Holy crap, an update! No but really. I had my trip, I came back, I started my second year of college, I'm sick right now, my family is up to it's ears in medical crap without me being ill, I live in a home with six animals that are needy and my cat always wants to spend quality time at the most inopportune moments, I wonder if this is how a Pokémon Trainer with a full team would feel. You'll remember I said I had some drama with my ex-girlfriend, we talked, we're okay now, it's in the past, I don't want to talk about it. I can't say no whenever someone asks me for help so I'm working on other people's crap and putting off my own, I haven't seen my dad for months, I'm very political minded and keep up with a lot that's happening, like the Protect IP and SOPA bills that could get me thrown in jail for contributing to this website at all. All of these things contribute to my absence, but above all(with the possible exception of the IP and SOPA bills and personal issues) I just don't have as much fun with my fics as I used to.
I came to this site knowing I was way out of my element, and it shows in my earlier work. While I feel it's gotten stronger a lot of my weaknesses remain. Imagery is tedious for me, every time I think I'll go the extra mile to proper prose I think "who could possibly care that much?" and hold off, it feels like I always leave the Y out of the word they SOMEWHERE in the document or something similar, and I can't keep a schedule to save my life. I'm happy I got my ideas out there and expressed myself a little bit, and could experiment, I feel I've grown as a writer, which is the important thing. But after doing so I've decided that this isn't for me and I should go back to what I was originally doing(comics). Also, I'm getting POed that the document uploader doesn't let me use underscores or hyphens. I will at least try to finish what I started though. What do you guys think, is it better to finish something just for the sake of finishing or should one stop altogether if they're not having fun anymore? I'll try and get the three other stories out today and tomorrow but don't bet on a horse yet. It's been so long I don't think anyone's even kept enough attention and no one will be left to review this but in any case, here we go.
/
Ruby and Norman were outside in a small, wooded area, the same place that Ruby helped Wally catch his Kecleon, standing some steps away from each other.
"You're gonna be real embarrassed when I walk away from this with a Balance Badge." Ruby boasted.
"On the contrary I'll be very proud of you if you manage not to cry when you lose. And you will lose." He said with a smirk, pulling out a Poké Ball.
Ruby readied his own Poké Ball. They sent out their individual Pokémon as if on some invisible queue. Ruby released his Swampert "Zuzu", and Norman his Slaking. One was a bulky, gorilla-like creature with mostly brown fur but white collar and head fur. It sported a prominent, jutting brow and a pink, pig like nose. The other was a large, blue creature with thick arms and legs. It had a wide mouth with small, pointed jaw protrusions, and two large and pronounced black fins on its head that ended at its orange eyes. And finally it had a huge, black tail fin.
Norman figured Ruby would use his Swampert, he taught Ruby almost all he knew about battling, it wouldn't make sense to use his other Pokémon like Coco, Nana or Ruru, since Norman knew all that they could do. Zuzu, was an unknown, Ruby had a better chance with that Pokémon.
"Zuzu. Muddy Water." Ruby commanded.
A stream of dirty brown water that looked like an ocean wave at the end blasted from the water Pokémon's mouth. Slaking was hit but endured.
Norman folded his arms and smirked, "Slaking, Yawn."
A sound wave filled the air, it was to produce a psychological effect. Swampert grew drowsy and soon it would be lulled to sleep. Ruby scowled, Norman was trying to eliminate Ruby's options from the beginning.
"Don't worry about it Zuzu." Ruby pulled out another Poké Ball, "Mimi!" He shouted releasing his Milotic.
Milotic were 20 foot long sea serpent like Pokémon. It had a cream coloring with red eyes and three black dots down it's neck, and it had a point on it's head. Also on its head were thin red eyebrows that were very long that moved up and curled to make a heart shape, and thick, red, hair-like protrusions draping over the sides of it's head. Its tail was the most elegant and elaborate part of it's body, with striations of black, and four large scales, blue with red spots in the middle, overlap at the tip of the tail to look like a fan.
"Mimi, Water Pulse." Ruby commanded.
Rings of water ejected from the majestic Pokémon's mouth, smashing against Slaking and the surrounding area, and splashing Norman a little. It also started to rain.
Norman smirked, "Thunderbolt." He commanded almost coldly.
The enormous Slaking summoned lightning from it's body that struck the opposing serpent Pokémon as it fell to the ground in pain.
"That Slaking is moving way too fast." Ruby said to himself, "Unless... yeah, duh Ruby." He said after spotting a Spinda lazing off.
It was Spinda's Skill Swap. A move that swapped the natural "abilities" between two Pokémon, in this case, Spinda's "Own Tempo" and Slaking's "Truant". Own Tempo preventing confusion and Truant causing the Pokémon to be slow and lazy.
"Two down." Norman said smugly, "Feel like giving up yet?"
"You assume too much dad." Ruby replied, "Mimi, Blizzard."
The Milotic rose and blew gently from it's mouth a powerful, freezing wind. The surrounding area was drenched with water from the previous Pokémon attacks and the newly arrived rain. It froze over the area as well as Slaking, frozen solid. Norman stared with disbelief.
"It's Zuzu's Mud Sport." Ruby said, petting a sleeping, curled up Swampert across the head, "I had him use it before he dozed off. It weakens the power of electric type attacks, which is how Mimi is still standing. So how about you? Wanna call it quits dad? I've just immobilized your strongest Pokémon, what do you have left to throw at me?" He boasted.
"Flamethrower!" Norman yelled.
Slaking erupted a stream of fire from it's mouth, melting and weakening the ice until Slaking was able to release itself.
"You can't win Ruby." Norman said, "Thunderbolt."
Again, Mimi was struck. Ruby pulled out his Milotic's empty Poké Ball and recalled her, pulling her from the line of fire.
"You have no Pokémon out Ruby, I could easily dispose of you with my next attack from either Slaking or Spinda. You've lost."
Ruby stood firm and lifted his hand into the air, "The weather is under its command, be it torrential rain, glaring sun or unforgiving snow."
Norman raised an eyebrow, what was that flamboyant boy of his on about now, he wondered.
"The Pokémon Castform, it's name is Popo." He brought his hand down and pointed at his father and his Pokémon, "Weather Ball!"
Norman looked up just in time to see a spinning ball coming at him. He and his Pokémon dived to avoid it but Spinda was too slow and Slaking was too big of a target. Norman surveyed his Pokémon and then turned to his son. From the sky descended Castform. An artificial Pokémon designed to help scientists predict the weather, since it was raining it was in its "Rain Form". It's body resembled a cloud and was a dark grey, it's larger head resembled a raindrop.
"Do you remember this Pokémon dad? It used Sunny Day while it was raining to stop my attack and end our battle last time. You kinda won and would've taken me home right there if you didn't change your mind at the last minute." He said, "It's funny, now the move Rain Dance was used on an otherwise normal day and you're being beat by me, using that same Pokémon. The situation has completely reversed."
"Not bad. You didn't make the move I thought you would. How fortunate for me." Norman replied.
Ruby raised an eyebrow before he heard a "thud" behind him, "Coco, Ruru!" He yelled.
His Delcatty, and Kirlia were laying behind him with a very tired Vigoroth that had been keeping them busy standing over them.
"Using Ruru's Light Screen to reflect the surroundings and hide while Coco used Safeguard to prevent me from using Yawn again was a nice tactic. When you released your Milotic you blocked my view of you and released three other Pokémon. You've gotten much better at sneaking your strategy by the opponent, but that's still something you learned from me. I might not have caught it if you hadn't been forced to bring Castform into this, but I still thought one Poké Ball wasn't enough to produce that much kick up." Norman explained.
Ruby scowled returning his defeated Pokémon to their respective Poké Balls.
"I doubt that Weather Ball will help you now." Norman added.
Ruby lifted his head to see Vigoroth, Slaking and Spinda surrounding him, he smiled smugly, "Oh please, Earthquake!" He yelled grabbing a hold of Castform as if to protect it.
The ground rumbled and shook. Earthquakes were common to that area, another by command of a Pokémon was nothing new. The already exhausted Vigoroth fell over in defeat. And as if to take its place, Zuzu stood up.
"I see, the rain, the stalling, leaving him out of his Poké Ball. You were attempting to wake your Pokémon." Norman said, "But you know, without Coco using Safeguard I could just use Yawn again."
"Well then I'd better make this quick." He replied, releasing his Castform, "Things are a lot different than they were back when I ran away, dad, I'm stronger and I have a completely different set of tricks up my sleeve. It's like I said earlier, you're a Gym Leader, I'm a Pokédex Owner, Hydro Cannon!"
"Hydro what?" Norman raised an eyebrow.
And huge jet stream that could only be described as "the Ultimate Water-type Attack" came from the Swampert's mighty maw. Slaking was sent barreling into a several trees behind it, said trees were pretty much destroyed in the process the attack was so powerful.
Norman reacted quickly, "Teeter Dance!"
Spinda performed a wobbly dance that confused the opposing Pokémon. "Confusion" in this case being a psychological status ailment that disoriented the Pokémon and sometimes caused it to injure itself accidentally.
"Popo, Weather Ball!"
This was one such occasion, the Castform launched it's attack, which missed altogether, while rushing forward and crashing into the ground. Ruby, seeing what was going on, jumped on Zuzu's back. He would have to take matters into his own hands.
"Let's try this again." Zuzu charged Norman and his Pokémon.
Slaking stood firm, "Hyper Beam."
"Hydro Cannon."
No more than two feet from each other, the two Pokémon unleashed their respective attacks. The ultimate water type attack and a powerful beam of concentrated energy from opposing mouths. Hydro Cannon itself was a variation on Hyper Beam. Just as well since they were a Normal-type and Water-type using Normal-type and Water-type moves respectively, the attacks were even more powerful. It was called the Same-Type-Attack-Bonus, or STAB. In addition, it was still raining, which gave even more power to Water-type attacks. The two seemed to be in a deadlock, but Slaking was stronger and eventually overpowered Swampert sending him back several feet, knocking Ruby off and sending him through the air before landing hard. Both attacks prevented them from attacking again right away, they required "recharging".
"Popo!" Ruby yelled.
Popo charged and floated in front of Norman ready to fire another Weather Ball while Norman quickly held up a Poké Ball with a Slakoth in it, ready to release it if needed, "You wouldn't do it." He taunted the Pokémon, "And it doesn't matter anyway." He added as Slaking started to stir, Castform was forced to back away as Slaking approached, its own confusion preventing it from being able to act.
"Endeavor." Ruby commanded.
Slaking struggled to keep from falling to it's knees. Endeavor was a move that cut the opponents HP to be equal to that of the user's HP, and Zuzu had just taken a pretty nasty hit earlier. Ruby recalled Popo to her Poké Ball. Spinda could do little more at this point. So it went on again.
"Hyper Beam."
"Hydro Cannon."
They clashed again, and again seemed evenly matched until the two attacks passed through each other and both Pokémon fainted, simply unable to go any further. Ruby and Norman reached for their last Pokémon but stopped. They both paused before returning their defeated Pokémon. They stayed silent. Their strongest Pokémon were defeated, they could keep going but neither was sure they had any tricks left. None that would prove useful against each other anyway. Therefore a ceasefire is the only logical outcome. Ruby and his father weren't always logical but they simply didn't feel the need to continue.
Norman returned Spinda to it's Poké Ball and approached Ruby. They looked at each other.
Staring each other down, Norman forced himself to clear his throat and swallow his pride, "Good match."
"Likewise." Ruby returned, his eyes briefly darting to his right.
"How did you hold up against Slaking's Hyper Beam if it overpowered your Swampert the first time?" Norman asked with genuine curiosity.
"Zuzu's ability, 'Torrent', when its health is low, water-type attacks are boosted. That combined with the rain that seems to be just now stopping gave us the extra push we needed to match you."
"I see." There were three seconds of silence, "Do you want to grab something to eat?" Norman asked.
"Sure." Ruby replied in a surprisingly nonchalant voice, walking past his father.
/
A couple of ice cream cones later, Ruby and Norman had come back to the Petalburg Gym. The subtle sound and shifting tone of their conversation would make an unknowing soul believe they were a normal father and son. They went inside. The Gym had never seemed so homey. Once inside they sat next to each other on the floor, backs against the wall. Ruby stared out the nearest window, it wasn't raining but it was cloudy.
"Your mother was right, we're idiots." Norman said.
"No, you're an idiot. I'm just flamboyant." Ruby joked, Norman smiled, "What happened to us today? We just lost it."
"Well, we have a very... Strange relationship Ruby."
"And another thing, who names their son 'Ruby'?"
"Are you still on about that? Your mother and I were friends with Professor Birch and we decided to name our children after their birthstones. You just had the luck of being born today." Norman explained, "If it makes you feel better I wanted to name you 'Brendan'."
"Nah I don't care, it was just a thought."
"I know you gave up battling for a time but it's still in you. Maybe you, we, just needed to get it out of our systems."
"Well if that's true, maybe we should make this a regular thing." Ruby suggested.
"You sure? You could get hurt."
"We're already disfunctionally violent as it is."
"True." Norman put his hand on his boy's shoulder, "Happy Birthday son."
/
You know the beginning of this story was originally the middle. I had something planned out with Ruby's mother, Ruby and Norman arguing and escalating to the point where they needed to battle. But I didn't have much, and what I did have was boring. So I just cut it out. I figured the remainder of the story told enough that one could piece together any missing bits in the story.
Some time ago, I noticed I was using less and less imagery in my stories. So I tried out describing the Pokémon. Not fun. How exactly ARE you supposed to describe Castform? And yep, another battle. They just fit so well and make the story feel more like Pokémon Special. Plus they're fun. I like coming up with clever things the trainers do with they're Pokémon to win and trick they're opponent. I wasn't sure if I wanted Muddy Water to be a wave like in the games or a jet stream like it appeared in the book so I compromised. And yeah, Slaking shouldn't have been able to get out even if it could breath fire. Let's just say it had an Aspear Berry and move on.
One line I feel I have to be careful not to cross is to not make it seem like they're too prepared for this situation. I think the charm in Special's battles as opposed to other Manga's is that Special is running on a defined move set for the Pokémon, not just making up powers as it continues. I want to make it seem like the trainers are being clever with what they have available and that they don't come off as prepared specificly for this. For those of you wondering how releasing Mimi was able to hide Ruby releasing Popo, Coco and Ruru. Remember Poké Balls release a cloud of... I guess it's dust, in PokeSupe. Norman may have noticed because the cloud was big. It's not the bright flash of light like in the anime. So yeah.
On an ending note, I left this match a draw since Ruby and Norman quit but could have continued, but we know that Sapphire defeated Norman, and Norman claimed Ruby had enough potential to be a better battler than he was. So from a canon standpoint, do you think Ruby would win in a battle against his father? Furthermore, Ruby vs Sapphire. Any thoughts? Because Ruby's inability to beat his father in this story would suggest that he can't beat Sapphire, but it's just a fanfic, so I'm curious, who do you think would win in a battle between Ruby and Sapphire?
Also considering that the Japanese wouldn't know that "Ruby" is a girl's name in English I don't think Ruby would know either, I just wanted to add that bit about "Brendan" as a shout out to the games.
Peace out.