Day 3
"WELCOME BACK, FOLKS. WE HAD SOME TROUBLE AT THE POKEMON CENTER YESTERDAY, BUT TODAY EVERYTHING IS RUNNING 110! LET'S GET ON WITH THE FIRST ROUND ACTION! WOULD DAN SERGEIN OF EMERALD CITY AND ADAM VAN MADA OF CELADON CITY PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY DOWN TO THE FIGHTING ARENA!"
The crowd cheered loudly as the next two competitors came down to the arena. I sat there in my seat; an Onix sized Big Gulp in one hand, the interface in the other, and a small buffet of food and snacks in my lap. Now that I had won my first round match I could sit back and enjoy the rest of the tournament searching for illegals. Still, the idea of Rockets lurking around did tend to dampen the mood a bit.
Dan won the coin toss, so Adam had to choose first. "I choose Nidoran!" he said, releasing a Nidoran male.
Dan smiled. "All right, Venusaur, let's take this guy!" he said to his Venusaur that stood by his side.
"Saur!" the large plant pokemon said as it lumbered into the arena.
"Nidoran, tackle it!" Adam shouted. The little pink pokemon charged at Venusaur. It slammed into the plant pokemon's leg and dropped like a stone right in front of it.
"Venusaur, vine whip!" Venusaur extended its vines and smacked Nidoran all the way back to its trainer.
"Come on, Nidoran, you can do it! Poison sting!" Nidoran shook its head clear and fired its poisonous pins. They hit their target, but had little effect on the part poison type pokemon.
Dan sighed. "Venusaur, sleep powder, put that poor thing to sleep before it hurts itself." Venusaur launched its sleep powder at Nidoran, which passed out asleep.
"Nidoran, return!" Adam said. "I choose Ponyta!"
Dan and Venusaur got a little nervous as the fire horse pokemon emerged from its ball. "Venusaur, razor leaf!" Dan ordered. Hundreds of tiny razor sharp leaves came flying at Ponyta.
"Ponyta, fire blast!" Adam ordered. Ponyta fired its attack, burning all the leaves to cinders. "Now, fire blast Venusaur!" Adam yelled. Ponyta launched its attack once more, badly burning the slow moving plant pokemon.
"Venusaur, return!" Dan said. Venusaur tried to get up and walk back to its trainer's side, but it toppled over, too badly burned. Dan nodded, taking Venusaur's empty pokeball off of his belt. "C'mon, boy, into the pokeball." Venusaur nodded as the red light drew it back into the safety and comfort of its pokeball.
Adam was petting Ponyta's flaming mane as he waited for Dan to choose his next pokemon. Dan took a pokeball off of his belt, threw it in the air, caught it, and spun it on the tip of his finger like a basketball. The crowd ooohed and aahhhed at this talent, some even laughed.
"I choose Alakazam!" Dan said, throwing his pokeball into the arena.
"Ponyta, fire spin!" Adam ordered as soon as Alakazam was out of the ball. The flame tornado encircled Alakazam.
"Alakazam, confusion!" Dan ordered. Alakazam's eyes glowed blue as its powerful psychic abilities gathered the flames into a giant fireball and hurled it back at Ponyta. Still, it wasn't very effective against the fire pokemon.
"Alright, Ponyta, stomp it!" Adam ordered. The fire horse reared up and neighed loudly, then it charged at Alakazam, ready to pound it into the ground with its diamond hard hooves.
Dan and Alakazam stood firm. "Now, psychic!" Dan ordered.
"Kazam!" the powerful psychic pokemon said, as its most powerful attack sent the charging Ponyta crashing to the ground.
"Ponyta, return!" Adam said. "Alright, here's one that will have an advantage over your psychic pokemon! I choose Haunter!" The ghost pokemon emerged from the pokeball. "Haunter, lick that thing into paralysis!" Adam ordered. Haunter floated over menacingly towards Alakazam.
"Alakazam, psybeam." Alakazam fired its psychic ray, fainting the ghost pokemon instantly.
Adam's jaw dropped as he recalled his pokemon, a look of confusion on his face. Poor kid, looks like he's another rookie who bought into that rumor that ghosts are strong against psychics. Wish I knew how that rumor got started in the first place.
"I choose Primeape!" Adam said, releasing his little fuzzball of fury.
Dan recalled Alakazam. Either he wanted to take it easy on the poor kid, or he was afraid Primeape could get the advantage if it managed to get close enough. He chose his next pokemon. "Go, Gengar!" Dan said, releasing his own ghost pokemon.
"Primeape, fury swipes!" Adam ordered, but Primeape's powerful fists passed harmlessly through the gaseous pokemon.
"Gengar, hypnosis!" Gengar's powerful hypnosis power put Primeape right to sleep.
"C'mon, Primeape, get up!" Adam yelled to his snoozing pokemon, but all it did was roll over and scratch its tummy.
"Alright, Gengar, finish it with Dream Eater!"
"Gengar, gengar, gengar." The ghost pokemon laughed as it floated over and swallowed Primeape, passing him back out through his gaseous back. It was Primeape's dream of winning the P-1 Grand Prix that was eaten. This powerful attack fainted the sleeping pokemon.
"Primeape, return!" Adam said. "I choose Clefable."
The little pink pokemon emerged. "Clef-a-ble." It said happily.
"Gengar, hypnosis!"
"Clefable, metronome!" Adam said. Clefable wagged its finger back and forth, summoning a new pokemon attack.
"Clefable!" it yelled as a large bolt of lightening shot out of its finger and electrocuted Gengar. Metronome had given Clefable thunder.
"Gengar, return!" Dan said, recalling his pokemon and choosing his next. "Go, Majesticorn!" he said, releasing the unicorn pokemon.
Pokedexes all over the arena pinged as trainers tried to find out what this pokemon was. I had heard of this pokemon, but never seen one in person. It was a white unicorn with a flowing blonde mane and tail. Around its neck it wore a beautiful necklace of multi-colored beads. I pointed my interface at it anyway, just to hear what it had to say.
"Majesticorn. A mystic pokemon. From the far off plains of Emerald City, this unicorn pokemon uses powerful attacks of an unknown origin that can only be described as magical."
It was legit, so I watched the battle unfold.
"Clefable, metronome again!" Adam called.
"Majesticorn, double team!" Dan ordered. The mystic pokemon created a duplicate of itself and the two surrounded Clefable.
It used metronome, but was unable to decide which one of the two pokemon to attack. Finally, it launched its new attack, flamethrower, at one of the two Majesticorn. The flames passed harmlessly through the fake image.
"No!" Adam said.
"Now, Majesticorn, orb bomb!" The beads of the necklace began to glow and gleam. Suddenly the gems separated and began floating around in front of Majesticorn. The orbs glowed even brighter as they floated around faster and faster. "Majesticorn, fire!" Dan said. Suddenly, the beads stopped in mid air and each one fired a powerful blast at Clefable, fainting it.
"Clefable, return." Adam said, his chances for victory now resting on his one last pokemon. "I choose Chansey." Adam said, releasing the egg pokemon. "Double-edge attack!"
"Chansey!" it said as it threw itself headlong into Majesticorn. The attack weakened Majesticorn, but it also hurt Chansey.
Dan looked at the watch-like device on his arm. It was a health reader, showing the condition of his entire team. It showed that Majesticorn still had plenty of energy left. "Majesticorn, mega kick!" The magical horse charged and kicked Chansey with its powerful legs, knocking it for a loop.
"Chansey…return." Adam said, accepting defeat.
Dan sighed his relief and smiled at the mystic pokemon. "Good job, Majesticorn. Return."
"AND DAN SERGEIN IS THE WINNER! LET'S HEAR IT FOR HIM, FOLKS!" The crowd cheered for this trainer from so far away. He gave the crowd a quick wave of thanks, then was off to the pokemon center to heal his pokemon.
"Your pokemon will be ready in just a moment, Mr. Sergein." Nurse Joy said as she took the pokeballs to be healed. As Dan waited the phone on the nurse's desk rang. "Mr. Sergein, phone for you."
Dan grinned and took the phone from Joy. "Hello, Jennifer." He said knowingly into the phone.
"How's Majesticorn? Is it alright?" Jennifer asked, almost out of breath.
Dan chuckled. "Majesticorn is fine. It's being healed right now."
Jennifer sighed on the other end of the line. "That's a relief. We saw the battle on TV just now, congratulations!"
Dan's grin turned into a full on smile. "Thanks, babe. Now it's on to round two, and from what I've seen already I'm going to have some tough competition."
"You'll do just fine." Jennifer said. "Heck, you might even win this thing."
Dan gasped, feigning exasperation. "Well gee, thanks for the vote of confidence!" he said sarcastically, but knowing what she meant.
Her light giggle came over the line. "Do you need me to send you some more good luck?" she asked.
Dan smiled, taking his healed pokemon back from Nurse Joy. "No, but I could use some more kisses."
"NOW FOR OUR NEXT MATCH OF THE DAY! WOULD RED CON OF PALLET TOWN AND BOBBY HAPSBURG OF PEWTER CITY PLEASE COME ON DOWN TO THE FIGHTING ARENA!"
Red nervously got up from his seat next to Aliessa and Jordan. "Man, am I nervous." Red said, his teeth almost chattering with nerves.
Aliessa patted her young friend on the back. "Relax, Red, you'll do fine. Now get out there and show them how a Poliwag trainer fights!"
Jordan shook Red's hand. "Good luck to you, Red."
Red pulled himself together and strode confidently down to the arena. His opponent, Bobby, won the coin toss, so Red had to throw out the first pokemon. "Uh…Red calls…Jigglypuff!" Red chucked his pokeball, releasing the cute little balloon pokemon.
Bobby laughed. "Alright, if that's the way you want to play it. Gloom, go!" Bobby chose his first pokemon, the sometimes stinky plant pokemon Gloom.
"Jigglypuff, sing to it!"
Immediately I and just about everyone else in the arena covered our ears, so the song of Jigglypuff wouldn't put us to sleep as well.
"Jiiiig-aly-puuuffff, jigalyyyyyy-puuuuuffff." When the singing stopped Gloom (as well as some of the spectators) was woozy, but still standing.
"Way to go, Gloom, shake it off and use stun spore!" Gloom smacked itself in the face a few times to wake itself up, then released its attack. Jigglypuff fell to the ground, paralyzed.
"Oh no! Jigglypuff, double slap!" The balloon pokemon tried hard to attack, but it couldn't get up.
"Alright, Gloom, finish this powder puff, solarbeam!" Gloom took in sunlight from the clear blue sky outside the sunroof.
"Sing, Jigglypuff!" Red called out in desperation. "Sing your little heart out!"
Jigglypuff managed to sit up and it started singing for all it was worth. "Jiiiigalyyy-puuuffff, jiggalyyyyyy-puuuuffff!" Gloom began to wobble again.
"Gloom, no, fire the solarbeam, don't fall asleep!" But it was too late; Gloom fell over and started snoring. "Gloom, return!" Bobby said.
Red smiled a small smile of pride as he recalled his weakened Jigglypuff. He had tied a more experienced trainer. Now with more confidence he chose his next pokemon. "Red calls Oddish!" the young trainer called, releasing his own plant pokemon.
Bobby threw his pokeball. "Exeggcute, cut it down to size!" The two plant pokemon faced off against each other. "Exeggcute, hypnosis!"
"Oddish, close your eyes and tackle it!" As the five faced plant pokemon unleashed its hypnosis power, Oddish took a deep breath, closed its eyes, and ran full tilt at Exeggcute, knocking it for a loop. "Now, bind it!" Oddish reached out and wrapped its leaves around its enemy and squeezed tight.
"Exeggcute, barrage!" Bobby said, but it couldn't do it. One more tight squeeze, and Exeggcute fell from Oddish's leaves, fainted. "Exeggcute, return! Psyduck, you better not let me down again!" Bobby said, recalling the fainted pokemon and releasing everyone's favorite fat yellow duck.
"Psy, duck." The pokemon said, holding its head.
"Don't just stand there, Psyduck, attack Oddish!"
Psyduck turned to its opponent. "Psy ay ay!" it said as it waddled over to Oddish.
"That's it, Psyduck!" Bobby yelled excitedly. "Now, scratch it!" Psyduck took a pathetic little swing with its claws. It knocked Oddish over, but the plant pokemon jumped right back up.
"Oddish?" the plant pokemon said, confused by its opponent's weakness.
Psyduck got an angry look in its dopey eyes. "Psy? Psy ay ay duck!" it said angrily as it started slapping and slashing at Oddish repeatedly. These weak attacks did little more than annoy the plant pokemon.
"Oddish," Red ordered, "wrap up that little pest!" Oddish quickly wrapped its leaves around the fat little duck and threw it back at Bobby.
"Oh, why do I even bother with you? Psyduck, return!" The fat little duck was gratefully taken back into its pokeball. Bobby chose his next pokemon. "Go, Gengar!" The ghost pokemon emerged from its pokeball.
"Oddish!" the little plant pokemon said, quivering with fear.
"Gengar, nightshade attack!" Bobby ordered. Gengar released its powerful attack, quickly fainting the weakened little pokemon.
"Hang in there, Red!" Aliessa shouted to her friend.
"You can still win this!" Jordan chimed in.
"Vap, por, poreon!" Aliessa's Vaporeon said.
Red chose his next pokemon. "Red calls Charmander!" Red released his starter pokemon, the fire lizard Charmander. "Charmander, ember attack!"
"Char, chaaaaarrr!" the little fire pokemon said as it waved its flaming tail at Gengar, sending flames and sparks showering onto its opponent.
Back in Pallet Town, Mr. And Mrs. Con were watching the match intently.
"Well," Red's mother snorted, "at least he finally got some sense and decided to use his fire pokemon!"
Her husband nodded. "Indeed. If he ad used Charmander from the start he probably could have had this match won by now! I keep trying to tell him: fire is the best type of pokemon!"
"One more time, Charmander, ember attack!" Again the fire lizard burned Gengar with its flaming tail, this time fainting the ghost pokemon.
"Gengar, return!" Bobby said. "Go, Poliwag!" The pokeball opened, releasing the little tad pole pokemon.
Red gasped at seeing his favorite pokemon facing off against him. "Charmander, scratch attack!" The fire lizard moved in to scratch Poliwag, but Bobby was too quick for it.
"Poliwag, water gun!" The little water pokemon fired its water attack, instantly fainting the fire type.
"Charmander, return!" Red called, eagerly taking his next pokeball off his belt. "Red calls Poliwag!" Red said, releasing his best and favorite pokemon.
"Poliwag, water gun attack!" Bobby called.
"Match it with your own water gun, Poliwag!" Red almost cheered. The two water pokemon fired their water attacks at each other. The water streams clashed into each other, sending spray on all sides. Red's Poliwag began to win out as its water gun began slowly pushing back against Bobby's. Finally, Bobby's Poliwag gave out, and the gush of water sent it crashing back into the guard walls.
"Poliwag, return!" Bobby said, choosing his last pokemon. "Go, Sandslash!" he yelled, releasing his powerful ground type pokemon.
Every bit of Red's earlier jitters was gone now as he ordered the final attack with complete confidence. "Poliwag, water gun!" he called out quickly, before Sandslash had time to burrow under the floor. The ground type was instantly fainted.
A cheer went up from the crowd for the victorious underdog, Red Con. "LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE WINNER, FOLKS!" the announcer called. Aliessa, Jordan, and Vaporeon were all jumping up and down, shouting out congratulations to their young friend.
Somewhere in the stands Bill Nguyen sat cheering for the winner and munching on a sub. One of the spectators next to him, an old gambler, leaned over to him.
"What are you so happy about, sonny? You picked the other kid to win. Now that I think about it, you haven't picked a single winner this whole tournament! I'm beginning to think you don't know a thing about pokemon."
Bill cut his eyes at the old man. "Repeat that, you old rudey poo."
The gambler smiled a mischievous grin. "I said you don't know a thing about pokemon. You actually picked a ground type to win over a water type. Boy, you're just plain ignorant."
Bill turned and looked the gambler straight in the eyes. "Care to bet on the next match, chump? One hundred dollars cash to the winner."
The old man stuck out his hand. "Deal, sonny. You better hope whoever you pick is either a good trainer, or very lucky! Hehehe."
The announcer called for the next match. "WOULD BILL NGUYEN OF SAFFRON CITY AND CORY MACNAMARA OF LAVENDER TOWN PLEASE COME DOWN TO THE FIGHTING ARENA!"
The old man looked at Bill, a toothless grin lining his wrinkled face. "So, who do you have, sonny?" the old man asked.
Bill shoved the rest of the sandwich into his mouth and stood up. "Oh, I'd have to go with Bill. He's very good and very lucky. Excuse me." Bill said, making his way toward the end of the aisle.
"Wait a minute, sonny." The old man said. "Where are you going? Don't you even think about backing out now!"
Bill got to the stairs and turned around. "Oh, I'm not, I just have to get down to the floor, they called my name."
The old man's jaw dropped. "You mean you're…?"
Bill nodded. "Bill Nguyen, and don't you try to welch on me, old man!" Bill laughed as he bounded down the stairs toward the arena floor.
The old man slumped down and slapped his wrinkled forehead. "Mildred's gonna kill me!"
"Nguyen wins the coin toss, MacNamara chooses first. Let's go!" the ref blew the whistle and the match was on.
Cory chose his first pokemon. "Go, Paras!" The little plant bug pokemon emerged from the pokeball.
Bill laughed. "Is that all? Oh well, Arcanine, get'im!" The fire wolf pokemon emerged from the pokeball.
"Paras, slash attack!" The little plant pokemon scuttled over and began slashing at Arcanine's ankle.
"Arcanine, flamethrower!" Bill ordered. The fire pokemon launched its attack, instantly fainting the weaker pokemon.
"Paras, return!"
"Arcanine, return!" Bill also recalled his perfectly healthy pokemon, a very brave or very foolish move in a single elimination tournament. He must have felt sure he was going to win.
"Go, Mankey!" Cory called out his pig monkey pokemon.
Bill chose his next pokemon. "Snorlax, squash that little jabroni like a pancake!" Bill's massive Snorlax emerged from the incredibly tiny pokeball.
"Uhh…Mankey, mega punch!" Mankey leapt at Snorlax, ready to deliver a mega punch right between the sleeping monster's closed eyes.
"Snorlax, headbutt!" Bill called out. Just as Mankey was about to connect, Snorlax thrust its head forward and clobbered Mankey. "Now, flatten it!" Bill said. The large pokemon proceeded to fall over on the stunned pokemon.
"Aaahhh, Mankey return!" Cory quickly called back his pokemon just before Snorlax crashed to the floor, shaking the whole building to its girders. Cory chose his next pokemon. "Go, Cubone!" The lonely bone pokemon materialized right on top of the sleeping pokemon. "Now, boneclub it!" Cory ordered.
"Cu-bone!" the little armored pokemon said as it repeatedly bashed Snorlax over its massive head. Whether or not this bothered Snorlax I couldn't tell.
"Snorlax, return. Venusaur, slice him!" Bill said, swapping out his pokemon.
"Cubone, bonemerang!" Cory ordered. Cubone threw its weapon at Venusaur.
"Venusaur, vine whip it away and use razor leaf!" Venusaur's vines shot outward, knocking the little bone away like it was a mere twig. Hundreds of razor leaves followed, cutting Cubone badly.
"Cubone, return!" Cory called back his pokemon. "Go, Kadabra!" The psychic pokemon emerged from the pokeball.
"Kadabra." It chanted.
"Venusaur, tackle it!" The large plant pokemon charged surprisingly fast at the psychic pokemon.
It wasn't fast enough. "Kadabra, psychic attack!" The psychic pokemon released its powerful attack, fainting the part poison pokemon instantly.
"Venusaur, return!" Bill recalled his pokemon. "Go, Gyarados!" Bill released his fearsome sea monster pokemon. "Hyperbeam attack!" The mighty sea serpent charged up and fired its most powerful attack, blasting the psychic pokemon to the ground.
"Return, Kadabra! Go, Digglett!" Cory released his tiny mole pokemon and quickly ordered it to dig a hole.
"Don't think it will get away from me that easily! Gyarados, hydro pump the ground!" Gyarados fired its powerful water attack at the floor, breaking right through it and flooding Digglett's tunnels. The ground type pokemon came floating up out of its hole, fainted. Cory and Bill both recalled their pokemon.
Cory chose his last pokemon. "Go, Machop!"
Bill chose his next pokemon. "Hitmonchan, mega punch that little guy back to its mama!" The punching fiend emerged from its pokeball, ready for battle.
"Machop, mega punch!" Cory ordered.
"Hitmonchan, mega punch!" Bill ordered.
The two fighting pokemon lunged at each other, but Hitmonchan had the longer reach, and sent Machop flying over the guard wall and into the crowd.
Bill had won it.
As Cory went into the stands to recall his Machop, Bill stood there, bowing and basking in the spotlight.
"AND BILL NGUYEN IS THE WINNER!"
The tournament broke for lunch, so I decided I was going to go for a short walk and think things out. Eventually I ended up on the roof over the stadium. I could look down through the large skylights and see maintenance crews quickly and skillfully repairing the damaged arena floor. I looked to the east at nearby Viridian City. Something was wrong, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. My thinking was just too foggy, so I decided I needed a fresh perspective.
I reached around behind my back and pulled the hidden Masterball off of my belt. I opened it, releasing the powerful psychic monster within.
"Mewtwo." It hissed as it materialized. It stretched its long arms, legs, and tail, grunting the whole time. "NEVER keep me confined in that blasted thing so long again!" it said, twisting its head from side to side.
"Sorry." I said, looking out over the horizon. "I've just been so busy with his tournament and watching out for Rockets that I…"
Mewtwo quickly interrupted me. "You've battled already? Why was I not called?"
If I didn't know better I'd have sworn it was disappointed that it hadn't battled. "The Elite Four have asked that I try to keep a low profile. Using you would surely be risking my secret." Mewtwo understood and began looking where I was looking. "I need to get back out there, Mewtwo. Back into the wild, hunting for new pokemon. After this tournament is over that is exactly what I'm going to do.
Suddenly, Mewtwo bolted up into the air, suspended there by its own psychic power. It quickly jerked its head around, like it was looking for something. Immediately I was on my feet, pokeball in hand, ready to take on whatever the danger was.
"What is it, Mewtwo? Rockets?"
My psychic pokemon continued to look around. "There is a strong presence here." It almost whispered, like it was listening for an unheard sound. "A powerful psychic aura surrounds this place."
I relaxed and put the pokeball away. "Mewtwo, calm down. There have to be a few dozen psychic pokemon here at this tournament, even some psychic trainers. That's all it is."
Mewtwo slowly floated back down to its feet. It looked at me, a deadly seriousness burning in its eyes. "No, David, this is something else, something very powerful. It is strange to me, yet…familiar." It said as it looked off into the sky, as if to find the answers written there.
Inside the building I heard the chime that meant it was almost time for the matches to start up again. "Come on, Mewtwo." I said, holding out the Masterball. "Time to get back to work." Mewtwo sighed and nodded as it was absorbed back into the Masterball. I turned and made my way back into the building, unaware that behind one of the statues on the roof, two villains were watching and listening to every word.
"WELCOME BACK LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! HOPE YOU ENJOYED LUNCH, CAUSE NOW IT'S TIME FOR MORE BATTLE! WOULD SHAWN RIDLE OF GRINGY CITY AND DIANE MCCLAINE OF CELADON CITY PLEASE COME DOWN TO THE FIGHTING ARENA!"
The two competitors went down to the floor, Shawn a hobo looking man with dirty, ratty clothes; and Diane a bright, happy girl with pink hair and a Pokemon Tech jacket on.
"Hmmm." I said, nibbling a waffle fry, "A graduate of the Tech, this ought to be a good one."
Diane lost the coin toss, so she threw out the first pokemon. "OK, Raichu, do your stuff!" she said, releasing the electric pokemon.
Shawn pulled a surprisingly clean and shiny pokeball out of his coat and threw it.
"Oddish!" his plant pokemon said as it faced its opponent.
"Oddish," Shawn said in a gravelly voice, "use stun spore!" The plant pokemon released a cloud of dust at Raichu.
"Raichu, use agility to dodge it, then follow up with thunderwave!" The electric mouse quickly ran around the dust cloud and fired its electrical attack at Oddish, paralyzing the plant. "Now, finish it off with thunderbolt!" Diane called out happily.
"Raaaiiiii-chuuuuu!" the electric pokemon released its attack, frying the plant pokemon.
"Oddish, return." Shawn said, choosing his next pokemon.
"Perrrrrrsian." The cat pokemon purred as it emerged from the pokeball.
"Persian, fury swipes!" Shawn called.
"Raichu, thunderbolt!" Raichu fired its electrical attack, but the quick cat pokemon was able to dodge the blast. It laid into Raichu, slashing and clawing furiously. "Raichu, return!" Diane said, quickly recalling her pokemon. "Cubone, go!"
"Cubone-bone. Cubone!" the armored pokemon said.
"Persian, again, use the fury swipes!"
"Cubone, bonemerang!" Diane said.
The cat pokemon was able to dodge the thrown weapon and lunged at Cubone.
"Cubone, skull bash!" Cubone lowered its armored head and charged at the lunging cat pokemon. It bashed Persian in the face, knocking it silly. Then, the bonemerang came flying back and bashed Persian in the back of the head, knocking it out.
Cubone picked up its weapon and waved it around. "Cubone, cu-BONE!" it shouted to the crowd.
"Persian, return." Shawn chose his next pokemon.
"Ivysaur!" the plant pokemon yelled as it came out of the pokeball.
Diane grew slightly nervous. "Alright, Cubone, remember your training and do your best. Bone club!" Cubone held up its weapon and charged at Ivysaur. Ivysaur stood firm, awaiting its instructions as Cubone drew closer and closer. Cubone leapt into the air at its opponent.
"Ivysaur, razor leaf!" Shawn called. Ivysaur launched its attack just in time. At such close range Cubone had no chance of dodging the attack, and every single razor leaf struck home, fainting the ground type pokemon instantly.
"Cubone, return!" Diane said. She quickly chose her next pokemon. "Charmeleon, go!" The fire lizard emerged from its pokeball.
"Quickly, Ivysaur, sleep powder!" The plant pokemon released a thick blue cloud of sleep powder.
"Charmeleon, blow it away with fire spin!" The fire pokemon released its flaming cyclone, burning away the sleep powder and singeing Ivysaur in the process.
"Ivysaur, vine whip!" Shawn called.
"Saur!" the plant pokemon barked as it wrapped its vines around Charmeleon and tried to slam it to the ground. Charmeleon held strong.
"Charmeleon, fire blast!" Diane called. The fire lizard dug in with its claws and launched its extreme fire attack, fainting the plant pokemon.
"Ivysaur, return." Shawn said, recalling his fainted pokemon and choosing his next.
"Seel, seel!" the water pokemon barked, clapping its flippers as it emerged from the pokeball.
"Quick, Charmeleon, fire spin!" Diane called out. Charmeleon surrounded Seel with a wall of flame.
"Seel, ice beam!" Seel tried to launch its ice attack, but it melted in the searing flames before it could harm Charmeleon. The powerful fire overwhelmed the lower level ice type, fainting it.
"Seel, return." Shawn said.
"Whirl, poliwhirl!" his water pokemon said as it materialized on the arena floor.
"Water gun!" Shawn ordered. The water fighter pokemon launched its attack, severely weakening Charmeleon. "Now, finish it with body slam!" Shawn said. However, the slimy bruiser slammed into nothing but solid floor as Diane recalled her weakened pokemon.
"Vileplume, go!" Diane called out her plant pokemon.
"Uh-oh. Poliwhirl, mega punch!" Shawn called. The fighting water pokemon charged at Vileplume.
"Vileplume, mega drain!" Diane called out. The plant pokemon quickly absorbed Poliwhirl's energy, sending the water type staggering. "Now, finish it with solarbeam!" Vileplume took in some of the last rays of the setting sun through the reddening skylight.
"Poliwhirl, do something!" Shawn called to his addled pokemon, too weak to respond.
Diane smiled cheerfully. "Vileplume, fire!" she called. The solarbeam blasted Poliwhirl back to its trainer, fainted.
"Return, Poliwhirl." Shawn said, shaking his head as he chose his last pokemon.
"Meeeowth!" the scratch-cat pokemon sneered as it emerged from the pokeball.
"Meowth, slash attack!" Shawn said. The cat lunged at Vileplume, its razor sharp claws slicing into the plant pokemon's huge petals, but not doing much damage.
"Vileplume, leech seed!" Diane called out. A seed popped out of the top of Vileplume's head and conked Meowth right between the eyes. The seed opened up, trapping Meowth in its power sapping vines.
"Meeeooooowth!" the cat pokemon said as it struggled to break free. Eventually, Meowth gave up.
"Meowth, return." Shawn said, beaten.
Diane ran over and hugged Vileplume, congratulating it on its victory.
"AND DIANE MCCLAINE IS THE WINNER! LET'S GIVE HER A HAND!"
Meanwhile, over in nearby Viridian City, a smoke bomb goes off in the doorway of the local pokemart. Customers ran panicking for the fire exit while the store manager searched for the fire extinguisher.
"Oh, there's no fire." A woman's voice said.
"But the situation is dire." A scratchy man's voice said.
"W-who's there? Who are you?" the old manager asked the two figures behind the smoke.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves!" both voices said in unison.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
"To infect the world with devastation!"
"To blight all people in every nation!"
"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"
"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"
"Cassidy!"
"Butch!"
"We're Team Rocket, circling the earth day and night!"
"Surrender to us now, or you'll surely lose the fight!"
"That's right!"
"Raticate!"
"Team Rocket! What do you no-good-nicks want here?" the old man asked. Raticate leapt up on the counter and snapped its massive fangs at the manager.
"Give us all the pokeballs you have, along with all the potions as well!" Cassidy said. The man quickly piled their order into a large box and handed it to Butch. "We'll be seeing you!" Cassidy said cheerfully as they walked out of the store.
The manager quickly grabbed the phone and called the police. "Hello, this is Jeffrey down at the Pokemart. Team Rocket just robbed me!"
I was on my way to my room at the end of the day's matches when I spotted Misty motioning for me to come over. I walked over casually, so as not to draw attention to the fact that I was speaking with one of the Elite Four.
"What's up?" I asked.
"We just got a report in from the Viridian City PD. Butch and Cassidy just robbed the pokemart."
I looked around again to make sure no one was listening. "What did they take?" I asked her quietly.
"The entire stock of pokeballs and potions." She said quickly.
I looked at her funny. "Was that all? I thought they would have taken everything."
Misty nodded. "So did we. There have been increasing reports of pokemon related disturbances all day, but up until now it was just kids in bad home made uniforms performing some petty misdemeanors. More annoying than dangerous. This is the first real criminal activity we've heard from the Rockets since the break out."
I nodded, rubbing my chin and lightly tapping my pokeballs. "They're sending us a message. They want us to know they're nearby, and they're recruiting. Any sign of the other two losers?"
Misty couldn't help but grin a little at that as she shook her head. "No. Jesse and James haven't been seen or heard from since they escaped."
I quickly covered my mouth as I failed to stifle a yawn, the excitement of the day's matches and pondering what the Rockets were up to had exhausted me.
Misty smiled and nodded. "I know how you feel. Get some sleep, we can talk about this some more tomorrow."
I thanked her and made my way to my room. I took off my belt and was about to lay it on the couch. Instead, I took the Masterball off the belt and released Mewtwo.
"What is it?" Mewtwo asked, looking around for danger.
"You don't need sleep, do you?" I asked it.
Mewtwo seemed taken aback by such a question, but it shook its head. "No. I require time to rest and replenish my power, but I do not need to sleep like you do. Why?"
I pulled up the Viridian City police records and handed the interface to Mewtwo. "I need you to study these police reports and criminal records. See if there is anything that might tell us what the Rockets might be up to or when they might attack."
Mewtwo took the interface and quickly scanned the info on the screen, then looked up at me in shock. "There are over five hundred pages of info here!" it said.
I patted it on the shoulder. "Good thing you don't need sleep, huh? Besides, you wanted out of your ball, right?"
Mewtwo sighed and shook its head. "Very well. I should be done by the time you wake up in the morning."
I nodded as I turned off the light. "Have a good night, Mewtwo."