'After this chapter, the story will begin to get a bit more heavy in terms of the plot. So until the please read and enjoy this chapter.
The main trio finally arrived at the gate of Fuchsia City, they couldn't be more relieved to finally be at their destination.
"Finally! How much time did we spend getting here?" Diego asked.
"About two days I think." Renée answered. Julia then began to smell something that seemed to enchant her. It smelled like a mixture of cinnamon, chocolate, and freshly baked bread.
"Hey, do you guys smell that?" Julia asked. Soon the others began to smell it as well.
"It smells like... pie!" Diego announced, rushing over to the source of the smell. Julia and Diego's mouths began to water at the sight of the pies, cakes, cookies, and other pastries. Renée however was slightly creeped out at the spider and insect theme that all of the food seemed to have.
Diego reached for one of the cookies that was on the table with the other pastries and in an instant his hand was smacked away by a flyswatter that was used by a girl wearing a purple blouse and red skirt. Her hair was a deep indigo color that looked almost like the night sky.
"Don't even think about it!" The girl said sternly. "I've worked too hard on these just to have some take them! If you want something, you have to pay!"
"S-sorry! I'll pay for them, I promise!" Diego assured.
"Well then we'll have no problems then!" The girl said with a smile.
"Who are you anyway?" Renée asked. "I mean besides the person who made all of these."
"My name is Muffet. The best baker in all of Fuschia City!" Muffet greeted, doing a curtsy.
"My name is Diego, and these are the twins; Renée and Julia." Diego greeted.
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you. Is this your first time in Fuschia City?" Muffet asked the trio to which they nodded. "Then why don't you visit the Safari Zone or the Pokemon Zoo?"
"Maybe later, right now I'm taking on the gym leader!" Diego answered, surprising Muffet. She raised an eyebrow and laughed a bit.
"What's so funny?" Julia asked.
"Oh nothing! But if you want, I can talk to the gym leader and let him know you want to challenge him. If you want me to at least." Muffet said.
"You can do that?!" The trio asked in shock.
"Absolutely! But it might take a while for him to battle with you, he isn't just this town's gym leader, he's also our most valuable doctor and scientist. In the meantime why don't you head over to the Safari Zone to train or catch some new pokemon. It is our city's landmark after all."
"Will do! I really hope you're telling the truth about the gym leader though." Diego said with a competitive smirk on his face. The three then went to enter the city but we're stopped by Muffet.
"Hold on. You looked nervous about my treats, why is that?" She asked them, pointing at Renée specifically.
"Oh, I just don't like bugs very much." Renée answered.
"I see. Thanks for answering." Muffet replied, as the trio left Muffet took out her PokeNav and called someone. She looked rather angry at Renée's answer.
"Hey, it's me... It's going well, listen, you have challengers coming. Can you get the town to set up a stage? I want everyone to watch you battle them... Yup! And I'll be wearing the suit that you made for me... Ok, I'll see you soon.
The group visited the Safari Zone to pass the time, Julia was fishing in a lake while Diego was training his pokemon in a mountainous area. Renée seemed to be chasing something in the same area.
Julia then began getting a bite, she reeled her catch in and the pokemon that came out was long, slender, and rather elegant to look at. It was a sort of light pinkish purple and it was almost as large as Julia herself.
"Woah..." Julia said in awe, scanning the pokemon with her pokedex.
'Dratini; the Dragon pokemon. It continuously molts and sloughs off its old skin. It does so because the life energy within its body steadily builds to uncontrollable levels.'
"Wow, so that's the pokemon that Aunt Cynthia told us about when we were kids! I have to have it!" Julia said to herself, she reached for one of the Safari balls she was given at the entrance and tossed it at Dratini, the pokeball captured the wild dragon and landed on the ground, shaking a few times before the Dratini popped back out of the pokeball.
Julia pouted as she reached for Jigglypuff's pokeball, knowing she would have to battle.
The wild Dratini began sparking with black and red electricity before it absorbed it all.
"What kind of move was that?" Julia asked. "Well whatever it is I have to counter it. Jigglypuff, use Sing!"
Jigglypuff began to sing a lullaby to put Dratini to sleep, however the dragon seemed to rush towards Jigglypuff faster than either it or Julia could see. Before either of them knew it, Jigglypuff had taken damage and was knocked back.
"What was that?!" Julia said in shock, but then it came to her. 'Wait! I get it now, that electricity, it was using Dragon Dance! And the attack that came afterwards must have been Extreme Speed! This Dratini must be pretty smart if it knew about that move combination. I better use a stronger pokemon...'
Julia recalled her Jigglypuff and sent out her Gardevoir. Dratini rushed at Gardevoir, it was glowing read and aiming for Gardevoir's face. The attack connected successfully, but Gardevoir looked unaffected.
'Thank goodness you're part Fairy type Gardevoir!' Julia said to her pokemon via their telepathic connection. "Now, use Hypnosis!"
Gardevoir's eyes began to glow purple, she reached her hand out and began emitting rings of energy that put Dratini to sleep. Julia took this opportunity to throw another Safari ball. The ball shook just as it did before, Julia watched it with bated breath. But she was relieved and overjoyed to hear a click coming from the pokeball. The shiny Dratini had been captured.
"That was a great catch!" Someone said. Julia turned to see a Scientist and the rest of her group behind her.
"Who are you?" Julia asked.
"Oh! Forgive me, I'm one of the Gym Leader's coworkers at the lab he works in. He is ready to challenge you. Though he wishes to battle in front of the entire town." The Scientist explained.
"Really! Well we're all ready!" Julia announced. She, along with Diego and her sister looked excited and ready for battle.
The trio followed the scientist out of the Safari Zone and into the center of the city, where a stage had been set up for the battles. The trainers went on stage where another scientist, however this one wore a dark purple lab coat instead of a white one, he also had a black dress shirt and purple pants. His hair was black and went down to his neck. He was pale and he sore glasses, his eyes were a very icy blue.
"Doctor Gaster, I brought you the trainers who wish to battle you."
"Thank you Stark." Dr. Gaster said in a very gruff sounding voice. The scientist, Stark, left the stage to watch the battle. "It's a pleasure to meet you kids, my name is Doctor Ivan Streisand Gaster, the official gym leader of the Fuschia City Gym and I specialize in Poison type pokemon."
"It's nice too meet you too." Renée said, returning the greeting. "I'm-"
"I know your names, you are Renée, this young lady is Julia and your friend there is Diego." Dr. Gaster said, cutting Renée off.
"Huh? How did you know our names?" Diego asked.
"Because my daughter told me, you met her earlier. Isn't that right, Muffet?" Gaster asked.
"Teehee, that's right!" Muffet giggled from behind the stage curtains. "But dad, there's something I want to ask you."
"Go right ahead dear, what is it."
"I want to battle Renée, especially now with the outfit you gave me." Muffet said, trying to mask her excitement.
"Oh of course!" Dr. Gaster replied with a smile.
"Hehehe, perfect!" Muffet giggled ominously.
The curtains on stage began to rise to reveal Muffet, she wasn't wearing anything different in terms of clothes, but she now had four mechanical arms protruding from her back that looked like spider legs, additionally she painted her face and arms a light purple. She also had contacts that made her eyes look like the eyes of a Galvantula with five extra eyes painted on her forehead.
Upon seeing Muffet's new appearance Renée went almost completely pale.
"M-Muffet? What happened to you?!" Diego asked.
"I'm not just a good chef, I'm also a master at special effects and make up. My daddy made these robot spider arms for my birthday last year. I used Bluk Berry juice to create this shade of make-up and I asked my dad and his coworkers to create these contacts and extra eyes. But these eyes are more than just make-up, they can also blink and move like normal eyes, only difference is I can't see out of them." Muffet explained.
"But why go to such lengths?" Julia asked.
"I did this just in case my dad was ever too busy to run the gym. But he's always had time for challengers. So now that I have the opportunity, I'm pulling out all the stops to make my first battle as a gym leader to show the power and beauty that only Bug type pokemon are capable of! And Renée, you will be the first person to learn!" Muffet proclaimed, the townspeople cheered and applauded for her.
"Hold on!" Diego announced, getting everyone's attention. "I don't want Renée to be the only one battling you Muffet, I want to battle you, too!"
Muffet smiled at his confidence.
"Of course, but I really want to battle Renée first. What about you Julia? Do you want to battle me, too?" Muffet asked, but her father then stepped in.
"Actually, I'd appreciate it if I battled Julia. Sweetie, you called everyone out here to see me battle one of these challengers, and I'd like to fulfill that promise. So Julia, I shall be your opponent. We will battle right now. When my daughter told me that I would get challengers today, I felt excited to battle. Its been a while since I battled this seriously, and it's a special occasion today, so I want you to come at me with everything you have." Dr. Gaster explained, the crowd was cheering louder now.
Julia and the rest of the trio were rather shocked by everything as it was going on all at once. But Julia stepped forward and nodded.
"It's settled then, let's make this a good battle." Gaster said.
The two battlers took their places on the stage's arena. The crowed, along with Muffet, Renée and Diego watched on with excitement.
"We will each use two pokemon, is that alright with you?" Dr. Gaster asked.
"Sounds good to me." Julia replied. 'I wonder what kind of pokemon he'll send out.' She thought to herself.
The two of them sent out their first pokemon . Julia sent out her Gardevoir while Gaster sent out a Nidoking.
"Sending out a Psychic type is a smart move. However it is also rather risky in Gardevoir's case as it is also a Fairy type, which is weak to Poison." Gaster explained. "As you are the challenger, you are free to make the first move."
"Thank you! Gardevoir, let's end this fast! Use Hypnopulse!" Julia ordered. Gardevoir reached out its hands and sent out purple rings of psychic energy.
"Interesting move. But I'm more than prepared for this scenario! Nidoking, fight back with Toxic!"
Nidoking spit out a dark purple toxic substance at Gardevoir, who stopped her attack and avoided it. Gaster smirked at this, he seemed to have a plan.
"Now, Poison Jab!"
Nidoking charged at the Fairy pokemon with its forearm glowing purple. Julia began to panic, not knowing what she should do.
"G-Gardevoir! Dodge the attack, quickly!" Julia called out. Gardevoir just barely dodged the Poison Jab, but just being close to the attack seemed to exhaust her. Gardevoir was gasping for breath, it's eyes wide in a panic that was not to different from how Julia was currently feeling.
"This isn't good, if this keeps up then Gardevoir will go down and I don't think my sister has any other pokemon that can effectively take down a Nidoking." Renée said.
'What do I do?!' Julia thought to herself. 'Gardevoir can't take a hit from that thing! ... Wait a minute! Maybe there is one pokemon that can help!'
Julia recalled her Gardevoir back into its pokeball and sent out her Sealeo.
"An Ice type pokemon. Another clever choice, but I always come prepared! Nidoking, use Brick Break!" Dr. Gaster ordered. Nidoking smashed Sealeo with its fist, sending it flying back.
"Now finish it with Megahorn."
Nidoking's horn began to glow yellow-green and it charged for Sealeo again. Sealeo began breathing out an extremely cold breath.
'Now's my chance!' Julia thought. "Now! Use Ice Beam!" Julia commanded. Once Nidoking was in front of it, Sealeo let out an intense blast of ice cold energy from its mouth and right into the face of Nidoking, who was promptly knocked out from the attack.
After knocking out its opponent, Sealeo began emitting an all too familiar glow. It was evolving! Julia's Sealeo had now evolved into a formidable Walrein!
"I must say, I'm impressed. My Nidoking is a powerhouse that is never taken down as easily as that. But it isn't my strongest pokemon. Allow me to introduce you to my ace pokemon. Drapion, come hither!" Gaster called out, sending out his second pokemon, a menacing Drapion. Renée shuddered a little bit. Even though Draping isn't a bug type pokemon, it still heavily resembled one, which was enough to freak Renée out.
"Ok Walrein, don't give up!" Julia announced. "Use Body Slam!"
Walrein leaped up into the air with all its might, trying to focus all its weight onto Drapion.
"Not a smart move." Gaster responded. "Drapion, Cross Poison."
Drapion held up its arms, it's claws began to glow purple like Nidoking's arm was earlier. Once Walrein was close enough, Drapion slashed it in an X formation, sending it back to Julia's side of the field with heavy damage.
"That was a pretty smart move!" Diego acknowledged.
"That's my dad for you!" Muffet said, boasting a bit.
'I can't attack up close, that just won't work. Maybe long range will be better.' Julia thought.
"Use Icy Wind!" She commanded, Walrein let out the ice attack, but the good doctor realized her plan almost immediately.
"You catch on quick, that's good. Drapion, use Earthquake!" Dr. Gaster ordered. Drapion sent out a Shockwave from the ground that made its way over to Walrein. Both of the attacks hit their targets, but Walrein was knocked out from the damage it took.
"So now it's one on one." Diego stated, Renée nodded.
"But Julia's in a hit of a bind. Gardevoir is the only pokemon she can use now and it's weak to Poison attacks, Psychic attacks won't work because Drapion is a dark type, so that means she has to resort to using any other attacks she has to win." Renée added.
'It's over.' Muffet thought to herself, she had a sly smirk on her face.
"Drapion, Cross Poison."
"Gardevoir, use Shock Wave!"
Drapion charged for Gardevoir, but the Psychic pokemon stood it's ground and fired a streak of electricity that zapped Drapion, pushing it back and stopping it's attack, but it didn't seem to do much damage to the Ogre Scorpion pokemon.
'Interesting, she managed to command her pokemon to use an attack that was strong enough to stop Drapion's. A normal Shock Wave would not have done that. Is the bond between this trainer and her pokemon truly that powerful to make it so their attack was strong enough to stop mine? Or is it dumb luck. I may have to conduct some research on this later.' Dr. Gaster thought. "Drapion, use Aerial Ace!"
Julia didn't even have any time to call out an attack before Drapion zipped right to Gardevoir and slashed her with its claws. Gardevoir fell to its knees, taking heavy damage. It didn't have the proper defenses to stand up to Drapion's attacks and the type disadvantage was not helping.
"It's time to end this! Drapion, Cross Poison!" Drapion charged at Gardevoir again, moving much slower than it did when using Aerial Ace.
'What do I do? Gardevoir doesn't have any attacks that can damage this thing!' Julia seemed to scream in her thoughts.
'There is one attack that I had been learning that may just help us win...' Gardevoir said to Julia, it used telepathy to contact her.' While Gardevoir informed Julia of her plaj, Dr. Gaster spoke.
"You fought well, but now the battle ends!"
"Not so fast!" Julia replied. "Gardevoir, use Dazzling Gleam!"
Drapion leaped into the air to slash at Gardevoir, who had just stood on her feet. Gardevoir held her hands in front of the spike on her chest, which began to glow bright pink. Before Drapion's attack could make contact, Gardevoir reached out its arms and let out an intense burst of light that prompted the audience to cover their eyes.
Once the light faded, everyone was shocked to see Gardevoir still standing but Drapion had fallen to the ground, knocked out and unable to battle.
"It's over... You battled well and you even managed to surprise me and come out of this battle as the victor." The Dr. praised. "Now I do believe that it is my daughter's turn to battle."
"Looks like it's our turn..." Muffet said to Renée, giggling in anticipation. Renée looked pale and shuddered a little bit.
The two girls took their places on the battlefield, Muffet had a look of determination on her face.
"Just like my dad's battle, we'll make this battle two-against-two. Same goes for our battle, Diego." Muffet explained, glancing at Diego with her last statement.
"Now, I choose you, Ariados!" Muffet announced, sending out the Arachnid pokemon, Ariados. Renée shivered with fear a little bit. She took a noticeable step back when she saw the pokemon, which caused Muffet's eyebrow to twitch in frustration.
"Argh, just send out your pokemon so we can start already!" She shouted, her father raised an eyebrow at Muffet's attitude.
Renée snapped out of her daze and sent out her Growlithe.
'Fire type pokemon are strong against Bug types. Hopefully this will be over quickly...' Renée thought to herself.
'A Fire type?! She thinks she can just burn my bugs so easily?! She hates bugs that much?! Well... I guess I shouldn't show any mercy!' Muffet thought.
'She isn't normally like this.' Dr. Gaster pondered. 'The only other time I've ever seen her so angry is when a previous trainer said he disliked Bug pokemon. Argh, I must stop this battle, but if I interfere, Muffet may never forgive me for trying to stop her.'
Muffet pouted at her father while she was battling, knowing what he might do.
'Argh, I love my daughter too much to stop her, but I cant let her attack a trainer with their fear of bugs. She's also certified as the Gym leader in the event of my absence, so that makes this an official gym battle. The only thing I can do is hope that this trainer and her friend are strong enough to face their fears and beat my daughter in their pokemon battle.'
"Ariados! Poison Jab!" Muffet ordered. Ariados jabbed Growlithe in its side with one of its venomous legs, damaging the dog pokemon
'I can't keep Growlithe in like this, I have to switch him out.' Renée thought. She reached for her pokeball to recall Growlithe but Muffet had different plans.
"Not a chance! Ariados, use Spider Web!"
Ariados spit out a sticky webbing at Growlithe, preventing it from being recalled and trapping it in the web.
"Not even Fire types can beat my bugs!" Muffet gloated.
"Renée!" Julia called out sternly, getting her sister's attention. "I know you're scared, but you have to face your fears! Remember what happened at the power plants?"
Renée flashed back to what happened at the old Kanto Power Plant by Rock Tunnel. It was where she caught her Joltik. She thought back to how much it helped her in her battles and how both it and her Larvesta aided her in becoming to overcome her fear of Bugs. Though it was clear that she still had a way to go to conquer her fear, she had a bit more confidence in knowing that while she was scared of Bugs, she had her friends, her family, her pokemon, and Galvantula giving them their luck and hoping for her victory.
"Alright Growlithe! Don't give up! Fight back with Flame Wheel!"
Growlithe cloaked itself in a wheel of fire that burned away the Spider Web. It then charged at Ariados causing extreme damage. But this only seemed to frustrate Muffet more.
"Grrr! So you got rid of my Web, big deal! Your fire types still won't save you! Ariados, use Hidden Power!" Muffet ordered.
"Finish it off with one more Flame Wheel, Growlithe!" Renée commanded.
Ariados gathered a light brown energy around it as Growlithe charged at Ariados again. The two collided into each other as their attacks connected, resulting in an explosion.
Once the smoke from the explosion cleared, it was revealed that both Growlithe and Ariados were knocked out.
'Argh! So she got past Ariados, big deal! I still have my strongest pokemon to send out!'
"You did great Growlithe, rest easy, ok?" Renée said calmly.
"Grrr! You just got lucky!" Muffet hissed. "You won't get past my best pokemon!"
Muffet sent out her strongest pokemon, upon seeing what it was Julia and Diego gasped. Renée went wide eyed for a moment before sighing.
It was a Galvantula... She stood silently for a moment before Muffet grew impatient.
"What are you waiting for?! Hurry up and send out your pokemon!"
Julia had had enough of Muffet's attitude towards her sister and finally spoke out against her.
"Hey! What's with you?! You didn't act like this when we met you at the city gate? Why are you acting so harsh towards my sister?!"
"I could never have any sympathy for someone who hates bug types!" Muffet hissed, this caught Renée's attention.
"I don't hate Bug pokemon." Renée said, Muffet did not look convinced. "It's true, Bug pokemon creep me out but during my journey I had caught two pokemon that helped me begin to overcome my fear of Bugs. One of them was a Galvantula of my own. It helped me so much in my battles and it proved to be a good friend and partner. But I ultimately traded it away in the Power Plant that's not too far from here. It seemed so much happier there, like it was where it belonged. I saw it's joy there and I decided that it was happier there, so I did what I needed to do to make it happy." Renée explained.
Muffet and the rest of the audience were touched by Renée's story. Muffet smiled at Renée, this time it was sincere rather than a sinister smirk.
"I... I'm sorry for how I've been acting. I just love Bug pokemon and I can't stand to know that people hate them. But now I know that other people can learn to understand and grow from what they don't like or aren't use to. Hopefully I can use this to better myself as a person." Muffet's stated, her father smiled at her with pride.
"Now let's finish this battle!" Renée said, sending out her next pokemon, her Larvesta.
'A bug type!' Muffet thought to herself. 'So she was truly being sincere...'
"Ok Galvantula! Use Electroweb!"
"Larvesta! Use Ember!"
Galvantula spit out an electrified spider web at Larvesta, who fired small flames at Galvantula. The flames seemed to do minimal damage while the web caused Larvesta immense pain.
"Now! Use Sticky Web!" Muffet ordered.
"Larvesta please hold on! Use String Shot!" Renée pleaded. Galvantula spit out another web, though this one looked like it wasn't completely solid. It passed through the Electroweb and caused Larvesta to become stuck, I'm mobilizing it.
'No no no! This can't be happening!' Renée thought in a panic. She looked at her Larvesta, it was covered in webbing and it now had Galvantula tied up in a String Shot with the string still connected to both of their bodies. Renée then had an idea...
"Ok Larvesta! Flame Charge!"
Larvesta burst into flames, igniting the Sticky Web, Electro Web, and String Shot. It charged at Galvantula, who couldn't move due to the string. Larvesta smashed into Galvantula, knocking it out in one clean hit.
"Yay! You did it sis!" Julia cheered. Muffet looked at Renée, who was celebrating with her sister. She smiled at her with another genuine smile.
'You proved me wrong and you got over your fear. You're gonna go far, I know it. But first...' Muffet looked at Diego, who had a confident and determined look on his face.
"I guess it's my turn." He said.
"I guess it is..." Muffet answered.
Diego stepped onstage and onto his side of the arena for the last gym battle. Muffet got her next two pokemon ready.
"It's still two against two, right?" Diego asked.
"Mhmm, and let's give a round of applause to my first pokemon!" Muffet replied. She sent out her first pokemon, which revealed itself to be a Scolipede that looked ready for battle.
"Scolipede? Well I have a pokemon that'll blow you and your bugs away! Charizard, come lend me a hand!" Diego announced, sending out his starter pokemon. Charizard roared as it appeared from its ball, Muffet looked intrigued by Diego's choice.
"A Charizard, huh? Are you trying to take me out easily with a Fire type? Well unfortunately that won't work! Scolipede, use Substitute!"
"Oh no you don't! I know how Substitute works, and I won't let you set it up! Charizard, Draco Bullet!"
Charizard dashed towards Scolipede and gave it a hard punch to its jaw, however the Centipede pokemon was able to set the Substitute after taking the hit.
'Crap, it still set up the Sub...' Diego thought. 'I have to break through it fast!'
"Charizard, break the Substitute with Flamethrower!" Diego ordered.
"Scolipede, use Swords Dance." Muffet commanded, she had a sneaky grin on her face.
Scolipede took up a battle stance that pumped up its attack power. What surprised Diego though was that Scolipede was now faster than Charizard! Despite this, Charizard's attack broke through the substitute with no damage done to Scolipede.
"What?! How did Scolipede move faster than Charizard?" Renée asked in shock.
"Ahuhuhu, what you just saw was my Scolipede's ability; Speed Boost, which allows it to gain speed throughout the battle. So now it's faster than Charizard!" Muffet explained.
"I see what you're doing." Diego said, getting a grin that looked just as sly as Muffet's.
"Oh? Is that so?" Muffet asked.
"Mhmm, you're trying to have Scolipede buff up its stats and then use Baton Pass to switch them over to your next pokemon. Sorry, but I already know about that strategy, I've seen it on TV before!" Diego explained, Muffet looked worried for a moment, but then she started laughing.
"Huh? What's so funny?' Julia asked.
"I have to admit, you had me worried for a moment. I thought you caught on to my plan but that isn't exactly what I was trying to do." Muffet said.
"Then what were you planning?" Diego asked.
"This! Scolipede, use Rock Slide!" Muffet ordered.
Scolipede summoned several rocks from the ground and hurled them at Charizard, who struggled to dodge some of them.
"Charizard quick, finish it with Heat Wave!" Diego announced. Charizard let out a breath of fire that melted down the remaining rocks and blew Scolipede away, leaving Muffet with only one pokemon left.
"Not bad, but this next bug won't be as easy to take down as Scolipede was. Meet my little friend, Crustle!" Muffet announced, sending out a Crust that shook the stage with its immense weight as it came out of the pokeball.
'Crustle is a Rock and Bug type, isn't it? This might be trickier than Scolipede, for sure. But there's no way I'm backing down!' Diego thought to himself. "Charizard! Hit it hard with Heat Wave!"
"Crustle, use Shell Smash." Muffet ordered, a calm smile on her face. The Heat Wave connected, but Crustle didn't seem too bothered by it. Once the attack dissipated, Crustle forced it's shell to shatter.
"Now use Rock Wrecker!"
After smashing it's shell, Crustle formed a boulder in its hands and fired it at Charizard. The speed of the attack increased due to the Shell Smash. The attack connected and knocked Charizard out before it could do anything else.
'Dang, I really wasn't expecting that.' Diego thought.
"That was so fast!" Julia said in awe.
'What else do I have that can do damage to this thing... wait, that's it! If it's a rock type, then there's only one pokemon that can do the job!'
"Golduck, it's your time to shine!" Diego announced, sending out his Golduck.
"A Water type against my Rock Type. Smart. But Golduck is also a Psychic type, which won't be too helpful." Muffet said.
"You'll see..." Diego replied.
"If you say so. Crustle, use X-Scissor!" Muffet ordered. Crustle leaped towards Golduck with its claws ready to strike. Diego waited to make the right move.
'Wait for it...' "Now! Golduck, use Scald!" Diego commanded. Once Crustle was close enough, Golduck sprayed an intense burst of boiling water at Crustle, burning it and shocking everyone.
"W-wha?!" Muffet said in horror.
"Now Golduck! End this with Psychic!" Diego ordered, Golduck lifted Crustle up with telekinesis and slammed it back onto the ground, knocking it out and securing the victory for Diego.
Muffet sighed but she smiled at Diego and the rest of the group. The twins went back on stage along with Dr. Gaster.
"Well, today certainly has been interesting and exhilirating. But you all showed courage, strength and determination. So it is with great pleasure that I present to you the Chemical Badge." Dr. Gaster praised, he handed the trainers their badges, which looked like beakers of chemicals with steam coming from them.
"Take this too, it's a TM that has the move Poison Jab, think of us whenever you use it, 'kay?" Muffet added, handing them their TM's with a wink.
"Thanks! This'll be really helpful." Diego said cheerfully. His expression then changed into a serious one. "Hey Doc, you wouldn't have happened to battled t trainer wearing a mask and a trench coat, did you?"
"As a matter of fact, I did. Just yesterday in fact." Dr. Gaster answered.
"I met him too." Muffet added. "He helped a homeless boy get on his feet and start his own adventure, it was really sweet of him to do that. I just wish I got to see his face or at least learn his name.
"Did you see where he went?" Julia asked.
"I last saw him south of here, on the beach training with an old friend of mine." Dr. Gaster told them.
"Thanks for the info." Diego said, as the trio headed for the beach, but Diego stopped to face them again. "By the way, that trainer's name is Jack."
Once the trio arrived at the beach, they saw Sam and his Gallade still training. His Gallade used Close Combat to completely destroy a boulder. Sam didn't know of their presence until Gallade sensed that the trainers were there.
"Heh, so we meet again." Sam said, having met the group before back in Saffron City's cafe.
"Mr. Jetstream? You're the one training Jack? Is he still here?' Julia asked.
"Yes, I was, but he's finished his training and already left. And please, call me Sam." Sam answered.
"Where is he now?" Renée asked.
"He's heading north, back to Celadon City. I've found the location of Team Dark Star's main base of operations."
"Ok, so we're going north, back to Celadon City!" Diego said as he and the twins raced north towards Celadon City.
"Hehe, they're just like how Jack said they were." Sam chuckled.
That evening, Jack was in the old Team Rocket hideout in Celadon. He was using one of the computers to scan the layout of the TDS building, which was available on the computer as Team Rocket had every inch of the city's layout on its database.
'Are you sure you're ready Jack?' Venusaur asked.
'I'm ready. It's time we stopped hiding and cleared our name!' Jack answered.
'I'm a little worried honestly, I've never met these people.' Seadra, who had evolved from Horsea some time during Jack's time in Fuschia City said.
'Neither have I, but from what everyone has been telling me, they're bad news.' Banette added.
'Trust me, they're bad. And it'll be fun tearing them a new one!' Fearow said in anticipation.
'Do you think we'll see that robot again?' Mightyena asked.
'Probably.' Jack responded. 'This is their main base after all.'
'Are you sure you're ready, Jack? This may very well be our most dangerous challenge yet.' Gallade warned.
'I'm ready. We've trained for this and we'll go through with it no matter what. And even if we go down, we're going down fighting!' Jack answered with confidence.
Jack is ready to fight back and the rest of the group knows his location, but what about our group of TDS grunts? Where do they fit into all of this? Stay tuned for the beginning of one of this story's climaxes.
New move:
Hypnopulse:
60 Power
95 Accuracy.
The user sends out waves of psychic energy that may put the foe to sleep.
