again to try and hit Abba with Ice Fang, but missed every time. Zeke couldn't help but notice that the Gyarados seemed shorter than before.
"Now, extend!"
"What the-"
The Gyarados suddenly stretched out to almost double its current length. It slammed into Abba with Ice Fang and sent her flying.
"Don't you see what my Gyarados did? He's able to shorten his body length, and then extend himself whenever he wants to! Your Pokémon thought she was out of range, but I was simply letting her feel a sense of security before striking. Now, Waterfall!"
The Gyarados came straight at Abba, boring down on the small Pokémon. Abba simply laid there.
"We were waiting for that. Revelation Dance!"
Both Misty and Gyarados realized their mistake. Abba stood up perfectly fine as if nothing happened. She waved her pom-poms and created a huge blast of electricity. The Gyarados shrieked in pain as the electricity shocked it and the water around its body. The Gyarados crumpled right in front of Abba, who peered at it closely.
"And that's the third move."
The referee walked slowly to the Gyarados and looked at it briefly. "Gyarados is unable to fight! Zeke is the winner! " she shouted, pointing her blue flag at Misty.
"Well congratulations. I assume you'll be wanting your prize?"
"That's okay. Earning something isn't the fun part."
Misty smiled. "Y'know, you remind me of someone who battled me almost twenty years ago when I first started being a gym leader. He didn't talk much but he battled a lot like you. Always had that one plan up his sleeve. You'll go far. Good luck with the rest of your journey."
"Thanks. Wait, twenty years ago? How old are you?"
"Thirty five."
"What! I thought you weren't that older than me. And you've been wearing the same attire for twenty years?"
"Celebrities never wear different things."
Zeke was walking out of the gym with his friends. He unfortunately had to listen to Cyrus taunt him.
"I still can't believe you didn't know she was that old!" laughed Cyrus. "You should've seen the look on your face."
"It would have been funnier on yours," muttered Zeke.
"Seriously why'd you think she was that young?"
"The first time I saw her on TV was when my family moved to Johto when I was sixteen. I was watching the annual Johto Kanto league and she didn't look much older than me."
"Oh, did you have a-"
"Of course not! I was just surprised that someone so young could be a gym leader."
"Well you were wrong cause she was twenty seven then! How do you mess something up like that?" Cyrus asked, continuing to laugh uncontrollably.
"You know," said Carolina. "I saw someone in the water gym who had the swimming abilities as a paralyzed Torucat."
Cyrus stopped laughing.
Zeke nodded in understanding. "You mean Cyrus? He should really learn proper water treading techniques. I saw no difference between him and a Magikarp."
Cyrus was hurt now. "Guys, this isn't funny."
Carolina and Zeke both looked at him, "So you say."
Jax's Group
"This is it. We'll drive the Murkrows away once and for all! Get ready cause here they come!"
Everyone clutched their pokéballs as the Murkrows approached Camilla's jewelry that was lying on a rock. While most would think they'd recognize the jewelry and realize it was a trap since it wasn't on Camilla, but they were too focused on getting it that they disregarded anything else.
"Wait for it, wait for it. Now! Go, Valdez! Go, Virgil!"
"Go and get em' Bucky!"
"Out, Vulpix!"
The Murkrows stopped in mid-flight, shocked at the sudden appearance of Jax's Eevee and Chimchar, Camilla's Alolan Vulpix, and Mack's Tyrouge.
"Alright guys, don't let a single one of them get away! Virgil, Take Down! Valdez, use Mach Punch!"
Both his Pokémon flew forward, taking advantage of the Murkrows' surprise. Virgil slammed into one, taking it out of the sky while Valdez punched one and then another.
"Vulpix, ue Icy Wind!"
"Bucky, Rock Tomb!"
The two attacks hit some of the Murkrow. One of them snatched the jewelry as the others fell.
"Valdez, attack the one with the jewelry!"
Valdez dashed forward and delivered a sharp blow to the head of the thief. The Murkrow went flying as it dropped the piece of jewelry.
"Vulpix, use Aurora Beam!"
A Murkrow screeched as the beam of light slammed into it. Another Murkrow fell as Virgil rammed into him.
The Murkrow were in a panic now. They all started flying away, hoping to employ their usual tried and true tactic of running away. They circled around and tried flying back. Angry at themselves for getting so greedy.
"Not this time! Valdez, Flame Wheel!"
Valdez ran at the fleeing Murkrows and leaped into the air while spinning. He slammed into two Murkrows and unleashed a flurry of punches at them.
By the time he was finished, three Murkrows lay defeated. He stood stone still as the other four Pokémon pursued the Murkrow. Then, he suddenly started glowing a bright white.
Valdez's shape grew and changed. His limbs grew longer as something grew on his neck. When the glow faded, he was a Monferno.
"Awesome! Fighting all these Murkrows must have given you a lot of experience. Good thing you evolved too. Cause it's about time these Murkrow learnt their lesson. Flame Wheel! Virgil, use Take Down!"
Virgil momentarily glanced at Valdez's new form. He quickly turned his head away and sniffed, as if saying that he was still stronger. As if to prove that notion, Virgil went all out against the Murkrow.
Eventually, all the Murkrows were defeated. Valdez, Virgil, Bucky, and Camilla's Vulpix stood triumphantly over their recurring foe. The one that had caused them so much trouble over the past few days.
"Hey look!" shouted Mack. "I can see the settlement from here!"
Jax leaped into the air excitedly. "Yes! Soon, I can fight the gym and I'll be one step closer to being the winner. But I must say something, sorry for getting annoyed with you Camilla."
"Thank you for apologizing. But I must ask, what were you getting annoyed with me about? I can't seem to recall you ever getting annoyed with me. You're too much of a gentleman for that."
Jax opened his mouth to say something, but then wondered if he should just take the compliment and leave it at that. He looked to Mack for guidance, but the backpacker simply shrugged. He looked at his Pokémon, but neither of them were looking at him.
"Why thank you kind madam," said Jax with an exaggerated Galarian accent.
Camilla giggled at the comment. Valdez sighed and did a facepalm. He seemed to have perfected the action, though that was probably because of how many times he did it around Jax.
Aaron's Group
"I'm telling you. I saw it around here somewhere, now be quiet while I find it," said Aaron.
He and his team were stalking through the tall grass. They had been heading to the normal gym when Aaron had caught the sight of an interesting Pokémon. Of course, the Pokémon noticed him as well and immediately ran.
"Are you sure we should be wasting time chasing after a Pokémon you thought you saw?" asked Clara.
"Look, we all know how this will turn out. I find the Pokémon and prove you wrong. This isn't the Calzei Region, Pokémon here are abundant."
"Exactly. You thought you saw a Pokémon you'd think is good for your team, but it turns out to be a-"
"There! I choose you, Hoot Hoot!"
Aaron's Hoothoot appeared in a burst of light and dove at a small shape in the grass. Hoot Hoot slammed into the Pokémon and caused it to come tumbling out of the grass.
"I knew it! I did see an Espurr!"
Aaron brought out his Pokédex and pointed it at the Espurr.
"It has enough psychic energy to blast everything within three hundred feet of itself, but it has no control over its power." read the Pokédex.
"Well that could be troublesome. No matter. Hoot Hoot, use Wing Attack!"
Hoot Hoot flew up and attacked it, the Pokémon offered no resistance and was sent sprawling. As soon as it got up, it turned tail and tried to run.
"Hoot Hoot, use Gust!"
Hoot Hoot flapped his wings, causing a spiral of wind to lift the Espurr slightly off its feet. It stumbled onto the ground and slowly got up.
The Espurr rushed at Hoot Hoot, swinging its claws wildly. Aaron knew that no matter how shy a Pokémon was, it would always fight if cornered.
"Hoot Hoot, use Reflect!"
Hoot Hoot createded a barrier in front of him, stopping any physical attacks from the Espurr. The Espurr realized this ad took a step back, its eyes lighting up.
"Now Hoot Hoot, use-"
The Espurr suddenly used Psybeam. The move penetrated the Reflect and slammed into Hoot Hoot. The small owl Pokémon was momentarily lifted into the air before being flung backwards wildly. Hoot Hoot slammed into Aaron, causing him to stagger backwards.
"With psychic powers like that, this Pokémon could be dangerous. Hoot Hoot, use Hypnosis!"
Hoot Hoot flew forward, his determenation doubled as he saw what the Espurr would do. He dodged another explosive Psybeam and flew right up to the Pokémon. His eyes flashed as he sent a wave of psychic energy at the the Espurr. Its body slumped over as it began to fall to sleep.
Aaron pulled a pokéball from his belt. "Okay now! Go, pokéball!"
He threw his pokéball straight at the Espurr. The ball sucked it up easily and landed on the ground. It shook once, twice, and the dinged as the Pokémon was caught.
"See Clara? I told you I knew what I saw."
"I'll make sure not to doubt you ever again," she said dryily.
"Doing so would be a grave mistake," said Thomas.
And that concludes Episode 7 of Pokestars. Just a heads up, I won't be showing every single gym battle or in between joruneys in this story. I'll probably do everything for the first four gyms, skip a few in between journeys after that. Then skip a few gyms after eight. Thank you and see you next time!
