Chapter 10
Max acted as the referee, and said that we would both deploy our pokemon at the same time. Emily threw her pokemon, just as my Natu entered the arena. She had released a Butterfree.
"Both trainers will use one pokemon only, so they will be no switching at any time. The trainer who has their pokemon standing at the end will be announced the winner. Trainer Emily, kick things off."
Emily gave me a little smile, and pointed upwards to the sky dramatically. "Butterfree, get into the air, and then use Poison Powder!"
My heart dropped. The little Natu would stand no chance. I had to do something.
"Dodge it, then use Night Shade." I shouted, determined to win this match.
"Na-tu!" it announced shrilly, leaping up into the air using its little wings that were threaded with colourful shades of yellow, black and crimson. The poison powder attack flew forward, a purple deadly shroud, but my Natu flew nimbly out of the way, and flew forward, unleashing its counter.
The night shade hit the Butterfree, which flew backwards, and dipped low until it touched down onto the ground. I glanced sideways, and saw Max give me a sly thumbs-up – he knew just how effective that move would be in this match.
Emily didn't look particularly happy. "Get back up, hit that thing with Psybeam!"
The attack was unleashed, sending the Butterfree back slightly. My Natu had no chance of dodging it this time. The beam hit it full on in its midriff and sent it hurtling backwards. Its little wings beat frantically, only just keeping it hovering off of the ground.
The battle was just beginning to get interesting. My Natu had just been hit hard, and looked to be struggling. However, if Natu could just stay conscious for a bit longer, then Night Shade was sure to finish the Butterfree off.
"Natu, Night Shade again!" I shouted.
The attack slammed into the Butterfree, which finally dropped low and hit the floor. Emily could tell her pokemon was visibly struggling, and she looked slightly sorry for it.
It was time for me to finish the battle off.
"Natu, hit it again!"
My small pokemon unleashed the same attack again, but Emily was ready. She leaped forward, pointing viciously at my Natu.
"Don't you dare go down now! Counter with Confusion!"
Just as my pokemon hit the Butterfree, the bug/flying pokemon had countered with the attack. Butterfree fell to the ground, swaying slightly, but still hadn't fainted. My Natu had taken the blow of the attack before I could say anything, and it too fell to the ground.
Both pokemon refused to collapse first. Emily and I flew out of our trainer boxes, loudly encouraging our pokemon to stay awake. Max got back off the bench, and strode over, blatantly enjoying the situation.
"We go to the showdown. Whichever pokemon falls first will lose the match, and the other trainer will be the winner."
Natu's eyes were cross-eyed, and it was making strange little noises as it fell one way, then righted itself dreamily. The Butterfree was doing the same sort of movements, but I was always confident the Night Shade had taken its toll eventually.
Emily's bug type toppled backwards, and hit the ground, sending up a thin veil of dust and grit. Natu gave a small victory noise, and collapsed into my arms as I scooped it up and gave it a little hug. It had done its job amazingly, especially because it was the first time I had used it in battle.
"Victory to trainer Dan!" Max announced, clapping me on the back.
Emily came across the field to me, and gave me a little kiss on the cheek. Despite what had just happened, she still looked pleased.
"Well done!" she exclaimed, returning her Butterfree to its poke ball.
"I'm surprised you're so happy! That was some ending!" I replied, failing to mask a huge grin.
She nodded. "Yeah, but my Butterfree did so well, and it's all experience in the end."
I couldn't fault her logic. "I suppose so."
"That Night Shade worked well, I assume your Natu was quite high level. At least level 25?" After I nodded in confirmation, she said: "Well, Butterfree's aren't exactly known for their large amounts of HP, are they?"
We all had a good laugh, before she handed me my winning money. I counted it up when I was away from the group, and couldn't help but feel uplifted when I realised I had earned just over $200 just from that match.
Maybe this pokemon thing is better than I thought…
I returned to the group, just in time to see Max face off against James. I became the referee, and watched on excitedly as Max released his Magby, and James sent out his Sandshrew. It promised to be a good match up.
James kicked things off.
"Okay, Sandshrew, let's do this!" he exclaimed. "Use Sand Tomb!"
This confused me – he obviously hadn't evolved his pokemon into a Sandslash just yet. I wondered why.
The barrage of sand flew forward, shaped like a tornado, and consumed the Magby. It was briefly out of view, before it reappeared, looking supremely pissed off.
"No more of that!" Max roared. "Use confuse ray, then flame burst!"
The fire type reacted quickly, sprinting towards the ground type after it had fired off the confuse ray. Sandshrew became cross-eyed, and staggered around aimlessly, just before the Magby seemed to erupt into flames, and attack its opponent very hard.
The attack was very powerful, and the ground-type hit the ground. However, the fall seemed to make it come out of its stupor. The confusion attack wore off, and the pokemon became ready for orders once again.
"Sandshrew, use Dig! Get under the surface!"
"Shrew!" it shouted, using its slender claws to dig a large hole, before scurrying through it. Magby looked at Max, unsure of what to do next.
"Magby, burn that thing out! Use Fire Punch!"
The fire-type made its way forward, and threw a violent punch onto the ground just in front of it. Its fists blazed with flames, and the ground set alight. The fire burnt a large hole in the ground, revealing the Sandshrew lurking beneath the ground.
Max leered at it. James raised his eyebrows, blatantly surprised. He opened his mouth to give orders, but Max was just too fast.
"Hit it again, fire punch!" my friend shouted, sensing victory.
The Magby leaned forward, made a triumphant noise, and smashed the Sandshrew even further into the ground with a combination of flaming fists. Once it had moved backwards, I saw the Sandshrew wasn't moving.
"Sandshrew is unable to battle! Victory to trainer Max!" I announced, giving my mate a high-five, and a respectful handshake to James, who looked slightly confused.
"What's up?" Max asked him, giving him a handshake too.
James looked up, his brow furrowed slightly.
"I had no idea a Magby was capable of that! Using the environment to your advantage; that was very clever. You're clearly a very…unorthodox…trainer, Max!" he said.
I laughed, but couldn't help but agree with him. Most trainers in that situation would've waited for the Sandshrew to make its move, and then counter quickly, but Max had gone charging in, literally tearing the ground apart to get to his opponent. It could've gone very badly, but resulted in his victory instead. I couldn't help but respect him for that.
Once we had scuffed the ground back to how it was before – although there wasn't anything we could do about the hole – and Max had been given his winnings, we sat down on the bench.
I took a deep swig of water, while Max pulled out his map. James leaned towards us.
"So where are you guys headed to now?" he asked.
Max pointed to Viridian City. "We're gonna head there first, then get transport to Pallet Town, so we can do the gyms all in order."
"Ah, I see. There should be a train that goes from there straight to where you want to go, but if not, I'm sure there'll be another way."
"We're kinda banking on the train, but ah well. Where are you going?"
Emily replied this time. "We're off to take on the Elite Four."
Max raised his eyebrows. "You think you're prepared enough?"
James smiled. "Apart from the match here, we haven't lost a single trainer battle. Besides, all of my more experienced pokemon are right here." He patted all of the poke balls on his trainer belt.
"What sort of pokemon have you got?" I asked intrigued.
"I've got a Charmander, Heracross, and a Gyarados. I'm feeling pretty confident." James said.
"Same really, except I've got an Alakazam, and Tyrantrum to throw into the mix." Emily continued.
They seemed pretty prepared. After swapping phone numbers, and wishing them well, Max and I set off around the bend. The entirety of the route lay out ahead of us, beaming in the afternoon sun.
"We should try to get to the junction by night, then we'll be able to get the train tomorrow." Max said. I agreed, so we headed off down the road.
Our progress was halted many times by other trainers, who kept stopping us and asking for battles. Following Pokemon League rules, we accepted each time. I breezed through most of my battles, only losing my Drillbur to the hands of a high-level Blaziken.
As soon as the sun dropped below the tips of the towering trees, we began to run into less and less trainers, so we kept up a steady pace until we reached the junction, that led off to Viridian City and a very large mountain. We pitched our tent up in a large clearing in a forest, and hit the sack.
I had only just begun my adventure, but had experienced the toils on my first day already. I knew for sure that it was a long road ahead, but that it had to be done to save the region, and the world of Pokemon as we knew it.
A lot was riding on my shoulders.
I was just beginning to feel myself sink into the blissful depths of sleep, when a rustling woke me up. It was Max, leaning over me.
"Someone's been following us this whole time!" he spat out.
My heart froze, and dropped into my stomach.
Who could it be?