Ever since he was first introduced to the training village Jack had been awaiting the call from Indigo that would tell him the time was right for him to complete his collection of badges. Months later, with the Gold Conference looming in the not so distant future, Jack finally got the call. It was short and concise, like most conversations with Indigo.
'Koga is here,' said the man simply. 'Can you arrive at the centre of the Village in an hour?' Jack voiced his assent and the phone line went dead. Indigo wasn't really a phone person.
The teenager gathered his Pokéballs and made his complicated route to the central complex, a route which he could now walk with his eyes closed. Indigo was waiting for him at the entrance. 'Hi Jack, thought I'd forgotten about this, eh?' he asked jovially, steering Jack through the doors. 'Well, I haven't. It just took a bit of organising.'
He lapsed into silence, still steering Jack into the very depths of the central complex that he had never visited before. 'All your battles will be three vs. three and the gym leaders will use their actual team, not their gym team.' Shit thought Jack that's not fair. Indigo laughed at the look on his face.
'Don't worry, to actually get the badge you only need to defeat one of their Pokémon. Try and make it a challenge though!' Jack feigned anger. 'How dare you. I think I'll give him a challenge to remember.'
'Really?' Koga melted from the wall, appearing as if from nowhere. He looked Jack up and down. 'We will see.' The man moved as if he was gliding, effortless but at the same time conservative. Every so often he would melt into the wall, seemingly able to become invisible at will.
Jack had never seen the arena they were fighting in before. It was a lot larger than the practice arenas, but also simpler. There were two platforms for the trainer and a large circle chalked in the ground. That was it. As the trainers faced each other in the shadowy half-light the unlit arena was suddenly illuminated by a soft light that banished the shadows completely.
'You ready for me ninja?' asked Jack tauntingly as he tried to gauge Koga's personality. The man was completely impassive. 'I'm ready for anything.' His voice was cold and deadpan. By the looks of him, there was nothing that Jack could do to affect him at all, let alone rattle him enough to skew his judgment. 'Ready for anything?' Jack tried once more, 'what are you, a boy scout?'
Nothing. No reaction at all. 'If you wish,' said Koga coldly, 'but I prefer to call myself a ninja.' Jack pursed his lips. 'Well, ninja boy,' he said, serious for the first time, 'I hope you are ready. I want this to be a proper battle.'
The huge, monstrous Weezing that Koga released onto the field answered Jack's question. It was twice as big as the one that had almost killed Jack months earlier and floated menacingly in the air, venting noxious gases into the air around it. The gases were joined by a shimmering purple aura so faint that it was barely there.
So faint, in fact, that Jack didn't even notice it. Nor did he notice the thin, finger like extension of the aura that quested through the air towards Dante. It connected lightly with him and for a millisecond the aura also shone around Jack. Then it melted into the air as if it had never existed, Jack still unaware.
The Weezing attacked now with a hail of toxic bombs that it belched from its jaws. Where they hit the floor the stone itself burnt, letting off acrid gas that choked the air, and where they hit Dante his skin charred and bubbled. Dante grimaced with pain as he rolled swiftly onto the ground, wiping off the toxic sludge.
In retaliation he released a huge gout of flame that engulfed the Weezing completely. The flames brought back the flickering shadows to the arena for a second before burning out and leaving the battered looking Weezing rising lazily through the air.
'Use sludge bomb again,' ordered Koga, still completely calm and emotionless even though his Pokémon was getting battered. The Weezing coughed up another ball of toxic sludge, but Dante dodged and hit the Weezing with another powerful flamethrower attack. This time the Weezing barely survived the orange column of roaring fire, it looked like it was walking wounded and drifted around erratically and uncontrollably.
'Smokescreen,' ordered Koga, his voice still deadpan. Jack was starting to wonder if this guy was a zombie because he showed so little emotion. The Weezing managed to release thick black smoke from the vents in its body before collapsing unconscious and the smoke began to cover the whole field in an opaque screen.
Just before the battlefield was hidden completely from view Jack saw injuries exactly the same as the ones the Weezing had suffered appear on Dante's body and he saw the Pokémon suddenly collapse. 'That was a low blow,' he said angrily, unwittingly repeating a sentence uttered to him not so long ago, 'destiny bond?'
Koga was unrepentant and released a four-winged purple bat with a mouth full of needle-like teeth. Jack matched the Crobat with Asrael, who promptly was swallowed by the thick smoke. It was very hard to order your Pokémon when they were completely invisible to you, and even harder when the opponents Pokémon was at well.
Jack could not see what was going on, he could only hear the occasionally grunts and clashes as their Pokémon fought. Suddenly the smokescreen was cleared by a thick gust of wind that also buffeted Asrael heavily and sent him sprawling to the ground. The Crobat darted through the air, moving very, very fast, and attacked again.
It brought two of its larger wings together heavily, compressing the air into a spike and sending it shearing towards Asrael. The spike of air hit Asrael with enough force to slash a deep gash in his body before the dragon retaliated with a flash of thunder.
The Crobat dodged easily and began to slice Asrael to ribbons with more and more spikes of air, darting out of the way whenever Asrael retaliated. Jack grimaced as his third plan failed and Asrael looked barely conscious. 'Poison fang,' Koga whispered, not even letting the emotions of excitement or triumph grace his face. He was really starting to creep Jack out.
The Crobat suddenly darted towards Asrael, moving in such fast and jerky movements that it was almost impossible to follow with your eye, and sunk its thin teeth through the gaps between his scales and deep into his flesh. Asrael let out a pained roar that crescendoed rapidly as poison was pumped into his veins. He began to thrash as the fast acting venom did its dirty work, his mouth frothing and foaming. Then he began to glow.
Never had Jack been so glad to see that familiar white light. He glanced over to Koga to see if the ninja was rattled by the turn of events. To Jack's annoyance he remained impassive. Gritting his teeth to stop himself from shouting something stupid, Jack watched with bated breath as his Pokémon evolved.
Once the white light receded a seven foot tall dragon Pokémon, actually smaller than its pre-evolution, stood fully-healed where the Dragonair had floated before. Immediately it released a veritable outpouring of electricity towards the Crobat, an outpouring that was impossible for the bat to avoid.
The electricity shocked through its body and nearly dropped the Pokémon in one attack. The Crobat was burnt hard but had still retained its incredible speed. It attacked again, launching itself at lightning speed towards Asrael. Asrael was now much faster and dodged fluidly out of the way, swiping sideways with a clawed paw.
The Crobat suddenly stopped and reversed, moving in a tight circle and landing on Asrael's tail. Before the dragon could even react it was sinking its teeth in and releasing a large quantity of poison into his bloodstream. Asrael fought the poison with all he had and shocked the Crobat once more.
The bat was too weak too electricity to even begin to resist Asrael's vastly improved power and lapsed into extreme unconsciousness, its body jerking spasmodically as electricity still sparked around its body. Burns also appeared in irregular spots all over its body. Smoke spiralled off the most violently burnt parts of his body.
Again Jack looked over at Koga to see if he was reacting. He was not surprised when he saw the gym leader standing there as still and impassive as a statue, his eyes cold and dead. Jack desperately wanted to make that face react.
Koga's last Pokémon was a living mound of toxic sludge. It left a trail of charred ground wherever it rested and the smell that it exuded was indescribably bad. Jack had to actually cover his nose to stop himself from gagging at the smell. Koga didn't even wrinkle his nose. Asrael attacked with a thick pillar of flame that washed over the mound of toxic sludge to almost no effect whatsoever.
Jack could almost feel Asrael's emotions now, such was the strength of their bond, and he could tell that the dragon was slightly bemused and at a loss of what to do. 'Asrael,' said Jack quietly, 'dragon rush could work here.' With Asrael's thanks echoing in his ears Jack watched as the Dragon began to glow lightly from within.
His eyes changed the most, changing into large pools of silver that reflected what was in his line of sight. He was breathing heavily from the poison, a fact that Jack had completely forgotten about in the heat of the moment, and the energy needed for dragon rush began to drain him.
Asrael's limbs grew heavy as the energy built up within him, draining his energy more and more until he could barely keep himself conscious. Without warning he collapsed. The combined effort from the poison and the dragon rush taking their toll in abrupt fashion.
Blood rushed to Jack's face as he looked towards Koga and saw no triumph in the man. It was as if he viewed Jack so low that beating one of his Pokémon didn't even a deserve a reaction. You want to play it this way, then thought Jack savagely then I will see how you stand up against my second legendary.
'You're awfully calm, Koga,' said Jack angrily, 'for a trainer who is going to be beaten.' Koga turned to face Jack and raised his eyebrows. 'You're awfully emotional for a trainer who thinks he's going to win,' he remarked shrewdly. Knowing he had been outmanoeuvred Jack swore angrily and released a thunderous mirage into the arena. 'Maybe this will get a reaction!'
Zapdos crowed as electricity arced around it, covering its body in a mini storm. 'Zapdos use thunder,' screamed Jack as he saw the Koga still wasn't reacting. The electricity built up and built up and built up. Jack couldn't believe the amount of electricity that was sparking around the creature's body, even if it was a legendary.
Zapdos easily dodged the barrage of toxic sludge ejected towards it and finally combined all the electricity into one devastating bolt. The bolt of thunder burnt straight through the Muk with so much force that it erupted into flames. The bolt of electricity was so hot that the stone below the creature began to bubble and run.
Koga returned his final Pokémon and handed Jack the Soul Badge. 'Well done Jack,' he said quietly, still cold and impassive, even when he was congratulating, 'your Pokémon are quiet something. Just one word of advice. Keep your emotions under control.' Jack clenched his jaw so hard that he felt the muscle begin to cramp. It took all of his self control to keep himself barely civil.
'Maybe I'm not an emotionless zombie like you,' Jack retorted. Koga said nothing, raising his eyebrows slightly. Jack exploded then. 'Why don't you fucking react?' he asked, raising his fist to strike the man round the head. Then he remembered he was a ninja and lowered it again. 'Good decision,' Koga said quietly before he melted into the walls and disappeared.
'Well done Jack,' said Indigo, 'you fought well. I know that man is annoying, but don't let him get under your skin. He's always been like that.' Jack nodded and turned to head out of the arena. 'Where are you going?' asked Indigo suddenly, 'Blaine is here to fight next.'
Jack healed his Pokémon in a high-tech looking machine in the corner before returning to the battlefield. He had another opponent; this one a fiery bald man dressed in a long white lab coat. 'Don't keep me waiting lad,' growled Blaine roughly, 'I haven't got all day. Let's get this over with so I can go home.'
Jack deliberately slowed down his pace and lingered over his Pokémon as if caught by indecision over which one to choose. In reality he already knew which Pokémon he would choose. 'Let's see....which one.....which one....' Jack saw Blaine's face flush dark red. 'Why, I have a mind to walk away right now.'
'OK,' Jack said finally, picking up Kitane's Pokéball, 'keep your hair on.....oh wait, you don't have any.' Jack almost chuckled at his own lame joke, though it seemed that he had hit a sore spot on Blaine. 'I got this working in the war,' he growled angrily, 'it was in a fire, trying to make a weapon and....' he stopped and released a huge, orange and red dragon with a large flame flickering on the tip of its tail.
'I don't have to explain myself to you,' he said gruffly, 'I only need to beat you.' Once Kitane had been released to face that Charizard Blaine wasted no time in attacking. 'Charizard use flamethrower.' Almost immediately Kitane was forced to withdraw into her shell as the scalding heat washed over her. 'Kitane use hydro pump,' ordered Jack as the Pokémon endured the heat.
Once the flame had petered out Kitane quickly emerged from her shell and let loose a viciously powerful jet of water. The water hit the Charizard full in the face, bloodying the area which it connected with as if it was a fist, and knocking it head over heels so it landed flat on its back.
'Kitane use body slam,' called Jack. Kitane didn't even let the Charizard rise before slamming herself heavily on its torso, tearing through its wing membrane with a clawed flipper. The Charizard roared in pain as its crushed ribs and torn wings sent agonised signals to its brain and thrashed madly to try and dislodge Kitane.
Kitane slapped the creature around the face hard before Blaine barked out an order. 'Charizard, use fire blast.' The ball of fire was in the Charizard's mouth before Kitane could even blink, and it didn't have far to travel before it reached its target.
Kitane had only begun heaving herself off when the ball of fire struck her straight in the face, scorching her skin savagely and burning her ears so badly that she was deafened. She instinctively withdrew back into her shell and stayed there while the Charizard picked itself up.
'Flame wheel,' ordered Blaine, his Pokémon instantly obliging. The fire on the Charizard's tail flared up and began to creep up its tail until it covered the whole of the dragon's body. Then the Pokémon smashed its shoulder into Kitane's shell, getting underneath and flipping her onto her back with one powerful movement.
Jack grimaced, Kitane's great weakness was getting flipped onto her back, and devised a plan to reverse her fortunes. 'Kitane, use hydro pump.' Kitane bobbed her head and drove the Charizard backwards with a powerful jet of water. The Pokémon was looking decidedly worse for wear now and was knocked to the floor much easier than before.
Still Kitane struggled to right herself, but the bony protuberances on her shell stopped her from being able to do it. 'Now use hydro pump once more,' commanded Jack, 'but this time on the ground.' Kitane looked at her trainer strangely but still carried out the order, letting loose a deluge of water onto the stone.
Jack's tactic worked wonders and the sheer force of the water helped Kitane to right herself. She turned to face the Charizard and was hit in the face by a huge ball of flame. Kitane screamed and immediately retaliated with a beam of ice. The ice beam cut through the fire and smashed into the Charizard's chest.
It was too weak to fight against the cold and the ice began to creep over its body, enveloping the creature like gravity-defying water. Within a minute the Charizard was completely frozen. All Jack needed to do was give the order. 'Crush it like an egg, Kitane,' said Jack triumphantly, 'you choose the method.'
His Pokémon communicated her assent deep into his mind before waddling off towards the frozen Charizard. It was strange how a creature so graceful in water could be so lumbering on land, but that was how nature worked. When she dragged herself to the Charizard Kitane paused for a second, as if considering the best way to end the battle. In the end she settled for something simple, not extravagant or flashy.
Her broad, powerful front flipper crushed with great force into the statue, shattering it into hundreds of uneven pieces. She then flopped to the ground, exhausted, withdrawing into her shell to recuperate her energy. Blaine recalled his Charizard and cursed angrily, his fingers hovering over two more Pokéballs. In one movement he scooped up one of the Pokéballs and threw it onto the field.
A Typhlosion appeared on the field, smaller, slimmer and of a lighter colouring than the one Jack saw used by Gold. Kitane moaned as she slowly withdrew from her shell and surveyed her next opponent. In Jack's mind her voice rang loudly. Do I have to continue? she asked my face hurts and I'm really tired. Jack just looked at her. Do the best you can he said finally I'll recall you when you're finished.
Kitane sent Jack a reproachful look before attacking psychically. Her eyes glowed as she struggled to crush the Typhlosion with her mind. She wasn't really powerful enough to execute that technique, but she did manage to make the Typhlosion fall to the floor in pain.
'Water pulse,' directed Jack as a plan walked into his mind. The rotating pulses of water hit the floored Typhlosion with some force and the creature writhed in pain as they struck it. It staggered to its feet and aimed a fiery punch in Kitane's direction. Blaine nodded in satisfaction as the punch connected with Kitane's face with a sickening thump and the Lapras let out a loud, agonised scream.
She withdrew her neck into her shell and lashed out wildly with her front flippers. The Typhlosion doubled up as the powerful limbs drove into its gut and all the air exploded out of its lungs. 'Come on Kitane,' encouraged Jack, 'you can do it. One more attack. Just one more attack.' To Jack's surprise Kitane's neck exploded out of her shell and she began to wreathe herself in a shroud of water.
The Typhlosion retreated slowly as the shroud increased in size and volume. Suddenly Kitane shot forwards with incredible speed and rammed the Typhlosion into the ground, flattening it completely. As the veil of water dissipated Jack saw that both Kitane and the Typhlosion couldn't fight on.
Kitane's face was burnt and bruised and she was barely hanging onto consciousness. The Typhlosion had been badly beaten in the short fight and couldn't stand even if Kitane wasn't crushing it into the floor.
Both the Pokémon trainers recalled their Pokémon – Jack's first and Blaine's second – and released two very sturdy looking replacements. Kabi was as huge and as intimidating as usual, and her opponent was a powerful looking fire Pokémon with a thick body, a spiked back and flaming shoulders.
Its most unique features where its arms. They were both round and yellow and looked like cannons. One, in fact, was a cannon with the bright smouldering flame cupped deep inside, however the other was a solid with three razor sharp claws hidden within. That fist looked like it could do some considerable damage.
'Use combo 1,' order Blaine smugly, his Pokémon leaping to obey him. Its cannon arm fired off a powerful ball of fire that connected with Kabi's torso and it leapt through the explosion of smoke to smash its second fist into Kabi's face.
The Snorlax wasn't letting it win that easily. She easily shrugged of the flame and batted the Magmortar's fist away with one contemptuous swat. As the Magmortar fell backwards she bulled into it head first, her thick skull driving into its large gut. The Pokémon twisted with the blow, striking a powerful punch onto Kabi's large shoulder and knocking her to the ground.
Whilst she was on the ground the Pokémon let loose another powerful flame onto her back, leaving a large burn mark but not really hurting her. Kabi showed surprising speed to twist quickly off the ground and punch the Magmortar directly in the face, throwing it over a metre backwards through the air.
'Knock it out with body slam,' instructed Jack and Kabi quickly heaved herself to her feet and ran – or waddled very fast – towards the fallen Magmortar. She fell on its prone form like a falling tree and crushed it into the ground with ease.
As she got up Kabi gave Jack a thumbs up. The Magmortar wasn't moving, though its eyes were still open so it wasn't unconscious. Kabi waited for the Magmortar to move, whether out of sportsmanship or curiosity Jack wasn't sure, but the creature wouldn't oblige. It couldn't physically move.
'Put it out of its misery,' directed Jack as Blaine struggled to contain his anger on the other side of the arena, the man's face turning an unhealthy beetroot purple. Kabi nodded and drew up her fist, energy crackling around it.
It really was a mega punch. It actually left a crater in the ground. It also annihilated the Magmortar completely, doing a lot more than knocking it out. But, most importantly, it gave Jack his seventh and penultimate gym badge.
Blaine practically threw the badge at Jack before walking away. He was so angry that he abandoned all etiquette, refusing to shake hands or congratulate the winner and stalking off before Jack could even thank him. The boy shrugged, pocketing the badge and turning to Indigo. 'Will I be fighting Giovanni now?' He was eager.
To Jack's surprise Indigo shook his head. 'There is no need, my boy. As you probably know a badge can be given out for other reasons as well. I have pointed out to Giovanni that he owes you big time.' Jack scrunched his brow as he struggled to think how Giovanni owed him. 'How does he owe me?' Indigo looked around furtively before leaning closer and whispering something in Jack's ear.
Jack's eyebrows nearly buried themselves in his hairline. 'That much?' His voice was incredulous. 'A badge is the least I deserve. Fucking hell!' Indigo nodded and pressed a badge into his hand. 'I think that this is probably worth at lot less than one billion dollars, but it is all you're getting.' Jack pocketed the badge. 'I would actually prefer the one billion dollars, but....I'll settle for this.'
Indigo clapped him on the shoulders. 'Good man. Good man.' Jack had completed the badges. 'I have finished,' he muttered, his voice full of barely suppressed triumph.
'No you haven't,' said Indigo quietly, 'a trainer's journey is never ending. You must know that.' Jack didn't answer.