"This will be a two-on-two battle between Gym Leader Spenser and Challenger Ash! Switches are allowed for the challenger, but the Gym Leader is not allowed to switch his Pokemon unless it is through forceful switches such as Whirlwind and Roar! The battle will end when one Trainer has lost two of their Pokemon! As per Pokemon League rules, the Gym Leader releases first!"
The assistant's diatribe was rather unnecessary, considering Ash had already heard it fifteen minutes ago. But he waited until the assistant was finished anyway, just to be polite.
Spenser sent out his Ivysaur once more; the Grass/Poison-type's eyes narrowed in clear confusion as he saw Ash. Ash glanced down at Genesect's Pokeball, which was shaking slightly. "Not this time," he murmured, his fingers sliding to another Pokeball. "Go, Litleo!"
The small Fire/Normal-type landed on the ground. "Lit!" he cried as he saw his opponent.
"Saur," Ivysaur responded, adjusting his stance.
"Battlers, begin!" the assistant cried.
"Start out with a Leech Seed, Ivysaur!" Spenser cried. "Then use Growth!"
"Destroy the seeds with Ember!" Ash countered. "And counter the Growth with Noble Roar!"
Litleo opened fire with a barrage of Embers, blasting away the Leech Seeds. Some of the fiery motes made it through to strike Ivysaur, who stumbled backwards with a groan. Plants and vines began to rise from the flower bud on Ivysaur's back as he used Growth, but just as quickly Litleo inhaled and let out a bellow of "LEO!" Ash felt the power behind the Noble Roar buffet him even where he was standing, and Ivysaur groaned again as his vines shrank back into his bud, his Growth completely countered.
Spenser chuckled. "Well, that's a new one. All right, Ivysaur, we'll have to make do! Charge and fire Razor Leaf - don't let that Litleo get a bead on you!"
"Counter with Fire Spin!" Ash cried as Ivysaur lunged forwards, the Grass/Poison-type's feet pounding across the ground as it sent a barrage of sharpened leaves flying towards Litleo.
Litleo unleashed a swirling storm of fire in response. Again Ivysaur's attack was completely carved through, and Ivysaur had to completely abandon his charge and hurl himself to the side to avoid the Fire Spin. The Fire Spin kept going, sailing right past Spenser and into the faux-jungle behind him.
Which promptly caught on fire.
"Time-out!" the assistant cried.
On the balcony, Clay and Cyrus both blanched. "Tympole!" Clay cried. "Put out that-" His hands went to his Pokeballs, only to stop as he remembered Tympole was no longer with him.
Ash quickly realized what was going on. "Tympole, get out there and put out the fire!"
Tympole erupted from his Pokeball and started racing towards the now spreading flames. But Spenser was just as quick on the uptake. "Suicune, extinguish those flames with Surf!"
Ash's jaw dropped as, yes, a literal Suicune emerged from one of Spenser's Pokeballs and unleashed a tidal wave of water from its body. Tympole stopped dead as the entire flaming area of the faux-jungle disappeared under Suicune's Surf. Just as quickly, the entire wave stopped dead; Ash, Tympole, Clay, and Cyrus all watched with wide eyes as Suicune exerted her control over the Surf, pulling the water back into her body with sheer force of will. The water retreated, leaving burnt jungle and several indignant forest-dwelling Pokemon behind, but no open flames.
"Uh…Tympole, return," said Ash, staring at Spenser. As Tympole was returned to his Pokeball, Ash could no longer hold back his excitement. "You have a Suicune?" A
"What?" Spenser asked. "Oh, yes - she's very helpful for extinguishing fires."
"Sorry about that," said Ash. "It's a habit of Litleo's…"
"Don't worry, you're far from the first Trainer to do something like this," said Spenser. "Again, that's why I've got Suicune!"
Ash nodded. "Yeah…can we get back to the Legendary?"
Spenser cocked his head. "You have your Genesect. I don't see why you're so surprised. Or did you think you were the only Trainer in the world with a Legendary?"
"Then why didn't you send her out against Genesect?" Ash asked.
"Because she's not a Grass-type," said Spenser. "Now can we continue? This battle has been fun so far, and I'd hate to see it end so quickly!"
"Right," said the assistant. "Time-in! Battlers resume!"
"Keep charging and using Razor Leaf!" Spenser ordered; Ash noticed he hadn't recalled Suicune, who was now sitting beside the Grass-type Gym Leader and watching the battle with keen eyes.
"Uh…defend with Fire Spin!" Ash cried. "And try and control it this time!"
"Lit!" Litleo nodded, then unleashed another Fire Spin at the incoming Razor Leaf barrage. Again Ivysaur had to dodge out of the way as the Fire Spin cut through his attack - he was surprisingly nimble for that sturdy frame of his - though this time the fiery wheel slammed into the ground where Ivysaur had been standing and dissipated there.
Ash hid a frown. While it was clear Litleo had the upper hand due to his type advantage, it was also clear that he wasn't actually hitting Ivysaur - and the Grass/Poison-type was getting steadily closer.
Ash decided to be risky. As Ivysaur fired another Razor Leaf flurry, he spoke up. "Litleo, counter with Ember this time, and then charge!"
Litleo opened fire; the weaker Fire-type attack did not carve through Ivysaur's Razor Leaf, but the two attacks did stalemate each other. Ivysaur reflexively dove to the side, blinking in puzzlement as he found nothing coming at him, and then his eyes widened as he saw Litleo racing straight for him.
"Headbutt!" Ash called.
"Poison Powder!" Spenser countered.
"Wait-" Ash cried, his eyes widening, but before Litleo could break off Ivysaur twisted and expelled a burst of poisonous powder right into his face. The Headbutt hit home, causing Ivysaur to stumble backwards, but Litleo couldn't follow up; he was too busy hacking and coughing, staggering himself as he tried to eject the poison from his system.
"Good try, Ash," said Spenser, "but Ivysaur's quick for his species! Leech Seed while he's stumbling!"
"Counter with a barrage of Embers!" Ash cried.
Litleo opened fire, but the Embers were rather poorly aimed; while they did destroy the Leech Seeds, they missed the dodging Ivysaur and hurtled straight for the faux-jungle. Suicune blurred; several tendrils of water reached out from her body, each one intercepting an Ember in midair before it could strike any plant life, and then just as quickly the tendrils retreated and Suicune was back to watching the battle like a frozen statue.
Ash tore his gaze away from Suicune and focused on Litleo, who had recovered from his coughing fit but not from the poison. Ash grimaced. They'd been having enough trouble hitting this surprisingly evasive Ivysaur before, and now the Fire/Normal-type was on a time limit. Ash dreaded what might happen if Litleo was afflicted by Leech Seed as well as Poison Powder.
"Focus, Litleo!" Ash cried. "Remember, he can only do that once - he can't double-poison you! Fire Spin again, then charge with Headbutt!"
"Dodge and Razor Leaf!" Spenser cried.
Ash gulped - his orders had just left Litleo wide open to this new Razor Leaf. Damn it - I'm getting sloppy! "Break off and Ember!" he cried as Ivysaur dove away from the Fire Spin.
Litleo had enough time to react this time; he skidded to a halt and blasted away the incoming Razor Leaf attack with several motes of fire. But that left Ivysaur open to fire another Leech Seed at Litleo.
As Litleo destroyed the Leech Seeds with another Fire Spin that Ivysaur dove away from, Ash clenched his fists. We're at a stalemate here - and with Litleo poisoned, Ivysaur will win any stalemate! He racked his brain for options. How did I land that first successful hit again? With Ember - why didn't he dodge that like he keeps doing to Fire Spin?
The answer came quickly. Because he can't - unlike Fire Spin, it's too wide-spread. He has to defend with Razor Leaf. And that attack is just powerful enough to fend off Litleo's Embers…
But what if it wasn't?
"Litleo, use Noble Roar!" Ash ordered.
"LEO!" Litleo roared; Ivysaur shuddered as his bud retreated further into his body. "Now Ember, quickly!" Ash cried.
"Counter with Gr - no, wait, Razor Leaf!" Spenser was caught between two orders at once, and the result was that Ivysaur sent a Razor Leaf at the incoming Ember. But just as Ash had planned, the drop to Ivysaur's power was sufficient to weaken the Razor Leaf enough that the Ember ripped through it and kept going. "Saur!" Ivysaur cried in pain as he was struck once more by the super-effective attack.
"Growth, then Razor Leaf!" Spenser cried.
"Counter with Noble Roar and use Ember again!" Ash cried.
It was Spenser's turn to grimace as once more both his moves were countered and Ivysaur took a spray of Embers to the face. He frowned, clearly searching for options, but after a moment his frown returned to a smile. "All right, Ivysaur, one last gasp!" he cried. "Growth and charge!"
Ash saw Spenser's plan instantly. Just as he'd forced Spenser to choose between Growth and Razor Leaf, now Spenser was forcing him to make a choice himself - use Noble Roar to counter Growth and prevent him from getting enough power to resume the stalemate but leave himself open to Ivysaur's charge, or counter Ivysaur's charge but give him the ability to obtain more power.
Ash made his decision in an instant - Litleo could take a weakened hit from Ivysaur, right? "Noble Roar!"
Spenser grinned. "Full-force tackle - hold nothing back!"
Even as Litleo roared, Ivysaur lunged. There was no energy behind the attack - this wasn't a Pokemon move, just a simple running charge. It was already too close for Litleo to counter with any of his Fire-type moves. Ash called out as quickly as he could, "Meet it with Headbutt!"
A loud crack pierced the air as Litleo and Ivysaur slammed their heads into one another. Both staggered backwards, reeling from the impact. But while Litleo stayed on his feet, Ivysaur overbalanced and fell onto his back; he slumped as he landed, clearly knocked unconscious.
Litleo grinned, and then coughed as the poison continued to work its way through his system.
"Return, Litleo!" Ash called. "You did a great job - let's save you in case we need you later, okay?"
Spenser nodded as he and Ash both returned their Pokemon. "Good, good! Clearly you have quite the bond with your Pokemon! Your team spirit is truly admirable…but Shiftry doesn't lose easily!"
He released the Grass/Dark-type onto the battlefield as he spoke. Ash hesitated a little as he reached for his next Pokemon - he remembered from the earlier battle that Shiftry had Air Cutter - but he knew there would likely be no better time to give this Pokemon its first taste of a Gym Battle. "Go, Kricketune!" he called.
Spenser chuckled. "Two Bug-types and a Fire-type? If it weren't for the Tympole, I'd think you made your team specifically to beat mine!"
"Not really," said Ash. "I just…keep running into those types."
Spenser smirked. "Don't think you have me beat just yet! I figured you would've been paying attention last time we fought! Air Cutter, Shiftry!"
"But…" the assistant called from the sidelines. "I haven't called the beginning-"
It was far too late for that.
"Yeah, actually, I was paying attention!" Ash called. "Dodge, Kricketune, and use Sing!"
"Blast that away with Extrasensory!" Spenser ordered as Kricketune evaded the Air Cutter. Shiftry acted quickly, twisting and firing a wave of Psychic power at Kricketune's Sing. The two blasts impacted one another and both dissipated.
"Air Cutter again!" Spenser called.
"Dodge forwards!" Ash cried. Kricketune lunged, hurling himself to the ground as the AIr Cutter passed overhead; he maneuvered into a roll, twisting to his feet, and rushed forwards with a Fury Cutter primed.
"Meet it with Payback!" Spenser called.
Shiftry leaped forwards, one darkness-washed bladed arm at the ready. He lashed out as Kricketune closed; Fury Cutter and Payback slammed into one another, and though Shiftry clearly got off worse from the exchange, he was able to stop Kricketune cold.
"Air Cutter, now!" Spenser cried.
And because of that, Kricketune couldn't dodge the point-blank Air Cutter in time. "Tune!" he cried as the super-effective attack picked him up and tossed him back towards Ash. He landed on his feet, skidding to a halt before he could hit Ash, but now he was back on the other side of the arena.
"Pepper him with Razor Leaf!" Spenser ordered.
"Slice through those with Fury Cutter!" Ash countered.
Kricketune was quick on the uptake. As a flurry of sharp leaves burst from Shiftry's outstretched arm and flew across the field towards him, Kricketune's own bladed arms lit up with Bug-type energy and he lunged forwards, scything through every Razor Leaf that came near him.
"Extrasensory!" Spenser called as Kricketune sliced through three leaves with one swing of his arm.
"Counter with Sing!" Ash ordered.
Kricketune sliced through the last of the Razor Leaf attacks, then unleashed a Sing that blasted away the incoming Extrasensory. "Charge!" Spenser cried. "Throw out an Air Cutter and close with Payback!"
"Dodge!" Ash yelled. "Then block and use Absorb!"
Kricketune ducked the Air Cutter and rose up to slam one blade-arm into Shiftry's incoming Payback. Before Spenser could call for another Air Cutter, Kricketune's blocking arm glowed and Shiftry stumbled as some of his vitality was abruptly drained away. "Now Fury Cutter with the other arm!" Ash called.
"Extrasensory, now!" Spenser cried. Shiftry barely managed to get off the Psychic-type move in time, and though Kricketune was able to slice through it, the time and effort it took was just enough for Shiftry to leap backwards, evading the Fury Cutter by inches.
"And Air Cutter!"
"Dodge, Kricketune!" Ash ordered.
"Payback!" Spenser countered, the two giving orders rapid-fire.
And in the end, it was Spenser who won that exchange, as Shiftry lunged forwards with Payback at the ready, and Kricketune was too busy dodging to properly counter. The Grass/Dark-type slammed his fist into Kricketune, and once more the Bug-type was sent flying across the arena. This time Kricketune didn't land on his feet.
Shiftry's so fast…Ash mused. Type advantage doesn't matter if Kricketune can't even get a proper hit in!
"Don't bother with Razor Leaf this time, Shiftry!" Spenser called. "Air Cutters, and keep 'em coming! Keep Extrasensory at the ready in case he goes for Sing!"
Absorb's practically useless in this matchup…Sing gets countered by Extrasensory every time…and Shiftry keeps blocking or evading my Fury Cutters. That leaves one more move.
I didn't want to have to resort to this, but Shiftry's leaving me no choice.
"Take the Air Cutter!" Ash cried. "And use Bide!"
Spenser's eyes widened. "Charge, Shiftry!" he cried. "Hit him before he can get that off!"
Kricketune squeezed his eyes shut and took the first - and so far only - of Shiftry's Air Cutters. "KRICK!" he yelled, agony filling his voice as his body began to glow with the energy of Bide.
Shiftry charged, sprinting across the arena towards Kricketune with a Payback at the ready.
Kricketune stood where he was as Bide's glow became more and more pronounced.
Ash held his breath as Shiftry reached the halfway point.
Clay and Cyrus watched alongside their Pokemon, none of them daring to make a sound.
The assistant and the watching Pokemon weren't even bothering to blink.
Suicune just watched as impassively as ever.
And just as Shiftry closed, Payback ready, Kricketune's eyes opened wide.
"Krick…e…TUNE!" he bellowed, and unleashed his Bide.
Shiftry's momentum carried him straight into it. His cry of pain echoed across the Gym as he was flung backwards by the stream of energy that emanated from Kricketune. His body hit the ground in a spray of dust. "Finish with Fury Cutter!" Ash veritably howled over the noise.
Kricketune lunged.
"Air Cutter!" Spenser shouted.
Shiftry twisted on the floor, pained as he was, and as Kricketune pounced with blades at the ready, the Grass/Dark-type fired a blast of Flying-type energy straight into his face.
And the two Pokemon were engulfed in a massive energy-based explosion.
All eyes watched closely as the energy and smoke slowly dissipated. Ash's heart sank as he saw Kricketune sprawled out on the floor, clearly unconscious. And then it rose again as Shiftry was revealed on the ground next to him, also unconscious.
"Both Shiftry and Kricketune are unable to battle!" called the assistant. "With Litleo still able to battle for Challenger Ash, and both of Gym Leader Spenser's Pokemon unable to battle, the winner is, once again, Challenger Ash!"
Ash exhaled, relieved. "Great job, Kricketune," he said, recalling the unconscious Bug-type. "You did amazing."
Spenser recalled Shiftry as well, stared at Ash, and then erupted into laughter. "Gwahahahah! What a match! Assistant, hand me the thing!"
"If only you could maintain any sort of sense of decorum…" The assistant sighed and handed Spenser a Gym Badge.
Spenser crossed the arena with surprising speed for a man of his age. "Here you go!" Spenser cried. "Another Spirits Badge - and one very well-earned! You're no wimp, Ash - you're quite the opposite!"
"Thank you, Gym Leader Spenser!" said Ash.
"And," said Spenser, "as thanks for that integrity of yours, I've got something else for you." He handed Ash a few slips of paper. "These are three tickets for the S.S. Anne, a luxury cruise liner heading out of Vermillion City in just a couple hours! I've heard they're holding a battling tournament on that thing - you might want to see how well your team can compete!"
Ash grinned. "That sounds awesome! Thanks, Spenser!"
"Of course, you'll want to get your team healed up first," Spenser suggested. "Now go on, get outta here." His delivery of that was a lot more joyous than last time.
"That was amazing!" Litleo was saying enthusiastically. "That Ivysaur was coming straight at me, and I lunged forward and WHAM, rammed my head right into his! Knocked him completely out cold! And did you see the part where…"
Scizor chuckled as he watched Litleo regale the rest of his team with the tale of the battle they'd already seen from their Pokeballs. He knew none of them would dare let Litleo know that; the Fire/Normal-type was having far too much fun, and who could blame him? His first Gym Battle and he'd beaten an evolved Starter Pokemon by himself!
A small shift of earth alerted Scizor to the presence of someone stepping up to his side. He glanced over to see that someone was Kricketune. "What, not joining in the celebration?" Scizor asked. "I figured you of all Pokemon would be interested in celebrating a group victory."
"I will join when I have finished composing my song," Kricketune replied.
"Your song?"
Kricketune nodded. "When the Kricketune Squad achieved victories, we would take turns composing a song in celebration of our accomplishments. Now that the Squad is gone, I must take it upon myself to compose songs for all of our victories. I've never really worked under a time limit, though - how long until we leave for the S.S. Anne?"
"Ash says in about thirty minutes," said Scizor.
Kricketune nodded. "I doubt I will be able to finish the song before then."
"Better add a verse about yourself," Scizor pointed out. "I mean, you were no slouch during that battle either."
Kricketune glanced away. "Indeed, I defeated my foe," he said. "But that battle has taught me much about the difference between fights in the wild and fights on the team of a Trainer. My old tricks will cease to work entirely before too long - oftentimes Sing was enough to put an end to fights by itself. I must learn more."
"Talk to Ash," said Scizor. "I'm sure he'll be able to figure out some new moves for you. In the meantime, shall we resume what we were doing on the ranch? Your Fury Cutter still needs work in both speed and strength."
Kricketune nodded. "I suppose my composition can wait a bit longer."
On the other side of Vermillion, three figures crouched in a nearby house. This house had been sold long ago to a man who just so happened to be a member of Team Rocket, and since then it had served as a good place to rest and hide in Vermillion for other members of the organization.
Which Liza, Drake, and Aron very much were.
At present, the trio were staring at a buzzing device. The device had been buzzing for several seconds now, and all three were starting to worry that the person they were calling with it wouldn't pick up.
But at length the buzzing finally stopped, and a shadowy figure appeared on the screen. "It's been a while," the figure said, its voice filtered. "You usually call a lot more often. Is everything going all right?"
"Yes-" Drake began.
"No," Liza interrupted.
"Maybe?" Aron called from the floor.
Liza heaved a sigh. "Do you remember that kid with the Scizor and Kubfu?" she asked. "The one who stopped us from robbing that Pokemon Center in Viridian?"
"I do," said the figure. "What about him?"
"Well…we ran into him again," Liza admitted. "And…he's got a Genesect."
The figure paused. "Are you certain?"
"I'm certain," said Liza. "It said its name pretty clearly, sir."
The figure paused again. "How many times have you run into this Trainer?"
"T…two, boss," Liza stammered.
The figure noticeably leaned forwards. "Liza," he said, "I can understand failure. But lies are another problem entirely. You can learn from failure, but if you lie about it, then you won't learn at all. So I'll ask again - how many times have you run into this Trainer?"
"Um…about…four times?" Liza admitted.
"Five," Drake corrected.
"Four or five," Aron clarified, which didn't clarify anything at all.
The figure let out a long, heavy sigh. "So I presume this was less happenstance and more a consequence of you deliberately going after him in a hairbrained attempt at getting revenge?"
"Y…yeah, that's about right," said Liza.
"Listen to me closely, you three," said the figure. "If that boy has a Genesect, that means you are not equipped to handle him. This is an order - cease your pursuit of him. And if he intervenes with any of your operations, retreat immediately. Am I understood?"
"Yes, boss," Drake, Liza, and Aron chorused.
"Good." The figure's voice softened. "I know it's difficult to take a loss. But sometimes it's necessary. If you never lose, it's harder to learn. Now…how is the operation on the S.S. Anne coming along?"
"Good, boss!" Aron piped up, keen to at least try and somewhat impress his boss. "Our agents are in place, and we've got a whole crew of passengers lined up to board! It'll be the easiest heist ever!"
Liza and Drake, being firm believers in the temptation of fate, both shot withering glares at Aron.
"See that it is," said the figure. "Because while I am willing to accept a loss here and there, if multiple losses begin to pile up, that becomes less of a learning experience and more of a pattern. And if this becomes a pattern, then the only remaining option will be to…disrupt that pattern. Do you get my meaning?"
Liza, Drake, and Aron all gulped. "We do, boss," Liza promised.
"Then I believe our meeting here is done," said the figure. "Whether you bring success or failure, please report as soon as the mission is done." The figure noticeably turned to the side. "Yes, Houndoom, you'll get your head scratches, just wait a moment-" The image flickered and died, leaving the three Team Rocket members staring at a blank screen.
Aron turned to Drake and Liza. "So…how much do ya wanna bet that the kid's gonna be on the ship?"
The glares Drake and Liza leveled at him could probably have quelled a rampaging Gyarados.
I was actually going to use either Spenser's Lapras from the games or his Claydol from the anime in the scene with the fire. And then I looked closer at his teams and realized 'oh, wait, he's got a Suicune in the rematch'. So I decided 'what the hell, Legendaries make everything funnier'.
So, yep. Ash is far from the only one with Legendaries.
