Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!
Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga
Chapter Six
The Butterfree Effect
"This is a perfect shot!" Ashley said to herself. She was lying in the grass and looking through her camera into a nearby field. A group of Butterfree were gathered over a field of large flowers and drinking nectar from them. "A beautiful scene of pokemon in their natural habitat..."
"Ashley, didn't we come here to train?" Rina asked with a sigh, sitting down in the grass behind Ashley. "How are we supposed to train out here anyway? I don't see anything we could use for practice..." Rina looked around the field they were in. It was nothing but field, without even a single rock or any other structure to practice attacks on. The field was far north of Cerulean and was a common meeting place for Butterfree after they evolved in Viridian Forest.
"I'll get to that in a minute, just let me get a picture..." Ashley moved her camera around, focusing on individual Butterfree and trying to decide which one to take a picture of.
"-Hey, here's an idea! Instead of catching one on film, why not try using one of those red and white balls you carry around?!-" Bulbasaur growled at Ashley. "-You haven't caught a damn thing since leaving Viridian Forest!-"
"Quiet down! We'll train in a minute!" Ashley replied, waving her hand dismissively at Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur twitched in annoyance.
"Thats not even what Bulbasaur was growling about..." Rina said to Ashley. She waited for Ashley to ask her what Bulbasaur was saying, but the girl was too focused on the Butterfree up ahead.
"-Rina, you should teach Ashley how to understand us!-" Pippi suggested cheerfully. "-Then she'd hear all the stuff Bulbasaur says about her!-" Bulbasaur snickered at Pippi's suggestion, thinking to himself how much easier his life would be if that was possible.
"It...doesn't really work like that. I never learned to understand pokemon, I've just always understood what pokemon are saying. Its just something I was born with." Rina explained to Pippi. "My parents could understand their pokemon too."
"-So...its kinda like my Volt Tackle technique?-" Pippi asked, trying to understand what rina was saying.
"Kinda..."
"Got it!" Ashley suddenly exclaimed, catching Rina's attention again. A click from the camera, and Ashley finally took the picture. She stood up and held out the camera while it printed off the picture. The image she finally decided on was a zoomed-out view, showing several Butterfree drinking nectar from the flowers.
"Ok, now lets get to training!" Ashley put her camera away and turned to Bulbasaur. "Ready?"
"-Its about time...-" Bulbasaur grumbled. "-Damn right I'm ready.-"
"Now..." Ashley scanned the group of Butterfree gathered, then nodded to herself. "Ok, Bulbasaur! Attack that one there! Vine Whip!"
"-Got it!-" Bulbasaur dashed off into the group of Butterfree, sending them all flying away in fear. Bulbasaur lashed out with its vines and grabbed the Butterfree Ashley pointed out, keeping it from escaping. The situation was almost exactly the same as when Ashley caught Pidgey.
"Huh? Did she decide to catch one of the Butterfree instead?" Rina wondered, the idea of battling wild pokemon for training being lost on her.
"Now, Leech Seed!" Bulbasaur aimed its bulb at Butterfree while still holding onto it, then fired a seed. The seed sprouted vines as it hit Butterfree from behind, using the vines to latch onto the target. Butterfree let out a high-pitched screech as the seed began draining its energy and feeding it back to Bulbasaur.
"Good! Now lets reel it in for a Tackle attack!" Bulbasaur began slowly reeling its vines in, trying his hardest to keep his feet planted on the ground while Butterfree continued struggling in an attempt to get free. Eventually, the wild Butterfree gave up entirely and turned on Bulbasaur. It released a cloud of purple powder from its wings, but the powder had no effect on Bulbasaur.
Once Butterfree was a mere five feet away from Bulbasaur, he released it from his vines and jumped straight for it. The two pokemon collided as Bulbasaur tackled Butterfree to the ground and pinned it there. Butterfree tried to push itself up and throw Bulbasaur off, but Bulbasaur managed to keep it down.
"Ok, Bulbasaur! Attack it with Bullet Seed and don't let up! Keep it pinned down!" Bulbasaur opened his mouth and began firing seed after seed. Bulbasaur's aim as almost dead on with each shot, hitting Butterfree in the face and hitting the exact same spot with each seed. The constant barrage seemed to render Butterfree helpless.
"Ashley, don't you think now would be a good time to try to catch it?" Rina suggested to her. "I mean, Bulbasaur's getting some good hits in..."
"It'd be too strong now, even if I was trying to catch it." Rina gasped in surprise, but her gasp went unnoticed. "I'm just having Bulbasaur battle it for training."
"Ashley! Thats cruel!" Rina yelled at Ashley. Hearing Rina mad at her shocked Ashley at first and she quickly turned around to face Rina. Bulbasaur even stopped his attack on the wild Butterfree, but he kept it pinned to the ground. Pippi looked at Rina in surprise as well, as this was her first time seeing Rina angry with Ashley.
"You can't just go around attacking wild pokemon!" Rina continued yelling angrily at her. By now the wild Butterfree had stopped struggling, even it had turned its attention to Rina. "They haven't done anything to deserve it, they might get seriously hurt and won't have a trainer to take them to a pokecenter, and they might even feel like they were rejected!"
"Well...umm...thats a good point I guess..." Ashley replied. Just being yelled at by Rina had rendered her almost speechless.
"-I think I agree with Rina...-" Pippi added with a nod. "-That didn't seem very nice...-"
"If you're not going to catch that Butterfree, then I will!" Rina took a pokeball from her large backpack, which was laying on the ground nearby, then pushed past Ashley. She lobbed the pokeball at the wild Butterfree, but just like when she tried to catch Sandshrew her aim was a bit off.
"-One of these days, Ashley will actually catch another pokemon.-" Bulbasaur grumbled, shooting out one of his vines to grab the pokeball and redirect it towards Butterfree. The bug pokemon was sucked inside, dropping Bulbasaur to the ground as Butterfree disappeared underneath it. To Bulbsaur and Ashley's surprise, the pokeball locked shut without any resistance.
Rina walked towards the pokeball and picked it up, then held it out to release Butterfree from its pokeball. The bug pokemon quickly looked around when it appeared then, spotting Rina, it shrieked happily and tackled its trainer to the ground while nuzzling against her face.
"H-hey! Cut that out!" Rina protested. Her previous mood had been completely dissolved by the seemingly cheerful Butterfree. Pippi rushed over to the two, eager to meet Rina's new pokemon.
"-Master! Master! You caught me!-" The Butterfree squealed happily.
"Well I couldn't just let Bulbasaur beat you up and leave you." Rina replied, smiling at Butterfree. "My name's Rina, and this is Pippi!" Rina gestured towrds the Pichu as she came to a stop next to them.
"-Hiya! Since Rina caught you, we're going to be friends now!-" Pippi greeted the Butterfree. Small sparks were already starting to erupt from her cheeks, losing control of her electricity in her excitement.
"How did Rina befriend that Butterfree so quickly?" Ashley wondered. "Did it maybe decide it liked her because of what she said?"
"-You're such a wonderful trainer, Master! I'm glad you caught me!-" Butterfree said to Rina, continuing to nuzzle against her.
"You don't have to call me master, and please stop that!" Rina finally managed to push Butterfree off of her and sat up. "I guess I need a name for you now. How about...Berry?"
"-Berry?-" Butter asked in response, then quickly nodded. "-Ok! So my name is Berry!-" Butterfree smiled to herself, hovering in silence for a moment until it finally hit her. "-Umm...master...can you understand me?-"
"Yep! I can understand all pokemon!" Rina replied, smiling.
"-Oh! I'm so lucky then! I get such a great trainer who's capable of listening to me!-" Butterfree nodded several times excitedly.
"-You know, if you don't mind me interrupting this little introduction...-" Bulbasaur slowly approached the three, sitting down next to Rina. "-Rina, you and Ashley both have four pokemon now. So why don't we all battle it out and train against each other?-"
"Hey! Thats a great idea Bulbasaur!" Rina smiled and looked over at Ashley. "We can battle each other in one on one matches for training. If we choose our pokemon based on the most even match-ups they should get a good workout."
"Well I guess that would work." Ashley replied with a slight nod. "Ok then, so how should we do this? We already decided to train all our pokemon today, so I think I'll start with Beedrill..."
"In that case, I'll start with Berry!" Rina stood up and went over to her backpack again. "I'll just use a potion and we'll be all set!"
"-Woo! I get to train and battle at the same time!-" Pippi cried out, jumping excitedly.
"-This time I won't go down so easily, I'll be ready for yas!-" Butterfree took a few mock punches at the air, psyching herself up for battle. She was eager to show her new trainer what she could do. Rina used the potion on Butterfree to heal her injuries from her battle with Bulbasaur. Ashley then handed her pokedex to Rina so she could check out Butterfree's techniques.
Once they were ready, they put some distance between themselves to battle. The area of the field they chose to battle in was mostly barren, aside from a few sparse patches of grass. It was also a good 30 to 40 feet away from the flower patch, sparing it from any stray attacks. Its likely the area they were using to battle was used by other trainers as well, thus why the ground was so bare
"Ok, Beedrill! Lets get this training underway! Go!" Ashley called out, releasing Beedrill from its pokeball. A distinct buzzing noise filled the air as Beedrill appeared from its ball.
"-Ok, buddy! Hope you're ready cause I don't plan to lose!-" Berry declared to Beedrill. Beedrill said nothing in response, staring at Berry and waiting for the battle to begin. Berry began to feel a bit nervous and slowly backed up until she was just in front of Rina.
"Berry? Are you sure you're up for this?" Rina asked her in a concerned tone.
"-I'm...I'm fine, master...-" Berry stammered in response. "-This guy is making me kinda nervous though...he hasn't said a thing, just keeps staring at me!-"
"Please stop calling me that..." Rina mumbled in dismay. Rina raised her hand and extended her arm out, pointing at Beedrill. "Ok! What are you waiting for then? Attack Beedrill with..." Rina took a quick glance at the pokedex Ashley let her borrow. "Confusion!"
"-Ok, master! Just watch me!-" Butterfree flew towards Beedrill, covering about 15 feet to put itself almost a third of the way between Rina and Ashley, then focused its psychic powers. A blast of psychic energy suddenly appeared around Beedrill, striking it from all directions. Beedrill staggered back and nearly hit the ground, but it quickly recovered by hovering near the ground.
"-Not so smug now, are ya?!-" Berry taunted Beedrill, giggling gleefully.
"..." Beedrill still remained silent and made no attempt to attack Berry of its own accord. Berry shuddered slightly as Beedrill's silence unnerved her.
"Beedrill, strike back now! Ready a Poison Sting then use Aerial Ace!" Beedrill readied one of its stingers and flew up, putting itself above Berry so he could attack with Aerial Ace.
"Berry, use Double Team and evade it!" Berry concentrated and split into four more duplicates of itself. They were grouped with one in the center, forming a plus sign. Beedrill wasn't deterred at all by this and dove down with a blinding speed, disappearing briefly as it struck the bottom copy. It turned out to be the correct one, and Berry was sent crashing to the ground. She groaned in pain and could feel poison coursing through her body now.
"No way! On the first try?" Rina exclaimed with a shocked expression. Ashley laughed lightly at Rina's inexperience.
"Well of course, there's no avoiding an Aerial Ace." Ashley explained to a puzzled Rina. "The technique is too fast to evade easily, and the pokemon temporarily heightens its senses as well to ensure a clean shot. So it could tell which one was the real Butterfree and attacked with a poisoned Aerial Ace technique."
"Now you tell me..." Rina sighed in exasperation. She took on a more serious expression, determined to make up for that last mistake. "Ok, Berry! We have some lost ground to make up for, so slow Beedrill down with Sleep Powder!"
"-Ok! Here I go!-" Berry flapped its wings, pulling itself off the ground and putting itself almost directly under Beedrill. Berry then began flapping her wings more rapidly while releasing spores from her body. Beedrill had little chance to dodge the attack as it was quickly immersed in the cloud of spores and dropped to the ground, hitting Berry and knocking her aside as he fell into her. Beedrill crashed into the dirt below and was fast asleep.
"Wow, I think she might actually be more energetic than you Pippi..." Rina commented to Pippi, stifling a giggle.
"-No way! I'm an electric type so thats impossible!-" Pippi shot back, looking as if she was somehow insulted by that statement.
"-I feel kinda woozy...-" Berry mumbled, swaying from side to side slightly.
"Huh? But you..." Rina stopped and gasped when it dawned on her. "Beedrill's Aerial Ace! It poisoned you! We need to finish this quick, then! Use Confusion again!" Berry quickly focused her psychic powers on Beedrill again. A blast of psychic energy then struck it from all directions, inflicting a great amount of damage but also waking Beedrill up. Beedrill shook off the sleep and narrowed its eyes at Berry, but still said nothing.
"At least he didn't stay asleep long..." Ashley thought with a small sigh of relief."Ok, Beedrill, she's weakening! Lets finish this quick with another Aerial Ace!"
"Berry, quick! Slow it down with Stun Spore!" Rina called out to Berry. She was learning Berry's techniques pretty quickly, thanks to Ashley's pokdex, and was making effective use of Berry's status inflicting techniques.
As Beedrill maneuvered into position to use Aerial Ace, Berry released a cloud of yellow spores into the air. The spores surrounded Beedrill briefly, but seemed to have no effect in the time before Beedrill attacked. Beedrill dove down and shot towards Butterfree at an incredible speed, smashing her into the ground again.
Berry managed to get onto her feet, but the poison made sure she stayed on the ground. Beedrill soon joined her on the ground as well. The bee pokemon wasn't nearly as unaffected by the Stun Spore as it originally appeared to be and collapsed to the ground in front of Berry as the paralysis spread throughout its body. Rina immediately saw the opportunity for one final attack.
"Berry, lets finish this while we have the chance! Confusion!" Rina called out the attack with just a twinge of hesitation. This was the first time she went this far in a battle, and ordering a pokemon to knock out another pokemon brought some guilt to her. It didn't help any that she knew Berry would likely collapse as well. Rina had just caught Berry and was already putting her through a lot of pain.
"-I...I'll do my best...master!-" Berry focused her gaze on Beedrill as it struggled to flap its wings and lift itself from the ground. She began focusing her psychic powers, preparing to finish Beedrill with a Confusion attack.
"Beedrill, pull yourself together for one more attack! Poison Sting!" Ashley, on the other hand, was already used to how harsh a pokemon battle could be. Especially coming down to the end. Beedrill raised one of its stinger tipped arms to try to attack Berry one last time, but a sudden blast of psychic energy sent it sprawling back and knocked it out completely.
"Alright! We did it!" Rina cried out excitedly, pumping her fist into the air. Berry turned to Rina and smiled, but then collapsed as the poison sapped the last of her strength.
"Berry!" Rina rushed to her pokemon's side and cradled Berry's unconcious form in her arms. Berry opened her eyes one last time and smiled weakly at Rina.
"-Did you...see me...master? I did good...right?-" Berry asked Rina weakly.
"You did great, Berry...take a rest now..." Berry nodded ever so slightly. Rina took out Berry's pokeball and recalled her, causing the pokemon to disappear from her arms as she was put into her pokeball. Ashley had already recalled Beedrill and watched the scene in awe. Rina slowly stood up, looking as though she was on the verge of tears.
"Ashley, do...do we really need to take training this far?" Rina asked Ashley, her face lowered to the ground to try to hide her expression. Ashley took a moment to think over her response, choosing her words carefully.
"Rina, its better we push our pokemon harder during training so they won't be pushed as hard during battle." Ashley explained to her, trying her best to sound reassuring. "In training, we'll at least be able to go straight to a pokecenter when we're done and our pokemon will be good as new right away. When you release Berry from her pokeball later, she'll be just as happy to see you as she was when you first released her."
"-Besides, being knocked out doesn't hurt in the least.-" Bulbasaur added. "-Its the fight leading up to it. Believe me, I have plenty of experience with that already thanks to someone...-" Bulbasaur extended a vine a short length to point accusingly at Ashley.
"You have a point I guess..." Rina quickly wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her shirt and lifted her head, forcing a smile. "So, who should we use next then?"
"How about Bulbasaur goes up against Clyde?" Ashley suggested with a light shrug. "Probably the only even matchup Bulbasaur would have against any of your pokemon, at least type wise."
"Right!" Rina gave an enthusiastic nod and reached for Clyde's pokeball. "Clyde, come on out! Time for a bit of training!" Rina held up Clyde's pokeball and clicked the button, releasing him from the device. After releasing Clyde, Rina quickly ran back to her previous position so she wouldn't be in the way of the coming battle.
"Ok, Bulbasaur! Get in there!" Ashley instructed him while pointing out towards Clyde. Bulbasaur ran out into the makeshift battlefield, leaving just 20ft between himself and Clyde.
"-So I am to train against you, am I?-" Clyde asked Bulbasaur before the start of their match.
"-They figure you'll be the closest Rina has to a fair fight for me, so try not to disappoint.-" Bulbasaur replied with a wide grin.
"-Well, it will be interesting to experience first hand what you're capable of at any rate.-" Clyde replied with a small smile.
"Clyde, start off by putting Bulbasaur to sleep with a Sing attack!" Rina called out Clyde's attack, smiling to herself as she thought she would get an early lead. She quickly covered her ears after issuing the command to protect herself from her own pokemon's technique.
"Bulbasaur, quick! Use Leech Side before he puts you to sleep!" Bulbasaur rose up on its front legs upon Ashley's command and fired a seed from the bulb on his back while Clyde began to sing in a soft, harmonius voice. Despite taking little time to aim, Bulbasaur managed to hit his stationary target with the seed landing on top of Clyde's head and then sprouting vines to latch on. Bulbasaur fell fast asleep soon after from Clyde's sing attack.
"I need to do something about that seed..." Rina thought. Despite having put Bulbasaur to sleep, it wasn't as much of an advantage as she had hoped due to Leech Seed. "What though? Clyde has no attacks that can remove it and pulling it off will take too long. I will have to ignore it and go on the offense while I have the chance then..."
"Ok, Clyde! Forget the seed and attack Bulbasaur with a Doubleslap while he's still asleep!" Clyde nodded and took a few quick hops to cover the distance between himself and Bulbasaur. Stopping in front of the sleeping pokemon, Clyde delivered four quick slaps and and struck out with one hand after the other. After this assault, Bulbasaur was still sleeping soundly.
"Follow it up! Pound!" Clyde finished his assault on the sleeping Bulbasaur, then raised his fist back. Bulbasaur was just starting to open his eyes when Clyde's fist connected with his face. Bulbasaur was knocked back, landing on his bulb. He quickly shook it off and jumped back to his feet, growling at Clyde in a suppressed rage.
"Time to really get this battle underway!" Ashley declared with a smirk. "Bulbasaur, strike back at Clyde with a Vine Whip attack!" Bulbasaur didn't need to be told twice. He quickly extended his vines, raising them over his head and then bringing one of them down to slash across Clyde's body like a whip. Clyde was sent rolling across the ground from the force of the strike, but managed to hop up out of the roll and land on his feet.
"Umm...lets see now..." Rina took a quick look at the pokedex and thought about her next move for a moment. She nodded to herself, realizing now would be the best time to use Clyde's technique. "Ok, Clyde, use Wish!" Clyde closed his eyes and brought his hands together, looking as though he were praying, and began chanting quietly.
"Wish? Thats not good, that means Clyde can heal faster than Bulbasaur." Ashley thought to herself. A slight smirk then crossed her lips as she got an idea. "On the other hand, Clyde is immobile right now, and with one attack I might be able to even the playing field."
"Bulbasaur, lets weaken Clyde further with a Poisonpowder attack!" Bulbasaur angled the bulb on his back for an attack and released one large burst of purple powder from the bulb. The powder quickly spread out and fell down around Clyde, causing the pokemon to breathe it in. Clyde coughed as he breathed in the powder and the poison began to take effect in his body.
"Thats not good! I'll have to act fast!" Rina thought, clenching one of her fists in desparation. "Clyde, put Bulbasaur to sleep again with Sing!"
"Not this time!" Ashley declared as if she had already anticipated this. "Bulbasaur, use Sleep Powder quickly before Clyde can put you to sleep!"
Bulbasaur quickly launched another burst of powder from his bulb, releasing it all it one quick puff. The green powder began to land around Clyde, causing him to breathe in another strange powder as he began to sing a lullably to lull Bulbasaur to sleep again. Both pokemon began to appear drowsy, then both collapsed as they fell asleep.
"That...thats not good..." Rina stuttered at the double sleep, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of her face. She was now realizing more and more how intense a pokemon battle could get. Clyde was in trouble now, as he was asleep and being drained by poison and Leech Seed. With both pokemon asleep, the battle was brought to a pause aside from a brief shimmer from Clyde's body as Wish came into effect and restored it to full strength. With poison and Leech Seed sapping him, though, it didn't last long.
As Rina tried to figure out her next move, a thought occurred to her. "Hey, you didn't use either of those techniques earlier!" Rina called out to Ashley with a mixture of confusion and annoyance.
"I didn't even think to use them honestly, even though Bulbasaur knew them." Ashley explained to Rina, a smile crossing her lips. "In fact, its only because you used status techniques with Berry that I even thought of it. I'll definitely be keeping those techniques in mind next time."
"Oh..." Rina blinked slightly in surprise. She was starting to understand how the trainers themselves benefit from the training. Just then, Clyde finally began to stir and wake up, and Rina immediately put her focus back on the battle.
"Clyde, attack Bulbasaur with Pound while he's still asleep!" Rina called out, intending to make up for lost time. Clyde quickly shook off his sleepiness and bounded towards Bulbasaur, just as the grass pokemon was also waking up. As with the last time Clyde used Pound, Bulbasaur found himself waking up just in time to see Clyde's fist connect with his face. The harsh blow left Bulbasaur stunned for a moment this time but he quickly shook it off.
"-Damn it! Would you stop that?!-" Bulbasaur growled at him angrily.
"-Well I can hardly be blamed for when you choose to wake up...-" Clyde replied with a slight shrug.
"Clyde, now! Use Sing before Bulbasaur can try Sleep Powder again!" Bulbasaur groaned as Clyde began singing another lullaby, worrying this nap would end in the same way. Ashley wasn't planning on it though.
"Bulbasaur, Vine Whip! Keep him from singing!" Bulbasaur quickly blinked off the drowsiness that was beginning to set in and extended his vines very quickly. In almost an instant the vines wrapped around Clyde's face and covered his mouth entirely. Clyde blinked and looked down at the vines, which were now preventing him from singing. He then cast Bulbasaur a glare, feeling entirely uncomfortable with the situation. Bulbasaur just grinned back, finally getting his revenge for the Pound attacks.
"Now, use Sleep Powder and put Clyde to sleep again!" Ashley called out with a small smile, and Rina could feel she was going to lose this one. While still holding onto Clyde, Bulbasaur released a burst of green powder into the air from his bulb. The powder was aimed to fall around Clyde, and Bulbasaur released his grip on Clyde's mouth just so he could breath in the powder. Clyde felt his eyelids grow heavy at first, then fell on his side as he fell asleep.
"No...Clyde!" Rina called out desparately, starting to feel as helpless herself as the sleeping Clefairy was. "Isn't there anything I can do?" Rina wondered aloud.
"-I can shock him awake!-" Pippi suggested cheerfully, her cheeks already sparking up as she got ready to follow through with her own suggestion.
"That would be interfering with the battle though..." Rina replied solemnly and letting out an exasperated sigh. Pippi kicked at the ground, looking a bit disappointed that she couldn't help.
"Ok Bulbasaur, attack Clyde with Vine Whip now while he's still asleep!" Ashley called out, the excitement in her voice growing as another round of battle was seemingly coming to an end.
"-I'd prefer to wait until he's just waking up personally, but whatever...-" Bulbasaur muttered bitterly. He raised both his vines and lashed out at Clyde with one after the other. The first whip rolled Clyde over so he was facing away from Bulbasaur, and the second knocked him flat on his face. Despite this, Clyde continued to sleep soundly.
"Now finish this! Bullet Seed!" Though there was no outward sign of him doing such, Bulbasaur got ready to fire off a Bullet Seed attack. He didn't attack though, and Ashley began to grow a bit impatient. Before she could order him to attack again, Clyde began to wake up and climb back onto his feet.
As Clyde turned towards Bulbasaur, Ashley and Rina could finally see what Bulbasaur had planned. Bulbasaur fired off a full five seeds, striking Clyde dead on in the face with each one. Clyde cried out in surprise after the first seed hit him, but was weakened so much from the poison and the seed on his head that he was soon rendered unconcious.
"-And thats...what you get...-" Bulbasaur muttered. Ashley said nothing as Bulbasaur walked past her, only offering her pokemon a smile at his victory. Bulbasaur plopped down on the ground behind Ashley to rest.
Meanwhile, Rina quickly rushed to the aide of her fallen pokemon and was checking to see if Clyde was ok. Although Clyde seemed completely unresponsive, she sighed in relief when she realized he was only unconcious and not seriously injured.
"Clyde, you gave it your best I guess. Good job..." Rina raised Clyde's pokeball over his fallen form and recalled him into it, then put Clyde's pokeball away. She sighed to herself, mentally reminding herself that Clyde was perfectly fine and would be as if nothing had happened after a trip to the pokecenter.
"-Rina! Me next, me next!-" Pippi said to Rina while hopping up and down excitedly. Rina blinked slightly and smiled at Pippi, her partner's enthusiasm helping her to get over Clyde's defeat.
"Right! With your Volt Tackle I bet we can get at least one real win out of this!" Rina replied to Pippi in agreement, giving an enthusiastic nod.
"Rina...you'll get used to this eventually, I'm sure." Ashley thought, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She took a pokeball from her belt, already having an opponent lined up for Pippi. "Ok, Rina, if you're using Pippi now then I'll use Mankey!" Ashley held up the pokeball as she said this and released Mankey from within. The monkey-like pokemon appeared from its pokeball and hopped around wildly with its pent up energy.
"Ok, lets start out big! Pippi, get in there and attack with Volt Tackle!" Rina's qualms with pokemon battling were quickly lost again as she issued Pippi's first command, starting off the training match between Pippi and Mankey.
"-I was waiting for you to say that!-" Pippi's body charged with electricity, and Rina quickly backed away to get out of the line of fire. Once Rina was safely out of the way, more electricity gathered around Pippi's body until she was completely sheathed in it. She then charged across the battlefield, barreling towards Mankey.
"Mankey, dodge it and strike back with a Karate Chop!" Mankey quickly moved to the side, but Pippi was charging him far too quickly and managed to strike a glancing blow to knock Mankey to the ground. Mankey quickly hopped up, screeching furiously and unintelligibly.
As Pippi came screeching to a stop, she looked back to see what damage she managed to cause. What she saw, however, was Mankey coming down towards her. Mankey had one hand raised and held vertically flat, making a chopping motion as he came down towards her. Mankey managed to strike a hard blow to Pippi's head, stunning her briefly and knocking her onto her back in a daze.
"Pippi, quick! Get up and attack Mankey..." Rina took a quick look through Ashley's pokedex, as the only technique Pippi had that Rina knew of was Volt Tackle. Her eyes lit up when she spotted one technique on her list in particular. "Pippi, slow him down with Thunderwave!"
"Pippi will be slow to attack after that blow, gives Mankey time to use Taunt..." Ashley thought to herself, making a quick observation. "Mankey, use Taunt before Pippi can attack!" Pippi slowly got back to her feet, shaking her head to clear her vision. By the time she was standing and ready to attack, though, Mankey was already starting his taunts.
"-Yourtrainersucks!You'reweak!Yousuck!You'retrainer'sweak!-" Mankey spouted off furiously while hopping around as if in a rage.
"-No one says that about Rina and gets away with it!-" Pippi growled in response, her cheeks sparking but not going on the attack. "-Rina! Give the word and I'll fry this guy!-"
"But I asked you to..." Rina blinked in surprise and paused for a moment, realizing that Pippi didn't seem to be herself all of a sudden. "That must be the effect of Taunt..." Rina nodded to herself. "Right, so now she won't use any attack that doesn't directly damage Mankey. That leaves me with just Thundershock and Volt Tackle though..."
"Alright! You want to shock him? Then attack with Thundershock!" Pippi had been eagerly awaiting an order to attack, and wasted no time in doing so now that she received it. Pippi fired a blast of electricity she had been gathering up in her rage, sending it out in a pair of small bolts directed at Mankey. Mankey let out a high-pitched shriek as the small bolts struck him simultaneously and electricity surged through his body.
"-You'll paypaypaypaypay PAY FOR THAT!-" Mankey angrily growled at Pippi.
"Mankey, attack Pippi with another Karate Chop!"
"Pippi, latch onto Mankey's hand when he attacks!"
Mankey raised his hand back and quickly brought it down towards Pippi in a chopping motion, eager to attack her again after being hit by Thundershock. Pippi let out a surprised cry as Mankey's hand slammed down on her head, but she was prepared for it as well and grabbed Mankey's hand with both of her own small hands. The hard attack left her briefly dazed, but she was able to keep a good grip.
Once Pippi had recovered from Mankey's, she quickly pulled herself up and used Mankey's hand for leverage to wrap her legs around his arm. Mankey looked quite annoyed at this point and began waving his arm around frantically, trying to throw her off.
"-Letgoletgoletgo LET GO!-" Mankey screeched in rage. Despite his hardest efforts, Pippi remained firmly latched onto him.
"Now, Pippi! Thundershock, and give it all you've got!" Pippi gave a rather menacing looking grin after being issued the command. Her cheeks sparked with electricity, even that causing a minor shock to Mankey, then sent the electricity she gathered in her cheeks straight into Mankey's body. Mankey screeched in agony and waved his arms around.
Attacking Mankey had weakened Pippi's grip on him slightly, and in his furious arm-waving he managed to fling her off and tossed her towards Rina. Pippi quickly got back to her feet after landing on her stomach, and both pokemon turned to face each other. Mankey's fur was slightly charred by Pippi's attack, and he was breathing heavily through his nose in a rage.
"Rina actually pulled off a fairly good technique there..." Ashley thought, smiling lightly at this. "It was nothing special, but its more creative than she's been up until now." Ashley placed one hand on her hip and tapped her index finger against her chin, looking between the two combatants. Pippi was breathing pretty heavily, and Mankey was looking a bit tired as well despite being in a rage. The only thing holding Mankey back now was a little voice in the back of his head reminding him to wait until he's ordered to attack.
"Mankey could probably take another Thundershock still, but definitely not a Volt Tackle." Ashley thought to herself. "He might be a bit slower to dodge at this point, between being exhausted from the battle and gone into a rage. Mankey will be eagerly waiting to attack instead." Ashley looked from Mankey, across the field to Pippi.
"One more attack should knock Pippi out, she really can't take being hit too well." Ashley gave a quiet, unnoticable sigh. "I kinda hate to do this though, she's grown on me a bit and Rina will probably be upset..."
"Pippi, lets try that technique again!" Rina pointed out towards Mankey dramatically as she prepared to call out the attack. "Volt Tackle!"
"Well, here goes I guess..." Ashley thought with a light shrug. "Ok, Mankey! This ends here either way! Reversal!"
Mankey let out a primary scream and Pippi's body sparked up and created a veil of electricity around her as the two pokemon powered up for their respective attacks then charged across the battlefield towards each other.
Mankey managed to time his attack with Pippi's ploughing into him, hitting her with an open-palmed strike. The force of Pippi's attack caused Mankey's arms to bend back until they were forced off to the side, allowing her to continue past and land a direct blow on Mankey. Mankey was knocked flat onto the ground while Pippi pushed past him, screeching to a halt. Pippi then fell over as well, however, and neither pokemon looked like they were going to be getting back up.
"Pippi!" Rina again rushed to her pokemon's side. When Rina knelt down next to Pippi the weakened Pichu opened her eyes slightly.
"-R-Rina...he's not getting up...that means I won, right?-" Pippi asked Rina, looking for reassurance.
"But you're out too...that means its a draw..." Rina replied regretfully. Pippi's eyes looked a bit sad at that answer.
"-I...didn't lose...right?-" Pippi then asked, her weak voice sounding on the verge of tears.
"No...you didn't lose..." Rina smiled down at Pippi reassuringly. "A draw means you didn't win or lose..."
"-Oh...-" Pippi seemed to relax slightly, even smile a bit. Her eyes slowly shut again as she lost conciousness.
"Pippi...did winning really mean that much to you?" Rina wondered aloud. There was no sadness this time, but rather she seemed a bit confused as she took Pippi's small form into her arms. "But why? All you do is get hurt..."
"Well aren't you the best person to answer that question?" Ashley suggested to Rina as she recalled Mankey. She had walked past Rina while she was crouched next to Pippi, and was standing over Mankey when she recalled him. "You're the one that can understand what they're saying, afterall."
"I guess you have a point there..." Rina held Pippi tight against her as she took out a pokeball and recalled her. "Battles between two trainers just seem like they can be so harsh though..." Rina walked across the field to her previous position and then turned back to face Ashley. "So, we still have one more match-up, right?"
"We sure do!" Ashley replied with a nod. She also went back to her position and noticed Bulbasaur had fallen asleep nearby. "Hmph, not interested in a battle that doesn't involve you, huh?" Ashley thought, though she wondered if maybe all the sleep being thrown around in his particular match made him a bit tired.
"Well I guess this will be Pidgey against Sandshrew, right?" Ashley asked Rina, already taking Pidgey's pokeball from her belt.
"Right, and his name's Sarge!" Rina replied, also reminding Ashley that she chose to give her pokemon nicknames. Rina took Sarge's pokeball from her belt and held it up while pressing the button on the front of it. "Ok, Sarge! Now its your turn to fight! Go!" The pokeball opened up in Rina's hand, releasing the armored shrew pokemon.
"Rina, just a quick tip. You should try to use techniques in unexpected ways or surprise your opponent with different tactics, like you did with Pippi." Ashley said to Rina. Rina nodded thoughtfully, taking this into consideration. Ashley then held out Pidgey's pokeball and pressed the button on the front.
"Pidgey, come on out!" Ashley announced as Pidgey emerged from the pokeball in midair, looking like he was about to fall but began flapping his tiny wings to hover. "Pidgey, start off with a Tackle attack!"
"-Couldn't we at least start with an Air Cutter?-" Pidgey asked in dismay, though he followed through with the attack anyway. He flapped his wings to fly forward and glided through the air, diving down towards Sarge as he moved in to attack.
"Sarge, use Defense Curl and roll with the attack!" Rina called out, keeping in mind Ashley's previous advice. Ashley smiled and nodded to Rina, and Rina also smiled as Ashley's reponse confirmed it was a good idea.
"-Only cowards attack from the air!-" Sandshrew announced to Pidgey, quickly curling up into a tight ball. He rolled back slightly as Pidgey flew into him and continued rolling, turning some of the impact into momentum to reduce the attack's effectiveness.
"Pidgey, follow it up with an Air Cutter!" Ashley quickly called out her next attack. "Remember to aim ahead to hit him!"
"-You're just jealous you don't have the style that comes naturally to a bird pokemon like me!-" Pidgey shot back at Sarge, hovering to a stop in the air and quickly bringing his wings together. When he pulled them apart again, a v-shaped blade of air fired out and was aimed ahead of Sarge far enough for him to roll right into it.
"Sarge, uncurl and use Metal Claw in a hand stand!" Rina was quickly getting used to the idea of using techniques differently, maybe more than she had to. Sandshrew quickly uncurled, digging one metallic-clawed hand into the ground and standing straight up. The blade just barely flew under Sarge's arm, striking the ground behind him.
"-Jealous? Ha!-" Sarge shot back to Pidgey indignantly. "-I would never be jealous of such cowardly techniques!-"
"Wow...I think they're really going to end up having it out for each other." Rina thought with a bit of a sheepish grin on her face.
"Knock him down with a Quick Attack!" Ashley called out to Pidgey. She was smiling widely but with a determined look, impressed by how much Rina seemed to be putting her advice to use.
"-Who are you calling a coward anyway?-" Pidgey called back to Sarge. He shot through the air, becoming a blur of movement from the speed of the attack. He struck Sandshrew in the blink of an eye, knocking him onto his back. Pidgey then stopped and hovered in front of Sandshrew.
"-You're a ground type, your kind dig yourselves a hole and disappear as soon as the going gets tough!-" Pidgey said to him. Sarge growled at the accusation, but didn't seem to have an immediate comeback to it.
"Good shot, Pidgey!" Ashley complimented her pokemon. "Now, follow it up with a Gust attack!" Pidgey began flapping his wings rapidly, angling towards Sarge and pushing large amounts of air forward until eventually he was sending strong gusts of wind at Sarge. Sarge held one of his clawed hands over his eyes, trying to protect himself.
"Sarge, quick! Use Defense Curl again!" Sarge quickly shot up and rolled into a ball again. In almost a perfect sphere now, most of the wind was being redirected around his body and having little effect on him other than causing him to roll back ever so slowly.
"Pidgey, attack with Air Cutter again!" Pidgey quickly brought his wings together one more time, releasing another blade of air as he pulled them apart again. The blade struck Sarge with enough force to send him rolling back again. Rina stepped aside as Sarge rolled past her and turned around to watch him as she issued another command.
"Sarge, keep rolling but turn back around towards Pidgey!" Sarge angled his body slightly as he continued to roll, going into a slight curve. He straightened out again once he figured he was on a path towards Pidgey again.
"Pidgey, again! You have a clean shot, so use Air Cutter!" Ashley knew it was actually a risky maneuver, but at this point she figured she had a lead on Rina and was interested in seeing how she would react. Pidgey brought his wings together again and fired off another Air Cutter attack, aiming to strike Sarge as he rolled on towards him.
"Sarge, uncurl and jump!" Sarge uncurled his body and came out of the roll in such a way that he rolled onto his feet, maintaining the momentum he had left and using it to spring up on an angle. He managed to clear the attack and was now coming down towards Pidgey on an angle.
"Good one, Sarge! Now attack Pidgey with Scratch!" Rina realized Sandshrew wouldn't have time to use Metal Claw at this point but didn't want to waste the extra power. Sandshrew raised his claw back and slashed at Pidgey's side as he fell past him. Sandshrew landed in a bowed position like a samurai who had just made a strike with his sword. Pidgey was sent spiralling off to the side and crashed into the ground.
"-Though we may dig into the ground, we will not hide in the midst of battle!-" Sarge called out to Pidgey, finally having thought up a response. He stood up and turned to the fallen bird pokemon. Sarge was breathing a bit heavily by this point. Though he didn't take any particular strong blows, the repeated attacks were draining him.
"-And yet you won't fight me head on.-" Pidgey used his wings to push himself onto his feet, then began flapping them to hover about a foot off the ground.
"Sarge, time to go on the offensive for real now!" Rina called out to him. Sarge nodded in agreement, ready to take the fight to Pidgey after his challenging statement. "Sarge, attack Pidgey with Metal Claw!"
"-I will fight however Rina asks me to fight.-" Sarge raised one of his claws, which quickly took on a metallic appearance. He then ran towards Pidgey with his claw raised back, ready to strike.
"Well, you did pretty good up until now, but maybe you were a bit too defensive..." Ashley thought with a slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Pidgey, use Quick Attack and go straight up!" Pidgey shot straight up into the air in a blur of movement, leaving Sarge to strike at the empty space where Pidgey had been previously. "Now! Attack from above with another Quick Attack!"
"-Well I also follow orders, even if I don't like her choice of attacks.-" Pidgey replied to Sarge's previous comment just before making a u-turn in the air, coming down straight on top of Sarge. "-I prefer to fight with style.-" Pidgey shot straight down with a Quick Attack, striking Sarge straight on top of his head in a blur of movement while pulling out of the dive. Sarge staggered back, holding his head in pain.
"Good! Now, once more with Air Cutter!" Pidgey hovered in the air and turned towards Sarge as he was staggering back from the previous attack. Pidgey brought his wings together once more, forcing air between them and shaping it into a blade as he pulled them apart again.
"Sarge, quick! Defense Curl!" Rina called out desparately, but Sarge reacted too slowly to curl into a defensive position in time. The blade landed another blow to Sarge's head as he was moving to curl up, smashing him into the ground. Sarge tried to use his short arms to push himself up, but collapsed again as he found himself lacking the strength.
"Sarge..." Rina looked a bit forlorn, but didn't rush to her pokemon's side this time. Instead, she offered a small smile as she took his pokeball in her hand. "We gave it our best shot, Sarge. You can rest now." Rina held up the pokeball and recalled Sarge, then put it away.
"Well, I guess this means you won, huh?" Rina said to Ashley, smiling sheepishly.
"Well, technically it was just a training match." Ashley replied to Rina. She took Pidgey's pokeball in hand, but didn't recall her pokemon yet. "Though two of my pokemon beat your's, and the other two were a draw, I wouldn't call it a 'win' really."
"-Well, now that thats over with, I have some unfinished business.-" Pidgey said mainly to himself, not having been around Rina enough to know she could understand what he was saying. As Pidgey landed, his body became veiled in a white light.
"Oh wow...is this evolution?" Rina wondered aloud. The two girls watched in amazement as Pidgey's body began to change. His body almost tripled in size, a crest formed on the top of his head, and his tail feathers grew noticably. He gave a flap of his wings as the light dispersed, revealing Pidgey in his evolved form as Pidgeotto.
"Well now I know we're ready for Misty!" Ashley declared with a determined expression. "I've got some new tactics to try with Bulbasaur, and now Pidgey's evolved into Pidgeotto. Way to go, guys!"
"-Yeah, whatever...-" Bulbasaur muttered, giving a loud yawn as he finally woke up. "-So, we going to go challenge her again?-"
"Wait! You're not going to challenge her again already, are you?" Rina asked in disbelief. "Shouldn't you guys give her a break? I mean, she's had two challengers today already..."
"Oh, come on! She gets paid for this kind of thing!" Ashely dismissed the notion with a wave. "Come on, guys! Lets go challenge Misty again! This time we'll get her for sure!" Ashley recalled both of her pokemon, much to Bulbasaur's surprise. He wasn't going to complain though, he was a bit tired from battling as it was. Once she recalled her pokemon, Ashley started off towards the bridge back to Cerulean City.
"H-hey! I really think you should wait!" Rina called out to Ashley, but hung her head and sighed in defeat. "Wait for me!" Rina ran to catch up with Ashley. Reflecting back on their battles Rina realized that, just like trainers, pokemon also had different approaches to battles.
Author's Notes: Procrastination is going to come back to haunt me one of these days I know it. Anyway, tried to showcase the personality of Ashley's pokemon here. I'll give an idea of what I was aiming for:
Beedrill: Pretty much just does what he's told. He can think for himself, but generally just doesn't. I figured it might make sense for a Beedrill to take to its trainer like a 'queen' and just carry out her orders. If he actually says/does something on his own it'll probably be with a no-nonsense attitude.
Mankey: Hyper, repeats things. The fury/rage is typical of Mankey's in general as well.
Pidgey: Prefers to battle with a sense of style, so to speak, particularly enjoying tricky aerial maneuvers. He'll do what he has to though. The rivalry with Sarge kinda 'just happened'.
Mankey might not have been so obvious. Beedrill...well, I threw in a "..." just because I couldn't leave him with no lines at all. So he gets the triple dot. Anyway, hope that turned out well!
