I've received a number of reviews asking that I start listing the team members at the start of the chapter. Thought that sounded a little silly at first honestly, given that there are only three of them at the moment. But then somebody pointed out that it helps keep things straight in their head between different fanfics. And if any of you guys follow even half as many fics as I do... then yeah that's actually pretty reasonable, lol. So I'll try to make a habit of listing the friendsquad here going forward. Hope this helps readers keep everything all nice and organized!
Ogrim- Golett
Dart- Beedrill
Cleo and Lacy/The Twins- Doduo
Chapter 12: Dart of War
Celadon City turns out to be a massive clusterfuck. This wasn't entirely unexpected to me, since the city has the largest population in all of Kanto, but it's a whole different thing to experience it. I've heard some people say that the city is the cultural center of Kanto, but if that's the case they seem interested in burying that culture under a metric shitload of shopping centers. You want culture in Kanto, go to Fuchsia or Lavender, because it sure as shit ain't here.
No, rather than having any proper landmarks to draw a crowd Celadon seems to have taken the approach of my old neighbors to the north from back home. I refer of course to a little city called Edmonton. You want to draw people to your city? Slap a shopping center into the middle of it that's so big that everyone will come visit just to see what all the fuss is about. Except unlike Edmonton Celadon's giant shopping mall doesn't have a water park or roller coaster. It's big, but it's not that big.
What Celadon's mall does have is the largest selection of trainer goods in all of Kanto, and indeed the best selection of any region affiliated with the Pokémon League. Celadon has close ties to Silph Co, the world's largest supplier of Poké Balls, which means they've got a lot of clout backing up their trainer focused marketing.
It makes Celadon a sure stop for every trainer in Kanto, so that they can come and purchase everything from medicine to evolutionary stones. Making the most of a visit to Celadon can give a trainer a huge leg up in their Pokémon journey. There are many trainers who have gone on record saying that their fortunes entirely turned around after visiting Celadon's mall, and by most reputable accounts only 70% of those trainers were paid to say so. A testament to the power money holds even in a veritable utopian society like the world of Pokémon.
And yet my dumb ass decided to show up while I was flat broke. Can't afford to buy much at the mall, and the casino is even more of a pipe dream. I'm not saying I regret coming here, I just can't help but feel I would have made a stop in Celadon a bit later in my travel plans if I didn't know Dart needed this chance to kick some ass.
Oh well, I'll just have to make another trip later once I have the funds for it. In the meantime, I just focus on what I actually came here to do. Celadon's a big city with a lot of trainer traffic, so my first hurdle is finding a Pokémon Center that has a room open. It takes three stops before I find one, about halfway between the western entrance of the city and the gym in the south. And as soon as I'm checked in I head straight to the gym to schedule my match.
The Celadon Gym exists in what is effectively the cultural center of the city. Though that makes it sound far more impressive than it actually is. There's a lot of more traditional architecture around, but the area mostly exists for sightseeing. The whole area apparently has a lot of importance in the history of Celadon, but the buildings themselves aren't open to the public. As far as I'm concerned the whole district effectively just serves to make the walk up to the gym nice to look at.
Though the number of Pokémon in the area is interesting. Everywhere you look around here you can see grass type Pokémon about. Mostly small ones like bellsprout or oddish, but every once in a while you'll see something larger further away from the main roads. The occasional tree will have a victreebel hanging from the branches, and at one point I even see a meganium tending to a garden. They're effectively security for the area. I imagine if anybody tried to mess with the area around the gym they could have the whole district covered in sleep powder in minutes.
The gym itself lacks the traditional feel of the rest of the area, looking instead like a giant greenhouse. I find out rather quickly upon entering that the impression is right on the money. The entire building is filled with plants, and doubles as a botanical garden. Unlike Fuchsia there's very little in the way of proper battle spaces, save for the main battle arena in the center of the building. And the battle arena itself is far more understated than the one in Fuchsia as well. It's basically a grassy clearing with some small stands on the sidelines. There's a battle going on as I enter, but even though the challenger looks to be way higher in skill than me the crowd isn't even half the size it was for my first gym battle.
I had heard rumors that Celadon's gym was by far the least invested in the battling aspect of serving as a Pokémon gym, but this really puts it in perspective. This place almost feels like it treats Pokémon battling as an intrusion. I honestly feel a bit uncomfortable being here. So in the end I book my match and head back to the Center without looking around. Normally I'd want to look around and enjoy the place before leaving but something about being there to kick the leader's ass has me feeling like I'm not cultured enough to stay right now.
Once I've made it back to the Center I get to planning. I have a few days before my match, which means a bit of last minute training for Dart and the Twins to make sure they're as ready as they need to be. The girls have a bit more work to do to master echoed voice and pluck, and Dart can use all the movement practice he can get.
I also decide to call the Fuchsia gym on a whim, just to see if they have any advice. Janine is willing to help, but Koga shuts her down immediately.
"You don't need our help with a gym of Celadon's caliber," Koga says bluntly, "The real challenge of Celadon is what comes after." And with that cryptic warning he ends the call before Janine can even get a chance to say goodbye.
Oooookay then. I guess I'm on my own.
I spend the next couple of days mostly coaching Dart on his movement, though I also make sure to help the twins master using pluck. There's a bit of time spent trying once more to teach Ogrim how to use rock tomb again, but we still can't seem to make progress.
When we're not training we mostly just wander the city, usually the area around the gym since it just looks nicer. Ogrim especially enjoys it, being such a social butterfly. After an hour or so of walking he tends to gather a mob of little grass types following him around. It feels like walking next to a parade.
"Your golett is certainly popular," an onlooker comments at the unusual procession I'm leading down the street.
"Yeah, he's got a way about him that's for sure," I say, turning to greet the person before realizing I recognize them, "Oh, Sara! I didn't know you'd left Fuchsia already!"
"Hey Ben," Sara waves, "Yeah, I ended up leaving a few days after you did. Didn't realize you were still in town until I heard somebody mention your little entourage."
"Yeah, my gym battle isn't until tomorrow," I shrug, "What about you, you book your match yet?"
"Uhh… actually I just finished my match," She replies, looking a little embarrassed as she fishes what is undeniably a Rainbow Badge out of her pocket, "Guess I managed to pass you already."
"What?" I blink in shock, "How'd you get your match already!?"
Sara shrugs helplessly, "I didn't do anything special! I just rented a bike to get up here as fast as possible so I could catch up with everyone and booked my match online on my way up."
"You booked your match… before you got to Celadon." I take a moment to process that, then clap a hand to my head in exasperation, "Yeah that would have been the smart way to do things, wouldn't it?"
"You waited until you got here, huh?" She says with a bemused smile.
I can only groan loudly in response.
"Well, don't feel too bad. I'm sure you'll be back on the same level as everyone else this time tomorrow," Sara pats me on the shoulder.
"Erika didn't give you any trouble then?"
Sara makes a face at that, "Oh no. My battle was absolutely miserable. But I don't think it was so much a testament to Erika's skill as it was her battle style basically being a perfect counter to mine. If I still had Daisy it would be another story, but…"
It takes me a moment before I remember that Daisy was the name of Sara's weedle, "Wait, what do you mean 'if I still had Daisy'? You released her?"
"Not at all!" Sara shakes her head, "She's still technically my Pokémon, but she's living in Fuchsia with my mom. My mom lives alone so I wanted her to have a… bodyguard, I guess would be the best way to put it."
From the look on her face there's something more to the story than what she's telling me, but I'm sure it's something personal. Sara definitely isn't the sort of person to make the decision to leave a team member behind lightly. I decide to leave the subject alone, "Huh… alright. So anyways, what I'm hearing is that Dart is going to have an easy time of things." I look up at the bee, watching him circle far overhead.
Sara grins vindictively at that, "If he's half as crazy as I remember? He's going to tear Erika's team apart. Makes me sorry I'm going to miss it."
"What, you're too busy to watch one of your rivals kick some ass?" I joke.
"I'm afraid so," Sara shrugs, "We're heading straight for Vermillion tomorrow morning. I want to keep this pace going. Besides, I've heard rumors that Surge is planning some big event there soon. Not sure what it is but I want to be there to find out."
"Huh," I grunt, making a mental note of that, "Wonder if Koga knows anything about that?"
"Not sure, but if he does I doubt he'll spoil the surprise," Sara shakes her head, "I figure I'll have better luck going to see for myself."
"Fair enough," I nod, "Well if you find out anything interesting, make sure you let me know!"
Sara grins at that, "Now where's the fun in that? Nah, you're on your own." I scowl at that, and her smile grows even more teasing, "Oh, look at the time, I need to go heal my Pokémon now. Good luck with your challenge, bye!"
She takes off in a jog, rushing off for whatever Pokémon Center she's staying in. Across the road from me, I hear Ogrim make a distressed noise as he notices the girl too late to greet her. Thankfully his new friends quickly distract him once more; his merry little procession soon marching down the road again like nothing happened. I quickly start to follow in their wake once more, though I stop paying as much attention to Ogrim and the others in favor of reflecting on what Sara just told me.
Lieutenant Surge is planning something, huh? Well, whatever it is, I'd best make sure I'm in the area when the time comes. From what little I know of the guy he's not one to do anything without a good reason. And he definitely doesn't do anything by small measures. Whatever he's planning is going to be exciting.
There is a very real sense of mood whiplash that comes from standing in Celadon's arena so soon after Janine's. I thought when looking at this place from afar that Pokémon battling was an intrusive element to the gym, but now that I'm standing here that feeling seems almost amplified.
The Celadon gym is beautiful, filled with flowers and shrubs and Pokémon everywhere you look. The Celadon arena is a rectangle of square grass, with empty spectator seats on either side. The whole thing feels bland. Lifeless. I stand in the challenger's position, flanked by two exeggutor that maintain the barriers around the arena. They also seem to have at least one head dedicated to scowling at me at all times, as if showing their disapproval towards my presence here.
On the opposite side Erika kneels serenely, showing none of the unease I'm feeling. For a moment I think she's just used to it, until a tangrowth lumbers up and gently nudges her. Erika's eyes open slowly, and when she looks up and sees me she seems almost surprised, "Ah, is it that time already?" She yawns and gets to her feet, the tangrowth helping to keep her steady. She was actually asleep. Definitely thought the games wouldn't be accurate about that particular personality trait.
"Forgive me, I seem to have dozed off," Erika says, leaning on the Tangrowth's arm, "My condition is proving rather tenacious today… Tangrowth, would you be a dear?" Erika pulls up a sleeve, and allows the tangrowth to press something to her arm. A thin cord of vines wraps around her wrist and she brightens up immediately.
"Uhh, should I be concerned about this?" I stare blankly at the gym leader's rapid transformation, "It feels like I'm watching some weird form of doping right now."
Erika chuckles lightly at that, "Nothing so crass. It's a worry seed. They simply help me to stay awake when I find myself struggling. There aren't any side effects, so long as I use them with proper moderation. Though I should warn you not to try emulating it. Using Pokémon abilities medicinally is illegal without a license."
Huh. Natural Pokémon medicine. I suppose if anyone is going to know about that sort of thing it's going to be a grass type expert. "That's pretty cool," I comment, looking the Tangrowth over, "The big guy is like a service Pokémon then?"
"For today's purposes," Erika nods, "He's an able battler, but far too powerful for a second badge. Instead… I will start with this one," She draws a ball from the folds of her sash and holds it up, "Make your selection, trainer. We shall release our Pokémon at the same time."
My hand snaps to Dart's Poké Ball immediately, and I grin as it vibrates in my hand. He couldn't be more ready to go. "I'm ready when you are!" I call across the field, holding the ball up.
"Very well," Erika smiles calmly, gesturing for me to go ahead.
We release our Pokémon at the same time, with me sending out Dart while she reveals a sunflora. And suddenly the smile slides off her face. "A beedrill," She says, the warmth suddenly gone from her voice, "I have seen entirely too many beedrill in the past few weeks. You're another one of the trainers who Koga sent away, aren't you?"
"…Actually I'm the last of the trainers he accepted," I say with a smile, "Well there's one more, but he's working at the Fuchsia gym for a year."
"…I see." Erika stares at Dart and I resentfully, "Well I'm sorry to say that I've become very skilled at dealing with beedrill lately. Don't expect things to go your way."
"And I'm sorry to say that there's no preparing for what we're about to put you through," I reply with my best slasher smile, "Because I've got the craziest beedrill of them all."
"BEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Dart whoops excitedly, pumping his stingers in the air.
Erika sighs at the two of us, gesturing to the trainer standing by as referee. The woman steps forward at the sign that her boss is finally ready and raises her hands. When she speaks it has none of the energy Oichi had as a referee, though to be fair she doesn't really have an audience to speak over, "This will be a 3v3 battle for the rainbow badge. Only the challenger may switch Pokémon. Round one, sunflora vs beedrill… begin!"
"Sunflora, use razor leaf!"
"Dart, poison sting! Shoot them down!"
Sunflora opens up with a wide scattering of leaves that fill the air around Dart, but the plucky bee isn't fazed. On the contrary, Dart's in a state right now where he doesn't seem likely to be thrown off by anything, immediately blasting the leaves away and humming in an excited war cry. I grin in appreciation of Dart's wild energy and look down towards the sunflora. Who seems to be swaying around in a way that looks suspiciously deliberate… "Dart, they're plotting something! Put a stop to it, now!"
Dart yells aggressively, spraying more poison needles and forcing the sunflora to abandon its movements to dodge out of the way. Erika's eyes sharpen a bit at that, though she doesn't break her pace at all, immediately having her sunflora attack again. And this time I watch as her sunflora immediately follows the razor leaf attack by jumping into the same set of movements.
"Dart, the leaves are a distraction, punch through and take the fight to them directly!" I call out.
"Bee!" Dart shouts, flying stingers first into the barrage of razor leaves and carrying on to strike at the sunflora directly. The maneuver works out well for me, the leaves barely harming Dart thanks to his heavy resistance against grass attacks, and allowing Dart a chance to disrupt the sunflora once again. This time though, instead of forcing a dodge Dart strikes the sunflora directly with his stingers, in a perfect twineedle attack. The sunflora staggers away with a distressed squeal, which does absolutely nothing to dissuade Dart from keeping up the offensive.
"Fine then. Let it be a duel," Erika frowns as her Pokémon falls back, "Strike back with cut!"
Sunflora's response is immediate, its leafy arms glowing white and coming up to clash against Dart's stingers. For a brief moment it looks as though the sunflora is doing an able job of fighting back, the sudden defense catching Dart off guard.
But only for a moment. Dart falls back at first, but only for long enough to get a feel for the pace of sunflora's counterattack. And he quickly discovers that this sunflora isn't nearly as capable a fencer as the twins are. It only takes a few quick movements before Dart has pushed through the sunflora's defences and begun to strike back even harder.
"Ugh!" Erika grimaces as she finds herself on the backfoot once again, "Alright, then how about something you can't possibly prepare for! Hidden power!"
I call out a warning, but Dart doesn't have time to respond. He's barely begun to pull back when a blast of energy erupts from the sunflora's face and sends Dart flying. And the moment Dart is thrown backwards, I see the sunflora start moving through those same motions once more. "Pull it together Dart, they're setting up again!" I call out desperately, but it proves no use. Whatever type that sunflora's hidden power is, it seems to have been very effective. By the time Dart's recovered, the sunflora has had time to gather its power, and a ball of light appears in the air overhead.
It's an artificial sun. Which means that things could get very bad for me very quickly now. Grass types and sunlight are a dangerous combination to go against. If I don't act fast I'll lose all the momentum I gained. Which means now might be a good time to try out an idea I've been toying with for a while now.
"Dart, use plaster! Cover the leaves!" I call out.
"Beedrill!" Dart shouts in affirmation, flying back in and letting out a wide spray of glue. The sunflora starts to twist out of the way, but Dart's attack covers too much ground to be avoided completely. It only takes a moment before the sunflora's leaves are coated in string shot plaster.
The sunflora looks confused for a moment at first, clearly having expected the attack to hurt in some way. Once that moment passes it seems to perk up a bit, perhaps thinking the attack was a blank. Only for that misplaced sense of optimism to fade as it looks back down at its leaves, then up at the sun… And that's when the panic sets in. Sunflora starts to cry out in distress, frantically shaking its leaves to try and free them from their covering.
"Sunflora? What's wrong?" Erika asks, standing up a little straighter as she looks on in confusion.
Dart doesn't give her time to figure it out. He crashes onto the still panicking sunflora like a buzzing meteor, lashing out with a furious barrage of blows that quickly leaves his opponent down for the count.
"Sunflora is unable to battle! The winner is beedrill!" The referee calls out.
Erika frowns as she recalls her sunflora, before suddenly straightening up, "I admit, that was not a strategy I expected from such an unseasoned trainer. Most trainers who choose to negate the effects of my sunlight do so by changing the weather to something more suitable. Yet you used a variation of string shot to stop my sunflora from absorbing sun through its leaves. That's quite impressive."
"Eh, just a bit of applied science," I shrug off the compliment, "Anyone could think of it as long as they know the basics of how photosynthesis works." Really, I thought of the trick ages ago. One of many ideas that popped into my head when Dart was still a weedle and I was spending every minute of every day thinking of all the crazy shit I could use string shot for.
"Perhaps so," Erika concedes, raising her next Poké Ball, "Let us see then, how you manage this next Pokémon. Gloom, I choose you!"
The gloom appears with a wave of stench that would have probably knocked me on my ass if I hadn't spent time training with Oichi and her grimer back in Fuchsia. Thanks to that experience dealing with a much fouler Pokémon though I'm able to weather the effects rather well.
…Speaking of weather effects, that gloom seems to really be enjoying the sunshine. Looks like this next round could get ugly.
"Round 2, gloom vs beedrill, begin!"
The gloom moves immediately, and as I feared it covers ground far faster than anything with that squat body should be capable of. Erika's still making the most of that artificial sun she created, aiming to deal with beedrill as quickly as possible. "Get up, now! Keep your distance!" I call out, "Try to hit with plaster again!"
Dart doesn't waste time, flying vertically as quickly as possible just as the gloom closes in and explodes with plant spores. It's still a close call, the sunlight seeming to charge not only how quick the gloom moves, but how violently the powders erupt from its head. Even once Dart is out of range though that speed is still a problem, allowing the gloom to casually dance around Dart's plaster attack.
Thankfully Dart is more than capable of figuring out what to do next on his own. He lets out a loud buzz of frustration as gloom continues to evade his attacks, then starts firing even faster. The gloom dances around a bit more, but stops once it realizes the attacks aren't actually aiming for it.
"To your right gloom, now!" Erika calls out, catching on far quicker than her companion.
The gloom responds too late. By the time it's moved, Dart manages to finish drawing his circle of webbing. The gloom reaches the gap just in time for the string to land at its feet, quickly becoming stuck. Dart whoops in triumph, firing off some more plaster to finish the job. The plaster coats gloom completely, not strong enough to actually hinder movement, but enough to stop that sun from doing its job.
"It won't be so easy this time. Gloom, burn it away with acid!" Erika calls out.
Gloom spews its acid into the air to create a shower, driving beedrill back in the process. In moments the acid eats through the covering of plaster, as well as the webs holding it to the ground. Just like that, my attempt to nullify the chlorophyll boost is rendered pointless. No stopping the power-up this time.
"Stay up out of reach of those powder attacks and harass with poison sting," I call out bitterly, mind racing to think of a new plan.
Alright, so let's take a look at the situation here. Gloom is a dangerous special attacker, but the primary types they work with are grass, poison, and fairy. None of those are an actual threat for beedrill. Out of all of the basic moves they can use, I have to be far more careful about the pollen attacks. Sleep powder or stun spore, whichever its using will cripple Dart and force me to bring out the twins instead, which is a much more dangerous matchup. As long as it has those attacks at its disposal I can't get close, meaning Dart is limited to fighting with string shot and poison sting, both of which have proven largely ineffective. Making this battle a stalemate but for one thing…
"Gloom, use hidden power," Erika says, as if on cue. The blast of energy that the gloom fires up at Dart is far more intense than what sunflora used earlier, and it takes some very hurried movements from Dart to avoid it. Thankfully his height gives him the time he needs to keep clear of the heavy blast. From there the pattern continues, with Dart firing from afar whenever possible while dodging more of those massive hidden power attacks whenever gloom uses them.
Thankfully both Dart and I knew that would be coming after sunflora surprised us. It's the only possible offensive option the gloom could have had to effectively fight Dart from afar. One which is clearly benefiting from the heat much like everything else the gloom is doing. Normally the difficult thing about dealing with hidden power is how difficult it is to know what type you're getting hit by, but in this case the answer is obvious. This gloom's hidden power is fire type; hence the massive strength increase compared to that sunflora.
I could try to wait until the energy fueling that sunny day move runs out, but that's going to be a rough contest of endurance with Dart at a clear disadvantage. And even if we do wait it out, there's no guarantee that Dart will have more luck dealing with those powder attacks once the sun is gone. It's too much of a gamble. I need something to close the gap. Something to stop that gloom from using its powder moves on me.
"Dart, ready up the Keith Special!"
Dart buzzes uncertainly, but follows my command all the same. He spits out a large web ball, and then, in an imitation of Keith's opening move in our battle, he fires a web rope into it from his lower stinger.
"Whatever they're planning, put a stop to it gloom!" Erika calls out, eyeing the silken flail cautiously. Her gloom calls out an affirmative, firing off another super-sized hidden power.
The flail does nothing to slow Dart down, the beedrill easily dodging out of the way. But while it doesn't slow Dart down, it doesn't move as fast as Dart can either. It lingers behind in the air a moment as Dart's momentum catches up to it, and the attack hits it directly.
Hidden power doesn't really change to reflect its type visually, but just because the move doesn't look like most fire type moves doesn't mean it can't burn stuff. In the wake of gloom's hidden power attack Dart is left with a burning line of rope trailing behind it. A definite problem for my intrepid bug… unless he finds something else to do with that line in a hurry.
"Let's go Dart! Hit that gloom with our improvised fire lash attack!" I shout!
"BEEEEE!" Dart cries out eagerly, rushing in. He twists in the air, spinning the burning flail around him in a wide arc. The gloom dodges the first swipe, but Dart doesn't break momentum, flying even lower and using the attack again. Gloom avoids that one too, but by then Dart has come so far down to the ground that the whip is running damn near parallel to the battle field, covering far too much ground to be easily dodged. Gloom still tries to escape, but on the third pass the whip connects in the middle, the heavy end wrapping around gloom's body to strike it square in the face. Dart is left with just enough time to cut the line before the fire reaches him, and laughs like a maniac as he surveys his handiwork.
Gloom thrashes miserably, wrapped up in burning thread and very vocally unhappy about it. Erika looks stunned for a moment, but rallies quickly, calling out to get her partner's attention. "Gloom, douse the line in acid! Gloom, listen to me!"
Acid again. That sounds like a solid tactic that I'd really rather not see implemented. Better put a stop to that before the gloom can calm down enough to listen to its trainer, "Dart get in there and run wild!"
"DREEE BEEE!" Dart yells in wild excitement, rushing headlong at the gloom like a maniac. His eyes gleam, his stingers shine, his wings buzz as he charges forth. Dart has been given free rein to unleash all of his mad energy and he aims to do so.
Given the circumstances, I think the gloom can be forgiven for panicking a little. Battered, bruised, and burning, the gloom sees an aggressive insect flying in at top speed and does what comes naturally. It uses its powder moves.
Powder moves which have the unfortunate side effect of being very flammable. Not usually a big deal, since a grass type dealing with fire usually has bigger problems, but in this case…
The air around the gloom suddenly explodes with sparkling powder, and just as quickly explodes into flame not even a second later. Dart comes to a hasty stop, but the rush of hot air still hits him with enough force to send him spinning in the air with a distressed shout. For a brief instant the false sun hanging over the battlefield looks darker in comparison; the explosion bright enough that I'm forced to throw an arm in front of my eyes. Erika's attempts to rally her gloom fall very suddenly quiet.
And the poor gloom itself sits in the middle of a blackened ring of scorched earth. It looks up at me, eyes watering, and gives out a weak cough. Then its eyes roll back and it slumps over unconscious.
That was a lot more… explosive than what I had planned. Yikes. Dart seems to echo the sentiment, staring at the scene of destruction in dazed wonder. That may or may not be literal. He seems a bit dizzy after that one.
To the side, the referee is peeking at the scene from between her fingers, having covered her face in horror. "Oh wow," She comments lamely, before seeming to recover and tearing her hands away from her face to get back to work, "Uhh, gloom is unable to battle! Beedrill is the winner!"
Erika sighs, recalling her gloom and staring at the Poké Ball with an expression of fond exasperation, "We are going to be spending a great deal of time working on keeping our cool during a battle in the future, aren't we?" She scolds lightly, before returning the ball to her sash. She grabs her final ball and looks back to me, "Well the ending was more of a tribute to gloom's weakness than to your own strength, but your performance so far remains excellent. Make no mistake though; I have saved my most capable Pokémon for last."
"Whatever it is, we can take it! We've got too much momentum to be stopped now!" I shout out confidently.
"Beedrill! Bee! Bee! Beedrill!" Dart exclaims, pumping his stingers in the air.
Neither of our taunts do anything to dim the determination in Erika's eyes, "No, I will stop you. If I let a single Pokémon run roughshod over my entire team I would be a laughing stock. Your fortune will be reversed here. Tangela, let us make our final stand here!"
I can't help but grin a little at the sight of Erika's last Pokémon. It's not a confidence thing; tangela just look fun. They're a big wobbling ball of blue spaghetti with big friendly eyes, what's not to like? That grin only broadens when the tangela turns around and calls out a greeting to Erika's Tangrowth. The tangrowth waves back, looking much livelier now. They're probably related or something. That's cute.
If this is her last Pokémon though I'll have to be careful. Tangela may be weak to most of Dart's attacks, but they have powerful defenses and a movepool packed to the brim with both power and utility. The tangrowth standing behind Erika is a perfect example of the potential in this opponent, a hulking, primal, unstoppable force hidden behind a goofy appearance. The tangela line is one of the most feared grass types out there in the competitive scene for good reason.
"Round 3, Tangela vs Beedrill, begin!"
"Poison rush into twineedle! If you see any hint of powders get clear and douse them with plaster!" I call out immediately.
"Bee!" Dart shouts in affirmative, flying in while blasting needles.
Erika doesn't call any sort of counter, simply watching as her tangela readies itself, planting its feet and weathering the poison stings behind a wall of vines. A passive strategy at first glance, but I can see behind the shield that tangela is digging more vines into the ground and extending yet more into the air to wave up at the last lingering vestiges of artificial sunlight.
I can see why Sara found Erika so frustrating to deal with. For a defensive trainer like Sara having an opponent always blatantly taking every possible opportunity to power up must be infuriating. I don't think tangela get a natural boost from the sunlight like other grass types do, but I suspect it's using growth so it can benefit all the same. "Hold! Douse!" I call out, having no patience for this crap anymore.
Dart comes to a stop and immediately sprays plaster, covering tangela's vines. Tangela flinches at the sudden change in pace, vines reaching up in vain as the fake sun finally puffs out.
"Finally," I say irritably, glad to be rid of that stupid thing, "As you were, Dart."
"Dee bee!" Dart nods, raising his stingers to charge again.
And that's when one of tangela's vines bursts from the ground.
"Drill?" Dart says in stunned shock, as even more vines burst forth. He starts to move, but the vines compensate easily, turning to follow and grabbing at Dart before he can get away. His stingers lash out, managing to tear through one of the vines, but the other two get through. The first grabs him around the middle, and then another catches his leg, and finally his stingers are pinned as well; all three of them.
"Crap! Dart!" I yell, feeling absolutely furious at having been caught off guard so easily. I had thought the vines pushing into the ground were for absorbing nutrients, not an underground attack!
"Well, that should settle the matter," Erika says, smiling in satisfaction, "Your earlier comment clearly wasn't an idle boast; this beedrill really is a dangerous one. I'll be relieved to see the last of it. Tangela, use ancient power."
"Taaaaaaaa!" The tangela calls out, voice echoing with the power it's calling on. As Dart struggles in its grasp, the tangela begins to call rocks up, readying itself to bring them down. The tangela is clearly taking its time building power, looking to make sure that this hit will do the job. Not normally a smart play, but hardly a bad idea when your target is at your mercy.
How unfortunate for them they failed to secure one last tool Dart has at his disposal. "Yeah, I don't think so," I call out coolly, "Dart, snap those vines with bug bite and get out of there!"
"Dree!" Dart calls an affirmative, jaws unfolding to tear through the vines holding his arms in place.
"Persistent to the end," Erika shakes her head in frustration, "Enough biding your time Tangela, attack now!"
The rocks begin to move as Dart frees his arm. He starts lashing at the vines on his body and legs as he chews at those holding his other arm. Once both of his arms are free he starts lashing out at them wildly, shrieking in fury. The vines give way before his assault, but not quickly enough. They don't last long, but they still manage to do the job.
Dart finally snaps the last vine and starts to fly away, but is hit by one, two, three of the rocks before he can escape the attack. The last one in particular is one of the heavier rocks tangela called up, and Dart shrieks in pain as it slams into his back. He holds on long enough to get away from the rest of them, before crashing to the ground.
"Dart!" I call out in worry, readying his Poké Ball, "You okay, dude!?"
"Bee… beedrill!" Dart groans after a moment, flicking an antenna in my direction and pushing himself up with his stingers. His wings flutter a bit, then manage to reach their usual buzzing drone as he shakily lifts into the air. He turns back towards tangela, then looks back to me and pumps a stinger in the air, "Bee dree bee lee!"
"Way to go bud!" I call out encouragingly. As he turns away though I can feel my grip tightening on his ball. That attack wasn't the sure knockout Erika was going for, but it did a serious number on Dart all the same. His flight is visibly shaky, and he's definitely favoring an arm right now. "Get some air and use poison sting!"
Dart calls out an affirmative, flying up and blasting at tangela from afar. Erika frowns at seeing the crazy bug still up and fighting, but like before she doesn't bother giving a command. Tangela simply raises another wall of vines and waits out the assault.
She's waiting for me to close in. Doesn't want to take the risk of having another move turned on her by firing at Dart from a distance. And she's got all the time she needs to be patient, thanks to tangela's defenses and regenerative abilities. Of course the situation would change if I manage to poison the tangela. But as one of the vines suddenly severs itself and falls to the ground of its own accord it becomes clear that that's a pipe dream. The tangela can sense when its vines have lingering poison and cut it loose before that poison has a chance to spread. The only way to get the poison to stick would be to hit closer to center mass.
This has become a losing battle. Dart can't move fast enough to get away from any big hits anymore. He can't hit hard enough from a distance to penetrate tangela's defenses or overcome its regeneration. It's only a matter of time before Erika decides to try her luck and just shoots Dart out of the air. The only reason she hasn't already is her newfound sense of caution towards Dart's tendency for crazy bullshit.
"Hey, Dart!" I call out, making a decision.
"Be-bee?" Dart looks back at me, breathing hard.
"I think it's time to get reckless," I say with a nod.
Dart looks me in the eyes for a moment, then nods resolutely, "…Drill." Then he raises his stingers, buzzes with enough intensity that I swear I can almost feel it, and rushes in.
"Another head-on assault?" Erika asks, raising an eyebrow, "I would have thought you'd have learned after your first attempt."
I smirk back at her, saying nothing. Dart may not be able to fly his best right now, but he has two things going for him. First, he knows what kind of traps this tangela likes to set now. And second, even if this appears to be a straightforward maneuver, Erika and tangela haven't actually realized what they're dealing with yet.
They're expecting a simple attack, unaware that they're actually dealing with a suicide run. Metaphorically speaking, of course. When Dart takes a rock to the face and keeps on coming though, Erika seems to get the memo. "Tangela, dear, stop him. Now." She calls out, expression grim as she realizes our aim.
Dart slashes through the next vine to approach him without breaking pace, twists so that a rock glances off his shoulder, lets another vine slam into his abdomen where it won't have a chance to grab anything, and keeps coming. The next rock hits Dart's wing, and for a moment it looks like he's going to fall short of the mark. And that's when Dart fires a rope and carries on the charge by slingshotting himself forward.
That last part surprises tangela enough that it completely fails to stop Dart crashing into its face. There's a brief moment where everything falls silent. Tangela stands in stunned silence, staring up at its sudden passenger. Dart stares back, probably slightly surprised himself that he made it this far. And then Dart waves a stinger, "Dree bee beedrill."
Dart then proceeds to go completely fucking mental directly into tangela's face. Screaming blue murder, stabbing like crazy with all three stingers, and biting for good measure. It feels like watching a particularly enthusiastic serial killer at work, honestly. I am witnessing the purest, most potent manifestation of Dart's mad energy.
It's beautiful.
Tangela shrieks in panic, flailing vines in every direction. It tries to run, but still has enough vines planted in the ground that it can't move far in any direction, mostly just stumbling around in a little circle. Then finally, Tangela manages to wrap enough vines around Dart's body to tear him away and slam him into the ground. Twice. And when Dart voices his opinion of that via a spray of needles to the face tangela yells again and hurls Dart across the battlefield.
Dart tumbles across the grass, basically landing at my feet. I raise my Poké Ball, but before I can recall him he jumps back to his feet. "Bee dree lee bee dee ree!" Dart taunts in a wobbly voice, shaking a stinger in the tangela's direction, "Bee lee bee lee dee… beedrill." He punctuates that by falling on his face.
"Okay, you're done," I say, raising his ball.
"Bee…" Dart protests, but the effect is somewhat ruined by the fact that Dart has a mouthful of dirt right now.
"Nope, that's enough, I'm putting my foot down," I speak over him, raising his ball and calling him back, "You have officially caused enough havoc for the day. Well done. Seriously."
With Dart safely recalled I look up to the referee, who is looking on with a confused expression. I raise an eyebrow, prompting her to speak up, "Are you using your switch?"
Ah, right. I suppose he wasn't technically knocked out yet. Bit of a faux pas on my part, "No, sorry. Withdrawing him from the match completely. Should have clarified that first, that's my bad."
"It's quite alright," Erika nods, "While officially you should have declared your intentions, then waited for the referee to make the ruling, I am willing to dismiss this mistake as you simply showing proper concern for your Pokémon. Do pay proper attention to the correct order of these things in the future though. If you did such a thing during the Pokémon League some might consider it reasonable grounds to call foul play."
With that light bit of admonishment she turns to the referee and nods. The referee accepts Erika's judgement and calls out, "Beedrill has been declared unfit for battle by their trainer and withdrawn, which means this round's winner is Tangela!"
Not without cost though, I reflect as I look at my opponent. The tangela took some big hits from Dart at the end there. Multiple bug bites, poison stings, and twineedle attacks to the face will do a number on any grass type, even one as bulky as tangela. To say nothing of the mental damage Dart just caused. The important part now is to capitalize on that lead before tangela's incredible regenerative ability can undo all of Dart's work. As if my next move wasn't already obvious.
"Cleo, Lacy, it's your turn!" I call the girls out, watching as they appear proudly in a burst of white light. "Just one fight left for you two, let's wrap this up!"
The girls blink at that, look at the injured and slightly traumatized tangela standing across from them, and give me an incredulous look. The meaning is clear: 'You called us out to fight this?'
Knowing that responding to that look will just invite an argument, I decide to just ignore them and push on. "We're ready to go," I say, turning to the referee, not wanting to waste a single second while that tangela is still sucking up nutrients and growing out its vines. I have a clear advantage, but the most dangerous thing about fighting a tangela is their ability to heal through damn near anything given enough time. If Erika stalls long enough she could genuinely still win this fight in spite of everything.
"Alright then, round four, tangela vs doduo, begin!"
"Just blitz it," I call out, but the girls have already blurred into motion by the time I've begun to speak.
"Tangela, use-" Erika begins to call out but cuts herself off as Cleo and Lacy side swipe tangela hard enough to tear through several of the vines it was using to secure itself, "Sleep powder then! Stop their approach!"
Tangela starts to shake its body, sending a cloud of spores into the air around it. The girls don't hesitate for a second, rushing in once more with enough force to tear through yet more vines. After running through that sleep powder though they doze off, falling asleep standing up. I don't even have the time to be worried about them though before Cleo jerks awake, followed by Lacy a moment later, and then they're rushing in again.
I hadn't put much study into how abilities work in this world compared to the games, but it seems clear that the twins have whatever this world's version of early bird is. They can be put to sleep, but not for long enough to get anything meaningful out of it. Good trick to know.
"Stun spore then!" Erika calls out with steely determination, "They won't be able to simply shrug that off!"
Unfortunately for tangela it doesn't get the chance to attempt that strategy. This time instead of a glancing blow the twins hit the tangela head on, and without the vines securing it to the ground it goes flying backwards. The twins keep pace with the tumbling spaghetti ball easily, jumping on top of it as it comes to a stop and striking out with their beaks. Their aim is flawless, hitting the tangela perfectly between the eyes twice each, then concluding with a vicious strike of their talons that tears a sizable chunk of vines away. Clearly their practice with pluck has been put to good use.
The tangela lets out a low groan at that, and the girls seem to decide their job is done. They hop off of tangela's body, walking back towards me casually. I stay on guard, since obviously someone has to, watching the tangela along with Erika and the ref.
After a moment, Erika shakes her head and the ref raises her hand, "Tangela is unable to battle. That means the winner of this round and of this battle is the challenger, Ben Wilson!"
Cleo and Lacy scoff, as if wondering what took the ref so long. They then proceed to give me a very unimpressed look. I can only shrug in response, "I know girls, I know, but it was either you or Ogrim, and the little dude wouldn't be able to handle things half as well as you just did." The small bit of praise seems to be enough to mollify them, and they quietly wait with their heads held high and an expectant look on their face, as if to tell me 'You will put us back in our Poké Ball now.'
Being a smart man, I of course do as the ladies wish.
The usual proceedings go very quickly once the battle is over, largely due to how frustrated Erika seems to be. She hands me the badge, shakes my hand, and practically shoos me out the door. The last I see of her she's stalking off through the gym muttering about never wanting to see a beedrill again. Well, I'm sure I'm the last beedrill trainer she's going to have that kind of trouble with.
…Though now that I think of it, I don't actually know if Axel came through Celadon yet. His two best Pokémon are weak to grass types, after all. It's entirely possible he's saving Erika for later, which would mean yet another Koga trainer swooping in with a beedrill to ruin her day in the future…
Well. That sounds like a whole lot of not my problem. Let Erika worry about all the bugs she'll be dealing with in the future. And in the meantime I'll worry about where I should pick up my next win.
Sorry if you're an Erika fan and didn't care to see your favorite gym leader nearly get swept by a bee.
That's a lie, I regret nothing. Beedrill needs more love and appreciation than any of the gym leaders do. Which is why this chapter was basically intended as a big Dart showcase. And I realize I've basically done a couple of chapters to serve that role with Koga's challenge, but given recent events he really did need another one.
The change from weedle to beedrill is one of the biggest shifts in Pokemon, so the goal here was effectively to properly show what kind of battler Dart is going to be now that he's evolved. The way Dart battles had to change in a big way once he got wings and giant stingers, but I also wanted to make sure that the core skills he learned as a weedle carried through as well. And also show what he's capable of now that he has a body that can keep up with his energy. As you can see, when he gets going it gets pretty wild. As befits a Pokemon whose personality is effectively just 'shonen protagonist'. Dart is a plucky little guy who won't quit no matter how much the world tells him no. Or concusses him. He's going to be a true Pokemon Champion, believe it!
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