Scolipede and Herdier

Elsa- Waaah, it looks more evil than before *cries. I told you that you shouldn't trust those shifty eyes. Posted 5:12:12 PM, Today

Bobby- Congrats on getting the Scolipede! Spikelord has always been your coolest Pokemon and now he's the best too! Btw, have you tried those new Harvest Song butter pretzels? They have an aura of buttery-ness and are sooo good. Posted 5:12:47 PM, Today

Jaike- Don't be so cocky, farm boy. There's no way you can control that Pokemon now. You were lucky in that he didn't get disqualified as a Whirlipede because he was just barely obeying your orders. I saw how it was impaling those wild Pokemon with just its neck claws. That bloody scene is just going to repeat itself and you're going to make a fool of yourself in the final round because of it. And I won't be the only one who won't ever let you live it down. Posted 5:13:57, Today

re:-Bobby- that ain't going to happen. Luke's going to win! :D Posted 5:14:12, Today

re:re:-Jaike- ugh. Spikelord would be doing the world a favor by impaling you. Posted 5:16:01, Today

re:-See More...

Jane- Well, he looks like a mighty fine Pokemon now. Could be a mite rough to get him to listen to ya now even though you were the one to catch him. I'm sure you can handle that. Just remember: you and your Pokemon are a team and thus ought to work together, even to bring a hotheaded member into line. Posted 6:45:32, Today

Luke looked over his profile page, feeling uncertain now. Earlier, he had posted a picture of his newly evolve Pokemon Spikelord in excitement, not even five minutes after the evolution happened. But things had soon gone wrong. The Scolipede didn't want to listen to him anymore. He kept picking fights, only using the moves Luke ordered if he felt like using them himself. Not only that, but he was using those move viciously, intentionally creating nasty wounds on his opponents. Even his poison seemed to be hurting them more. More than one had tried running away, and Luke had to recall Spikelord back to his Pokeball so that he didn't pursue them. If this kept up, then he would end up disqualified from the tournament.

At this stage, it would be particularly embarrassing. The Pokemon World Tournament stadium was currently holding a week-long major competition now, where over a hundred Trainers and teams had signed up. Being an upperclassman of the Trainers School in Striaton and one of its best battlers, Luke had been chosen to represent the school along with two others. Unfortunately, one of his rivals had been chosen as well. Jaike had lost big time on the second day, thus he had been dropped from the roster. He still stuck around to give Luke a hard time. Sometimes it seemed like he was determined to make sure he couldn't win since he had been dropped.

Luke could deal with Jaike. He tolerated the bully, reminding himself often that once they graduated in a couple of months, he'd never have to see Jaike again. However, dealing with Spikelord was a major problem. He couldn't change his team around this late into the tournament, but he only had the next morning to get the Scolipede to cooperate. If he kept fighting that aggressively in the stadium, then they would get disqualified for causing excessive harm. It would be a disgrace to his school, a potential for a lawsuit, and, due to the live worldwide broadcasts, a bad scene that millions of people would remember him for.

With so little time to deal with this and so much pressure to not fail, Luke declined on posting anymore and got offline. Another one of his Pokemon, a Herdier he called Valiant, gave him a curious look as their eyes met. "Aaaooo," he whined, in a way that seemed concerned.

"I don't have long to do something," Luke said, petting Valiant. "What should I do about Spikelord? It's nice that Aunt Jane believes in me, but I don't know what she expects out of me."

He thought about it for the rest of the night, making it hard for him to get to sleep. But by morning, he did have an idea.

Luke went out to the forested area outside of Driftveil early that morning. As soon as he released Spikelord, the Scolipede started heading off into the trees to find something to fight off the path. But then Valiant ran in front of him, barking and blocking his way. Spikelord hissed and nipped at the air in a threat. That didn't intimidate the Herdier.

"Stay with us, Spikelord," Luke said, in a strict voice much like the toughest teacher at school. "We've got more training to do today, but if you disobey or get out of line, Valiant's going to bark at you. This way."

Spikelord didn't seem too happy about that, but he did follow after Luke. Valiant ran alongside the tall Bug, keeping an eye on him and ready to intervene. Really, that should have been obvious, Luke thought. His aunt had given him Valiant as a Lillipup, being the child of the Stoutland she used to keep Pokemon at a ranch from wandering off (among other duties). Valiant was his smartest Pokemon, able and willing to follow any order Luke gave him. Because of that, he would know when to bark a scolding without prompting.

The first battle they found was against a Deerling. Valiant stayed out of the battle, but barked sharply when Spikelord tried to bite it rather than poison it as Luke had asked for. While the Scolipede growled, he did use the move Luke wanted (although the time wasted was enough for the Deerling to attack Spikelord twice). It was working for a while to do this. Hopefully by the end of the morning, Spikelord would obey long enough for the tournament battles without Valiant's barks.

But during a battle against a Tranquill, Spikelord snapped when Valiant and Luke got after him for jabbing his spikes too hard into the bird. He tossed the Tranquill away, causing the bird to flutter off in fright while bleeding. Spikelord then swiped his tail at Valiant; the Herdier managed to jump out of the way, barking all the while.

"Stop it Spikelord!" Luke called. But the Scolipede didn't listen, instead dashing by both of them, swiping his tail at Luke. Luke's heart started pounding in a panic, although he didn't feel hurt. Glancing down, he saw that his shirt had been sliced through, but his Pokemon's tail hadn't touched his skin. That was too close.

Then Spikelord rushed by again, roaring before he grabbed Valiant off the ground and pierced him with his poisonous spikes. Valiant kept barking and squirming to get away, eventually getting dropped to the ground. Although his Pokeball noted him as being poisoned, the Herdier remained on his feet, defiant to the disobedient Scolipede.

"No Spikelord," Luke said, still trying to get in control of the situation. "Stop! I'm your Trainer, so listen." When the violent Pokemon growled and glared at Luke, he decided he had to stop this by force. "Valiant, Facade!"

Valiant howled, then rammed himself into the Scolipede. In his desperate state, the blow was enough to flip Spikelord backwards, onto his back and unconscious. The Herdier perked his ears up and looked back at Luke, his tail wagging. However, he was breathing hard and bleeding from the injury near his shoulder.

"Good work, but come back," Luke said, calling Valiant back as well. Then he hurried away, back into Driftveil. Thankfully, the Pokecenter wasn't far from this entrance to town. But would that closeness be enough? He didn't know if Spikelord would be obedient or if Valiant would be capable of battling today. Either situation could disqualify him.

On being told that Valiant's injury might be bad, the nurse took the Herdier's Pokeball and examined it separately. Then he was taken in back for further care. Since he could only wait now, Luke left the Pokecenter building and went around back, on the road that led to the Gym. There weren't many other buildings this way, so not as many people came. Thus, he was able to release Spikelord and be fairly confident that no one else would be in trouble.

Spikelord seemed to know he was in trouble, somehow. He held his head low, hunched over rather than standing up on his hind four legs in pride. "Currrr," he said in a somewhat piteous voice.

"Yes, you lost," Luke said, still using a strict tone with him. "You disobeyed me and you lost. I've been training you for the past year and I'm the reason you've gotten to be so strong. Without me, you'd still be a Venipede. And if you don't get your act together soon and become obedient, then you're not going to get a chance to show anybody how strong you are."

"Tch tch, scooooo," Spikelord replied, even more pitiful. He didn't like the idea of not showing off.

"If Valiant isn't well when we get back into the Pokecenter, I'm withdrawing from the tournament," he said. It wasn't an idle threat either. Yes, they had made it to the final day of competition. But it wouldn't be worth the risk if Valiant's injuries got worse. "And it will be because of you. Now I don't want to give up on you. I also don't want something like this to be repeated. Do you understand?"

Spikelord bowed his head even lower in shame.

Now for a test... he could put Spikelord in his Pokeball if he turned aggressive. "Good. Let's go back in there." He then walked back to the Pokecenter, his Scolipede walking silently by his side.

Fortunately, the nurse told him that Valiant would be fine for battling later in the day And Spikelord kept to himself, not bothering others in the Pokecenter (even a girl who was speaking rather loudly into her Xtransciever). When Valiant was brought back out, Spikelord bowed to the Herdier, recognizing his victory. Valiant wagged his tail and gave him a friendly paw pat to show that all was forgiven. Seeing that, Luke felt confident that they could go into the tournament's finals without worrying about getting in trouble.

…

Herdier White entry: It loyally follows its Trainer's orders. For ages, they have helped Trainers raise Pokemon.

Scolipede White entry: Highly aggressive, it uses the claws near its neck to dig into its opponents and poison them.

The site didn't want to format this quite how I wanted in the first part. All well. Spikelord seems like a good name for a Scolipede to me, haha.

At 575 Pokemon now.