Author's Note: chapters concerning the quest for the Key of Aramas in the Pokemon World will follow the adventures of Yuugi and Benjamin, not Miaka and Rana. This is because what happens to Benjamin and Yuugi is more important to the story, and also because Miaka and Rana are already experienced trainers, meaning they'll have a fairly easy time getting their badges. Matt will not get his own chapters, but his adventures will be chronicled at the beginning of each Pokemon World Key Quest (--''') chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 9--In Which Many Battles Occur
As Matt walked by, they called to him. "Hey, you're a new face around here," said one of the older trainers, a slim boy with stylish black hair and dark eyes. "You must be a foreigner, judging from your clothes. Planning on entering the League?"
Matt smiled. "Yes, I was planning on entering. My name's Matt; I'm from Kanto."
The girl nodded, considering him idly from brown eyes the same shade as her hair. "Kanto, huh? Home of the Guardian? I saw a TV program on Kanto once. We don't get many programs around here, and of course the only TV is at the Pokemon Center, but I watched the opening of the League this year. Our competition is a little different from yours, though. Instead of having all qualifying trainers battle each other until only one is left, we have trainers face the Mountain League Champion. He's really tough!"
The older boy grinned. "Aw, come on, Julie. You never even got to the Champion."
"We all know that you faced the Champion, Vince," Julie said in a long-suffering tone of voice before turning to Matt. "I only got seven of my badges. To face the Champion, you need all ten. This year, my little brother Sam is trying out for the League. 'Course, everyone's pretty worried, what with the kidnappings. You hear about that? Some little kid, a rookie trainer, and they got him right in broad daylight! He was only ten, as small as Sam here."
Sam, who had hair and eyes just a shade darker than his older sister's, looked indignant. "I'm not that little! Anyway, I'll be okay. Mom said Julie should go with me, just to make sure."
Julie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I have to go through the whole League with him. I might challenge some of the Gym Leaders again myself. In fact, if you keep going straight on the road out of town, you'll reach the first Gym. All of the Pokemon are ground-type, it's pretty easy. You have to watch out for the Leader's Kosle, though. Bert nearly wiped me out! Alex is really smart. Say--if you're going to challenge her, why don't we have a battle right now? Come on!"
Matt reluctantly agreed to a battle, knowing that he had only so long to catch the Clanners. "I choose Vulpix!" The small, dark-red fox appeared, curly forelock and six, curled tails waving slightly in the light breeze.
Julie grinned. "And I choose--Bill!" A large, gray mountain goat with short, straight horns appeared. "Bill is a Gruff. They're fairly common around here. Bill, use your Stomp Kick!"
"Vulpix, dodge it!"
"Vulpix vul!" the fire Pokemon easily leapt out of the way, landing with perfect balance.
The battle was a short one. Vulpix, one of Matt's two beginning Pokemon, easily dodged Bill's attacks until it had an opening for a powerful Fire Blast, ending the battle.
"Bill, return! You did a great job. Well, Matt, you're pretty tough. I don't know how you'll fare against Alex, but good luck!"
"It was nice meeting all of you. Good luck, Sam. Be careful." Matt set out, following Julie's directions. The first Gym would be a piece of cake.-o-o-o-o-o-Matt journeyed quickly to the next town. It was almost midnight when he arrived, but he still knocked on the door of the Gym. A sleepy-looking Gym Leader opened the door a crack; all Matt could see were a pair of brown eyes. Apparently, it was a common eye color in the mountains.
"What do you want? Some people are trying to sleep, you know!"
Matt stepped back. "I was hoping for a battle."
The Leader looked at him more carefully, opening the door completely as she brushing her stick-straight hair out of her sleepy eyes. "You're not from around here, are you? Well, I guess we could have one quick battle. Come on."
They stepped inside the large, impressive arena. The battle floor seemed to be made of a thick, soft loam. Matt studied it for a moment, then shrugged. It made no difference; his Pokemon would be an easy match for the Leader Alex's preferred ground-types.Alex faced Matt. "All right, we each get two Pokemon. Ready? Go! Sandshrew!" A small, sandy-yellow creature resembling a large, upright rat with a scaly back appeared, polishing its digging claws on its white belly.
Matt grinned. This would be even easier than he thought! "Go! Squirtle!" he said, as a small blue turtle appeared, standing upright. It had a brown shell, from which its rounded head, short limbs, and small tail poked out. Squirtle was the other of the Pokemon pair Matt had begun his first trainer quest with.
Alex smirked. "Typical. Using a water-type because it has an advantage over ground-types. You foreigners are all the same. Sandshrew, use Slash!"
"Squirtle, dodge it!" The turtle dove out of the way, sliding on its smooth shell.
Despite the Gym Leader's ominous words, Squirtle won quickly. Sandshrew was obviously a new Pokemon for the Gym Leader, and Matt's Squirtle was experienced.
Alex seemed unfazed by this setback. "For a rookie trainer getting their first badge, I might use a different Pokemon. Since you seem experienced, though, I think I'll teach you the real power of the mountains! Go! Bert!"
"Kosle!" The slim brown creature looked like a large ferret or a weasel. It did not seem particularly powerful, especially against a water- type like Squirtle. Matt figured that this Pokemon would fall as easily as Sandshrew. He couldn't have been more wrong.
"Squirtle, use your Hydro Blast!" Opening its mouth, Squirtle let forth a huge spout of water.
Alex smiled. "Bert, dive underground!" The agile Pokemon burrowed into the loamy soil as easily as Squirtle could dive into water! "All right, Bert, make a maze of tunnels!"
Matt shook off his amazement; he had underestimated this Pokemon. "Squirtle, follow it underground and flood those tunnels!"
Alex shook her head. "Wrong answer, foreigner! Water won't flood in this soil. It's a special composition that allows air to travel through it, and water to soak into it, but keeps water from flooding it and turning it into quicksand!"
This was bad news for Squirtle, who only succeeded in creating a muddy, water-filled hole in the middle of the arena; the tunnels were too narrows for the turtle's shell to fit through. "Squirtle, come back up and wait!"
Alex shrugged. "Well, I suppose I have to end this sometime. Bert, use Headbutt!" To Matt and Squirtle's surprise, Bert popped up directly beneath Squirtle and carried out a full-force Headbutt! He then dove back underground, preparing for his next attack.
Matt was dumbfounded. How could he possibly defeat this Pokemon when it had a home-field advantage? Alex had obviously designed this Gym for Pokemon like Bert. With its special floor, they had an enormous advantage. Normally, all Matt had to do for a fast or elusive Pokemon was immobilize it. But with the land on Bert's side, the battle's outcome seemed dismal. What was he supposed to do, destroy the land? ...wait! Bert was winning because he used the special soil to his advantage when tunneling. If Matt could force Bert out of the tunnels, he would have the upper hand. In order to force him out, he had to make it too difficult to tunnel. And the only way to do that...
"Squirtle, keep using water attacks on the field!" Squirtle complied, squirting jets of water all over the soft ground.
Alex seemed amused. "Didn't I already tell you this Gym won't flood? Admit it, there's no way for you to destroy my field!"
It was finally Matt's turn to smile now. "But I don't want to destroy the field. I just want to alter it! Squirtle, keep attacking until the field is muddy! That will make it too hard for Bert to tunnel. Either he'll tire himself out trying, or we'll just have to bring down his tunnels. Squirtle, now that the field is muddy and the tunnels are weakened, use Stomp! That should collapse the tunnels!"
Alex was furious. "Rats! Bert, come up! Use your Thunderbolt, now!" Crackling electricity shot toward Squirtle.
Matt gaped at her. "What!?" Squirtle was shocked--literally. "Squirtle, hang in there! You just need to hang on for one more attack. You're the only one who can win this battle, Squirtle. I'm counting on you! Use your Hydro Blast now!"
Squirtle forced himself to stand. Although obviously exhausted, it put forth one last effort and used Hydro Blast. Bert was knocked backward. Slowly, he struggled to stand. Just when it looked like he might make it, he collapsed.
Alex frowned. "Bert, return. You did a great job. I'm proud of you. Well, foreigner, you finally figured out my secret. Throughout the Mountain League, trainers use the land to gain an advantage over their opponents. It will be hard, but I have confidence in you. Here--you've earned the Loam Badge!" She handed him a round badge of solid, dark-brown color.
Matt grinned, dropping the badge into his pocket rather than pinning onto his jacket. One down, ten to go. He still had a long journey ahead of him, but he knew he could do it. Now he just had to find the Clanners before it was too late.-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-Yuugi and Benjamin trekked farther into the Mountain League, hoping to reach a Gym quickly. Surprisingly, they never reached the small town Matt had visited. This was mostly because Benjamin, an experienced traveler and a half-Darkling, knew that it was dangerous to use a main road if the forces of Chaos were tracking them. They walked on and on through a seemingly endless wasteland of stone and sparse, mountain vegetation, searching for a likely-looking town. The tireless, half-Darkling Benjamin was completely unaware of human conventions such as roads, cities, and large numbers of people.
Yuugi, on the other hand, felt that they needed to find a road or at least a town in order to find a Pokemon Gym. "Benjamin? Where are we?"
Benjamin looked at him curiously. "In the Mountain League."
"I meant where in the Mountain League," Yuugi replied patiently.
Benjamin thought for a moment. "I don't know. I suppose there must be a town around here somewhere," he said, waving vaguely toward the forbidding peaks in the distance.
"Benjamin, if we're going to earn ten of these badge things, we have to find a town soon! Let's see..." Yuugi took out his Pokedex. He examined it carefully, then opened it and pushed several of the buttons. He was looking for a map, but didn't know how to find one.
Benjamin, mean while, looked at the stars; they were unlike the stars of his own World, but he had visited the Pokemon World enough times to find directions with them. Quietly consulting Bikaymon, he determined that they should set out southwest.
As he was deciding this, Yuugi finally found the map function of the Pokedex and deciphered that the nearest town was far south of the Jagged Pass. Still wondering what the Jagged Pass was, and how they might find it, he dropped the Pokedex, causing it slam against a rock--hard. It struggled to maintain power for a moment, then sparked and shut down.
At precisely that moment, Benjamin looked up. "If you're done with your Pokedex, we should go south west. The nearest town is only a few minutes walk."
Yuugi groaned. It would be a long day.-o-o-o-o-o-Benjamin had been correct; the nearest town, and also the first Gym, were close by. It was already late when they reached Loamhenge City, so Benjamin and Yuugi were unable to battle the Gym Leader. Instead, they headed to the Pokemon Center, a large building that had facilities for healing Pokemon and places for trainers and their Pokemon to rest and recooperate. All Pokemon Centers were equipped with trained staff; most had a nurse called Nurse Joy. Although few people realized it, this name was actually a job title, given in honor of one of the first and most promonent Pokemon Nurses. It was pure myth that all the Nurse Joys of a given League looked alike, whatever their names might suggest. Yuugi, of course, knew none of this.
The nurse in charge of the Loamhenge Pokemon Center, seeing two foreign trainers walk in, was unable to restrain herself. "Where do you two come from? You certainly aren't from around here," she asked, blue eyes alight with curioustity.
Yuugi turned. "We're...travelers. From far away. We're here to challenge the Gym Leader."
Benjamin was nonplussed. "That was the best explanation you could think of?" Bikaymon said nothing; if he remained silent, most people would mistake him for some kind of Pokemon.
The nurse nodded. "Well, welcome to Mountain Leagues. I'm Nurse Joy. If you're going to challenge Alex, you'll have to wait until morning. She hates being woken up in the middle of the night!" Seeing Luminaras, who had decided to come out of his Pokeball, she smiled. "I see you're an experienced trainer; it takes a while for an Eevee to evolve into Umbreon. Have you participated in a League competition before?"
Yuugi completely blanked out. "Um...uh..."
Benjamin, who knew slightly more about the Pokemon World than Yuugi, leaped to the rescue. "He's never challenged a League before. We come from the Equinox Islands, from Spring Island. I trained there, although I caught some of my...Pokemon...elsewhere." Nurse Joy seemed satisfied with this answer. "Come on, Yuugi; we should get out of here."
The nurse was surprised. "If you're going to challenge Alex in the morning, why don't you just stay here for the night? It certainly would save you time."
Benjamin, who was automatically suspicious of anyone who offered help until they proved themselves trustworthy, was going to disagree, but Yuugi told him it would seem suspicious to refuse. Benjamin probably would have seemed suspicious no matter what he did, but Yuugi helped him act more normally, although he was unable to convince Benjamin that he didn't have to sleep on the floor. Benjamin insisted that it was more tactically advantageous in an emergency, and Yuugi decided to let it go.-o-o-o-o-o-Benjamin, having lived in Dark World all his life, surprised Nurse Joy by waking up at three o'clock in the morning, waiting two hours, then waking Yuugi as well. As Benjamin dragged Yuugi out the door to face the Gym Leader ("I thought you said we were in a hurry," Benjamin told him), she stopped them.
"Where are you two going so early? Alex probably isn't even awake yet!"
Benjamin shrugged. "Then we will wake her up."
Nurse Joy stared at him like he was crazy. "You'll be sorry you did that. If you're really determined to challenge her, here's a tip: use the land. Here in the Mountains, type isn't all that matters. You have to remember the area you're battling in. Good luck!"Outside, Benjamin and Yuugi watched the tail end of the sunrise. Benjamin sighed, knowing that he would probably never see a sunrise like this in his own dying World, where the sun had grown dim and veiled.
While his friend was lost in thought, Yuugi stretched. "You know, I could have slept for another hour..."
Benjamin, ignoring what he considered to be a very human comment, pondered the battle ahead. "Use the land...use the land..."
Yuugi perked up. "Hey, that sounds a little bit like the field power bonuses from the Duelist Kingdom Duel Monsters tournament! Maybe this isn't as hard as I thought it would be."
Benjamin shook his head. "I think you'll find that battling with real monsters is very different from a card game. For one thing, it's not just numbers. You must consider the strengths and weaknesses of an individual Pokemon. Also, you must remember the battle techniques they've learned. Your only Pokemon is Luminaras, and that does limit your strategy, but you still need to know his capabilities. You don't know anything about him!"
Yuugi shrugged. "I know that Vice taught him how to fight, and that means Luminaras will fight to the end. I know he can do this."
Benjamin smiled, an unusual expression on his normally solemn face. "Do you want to battle first, or should I?"-o-o-o-o-o-Alex actually lived in the Pokemon Gym, on the floor above the battle arena. When she heard someone pounding on her door, she was annoyed. When the pounding continued, she decided to go tell whoever was outside to go away and let her sleep. Getting up, she stalked off, muttering angrily to herself.
Outside, Yuugi and Benjamin waited for Alex to open the door. When she did, however, they were slightly disappointed. A short, brown-haired girl, not much older than they were, stood before them, still wearing her striped pajamas.
"I don't care who you are or what you want, leave me alone and stop pounding on my door before you break it!"
Benjamin stepped forward, his gray eyes shifting to a darker shade, like twin chips of flint. "We're here to challenge you for a battle. Are you ready?"
Alex scowled. "What? This early in the morning? You must be out of your mind!"
Benjamin shrugged. "I thought that Gym Leaders were skilled enough to battle at any time. Very well. We'll come back later."
Alex was angry now. "Hey, wait a minute! Are you suggesting that I'm not a skilled Gym Leader? Come back here right now and battle me! I'll show you what it means to be skilled! Which one of you wants to go first?"
Bikaymon smiled slightly on Benjamin's shoulder, where he was dozing. He had known goading the Gym Leader into a battle would work. Humans were often very predictable.
"I'll fight first," Benjamin said calmly.
Alex gestured to the door. "If you want an official Gym Battle, we're going to have it in my stadium. After you, challengers."
Benjamin and Yuugi followed Alex into the arena. It was time to battle!-o-o-o-o-o-Alex strode into the arena. "Okay, rookies, the rules are simple. We get two Pokemon each, and the first trainer to faint all the opponent's Pokemon wins! If you win, you get your first badge. If you lose, too bad! Are you ready?"
Benjamin nodded; it was his habit to say things in few or no words.
Alex grinned. "Well, let's get started! You look fairly experienced, so why don't I cut to the chase? I choose--Bert!"
Benjamin surveyed the weasel-like Pokemon. Ordinarily, he would have used Taru against a ground-type, but in this case...
"Kura, I need your help for this battle."
"Cheirira!" A tree Pokemon slightly taller than Benjamin, similar to a cherry-blossom tree in its dark bark, slender branches, and pale pink flowers, popped out its Pokeball. At the tree's base, roots spread off in two clusters, forming foot-like appendages that could be used for movement when necessary.
Alex looked at Kura cautiously. What was this unusual creature? "Bert, dive underground!"
Benjamin smiled. "Now, Kura!"
Alex was baffled. He hadn't given any obvious verbal commands to his Pokemon, so she had no way of knowing what would come next. Little did she know that Benjamin, a child of Dark World, was using a clever strategy. He knew from experience that, in combat, one must never reveal one's plan to the enemy. He and his Pokemon had trained together to react to any situation, and to work as a team without obvious directions; it was necessary if they were to survive in Dark World. Alex would regret underestimating this opponent.
"Bert, get ready to dodge whatever attack that tree thing uses!"
To her surprise, however, Kura simply buried her spidery roots in the ground. She didn't have long to wait for Benjamin's next command. "Kura, drain the soil!" He turned to Alex. "Your Pokemon is finished. Kura, like any plant, has the ability to drain nutrients from soil. In this case, however, her attack allows her to drain the energy of an underground opponent."
Alex was aghast. "Bert, return! Now what do I do? No underground Pokemon can face that thing! Hmm...Sandslash, I choose you!" A yellowish Pokemon, standing on two legs with arms ending in long, metalic-looking claws, came out of its Pokeball. Its head was reminecent of a rat's, and soft-looking brown spikes, similar to a hedgehog's, sprouted from its back. It was the evolution of Sandshrew.
To Alex and Yuugi's surprise, Benjamin returned his Pokemon as well. "Kura, thank you. For this battle, I need Taru's help."
The muscular, dark-blue creature, barely reaching Benjamin's thigh as he stood upright on his short, sturdy legs, opened his large, crocodile-like mouth in a toothy grin. A row of long red spines ran down his back, and his belly was white except for two black patches on his chest. Taru looked similar to a Totodile, the tiny crocodile Pokemon, but was actually a much rarer species- -Feraladile. It was a special evolution that appeared only occasionally on Spring Isle of the Equinox Island, and had greater endurance and strength than an oridinary Totodile. Taru crouch slightly, swishing his short tail back and forth. He was ready for action.
"With a Pokemon specially adapted to conditions such as those simulated in your battle arena, Taru would have been a less effective battler. But now...he can attack with full strength."
Alex smiled grimly. This foreigner was far too confident. She would teach him how a real Pokemon trainer battled! "Sandslash, use Slash attack!"
Benjamin calmly watched as Taru easily jumped out of the way, chortling.
"What's wrong? Slash again!"
Taru evaded Sandslash again. Benjamin shrugged. "You can attack as many times as you like. You're only tiring your Pokemon. Taru is fast enough to dodge your strikes. Taru, let's finish this. Use Hydro Jet!"
"Dile!" Puffing out its chest, Taru swung his head down, shooting a powerful blast of water from his mouth and fainting Sandslash.
Alex was furious. "WHAT!? How did you do that? I hate to admit it, but you are truly powerful. Here--you've earned you badge. Now...are you going to challenge me too, or are you too scared?"
Yuugi stepped forward. "I'm ready...I hope..."Alex now faced off against Yuugi. "Same rules, okay? Two Pokemon each, no time limit. Ready?"
Yuugi thought for a second. "But I only have one Pokemon..."
Alex realized that, although the dark-haired boy was skilled, this strange-looking foreigner was only a rookie trainer. "Okay, I'll go easy on you. Seeing as you're a rookie and all...one each. Go! Diglett!" A small brown mole appeared on the field, immediatly burying all but its neck/head in the ground. Now, it looked like a straight rod with a rounded top, two small, weak eyes, and a large red nose.
Yuugi looked at Luminaras. "Are you ready, Luminaras?"
"Umbre!" the slender dark fox Pokemon said enthusiastically.
"Okay, attack!"
Alex smiled. "You moron. Diglett, dive underground!"
Luminaras looked confused. "Bre?"
Alex couldn't help laughing when she realized that this kid's Pokemon knew more about battling than he did. "Ha! You're hopeless. Diglett, use Dig attack!" Diglett popped out of the ground, slamming into Luminaras! "Okay, Diglett, dive down again! As long as Diglett is underground, you can't hit him!"
Benjamin knew that his friend was in trouble, and tried to give him some advise. Bikaymon, now awake, would have liked to do so as well, but couldn't risk talking. "Yuugi! If Diglett keeps diving underground, it means that it will keep using Dig!"
At first, Yuugi found this advice even more confusing than the battle itself. But suddenly, he realized... In order to use Dig, that mole thing has to come out of the ground. And when it stops hiding, I can attack it. It's just like my Magical Hats card! "Okay, Luminaras, wait!"
Alex was slightly unnerved by the patiently waiting Umbreon. "Can he have some strategy in mind? Hmm...nah, he doesn't even know that Pokemon's moves. Diglett, use Dig!"
Yuugi, knowing none of Luminaras' attack moves, paused. Luckily for him, Luminaras was experienced and innovative. Knowing Yuugi's plan, he attacked despite his trainer's hesitation.
"Umbre!" The Pokemon's eyes glowed as a wave of energy shot forward, slamming into Diglett and knocking it silly.
Benjamin smiled very slightly, glad that Yuugi had finally figured out what to do. "Luminaras knows Psychic, and Diglett is weak to a Special move like that! If he and Yuugi can do that again, they may be able to win!"
Alex realized this at the same moment. "We'll have to come up with another strategy, Diglett! Hmm...maybe Earthquake would work. Diglett, use Earthquake!" The mole Pokemon brought its clawed hands out of the ground, slamming them down and creating a shock wave that moved toward Luminaras at an alarming rate.
Yuugi, realizing that this could be the end for Luminaras, shouted, "Luminaras...um...jump!" the black fox cleverly leapt over the shock wave, leaving the ground broken up and Luminaras unharmed.
Alex was shocked. "What? How can Umbreon do that? That's not a real Pokemon move! Diglett, use Slash!"
Yuugi had no idea what to do next. "Luminaras...uh...um...do something, fast!" he shouted in desperation.
Luminaras was growing exasperated. If Yuugi didn't know what to do, he would just have to do it himself. "Bre umbre!"
Luminaras leaped over Diglett, then slammed it from behind with his Body Slam move. With its low Defense, Diglett was finished. It fell over, stunned, until Alex returned it.
Alex was very surprised. "I can't believe that you beat me! Here's your Loam Badge, but I still think you're not much of a trainer. You don't even know your Pokemon's moves! You'll never make it unless you catch some other Pokemon, and learn about their abilities. Your Umbreon is smarter than you are! Now get going. I'm still sleepy..." she said, yawning.Benjamin and Yuugi left the Gym just as the other inhabitants of Loamhenge City were beginning to awaken. Benjamin looked toward the road.
"That's the first badge. Yuugi, Alex was right. You must learn Luminaras' abilities. The only way to battle effectively to fight as a team. Come on; we must leave. We have a long trip ahead of us."
The two walked off, not really knowing where they were headed. They only wanted to find the next town, and win another badge, so that they could win their half of the Key before it was too late.
