A/N: So then, unless I get a truly hectic Christmas job, I should be able to finish uploading all of Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure before the end of the year. That is even with two week breaks between Act 8-9 and 9-10. That sort of easygoing pace will be nice to have, a strict enough deadline to motivate me but enough room to consider the unexpected getting in my way. Enough talk of my future chapters though, this here is the present chapter filled with intense battles!
Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure Act 8 Continued!
As the clock ticked its way to the ninth hour, Mrs Chandler and Jolt snuck up the stairs, each step being careful and silent. Without a sound, they made their way to Nanka, the teenager dozing peacefully in her comfy bed. With a mischievous smile, the sneaky duo held up a balloon and a needle… then pop.
"Eeeek!" Nanka screamed, bolting upright in bed and waking up to the sight of her mother and her Pikachu laughing wildly.
"M-m-morning, Poppet!" Mrs Chandler managed to get out between snickers and chuckles, whilst Jolt rolled about on the bed, holding his sides.
"Muuummm, I didn't need waking up." Nanka groaned as she poured milk into her bowl of cereal. "You too, Jolt."
"But you have a gym match today!" Mrs Chandler cheered energetically as she punched the air. "Get up with some gusto and go thrash that lazy leader!"
As Jolt rapidly nodded, Nanka groaned, sleepiness beckoning her back to bed.
"Oh yeah…" Mrs Chandler recalled with a far more disinterested tone, "…Oak wanted you to pop by as well."
Poking her head around the corner and looking through the open doorway, Nanka knocked on the laboratory wall as she called out, "Good morning, Professor."
Having been gazing out the back window, Professor Oak turned around upon hearing his name called, broadly smiling as he replied, "Why hello there, Nanka. How good it is to see you."
"Nice to see you as well, Professor." Nanka smiled back as she and Jolt walked into the room. "I heard from my Mum that you wanted me to come on over when I could."
"Ah yes, I just wanted to know how you and your Pokédex were coming along?" Professor Oak asked, tidying a few items on his desk before walking on over to Nanka.
"My Pokémon and I have been doing great." Nanka answered as she rummaged through her bag for her Pokédex, passing the device over to the Professor. "Travelling through Kanto with them has been so much fun."
"Piiikaaa!" Jolt cheered, throwing his paws up in the air.
"Hmmm," Professor Oak hummed as he read through the data on the Pokédex, proceeding to then say, "good, good; you're trying hard. Try your best to catch 'em all! As many as you can!"
"I'll try, Professor." Nanka chuckled. "Though I imagine G-Man's doing a better job of catching Pokémon than I am."
The Professor paused at this comment, a brief frown appearing on his face as he remarked, "Well, he… may have caught more, b-but you've caught far rarer Pokémon!"
"O-oh… I guess I have." Nanka murmured uneasily, vaguely recalling the words of man she couldn't quite remember, 'The Professor… did seem to dismiss what G-Man has done. N-no, maybe I'm reading too much into it.'
"Yes, yeeesss… my grandson has been catching them all randomly, but you've tracked down a wild Charizard and even an Aerodactyl!" Professor Oak said proudly, beaming as he placed a hand on Nanka's shoulder. "That's far better than what he's done; much better!"
Nanka couldn't quite think of what to say, finding herself… uncomfortable with the Professor's shifting tones when he went from talking about his own grandson to talking about herself. Nanka merely nodded in silence as the Professor continued to praise her, whilst pushing aside G-Man's accomplishments.
"To think…" Nanka begun to comment as the tiny Pidgey flapped it's wings aggressively, "…that the Pokémon on this route used to be tough to handle."
"Pika! Kaaa!" Jolt snapped, looking rather offended.
Nanka looked down to Jolt with a smirk, adding, "Oh, not for you though, Jolt."
Waving at the Pidgey goodbye, who knew well not to attack the far stronger electric type, Nanka and Jolt continued their trip down Route 1; their trip down memory lane. It had been only a few months and yet it felt like a lifetime ago.
"Miss Orange, good luck at the gym battle." A small group of school boys and school girls called out, waving excitedly to the passing by trainer.
"Thank you; we'll be sure to do our best!" Nanka shouted back to them, feeling utter merriment at the enthusiastic cheers she received. 'It's so sweet that they've even given me a nickname. Miss Orange… it must be because of my eyes.'
Nanka spun around to continue walking on towards the gym, only to unknowingly cross her legs, causing her to trip. Despite the clumsy fall, Nanka was able to use her held out arms to stop herself falling face-first to the ground, through the motion did briefly flip up her red miniskirt.
"Ah, Miss Orange…" A few of the boys and girls sighed contently, catching another glimpse of why they nicknamed the sweet girl Miss Orange, unbeknownst to Nanka.
"To think, that we're about to meet Viridian Gym's mystery leader." Nanka noted as she excitedly skipped through the traditionally Kantonian styled gym. "Oooh, I can't wait to meet him!"
Nanka and Jolt entered the final end room of the Gym with grins on their faces, moving on past the large steel doors and going from stepping on wooden floorboards to hard, sandy dirt. Looking around the torch-lit room, they quickly noticed a familiar man standing proudly at the back of said room, looking towards them with a confident smirk and eyes burning with calculated cruelty.
"Lost fun-loving girl," Giovanni said with a hushed voice, between quiet moments of laughter. "Welcome to my gym!"
Nanka immediately spun around to flee, only to see the rusted brown metal doors slamming shut behind her.
"Noooo!" Nanka screamed out as she banged against the doors, but upon realising that even her best efforts wouldn't get it to budge, turned around towards Giovanni. "W-why are you here!?"
"Pika, Pika, Chuuuu!" Jolt snapped, standing guard before Nanka, sparks flying from his cheeks.
Giovanni continued to laugh, growing louder as he maintained his intense stare on the frightened girl, "Did you not hear me? This is my gym!"
"My gym and my hideout! For under my long held title of Viridian City Gym Leader, I shall resurrect Team Rocket!" Giovanni proclaimed with his muscular arms stretched out wide, along with his sinister grin. "Of course, fate would have it that 'you' would once again face me."
Nanka gulped, swallowing down her worries as she inquired, "H-how are you the Gym Leader? Why are you the Viridian City Gym Leader?!"
Giovanni lowered his arms, his excited grin remaining to display his unusual undaunted confidence, "I became the Gym Leader long before I became the Rocket Boss… but simply put, the meagre position of Gym Leader was not enough for me, for the greatest trainer."
Gionvanni pulled out an Ultra Ball, holding it out in his large sallow skinned hands, "Now, lost fun-loving girl! You've come here for a gym battle! Let's start it… and finish it!"
Jolt looked up to his worried trainer, who in turn looked to her concerned Pikachu. Smiling at the familiar sight of one another, the duo nodded with confidence.
"We beat you before!" Nanka shouted out, grabbing Amber's Pokéball from her bag and holding it out. "E-even as a gym leader… w-we'll beat you all the same! We'll win again!"
Giovanni sneered, "Truly… I could not renew my ambitions without correcting my failure… my loss."
"Dugtrio." Giovanni stated with a cold calmness as his ground type was sent out from his Ultra Ball.
"Goooo, Amber!" Nanka announced as she sent out her Aerodactyl, the rare winged-beast roaring at the thrilling prospects of a gym battle.
"An Aerodactyl…" Giovanni whispered with a glint of desire in his small dark eyes. "I look forward to prying it's Pokéball from your cold hands."
Nanka managed to hear this, the implications sending shivers up her spine, "A-Amber, let's try and start off with a Bite."
Amber lunged out, attempting to Bite the Dugtrio, but the ground mole trio quickly burrowed underground to avoid the attack.
"B-but Dig won't be able to hit Amber." Nanka pointed out as Amber flew up into the air to avoid the Dugtrio emerging from the ground.
"That is true, but…" Giovanni began to say as he watched the Aerodactyl swoop down to attack his Dugtrio, but with a subtle hand signal, ordered his Dugtrio to use Dig once more to avoid the flying type, "…neither can your Aerodactyl hit my Dugtrio."
"Amber, try using Supersonic down one of those holes!" Nanka shouted out, her Aerodactyl quickly swooping down and cramming her head into one of the many holes.
The sounds of Amber's Supersonic were faintly heard, followed soon after by the sound of crashing and bumping beneath the earth. Shortly afterwards, Giovanni's Dugtrio emerged slowly from one of the holes, bruised and confused.
Nanka and Jolt jumped up and down in celebration of the first victory, only for Giovanni to respond with a grin, "Don't celebrate yet, girl! An old friend is up next."
As the feline's claret eyes glared at her, as she watched the sharp fanged Pokémon lick his lips in glee; Nanka felt breathless. Her arm and cheek ached as she saw the normal type's claws glisten, as she felt her legs tremble as the Persian hissed. The cruelty of this Persian terrified her.
Feeling a tug on her sock, Nanka looked down to see Jolt, a concerned but confident smirk on his face.
"It really ticks me off…" Giovanni growled, his eyes cold and dark with hate, "…to have lost to some trembling little brat!"
Giovanni's Persian lunged at Nanka with delight, Slashing down at the girl. To the Persian's surprise, he found the usually soft and fleshy girl surprisingly solid; soon realising he had not hit his intended target.
Amber stood in his way; glaring fiercely.
"Amber!" Nanka cried out with joy. "Thank you, Amber!"
Amber gave a subtle nod, but didn't look back; she didn't get in the way to protect her lent-to trainer. No, her focus was entirely on the Persian before her, the source of her current rage.
The Persian was strong. His Slash had hurt. Yet this strong Persian chose to attack the skinny armed girl instead of the rock hard Amber, she was ignored in favour of a tiny human… this enraged Amber.
Amber roared; biting down repeatedly and brutally on the Persian. Biting until her foe had fainted.
Returning his Persian, Giovanni's face twisted with anger, "You'll for that, brat!"
Nanka didn't respond to the fuming Gym Leader, instead focusing on taking deep breaths, feeling instantly more comfortable with the Persian gone.
"Pika, Pika, Pikachu!" Jolt cheered on Amber, whom roared proudly as Giovanni sent out his bulky Nidoqueen.
"Nidoqueen!" Giovanni growled at his armoured skinned poison type. "Destroy that Aerodactyl!"
It happened suddenly and expeditiously; the Nidoqueen bellowing skyward, with dark clouds materialising at blistering speeds. Within a couple seconds, with the crackling of electricity and a flash of light, a Thunder blast struck down Amber.
"Amber!" Nanka cried out as she watched her proud, battle-hungry Aerodactyl struggle to her feet, scraping against the crumbled sandy ground for a firm footing. 'She's hurt, badly hurt. I should return her quick.'
"A-Amber," Nanka began to say, watching her fossilised fighter stand back up, forcing a confident smile onto her face, "I know… I know you want to keep on fighting. Go for it, Amber!"
"Refusing to let your Pokémon run away; how unlike you." Giovanni sneered, before giving a thumbs down to his Nidoqueen.
His Nidoqueen flung her horned head back and bellowed again; summoning more ominous clouds and cracking sparks, both of signalled the swift descent of another Thunder attack. The Thunder hurtled down towards Amber… who lashed out at the electric blast with her teeth, chewing her way through the Thunder before flying towards and biting down on the Nidoqueen. Amber's hard, snapping jaws tore into the ground type's tough skin, cracking and gnashing through it with such force that the Nidoqueen soon fainted from agony.
"Amber, you're amazing!" Nanka cheered; tears of joy in her eyes as she stood amazing, exuberant at having witnessed Amber best the super effective Thunder with a lone Bite.
"Piii; Pikaaachuuu!" Jolt yelled out in awe and applause, clapping his paws together.
Amber laughed at the praise, holding her head up high. She felt it was the obvious outcome, given she was the strongest after all, but she appreciated the praise all the same.
Then Thunder struck.
Lying in a crater caused by the explosive blast, Amber laid fainted. Standing over her downed body was a grinning Nidoking, sparks still springing off from his long purple horn.
"It should be expected that as someone who lacks ambition…" Giovanni stated as the concerned trainer and Pikachu rushed over to their fainted companion, "…that you choose to celebrate every minor victory. This fight is far from over, brat."
"You… did fantastic, Amber." Nanka said sombrely as she returned her fainted Aerodactyl. 'Now… who should I send out next… to give this jerk a serious thrashing!'
As Nanka rose to her feet, returning to her side of the arena, she realised she was in an awkward predicament. Of her remaining four Pokémon in this five-on-five battle, three of them had a disadvantage against Giovanni's particular Nidoking. Jolt's electric attacks couldn't hurt the hefty Nidoking and his ground typing, his venomous body meant he would resist Stretchy's fighting attacks and the fact that this Nidoking knew Thunder meant that her water type Ion was at risk of being blasted down in one shot.
She had only one option then, "Popper, I choose you!"
The three brown bodied Dugtrio emerged from his Pokéball, straight backs showing they were standing to attention. The Nidoking towered over the small Popper and yet all three faces looked to their fellow ground type with utter confidence, looking down on their beastly foe.
Nidoking glared back silently, as did Nanka and Giovanni respectively, until both trainers declared in unison, "Earthquake!"
Popper and Nidoking responded in turn; using their earth powers to cause the ground to shake, tremors coursing throughout the building. As floor and walls alike cracked, the two ground types continued their fierce Earthquake competition.
Until Nidoking lost his balance.
"Yay, Pop-wwwhoaaaa!" Nanka had started to cheer, only to lose her balance from all the Earthquakes, falling over backwards.
"Trio, trio, trio!" Popper's three heads chanted one after the other, looking back to his clumsy trainer and rolling his eyes.
Giovanni did not say a word as he returned his fainted Nidoking. For a while he remained silent, staring at his last Pokéball as the lost fun-loving girl laughed alongside her Pikachu and Dugtrio.
With a deep breath, the Gym and Rocket Leader declared, "Come out, Rhydon!"
Grim faced with a frozen frown and lifeless eyes, the heavy Rhydon stomped immediately, sending out tremors before either Nanka or Popper could even react. Popper took it head on as the ground was torn up, the remaining solid areas of sand, dirt and concrete scattering into the air and smashing against the cracked walls of the room.
Dust and dirt clouded the area, with a still tumbled over Nanka calling out, "Popper! Are you okay?"
Nanka received no response… until the whole room shook again, as a harsher Earthquake pulsed throughout the area, accompanied by a three voiced battle cry, "Triiiooo!"
The Earthquake subsided, and with the lit torches crashing down to the ground and their flames smothered by dirt and sand, there was a brief moment of pitch-black darkness. Then large chunks of ceiling came down, light flooding the room as a gentle breeze begun clearing the dust away. Vision soon returned to all within the room, the two trainers looking out to the battlefield, towards their Pokémon. Exhausted and bruised, Popper's three heads smiled proudly but weakly as his gloomy Rhydon opponent collapsed.
"Popper, you did it!" Nanka exclaimed as she leapt over and hugged her Dugtrio.
Suddenly a deep voiced laugh began to ring throughout the arena.
"Fwahahahaha!" Giovanni's laughter boomed across the room, his broad shoulder's shaking with each emotional roar. "Struck down by two kids in one week; oh how the greatest trainer has fallen!"
Nanka looked on bemused, as Jolt stepped forth in front of her, suspicious of the villain's outburst and getting ready to protect Nanka.
"Ha… ha… ha, that was an intense fight." Giovanni said as he pulled out a plant shaped badge. "You have won."
Nanka didn't budge from beside Popper and Jolt, so Giovanni threw the badge over to her.
"T-thank you…" Nanka managed to force out her usual politeness as she caught the badge.
"You are the victor; the stronger one. You have no need to offer thanks." Giovanni did not suggest, but so much as stated these words; a firm belief of his. "That Earth Badge is evidence of your mastery as a Pokémon Trainer."
Without a word, Giovanni also pulled out a TM box from under his suit jacket and threw it over to Nanka, with Jolt jumping up and catching it.
"Power is everything in this world…" Giovanni started to say, his dark eyed gaze firmly locked with Nanka's. "An so I have always aimed high, aimed for further power. Becoming the Viridian City Gym Leader was not enough for me, so akin to assembling a Pokémon team, I gathered trainers to form Team Rocket."
Giovanni looked downtrodden as he continued, "I suppose I became too comfortable with my abilities, with my power."
"Too… comfortable? Isn't that good?" Nanka inquired, puzzled as to why the defeated villain was explaining so much.
"No… for in doing so, I failed to strive to greater heights." Giovanni explained with a heavy sigh. "I cannot face my underlings; not unless I'm the greatest, not unless I'm true to my word."
"Farewell." Giovanni declared as he begun to walk away through one of the newly made holes in the gym.
"G-Giovanni!" Nanka shouted out, causing the retiring Gym Leader to pause. "Um, I don't… understand your power obsession but… d-did you have fun? In our battle I mean?"
The retiring Boss Rocket did not respond, but he briefly smiled as Nanka continued to say, "I think… I think that's more important than power."
Nanka watched as Giovanni continued to walk away, hearing him chuckle to himself long after he disappeared from her view.
The sun was still glowing high and happily in the sky as Nanka and Jolt left the gym, indicating that only a mere hour or two had passed since the start of their gym battle, yet it felt like ages since they had set foot outside. A heavy pressure rapidly left them; the feeling of danger and the intensity of battle cooling down.
"Do you think… do you think it's really over, Jolt?" Nanka asked her Pikachu as she fiddled around with TM:27, the TM for Fissure. "After all that, do you think that's it for us and the Rockets?"
"P-Piii… Chhh." Jolt hesitated before responding with a shrug, then proceeded to more confidently say. "Kachu, Pika Pi, Pikachu Kaaaa!"
Nanka stopped to giggle, kneeling down to pat her Pikachu on the head, "Awww, I know Jolt. Even if there are more Rockets, you'll… we'll be sure to deal with them easy-peasy."
The next day, Nanka had plans; plans purely of relaxation. After such an intense battle with the grave danger of being face-to-face with a crime lord, Nanka felt she needed it. So for most that morning she and Jolt had been having a fun time playing on the SNES. It was in the midst of their gaming morning that Mrs Chandler sprinted up the stairs, a joyous expression beaming on her face.
"Mum, what's the",-Nanka started to say before her mum thrust a letter into her hands.
"It's from G-Maaaannnn!" Nanka's Mum squealed with a wide grin as her daughter opened the letter. 'Could this be a love letter? Oh how precious of him.'
Nanka quickly read the short letter, commenting, "Oh… he's challenging me to a Pokémon battle."
"Awww, really? Of course he would…" Mrs Chandler grumbled and sighed.
"This is perfect, Jolt. We can beat his team and prank him as payback for that description." Nanka said to her excited Pikachu with a giggle. "What do you say we go grab some ice cubes for tonight?"
"Piii-kaaa!" Jolt cheered with stars in his eyes, high-fiving Nanka and excited at the prospect of tonight's battling and prank combo.
"Eh?" Mrs Chandler snapped out of her disappointment upon overhearing her scheming daughter, quickly rushing on over to her. "H-hold on, Poppet! I know you're annoyed at what he said, but I've a much better idea than using ice cubes."
"Ummm, really?" Nanka replied as her mother signalled her to wait, running off downstairs. "Huh, I figured that because G-Man hates the cold so much, slipping ice cubes down his shirt would be a pretty good payback."
"Pikaaa." Jolt agreed, having been looking forward to this very plan for days, although his version of the plan involved a lot more throwing of ice cubes.
Only a minute later and Nanka's Mum was rushing back up the stairs, her peach skin flushed with excitement as she held out a long cardboard box. "I was saving this for when you would take on the Pokémon League, but I figured that if you want G-Man to stop talking about the Swimsuit Vigilante then this is the way to do it."
Nanka was very confused at the point, but as she witnessed her mum open the box up, she was amazed… and still confused, "Mum, it's beautiful… but how does this help with G-Man?"
"Trust me," Nanka's Mum said with a sly smile as she pinched her daughter's chubby cheek, "his focus will be entirely on you with this."
The lamplights came to life along Route 22, accompanying the rising moon in giving visibility to the waiting boy. A slight chilly wind blew by, his black cloak fluttering from it.
Though standing, he had started to drift off, until the sound of running footsteps along the cobbled footpath grabbed his attention. Looking towards Viridian City, a familiar green-haired girl holding a letter and her Pikachu was spotted running towards him.
"Yo Nanka, about…" G-Man's voice trailed off as he looked at his orange dressed rival up and down, "…pretty."
"P-pardon." Nanka blurted out, unsure if she had heard her friend correctly, "I-um, r-really?"
Nanka was taken aback by the compliment, her intended rage and deviousness being washed over by a strange but pleasant fuzzy feeling. Nanka begun fidgeting on the spot, wiggling about in her new blazing orange dress fit for a princess, adorned with a web-patterned material around the shoulder.
"P-pale! Pretty pale, I mean!" G-Man blurted out, his focused grey eyes unavoidably running up and down his elegantly dressed rival's body. "A-a-are you feeling okay? It's a little chilly out."
"Oh! I thought… that makes more sense." Nanka giggled out over the misunderstanding, though for some reason she couldn't help but feel disappointed. "I'm feeling fine; this dress is quite warm and cosy."
G-Man continued to gaze at Nanka in her long sleeved and long skirted dress; pumpkin orange and webbed patterned sleeves making her look like a Halloween princess, "A-ah, yeah… it's nice. It… suits you nicely."
Nanka smiled brightly; joy displayed on her face with rosy red cheeks.
"Kaaachuuuuu." Jolt said as he tugged on Nanka's silky dress and proceeded to act out a scene of anger, "Piiikaaa! Pi, pi, pi, Pikachu!"
"You're right, Jolt! I'm supposed to be angry!" Nanka realised, switching swiftly from her overjoyed smile to a scowling expression, her hair beginning to raise up with wild wrath. "G-Maaannn! What was with that description!?"
"I-uhhhh, description?" G-Man mumbled out as he backed away from his raging wildfire eyed rival.
"Forest green hair, fiery eyes, moonlit skin…" Nanka listed off with a huff and a puff, her face reddening from both her aggravation and her embarrassment. "Your description was supposed to deter people from thinking of me, but it sounds just like!"
"Ohhh, you mean the Swimsuit Vigilante description." G-Man replied with a chuckle, although he was still quite nervous about the death glares he was receiving from Nanka and Jolt. "I thought, y'know, someone would know I was lying if I didn't throw some bits of truth in there. Besides, I changed it enough to make sure no one would mistake the Vigilante for you."
"That's not my biggest problem; no one's mistaken me for the Vigilante yet." Nanka shouted back, continuing to blush as bright as a tomato as she explained. "My problem is she looks so much like me… but in a skimpy swimsuit… and, and…"
"You can't help but think it's you in that swimsuit." G-Man guessed, a guilty expression on his rubicund face as steam blew from nodding girl's head. "W-well… I did change some things. Yeah, just focus on how you're short and flat chested unlike the Vigilante and you won't think about the resemblance at all."
G-Man could quickly tell from the cold unfeeling look he got from Nanka that his words didn't quite have the comforting effect he wanted.
'I'm not flat, I'm just smaller chested... especially when compared to your sister, which I'm sure is where you got the idea for giving the Swimsuit Vigilante such an ample bust.' Nanka thought to herself as she continued to stare at G-Man with a frosty expression.
"S-sorry, Nanka, I ummm…" G-Man stuttered out, feeling uncomfortable with the current atmosphere, looking for anything to detour the conversation. "Oh, hey, what's with the letter?"
"Letter?" Nanka repeated as she blinked a couple of times snapping out of her irritated thoughts and looking to the letter in her hands, soon passing it over to G-Man, "Oh, Mum gave it to me to give to you."
G-Man appeared curious as he opened the letter, though his expression quickly turned to embarrassment as he looked back and forth between Nanka and the letter, "Y-yes, but… d-don't tell me what to do."
Nanka was puzzled by G-Man's response to the letter, as her childhood friend continued to read further, soon blushing even more and yelling out, "I don't need instructions!"
Now Nanka was super curious; her unaccustomed rage at her friend being washed over by her instinctive inquisitiveness.
Nanka started to ask, "So what did the letter-"
"Never mind that!" G-Man grumbled as he scrunched up and tossed the letter aside. "You collected all the gym badges, right Nanka?"
"Y-yep, we sure did." Nanka answered, motioning to a proud Jolt beside her.
"Cool! I've got 'em all too!" G-Man shouted out with boastful joy as he pulled out a Pokéball. "Then I'll whip you, Nanka… as a warm-up for the Pokémon League!"
'Well… it would have been nice to chat for a bit longer.' Nanka thought with a roll of her eyes, forgetting that she had initially come here to pelt her friend with ice cubes, "Okay then, G-Man. Go Hover!"
As Nanka threw out her Ultra Ball, G-Man leapt back to give more space for the battle, throwing out his own Pokéball, "Go Sandslash!"
Soon Route 22's lamp-lit path had a sparking Magneton and a grounded Sandslash facing off.
"T-ton?" The three ball-bodied heads of Hover buzzed, puzzled as to why they were facing off against an electric immune ground type.
"I'm so sorry!" Nanka apologised at the accidentally terrible match-up.
With a bit of Supersonic and a whole lot of luck, Hover faced off against G-Man's Sandslash with surprising results. Enduring Slashes, Swifts, and Stings, Hover managed to fire off enough Sonic Booms to knock the serious faced Sandslash unconscious.
"N-no way…" G-Man mumbled in disbelief as he returned his Sandslash. "W-well, your Magneton will be no match for the girls!"
'Girls?' Nanka pondered as G-Man sent out his next Pokémon.
Six eggs of varying sizes popped out of G-Man's Pokéball, each one with a scowl on their faces.
"Okay girls, let's trounce that Magneton." G-Man declared.
The gang of scowling egg's suddenly smiled, spinning around to their cloaked trainer and squealing, "Cuuute."
"Wooowwww! Your Exeggcute look wonderful, G-Man." Nanka praised sweetly, admiring the egg-shaped grass type that she had very rarely seen.
The Exeggcutes suddenly spun around, scowling at Nanka and gritting their teeth, "Eeeggg!"
"Um, h-hello…" Nanka said nervously as the Exeggcute gang glared at her with burning hatred, Jolt stepping in front of Nanka just in case, as the Exeggcutes even begun to glow green with envious hate.
"Hey, girls, the Magneton is over there!" G-Man shouted out.
"Exe, cute!" The Exeggcute yelled out as they spun around to the Thunder Wave preparing Hover and blasted it with an enraged Solarbeam.
"Oh no, Hover!" Nanka called out as her metallic Pokémon was blasted by grassy beam of solar energy, soon after falling to the ground; fainted.
"Yeeeaaahhh, my Exeggcute doesn't like girls going near me." G-Man explained whilst encircled by his Exeggcute, each egg growling at Nanka.
"T-that's okay." Nanka replied, keeping back from the scowling gang. "I'll just send out my next Pokémon, okay."
"Sure, my Exeggcute can handle anything!" G-Man boasted, his Exeggcute looking up at him with utter adoration. "They could even best a Charizard!"
Nanka and Jolt looked to one another, smug smiles forming.
"Exeggcuuuttteee!" G-Man cried out as his adoring egg gang was fried by Embers.
"Wonderful job as always, Razor!" Nanka cheered as her Charizard finished burning her foe with her Ember attack.
Razor then turned around to Nanka, so appreciative of the praise she had received that she hugged her trainer tightly… and began crying tears of joy; naturally.
"Grrrr, let's fight fire with fire!" G-Man shouted out as he sent out his Ninetails. "Ninetails; take them down!"
Fighting fire with fire was going well… for Razor that is.
"Great job, Razor! Fight through that paralysis!" Nanka cheered as the heavy orange lizard knocked away Ninetails with a Slash of her small but strong claws.
"Pika, Pikachu!" Jolt joined in cheering as Razor withstood another Quick Attack from the elegant nine tailed fox.
"Chaaarrr!" Razor roared, pushing back the Ninetail's Embers with her own Embers, defeating her fiery furry opponent with her own fiery flare.
"I was hoping to save Cloyster for after I dealt with your Pikachu." G-Man explained as he sent out his larged shelled ice-type, Jolt smiling smugly at the mention. "But your Charizard is also a problem. Cloyster; Clamp!"
"Try stop his advance with Ember, Razor!" Nanka shouted, with Razor responding quickly and assaulting the approaching Cloyster with her Ember.
The small flames bounced harmlessly off Cloyster's tough spiky shell, with the Cloyster only opening up its tight defences when close enough to Razor, proceeding to then Clamp down on Razor hard.
"Let's get you out of there, Razor." Nanka said as she returned her paralysed and injured Charizard from the Cloyster's grip. "Licker, please do your best!"
Licker yawned, stretching out as her large eyes slowly opened up. When fully cognitive, Licker noticed something of key importance; the G-Man kid.
Placing a clawed finger to her lips, the sinister spectre started speculating how she could put 'operation: nudge' into action.
Licker didn't like many people; they were often beneath her. Yet over the course of the last couple days, Licker had started to believe that Marguerite Chandler was one of the few exceptions she had encountered in her whole ghostly life. She was strong, confident, and proud; a woman much like herself who did what she wanted when she wanted was something Licker could respect. So when asked by Marguerite to do a small favour and try to nudge her daughter closer with this G-Man kid, Licker actually found herself agreeing to do so.
"Licker, one strong zap should be enough. Strike that Cloyster with a Thunderbolt!" Nanka advised, and Licker was more than happy to go with that plan as she fired off a small Thunderbolt… directed at G-Man.
"Eh?" G-Man uttered just as the trickling Thunderbolt zipped past his Cloyster and struck his lower half. "Gyyyyaaahhh!"
"Licker!" Nanka snapped as G-Man yelped in shock and pain. "I said Cloyster; strike Cloyster!"
"C-Cloy!" G-Man's Cloyster shouted out at Licker, ticked off at the Haunter's cruel assault on her trainer, only for Licker to nonchalantly fire a far stronger Thunderbolt blast at Cloyster and knock her out.
"Hau, Hau, Haaaauuu!" Licker laughed as her plan went about smoothly, keeping a steady eye on G-Man's burning away trousers.
"G-Man! Are yooouuu…" Nanka's voice trailed away as noticed the massive hole burnt through G-Man's trousers… and his disintegrated pants.
During an awkward silence, a bright blush sprung up on both the teenager's faces; steam whistling from Nanka's ears.
Nanka screamed, covering her eyes, "I didn't see your Weedle! I didn't see your Weedle!"
"Onix!" G-Man snapped as he tried to cover himself up, with what was left of his fried trousers falling apart. "Y-you d-didn't see my Onix!"
Licker saw that her plan hadn't really nudged the innocent girl and the Weedle boy together, merely creating a bit of panic and a whole lot of blushing between them. It had been a lot of fun for her though.
"W-well, Cloyster is out." G-Man accepted, his lower half now covered by his black cloak tied around his waist. "It's um… It's Kadabra's turn now!"
Licker laughed, awaiting yet another easy-
She was knocked out immediately by a single Psychic. G-Man was quite pleased to see the trouser destroying trouble maker fainted.
It had been over a month since Kadabra had suffered a humiliatingly quick defeat from a mere un-evolved Pikachu; the memory forever seared into his mind. His confidence had been shattered, his self-respect trashed.
But with his failure, he gained motivation. Kadabra trained harder than ever and with his newly honed skills he had become an unstoppable force. Never again would Kadabra lose to-
Jolt immediately Body Slammed the Kadabra! Kadabra fainted.
"Great work, Jolt!" Nanka applauded, as her Pikachu punched the air in celebration. "Now G-Man only... h-has..."
Nanka had tried to talk, but in looking over to her rival with his makeshift leg-wear, recent events came to mind. Blushing, Nanka looked away.
"Y-yeah, I... still have Jolteon." G-Man stuttered out, his naturally reddish toned skinned quite flushed as he sent out his Jolteon, also looking away from Nanka.
"W-with Jolt's Light, um... Screen, y-you can't stop Jolt with..." Nanka stuttered out, trying to keep an eye on the battle, but avoiding looking at G-Man at the same time.
"S-special attacks..." G-Man stuttered out, his attention more so on keeping his waist wrapped cloak secure. "...we'll just use Pin Missile... y-yeah, Jolteon, use that!"
Jolteon was confused by the awkwardness and Jolt didn't understand it. Losing clothes didn't seem to be much of an issue to them; they didn't even wear any after all.
As time passed in the battle, Jolteon zipping around with great Agility, trying to fire off Pin Missiles as it dodged the Light Screen armoured Jolt, Nanka and G-Man did their best to push aside embarrassing moments and focus on the battle.
"Jolt, he's coming around your left." Nanka called out, having a better view point from where she was standing.
Jolt leapt as such, landing a Body Slam against his spiky furred opponent.
Paralysed from the Body Slam, there was little Jolteon could do to avoid Jolt's final blow, knocking Jolteon out.
"Jolteon!?" G-Man yelled out, rushing over to his downed Pokémon, checking his injuries. "It's fine buddy; this was just a warm-up anyway. I bet we're all loosened up for the League now."
"Good job, Jolt! I knew you could do it!" Nanka congratulated her victorious Pikachu with a high-five, though she couldn't help but glance over to G-Man comforting his Jolteon. 'G-Man's always so proud of his Pokémon, I… it's always so nice.'
"Hey, Nanka..." G-Man spoke up in the midst of caring for his Jolteon, "...do you plan to take on the Pokémon League?"
"W-well, I'd rather... just visit Victory Road and the Indigo Plateau..." Nanka began to explain, smiling as she stroked Jolt's yellow fuzzy head, "...but I would have never of had the opportunity to visit such places if it wasn't for Jolt here. So I'll at least try... as my thanks to Jolt, we will at least try."
"Kaaa..." Jolt cooed, unable to stop grinning as he acted rather bashful at Nanka's reasoning.
"Heh, Nanka, you need more practise then." G-Man remarked as he returned Jolteon.
The victorious Nanka couldn't help but giggle at this comment.
"Anyway, how about we spice up our Pokémon League challenge?" G-Man suggested, with a playful smirk on his face. "How about we have a little bet?"
"A bet?"
"Yeeeaaah..." G-Man continued with his playful smirk. "If I become the Pokémon League Champion, then you have to do something for me for a whole day."
"Sooo, like paying for all your meals for a day?" Nanka suggested, with G-Man nodding. "And if I become the Kanto Champion..."
"I'll do whatever you want for a whole day!" G-Man instantly declared. "Sounds fun, right?"
Nanka placed a finger to her lips, briefly considering what she would have G-Man do for a day, and then answered, "Weeelllll... okay."
"Heh, that gives me another thing to look forward too when I become the Champion!" G-Man boasted as he set off down Route 22. "Smell ya!"
"G-Man!" Nanka called out as her friend begun to depart down the lamp-lit path, "Y-your, um... trousers."
G-Man stopped, looking down at his cloak that was covering up his torn trousers. Spinning on his heel, he jogged past Nanka with a faint blush, heading instead back to his home, "T-thanks."
"Welcome home, Poppet!" Nanka's Mum greeted her daughter with a radiant smile. "Sooo, how did your dat-meet-up with G-Man okay?"
"The same as usual." Nanka replied as she covered her yawning mouth. "We talked, we battled, we left."
"Awww, nothing else." Mrs Chandler sighed with disappointment. "I was hoping you'd have done something else; take a walk by the river, go Weedle hunting in the forest..."
Nanka froze.
The word 'Weedle' chimed in her head, dragging back up memories of the embarrassing incident that night. A bright blush crept up her face as steam whistled from her ears; a recurring problem for her.
"I didn't see any Weedles!" Nanka screamed out as she ran past her Mum, fleeing upstairs, with Jolt running after her.
Mrs Chandler remained silent, looking to the stairs with a mystified expression, "...What?"
"O-oh, I hope she didn't read that letter..." Mrs Chandler mumbled, recalling the letter she'd written.
'Hey G-Man,
My daughter should have just given you this here letter. I got her all dressed up for tonight; she's looking cute, right?
You know what? You should give her a kiss! A smooch! I know you want too!
You're a bit of a battle maniac though, so I've included some kissing instructions below! You two have fun on your date tonight!
From your (if you play your cards right) future Mother-in-law.'
A/N: Another exciting chapter of Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure draws to a close, an with it, another thrilling Act. Only four chapters left to this story, with Act's 9 and 10 to follow!
So ultimately this chapter is comprised of two events; Nanka versus the eighth Gym Leader and Nanka versus G-Man. So talking first of that gym battle, it was great to be able to write up the conclusive battle between Nanka and Giovanni. I enjoyed writing up my take on Giovanni, especially here where I was able to provide a hopefully smooth explanation to his motives and character. I always did wonder why he went from Gym Leader to Rocket Boss and I hope my take on it proves likeable. I also got to more firmly establish Nanka's growing phobia of Persians (possibly extend that to all cat Pokémon; Meowth being the exception) as well give Popper a shining moment after his disastrous gym attempt back in Celadon. It's actually rather funny that Nanka took on Giovanni with both Amber and Popper; two of the three Pokémon in her team that don't get along well with her.
Another funny thing to note is that in all previous Giovanni chapters, the atmosphere went from funny to dramatic. Here it's the opposite, with a more lighthearted battle with G-Man taking up the second half of the chapter. I feel this where I started to establish more of G-Man's Pokémon as individual characters, though of course I have somewhat corrected this earlier on in the Director's Cut. The Kadabra with self-esteem issues always was a highlight of this story for me; fond memories of consistently destroying the all-powerful psychic type with Jolt in the Pokémon Yellow playthrough.
Originally the Nanka and G-Man ecchi moment was going to play out at Nanka's expense, with a convenient gust of wind causing awkwardness. I felt this too stale though, so decided to spice it up. Meanwhile the idea of the letter with kissing instructions, as well as Mrs Chandler being a shipper of her daughter and G-Man, was thought of all the way back in Act 2. I played the long game with the scene, going on to add more to it when I got to (the Weedle scene) and even more with the Director's Cut (the whole Swimsuit Vigilante complaints scene).
I hope you enjoyed this both serious and funny chapter! Christmas period is coming up and work hours look like they are returning for me, so to save on stress, I'll be having another break between acts. Look forward to the start of Act 9 on the 10th November.