The streets of Chufisa City, as Red, Orange, and Violet learned, were paved mostly with nines, sevens, rocks, and perfectly square pools of water. There was also, of course, the occasional freeze arch- easily avoided.
"Alright, I think we better start talking strategy," Red stated as they made their way down one particularly long stretch of road. "Orange, one thing I've noticed is that Weezing makes use of SmokeScreen every time there's a Psychic move going its way-"
"We'll talk strategy later, Red," Orange interrupted. "In the meantime, we're here!" Red looked- Orange was pointing directly ahead of them, at a small building made from rocks, sevens, and leaves. On either side, there were large walls which seemed to be formed entirely out of roofing tiles and various numbers. A small sign had been posted in front of the building, which read "Fight Zone".
"I figured it'd be a bit bigger," Red remarked.
"My guess is it's an outdoor deal," Violet stated, "and that building's just the entrance."
"Huh," Red said. "I guess that makes sense."
The trio walked up to the building, with Orange leading the way. He pushed open the (surprisingly light) slab of rock which functioned as a door, and led the way inside.
"Welcome to the Fight Zone," smiled a man who sat behind a counter inside the small building. "Admission is 500 Pokédollars per person."
"All right," Red replied as he, as well as Violet and Orange, produced the necessary funds and handed them to the man. "We're all going in, the three of us."
"First, let me see your Pokédexes," the man stated as he held up an odd-looking device which resembled a TV remote, though with fewer buttons. As Red, Orange, and Violet held up their electronic Pokémon encyclopedias, the man aimed the device at each one and pressed a button. "Done," he said. "Now your Pokédexes are programmed to count the number of battles you win within the Fight Zone. Whoever wins the most battles by the end of the day earns the right to battle the warden. Now, get out there and enjoy yourselves."
"As long as I get in some good battles, you better believe I'll enjoy myself," grinned Orange.
"That's the spirit," nodded the man. "It's Trainers like you this place was made for." At this, Orange seemed to get even more impatient than usual, and that was saying something. He led the way out the back door, and stopped short as he saw what lay before him.
Before the trio lay the Fight Zone- a massive open area. The ground was nothing but solid earth, with the white outlines of battle arenas drawn all over. Numerous Pokémon Trainers were already in action. As they looked around, Red could spot a Beedrill striking an LM4 with Twineedle, an Arbok with its coils bound tightly around a struggling Seel, and a .4 zipping all over, flying circles around an increasingly disoriented Gloom.
"Whoa!" Orange breathed in awe. Then, with no warning whatsoever, he took off running. Red and Violet hastened to keep up with him, but by the time they caught up, he was already challenging a boy somewhat younger than him to a battle. His soon to be opponent was clad in green clothing, and looked ready to battle.
"All right then, one Pokémon each, that sound good?" asked the Jr. Trainer.
"Works for me," grinned Orange as he took a Poké Ball off his belt and enlarged it. As he stood there, ready to unleash whichever Pokémon he was prepared to use, the Jr. Trainer made his way to the opposite end of the nearby arena. Once he was in his side's Trainer box, Orange threw the ball. "Go! Eevee!" he shouted.
In a flash of light, Orange's Eevee appeared, looking ready as ever for a good battle.
"All right, Zubat, go get it!" yelled the Jr. Trainer as he threw a Poké Ball of his own, unleashing the Poison/Flying-type into the air.
Orange made the first move. "Eevee! Quick Attack!"
"Zubat, Confuse Ray now!" ordered the Jr. Trainer.
Zubat opened its mouth and a strange multicolored light shone from within, but before anything else could happen, Eevee dashed forward at top speed, jumped up, and slammed into the Bat Pokémon, knocking it to the ground.
"Vee!" barked Eevee as it landed back on the ground, grinning as Zubat wearily flapped its way back into the air.
"Don't take that lying down, Zubat!" called the Jr. Trainer. "Wing Attack!"
"Eevee, Reflect!" Orange ordered.
As Zubat dove at Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon summoned a shimmering dome of reflective energy all around it. Zubat bounced harmlessly off the shield, but managed to stay airborne, albeit very unsteadily.
"Finish it!" Orange yelled. "Swift attack now!"
Before the Jr. Trainer could even begin to give an order, his Zubat was already being pelted with dozens of stars which were flying from Eevee's mouth. Though it tried to fly away from the assault, the stars followed Zubat wherever it went.
"Oh, come on!" whined the Jr. Trainer.
"Sorry," cackled Orange. "Swift never misses its target, see."
At that moment, the stars caught up with Zubat, who screeched as the pointy projectiles slammed into it. Once the attack had finished, Zubat crashed to the ground and moved no more. As the Jr. Trainer withdrew Zubat, Orange heard a beep from his Pokédex. Opening it up, Orange grinned as he saw a large, blue "1" displayed on the screen.
"All right," Orange grinned as he turned to where Red and Violet had been standing. "That's one for me, fellas! ...Er, guys?" he added once he noticed that Red and Violet weren't there anymore. It didn't take long for Orange to find them, however- Red was in one nearby arena, commanding his Dodrio against a Cooltrainer's Arcanine, and Violet was in the arena next to it, taking down a Hiker's Onix with her Victreebel.
As the hours passed, Red, Violet, and Orange all engaged in numerous Pokémon battles. Red led Charizard on to victory against a Lickitung, expertly commanded Parasect in the taking down of a pPkMnp, and flattened a Primeape with Snorlax. Orange blew away an opposing Wigglytuff with Fearow, destroyed a Shellder with .4, and commanded A to victory against a Voltorb. Violet took out a Pidgeotto with Skelefly, used Tombstone to knock out a Pinsir, and helped Migraine to claim victory over an 'M. They fought battle after battle, occasionally making use of the various healing machines which had been conveniently placed in various locations around the park, as the numbers on their Pokédexes' battle counters rose higher and higher.
Finally, Red, Violet, and Orange had each finished a battle simultaneously, allowing them to spend several minutes together- it wasn't uncommon for one of them to be challenged while watching one of the other two battling, after all.
"OK, how many wins you guys got so far?" asked Orange, a broad grin on his face. It was clear he was enjoying himself immensely.
"Thirty-five," replied Red.
"Thirty-nine," added Violet.
"Fifty-six for me!" Orange exclaimed. "And hey, guys, I was thinking... maybe it's time I evolved Eevee."
"Really?" said Violet. "What are you gonna evolve it into?"
"That's just it, I don't know yet," replied Orange. "I'm gonna let it decide for itself." As he said this, Orange held up a Poké Ball, allowing his Eevee to emerge from within. The Normal-type landed on the ground and looked up at its trainer.
"Vee?" asked Eevee, tilting its head to one side.
"OK, Eevee," Orange said as he knelt down and dug into his backpack, pulling out the three evolution stones from within. "I'm thinking this might be a good time for you to choose which way you want to evolve. This is a Water Stone," he explained, pointing to the glassy blue rock. "If you go with this, you'll evolve into a Water-type, Vaporeon. This," he said as he pointed at the glassy yellow rock, "is a Fire Stone. You take this, you evolve into the Fire-type Flareon. And this," he said, pointing at the glassy green stone, "is a Thunderstone. This will evolve you into the Electric-type Jolteon. And once you make your choice, there's no going back."
"Vee..." murmured Eevee as it looked over the assortment of stones, a look of uncertainty on its face.
After a moment, Orange spoke up again. "You know, there's a fourth option, Eevee," he said. "You don't actually have to evolve. Not if you don't want to."
Red and Violet looked on at this scene, intent on staying to find out what Eevee's choice would be... at least, until a Black Belt stormed over and challenged Red to a battle, practically dragging him over to a nearby arena. Violet, meanwhile, rolled her eyes as the Super Nerd who challenged her to a battle started flirting with her.
"All right! Let's do this!" exclaimed the Black Belt with a wholly unnecessary amount of loudness in his voice as he and Red took their positions at the opposite ends of an arena. "Hitmonlee! Go!" he bellowed as he flung a Poké Ball forward.
In a flash of light, a vaguely human-shaped Pokémon appeared. Instead of a head, two eyes were visible near the top of its brown torso, and its legs closely resembled tightly coiled springs. Red took out his Pokédex and held it out in front of him.
"Hitmonlee, the Kicking Pokémon," droned the device. "Repeatedly kicks its enemy with legs that freely stretch and contract. Some people refer to it as the "'kicking master'."
"Well, let's see how the kicking master fares against this," stated Red as he threw a Poké Ball. "Dodrio!" he shouted as his three-headed bird emerged from its spherical confines.
"Hah!" roared the Black Belt. "Hitmonlee! Jump Kick!"
"Monlee!" exclaimed the Hitmonlee as it jumped into the air, and aimed a kick at Dodrio on its descent.
"Dodrio, Fly!" Red ordered.
Two of Dodrio's heads faced down, and tons of rocket exhaust and flames blasted from their beaks, propelling the Triple Bird Pokémon high into the air, and more importantly, out of the path of Hitmonlee's Jump Kick. The Fighting-type crashed to the ground, and started clutching its leg.
"Now, Dodrio!" Red exclaimed.
"Driooooo!" cawed Dodrio as it dove down and slammed into Hitmonlee. As Dodrio climbed back to its feet and backed away, it was clear that Fly had scored a one-hit KO.
"Gaaaah!" exclaimed the Black Belt in a remarkable impression of Terrence as he withdrew his fallen Hitmonlee. "You!" he roared as he stormed across the battlefield and approached Red. Though Red briefly considered fleeing from this man, the Black Belt proceeded to shake Red's hand. "Good battle!" exclaimed the Black Belt before walking away. Red just stood there as it slowly sunk in that the Black Belt was not a sore loser- he was just loud. He was shaken out of this as a voice boomed over the Fight Zone over various speakers located all over the park.
"Attention, Pokémon Trainers," the voice announced. "Today's battling is concluded. Once you have finished whatever battle you are currently involved in, please report to the entrance for the announcement of today's winner."
Red wandered around in search of Violet and Orange. He found Orange first, though Eevee was no longer out of its Poké Ball. "Orange, what did Eevee choose?" asked Red.
"You'll see," was all Orange said as they went to find Violet. This search, as it turned out, did not take very long at all, for Violet was in the middle of a battle not far from there.
"OK, Skulls, let's wrap this up!" Violet was shouting. "Sludge attack!"
"Weezing weez," groaned Skulls as both heads blasted the opposing LM4 with streams of smelly black gunk.
"No! Come on, LM4!" exclaimed the Fisherman currently commanding the Bubble Cube Pokémon. "Use Water Gun!"
"Foooouuuur!" bellowed LM4 as it suddenly unleashed a blast of water which started to overpower the Sludge.
"Excellent!" grinned the Fisherman. "Now use your Quick Attack!"
"L M, L M four!" squealed LM4 as it flopped forward with great speed.
"Skulls, use Thunderbolt!" Violet commanded.
"Weezing WEEEEZ!" bellowed Skulls as a sizzling bolt of lightning issued from its body, directly striking the oncoming Water/Fighting-type. Once the attack had ceased, so did LM4's movement.
"Damn," sighed the Fisherman as he withdrew his LM4. "Don't worry about it, LM4, you were great out there," he said, addressing the Poké Ball in his hand. After thanking Violet for the battle, he wandered off.
"OK, final totals?" asked Orange. "I got fifty-six."
"Forty-one," Violet replied.
"Thirty-six," Red answered.
"So, Orange, what did Eevee choose to do?" Violet asked.
In response, Orange merely gave a small smile. "You'll see," was all he said.
"Yeah, he wouldn't tell me, either," Red sighed. "I guess... we'll see," he shrugged as they approached the crowd of trainers who had gathered near the entrance building. Standing on a raised platform to the right of the building was a somewhat elderly man dressed in a suit. No fewer than six Poké Balls could be seen attached to his belt. It was this man who was currently speaking into a microphone.
"Alright. Thank you all for coming. I am the Fight Zone warden, and as you all know, whoever has won the most battles here today wins the privilege of taking me on in a one-on-one battle. Now then, according to our computer systems, I am told that the trainer with the most wins today is... Orange McPixel from Talpel Town with a whopping fifty-six wins!"
"YES!" Orange exclaimed as he charged forward, making his way over to the platform.
"Wow. Good for him," remarked Violet. Red nodded in agreement.
"Very well, lad," grinned the warden as Orange finally approached him and identified himself with his Pokédex. "Now then, if you can defeat me in battle, you will earn a special prize- the coveted HM03! A Hidden Machine which will teach your Pokémon Surf."
"Awesome!" exclaimed Orange. "Oh, I'm definitely winning."
"We shall soon see about that," the warden stated. "Kindly make your way to the end of the arena," he said as he pointed to one end of the platform. Though Red couldn't see it, he supposed the platform was set up like an arena. As Orange walked over to one end, the warden made his way over to the other end. "You choose your Pokémon first," called the warden.
"Your funeral," grinned Orange as he detached a Poké Ball from his belt and enlarged it. "Time to taste the awesome power of my newly evolved Pokémon!" he exclaimed as he threw the ball. "Go!" he shouted.
The ball split open in midair, and as the flash of light faded, there stood before Orange a quadrupedal creature with reddish-orange fur all over its body. A tuft of especially fluffy-looking tan fur sprouted from its head, and its tail appeared to be made of nothing but the same kind of fur. It also had a tan collar of fur around its neck. "Flaaaaare!" shouted the Pokémon.
"So Eevee evolved into Flareon!" Red stated. Violet held up her Pokédex.
"Flareon, the Flame Pokémon, and one of three possible evolved forms of Eevee," said Violet's Pokédex. "Flareon has a flame bag inside its body. After inhaling deeply, it blows out flames of nearly 3,100 degrees Fahrenheit."
"Hmm, a Flareon?" remarked the warden as he selected a Poké Ball. "All right then, let's see how you handle this!" He threw the ball and called out, "Go, Missingno.!"
As the warden's Poké Ball hit the floor, it opened up, and unleashed what appeared to be a skeletal, bipedal creature with vicious scythes for arms. Its entire body was composed of bones. "Misssssingno.," it hissed menacingly. Orange held out his Pokédex in response to this Pokémon's appearance.
"Missingno., the Data Pokémon," it droned. "Missingno. in Kabutops Skeleton Form are highly capable swimmers. It is capable of learning a wide variety of attacks, and its type will constantly change to match another Pokémon in the area."
"Another form of Missingno.?" Red murmured. "That is strange..."
"Let's go, Flareon!" exclaimed Orange. "Quick Attack!"
"Missingno., Rock Throw!" ordered the warden.
Missingno. slashed its scythes through the air rapidly, each slash seeming to create a rock out of nothing and propelling the rock through the air. Flareon, meanwhile, charged forward, deftly weaving its way between the flying rocks before tackling Missingno. to the ground.
"Missingno.!" called the warden. "Get up, and use your Bonemerang attack!"
"Flareon, give it a taste of your Flamethrower!" yelled Orange.
Missingno. climbed to its feet, and viciously swiped at the air, causing its entire right arm to detach from its body. The disembodied appendage soared through the air, spinning rapidly as it did so. Flareon, meanwhile, opened its mouth wide, and unleashed a blazing stream of fire from within. Missingno. screeched and hissed in pain as the attack connected, but Flareon was forced to stop as the Bonemerang hit it in the back of the head. The arm flew back to Missingno. and automatically reattached to its body.
"Now, Missingno., use your Headbutt!" commanded the warden.
"Flareon, Smog!" Orange called out.
As Missingno. charged forward, Flareon exhaled a large plume of poisonous black fog from its mouth. The Data Pokémon charged right into the cloud, and started coughing. The smog cleared away to reveal that Missingno. had collapsed as a result of the Poison move.
"Let's wrap this up," grinned Orange. "Flareon, use Swift!"
"Flaaaare!" replied Flareon as it launched a number of star-shaped rays from its mouth. The stars pelted Missingno. as it tried to shield itself with its skeletal scythes. Once the attack was finished, Missingno. wobbled in place for a moment, before collapsing to the floor and moving no more.
The warden bowed his head as he returned Missingno. to its Poké Ball. "Very nicely done, Orange," he stated as he made his way across the battlefield. "You deserve this prize." As he said this, he dug a light blue disc out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Orange, who eagerly accepted it.
"Aw, sweet!" Orange exclaimed as he examined the disc.
Once Orange had thanked the warden, shaken his hand, and got down off the raised platform, he made his way back over to Red and Violet.
"Congratulations, Orange," grinned Red.
"Yeah," added Violet as she wrapped her arms around Orange. Given that they seemed to be taking things easier as of late, Red raised no objections as Orange and Violet started to kiss.
"Okay, now let's talk strategy," Red stated as the trio made their way down the streets of Chufisa City, on their way back to the Pokémon Center for the night.
"Good idea," nodded Violet. "Now, any time there's a Psychic move going Weezing's way, Vanna orders a SmokeScreen. One thing we should think of is a way to get aound that."
"Also, we gotta remember to steer clear of Fire moves, or she'll do that thing with Smog," added Orange.
"And Violet, I think you might have actually won that last battle with her if you had had Tombstone use something like Night Shade instead of Take Down," Red stated. "I'm thinking it's a good idea all around to steer clear of moves with recoil damage like that, at least for this battle. Now, let's start thinking which Pokémon it would be best for each of us to use with all that in mind..."
They continued to talk about this even as they re-entered the Pokémon Center, right up until Red and Violet put earplugs in their ears as they all prepared to go to sleep. Orange rolled his eyes at this sight and launched into a speech about how they were exaggerating the volume of his snores, but as Red and Violet couldn't hear a thing, all that got through to them of Orange's tirade were the funny hand gestures.