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 Thirty

Did You Bring Burn Heal?

Cinnabar's gym had the open ground field common to many gyms, allowing pokemon more freedom in attacking. In Blaine's case it also meant no worrying about his fire pokemon damaging the floor. The gym also felt rather warm, heated by four large torches marking each corner of the gym to add a bit of a fire motif. The torches were also providing all the light to the gym.

"I never thought I'd envy Ashley for only wearing a skirt..." Rina said to herself. "Its like an oven in here and these clothes definitely aren't helping."

Rina, Pippi, and Bulbasaur were sitting on a bench off to the side as usual. The bench actually had a cooling pad built into it, keeping the leather padding from getting too hot, but it did little to keep Rina cool. She also had Ashley's camera with her, making good on her promise to take pictures for Ashley during gym matches.

"-Hmm...-" Pippi tilted her head to the side and looked over toward the door. "-Rina, can I go outside? Since we're near the water this would be a good time for me to practice Surf!-" Pippi said to Rina.

"Well I guess that'd be ok..." Rina said to her, blinking. "Bulbasaur, would you mind going with her just to keep an eye on her?"

"-Not at all.-" Bulbasaur hopped down from the bench and started toward the door. "-Watching sucks, and I can't stand the heat in here.-"

"Ok then, good luck Pippi!"

"-I don't need luck, this time I'll get it for sure!-" Pippi replied enthusiastically, quickly jumping down from the bench and chasing after Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur used his vines to open the door and the two pokemon went outside, closing it behind them.

"We will be using four pokemon each." Blaine said to Ashley, already holding a pokeball in his hand. He had also taken the liberty of grabbing a white lab coat after entering the gym. "I believe thats the only rule I need to go over."

"I'm ready to battle when you are!" Ashley replied with a nod.

"Very well then. I choose, for my first pokemon, Magmar!" Blaine called out, releasing a menacing looking Magmar from the pokeball he was holding.

"Hypno, you're up first! Go!" Ashley called out as she also released her first pokemon and a rather confused looking Hypno appeared on the battlefield.

"-Oh no...she's making me fight again!-" Hypno whimpered in dismay.

"Ashley's using Hypno?" Rina thought, blinking in disbelief. "I hope she knows what she's doing..."

"Hypno, start off by using Hypnosis!" Ashley called out. Hypno nodded quickly as if afraid he'd be punished if he didn't follow orders. He began waving his pendulum around and using it as a focus to send out hypnotic energy waves toward Magmar.

"Anyone could see that technique coming from a mile away." Blaine said bitterly. "Magmar, block it with Smokescreen!" Magmar opened its beak-like mouth and spewed out a black smoke before Hypno's attack could take effect. The smoke blocked Magmar's view of Hypno and vice versa, negating the Hypnosis attack completely.

"He can block Hypnosis with Smokescreen?" Ashley thought. "Ok then! Hypno, use Disable to keep it from using Smokescreen again!" Hypno closed his eyes and focused, trying to target Magmar through the thick smoke by concentrating on where he last saw it. Within the smoke, a yellow glow surrounded Magmar's body as Hypno's attack found its target. Magmar's Smokescreen attack was disabled, and the smoke was already starting to disperse through the gym.

"Magmar, set up now with Sunny Day!" Magmar focused a fiery energy within its body, creating an orange glow around it that became visible as the smoke cleared. A ray of light shot up from Magmar's body and created an artificial sun near the roof of the gym. The already hot gym started to feel even warmer for the two pokemon on the battlefield.

"Now, Magmar, attack with Flamethrower!" Magmar took several long, quick steps toward Hypno and then opened its mouth and spewed out a cone of intensely hot flames. The Sunny Day effect caused the flames to feel even hotter to Hypno, strengthening the Flamethrower attack. Hypno cried out in shock at the heat and fell back onto his butt.

"Your strategies are far too simplistic, girl." Blaine said to Ashley. "You provided me with the perfect opportunity to set up for this."

"You mean I played straight into his hands?!" Ashley thought, gritting her teeth. "Hypno, put that Magmar to sleep now! Hypnosis!" While still sitting down, Hypno raised his pendulum and hurriedly began waving it around. Hypnotic waves struck Magmar and drew its attention to the pendulum. Magmar began to feel more and more drowsy, falling asleep within seconds and collapsing to the floor.

"We'll make up for lost ground now!" Ashley declared boldly. "Hypno, use Nightmare!" Hypno swung his pendulum around, focusing a mystical energy around Magmar and using it to influence its dreams. Magmar grimaced in pain while it slept, having a terrible dream that was draining its life force.

"Ok, now follow up with Dream Eater!" Ashley called out. Blaine watched them attack his sleeping Magmar with a bored expression.

"-Nightmare THEN Dream Eater?!-" Hypno called back questioningly. "-You really ARE crazy!-" Hypno really didn't want to follow through with the order, knowing what was coming, but was more afraid of Ashley and Beedrill. Purple streams of energy began to flow out of Magmar's head, gathering in front of Hypno. When it was finished, Hypno opened his mouth and gobbled down the energy in several quick bites.

"-Bleh...-" Hypno grimaced after the first bite. "-So...bitter...-"

"He really doesn't seem to like that..." Rina thought, observing Hypno's expression. "I should tell Ashley after the match is over. I don't think Nightmare and Dream Eater is a good combination."

"Ok, once more! Dream Eater!" Ashley called out again, much to Hypno's dismay. Hypno focused his psychic powers, trying to draw out Magmar's dream but with no effect.

"Magmar, now! Attack with Fire Blast!" Blaine called out. His Magmar suddenly jumped up and spat out a small fireball. The fireball quickly expanded, seemingly growing arms and legs as well as it moved toward Hypno. The Fire Blast attack hit Hypno and almost matched up perfectly with his own arms and legs. Hypno was pushed back several feet until the attack finally exploded, knocking Hypno over onto the ground in front of Ashley.

"What?! I didn't even notice it wake up!" Ashley cried out in disbelief. Magmar's Fire Blast attack was still being powered up by the effect of Sunny Day when it hit, leaving Hypno very weak and tired after the attack. Magmar was looking fairly tired as well, but still in better condition than Hypno. The Sunny Day effect had finally ended as well.

"You should have been paying closer attention, then." Blaine said to her. "The first sign of Magmar waking up was the effect of Nightmare ending. When I saw Magmar was no longer in pain I knew he had woken up, even though he had yet to open his eyes."

"I didn't even think of that!" Ashley thought, mentally slapping herself for her oversight. "Hypno, quick! Put it to sleep again with Hypnosis!"

"Magmar, finish this now with Ember!" Hypno sat up and slowly raised his pendulum, but was too late to stop Magmar. The fire pokemon spat out a small fireball, hitting Hypno in the face just as he was getting ready to attack. The fireball hitting him knocked Hypno out, dropping him back to the ground.

"I guess I still need more practice with Hypno..." Ashley said quietly to herself, recalling her pokemon. Rina looked at Ashley's camera for a moment, wondering whether or not she should have taken a picture. She decided Ashley probably didn't want a picture of her own pokemon losing, though.

"Ok, lets try this one then!" Ashley called out as she took another pokeball from her belt. "Primeape, go!" The pokeball opened up and released the fighting pokemon Primeape out onto the field. Primeape let out a screech and then adopted a fighting stance with his fists raised in front of his face.

"First Hypno, now Primeape?" Rina thought, tilting her head to the side with a perplexed look on her face. "Ashley has two water pokemon with her, doesn't she? Why isn't she using them yet?"

"Ok, Blaine is probably going to try to either set up Sunny Day or bide his time with Smokescreen until he can..." Ashley thought. "Luckily, Primeape can prevent him from doing either!" A slight smirk spread across Ashley's lips. "Primeape, start off with Taunt!"

"-COLD! ITS COLD COLD COLD IN HERE!-" Primeape screeched. "-YOU CALL THIS A FIRE GYM?! I WOULDA THOUGHT IT WAS ICE!-"

"-Oh, its on now...-" Magmar growled, breathing out a short burst of flames.

"A good start, but can you follow it up?" Blaine said to Ashley. "Magmar, attack now with Fire Blast." Magmar was more than happy to attack Primeape with its strongest technique. Magmar shot out a small fireball from its mouth, which quickly expended and took on the familiar stick figure shape of a Fire Blast attack. Primeape hopped to the side as the attack reached him, taking only a glancing blow and staggering back a few steps.

"Good one, Primeape!" Ashley said, congratulating her pokemon. "Now, attack Magmar with Seismic Toss!" Primeape quickly ran across the gym and skidded past Magmar, grabbing him by his tail. Primeape then spun around several times, gaining momentum until finally tossing Magmar across the gym in Ashley's direction. Magmar quickly hopped back on his feet but swayed from side to side from the effort it took in his weakened state.

"A risky maneuver, or did you forget about my pokemon's special ability, Flame Body?"

"Special ability?" Ashley looked at Primeape, noticing a burn left on his lower left arm from Magmar's tail. "Thats not good...that burn will steadily weaken Primeape." Ashley thought when she saw it. "Not only that, but he won't be able to put as much power into his attacks..."

"Now, Magmar, attack with Fire Punch!" Magmar summoned the last of its strength and charged toward Primeape. Flames engulfed Magmar's right hand as he curled it into a fist, delivering a fiery uppercut once he was in range. Primeape staggered back from the punch but quickly shook it off.

"No point being careful now..." Ashley thought. "Primeape, finish it with another Seismic Toss!" Primeape quickly moved behind Magmar, grabbing him by the tail. Primeape then began spinning around in place, gaining momentum and then finally throwing Magmar across the gym again. Magmar hit the ground hard and stayed down, forcing Blaine to finally recall it.

"It seems my Magmar gave you quite a bit of trouble." Blaine said to Ashley. "You will need to think more carefully if you hope to beat me."

"I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." Ashley said smugly.

"I think this could have come out better..." Rina thought as she looked at the picture she just took. She was aiming to get a picture just before Primeape threw Magmar, but just barely missed it and instead got the picture just after Primeape let go. "Ashley doesn't seem like the best photographer at times but she's better than me anyway..." Rina placed the picture on the bench next to her.

"Ninetales, it is your turn now!" Blaine called out as he held out another pokeball. The pokeball opened in his hands, releasing a fox-like pokemon with golden fur and nine long, fluffy tails.

"Primeape, thats good enough for now! Return!" Ashley held out Primeape's pokeball and recalled him, deciding it best to use a different pokemon due to Primeape's weakened state. She placed Primeape's pokeball back on her belt and took another one in her hand.

"Poliwrath, lets go!" She called out as she released Poliwrath. Poliwrath appeared with a cheerful look in his eyes and carefully adjusted the fire pattern headband he was wearing.

"She's finally using one of her water pokemon now, and its Poliwrath too!" Rina thought, smiling. "This should be a good match!"

"Poliwrath, lets start off with Hypnosis!" Ashley called out. Poliwrath nodded and the pattern on his chest began to spin. The spinning drew in Ninetale's attention while directing hypnotic energy waves at the fire pokemon to put it to sleep.

"Ninetales, block it with Safeguard!" Ninetales' eyes flashed and her body shimmered as an invisible barrier against status effects formed around her. Ninetales' Safeguard effect blocked Poliwrath's Hypnosis completely. "That strategy won't work any better against Ninetales than it did against Magmar."

"This guy's pokemon really are defended well against sleep attacks..." Ashley thought, wincing.

"Now, Ninetales, weaken Poliwrath with a Will-o-Wisp attack!" Ninetales' eyes glowed red and a purple flame surrounded her body. The flame then disappeared and a fiery purple orb shot out toward Poliwrath, moving from side to side and dragging a tail behind it.

"Poliwrath, shoot it down with Water Gun and then use Rain Dance!" Poliwrath fired a quick blast of water from the center of his chest, hitting the incoming Will-o-Wisp. The two attacks negated each other in a burst of steam. Poliwrath then began to dance around, causing clouds to form over the gym's battlefield. As Poliwrath stopped dancing, a downpour began.

"Seems she thought that move out a bit more." Blaine thought while stroking his chin. "A quick Water Gun to douse the Will-o-Wisp, giving her time to set up Rain Dance. A water attack from her Poliwrath now would be quite devastating, but I still have some tricks up my sleeve."

"Ninetales, confuse Poliwrath with Confuse Ray." Ninetales' eyes gave off their trademark red glow again as she attacked, creating a ball of light and sending it floating toward Poliwrath. The light circled around Poliwrath several times before disappearing, leaving Poliwrath confused in his attempts to follow its movements.

"Shake it off and use Waterfall, now!" Ashley called out. Poliwrath struggled for a moment to focus on Ninetales, but then took off charging toward her. A veil of water surrounded Poliwrath's body as he moved in to attack, charging across the field like a watery comet and smashing shoulder first into Ninetales. Ninetales was sent sprawling back from the attack, but managed to quickly flip up and land on her feet. She stumbled briefly as she stood up, still reeling from the impact.

"One more attack like that should finish Ninetales off." Ashley thought with a smirk. "Poliwrath, attack with Waterfall!"

"Ninetales, evade it with Quick Attack!" Ninetales quickly shot off in a blur of movement, moving off to the side to evade a possible attack from Poliwrath. The effort ended up being unecessary, though, as Poliwrath suddenly decided to punch himself in the face instead of attacking. Poliwrath still seemed to be in a daze after hitting himself.

"Well, better safe than sorry at any rate." Blaine thought after realizing the Quick Attack was unnecessary. "Ninetales, Fire Blast now!" Ninetales attacked Poliwrath from the side, spitting out a ball of fire. The fireball expanded but didn't grow as large as usual due to the rain. It took on the shape of a stick figure and slammed into Poliwrath, then exploded shortly after. Poliwrath hardly seemed to take notice of it, though.

"Between Quick Attack and Confuse Ray his Ninetales might actually stand a chance of beating Poliwrath." Ashley thought. "Luckily Poliwrath has a technique that can deal with that!"

"Poliwrath, lock on with Mind Reader!" Poliwrath regained his focus, shaking off the confusion. He concentrated briefly, gaining insight into Ninetales' next move so he could ensure his next attack would hit flawlessly.

"With Mind Reader in effect there is no way for Ninetales to dodge now." Blaine thought, then smirked to himself. "It seems you have won this match, but my Ninetales won't go down without a fight."

"Ninetales, move in with Quick Attack!" Blaine ordered. Ninetales shot toward Poliwrath, striking him in the chest with a move too fast to follow. Poliwrath stumbled a bit and took a step back, but quickly regained his balance. The weak Quick Attack had even less of an impact than the Fire Blast attack he had previously endured.

"Now use Overheat!" Blaine called out, hoping to maximize the technique's power by using it at point-blank range. Ninetales' body began to glow as she gathered energy. She then released it in a fiery burst around her. The blast of flames engulfed Poliwrath but the attack was weakened by the continuing downpour. Combined with Poliwrath's resistance to fire techniques, it hurt him only slightly more than Ninetales' Fire Blast and he easily shook it off.

"Ok, lets finish this, Poliwrath!" Ashley called out. "Waterfall!" A torrent of water surrounded Poliwrath's body and he then charged into Ninetales, hitting her shoulder first. Ninetales was knocked back by the attack and fell onto her side. She raised her head as she tried to get back up, but fell back down as she lost consciousness. As Ninetales lost consciousness, the rain overhead came to a stop and the clouds disappeared.

"-I won! I won!-" Poliwrath cried out excitedly, pumping a fist into the air.

"I think I took a picture too soon this time..." Rina said to herself in dismay as she looked over the picture she just took of Poliwrath. The picture showed Poliwrath just before he hit Ninetales. Rina sighed and put the picture off to the side.

"Rain Dance is an obvious strategy for a water type, though few try to use it in my gym." Blaine said to Ashley as he recalled Ninetales, then adjusted his glasses with his index finger. "Perhaps they assume it would be unnecessary, or perhaps it is because only four species of pokemon native to Kanto learn it naturally."

"So...wait...are you calling me stupid for using an obvious strategy or praising me for using a strategy not many trainers use against you?" Ashley asked him, looking a bit confused.

"I didn't wasn't saying either, really." Blaine replied with a shrug. He took another pokeball out of his coat. "However, it will certainly make things interesting for my next pokemon. Rapidash!" Blaine's next pokemon emerged from its pokeball, a white horse with a mane and tail of fire and a horn on its head like a unicorn.

"A Rapidash? Is Blaine planning to take advantage of its speed?" Ashley wondered. "Well, he'll probably dodge Hypnosis somehow, so lets go with Rain Dance to start."

"Poliwrath, lets start this one with Rain Dance!" Ashley called out. Poliwrath nodded and began shuffling around while waving his arms in a sort of dance. Clouds began to form over the gym again, causing it to rain over the battlefield.

"Rapidash, counter with Sunny Day!" Rapidash's body glowed and then a ray of light shot up into the clouds, causing them to disperse. An artificial sun formed, giving the appearance of the sun breaking through the clouds. The Sunny Day effect caused it to feel warmer and the battlefield, wet from the previous downpours, quickly dried up.

"So thats his strategy, another pokemon with Sunny Day!" Ashley thought, but she couldn't help but wonder what good it would actually do. "Well, whatever." She thought. "After it attacks it'll be left open for Poliwrath to put to sleep and we can take it from there."

"You may or may not already know this, but some fire pokemon can gain a similar benefit from Sunny Day that grass pokemon can." Blaine said to Ashley. "Allow us to demonstrate. Rapidash, Solarbeam!" Rapidash raised his head, quickly gathering light energy through his horn from the artificial sun.

"SOLARBEAM?!" Ashley cried out in shock. She wasn't expecting a fire pokemon to be able to use such an attack, but use it Rapidash did. She lowered her horn to point it at Poliwrath and then fired a beam of solar energy at the water pokemon. Poliwrath cried out as the beam struck him, emitting a flash of light on contact and throwing Poliwrath several feet across the gym.

"Poliwrath!" Ashley called out worriedly to her pokemon. To her relief, Poliwrath slowly got back on his feet. He took a hard hit, but still had strength to fight back. Ashley breathed a sigh of relief, she was in trouble for sure if Poliwrath went down to Rapidash without even landing a hit.

"Poliwrath, Hypnosis now!" Poliwrath nodded, looking a bit more determined than usual. The pattern on his chest began to swirl around, sending out hypnotic waves toward Rapidash. Rapidash felt drawn to the swirling pattern and began to feel drowsy, soon collapsing to the ground as he fell asleep.

"Ok, time for us to make our comeback!" Ashley declared. "Poliwrath, set up Rain Dance!" Poliwrath began to shuffle around, causing clouds to form again. The artificial sun began to dim and then went out completely as the clouds blocked it from view and a downpour began.

"Now! Attack Rapidash with Waterfall!" Water began to flow around Poliwrath's body, then he charged toward the sleeping Rapidash. He slammed into Rapidash with his shoulder, knocking Rapidash over onto its back. Rapidash grunted in his sleep and slowly started to open its eyes.

"Lets finish this quickly with Waterfall again!"

"Rapidash, counter with Take Down!"

A watery veil formed around Poliwrath while Rapidash was quickly getting back up on its feet. The two pokemon charged toward each other, with Rapidash throwing its body at Poliwrath in a full out tackle. Two pokemon collided, creating a small splash from the water flowing around Poliwrath. The impact knocked both pokemon to the ground, seemingly fainting both of them.

"That one actually came out pretty good!" Rina said, smiling brightly as she looked at the picture she just took. She timed it perfectly, catching Poliwrath and Rapidash at the point of collision. The picture showed Poliwrath's shoulder coming into contact with Rapidash's head, just in front of the horn.

"Too bad that had to end in a draw though..." Rina placed the picture with the others and looked back to the battlefield. Blaine had recalled Rapidash but, to Rina and Ashley's surprise, Poliwrath was slowly starting to stand up.

"-I...win...again...-" Poliwrath said weakly, clutching the shoulder he hit Rapidash with.

"What...what just happened?" Ashley said, blinking in disbelief. "How could Poliwrath have possibly withstood that?"

"It seems you don't even know what that headband your Poliwrath is wearing does." Blaine said to Ashley.

"It does something?" Ashley asked. "I thought it was just an ordinary headband..."

"So did I..." Rina said quietly, looking on in confusion.

"That headband he's wearing is called a 'Focus Band'." Blaine explained to them. "When the pokemon wearing it would be knocked out, there is a chance the band will allow it to just barely survive. I am surprised you would be using it without knowing what it does."

"I only gave it to him because he likes wearing things on his head..." Ashley said to Blaine, still looking rather bewildered by the discovery.

"I...see..." Blaine replied. "Seems you were rather lucky then, but it will make little difference in the end." Blaine reached into his coat and took out another pokeball.

"It won't?" Ashley thought. "I should be able to get at least one attack in, unless he has something up his sleeve..."

"Arcanine!" Blaine called out as he released his pokemon from its pokeball. A red and black striped canine pokemon, standing at over six feet tall, appeared on the field. It was a powerful and majestic looking fire pokemon.

"Arcanine, attack with Extremespeed!" Arcanine began to run toward Poliwrath and then suddenly shot toward him, moving so quickly that for a moment Arcanine still appeared to be in the same spot. He came to a stop just behind Poliwrath, having seemingly missed its target. Poliwrath then suddenly dropped unconscious.

Ashley gasped in shock at Arcanine's technique. "What a fast attack! I didn't even see it hit!" Ashley exclaimed in disbelief.

"Poor Poliwrath...that must have hurt..." Rina thought, wincing. Ashley raised Poliwrath's pokeball and recalled him. She then quickly took another pokeball in hand, containing the only pokemon she hadn't used yet in the match.

"Vaporeon, this is it! Give it your best!" Ashley called out, releasing the water pokemon Vaporeon out onto the field.

"-I always give it my best.-" Vaporeon said as he materialized, appearing quite relaxed with his tail resting beside him.

"Well, Ashley still has Vaporeon left at least. Primeape too, even though he's burned." Rina thought. She then looked over at the door of the gym, remembering Bulbasaur and Pippi leaving earlier. "Pippi and Bulbasaur are still gone...I wonder if Pippi's had any luck with Surf?"


"-Ok! This time for sure!-" A wet Pippi, standing in water that was up to her waist, announced. The water then rose up around her, submerging her completely and then moving off further out to sea. Pippi found herself gasping for breath when the wave left her behind.

"-So much for lucky number seven.-" Bulbasaur said, snickering. He was watching Pippi from near the gym. The gym was next to the water, so they didn't have to go very far for Pippi to practice. It was Pippi's seventh attempt at using Surf, and her seventh failure as well.

"-I don't get it, I come close everytime but...-" Pippi sighed. "-I just can't get it right...-"

"-Maybe you're overthinking it?-" Bulbasaur said, shrugging.

"-Hmm...-" Pippi thought back to when she was being taught how to use the technique by the surfing Pikachu. She then remembered he was always riding a surfboard when he used the technique. "-Maybe what I need...is a surfboard!-"

"-Where the hell do you expect to get a surfboard, especially in the middle of battle?-" Bulbasaur asked her.

"-Hmm...good point...-" Pippi thought about it again and quickly came up with a solution. "-Maybe I could use my tail!-" Pippi slid her tail under her feet and then held it as stiff as she could. She planted both feet on her tail and then prepared to use Surf again.

"-This can only end badly.-" Bulbasaur said, grinning to himself. "-And humorously.-"

"-Here we go!-" Pippi focused on the water, causing it to rise up in a wave around her. Using her tail as a surf board seemed to make no difference, though, as she was still left submerged in the water before it moved off. Pippi gasped for air when the water left her.

"-Feh. That wasn't as funny as I thought it'd be.-" Bulbasaur muttered to himself.

"-I don't get it, why isn't it working?!-" Pippi cried out in frustration.

"-You know, I'm no expert, but maybe you should either try moving out further so you're floating in the water or start on solid ground?-" Bulbasaur suggested.

"-I don't see why but its worth a try I guess...-" Pippi moved out further in the water until she hit a sudden drop and went down. She swam back to the surface, gasping for breath.

"-I see attempt number nine is off to a good start.-" Bulbasaur said, snickering.

"-Ok...lets see if this works now...-" Pippi took a deep breath and tried to summon up a wave underneath her. This time it worked exactly as intended. The water bulged up, raising Pippi up and taking her with it as it began to move it away.

"-I did it! I DID IT!-" Pippi cried out excitedly, splashing about while she floated on top of it. She turned toward Bulbasaur, who was getting further away from her as the wave moved out. "-See that, Bulbasaur?! I can use Surf!-"

"-WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING YOU IDIOT!-" Bulbasaur yelled back. Pippi turned around just in time to see the wave she was riding strike a series of rocks sticking out of the water, put there to serve as wave breakers. They served their purpose, breaking the wave she was riding and throwing her off it. She cried out sharply as she was flung through the air and hit one of the rocks head first, knocking her out.

"-Go figure. She learns Surf and the first thing she does is knock herself out.-" Bulbasaur muttered, rolling his eyes. He walked over to the edge of the water and sighed.

"-Looks like I'm stuck going for a swim. Salt water really isn't good for me though...-"


"Vaporeon, attack Arcanine with Water Gun!" Ashley called out, using Vaporeon's only water technique. Vaporeon spat out a quick burst of water at Arcanine. Even with the boost from the rain, however, Arcanine easily withstood the weak attack.

"Arcanine, begin powering up with Howl!" Blaine called out. Arcanine let out an intimidating Howl, summoning his strength from within.

"Howl, that technique boosts Arcanine's physical attack power." Ashley thought. "Blaine must be planning to combine it with Extremespeed, but Vaporeon can stop that easily enough at least..."

"Vaporeon, use Haze!"

"Arcanine, Extremespeed!"

Vaporeon released a fine mist from his body, creating a haze that would remove the effects of a technique like Howl. The haze began to spread out, ensuring Arcanine couldn't avoid losing his power boost, but he did manage to delay it by attacking. Arcanine shot toward Vaporeon, moving quickly enough to leave behind a mirror image. Vaporeon recoiled from the impact, though only after Arcanine had come to a stop behind him. The haze in the gym lasted only a short time, long enough to remove Arcanine's power boost.

"Now, Arcanine, use Howl again!" Arcanine let out another Howl, summoning his strength again to increase his power back to what it was before Vaporeon used Haze.

"So much for that idea..." Ashley thought in dismay. "Everytime I use Haze, he's just going to attack with Extremespeed before losing the boost. I need some way to make sure Arcanine is not getting off easy either." Ashley smirked to herself. "I think I know just how to do that too!"

"Vaporeon, use Haze again!"

"Arcanine, attack with Extremespeed!"

Vaporeon released another Haze from his body to remove Arcanine's power boost again, but not before Arcanine was able to get off another attack. Arcanine quickly turned around and dashed toward Vaporeon. Arcanine struck the water pokemon and came to a stop just a few feet away, at which point the hit finally registered and Vaporeon staggered back from it. The haze around the two pokemon dissipated shortly after, removing the effect of Arcanine's Howl.

"Now, Vaporeon! Use Toxic!" Vaporeon quickly turned to face Arcanine and spat out a vile, purple substance at it. The toxic substance landed on Arcanine's back and almost immediately sank into his skin, inflicting him with a deadly toxin that would only increase in strength. The rain that had been pouring down throughout their battle finally came to a stop, leaving Vaporeon's best offensive technique even weaker.

"Seems you've managed to see through my technique well enough." Blaine said to Ashley. "But will you still be able to stop it?"

"I've still got some tricks up my sleeve!" Ashley replied and took Vaporeon's pokeball in hand. "Vaporeon, thats good enough for now! Return!" Ashley recalled Vaporeon and quickly switched pokeballs.

"Primeape, your turn again! Go!" Ashley held up Primeape's pokeball, the only pokemon beside Vaporeon that could still battle. The pokeball opened up, releasing the burned Primeape out onto the battlefield.

"She sent her weakened Primeape back into the fray. She likely intends to use its Taunt attack to provoke Arcanine." Blaine thought. "Using Howl now would be pointless, so I will go on the offense when she attacks."

"Primeape, use Taunt to keep Arcanine from powering up!" Ashley called out.

"-Another fire pokemon?! YOU NOT SO HOT EITHER!-" Primeape screeched at Arcanine.

"-I'm insulted that thats the best you can come up with.-" Arcanine shot back, glaring at Primeape.

"Arcanine, attack Primeape with Fire Blast!" Arcanine spat out a fireball at Primeape that began to quickly expand and grew out to resemble a stick figure. Primeape tried to move to the side to avoid it, but he stumbled as he felt the pain from the burn. As a result, one of the 'limbs' caught Primeape in the side. The fireball then exploded and knocked him to the ground. Primeape wasn't done yet, though, and started to slowly get back on his feet.

"Now finish this with Extremespeed." Arcanine shot forward and disappeared, leaving behind a transparent image of himself that faded away in less than a second. Arcanine reappeared behind Primeape, coming to a complete stop. Primeape cried out and was suddenly knocked back, hitting Arcanine's hind legs as the force of the Extremespeed attack finally took effect. Primeape was knocked out instantly, but Arcanine also winced in pain as the poison in its body grew stronger.

"I was hoping Primeape could at least get in one attack..." Ashley thought as she recalled him. "Well, he bought me a bit of time anyway. Its up to Vaporeon to finish this now." Ashley returned Primeape's pokeball to her belt and took Vaporeon's in hand.

"Vaporeon, go!" Ashley called out as she released Vaporeon back out onto the field. Despite being a bit battered from his previous match with Arcanine, Vaporeon looked as relaxed as ever when he appeared.

"-Good, I was disappointed that I was recalled so early.-" Vaporeon said, tensing slightly as he prepared to fight.

"This should prove interesting..." Blaine thought with a smirk. "Though she may not realize it, she's manuevered the battle into a position where it could go any way. Should her Vaporeon even get in one attack, Arcanine will fall to poison shortly after. However, will Ashley's Vaporeon be able to survive another Extremespeed from Arcanine?"

"Vaporeon, attack with Water Gun!"

"Arcanine, Extremespeed!"

Arcanine attacked first with his Extremespeed technique, moving before Vaporeon had a chance to act. Arcanine disappeared as he moved forward in a burst of speed, reappearing in front of Vaporeon after slamming into him. The impact knocked Vaporeon straight back, flipping him over onto his back in the process.

Vaporeon quickly rolled over, getting back up on his feet but stumbling slightly. He endured Arcanine's attack, but only barely. He then opened his mouth and fired a blast of water into Arcanine's face. Arcanine took several steps back, shaking his head to throw off the water. The attack was weak, but Arcanine dropped shortly after anyway. The poison drained the last of his strength.

"Well played, seems this battle goes to you." Blaine said to Ashley as he recalled his pokemon.

"I know that was the final knockout for the match but..." Rina looked down at the camera in her hands. She didn't bother trying to take a picture as Arcanine collapsing from poison after a weak Water Gun attack seemed anti-climatic to her.

"Great job, Vaporeon!" Ashley said to him.

"-Wasn't very exciting, and it was still close, but I guess a win is a win.-" Vaporeon replied with a shrug. Ashley held out Vaporeon's pokeball and recalled him. At that point, Blaine had crossed the battlefield to meet her and Rina had gotten up from the bench as well.

"It seems I have burnt out. Here is the Volcano Badge, proof of your victory over me." Blaine said, handing over the badge and a TM disc to Ashley. "Though you have managed to win, I feel you don't consider your techniques carefully enough. Most of your strategies were rather obvious, although I suppose I can't expect every trainer I battle to be a tactical genius..."

"I'll remember that next time then..." Ashley replied as she pocketed the two items.

"There's not many 'times' left for you to put your skills to the test." Blaine said to Ashley. "You have but one gym left to face. Few trainers are even capable of making it this far through the league, but if nothing else it seems your pokemon grow quite quickly.

"Who is the last gym leader anyway?" Ashley asked him curiously.

"I can't say I know..." Blaine replied, adjusting his glasses slightly as he thought it over. "I know the man who used to run the gym, but he disappeared. I highly doubt he's running the gym currently, if anyone is. However, I can tell you that he mostly uses ground-type pokemon."

"Well thats helpful at least..."

"Ashley, lets go already! Bulbasaur and Pippi are still waiting outside!" Rina said eagerly.

"Right." Ashley nodded to Rina. "Oh! Did you take those pictures?"

"I have a few but I don't think they're that good..." Rina replied, shyly handing Ashley the pictures she took during the match. Ashley quickly looked them over.

"They don't look too bad, actually." Ashley said to her. "Though you probably could have taken more." Ashley put the pictures in her bag. She would later sort them out and put them in a folder. She then faced Blaine to address him again.

"Blaine, thanks for the battle."

"It is what I do." Blain replied. "And now I must go wait outside again for my next potential challenger. It seems you two have other matters to attend as it is."

"Right." Ashley replied with a nod, then turned to leave the gym. "Ok Rina, lets go then!" Rina nodded and followed behind Ashley, exiting the gym. Despite having to go back outside, Blaine stayed behind to heal his pokemon and put on his disguise.


"-Ow...my head...-" Pippi muttered weakly as she came to. She slowly raised her head and looked around. "-Huh...?-" Pippi blinked in disbelief at her surroundings. She was back on the shore of Cinnabar Island, but there was no one else in sight. No humans or pokemon, Bulbasaur included. She quickly got up, ignoring the throbbing pain in her head, and took another look around.

"-Hello? Is anybody here?-" Pippi called out. Getting no answer she ran over to the gym and scratched on the door. "-Pippi! Ashley! Bulbasaur! Can anyone hear me?-" She kept scratching for several minutes before her arms grew tired and she slumped down next to the door.

"-I feel so alone...where is everyone?-" Pippi wondered aloud. "-I remember Bulbasaur shouting to watch where I was going, and then hitting the rocks...so how did I even get back here?-" Pippi looked around again and then suddenly felt a cold chill pass through her body.

"-Feels like there's an ice pokemon nearby...brrr...-" Pippi charged electricity through her body to keep herself warm, but it didn't seem to help any.

"-Whats going on here...did I miss something?-" Pippi looked out toward the rocks in the water. There was a whole line of them. She noticed something shimmering in the air over the water and squinted to try to get a better look at it. The longer she looked at it, the more it seemed to come into view.

"-What...IS that thing?!-" The shimmering object started to look more like the image on a tv screen when the cable goes out. It had a rather blocky, almost two-dimensional appearance. The upper half of it looked like a rectangle and the bottom half more like a square. Pippi got up and rubbed her eyes.

"-I must have really hit my head hard...-" She shook her head and looked back at the strange object. It was still there.

"-This...this is just a figment of my imagination...right?-" Pippi mumbled nervously to herself. The mysterious object suddenly let out a high-pitched, robotic-sounding cry and fired a burst of water at Pippi. She was caught off guard and knocked back by the attack, but despite that she found it barely hurt at all.

"-Are you some kind of pokemon?-" Pippi asked, though she was sure it was at this point. She didn't get an answer, but wasn't sure it heard her either. She quickly moved into a fighting stance, holding her arms out. "-Well if you ARE a pokemon, you're not very strong! I can take you on!-"

The pokemon Pippi was addressing didn't seem to take too kindly to her words. It fired two blasts of water, one emerging from each part of its body. Pippi did a backflip to evade the shot from the lower half of its body and then rolled to the side to evade the other.

"-You'll have to do better than that!-" Pippi boasted proudly. The mysterious pokemon then began glowing, charging energy for another attack.

"-Whats it doing now?-" Pippi wondered, tilting her head to the side. While she could tell it was gathering energy, she couldn't tell what kind of attack it was using. The pokemon's appearance made it hard for her to even tell what kind of pokemon she was facing, though she was assuming a water type due to it knowing Water Gun.

Pippi didn't have to wait much longer to see the enemy pokemon's attack. The pokemon twisted its body into a horizontal position, making it apparent that it was nearly flat. A fiery aura in the shape of a bird surrounded the pokemon and it took off toward Pippi. Pippi was ready for it and quickly jumped to the side, but the pokemon began to make a wide circle to come back once it had missed.

"-Oh yeah?! Two can play that way!-" Pippi charged electricity around her body and then took off running, gaining speed for her attack. The enemy pokemon came in low to the ground to attack Pippi as well. The two pokemon seemed to collide at first, but Pippi passed through the other pokemon as if it wasn't even there. The pokemon seemingly disintegrated shortly after and was gone when Pippi stopped and turned around.

"-Now I'm getting really confused...-" Pippi blinked in disbelief and looked around her, trying to find the other pokemon. She had come to a stop in the middle of a deserted street. While looking for the pokemon she noticed a shadow being cast over her from behind. The shadow continued to grow and grow and had a bumpy, cone-like shape to it.

"-AHA!-" Pippi shouted, expecting to find her opponent when she turned around. Instead, what she saw appeared to be a towering pile of eyeballs and tentacles. Pippi's jaw dropped as she stared in shock and horror at the abomination. It towered at least twelve feet into the air and looked like something out of a nightmare. Pippi was left frozen and speechless by the sight until the creature suddenly lashed out at her with two of its tentacles.

"-NOOOOO!!!-" Pippi screamed, charging electricity for an attack when suddenly everything faded to black.


"-NOOOOO!-" Pippi continued to scream and throw out as much electricity as she could, her eyes closed as she dare not even look at the creature. She eventually stopped and opened her eyes when it seemed nothing had happened and found herself in the middle of the water with the creature nowhere in sight.

"-N-now what?!-" Pippi wondered fearfully. She soon realized, though, that everything seemed normal again. Cinnabar Island, up ahead of her, was bustling with activity as people and pokemon went about their daily business around the town. She still couldn't see Bulbasaur, not until she looked down and realized she was standing on top of him while he was floating upside down in the water.

"-Bulbasaur? Then what...-" Pippi paused for a moment and considered what had happened. "-Was I...dreaming then? But I wasn't asleep! Is that still technically dreaming?-" Pippi pondered this for a moment until she realized she was still standing on Bulbasaur and he hadn't moved or said a thing. She looked down into the water to see Bulbasaur's face, his mouth floating just above the water, and quickly realized he was unconscious.

It didn't take Pippi long to put two and two together. After her last attempt at Surf, she messed up and hit the rocks. She was knocked out, causing her to have a dream involving the mysterious and nightmarish pokemon she faced. When the creature in her dreams attacked her with its tentacles, it was really Bulbasaur grabbing her with his vines and, as a result, she ended up shocking him and managed to knock him out.

"-Oops...guess this is my fault...-" Pippi rubbed the back of her head in embarassment. "-Well, then its up to me to get us back to shore then!-" Pippi looked behind Bulbasaur, where the rocks were, and contemplated the best way for her to move back to shore.

"Pippi! Bulbasaur!" Pippi heard Rina calling her and looked back to the shore. Ashley and Rina were standing just outside the gym now, with Ashley's match apparently over with.

"Pippi! What are you guys doing out there?" Rina shouted to her.

"-Umm...-" Pippi thought about how to explain it, but decided it would be best she got to the shore first. She reached one paw into the water and began to paddle, using Bulbasaur's unconscious form like a raft. "-I'll explain when I get there!-" She shouted back and then whispered to herself. "-This will be a long one...-"


Meanwhile...

"-Damn it, thats the last time I help her...-" Bulbasaur muttered angrily when he came to. "-Where the hell is everyone anyway?-" He then wondered, looking around the seemingly deserted Cinnabar Island. "-This place gives me the creeps for some reason...-"

Bulbasaur looked out toward the water, looking for Pippi, but instead he saw a strange blocky, static-like pokemon floating in the air. The strange pokemon launched two blasts of water, one from its lower body and the other from his upper body, and managed to hit Bulbasaur with both of them. Bulbasaur shook the water off his face and growled at the pokemon.

"-Bring it on, pal. You do NOT want to mess with me right now!-" Bulbasaur growled. He extended his vines and prepared to fight the mystery pokemon.


Author's Notes: You know, I heard a rumor once that Arcanine was originally planned to be a legendary pokemon in the first generation. It seems plausible anyway. Has one of the highest non-legendary base stat totals, beat out only by Slaking and the 600-BST pokemon like Dragonite and Metagross. Arcanine is also referred to as the "Legendary Pokemon".

Anyway, another gym battle over with, and I managed to squeeze in a cameo by a certain non-pokemon. I almost forgot about this entirely, and likewise almost forgot entirely about Pippi mastering Surf. I had plans for her to use the technique but she hasn't been shown working on getting it right. The tentacle-eyeball-creature that showed up was meant to play on the idea of said mystery pokemon basically being some sort of cosmic horror in the pokemon world. I wouldn't include that pokemon in the actual plot though, just a convenient and bizarre dream sequence.

Also, Ashley did not bring Burn Heal. Rina did though.

Whatever deities might exist in the pokemon world will let Bulbasaur have a break in the next chapter.