A/N: Whee! Chapter three already! How much do I rule?
Dedication: To Sarah and Zizzo for my early prezzie! I love you guys so much!!! ...And to Gen and Fleecy for scarring my mind forever. You know what I mean.
Disclaimer: I actually own Pokémon!
...Pokémon FireRed, that is.
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Sianne's Story
By Dannichu
Chapter 3 – In which there is another battle (but a good one!), this one about five pages long, and then the actual getting to the Safari Zone! Dun, dun DUUUUN!
About twenty minutes later, Sarah, Terra, Russell and I were all washed and I had found enough money to buy a little breakfast for us all from the Pokémon Center cafeteria. I bought two pots of yogurt and then put it into five bowls. We ate quickly and then took the remaining bowl over to where Luke was still sleeping.
"Hey Luke, wake up." I said shaking him slightly.
"Wha?" Luke mumbled in a state of semi-consciousness.
"How're you feeling?" I asked anxiously, "You must still be exhausted after that battle yesterday. I'm sorry for making you battle like that, especially when you were so tired."
"That's okay." Luke said, looking over at Sarah, who was carrying the small bowl of yogurt.
"Here, we brought you some breakfast." Sarah grinned, handing him the bowl and a spoon.
After Luke had eaten his breakfast and washed himself we set off for the Safari Zone, which was less than a quarter of a mile away. It was a wonderful day; sunny but not overly hot, breezy but not windy and not a cloud marred the clear blue sky.
It was a lovely walk as well, full of trees and grass. We were challenged only by a wild Electrike and I would to have loved to capture it, but I had sold my last Pokéball as well as the Super Potion Russell had found the previous day to pay for our breakfast. Since I had no real desire to battle a Pokémon that could easily paralyze any of my friends, I refused and ran past it, hoping it could battle another trainer that passed.
Soon enough, we could make out a building in the distance, one with a tall fence going around a huge reserve behind it. Upon seeing it, I broke into a run, unable to wait any longer to catch a new Pokémon. Then suddenly, my heart sank like a lead balloon.
How could I have been so stupid? Getting into the Safari Zone was not free! It didn't cost a lot to join in a Safari hunt, but all I had were 36 measly Credits. I dropped to my knees with anguish. I had been looking forward to this day for months, and now my dreams of capturing a Pikachu had been shattered like a piece of glass under a Groudon.
"Danni?" Terra shouted, flying to catch up with me after my run. "What is it?"
"I-I just remembered something." I whispered, fighting back tears.
"What?"
"You have to pay to get into the Safari Zone."
"Oh..." Terra looked devastated. "Yes, I remember now. Oh, Danni..."
"What is it?" Sarah and Luke shouted to me, both running. Russell had once again gone off finding things. Vibrava flew over to them and told them what I had just said. Their faces fell.
"What can we do now?" Sarah asked.
"I don't know..." I whimpered, still reeling from the pain of disappointment.
"I have an idea," Sarah said, "if we found a trainer, you could battle them, and if you win, you'll get a lot of money!"
"But what if I lose? Like yesterday?" I said sadly.
"So what? We can take a defeat, and it's not like we'll lose loads of money if we do." Terra reasoned.
"Are you sure? All of you?" I asked, my heart rising.
"Yeah, it's been a while since we battled." Terra said, "save for Luke, of course."
"So let's try and find someone!" Sarah said enthusiastically.
After wandering around for about half an hour, running into only two people who weren't trainers, but trying to get to Lilycove before their Repels wore off, I suddenly heard Sarah shouting.
"Danni! I've found someone!"
"You have?" I shouted back, running in the direction of the voice. As I drew to a halt, I saw Sarah pointing to a trainer who was staring at her. I could tell by the look in the trainer's eyes that he really wanted to capture Sarah, but he obviously knew that it belonged to someone because she was glaring at him, as if daring him to throw a Pokéball at her.
"Excuse me," I said, running over to the trainer. He must only have been about thirteen, with short blond hair and light skin. He was very skinny, but looked determined. I just hoped my experience would give me an advantage.
"Yes?" he said, turning to face me.
"Would you like to battle me? I've been looking for someone to battle against for a while, and you look pretty strong."
The boy looked happy at the complement and then took a Pokéball from his belt. "Six-on-six?" he asked, "and no substitutions."
Why? Why was it that every time I entered a battle I was humiliated?
"Um... how about four-on-four?" I said desperately.
"Five-on-five." The boy grinned. I wanted to accept, but at the same time I couldn't enter a battle with one less Pokémon and I wasn't even sure we would win. And judging from the grin the boy was wearing, he was confident that he would.
"Go on – four-on-four." I pleaded.
"Fine," He said, "but you choose first."
I looked around to check that Russell was actually nearby before commanding him to go and battle. "Russell, go!"
"A Linoone? Ha!" laughed the kid. I felt slightly angry, and Russell bristled with rage. He hated being insulted. "Go, Volty!"
From the Pokéball that the boy threw forward came a Pokémon that, were it not much bigger, would be indistinguishable from the Pokéball itself.
I almost laughed at the sheer patheticness of the nickname. Volty the Voltorb? Then I remembered -Urgh... why the no substitutions? Sarah could take it down in one Mud Shot! Okay, since the Voltorb's main strength was in its Speed, I had to take away that advantage.
"Headbutt quickly!" I shouted.
"Screech!" the boy yelled.
Mercifully, Russell landed the first hit, and, due to Voltorb's low Defense, probably did a lot of damage. Please flinch, please flinch... I said to myself, but then a painfully high-pitched screech emanating from the Voltorb proved that it hadn't recoiled.
"Russell, Fury Swipes!" I shouted, again hoping that we would get in the first hit.
"Sonicboom, Volty!" shouted the kid. The Voltorb spun around amazingly fast and then fired a beam at Russell. Russell, although hurting from the attack, dashed over to the ballike Pokémon and began clawing at it as many times as he could. The Voltorb began spinning around, trying to throw him off. After swiping at the Voltorb for the fourth time, Russell was finally thrown off. He flew a couple of feet, but landed unharmed.
"Shock Wave!" commanded the boy.
While normally I would have commanded for Russell to dodge that attack, I knew it would be pointless, as I had learnt about the never-missing property of Shock Wave the hard way at the Mauville Gym.
"Stay there!" I shouted, hoping Russell could take the hit. It was pointless even trying to evade it, so the best I could do would be to make Russell prepared. The Voltorb let lose a bolt of electricity from its body, which flew over to Russell as if it were drawn to a magnet and hit him, causing a cloud of dust to rise. I was unaware of whether or not Russell was fainted or not, but all the same I shouted "Headbutt!", so, were he not fainted, we could get in another hit before the Voltorb. Suddenly, a beige and brown streak shot out of the dust and propelled itself into the Ball Pokémon. The Voltorb flinched, rolling backwards with an expression of pain and anger on its 'face'. "Now, just use Headbutt one more time!" I shouted excitedly. Russell slammed himself head first into his opponent, causing it to just faint on impact.
"Yes!" I shouted happily. The boy stared at Russell briefly before recalling his Pokémon, regaining a look of determination and throwing another ball into the air.
"Donny, go!" he shouted proudly. I guessed that the Donphan he had just sent out was the strongest Pokémon he had. I was about to recall Russell for Sarah when I remembered the no-substitutions rule. After the Screech, Shock Wave and Sonicboom attacks, Russell didn't look like he could take much more damage, so I had to attack as swiftly and effectively as I could.
"Headbutt!" I yelled
"Rollout!" the kid shouted. Russell got the first hit in, slamming the Donphan with full force, but the Donphan didn't even balk. It began running to build momentum before curling into a ball and rolling at full speed toward Russell. It hit him, sending him flying in the air, but he managed to land safely without much damage. On my command he launched another Headbutt, but was hit with the retaliation of another Rollout attack, this one much more powerful than the previous assault.
"Russell!" I shouted in panic, but Russell did not get up. 'Well battled'. I inwardly told him, calling him back inside his Pokéball. 'Well there isn't much of a debate who battles next' I thought, smiling.
"Go, Sarah!"
Sarah leaped onto the battlefield, smirking evilly at the Donphan, which was still spinning around like an out-of-control wheel.
"Muddy Water!" I shouted to her, grinning. Had she chosen to evolve, she would never have learnt that attack at her current level, showing that not all changes are for the batter.
"Quit your Rollout!" the kid yelled to his Donphan, obviously wanting to halt the Rock-type attack against a Ground-type Pokémon, but without any success. However, the Donphan skidded over to Sarah and hit her, knocking her into the air. She used this to her advantage and fired a powerful jet of brown water at the Donphan, being able to score a critical hit from her aerial perspective, knocking it over and halting its Rollout attack. The Donphan shook its head and glared at Sarah, who glared right back.
"Take Down!"
"Muddy Water again!"
The Donphan once again managed to score a hit first, barreling into Sarah, throwing her three meters across the grass, which gave her a soft landing. She leaped up and ran over to the Armor Pokémon, jumping a couple of feet into the air and shooting another beam of mucky water at the Donphan, making it fall over again. I noticed that this time it took a little longer to get up. I used this to my advantage. "Just use a quick Mud Slap!" I shouted, knowing that Mud Slap was quicker and much easier use now that the ground was splattered with mud. However, it was an underpowered attack, so I just hoped that it could knock the Donphan out in one hit.
"Take Down!" the kid yelled to his Pokémon. It was obviously weak, and even I, from a good few meters away, could see the mud in its eyes, paining it.
"Dodge it, Sarah, and then Muddy Water!"
Sarah stood still as the elephant-like Pokémon came barreling towards her, its eyes closed to ease the pain of the mud. But at the last second, a moment before the breaking impact, Sarah did an army roll to the side and narrowly evaded the attack. She leaped up from the ground and fired a jet of brown water at the Donphan, which was looking around, trying to see why it hadn't hit anything. But just one hit on the side by the jet of water and it collapsed in a heap.
"Grrr, go Shroomy!" the boy shouted, throwing a Great Ball in the air, while using a second to recall his motionless Donphan.
A Breloom materialized on the patch of grass and smirked at Sarah, obviously knowing it had an extreme type advantage.
"Blind it with Mud Slap!" I commanded, hoping to make Sarah last in this battle for as long as possible.
"Mach Punch!"
The Breloom obviously got the first hit in, rushing over to Sarah at what seemed like light speed before Sarah went sprawling. It was too fast to even attempt to dodge.
"Come on Sarah, get up!" I shouted, doing my best to sound encouraging, "Mud Slap!"
Sarah picked herself off the ground yet again and used her fin-like hands to scoop a large amount of mud from the sopping wet floor and hurled it into the Breloom's eyes. But despite the accuracy loss I knew it must have suffered, I also knew it had taken very little damage from a Ground-type attack. The kid also knew this, and knew his type-match-ups as well, as he commanded, "Finish it with Mega Drain!"
"Get out of its way!" I screamed, watching my Pokémon, my friend, turn around and be hit in the face by the Breloom's tail. The four seeds on its tail glowed a bright white as it sucked Sarah's energy, restoring its own HP. Sarah finally managed to throw the mushroom Pokémon off, but she used the last of her strength to do so, as she fell to the ground in a heap.
"Sarah, come back," I said, holding out a Pokéball, into which Sarah disappeared in a burst of red energy. "Go Terra!"
Terra swooped down from the sky and fluttered just above the ground – Levitating. With a bit of luck, the boy would never have encountered a Vibrava before and would be fooled by its Buy/Flying-type appearance. While it was unreliable to depend on another trainer's ignorance, it had helped win battles before. Why, there was a Frenzy Tournament I had entered a long time ago, between my journeys to Johto and Oore, when she very nearly won a battle after her Jolteon opponent thought she was part Flying and kept using electrical attacks. With a bit of luck, my opponent would do the same and not use Grass-type attacks on her, due to Flying/Bug's high resistance.
"Faint Attack!" I commanded.
"Mega Drain!" the kid shouted. There I was – making another stupid mistake. How on earth did I manage to get the Boulder Badge? Terra landed the first attack of course, hitting exactly the right spot. The Breloom responded by hitting her with its tail and sucking out her energy as it had done to Sarah.
"Break away!" I yelled, "Come on!"
Terra obviously heard me, and leaped off, using the Breloom's head as a springboard.
"Try and use Fly!" I shouted. Even though I didn't have the Fly HM, I hoped that because Terra knew how to fly, as well as watching other Pokémon perform the attack, she could pull off something similar. After looking questionably at me briefly, she flew up into the sky, dodging another Mega Drain attack that the Breloom was trying to hit her with. She then dived down again, with unimaginable speed, coming closer and closer to her target.
"Be careful!" I warned, doubting she could actually hear me due to the speed she was traveling at, but I really didn't want her to misjudge the attack and miss, crashing into the ground, or hit at the wrong angle and break her neck, or-
"Terra, pull out!" I screamed, as the previously unforeseen dangers of using an unlearned attack flooded me, "PULL OUT! STOP IT!"
Terra either didn't hear me or ignored me, as she continued her attack, zooming down toward the Breloom, looking like a yellow blur. I closed my eyes and inwardly prayed that she would perform the attack successfully. When I opened my eyes again, two seconds later, I saw an unconscious Breloom being recalled into a Great Ball, and Terra levitating a few feet from the ground, though looking very dazed.
"Terra!" I shouted, "are you all right? Did you hurt yourself?"
"Fine I am..." she said dizzily, "but three of you I see..."
"I think she's just confused." Luke said quietly, "she'll be fine once you recall her."
"But I can't! I can't make substitutions!" I panicked, "and I don't have any items!"
"Go! Comby!"
I looked to see what kind of Pokémon the kid was sending out, quickly scanning my brain for a Pokémon beginning with "Com". A medium-sized chicken-like Pokémon with long legs and an angry expression materialized in front of me. A Combusken, of course. I had a feeling that I was more confused than Terra.
"Terra, shake off the confusion and use Dragonbreath!" I yelled to my disorientated Vibrava.
"Comby, try a Double Kick attack!" the kid shouted.
Terra took a deep breath and created a veil of Dragon Fire, while not touching it. Then she wobbled in midair and slipped into the fire.
"Aaaarrgh!" she screamed, leaping out of it, but at the same time ruining her attack and enabling the Combusken to hit her twice with a vicious kicking assault.
"Terra, move out of the way of its attacks and try and get rid of your confusion!" I shouted desperately.
"Quick Comby, use Blaze Kick before it moves!"
Despite Terra's amazing speed, the Combusken hit her full on with a scorching kick to her head. Despite Terra's Dragon resistance to Fire, the attack on top of the Double Kick, Mega Drain and her own confusion was too much, and she collapsed exhausted to the floor.
"Terra, come back." I said, holding up her white ball, which she vanished into in a beam of green energy. I turned to Luke, who was standing next to me, watching the battle and now knew that it was all down to him.
"Okay Luke, do you reckon you can do it?" I asked, grinning.
Luke shook his head.
"What?" I yelled, looking at him in disbelief.
"But I'll battle anyway." He said, walking over to the triumphant-looking Combusken, which was flexing its leg muscles threateningly.
"This should be easy if you use Aerial Ace repeatedly!" I shouted as encouragingly as I could, "Go!"
"Double Kick!" my opponent shouted, "don't let it hit you!"
"Quickly!" I called.
Luke ran at his adversary as quickly as he could, leaping off the ground at the last second, before spinning back toward the Combusken, his claws extended. The Combusken was caught off guard by the attack, taken aback by the speed and accuracy with which it was preformed.
"Use it again!" I shouted, "Don't stop! Don't give it a chance to hit you!"
Luke leaped into the air for a second time, and brought the aerial attack crashing down on his opponent on nearly the same spot as before, causing major damage.
"Double Kick now!" the kid screamed. His Pokémon responded by kicking Luke viciously in the face, knocking him over, then in the chest, nearly winding him.
"Luke!" I yelled. We couldn't lose this battle. Not because of the money, but because of the psychological effects losing was having on Luke. If he lost, he might fall into depression or worse. And then I would know it was all my fault... "It's weak! Use Slash!"
Luke picked himself up from the ground and in one fluid motion swiped at the Young Fowl Pokémon. But his claws hit nothing but air. The Combusken had jumped into Luke's blind spot – literally. I really hoped that Luke didn't realize that it was his lack of eye that caused him to misjudge and miss that hit.
"Kick it!"
"Move out of the way! Roll!" I shouted instantly, not even comprehending what I said. Luke dropped to the floor, letting the powerful kick attack fly over him. Unfortunately for the Combusken, it had put so much power into the kick that when it hit nothing, its momentum carried it too far and it slipped for a fraction of a second. That was all Luke needed.
"Aerial Ace!" I shouted instantly. This was how battles were supposed to be, trainer and Pokémon sharing one mind, not the trainer calling out commands randomly. Luke took my cue and jumped up. The Combusken poorly aimed an Ember attack at him, but it missed by a long shot. Then it looked up to see Luke diving down on top of it, just before it passed out with the force of the attack.
I gazed with awe and pride at my partner, who was now standing right next to the unconscious Combusken. Then I ran over to him to give him a hug. "Well done," I quietly told him, "I knew you could do it."
"Comby, come back," said the kid gloomily, recalling his fainted Pokémon, before turning to me. "That was amazing! You're really strong!"
"I am?" I repeated, smiling at Luke. "I'm not; it's just that my Pokémon are."
"So, um..." the kid said, giving me some money, "I'd better get Donny and the others to a Pokémon Center. Bye!"
"Thanks!" I called as he ran off to Lilycove to get his Pokémon healed. I looked quickly at the money in my hands. Four hundred and sixty-four Credits. And with my thirty-six, it meant I could visit the Safari Zone! I was delighted, and Luke's face was lit up with happiness, too.
"But we'd better get them to a Pokémon Center first." Luke pointed out.
"Must we?" I said, feeling slightly uncomfortable, while still feeling a swelling of happiness in my chest, "The Safari Zone doesn't require trainers to have Pokémon with them, and they won't know whether they were unconscious for a minute or five days."
"Okay..." said Luke, sounding unsure.
I grinned widely, "Come on, then!" I shouted, running off in the direction of the Safari Zone.
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A/N: Oh yeah! The concept the Pokémon Frenzy Tournament is copyrighted to Dragonfree ::grin::