During the battle I had plenty of time to look around, and the challenger`s spot was the best place to do it. I think Surge did this on purpose, because just from this exact point of view I could see the scratch markings on the wrong bins pointing right at the correct bin. Without a battle the challenger would unlikely notice this. Smart old devil Surge…
I could clearly see it on his face; he knew I solved his puzzle. And this is why he gave me ten minutes to finish this part of the challenge. This is exactly the time I need to place my hurt pokemon into the machine, activate the correct switches, take pokeballs back and head up to the second field. And this is exactly what I began to do.
The healing machines were right in the corner of first field, ready to go. So I quickly put the pokeballs of Harry and Dumlping into the slots, pressed the button and headed back to the cans.
One switch was found, but the second remains, and I have nearly seven minutes to find it. Considering that additional battles will delay me even more, I have no right for the mistake. I have no wish to fail lieutenant Surge, not any more.
The first switch turned off one of two lightning bolts before the ladder to the second field. The second one will open the way completely. I wonder how many trainers actually passed this damn challenge.
"I know how to inspire you a bit." Suddenly lieutenant Surge came to me from behind and put his large hand on my shoulder. "If you fail once more, not just you will be electrocuted and challenged, but also the system will reset the electric gates and change position of switches. And it will be much harder to find them next time…"
"Yeah, lieutenant, that sounds very inspiring, thanks." He tried to make me mad and lose the control, but that won`t work. I stared at the first correct garbage can. The contents of it couldn`t tell me anything new: some metal shavings, broken circuits, wires, gears and just random plastic parts.
Maybe, the hint is not in the can itself, but in other trainers? They seem to have their own region of the field under control. If I fail two times in one region, the watcher literally won`t be able challenge me again as he will be already beaten. That means I just can`t fail in one region again, and the second correct trash bin is just somewhere near. That makes… not much sense, really.
I looked around once more. This theory of mine sounds pretty stupid, actually. But yet this one looks the most adequate comparing to the other two. I have to analyze it.
Three trainers control fifteen cans. The logic says that they must have equal field zones – that means five cans for each one. Their positioning was pretty suspicious too from the first sight, but now I see some sense in it. The sailor-looking man was standing in one corner of field. Engineer Baily was right near the center, and a gentleman in suit and hat is in the opposite corner. If their controlled zones are equal and not mixed, they must have borders. And the second correct bin will be right on it. AND near the first one!
I took nearly a minute to sort out some possible variations of their zones placement, and just one seemed fitting to me – the cornered ones have their five cans placed in a line. That remains only three cans in center and two in sides… The correct one was shifted a bit from the center, and so the second one will be in the center or on the edge.
Who the hell would place a correct can in the center? In the first place a challenger would check? Definitely not Surge. Maybe he is cunning and smart, but he NEVER uses reversed psychology. Never.
"I made my decision." I announced and looked at the time. I have four more minutes to finish the job.
And this time I was sure in this. With a determination I came to the bin and carefully looked inside. It was full just of metal shavings. Sharp metal shavings. This will hurt, but…
I noticed just now. After the first correct trash can my arm was not hurt. That thing was filled with shavings too, but… They were rubber! Metallic-colored rubber shavings!
This is the last trick Surge put on me. After a bold decision I closed my eyes and dig my hand deep in the trash can and finally touched the second switch.
The lights in the whole gym turned off for some seconds, making it fall into a deep darkness. Sometime later everything turned on again, and the lightning barrier between the two fields was gone.
"Ha! You impressed me, soldier. You solved this thing." Lieutenant Surge was very glad that I succeeded. But the real reason, I guess, was the actual battle between us. He wished to battle me as much as I want to battle him.
Lieutenant Surge turned away and headed to the main field. On his way he raised his right hand high up and clicked fingers, and after that the huge screen started to glow. I noticed that engineer Baily disappeared – I guess, he ran away to the control room.
Without any more time to spend, I rushed back to the healing machine and took back my restored pokemon. The timing was perfect as I ran to the main field across the first one, carefully avoiding all these damn trash cans. Very soon I was on the challenger`s spot, in the opposite of lieutenant Surge with his first pokeball already good to go.
"So, soldier, you managed to do it this far. I`m really impressed, and definitely could not expect this from you. The man that was afraid of pokemon so much he refused to have a team partner! What exactly changed?"
"Everything has changed." I said quietly while taking my first pokeball. "But at the same time nothing has changed. The time makes us do stupid things. Things that we regret later… Or not."
"Oh, I see now how bad it is. Whatever goal you pursue right now, you`re going to pass a lot of challenges. And, as a gym leader, I have to give you the best challenge I can. Voltorb, let`s go!"
Lieutenant threw his first pokeball right on the center of field, even leaving a small crack on the ground. The energy escaped the capsule and turned into a round and very angry pokemon.
"A Voltorb, huh? Well, let`s start with something… unexpected. Moment, deal with it!"
I had him prepared very well before this. Of course, sending a flying-type against the electric one is very risky, but we have this awesome speed that allows us to dodge anything! If we will make the first impression on lieutenant Surge, the rest of battle will be a piece of cake.
"The battle between the gym leader Surge and the challenger Vengeance is about to begin. The battle will be one-on-one with three pokemon on leader`s side and up to six pokemon on the challenger`s side. Only the challenger may substitute his pokemon during the battle." The loud voice on Baily announced the beginning of battle. Screen above us showed the pictures of Surge`s Voltorb and my Moment.
"This is really unexpected, yes. But we will not be caught off guard. "Voltorb, start with Tackle."
"Moment, be careful and use Astonish!"
This time we should be really cautious as Voltorb is a pretty fast pokemon too, and maybe he has also a variety of attacks to use against us. Double advantage over us also includes no super effective moves from our side, and that`s bad.
The ball pokemon rushed to my Golbat quickly gaining speed. Moment didn`t wait too and flew towards the opponent, but I could clearly see that we were a bit slower. Some ball pokemon could beat my Moment, I just can`t believe this.
After a strong collision both pokemon were hit and got some damage, but Voltorb seemed to be not very caring about the Moment shouting at it.
"Bad, soldier, very bad!" Lieutenant shouted at me. "The battle is finished if that is all you`ve got! Use Shock Wave, Voltorb!"
What is a Shock Wave? Definitely something electrical… And not too good for us if it hits.
"Moment, dodge the attack and Bite this Voltorb!"
The opponent hopped back and charged a bolt of electricity to launch at us. Moment saw that and stopped in midair to dodge the attack, and when the charge was released into flight, my pokemon sharply moved to the left, evading the hit… But the charge suddenly changed its direction and hit my Moment right in the back. That was too sudden for us, especially for my pokemon himself.
"Ha-ha, nice one! One more – and the beast is down! Shock Wave him, Voltorb!"
I just couldn`t understand what has just happened. Was that thing… homing? Is there any way of dodging it?
"Moment, dodge it with Ninety-flight maneuver!"
Hope this will work, during the training Moment did this one very well. He waited for a second when opponent will release another Shock Wave and rushed straight down, redirecting the attack down too. At the last second before hitting the ground he immediately changed his course, avoiding the collision… But the Shock Wave hit the ground, exploding very powerfully and hitting Moment too. He was already weakened before, and this was the last damage he could handle as he fell on the ground and fainted.
"Golbat is unable to battle, Voltorb is the winner!" Baily announced proudly.
"At least, you have some real guts to throw a flying-type against us." Surge crossed his hands on chest with a grim on face. "Even more guts to try dodging our Shock Wave. Nothing can dodge it, soldier! This move ALWAYS hits the target, no matter what!"
"I see now. And I will remember it, lieutenant." I replied while returning my poor Golbat back to his pokeball and taking the next one. "I will remember it…"
My next throw released the light energy from a scratched pokeball, forming a Bellsprout on the field.
"Harry, use Vine Whip!" I rushed into the battle without a delay.
"I see… Voltorb, use Screech!"
Oh no, not that again! I quickly closed my ears to make the pain a bit easier, but it still felt. My Harry twitched after that, but still managed to hit the target with the Vine Whip, sending our opponent rolling to the side. Suddenly an idea came to me, and this could become a nice new maneuver later.
"Harry, toss him in the air and smack with all power you`ve got!"
"What`s on your mind, soldier? Voltorb, use SonicBoom!"
They attacked at the same time, opponent sending a sound wave into us and Harry stretching his vines to the ball pokemon. Of course, the SonicBoom hit the first, making my partner lose concentration for some seconds, but he managed to withstand it and hit the Voltorb from the bottom. Our opponent was thrown in the air, surprised and even scared. But in the next second my awesome Bellsprout hit it with vines, sending into flight straight forward, until the collision with wall. Maybe this wasn`t super effective, but it did the job, just like in the previous time.
Another Voltorb was fainted.
"Voltorb is unable to battle. Bellsprout is…" Baily`s voice suddenly interrupted as he noticed the strange light coming from my Harry. We all noticed that, and when the light fully covered the body of my pokemon we all realized what is happening.
"…is evolving!"
The shape started to change a lot. His whole body reformed into a one large piece, growing leaves even bigger. The thin trunk disappeared as his head became much bigger and, looks like, remained the only part of his body. When the light faded, my Harry became a completely new pokemon.
His whole body actually became just big yellow head. Eyes and leaves grew more, and a small hooked stem behind. The mouth became much larger and now looked like a big gape.
I used the moment of distraction to took a PokeDex and scan the pokeball again to get new record.
"Weepinbell, a flycatcher pokemon. The leafy parts act as cutters for slashing foes. It spits a fluid that dissolves everything."
Wow, this sound pretty awesome to me. Sharp leave cutters, dissolving poison – my Harry have just become one of the most dangerous things in the world. And this will be so useful to me!
"Well, soldier, congratulations anyway for you pokemon empowering even more. But I have to say, this won`t work at all. Meet my Pikachu friend here!"
The second pokeball from lieutenant Surge released another pokemon on the field. A small yellow rodent with long spiky ears, red cheeks, strange black eyes and a zigzag tail. Yep, this is definitely a Pikachu. The pokemon that everyone adores and loves. Everyone but me. I just don`t follow the fashion.
"Okay, Harry, let`s check your new powers. Stun Spore it!"
"Ha-ha… Pikachu, buddy, use a Thunder Wave in this pest!"
He decided to come up with the mirror tactics? Well, if both pokemon will be paralyzed, it won`t change much. Or will it?
My newly evolved Weepinbell spit a cloud of green powder into the direction of opposing Pikachu while the opponent prepares to send a wave at us in reply. Two attacks collided, electrifying the spores and hitting both pokemon. And when the cloud faded…
My Weepinbell was paralyzed and Surge`s Pikachu was not.
"What the hell?" All I could ask. "Is that another trick of yours? Or another ability?"
"Ha-ha-ha, no, soldier! You just can`t paralyze an electric-type pokemon!" The grin on Surge`s face started to piss me off really. Too many tricks for me just in one day.
"It doesn`t matter. Harry, use Wrap!"
"Reply him with a Quick attack!"
His Pikachu charged to my Harry at a really extreme speed, making it impossible to hit at all and rammed Weepinbell even before we could do something. After the attack my pokemon tried to catch the pest with his vines, but sudden body paralysis made him twitch and fall on ground.
"Ah, I just LOVE seeing the paralysis in work! Pikachu, do the Quick Attack again!"
"Harry, you can withstand this! Wrap it!"
Pikachu struck my pokemon again extremely fast, dealing even more damage. Harry tries his best to catch the opponent with his vines, but the slow paralyzed body didn`t let him do this. Absolutely horrible alignment for us.
"Okay, okay… Forget about the wrapping; just hit it with Vine Whip!"
"Forget about everything, because this time you won`t do anything! QUICK ATTACK!"
I just couldn`t believe this. He paralyzed my Weepinbell just to prevent him from attack. I could clearly see all effort Harry putting into every movement, but the body didn`t listen to him. He hardly managed to swipe his vine, touching that damn Pikachu, but the damage was not big, and the opponent easily finished the battle with another Quick attack into the most hurtful place on Harry`s body. Such critical hit was too much for him, and he fainted from the weakness and pain.
"Weepinbell is unable to battle. Pikachu is the winner!"
I expected a lot more from Harry now. I was so inspired by his sudden evolution I couldn`t even think about losing… such shamefully. Well, it isn`t Harry`s fault but mine. That was completely my fault.
"We will not surrender! Reaper will take his place!" I threw a pokeball onto the ground, sending my next pokemon to battle. The tense becomes stronger.
"A Beedrill, huh? Well, let`s see what it can do. Pikachu, use Thunder Wave!"
Looks like he is going to repeat the previous strategy. That`s not very good, because I still have no idea of how to counter it. But I know how to win this.
"Reaper, use Poison sting!"
This time we will not even try to dodge the attack. Everything we need is to deal as much damage as we can. Reaper understood this perfectly, and raised his large sting high to launch an attack. Our opponent didn`t lose time too and took a battle position, charging the attack. As my pokemon rushed to the opponent, foe Pikachu jumped a bit back and sent an electric wave into my Beedrill. This hit him pretty hard, not damaging but paralyzing and yet Reaper continued moving by inertia right into the opponent`s direction until the collision.
Pikachu was thrown back, shivering in pain after a poisonous attack. The effects started to show off immediately – the face became slightly purple. Our poison actually took effect.
So, now both opponents are under status conditions… Pikachu is poisoned and slowly weakens, while Reaper is paralyzed and barely moves. I could say we have advantage now.
"Nice! Now, Reaper, use Twineedle!"
Right now we have some chances to win. We will strike as hard as we can to destroy this Pikachu, or just hide behind a defense tactic and wait until the poison will finish our opponent… I think I will take some risk and do both.
"Shockwave, Pikachu!" Surge loudly ordered to his pokemon. With a great determination his partner jumped high in the air and very quickly sent an electric charge into us. Reaper even under paralysis managed to rush through it with getting some decent damage and hit the opponent while he is still in the midair. Pikachu fall on the ground, but in a second before the collision he made a flip and landed right in his legs. I noticed his legs shake a little now. He is losing strength. But my Beedrill felt very bad too and descended on ground, still regularly twitching.
"Looks like we have to act quickly… Pikachu, Quick attack!"
"Hold on, Reaper, and use Harden!"
Opponent charged into my partner`s direction, moving faster and faster. But my Reaper wasn`t standing still – even through the paralysis he managed to strain his hard muscles and prepare for the incoming attack. The hit has strong enough to cause quiet but painful buzzing shout from my Reaper, but still not enough to finish him. But I see that he can`t hold much longer…
"Doesn`t matter, repeat with Quick attack!"
"Repeat with Harden!"
My pokemon twitched with all his body even stronger than before, suffering from the paralysis and giving the opponent time to perform a lightning-speed attack. We continue to get more and more damage, but thanks to the poison in his body, Pikachu will be finished soon too. I can already see how heavily he breathes and sometimes quietly coughs.
"Finish him with Quick attack!"
"No, YOU finish him with Twineedle!"
Battlers rushed to each other, Pikachu prepared his ramming head and Reaper preparing his large and sharp needles. Because of the paralysis he almost didn`t move, and the Pikachu came to him by himself. Double collision threw both pokemon back, rising the dust cloud in the middle of battlefield.
After some attempts to stand up, my Reaper finally fainted and fell on ground.
"Beedrill is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner!" The proud voice of Surge`s assistant sounded all over the gym.
"Nice, two opponents in a row! Pikachu, well done!" Lieutenant complimented his pokemon. Pikachu slowly but victoriously raised his hand.
"…Chu…"
With the last cough he fell on ground, fainted too.
"Looks like Pikachu is unable to battle too. It`s a draw for now!" Baily shouted from his room.
"No, you defeated my Pikachu!" Lieutenant angered. "Well, the battle isn`t over until we breathe!" He took a special pokeball from under his coat. It was dark-green with some blue stripes. "Raicher! Avenge your brother! Show this newbie his place!"
With a throw of that pokeball the whole field was lighted with blue flash coming out the capsule. The monster appeared in the center. The monster I know pretty well.
The infamous Raicher is in battle again.