Disclaimer: Je ne ownez le Pokemon… translation; I don't own Pokemon, even with a poor grasp of the French language.
MESSAGE TO READERS: WARNING! This chapter contains spoilers of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl episodes that have not yet been released outside of Japan. If you do not wish to find out what these spoilers are, then it is advised that you discontinue reading, or skip the section regarding Team Rocket, as that is where the spoiler mainly lies. So, other than that, go grab yourself a lemonade or something, kick back and enjoy!
THE LEAGUE OF CHAMPIONS
CHAPTER 33: GANG WARS! AN ALL OUT BRAWL!
It was difficult to grasp what was actually going on. First there was a man who had attempted not only to end my dream of becoming the Pokemon League Champion, but end my life as well. On more than one occasion at that! This man, who had seemed so dark, so ruthless and so remorseless that it seemed he was beyond human. But to see him in the state he was currently in made my brain twitch the more I thought about it. Was he really that scared of these two people dressed in dark shades of purple? The male and female known as Tyne and Sabheen… Tyne apparently was a master of Dark Type Pokemon. This made sense not only due to his dress code, but the fact that he owns not only a pure Dark Type, Absol, but also a brutally powerful Tyranitar. I knew just how powerful Tyranitar are. Similarly to the likes of Metagross and Garchomp, they are considered as "Psuedo-Legendary" Pokemon, due to the fact that their strength rivals that of legendary Pokemon, such as the Articuno that Darkhan is using. Personally, I was not sure what he was so worked up about. Darkhan could quite easily win in just a couple of turns. With the combination of Mind Reader and Sheer Cold, it guarantees a knock out victory. However, as much as I despised the man, I could not help but wonder what the true intentions of his opponents were… I could not think for long, however. The battle was in it's starting stages.
"You don't understand what you are up against," Tyne taunted. "We do not raised different Pokemon with different types. We raise the same type of Pokemon and same breeds of Pokemon to cope with various situations." Darkhan tilted his head, apparently a little confused by Tyne's statement.
"Explain," Darkhan paused to absorb what the Dark Type Master was saying.
"I'll give you an example," Tyne smirked. "I own several Tyranitar, but have trained them specifically to deal with different types of opponents. Allow me to demonstrate. Tyranitar, Thunder Wave!" With that, a sudden aura of electricity surrounded Tyranitar's claws, before thrusting them forward. The Thunder Wave attack zapped across the battlefield towards the airborne Articuno. Sparks immediately surrounded the Legendary bird of ice, showing the signature signs of paralysis. Darkhan's jaw dropped a little, stunned that the Tyranitar not only knew an electrical attack, but was able to immobilise his Articuno in just one attack. "I know your Articuno can use Mind Reader and Sheer Cold, but as you can see I've prepared for that."
"Clever," Darkhan reluctantly admitted. "Blizzard!" he aggressively ordered. Despite the paralysis, the Articuno began to flap its wings rapidly. A freezing snowstorm blew across the area, covering the Tyranitar, along with Tyne and Sabheen as well. This caused a wide grin to appear on Darkhan's face.
"I see," Tyne smiled, almost enjoying what he was seeing. "Even with the paralysis, your Articuno is still able to whip up a powerful Blizzard attack. That is the kind of thing that pleases his Lordship. And all the more reason for me to bring it to him. Tyranitar, use Ancientpower." With a thunderous roar, the Tyranitar somehow summoned from beneath the ground several large boulders that somehow floated in the air as if they were balloons. A mysterious dark energy seemed to keep the giant rocks airborne, before suddenly hurling themselves towards the Articuno.
"Evade!" Darkhan called in near desperation. The Articuno tried to flap its wings to fly above the rocks, but the paralysis seemed to prevented it from using more energy than it was already using. The rocks smashed into the Legendary Pokemon, knocking it down to the ground.
"Heh heh," Tyne chuckled maliciously. "It doesn't matter whether it's legendary, it still has weaknesses. And I aim to exploit those weaknesses if I am to capture such a legendary creature."
"Awaken!" Darkhan ignored his taunt whilst addressing his Articuno. Although it was weak and suffering the after effects of the previous Thunder Wave, the Articuno amazingly managed to take to the skies once again, flying much higher than it had done before. This was truly astounding. I had definitely underestimated the powers of a Legendary Pokemon. Even after the damned thing froze me, I still held little respect for it. But seeing this determination made me think twice. "Mind Reader," Darkhan ordered. I knew exactly what was coming. The Articuno was able to focus on the Tyranitar, detecting its movements as it had done against Paul's Metagross.
"I knew this was coming," Tyne smirked. "Tyranitar, Ancientpower again!" It seemed to me as though Tyne was trying to end this quickly, as if to prevent the imminent Sheer Cold attack that Darkhan was bound to use next. Another barrage of rocks flew towards the Articuno.
"Evade!" Darkhan's voice boomed once more. This time, the Articuno slowed down the speed that it beat its wings. As a result, it lowered itself beneath the airborne stones. They crashed into a nearby tree, snapping it in half like a tree. I noticed a small rampage of Stantler scurrying away from the destruction. "Sheer Cold!" Darkhan grinned. The Articuno began to charge the fatal attack.
"That won't work against us," Tyne grinned. "Protect now!" The Tyranitar stood completely still, as a strange aura covered its body in a similar way to my Aggron when it used the same move. The Articuno nonetheless unleashed the devastating attack, yet the Tyranitar took the full blow but was completely unscathed. Darkhan's heart seemed to sink before our very eyes as the attack failed. The Tyranitar stood proudly, having resisted the Sheer Cold attack. Meanwhile, Sandra and I along with Nurse Joy and Misty continued to watch the unfolding battle with awe.
"Looks like Darkhan is well and truly top trumped by that guy," Misty whispered into my ear.
"He's still got a trick up his sleeve somewhere, though," Sandra remarked, with a frustrated look in her eyes.
"Is it worth us staying?" Nurse Joy asked quietly. "If we get seen, who knows what they will do to us. You heard him say that this would be Darkhan's last battle… do you think he means that…"
"No one deserves that fate," I growled a little. "Not even Darkhan… although something of a slightly less extreme would be suitable."
"That's just sour grapes," Misty sighed.
"The guy tried to kill me twice, damn it!" I snarled. Sandra was quick to silence me. Fortunately, Tyne and Darkhan were too involved in their battle to notice our misunderstanding.
"Keep your voice down," Nurse Joy pleaded. "If they hear us, we're goners!"
"You can say that again," a female voice came from nearby. We couldn't figure out who it was at first, until suddenly the woman known as Sabheen suddenly lowered herself from the trees above us right in front of where we were hidden. She did not climb down, but rather float down as if on a cushion of air. How she managed this feat was beyond my understanding, but I had no time to worry about that right now.
"What do you intend to do when this battle is over?" Sandra stood up, although shaking a little with fear.
"Why, that depends now doesn't it?" Sabheen replied with a sneer. "We could dispose of Darkhan first, or we could make sure that you never see the light of day ever again."
"Over my dead body!" I snarled, arming myself with a Poke Ball.
"It's your funeral," Sabheen grinned. "Banette, Disable these fools until we find a suitable way to dispose of them." From quite literally nowhere, a small plush-toy like Ghost appeared. It looked very similar to the one owned by Harley, being the same type of Pokemon. I felt a strange sensation flow through my body. My joints began to stiffen. I tried to get away, but was quite literally stuck. Despite the fact that I could not move my lips, I was still able to speak… albeit rather poorly.
"Wha are we gohha goo?" I gabbled strangely.
"Wha you say?" Misty tried to reply, failing miserably.
"Shut up," Sabheen snapped. "You're not going anywhere until we've settled with Darkhan. And just to make sure you don't try anything crafty, I'll have my Banette keep a sharp eye on you." She gave the four of us a sly smirk, before turning back to face the battle. "Will you hurry up, Tyne?" she whined. "I tire of this so-called entertainment."
"Ah, put a sock in it," Tyne snarled back. "I'm almost done. Tyranitar, wrap it up with Hyper Beam." I could not see what was happening behind me, as I was now frozen, although not quite so literally this time. However, I was perfectly capable of hearing the commotion. An explosion rocked the area around us. Somehow, I was able to feel the vigorous vibrations through the ground. Unlike before, I still had all of my senses… but I simply could not move. I tried to think back to what Anabel had told me. Perhaps I could use the sort of psychic power I had used when frozen… but since there were both Ghost and Dark Types all around me, I decided against that plan. "A valiant effort to the end," Tyne remarked. "But it is too little too late. Tyranitar, maximum power Hyper Beam!"
"Cease!" I heard Darkhan cry out, his voice filled with dread. "Surrender…" he added with a much more defeated tone. The Tyranitar was already charging the deadly attack.
"Tyranitar, stop," Tyne ordered. Within seconds, the Hyper Beam faded from a potentially lethal blast into a puff of smoke which wafted over my eyes, causing tears to form. All fell silent for a moment.
"So, you've finally except your fate?" Tyne chuckled with evil intent.
"No…" Darkhan sneered back. "Talk with sword…" I suddenly heard the sound of metal clashing with metal. I recalled seeing Tyne have a sword similar to Darkhan's. They were obviously now fighting each other physically rather than using Pokemon, despite the fact I could still detect the presence of the Articuno, due to the fact a sudden chill was running down my arm, which was twitching with numbness… suddenly, I noticed… I could move my arm. The effects of the Banette's Disable was wearing off on me somewhat faster than Nurse Joy, Misty and Sandra. I slid my eyes to look at the Banette, who seemed far more intrigued by the sword fight rather than my ability to move again. I managed to stand back upright, turning my head cautiously to prevent the Banette from noticing. With that, I withdrew a Poke Ball from my pocket and crept back, away from the others.
"Aggron, I need your assistance," I whispered, slowly opening the Poke Ball. Aggron suddenly appeared and was about to roar, but I stopped it by displaying my finger pressed against my lip. It fell suddenly silent. "Aggron, I need you to take out that Banette using your Shock Wave from behind this tree to avoid being detected," I revealed my idea to it. It nodded approvingly. "When I give you the signal, use Shock Wave on the Banette. But be discreet!" With that, I snuck back over to the others and tried to position myself in the same way that I had done before. I then nodded to Aggron, which fired a sudden spark of electricity from its horn, striking the Banette with dead on accuracy! I let out a grin, as the Banette screeched in pain. It looked around, completely bewildered as to where the attack had come from. I couldn't help but let out a small, yet quiet laugh. The Banette turned its back once again, allowing me to signal to Aggron, who was peering from behind a nearby tree. It sent out another Shock Wave, striking the Ghost Pokemon for a second time.
"What's going on?" I heard Sabheen growl, noticing Banette's distress. I could not see whether or not she was approaching us, but what I could see was Nurse Joy's Chansey standing upright, ready to attack. It curled up into a ball and suddenly hurled itself towards the Banette, striking it with great power. I also noticed Sandra had also managed to escape the Disable's effects. She had armed herself with a Poke Ball, throwing it forward. What emerged was a large dragon with an oval blue body and large orange wings. The Salamence looked mightily impressive, spreading its wings wide. The Chansey continued to use Rollout against the Banette. Eventually, I could not maintain my stance any longer, standing with both feet on the floor.
"Salamence, use Hyper Beam!" Sandra called. The Salemence began to charge the powerful attack.
"Tyranitar, Hyper Beam as well!" Tyne shouted, ducking a swipe from Darkhan. Both attacks from the Pseudo Legendary Pokemon fired simultaneously, colliding in mid air. This caused a monumentous explosion, literally knocking everyone off their feet. Misty, who was still feeling the effects of the Disable landed on top of me. She eventually managed to pick herself off, still a little stiff.
"What have we here then?" Tyne remarked, getting up to his feet. "Some gatecrashers? Sorry, but this is a private party."
"We'll just have to stop the music, then!" I grinned. "Aggron, use Metal Burst!" The Steel Pokemon walked over to me, still reeling from the resulting explosion, before firing the Metal Burst attack at the Tyranitar and Banette. Both Pokemon were sent hurling back, but skidded to a stop. The Tyranitar looked a little shaken by the attack, but was somehow still standing…
"Listen is that a bunch of nobodies I hear?" came a female voice from somewhere.
"They're moaning to me, loud and clear," a familiar male voice called out.
"On the…"
"Hyper Beam!" Sandra grinned, pointing to the sky, where a large Meowth shaped hot air balloon was floating high above us. The Salamence took flight, soaring towards the Balloon. It launched its Hyper Beam, which rocketed at a great velocity towards it.
"How dare you interrupt the Team Rocket Motto!" Jessie snarled. "This'll teach you! Meowth, hit the button!"
"Roger!" the Meowth cheekily jumped up, slamming its paw down onto some sort of console. In an instant, a strange satellite dish appeared. The Hyper Beam of the Salamence struck it, but seemed to do nothing. In fact, the entire beam vanished. I then noticed the dish begin to glow, before launching the Hyper Beam right back at the sender. The Salamence was struck dead on, falling back down towards the ground.
"Use Fly to stop your fall!" Sandra called out. With a sudden flap of its huge wings, the Salamence managed to recover from its plummet and began to head straight for the balloon again.
"I don't think so," Jessie smirked. "Come on out!" she shouted, throwing a Poke Ball. What emerged from it was a menacing looking insect that almost resembled a dragonfly. It's eyes were red and bulbous, it's long, skinny green body was supported by four long, delicate wings.
"What the heck is that?" I gasped.
"Yanmega," Misty replied. "It evolves from Yanma after it learns the move Ancientpower. It's a powerful Bug Type Pokemon."
"Looks pretty tough," I thought aloud. "But never mind. My Aggron and Sandra's Salamence can take it."
"Don't forget I've got Chansey too," Nurse Joy smiled, her Chansey seemed to be pretty excited about the prospect of a battle.
"What makes you think you can defeat us both?" Sabheen scowled. "And you three," she indicated to Team Rocket. "What is your business here?"
"We're here for one reason only," James smirked. "We're here to scoop up this Pokemon Bonanza!"
"Meowth, that's right!" the Scratch Cat Pokemon declared. "Let's get this show on the road. Get' em Jessie!"
"Yanmega, use Steel Wing on the Tyranitar!" Jessie ordered. The giant insect buzzed towards the Dark Rock Type, it's wings filling with silver in the same way that my Pelipper does. It struck the Tyranitar with brutal force, surprising for a Bug Type, which are usually quite weak against Rock Types especially with its dual disadvantage being both Bug and Flying Types.
"Banette, use Thunder on that bug!" Sabheen bellowed. The Banette began to charge some electrical power.
"Chansey, Rollout on Banette," Nurse Joy ordered. Once again, the Chansey curled up and began rolling straight at the Ghost, slamming into it before the electrical attack could be fired.
"Who should we attack?" I frowned to Sandra. "Team Rocket want to steal our Pokemon, yet the other two more than likely want us dead."
"Just attack!" Sandra scowled. "Salamence, Steel Wing on Tyranitar."
"Is this a Steel Wing convention or something?" Tyne snarled. "Protect!" The Tyranitar obeyed, the Steel Type attack literally bouncing off the giant Pseudo Legendary.
"Protect only works for one round," I grinned. "And Steel Type attacks do plenty of damage to a Rock Type. Aggron, Iron Head!" Aggron charged forward, ready to slam into the Tyranitar.
"Supersonic!" Jessie shouted. With a huge flag from its wings, the Yanmega produced a blade of sound energy, striking Aggron just before the attack connected to the Tyranitar. Aggron got back up to its feet, but looked dazed and confused.
"Chansey, Psychic on the Yanmega!" Nurse Joy shouted. The Chansey focused on the Yanmega and its eyes began to glow a pale shade of blue.
"Quickly use Supersonic!" Jessie instructed. Another buzzing blade of energy shot down from above, striking the Chansey before its Psychic attack could take a firm hold. It immediately began to look dazed and confused. Chansey suddenly curled up once again and began to use Rollout, but it struck Aggron in its confused state.
"They're both beyond our control," Nurse Joy whined.
"Don't worry, I've got this covered," I smirked. "Aggron, use Shock Wave on Yanmega." Still dazed from being hit by Chansey's Rollout, my Aggron charged up the electric attack and shot it skyward. At long last, the Bug Pokemon was struck, but it did not seem to do much. "What the heck?" I gasped, as the Bug Pokemon suddenly fired a spherical rock-like ball towards the ground, taking out all the Pokemon battling from the ground.
"It used Ancientpower not only to block the Shock Wave, but also to take out the other Pokemon," Sandra snarled. "Good strategy, but Salamence can take it down. Use Fly!" The Dragon Pokemon shot up towards the malicious insect.
"Now!" James punched the air, as the Meowth pressed another button. From the satellite dish already deployed, as large net spread itself over the Dragon.
"We bagged ourselves a big bad dragon!" Meowth cooed with delight. "Now for the others."
"Salamence, Dragon Claw!" Sandra called in hope that the attack would free it from the net. However, as soon as the claws touched the net, a large electric glow filled the net, shocking the powerful Dragon Type into submission.
"Not going to work," James tutted. "Now for the grand finale."
"Fire at will, Meowth," Jessie smirked.
"Which one of them is called Will?" Meowth joked. The human duo suddenly dropped down in the basket, their legs in the air. To be fair, that was an awful joke. Jessie got back to her feet and appeared to try and strangle the Meowth, which retaliated by baring its long claws and slashing her across her face. I could hear Jessie screech in pain, as her Yanmega flew over to her, landing on top of her long red hair. It glared at the Meowth, which looked rather intimidated by the Bug Type.
"Enough horsing around," James snapped. "Let's poach these Pokemon and get going."
"Good idea," the Meowth nodded, pressing another button on his console. Another stream of nets flew from the balloon, covering the Tyranitar, Chansey and Aggron. The Banette however simply passed itself through the side of the net. Team Rocket apparently did not notice this.
"What are we going to do?" Nurse Joy shrieked.
"Pelipper, come on out!" I called. The Pelican Pokemon appeared in front of me, stretching its wings out.
"A Pelipper?" Tyne chuckled. "My, my… Otordan would be proud."
"Otordan?" I questioned.
"Never mind," Sabheen scowled, giving Tyne a stern look. "The only way we'll get them back is if we work together," she told me, apparently disgusted at this idea.
"I guess there's no choice," I frowned. "I'll take care of the Yanmega. You have your Banette set the Pokemon free." Sabheen gave me a stern look similar to the one she gave to Tyne.
"You do not tell me what to do," Sabheen snarled. "Let me make that absolutely clear."
"Fine, then you deal with the Yanmega," I snapped back.
"Guys, this is going nowhere," Misty sighed. "They're getting away," she added, pointing up to the balloon, which was rising higher and higher into the sky.
"Damn it," I scowled. "Pelipper, use Steel Wing on the balloon!" Pelipper cawed out its name, before flying in the direction of the balloon.
"Yanmega, go!" Jessie grinned. The giant dragonfly shaped Pokemon took off from Jessie's head, flying straight towards Pelipper. "Steel Wing," she ordered. As both attacks approached one another, it reminded me of the same situation that had occurred with Sandra's Flygon in the last round of the Pokemon League.
"Be strong, Pelipper," I encouraged it.
"But my Yanmega is stronger," Jessie smirked. As both attacks landed, it was Pelipper who took more damage. The Bug Type triumphantly stared at the opponent.
"Banette, Will O Wisp!" Sabheen ordered. Several small orbs of blue flame surrounded the Ghost Pokemon, before it threw them towards the Yanmega.
"Supersonic that thing!" Jessie demanded. It obliged with another one of the sound based attacks. It rushed towards the Banette and managed to hit it, although the effects of confusion were not visually apparent.
"You're a fool," Sabheen laughed. "Normal moves do nothing against my Ghosts." She seemed to be even more content as the blue flames engulfed the Yanmega. It let out an agonising buzz, yet it still maintained flight.
"Ancientpower," Jessie scowled, the Bug Pokemon launched another one of its Rock Type attacks, this time at Banette. Surprisingly, the attack struck the Banette with such force that it knocked it out completely. "Bullseye! A critical hit!" Jessie whooped happily.
"Let's get outta here before we get busted!" Meowth scorned.
"I'm with you on that one," James nodded. "Carnivine, cover us with a Bullet Seed attack." He threw the Poke Ball forward, yet the Flycatcher Pokemon appeared behind its trainer, chomping down on his head. "Quit it, I'm not on the menu!" James cried out. The Grass Type released its trainer, before spitting a flurry of seeds from its mouth towards Pelipper. It struck with powerful force, knocking Pelipper out of the sky and crashing down to the ground in front of us.
"Roost, Pelipper," I said whilst checking its health. It still had enough strength remaining to recover. As it did so, I knew that we would have to formulate another plan, otherwise our Pokemon would be gone for good. I looked around, before suddenly noticing something was missing… Darkhan and his Articuno had vanished…
TO BE CONTINUED
NEXT TIME: The battle rages on as Jonathyn, Sandra and Tyne must unite to save their Pokemon from the clutches of the villainous Team Rocket. And where has Darkhan suddenly disappeared to?