A/N: ^_^ Team Rocket's getting more active… I wonder what it could mean. Can you guess who they symbolize? Well, they symbolize a lot of baddies, but you'll have to read on to see who shows up next! On with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, or Pokemon, or anything that isn't mine to own.
12- Playing Dirty
As it would turn out, Lina still ended up taking the same route that Ash and co. had during the series. The only difference was that she took shorter rest periods at night than they did, and she knew where the mini-gyms were. Gringy City, Lina's current destination, happened to be the home of the Soot Badge. Lina predicted that they would use pokemon like Grimer and Muk, resistant to most attacks, but Lina already had a plan in mind. Therefore, the results of the gym battle were of no surprise to her.
The gym had a subway staircase leading down to it; it was underground. The gym itself was anything but fancy, or even very clean. Mold, fungus, and naturally grown vines, decorated the chipped, grungy, slate-gray walls. There was a sickly smell in the stale air, to boot. It reminded one of what a sewer might smell like. The three travelers turned their noses up at it, as the smell was the first thing that crossed their minds.
Gourry plugged his nose as he asked Lina, "This place smells horrible; where are we?"
To which Zel replied, "Isn't it obvious? We're underground, directly next to the city's sewer system."
Lina nodded in agreement. Attempting to speak despite the horrendous smell, Lina called out from the bottom of the staircase, "I am the one named Lina Inverse. I have come for the Soot Badge. I hereby challenge the leader of this gym."
For a while, nothing happened. Then, a low, masculine voice said, "I am called Buck, the leader of this gym. I accept your challenge." At that moment two more lights turned on, revealing a battlefield, outlined with orange rust instead of the usual white paint. "May the challenger please step into the trainer's box."
On the opposite side of the field, already in the box, was a middle-aged man. He wore a gray jumpsuit, with a matching gray hat. His face was hidden underneath a bushy set of eyebrows, and a moustache that combined itself with his long beard. As soon as Lina stepped forward into the trainer's box, Buck began the match.
"This will be a two-on-two pokemon battle. Let the games begin! Grimer, I choose you!"
Lina smirked; exactly what she expected. Deciding to try out her newest "technicians", she called forth Magmar to "heat things up." Lina's first command was to use Flamethrower; an easy, trivial attack. Grimer defended itself by using Harden. However, Magmar's attack was relentless, and by the time Lina called off the attack, Grimer had melted into a pile of goo, completely KO'd.
Gourry whistled, impressed by Magmar's power. Softly, to Zel, he said, "Wow. Who knew that a pokemon with just one day of Lina's training would turn out to be this good."
Zel nodded, but replied, "Gourry, it'd be best if you didn't talk during Lina's battle."
Gourry retracted his lips into his mouth and mimicked that he was "zipping up".
Buck's mouth opened in a grimace. Gruffly, he commented, "Lucky shot." Grimer returned to his pokeball, and Muk was released. "This won't be nearly as easy as you think it to be."
With a confident grin, Lina replied, "What makes you think that that's what I think?" Lina returned Magmar, and called forth Primeape.
Buck's grimace became a smirk. He let out a gruff laugh as if he had this match in the bag. Lina continued to grin. Lina held out a hand towards the gym leader and proclaimed, "I was always raised to be polite. As you are my elder, and I won the first match, why don't you start off first this time?"
Buck's laughter stopped abruptly. Giving Lina a questioning look, he slowly nodded and called out for Muk to attack with Sludge Bomb. All Lina said was, "You know what to do. Think dodge practice Primeape."
Primeape grunted with assent, and easily dodged every single bomb, without leaving the place he stood. He dodged by jumping up, swerving his head left or right, ducking, or moving from side to side. Once the flurry of sludge diminished, Primeape passed his boxing glove over his snout, a dangerous look in his eyes. Primeape shifted weight from one foot to the other repeatedly while doing some lightning fast practice jabs. Lina's constant smile showed her approval.
It was now that Buck became boiling with rage. How dare this pint-sized kid make a fool of him like that! He'd show her…
Unsuccessfully attempting to squash his anger to a smolder, Buck called out, "Alright Muk- Enough's enough. Use Toxic."
A giant black pool of inky substance squirted from Muk's mouth, headed straight for Primeape. Confident in her Primeape, Lina told him to stand there and send the attack back with the wind from his Mega Punch. Primeape wound up, and hit a home run, so to speak. Energy surrounding his fist, Primeape released so much power in that instant, the liquid actually flew back, and inflamed his attacker's eyes. Blinded by his own Toxic attack, Muk struggled to get the gunk out of his eyes.
Growling with frustration, Buck had unconsciously clenched his fists tightly. He barked, "Get up Muk! Don't let this fighting-pokemon beat you!"
The yelling didn't prove to be effective in the least. Lina sighed as she put a hand on her hip. She called out to Buck, "Mr. Gym Leader sir, if you just announce me the winner of this here match, and give me my badge, I'd be more than willing to clear that stuff out of your Muk's eyes for you."
Buck's reply was swift as he declared, "Never! My Muk can still fight! The match continues!"
Lina sighed. She and Primeape exchanged a glance, and a nod. "Be stubborn then, old man," she whispered to herself. Out loud, she told Primeape, "Do it Primeape; finish this with a whirlwind uppercut." Primeape made a rushing tackle towards the blinded Muk. With one swift uppercut just below Muk's mouth, hit at an angle, Muk was sent into a whirling cyclone that escorted him out of the ring, and crashing into the far wall. He was knocked out like a light.
Gourry couldn't restrain himself; he clapped wholeheartedly for Lina's victory, as he didn't remember the last gym battles that Lina fought in the past. Zel rolled his eyes for the hopeless Gourry. Nevertheless, he had a small smile tugging at his lips, in Lina's direction.
The Gringy City's Gym Leader clenched his fists just then so tightly that the white knuckles began shaking with his hands. Finally, after a short struggle with himself, Buck hung his head, and loosened his tense muscles. He admitted defeat, and soberly congratulated Lina on her victory. Rushing across the field, Lina first congratulated Primeape and returned him to his ball.
From there, she went over to Muk, took a bottle out of her cape, and sprayed it over Muk's eyes. When Muk groaned loudly at the stinging pain, Lina shushed and soothed the poor pokemon. Right in front of everyone, the toxic substance faded away from Muk's eyes until nothing more of it could be seen. Blinking, as if unused to this action, Muk tested his vision again. He saw Lina and gave her a thankful Body Slam.
Suddenly, Muk was enveloped in a red light, and disappeared from view. Buck had returned him to his pokeball. With a soft, knowing smile, Lina stood up, brushed off the dirt from her clothes and made her way to Buck. The ashamed gym leader could not make eye contact with the cheerful redhead.
Tilting her head so that she could see Buck's face, Lina's soft, almost mournful voice rang out, "I'm sorry I was so rough with your pokemon. If you'd like, I'm willing to heal your Grimer of any burns it might have gained from my Magmar's Flamethrower."
Buck made a swift swerve, throwing Lina something as he turned to leave. "Thanks but no thanks. I can take care of my own pokemon. Here's your stinkin' badge; now leave this place."
Looking into her hands, Lina found a badge shaped and colored like a sludge bomb. Lina bowed and thanked Buck before he slammed the door opposite the staircase, leaving Lina alone in the dank room with Gourry and Zel. Lina sighed at his reluctance, and half-heartedly ran towards the stairs. Heading up a bit of a ways before Zel and Gourry, she turned and told them to hurry up. Her job was done here; she had won her badge. Now it was time to go to Fuchsia City. Eager to be rid of the musty smell, Gourry and Zel were not far behind Lina as she resurfaced on ground level.
It was not long before the trio reached Fuchsia City. Upon seeing a sign that said Fuschia City was home to the Safari Zone, Gourry asked if Lina wanted to go there first. Lina shook her head at this suggestion. Business before pleasure, and gym matches were her business and pleasure. However, Lina promised that they'd visit the Safari Zone after she gained her badge.
They didn't even have to ask for directions to find the Gym. It was as clear as day, at least to Lina. With determined spirit, Lina led the way up a treacherous cliff (the safer way; the one not associated with a long fall), to what looked like a traditional Japanese mansion. Upon reaching the front entrance, Lina outstretched a hand, to gesture for her companions to stop, for the time being. She warned them to be careful of traps, as Fucshia City Gym was known to be the master headquarters of a ninja clan. Zel and Gourry replied with a simple, but understanding nod. Lina nodded back, and approached the door.
As if sensing their arrival, the door creaked and groaned as it slid open, unassisted by any seen host. Lina-tachi expected this, and thus took it as an invitation. Walking in, Lina looked in all directions; the hallways split into three different paths. Turning to Gourry and Zel, Lina asked if they'd help her search the place for the gym leader. Both Gourry and Zel were concerned about leaving Lina alone on her search, and they voiced their opinion. Looking at them warily, Lina questioned whether they were scared for her, or themselves. Gourry and Zel both sweated at this. They claimed that they were sincerely worried for her, as anything could happen in a ninja's hideout, recent or not.
Lina sighed and shook her head hopelessly at her two companions. She reminded them that she could easily take care of herself, and they should worry more about themselves. Zel argued that as he had been a gym leader in the recent past, he could take care of himself just as well. Gourry agreed with Zel. It was then that Lina asked, "So what's the problem?" Neither male could find a suitable reply. In the end, Zel took the left hallway, Gourry the right, and Lina was left to head straight forward.
Zel had not walked twenty paces before one wooden board that made up the floor, flew up and hit him in a see-saw like way. Although his rocky exterior protected him from most harm, he was basically hit by his own weight, so he was hurt pretty badly. As a reflex, Zel groaned and the incriminating foot stepped back, only to release another broken floorboard. In this way, Zel was hit in the front and back of his head in a matter of seconds. Thinking that if he rested his foot in the middle, he wouldn't get hit, but he was wrong; he got hit by both – at the same time. No matter where he stepped, the floorboards still rose up to attack him. Someone somewhere was laughing at the poor "boulder boy" at that moment.
Meanwhile, Gourry was having some booby trap troubles of his own. With every few meters came a new trap, though, after the first ten or so, they lost their originality. First came the trap doors, where Gourry would take a step, and then fall into a square hole that was deep enough to cover Gourry's body to a point where only his fingertips would show if he raised his hands to their fullest extent. Once he managed to climb out of that, he was bombarded by a wall of descending spears. If that wasn't enough, after he passed that obstacle, he would reach a turn, and was forced to run for his life as he was a human target for an automated shooter. Without realizing it, he kept going around in a circle, for the only door out of the booby trap corridor was concealed to look just like the ceiling- of which it was a part of.
As for Lina, she actually managed to stay booby-trap free. However, it was the corridors themselves that presented the problem. It didn't take long for Lina to realize that they were designed like one huge maze. The ceiling touched the top of the walls, so climbing up was out of the question. Fortunately, having visited Viridian Forest many times in her youth, Lina had practice with mazes, natural or not. After a long time, Lina was beginning to get suspicious of the way this maze was constructed. Suddenly, Lina heard a soft shfft. She stopped then to listen. Nothing could be heard. Cautiously, she peered around the corner that she had just turned. The same shftt was made apparent to Lina's sensitive ears, from behind her. Hurrying, Lina ran a little farther in that direction and came, to a dead end. Now Lina understood; the walls of the maze moved in a way that utterly trapped her.
This was going to be harder than she thought.
A/N: ^_^ You like? You willing to tell me? Okay, please review! I wonder who's behind all these booby traps? Ash and co. didn't have this much trouble in the series, right? ^_^ Sorry for calling Zel a "boulder boy" btw. Don't know why I did that exactly…Aww whatever. Hold on, let me count something for a sec. Boulder, Cascade, Thunder, Marsh, Ghost, Rainbow, Soot…Hey! Lina's on her last required badge mission! Hmm…I wonder how much harder this should be for her…she has had it pretty easy up until now…*evil smirk* Ciao! Review Por favor!