Pokémon – Thunder Yellow
Fanfiction By – Spirit Reader
Pokémon Original Creator – Satoshi Tajiri
Chapter 13: An Egg Scramble – Part 2
Takashi's Pokémon
Pikachu (Male)
Froakie (Female)
Pidgey (Male)
"You heard me, kid! Hand over the Pokémon Egg right now…or pay the price!"
What started as another day of training has quickly turned into something a lot more complicated. That was the thought that ran through Takashi's mind has he faced off against two suspicious looking people. From the tone of their voices, Takashi could tell right away that they meant every word that they were speaking. Not only that, but he could also tell that the two of them would enjoy every second of it too. Just thinking about made him shudder a little, prompting him to look down at the Pokémon Egg that he was holding.
As he stared at the egg, Takashi started to recall how this whole mess came about. Both he and his Pokémon were busy training with their new friend, Rebecca, in the hope of mastering a couple of new moves. Unfortunately, while both Froakie and Pidgey were able to make some progress in their training, Pikachu wasn't so fortunate. Eventually, after several failed attempts, the Mouse Pokémon fled into the forest in disgrace, prompting Takashi to chase after him.
Upon finally catching up with Pikachu and assuring him that everything would be alright, Takashi was prepared to head back to the training site. Before he did so though, Pikachu spotted something in a bush and Takashi saw that it was a Pokémon Egg. While wondering where it came from, Takashi was then suddenly ambushed by the villainous Mark and Joe who, along with the latter's Pokémon Koffing, had everything intention of stealing the egg back from him.
After finishing this short recollection, Takashi refocused and soon turned his attention back towards Mark and Joe. In addition, he also focused closely on Joe's Koffing, as it was a Pokémon that he's never seen before. Having experienced first-hand how deadly it can be, Takashi could tell that it's a rather troublesome Pokémon. Even so, he needed more solid information and thus pulled out his PokéDex in order to find out more.
"Koffing, the Poison Gas Pokémon." Dexter revealed. "The gases that fill Koffing's body are extremely toxic. When it's under attack, it releases this poisonous gas from the jets on its surface. Koffing is a Poison-Type Pokémon."
Following Dexter's explanation, Takashi took a moment to reflect upon what his PokéDex just said to him. He then remembered the toxic gas that Koffing unleashed when it first attacked. It was so disgusting that he would've suffocated if Pidgey wasn't there to blow it away with away with his Gust attack. Just thinking about that experience caused Takashi to gently hold his throat and he realized that this particular Pokémon could be quite troublesome.
Meanwhile, Mark and Joe were busy staring Takashi down as they awaited his answer. From what they could tell from their initial observation, the young man hasn't been a Pokémon Trainer for very long, about a month at best. Because of that, they didn't feel the need to overwhelm him with brute force. Even, the two of them wanted the egg that he was carrying and they were going to get it by any means necessary.
"Hand the egg over to us…now!" Joe demanded.
"…And why do you want it so badly?" Takashi questioned as he looked at the egg for a moment. "Why is it so important?"
"That doesn't concern you, boy!" Mark rudely replied. "We're not going to tell you again. Hand the egg over to us!"
As he glanced at the egg one more time, Takashi could tell that there was something strangely unique about it. He didn't know why that was, but this feeling told him that he shouldn't hand the egg over to these guys. He then glanced at his Pokémon and saw that all 3 of them felt the same way and that they didn't want to hand the egg over to them either. Upon seeing that, Takashi lifted his head at Mark and Joe and shook it in defiance.
"I won't!" He told them. "If you want it…Then come and get it!"
The boy's words angered Mark greatly as it was clear to him that he had no idea who he was dealing with. He was about to oblige to his request, but Joe stopped his partner by placing his arm out in front of him. This wasn't a matter that he needed to dirty his hands on. He and his Koffing would take care of Takashi themselves.
Upon seeing this, Mark reluctantly complied with Joe's request and stepped back. When Takashi saw that, he could tell something about the duo. While Mark seemed like the one in charge, Joe seemed to be more rational of the two. He didn't want to make assumptions, but their interactions gave the impressions that Mark may be the stronger one and that Joe didn't want to deal with the aftermath of his partner's rampage. If that's the case, he needed to end this battle quickly before Mark decided to change his mind.
"Alright Pikachu…" He said as he turned to face his partner. "Let's show them what you got!"
Looking back at his Trainer and seeing him smile confidently, Pikachu nodded his head in agreement. He then positioned himself in front of Takashi, taking a battle stance as he did so. Meanwhile, Joe simply held hand out and watched as Koffing responded by floating a few feet in front of him. The two Pokémon then stared each other down, with Pikachu looking serious and Koffing looking rather aloof.
"You've made your choice, kid." Joe pointed out. "Now you're going to regret it, Koffing…use Tackle attack!"
"We'll see about that!" Takashi countered. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"
The two Pokémon responded to their Trainers commands and began charging at one another. When they collided, Pikachu and Koffing struggled back and forth as they tried to knock the other down. However, thanks to the added momentum of using his Quick Attack, Pikachu was able to get the upper hand and push Koffing back. This caused the Poison Gas Pokémon to fly backwards as it tried to reposition itself.
"Now use Thunder Shock!" Takashi followed.
Without wasting any time, Pikachu complied with Takashi's command and unleashed a powerful blast of electricity from the sacs on his cheeks. As the electricity was making its way towards its target, Koffing finally got itself center. Once he saw this, Joe made his own countermove.
"Koffing…Smog!"
Just as the electricity was about to hit it, Koffing unleashed another round of its deadly toxic fumes. When it did, Pikachu's Thunder Shock made contact with it before hitting its actual target. This caused the venomous smoke cloud to become filled with electricity for a few moments. After a while, the cloud faded away and Koffing was unharmed.
Upon seeing this, Takashi truly realized how difficult this battle is going to be. Although Pikachu had the advantage when it came to power, Koffing could simply use its Smog attack to neutralize Pikachu's Electric-Type moves. In addition, Smog made fighting up close very risky so Pikachu couldn't use Quick Attack without getting affected by it. With all of this in mind, there was only thing Takashi could do and thus he turned his attention to Froakie.
"C'mon Froakie…Pikachu's going to need your help!"
Nodding her head in agreement, Froakie began hoping towards Pikachu has quickly as possible in order to assist him. However, before she could get too far, Pikachu looked over at Froakie and placed his arm out to stop her. When she did, the Mouse Pokémon then told Froakie to stay out of it as he could take on Koffing on his own. This surprised Froakie a good deal, but it also surprised Takashi as well.
Based on what he was seeing, Pikachu wasn't a good choice to battle against Koffing and Takashi wanted to send out Froakie as he believed she had the better chance of winning. However, Pikachu didn't want that as he wanted to be the one to defeat Koffing. Although Brock once told him to be more tactical when it came to battling, Takashi wanted to be respectful to Pikachu's feelings and thus allowed him to continue the battle.
"Koffing, use Sludge!" Joe commanded.
Upon receiving its next order, Koffing took aim at Pikachu before firing a black toxic sludge from its mouth. Without even needing Takashi to tell him too, Pikachu quickly dodged Koffing's attack by jumping back. However, the Poison Gas Pokémon refused to let up and continued firing multiple Sludge attacks at Pikachu, who just kept dodging them. Soon though, as this went on, Pikachu found himself being cornered as his back landed against a large tree.
With his back literally against the wall now, Pikachu looked on as Koffing stared back at him with an eerie expression. When Joe saw this, a confident smirk appeared on his face. In his mind, this battle is as good as over and that all that was left was launch the final attack. To that end, he wasted no time in making that move.
"Koffing…Finish this up with Tackle!"
As soon as that was said, Koffing rushed over towards Pikachu as quickly as it could. Due to how close they were right now, Takashi knew that having Pikachu use Quick Attack wouldn't be too effective as there wasn't enough distance for the electric mouse to get enough momentum. He needed to try something else and, as he looked on at this scene, Takashi was suddenly reminded of something that could allow Pikachu to win.
"Pikachu…Jump up at the last second!"
With no time to question Takashi on whether his plan was a good one, Pikachu decided to simply trust his Trainer's judgment and managed to avoid Koffing's Tackle by jumping high into the air. When he did so, Pikachu watched as Koffing rammed its body into the tree, leaving it rather daze. It was at this moment that the Mouse Pokémon realized that this was Takashi's plan, causing him to smile.
"Alright Pikachu…" Takashi continued. "Now, get onto Koffing and use Thunder Shock!"
After nodding his head in compliance, Pikachu kicked off a large branch that was on tree and proceeded to grab a hold of Koffing. Then, before Joe could have Koffing launch another attack in response, Pikachu unleashed the strongest Thunder Shock that he could muster. The force of the attack was so great that it immediately paralyzed the Poison Gas Pokémon, leaving its Trainer in a state of disbelief.
"Great work, Pikachu!" Takashi said as he complimented his partner. "Now it's time to end this…Use Electro Ball!"
As Koffing struggled to shake off its paralysis, Pikachu took the opportunity to charge up his electricity and focus it into the tip of his tail. Once he gathered enough, Pikachu shaped the electricity into the shape of an orb and proceeded to throw it at Koffing. When the orb seemingly made contact with its target, a large explosion occurred and Takashi assumed that was it for Koffing. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case at all.
When the smoke began to clear, Takashi and his Pokémon all looked on in shock as another Pokémon suddenly appeared and protected Koffing from Pikachu's attack. The Pokémon strongly resembled a giant boulder with a set of eyes, a mouth, stubby feet, and most surprisingly of all, two sets of arms. Upon seeing it, Takashi noticed that it looked extremely similar to a Geodude, but quickly pulled out his PokéDex to make sure.
"Graveler, the Rock Pokémon and the evolved form of Geodude." Dexter explained. "Graveler rolls on mountain paths to move. Once it builds momentum, no Pokémon can stop it without difficulty. Graveler is a Rock/Ground-Type Pokémon."
Following Dexter's explanation, Takashi looked as he saw that Mark was busy holding a PokéBall in his hand. When he saw that, the young man immediately realized what happened. Mark sent out Graveler just before Pikachu's Electro Ball hit Koffing. Thanks to its Ground typing, Graveler was completely immune to the electric attack and was able to protect Koffing without difficulty. This caused Takashi to grit his teeth a little as things just went from bad to worse.
As for Mark, the criminal stared at Takashi with an annoyed expression on his face. However, the expression wasn't entirely meant for the young man. It was also meant for Joe as well. From his actions earlier, Mark assumed that Joe would be able to take care of this in no time and that he wouldn't have to get involved. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case now and Mark was quite upset that he had to protect his weakling of a partner.
"How pathetic…" He said as he glanced over at Joe. "But this is what I get for working with a loser like you."
Ashamed by his near defeat, Joe couldn't bring himself to look Mark in the eyes. Although a part of him wanted to take care of Joe, Mark had the foresight to know that he still needed him. To that end, he pulled out a red fruit from his pocket and tossed it over to his partner, who proceeded to catch it.
"It's a Cheri Berry. Use it heal Koffing of its paralysis."
Nodding his head, Joe presented the Cheri Berry to Koffing and slowly began to feed it too the Poison Gas Pokémon. After taking a few bites and swallowing, Koffing soon found itself completely reenergized. The paralysis that it suffered was completely gone and Koffing was now back in fighting shape.
Upon seeing this scene, Takashi started gritting his teeth even harder. Before he left Pallet Town to begin his journey, his mother once told him how there are special fruits that can affect Pokémon in different ways. The Cheri Berry that Mark used was one of this special fruits and, given what he just saw, he won't be able to paralyze his opponents anymore. Normally, such an action would be against the rules, but Takashi could tell right away that these guys had no intention of playing fair.
"Alright boy…" Mark said as he glared at him. "Now you face me and Graveler. I hope you're ready."
As Graveler slowly made its way towards them, Takashi started clinching his fist as he contemplated his situation. Just looking at the intimidating Pokémon reminded him of his battle against Brock and his Geodude. Both Pikachu and Pidgey were completely outmatched by it and Froakie was only able to win thanks to her type advantage over it. Now he was about to face its evolved form, which meant this was going to be even tougher than that battle.
Despite knowing all this however, Takashi couldn't bring himself to back down from this challenge. It wasn't just because he didn't want to be seen as a coward though. He figured that this was a good opportunity to see how far he's gotten in his training. After all, he knew that just training with rocks was only going to get him so far. He needed an actual opponent and Graveler, who was a Rock/Ground-Type, was the perfect candidate.
To that end, Takashi looked down towards both Froakie and Pidgey and signaled to them that the time had come for them to fight too. When they saw that, Froakie and Pidgey responded their Trainer in agreement and soon made their way towards Pikachu. Once they were there, the 3 Pokémon stood side-by-side as Graveler continued making its way towards them.
"Let's go…" Mark pointed towards Takashi's Pokémon, focusing directly on Pikachu. "Graveler, use Rollout!"
Upon hearing his command, Graveler responded to Mark's words and soon tucked in its limbs. Once it did, the Rock Pokémon then started rolling towards its targets. In practically no time at all, Graveler gained incredible speed and was moving so fast that Takashi's Pokémon barely had any time to react to it.
"Guys, move out of the way!" Takashi's told them.
In the nick of time, Pikachu, Froakie, and Pidgey were barely able dodge Graveler's attack and watched as it continued rolling towards a nearby tree. To the shock of all of them, Graveler was able to easily knock down the tree upon making contact with it. Not only that, but hitting the tree didn't stop the Rock Pokémon as it simply turned around and started making its way towards them again. However, this time Graveler was moving much faster, shocking them even more.
Like before, Takashi's Pokémon was able to narrowly avoid Graveler's strike and they watched as it turned around and aimed for them again. With its speed gradually increasing, Takashi knew that his Pokémon couldn't keep avoiding Graveler. He needed to stop it before it got any faster.
"Froakie, use Bubble!" He commanded.
Reacting swiftly, Froakie unleashed a large barrage of bubbles at Graveler. When they made contact with it, Graveler started to lose control somewhat and soon found himself slamming into another tree. Like the last one, the force of the impact was enough to knock it down, but this time Graveler finally stopped. When he saw that, Takashi saw that now was the time for a full on attack.
"Good work! Now…Froakie, use Water Pulse! Pidgey, use Steel Wing! And Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"
As Graveler began to reposition itself, all three of Takashi's Pokémon began making their way towards it. Pikachu and Pidgey started gathering energy within their tail and wings respectively, while Froakie placed her palms together and gathered all the water that she could muster. In time, all three of them jumped up and prepared to strike Graveler with their respective attacks.
Unfortunately, just as Pikachu's tail was beginning to glow, everyone watched as the light coming from it quickly faded away. His Iron Tail attack failed again and Graveler was able to take advantage of that. To that end, the Rock Pokémon grabbed a hold of Pikachu's tail and used the Mouse Pokémon to knock Pidgey down before he could strike with his Steel Wing attack.
When Froakie saw this, the Bubble Frog Pokémon ended up becoming very upset and launched her Water Pulse before it was finished. Upon seeing the oncoming attack, Graveler protected himself by using Pikachu as a makeshift shield. It then went on to throw Pikachu at Froakie, knocking both of them down in the process.
"Excellent Graveler…" Mark complemented. "Now use Rollout again!"
Right away, Graveler once again tucked in its limbs and began rolling towards Pikachu and the others. This time, its attack was able to connect and Takashi looked on in horror has all three of his Pokémon were sent flying into the air. Without thinking, Takashi dropped the Pokémon Egg that he was carrying and rushed towards all of them as they hit the ground. The egg this rolled over towards Mark, who proceeded to pick it up.
"Good…It's back where it belongs."
With a look of satisfaction on his face, Mark began holding the egg like he was holding a newborn baby. By the time, Takashi realized that he didn't have the egg anymore and saw this, the young man clinched his fist and berated himself for his mistake. Then, before he even had a chance to get it back, Koffing appeared in front of him.
"Koffing, use Smog!" Joe commanded.
Once again, Joe's Koffing unleashed a deadly poisonous gas from the ports all over its body. It completely filled the air, causing both Takashi and his Pokémon to start coughing as they struggled to breathe. As they watched this, Mark let out another sly smirk before walking away with both his Graveler and the egg.
"I'm heading back to the truck." He told his partner. "Take care of this…and try not to screw up again."
Nodding his head in agreement, Joe watched as his partner left with the egg. He then turned his attention back towards Takashi and watched as he and his Pokémon continued to suffocate from the effects of Koffing's Smog. Normally, Joe would've just finished them off right here and now, but he wanted Takashi to suffer for nearly defeating him earlier. Because of that, Joe had Koffing continue unleashing its deadly gas.
Soon, as he began to lose consciousness, Takashi tried one last time to pull himself up and go after Mark. Although he didn't know why he wanted with that egg, Takashi knew that it couldn't be good. However, he simply didn't have the strength and soon fell back towards the ground. He then braced himself as Koffing prepared to finish him off.
"Rockruff, use Rock Throw!"
Just as Koffing was about to deal the final blow, a large rock suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and hit the Poison Gas Pokémon right in the face. The force of the impact immediately caused Koffing to stop unleashing its attack. The air then quickly began to clear up, allowing Takashi and his Pokémon breathe freely again.
After picking himself up from off the ground, Takashi looked on and saw Rockruff appear in front of him, staring down Koffing. Recognizing it, he then turned around and saw that Rebecca was here as well. Stunned by their sudden appearance, the young man was about to question his friend, but Rebecca quickly stopped him.
"There's no time to talk!" She told him. "Go after that other guy, Takashi. Rockruff and I will take care of this one."
Upon hearing her say that, Takashi became even more stunned. He couldn't bring himself to leave her behind and deal with Joe and Koffing, especially since he wasn't sure if they had any other tricks up their sleeves. Before he could protest this decision however, Takashi noticed that Pikachu was immediately racing off in the direction Mark and Graveler were headed. The Mouse Pokémon wasn't about to let them get away, especially with that egg.
When Takashi saw this, he realized that he couldn't leave Pikachu to deal with Mark on his own. So, albeit very reluctantly, went along with Rebecca's suggestion and nodded at her in response. In return, Rebecca nodded at him as well and soon watched as he, Froakie, and Pidgey chased after Pikachu. Once they were out of sight, Rebecca turned her sole focus on Joe and his Koffing.
"I don't know who you are, little girl!" Joe said, angered by this development. "But you're going to regret interfering!"
"…We'll see about that, pal!" Rebecca countered. "You're the one who will be filled with regret when this is over."
As the two Trainers and their Pokémon stared each other down, Rebecca started pondering the best way to go about this battle. Despite having more experience than Takashi, she wasn't an active Trainer and so her experience when it came to actual battles was quite rusty. Even so, Rebecca refused to back down from this. She needed to defeat Joe as quickly as possible and then go and help Takashi. To that end, she was the one who made the first move.
"Rockruff, use Tackle!"
After letting out a few quick barks, Rockruff rushed towards Koffing as quickly as it could. Once it reached a certain distance, the Puppy Pokémon jumped up and prepared to tackle Koffing with all of its body weight placed behind it. Unfortunately, Koffing was able to easily dodge Rockruff's attack by floating up.
"Excellent Koffing…" Joe complimented. "Now…use your Sludge attack!"
Upon floating down somewhat, Koffing took aim at Rockruff and proceeded to launch another round of its toxic sludge at the little Pokémon. When it saw it, Rockruff immediately jumped back in order to avoid it. This prompted Koffing to continuing firing off its attack and Rockruff was forced to get dodging them. After some time however, Rebecca was getting sick and tired of this cat and mouse game.
"Rockruff, use Dig!"
Rockruff, after avoiding another one of Koffing's Sludge attacks, quickly dug a hole in the ground and immediately went inside of it. As soon as it was gone, Koffing started surveying the entire area as its opponent could come out from practically anywhere. After about a minute of hiding, the ground from directly underneath Koffing began to crack and soon Rockruff emerged from it. With one mighty charge, the Puppy Pokémon tackled its opponent to the ground.
"Great job, Rockruff!" Rebecca praised. "Now use Rock Throw!"
Immediately after it pushed down Koffing, Rockruff used its tail to grab a hold of a nearby rock. It then threw it at Koffing at an incredible speed, causing the Poison Gas Pokémon to slide across the ground. When she saw that, Rebecca saw that she had Koffing on the ropes and that one more hit should finish it off. Because of that, the young woman wasted no time in launching that final move.
"End this, Rockruff…Use Iron Tail!"
With its opponent seemingly on the ropes, Rockruff let out triumphant bark before racing over and preparing to finish off Koffing. As it did so, the Puppy Pokémon started gathering energy into its tail, causing it to glow brightly. Once it gathered enough power, Rockruff positioned itself to deal the final blow.
"Don't get cocky, girl!" Joe shouted in anger. "Koffing…use Gyro Ball!"
Just as Rockruff's attack was about to land, Koffing was able to snap of its daze and avoid it by floating up into the air. Once it was a good enough distance away, the Poison Gas Pokémon started spinning around like a top. As it did so, a light blue ring began to surround its body. Koffing then went on to ram itself entire body onto Rockruff, the force of its rotation causing the Puppy Pokémon to be sent flying backwards.
As Rebecca looked on in shock, she watched as Rockruff was struggling to pick itself back up after being hit by such a devastating blow. The reason it was dealt so much damage is because Gyro Ball is a Steel-Type move and Rockruff, being a Rock-Type, was very susceptible to it. This caused Rebecca clinch her teeth in frustration as she didn't expect that Koffing had a move like that. Her lack of foresight was now costing her and now she and Rockruff were at a disadvantage.
"Keep going, Koffing! Strike it down with your Gyro Ball!"
Once again, Koffing began spinning at an incredible speed as another blue ring began to cover its round body. It then began making its way towards Rockruff, who was still struggling to pick itself back up after being attacked.
"Dodge it, Rockruff!" Rebecca said as she called out to it. "Then use Rock Throw!"
At the last second, Rockruff was able to pick up on Rebecca's command and managed to narrowly avoid Koffing's assault. It then prepared to throw a large stone at it, but Koffing quickly responded by turning back around and heading towards Rockruff again. This time, the Puppy Pokémon wasn't able to avoid the attack and was once again sent flying by the power of Koffing's Gyro Ball.
Upon hitting the ground, Rockruff tried its best to get up before its opponent had a chance to launch a follow up attack. However, as it attempted to do so, Rockruff suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from its front legs and soon fell back down. The way it landed on the ground caused damaged to its legs, making it very difficult for it to move. When Joe saw this, he wasted no time in taking advantage of this situation.
"Don't let up, Koffing…use Sludge!"
Almost immediately, Koffing fired off a blast of its toxic sludge from its mouth and watched as it made contact with Rockruff. Although Poison-Type moves aren't very effective against Rock-Types, Rockruff had a highly sensitive sense of smell and the foul odor coming from Koffing's attack was really throwing it for a loop. This left the Puppy Pokémon an even more jeopardy as the pain it was feeling from its legs and from its nose was messing up its sensory perception.
When Rebecca saw this she knew that she had to do something quickly. Because of that, she pulled out a PokéBall from her pocket and prepared to send out another one of her Pokémon to help Rockruff. Unfortunately, Joe took notice of this and responded accordingly.
"I don't think so!" He said as he glanced at her. "Koffing…Sludge!"
Turning its head towards Rebecca, Koffing unleashed another toxic blast from its mouth and directed towards the young woman. Although she narrowly managed to avoid the attack, Rebecca accidentally dropped her PokéBall as she did so. With it out of her hands, Joe didn't have to worry about any more interference and soon turned his attention back towards the fallen Rockruff.
"It's time to end this little game. Koffing…finish it off with Gyro Ball!"
Upon hearing Joe's command, Koffing nodded its head and soon began spinning around one final time. Once it gathered enough momentum, the Poison Gas Pokémon prepared take Rockruff down once and for all. But, just as it was beginning to make its way towards it, something suddenly emerged at an incredible speed.
"Lycanroc…Accelerock now!"
From out of nowhere, a wolf-like Pokémon with light brown and white fur, blue eyes, and a pointy-rock mane suddenly appeared and knocked down Koffing before it had a chance to land its attack. Upon seeing it, Rebecca's eyes began to widen as she recognized this Pokémon and who it belonged too. This caused her to turn her head and she watched as her grandfather, Victor, slowly made his way up to her.
As Rebecca looked on at her grandfather, wondering why he's even here, Joe glared angrily at the old man as he began to clinch his fist. What was supposed to be a simple retrieval mission was becoming more and more complicated with each new development. Well Joe was sick and tired of it and was now about to take all his anger and frustration on the old man.
"Old man…You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into." He said in a low tone of voice. "Koffing…use Gyro Ball!"
Koffing slowly picked itself back up after being knocked down. It then focused all its attention on Lycanroc and soon began charging towards it as it span around. However, despite facing an oncoming Steel-Type move, neither Victor nor Lycanroc were intimidated in the slightest. In fact, the old man simply shook his head in annoyance.
"What a bother…" He said to himself. "Lycanroc, use Accelerock!"
At a blinding speed, Lycanroc dashed towards Koffing and was able to easily knock down thanks to its incredible strength. Joe was shocked when he saw this as he's never seen a Pokémon move that fast before. He then looked on as Lycanroc prepared to unleash its next move.
"Now…use Stone Edge!"
Upon unleashing an extremely loud howl, Lycanroc proceeded to slam both of its front legs onto the ground. This caused the Earth beneath them to begin to shake as several rocky pillars began making its way towards Koffing. Before it even had time to react, Koffing was hit straight on by an oncoming pillar, sending it flying and knocking it out before it even had a chance to hit the ground.
After witnessing this incredible display of power, Joe began to step back as Lycanroc as began making its way towards him. Upon watching the Pokémon continue making its way over to him, Joe suddenly picked up his fallen Koffing and quickly fled from the away. Once he was gone, Lycanroc let out another howl, its victory having been achieved.
With the battle over, Rebecca quickly made her away towards Rockruff picked it up off the ground. After wiping away the sludge that was on its face, the young woman went on to congratulate it for doing such a good job. She then proceeded to walk towards her grandfather, who soon took notice of her.
"Grandpa…" She said as she reached him. "Why are you here?"
Victor didn't respond to Rebecca's question and simply stared at her. After a while, the old man let out a small sigh before pulling out a PokéBall. He then went on to use the PokéBall to return his Lycanroc to it before turning around and walking away. As he did so though, he gave his granddaughter an answer.
"…I don't know."
Meanwhile, at the edge of the forest, Mark and his Graveler were continuing on their way with the Pokémon Egg in their possession. Now that they have it back, all was right with the world and that they can return to their headquarters without any problems. Soon, after walking for a few more minutes, the two of them came across a van that was parked in the middle of the road. It was the van Mark and Joe used to get here and now it was about to be used to make their escape.
Before Mark could get close to it however, a blast of electricity suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and cut him off. Surprised by its appearance, Mark accidentally dropped the egg and watched as it began to roll across the ground. He attempted to run towards it, but was once again stopped by another blast of electricity. Mark then looked as Pikachu suddenly emerged from a grassy bush, followed by Takashi and the rest of his Pokémon.
Upon seeing all of them, Mark immediately let out a loud sigh as he began scratching the back of his head. Once again, Joe failed to get the job done as Takashi was now back, ready to annoy Mark again. This was becoming rather troublesome, so much so in fact that Mark was quickly getting sick of it. Because of that, he and his Graveler confronted Takashi, as the young man held his ground.
"Listen kid…You and both know how this going to go down." He told him. "Why don't you do both of us a favor…and back off! Otherwise, my Graveler and I will be forced to put you down permanently."
Although a part of him was intimidated by Mark's threat, knowing full well that he had every intention of going through with it, Takashi shook his head in defiance. The young Trainer's sense of justice prevented him from simply walking away and letting this go. He needed to get that egg back, as he truly believed that if it stayed in Mark's hands, the Pokémon living inside of it would grow up to become something truly wicked.
"No…" He told him. "I don't care how strong you are. I'm getting that egg back…no matter what!"
With that said, Takashi signaled out to his Pokémon and watched as all three prepared themselves for battle. When Mark saw this, he let out another loud sigh. Nothing else could be said at this point. A battle was about to take place and Mark now had every intention in making sure that it was Takashi's last one.
To that end, Mark signaled his out towards his Graveler and watched as he slowly made its way in front of him. The Rock Pokémon then proceeded to stare down Pikachu, Froakie, and Pidgey, who all continued to hold their ground despite knowing full well how powerful Graveler was. The area around them then became completely silent as both sides awaited to see who will make the first move. After about another minute of waiting, Takashi was the one who attacked first.
"Pidgey, use Sand Attack!"
Pidgey wasted no time in obeying Takashi's command and began flapping both of his wings towards the ground. This caused the dirt suddenly rise up and blanket the area in a small dust cloud. When Mark saw this, he immediately realized that Takashi was trying to blind Graveler so that he could attack it while it was unable to see. It was a basic tactic, one that Mark already knew how to deal with.
"Graveler, blow that sand away with Gyro Ball!"
As the dust cloud continued to envelop the area, Graveler responded to Mark's command by spinning around rapidly. By doing so, the Rock Pokémon was able to completely blow away the cloud, clearing the area in an instant. However, after doing so, both Graveler and Mark were surprised to see that all of Takashi's Pokémon were suddenly gone.
Confused by this turn of events, Mark took a moment to examine the area around him. He looked all around, but Pikachu and the others were nowhere in sight. The only one who remained was Takashi, who simply stared him down with a silent expression on his face. He then watched as the young Trainer snapped his fingers.
"Froakie, use Bubble!" He declared.
After Takashi snapped his fingers, both he and Mark looked on as sudden barrage of bubbles suddenly emerged from one of the trees and struck Graveler in the back of its large head. The force of the impact was enough to cause it to stumble a bit, but not enough to take it out. Graveler then turned towards the direction in which it was hit and Mark reacted accordingly.
"Graveler…Rock Throw now!"
Graveler punched the ground beneath it, causing several large rocks suddenly jump up into the air. Grabbing one of them, it threw the rock at the tree that it was facing, hoping that Froakie was there. However, despite successfully hitting the tree, there was no response. This confused Mark and Graveler, allowing Takashi to take advantage by snapping his fingers again.
"Now Pidgey…Use Steel Wing!"
From another section of the forest, Pidgey immediately shot from one of the trees and began making his way towards Graveler. As he did so, the Tiny Bird Pokémon gathered all the energy that it could muster into his wings, causing them to glow. He then swiftly struck Graveler with both of his wings before flying back into the trees.
Angered by all of this, Graveler used all four of its arms to grab a hold of 4 large stones. It then threw each of them in different directions, hoping that at least one of them would hit one of its targets. Unfortunately, just like with before, there was no response, meaning that its attack had failed. This caused Graveler to start jumping up in down in frustration, almost like a child having a temper tantrum.
While all of this was going on, Takashi glanced up at the tree that Graveler was directly under and saw that Pikachu was hiding in the leaves. The plan was working perfectly as Takashi's bait and switch tactic was throwing Graveler completely off guard. Now that it was completely rattled, the time had come for a decisive strike and Takashi wanted Pikachu to be the one to do it.
"Okay…" He said as snapped his fingers. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"
Jumping down from the tree, Pikachu aim his tail directly at Graveler and attempted to transfer all of his power into it. For a moment, the tail began to shine brightly and both Pikachu and Takashi believe that this time, Iron Tail would be successful. Sadly however, that wasn't to be as the glow on Pikachu's tail suddenly faded away just as it made contact with Graveler.
With his attack once again ending in failure, Pikachu found himself rolling off Graveler and landing on the ground. He then watched as the Rock Pokémon towered over him, clearly irritated by everything that was happening. It then proceeded to slap Pikachu across the face, causing him to be sent crashing into the tree that he was hiding in.
"Enough of this!" Mark shouted. "Graveler, mow down that rat with Rollout!"
Right away, Graveler tucked its limbs in and began rolling towards Pikachu an incredible speed. Because his head hit the back the tree when he crashed into it, Pikachu was a bit dazed and wasn't able to react in time. This allowed Graveler to successfully land its attack, dealing a significant amount of damage onto the Mouse Pokémon.
As Pikachu lied motionless on the ground, Pidgey angrily emerged from the trees and began making his way towards Graveler. Then, without Takashi telling him to do so, the Flying-Type prepared himself to unleash another Steel Wing. Unfortunately, Mark was able to see Pidgey this time and had Graveler turn around accordingly. The Rock Pokémon then grabbed a hold of Pidgey, stopping him dead in his tracks.
"Graveler…Seismic Toss!"
Still holding to Pidgey, Graveler used all of its strength to jump high into the air. Once it was high enough, Graveler then threw Pidgey as hard as it could back towards the ground. Due to the sheer force of the throw, along with the gravity placed behind it, Pidgey crashed into the ground, creating a small impact crater in the process. Graveler then landed back on the ground and saw that Pidgey was knocked out cold.
With two Pokémon down, the only one that remained was Froakie, who continued to hide within the forest. Although she was angry that her friends were ruthlessly taken out, she was able to maintain enough of her self control so that she didn't lash out like Pidgey did. However, after seeing that she wasn't coming out to fight, Graveler slowly made its way towards the unconscious Pidgey and prepared to inflict more punishment upon him. When she saw this, Froakie couldn't stand by anymore and soon revealed herself.
"Froakie, use Water Pulse!" Takashi yelled.
"Graveler…Rollout!" Mark countered.
As Froakie began charging up to unleash her attack, Graveler immediately started rolling towards her at an incredible speed. By the time Froakie finally launch her Water Pulse, she watched as Graveler easily powered through it and continued making its way towards her. This forced Froakie to try and dodge the attack, but Graveler simply turned around and struck the Bubble Frog Pokémon from behind.
While the battle between them was still going on, Pikachu was beginning to stir a little as he regained consciousness. When he opened his eyes, the Mouse Pokémon was stunned by what he was seeing. Pidgey was on the ground and Froakie was being pressured. Things were becoming dire and after watching Froakie get knocked down again by one of Graveler's attacks, Pikachu knew that he couldn't stand by and do nothing. So, as Graveler was about to hit Froakie with another Rollout, Pikachu jumped and managed to push his friend out of the way at the last minute.
When saw Mark saw Pikachu, he could tell that the Mouse Pokémon was on his last legs. Bruises were all over his body and his legs were barely able to keep him upright. All it would take was one more attack to finish him off and Mark decided that the time had finally come for him to do that.
"It's over…" He said in a sinister tone. "Graveler...Use Rollout one last time!"
Takashi nervously gritted his teeth as he watched Graveler prepare itself to land the finishing blow on Pikachu. Having spent most of his power saving Froakie, there was no way that he had the strength to dodge another attack. The only thing Pikachu could possibly do is try and knock Graveler down, but even that seemed to be impossible. Even so, Takashi knew that had to try something.
"Pikachu…!" He called out too. "You have to focus! Focus on placing all of your energy into your tail! It's the only way!"
Pikachu turned his head slightly and saw the look that was on Takashi's face. It was determined, but also had a hint of desperation to it as well. This was their last chance and if this doesn't work then they're done for. Refusing to let that happen, Pikachu nodded his head at his Trainer. He then started gathering all the power that he could muster and once again focused it into his tail.
As Graveler started rolling towards him, Pikachu's tail was beginning to flicker as the energy that he was trying to build was difficult to maintain. At first, it seemed like the attack was going to fail again, but then Pikachu remembered everything that he and his friends have been through up to this point. Just thinking about all of that gave Pikachu the motivation to push beyond his limits, causing his tail to glow brighter than ever before.
"Pikachu…Iron Tail!"
With all of his strength, Pikachu sidestepped Graveler and proceeded to slam his tail directly at his opponent's side. The sheer impact of the attack caused Graveler to lose control and ended up crashing into a tree. This scene shocked Mark greatly, as he never expected Pikachu to have so much power left. He then watched as the Mouse Pokémon started charging towards Graveler.
"Pikachu, use Iron Tail again!" Takashi shouted.
"No you don't!" Mark responded. "Stop it Graveler!"
As Pikachu continued charging towards Graveler, his tail still glowing just as brightly, Graveler shook off the pain that it was feeling and prepared to intercept the little Pokémon. However, just before it could grab a hold of him, Graveler was suddenly struck in the face by a swarm of bubbles. The bubbles came from Froakie who was definitely hurting, but not out of the game yet.
Thanks to the timely distraction, Pikachu was able to land a clean hit directly on Graveler's face, dealing it a considerable amount of damage. As it began to stumble, Froakie shook off all the pain that she was feeling and soon placed her hands together in order to charge up an attack. At the same time, Pidgey finally managed to pick himself from off the ground and soon started flying towards Graveler. It was at that moment that Takashi knew that the time had finally come.
"Pikachu, Froakie, Pidgey…End It Now!"
With a loud cry from all three of them, each of Takashi's Pokémon launched their final attacks against Graveler. Froakie fired her strongest Water Pulse while Pikachu and Pidgey unleashed a powerful Iron Tail and Steel Wing respectively. All three attacks struck Graveler at the same time, knocking out the Rock Pokémon and causing it to fall to the ground in defeat.
Upon seeing that Graveler was unable to continue battling, Pikachu and the others all yelled out in victory. It was a tough battle, but they were able to prevail in the end. This scene brought a tear to Takashi's eyes as he was so proud of each of his Pokémon, especially Pikachu. He then went to pick up the Pokémon Egg from off the ground, pleased that it was now back in his possession.
As for Mark, he couldn't believe what just happened. He had this battle in his grasp, but somehow Takashi was able to snatch victory away from him. It seemed too hard to believe, but was the truth. Now, with Graveler unconscious and Takashi now making his way over to him with his Pokémon, Mark wondered if this was it for him. However, fate had other ideas.
"Koffing…Smog!"
From out of nowhere, another toxic cloud began to envelop the area. When he took notice of it, Takashi tried his best not to succumb to its effects while also holding on to the egg. He then had Pidgey use Gust to blow the smoke away. While this was going on, Joe appeared with his Koffing in order to help his partner. He then convinced him to retreat, to which Mark reluctantly complied.
By the time Pidgey was able to clear away the smoke, Takashi saw that both Mark and his Graveler were gone. He also saw that the van that was nearby was gone as well. It was at that moment that he realized that the smoke cloud was nothing more than a distraction. This caused him to scoff a bit as his enemies got away.
"…Damn it."
Following the intense battle for the Pokémon Egg, Takashi reunited with Rebecca before the two of them made their way to the Pokémon Center. Upon arriving and handing their Pokémon over to Nurse Joy, Takashi also presented the egg to her as well and explained how he found it. Following the explanation, Joy took a moment to contact someone before taking both the Pokémon and the egg to the back so that they all can be treated.
While waiting for Nurse Joy to return, Takashi watched as someone familiar had just entered the Pokémon Center. It was Officer Jenny and she was currently asking one of the staff members where he was. When he saw this, the young man immediate made his presence known to her and watched as Jenny made her way up to him.
As the two of them were talking to one another, Takashi started talking to Jenny as if he knew her already. However, much to his surprised, he learned that the Officer Jenny that he was talking too now was not the same one that he met in Viridian City. Like with Nurse Joy, many of the top police officers all over Kanto were named Jenny and they all strongly resembled one another. The one Takashi was speaking too was the distant cousin of the one he met in Viridian. The similarities between Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny was quite strange, so much so that Takashi tried his best not to think about it and simply accept how things were.
"I see…" Jenny said as they continued their conversation. "So the two men you faced got away. Did you manage to get a good look at what they look like?"
"…Not really." Takashi answered. "Both of them were wearing very similar clothing. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that they have different voices, I might've mistaken them for the same person. However…There is one thing about them that I did notice."
Closing his eyes for a moment, Takashi took a moment too recall his battle against Mark and Joe. As he did so, the young man tried his best to remember any noticeable features about the two that he could give to Officer Jenny. After about a minute, he finally came up with something.
"I noticed that both of them had large letter R on the chests. It was colored red. Does that help?"
"An R…?" Jenny question as she started to thinking. "…I see…That's very interesting."
For a moment, as he continued to look at her, Takashi noticed that Jenny's eyes began to change slightly. They were becoming far more serious and determined. From just looking at them, he was able to tell that she knew something about his attackers or, at the very least, who they might be working for. He was about to ask her about that, but Jenny stopped him by talking first.
"Well, I'm just glad everything turned out alright. You did good, young man. You should be very proud."
Once that was said, Officer Jenny nodded her head at Takashi before making her way out of the Pokémon Center. As he watched her leave, Takashi once again noticed the determined look that was on her face. Seeing it twice now only confirmed his suspicions that Jenny knew something about all of this. He wanted to talk her about it, but soon stopped himself from doing so. For some reason that he just couldn't explain, Takashi got the feeling that he would find out sooner rather than later.
Sometime after this, an alarm started to sound throughout the Pokémon Center. As they heard it, Takashi and Rebecca both listened as Nurse Joy was calling for the both of them over the intercom. Upon making their way to the front desk, the two Trainers looked on in joy as both Nurse Joy and her Chansey brought forth all of their Pokémon, who were all rested and completely healed. The Pokémon then went on to happily greet their Trainers, who responded in kind.
"Awesome, you're all better!" Takashi said as he petted his friends. "Thanks a lot, Nurse Joy."
"It was my pleasure." Joy replied with a kind smile.
After taking a few more moments to happily interact with his Pokémon, Takashi went on to return both Froakie and Pidgey back into their PokéBalls before allowing Pikachu to rest on his shoulder. He then turned back towards the front desk and saw that the Pokémon Egg that he brought to the Center was resting on a stretcher. Just looking at it reminded him about how Mark and Joe were so determined to get it back, which got him thinking.
"So Nurse Joy…" He called. "Have you learned anything about this egg?"
"…I'm afraid not." Joy said as she shook her head at him. "I've checked with my sources, but I haven't been able to find anything about a missing Pokémon Egg. I'll keep it with me until I find out more though. We need to make sure that this little guy has a home."
Nodding his head in agreement, Takashi stared at the egg for a few moments while wondering what kind of Pokémon is inside it. Whoever it is, they must be important for Mark and Joe to go to such great lengths to get it back. In any event, the egg was safe now and as long as Nurse Joy was taking care of it, Takashi was confident that it would stay that way.
Once everything was settled, Takashi and Rebecca said their goodbyes to Nurse Joy as they left the Pokémon Center. After making their way outside, Takashi took a moment to stretch his arms before proceeding to take Pikachu off of his shoulder. He then went on to gently pet the top of his head before giving his partner a warm smile.
"I'm very proud of you, Pikachu." He said to him. "You were able to look deep within you and find the power you needed to finally use Iron Tail. That's just proof that you've gotten stronger and I know that if we continue to work together, you'll continue to keep getting stronger."
As Takashi continued to pet him, as huge smile slowly appeared on Pikachu's face. Although he was happy that he was finally able to get the hang of Iron Tail, the Mouse Pokémon was more pleased that he was able to make his Trainer proud. He didn't want his faith in him to go to waste and Pikachu was glad to see that wasn't the case. Now, with that issue taken care of, they can get back to training for their rematch at the Pewter Gym.
Once their happy interaction was finished, Takashi was prepared to head back to their training spot and get back to work. Before he did so though, Takashi made a point to turn and face Rebecca. He then went on to slightly bow to her, much to the young woman's embarrassment.
"Thanks for the help back there, Rebecca." He said to her. "We would've been goners with you."
"Well…I'm just glad I was able to help." Rebecca replied as she began to scratch her head. "However…I can't take all the credit. I did have some help?"
"What do you mean? Who helped you?"
Rebecca continued scratching her head for a bit as Takashi simply looked on at her. Although she saw what happened first hand, the young woman still having a hard time believing it. She then went on to tell Takashi the identity of her helper.
"It was my grandpa."
"…What?"
Chapter Preview
As he continues to train for his eventual rematch at the Pewter Gym, Takashi ends up running into Victor while he's out for his morning walk. Having just learned what Victor did for Rebecca, Takashi wonders if there's more to the old man than he first thought and tries to talk to him. Just why is Victor the way he is and can he and Takashi squash their issues?
And later, Takashi learns something about the Pewter Gym that leaves him quite surprised.
Next Time, Chapter 14: Hidden Depths