Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies. The characters in this work are all loosely based on those created by Pokemon and its companies, and this story will never by no means be used to make monetary profit or gain.
CHAPTER THREE
Dropping Mountains:
Not exactly how I had imagined in my head.
It was not full of enthusiastic crowds cheering and there were no dazzling light shows. There wasn't even a speaker who would usually comment about the battle on a loudspeaker.
Instead what I got was an almost empty gym, aside for a handful of trainers who were clearly there to see me humiliated. One of them even held a "You Suck!" sign up high.
People obviously did not think of this match as one worth seeing.
Pikachu was on my head today instead of his usual resting spot on my shoulder. I needed all eyes to be on him. I needed him today to be a showman. I needed him to be irritating and boasting.
Which was why I wasn't surprised when he sent a thunderbolt at the man holding the sign.
The bolt dissipated in the air of course. The psychic barriers were too strong to allow spectators getting injured. Yet the meaning of Pikachu's act was clear.
"Stop that!"
Brock entered the arena. I thought he would be irritated to battle someone like me, a nobody with no badges.
It was better than I thought. He was furious. I guessed he saw Pikachu's attack just then.
I ignored the boo's directed at me by the crowd and gave a short glance at Brock before lowering my gaze, acting as I completely ignored him.
Brock took his place across. Tall, dark, and muscular his physique had an imposing effect. His voice was naturally deep and authoritarian.
"Your pikachu pulls a stunt like that again, I will cancel this match. Do you understand?"
Looking bored, I just nodded. Brock's face scowled.
A gym aide rose up and entered the arena. He began reading from his dex aloud to a microphone "The match will be between Challenger... Red? and Leader Brock! Since this is Trainer Red's first league match-" A laughter from the crowd interrupted him. "A-hem, first league match, I will be dictating the rules now..."
I sat bow legged on my platform and began rubbing Pikachu's belly.
My complete lack of respect and continued attitude was making Brock visibly boil with anger. Good, I thought, I need him angry.
The aide continued while I kept up my nonchalant act. Although I wasn't sure if it was an act. Blue always said that the reason I never spoke much to other people was my body's instinctual defense mechanism - since I apparently tended to annoy people with my humans-are-booooring shtick, shutting up was the only way of avoiding getting punched.
From the look of Brock's face, I figured he would do more than just punch me.
Finally, the aide was quiet. I stood up again, and Pikachu made a show of flashing his fur with electricity next to me. Brock's eyes seemed to switch from me to Pikachu for an instance.
"Last chance Trainer Red. Forfeit now and I shall still allow you to study and learn here."
I just deliberately looked at the giant screen which now read "Trainer Red vs Leader Brock!".
"Fine. I pray you are not sending that rat of yours to death." And he threw a ball from his belt.
The earth shook and I barely held my balance. What the earth's trembling could not, the mighty roar that came after did. I fell backwards, but, embarrassed, quickly pulled myself back up. I looked upon the monstrosity that stood before me.
Rock atop rock atop rock. Each weighing how much? Half a ton? A ton? Together how heavy was this beast? I had to arch my back to finally see its head. Its eyes blazing, between was a razor-sharp stone blade poking outwards the head.
The Rock Snake Pokemon...
"Brock's choice will be Diamondback, his onix!"
The crowd cheered. Brock stood now cross armed with a strange determined look on his face. I knew what he was thinking. He was going to kill Pikachu. It would obviously pain him of course, but he clearly thought me lacking all qualities necessary in becoming a trainer. I had no control over my pikachu, I was showing him off as a play thing to attack innocents, I was too eager to battle, and so on... By taking a life, he would teach me a lesson and perhaps stray another spoiled boy from this path which was only reserved for the mentally strong.
He was obviously not playing games. Since he had entered the arena I had been riling him but he was too professional to let his emotions cloud his judgement. I angered him, and instead of losing nerve he sent out his strongest and best pokemon.
A pokemon that was ground and rock type. A pokemon that would be immune to Pikachu's attacks.
Which was exactly what I wanted.
I wanted to laugh out loud but couldn't, to win, I still needed to play my part. The moment I saw Brock's team on my dex I knew this was not something Pikachu could go up against. Pikachu would lose against any one of his team members.
Which meant that in order to win this match, Red needed to battle against Brock. Red, not Pikachu.
I remembered the receptionist's unknowingly helpful words.
Brock hates overconfidence the most.
My plan was to play the overconfident, stupid young trainer. Brock would no doubt then want to crush me without room for mistake. So, he would send the most advantageous pokemon from his roster against a pikachu.
His aerodactyl, kabutops, and omastar were all conductive and weak against electricity. I had no doubt that they could win against Pikachu with their years of experience, but sending them out would undermine Brock's point of proving me I was unprepared for battle. So that left his golem, rhyperior, and onix. And onix was his best, so why would he settle for less?
And Blue thought humans weren't boring. Acting exactly as I had predicted, Brock greatly increased my slim chance of walking out of here with a badge.
After all, no one could be prepared in six days for any possible pokemon out of a six-team roster. But six days were more than enough to prepare against a single onix, provided Brock used his. Which after careful goading, he did.
All this went through my mind in a second as I made the face of a frightened boy. Pikachu seeing this lunged forward, but I grabbed his tail pulling him back. Brock openly snickered.
"You cannot back down now Trainer Red!" the aide yelled to his mike. "Release a pokemon!"
I hastily threw a pokeball. The capsule opened and the red light poured out materializing into a beautiful butterfree.
The aide, obviously holding back his laughter, announced my choice. "Red's choice will be his butterfree!"
Brock's face darkened. He probably hoped to only kill one pokemon, my pikachu. Now this reckless trainer - me - was endangering a second one. Nevertheless, Brock didn't hesitate when he whistled a command.
Diamondback roared again, its voice pushing my butterfree a distance, and then lunged. I was prepared however. The butterfree hovered high in the arena, seemingly safe and above from the onix's reach.
Seemingly.
After another high-pitched whistle Diamondback coiled its body tight directly under my butterfree. Almost as fast as thought it jumped upwards, jaw snapping.
Luckily, my butterfree was literally as fast as thought.
I liked bug pokemon. They were easy to train and most of them had limited psychic capabilities. In the six days I had to prepare for this match, my metapod had shed its skin and evolved, the first thing it saw being me. Establishing myself as its superior, as a sort of hive overlord, I built a small, limited psychic link with it so that it would react to my thoughts.
My thoughts which told it to get the hell away from Diamondback's target area.
Disappointed, Diamondback crushingly landed. The deafening noise broke my butterfree's link with me, and for a moment, I truly felt scared, but then we were back. I still kept my face's horrified expression.
Diamondback tried - and missed - the same tactic again. Then came another whistle from Brock.
I did not like the look on Brock. He was now eyeing me questionably. I had tried my best to make it seem as the last two dodges were sheer luck, but I felt like he was wondering if it truly was.
Terrifyingly intuitive these leaders.
This time Diamondback raised his large tail once and slammed it hard against the gym floor. The tiles cracked. He repeated the action. Again. And again.
What's he doing- oh no.
Diamondback swept its large tail at the considerably large amount of piled up rubble - directly upwards.
Debris rose in the air blindingly fast, and I felt the mental exhaustion as I gave directions -up! -left! -turn! Butterfree managed to avoid the larger pieces. The smaller ones I could not track with my eye, so I screamed when I felt something tear through one of butterfree's wings. The pain broke our mental link and butterfree was alone.
Brock no doubt heard my scream and immediately understood his later suspicions were correct; if I had a psychic link with butterfree, I couldn't be some unprepared trainer. I wasn't a frightened kid who threw a butterfree to save his pikachu, all my acts had been deliberate. He looked me directly with newfound interest.
Gig's up. Was good while it lasted.
I dropped my scared child mask and put my poker face on. I straightened up instead of crouching. I hit the recall signal. Butterfree was injured but it was neither fatal nor hindering as he was fluttering about while I called him back to his ball.
The announcer's voice came "Trainer Red has recalled his butterfree!"
Pikachu looked up at me. I nodded.
"Trainer Red's second pokemon will be his pikachu!"
In the now broken arena Pikachu kept his distance from Diamondback. The huge snake tried focusing on him but seemed unable to as Pikachu jumped from ruin to ruin using his superior agility.
Brock gave another whistle. I gritted my teeth. This was it.
I tapped my microphone, and Pikachu stopped. Diamondback turned towards him, lunged, and... Missed by a large width.
The spectators and the aide were in shock. Brock's eyebrows rose. I however laughed heartily.
We got this.
I tapped again and Pikachu began charging towards Diamondback. He quickly but lightly tapped the onix's fallen head, the careful eye being able to catch a small flash of electric surge at the moment of contact. Barely avoiding the giant blade protruding from Diamondback's forehead, Pikachu backed up again and held still.
Diamondback rose and attacked head first again. This time he missed by an even larger margin. The moment his head hit ground, Pikachu again gently tapped it and ran back.
Our cat and mouse game continued twice more. Twice the giant snake attacked my Pikachu who didn't even attempt to dodge. Twice he missed by great distances. Twice my Pikachu patted him on the head.
The fourth time the head rose the giant snake's body spasmed hard. He seemed to be twitching all over. I admired his willpower as he tried one last tackle, but both Pikachu and I knew it was over. Mid-way he was hit by an even harder spasm. Finally, his upper body fell down with a crash, and Diamondback could not move again.
The red light swallowed him.
The gym was silent.
"Challenger Red has won the match."
It was Brock rather than the aide who spoke those words through the loudspeaker. After the announcement, the gym still remained silent.
Pikachu ran back at me and took his usual place on my shoulders. He wasn't even slightly injured. I gave a curt node towards Brock and left the arena.
My head held high.
))(())((
"Parafusion?"
After the match Pikachu and I were admitted to a small office room to receive the Boulder Badge. I had expected some league bureaucrat ready to handle the paperwork. Certainly not Leader Brock himself seated across, waiting for me.
"Well?" Brock repeated his question.
I nodded.
Parafusion was one of the most common strategies in league battling. It was a simple, yet extremely effective way of crippling larger pokemon. The word itself was a hint at how it worked, "paralysis" and "confusion".
Basically, by either using electric attacks or spores that had the same effect, you would paralyze your opponent's pokemon. Nerves would burn and the slightest movement would induce pain.
Still, paralysis by itself would never win a match. Some pokemon soldiered on and ignored their pain, making them still capable of dealing damage. That was where the confusion part came in. By using psychic attacks, you could make your opponent dizzy or see double. Most of the time the confused pokemon would damage itself by lashing out and crashing, instead of focusing on its opponent.
Neither paralysis nor confusion alone would be enough to finish off a pokemon. But when used together, parafusion took down mountains.
When I guessed what pokemon Brock would use against me, this was my choice of strategy. I expected metapod to evolve soon, so I had a pokemon with psychic potential in the bag. All the while butterfree was up against Diamondback, it was secretly secreting confusing powders and launching mental attacks, playing tricks on the onix's mind that would have short term effects. That was why Diamondback was unable to hit Pikachu, he probably saw him further away than where he actually was.
Next came overcoming the biggest flaw of this plan. The safer way to paralyze pokemon was by attacking at a distance. Diamondback however was an onix, part ground type, and supported its kind's trademark thick hide that prevented almost all electric based attacks from causing damage. It was impossible for Pikachu to harm Diamondback by sending thunderbolts and lightnings his way. We needed a subtler method.
Which was Pikachu straight up making contact and bringing the thunder directly.
Each time Pikachu tapped on Diamondback's head, he activated his static, defensive fur. When he touched Diamondback directly, without air in the way a medium, he achieved what would have been impossible from afar: He paralyzed an onix. And thanks to butterfree's earlier meddling with Diamondback's mind, Pikachu was relatively safe the times he approached a head at least thrice his size and had a giant blade attached.
It showed what a monster Diamondback was when he managed to come up four times to attack with his mind confused and body damaged. Most mons would have crippled after Pikachu's first contact.
Still, I would bet he'd have at least two more attacks in him if he had used his tail more instead of diving head first.
The key note to winning this match was Brock. I was sure Brock had trained his onix to resist psychic manipulation, so I had to throw his guard off. That was why before the match I acted as if I was a rookie trainer and flaunted Pikachu around. I wanted him to think me incapable of strategy and not order his onix's mental guards up.
A bit contradictory, I knew. On one hand I wanted Brock fully prepared to face off against me, but only against a pokemon of my choosing, against Pikachu. He acted as I predicted and sent his most advantageous mon against Pikachu, but I surprised him by sending a butterfree under the guise of "saving my starter from slaughter".
In other words, Brock lost this match because he forgot a golden rule of battling: Expect the unexpected.
Which was probably what he was thinking as his face grimaced after I confirmed his suspicions.
"You certainly managed to trick me." He grumbled. "And you certainly earned this."
He handed me the small grey badge. I took it in my hand and held it for a moment. Seven more to go.
"It is only symbolic of course so don't worry if you lose it. If you give me your trainer card I will use it to electronically update our system and- But you probably know all this don't you?"
I did. Badges handed out were only trophies, the real deal was the update of your trainer status in the league system. This way at the gates of Victory Road instead of showing small, easily could-be-stolen stones, you just had to swipe your card and provide identification.
"Now." Brock continued - he didn't seem on letting me go easily. "Allow me to give some advice. And an offer."
I stared.
"The thing is I do not think you worthy of this badge. Not that you didn't earn it." He quickly added seeing the look on my face. "But because your trick will never work a second time - a video of this match has been uploaded on the league system. Every further leader you wish to challenge will now know not to underestimate you as I have. You yourself probably know you did not defeat me through the strength of your team, only through good psycho-analysis and theatrics."
He silently dared me to challenge otherwise, but I kept quiet. "I do not know your goals. I do not care for them. But I assume you will continue to challenge the closest gym near. And if you challenge another leader as hastily as you challenged me, you will lose."
He paused a moment. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "I admit I made mistakes battling you. I admit you played me well. I also admit that these mind games between trainers are an essential part of battling. But that's the thing. These tricks, today they were the only play you had. You had no back up plan and were seriously under powered. Do you deny?"
I didn't, but I also wasn't going to admit this aloud.
He cleared his throat and began again in a gentler voice. "So here's my offer. You have won the badge, yes, but I want you to stay here in this gym. You are obviously an incredibly talented trainer, but you still have faults. Stay. Study. Grow. Let us teach you more. We would be honored to have you."
It was a good offer, except I had a goal and a time stamp on it. I did not have the luxury of spending months cramped up in a gym, no matter how beneficial it could be for me.
I shook my head sideways. Pikachu, sensing we were about to leave, took his place on my shoulder. I stood up. So did Brock.
"Very well, Trainer Red." Hesitating, he offered his hand. "I have to warn you, my mistake or not, taking down a leader in a mere twenty-three days after graduating, it's never been heard of. You might receive, eh, judging from your silent disposition, some unwanted media attention. I suggest you take the back exit to the gym, ask Darcy at reception."
Thankful, I reached out mine, and we shook hands.
"May I ask one last question Trainer Red? Perhaps a private one?"
Why not, I thought. Brock had been generally nice and it wasn't like I had to answer. I nodded.
"Red is not your real name, is it?"
I shook my head.
"I see." He looked thoughtful for a moment. Finally, he bid me farewell with a "safe travels".
))(())((
I had left butterfree in care of the nurses at the pokecenter and was now lying on my motel bed holding my first badge high. I played with the lights it made as the sun set outside my window. Pikachu was sleeping soundly near me. He hadn't shown while we were at the gym, but six days of intense training coupled with today's match had brought him to exhaustion.
The events of the days were racing through my mind, but I was mostly hung up on Brock's words after the match. If you challenge another leader as hastily as you challenged me, you will lose.
Grunting, I rolled to my side allowing my arm to fall. He was right of course. Then again, the next badge I planned was in Cerulean City, and its leader Misty was known as an expert of water types. Pikachu would have a natural advantage over her chosen type and I hoped it would be enough.
Thinking of Pikachu made me realize I was thinking of him in capital letters more and more of often. When had that begun? Curious, I leaned on my side to look at Pikachu.
I began gathering my thoughts. Pikachu were timid, fast pokemon that would rather avoid danger than confront it. They usually used their deadly high voltage attacks only when threatened. Yet mine shocked me the first day we met. He physically went toe to toe with first the zigzagoon, then the mankey I caught. He didn't even flinch today as he charged an onix. All these were very uncharacteristic of a pikachu.
A Pikachu among pikachu. A Pikachu that would constantly redefine its species' capabilities. A Pikachu that wanted to be constantly seen, not hidden in some ball.
One who maybe wants to rise above his species, I allowed myself to think.
Just like me.
I whispered. "You win. Again. You don't need a name."
In his sleep, Pikachu twitched.
"You are the name. You will continue to break through your naturally set barriers. And when you and me finally do it, when we become champions, people will know. They will know the difference between Pikachu and pikachu."
Just like they would know the difference between me and them.
The hand I was holding my badge with felt slightly numb. I opened my fist to realize, lost in my intense thoughts I had squeezed too hard. The sharp edges of the badge had cut my hand and I was now bleeding.
I stood up and headed to the bathroom to wash my hands. Blood, it always comes to blood...
I watched absent minded as the flowing water turned red.
))(())((
We checked out early morning. The receptionist kept staring.
"What?" I finally snapped. Pikachu's fur crackled - I noticed he kept doing that when he wanted to issue a warning.
"No- Nothing. It's just that..." The boy who was about my age leaned forward. "You just can't be Trainer Red? Can you?"
Horrified, I looked at him. How the hell-
"Brock's our leader. Not many have defeated him here. Word goes around." He looked awe stricken. "It is you, isn't it?"
I took out half of my earnings from my victory and dropped them on the counter.
The boy looked up to me then to the money. Slowly, he took it. "You should put that pikachu in a ball if you don't want to be recognized," he said.
Like I hadn't tried. Genius, this boy.
"Also, you should hide your face. A photo was on the local news late last night."
I cursed inwardly. Attention was Blue's thing, not mine. To me, attention was a bore.
Pikachu and I left and made our way towards the docks. I was hoping I could find a ferry that would take me to Cerulean.
What I found was hysteria.
A crowd was gathered in front of a lone female officer who was trying to make her voice heard over the yelling people. After a few tries she finally gave up and threw several pokeballs up in the air.
The crowd pulled back and silenced.
Not that I blamed them.
The houndoom was growling low but loud. Its head was high, mouth wide open, showing its sharp canine teeth. Smoke came out of its mouth as a tongue of flame licked its lips. Its body was tense, muscles easily strained and visible, it was ready to strike on command.
In contrast to the growling, threatening houndoom, the absol was quiet in an almost dignified matter. Yet I knew what scared the people more than the houndoom was this beast, many dark pokemon were victims of superstition, but absol had gotten the worst end of it. A call for disaster, that was the common people's opinion of absol. And this one, terrifyingly beautiful, lowering its head and showcasing its single horn, seemed not intend on proving them wrong.
The honchkrow was large enough for the woman to climb. It hovered above us, and the woman spoke, her voice clearly audible this time.
"As I was saying..." The woman's voice was surprisingly cheerful. "The river road is closed until further notice." The crowd began murmuring again so she continued before it got too loud. "This is for your own safety people. And don't try to sneak through. Officers are guarding the riverbank all the way, and rangers are patrolling the waters."
"Why?" a brave soul yelled but was completely ignored by the woman.
"I am here to oversee this operation so no one gets hurt." She continued but was interrupted when someone yelled he was awaiting shipments today. This caused a stir in the crowd as cries of lost money and jobs could be heard.
"The league," the woman said, "will naturally compensate your losses." This calmed the crowd a little but I was nailed still.
I finally understood who this woman was, speaking so freely on behalf of the league and wielding three dark pokemon.
Karen of the Elite Four.
Why, why was she here? What could have possibly happened that made one of the four leave the Plateau? I dimly remembered reading the last time this happened, more than a decade ago something called "The Cinnabar Massacres"; where a Gym Leader and several scientists had been murdered, and the culprits had escaped. If the situation here was as serious as it was back then, I suspected the river would be off limits for at least a few days, maybe even weeks.
At a distance I saw Brock riding his rhyperior getting near. Karen apparently saw this too, and she swooped down near him. They began whispering frantically and I saw Brock nodding.
Deciding whatever happening was way above my pay grade, I turned my back and wandered randomly in the city. Albeit, I was frustrated. With the river closed, my ways of reaching Cerulean were limited. I checked my savings, hoping it would be enough for paying someone to fly, teleport, or shadow me, but I doubted it. Flying pokemon were extremely expensive to rent and usually required a three-badge license. Teleportation costed even more and had a booking duration that lasted days. And finally, I suspected I wouldn't be able to find a dark or ghost type trainer capable enough to shadow me alongside.
I frowned after counting my money. Everything I had would be barely enough to rent a pidgeot to Cerulean, but I wouldn't be able to pay the challengers fee when I got to the gym. I briefly considered avoiding the officers by the docks and stealing a boat, yet I had no idea how to captain one. Training a water pokemon to surf me up would take too much time, and I seriously doubted they would let me just swim while this operation was ongoing.
Sighing and out of options, I sat on an onix shaped bench. If I was lucky, this mess would resolve itself quickly and I would be on my way soon. If not, I had to change my entire planned course. Lost in thought, I watched Pikachu chasing pidgey gathered around a statue centered in the city square. The statue was of a faceless mine worker and his nosepass. The man had a pickaxe strapped over his shoulder and was wheeling a cart full of gems. The nosepass was in front of him, obviously leading the way. On the base of the statue was some writing I could not make out.
Curious now, I walked up to it. There read in golden capital letters the city slogan "We Push Through", symbolizing the centuries of struggle Pewterians gave and won against their hostile environment.
We push through...
My eyes opened wide. Pikachu stopped clowning and stood near me, glancing at the statue and unaware of the inspiration it gave me.
I straightened up and tried looking towards the horizon but the buildings cut my view. Nevertheless, I knew it was there.
I couldn't fly over the mountains to Cerulean. I couldn't go around them on water.
But what I could do was go through them.
A sudden chill rushed me as I felt the ever-looming shadow of Mt. Moon fall upon the city.
))(())((
Author's Note:
I know most of you are thinking "yeaaah we got another aim for the horn situation here, there's no way a pikachu can shock yet alone paralyze a ground type like onix". Well, veterans among you will know that despite the immunity ground types have to electric attacks, abilities such as static can still paralyze them, meaning if a static pikachu made contact with a ground type, it would be paralyzed. Blame the system, not me.
Parafusion is an actual tactic in the games. The opposing pokemon will hit itself 50% of the time due to confusion, and 25% percent of the time it will be fully paralyzed. Meaning the opponent will only have an approximate 37% chance of attacking, plus the 50% speed drop. One of my favorite strategies among paraflinching - look it up and despair. It will make you see the cuddly cute togekiss in an entirely different light.
Next update: Week of December 4th.