A/N: Meant to go back to my One Piece story after getting the first four chapters of this out, but for some reason this story is the only thing my fingers want to type right now.

Chapter 5

Ecruteak City Gym

"This will be a fourth Badge level challenge! Each Trainer will be limited to two switch outs and no Held Items are allowed. The challenger is permitted his full roster while Leader Morty will be restricted to four Pokémon!" The ref is going through his usual song and dance spiel but there's hardly a need for it. This match isn't happening in the main stadium room so we don't actually have any spectators. If I had to make a guess at the reason for the last second change-up, it's likely to do with whatever Morty's planning for Simon. 'Which I appreciate - really I do - but I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me nervous.'

"Report if there are any questions!" The ref darts his eyes between us, pausing to see if either party speaks up. "Begin!"

"Haunter./ K. Rool!"

The two Pokémon hit the field at roughly the same time and I'm a bit surprised to see a near identical matchup to the one we ended with yesterday. This new Haunter I suppose is a little stronger at Lv. 28, vice the other day's 27, but that's basically a difference of semantics. Especially since that last fight was what pushed K. Rool over the line from 29 to 30. It's a two level difference in our favor either way.

Morty throws his hand out. "Icy Wind!"

'But that's certainly new!' "Get underground! Dig into Hone Claws!"

A deathly chill sweeps over the battlefield as the Haunter seems to tap into the cold energies of the very underworld itself. Blue streaks of energy converge on K. Rool and it is by the narrowest margins that they avoid clipping his tail as he burrows to avoid. 'A Speed drop this early would be devastating. We can't get hit by that!'

"Rain Dance."

Morty's call gets me to do a double take, even as the Ghost rapidly throws her hands up and begins to manipulate the very weather inside the room. A tiny sprinkle rapidly develops into a horrific deluge that -when combined with the lingering Icy Wind- starts coating the floor with a thin sheet of frost. 'What the- What the fuck kind of Haunter set is this?'

A thrum along our bond tells me K. Rool's done boosting and is moving towards the surface to pop out. 'The ice will slow his entrance too much!' "Snarl!" I order instead of my planned Crunch. It won't benefit from the Hone Claws Attack boost, but at least the bump in Accuracy will ensure it lands! Some damage is better than a complete whiff!

Krokorok's snout emerges from the earth and immediately as expected he hits resistance as he has to break through an ice layer. True to form though, he doesn't let it stop him from opening wide and spitting a glob of glowing Dark energy right at his opponent.

"Haze." Haunter makes no move to dodge as it fulfills the command, choosing to accept the Super-effective blow as the price it'll cost. The Ghost-type is struck back somewhat, though swoops into an aerial recovery a moment later without being too much worse for wear. 'Probably due to the Krookadile family's Special stats being rather meh. Not to mention Haunter's Special Defense is better than its Physical one.' Meanwhile, one more move that is rather atypical of a Ghost's wheelhouse comes into play as a dark fog spreads throughout the lower parts of the battlefield.

A fog that resets all stat changes to zero.

The Hone Claws boost is gone. The Special Attack drop that is free with every use of Snarl vanishes as well. And since the icy terrain is causing the Haze to linger…there's no point to setting up again.

'Shit. Even if we score a KO, this will still deny us our Moxie activation. It'll be gone as soon as we get it.' My brain runs at lightspeed, sorting through options for our next move. I need to end this quickly before Morty has this Haunter pull out any more shenanigans from its bag of tricks. Scary Face to drop its speed and then get in close? Wait, crap! The Haze negates that. Sandstorm? 'No. Would barely do anything with the ice coating the ground. What does Krokorok know that can-' "Swagger!" I nearly shout as the idea hits.

Haunter stumbles in the air as the confusion status overtakes it. Its Attack rises by two stages…and then subsequently falls back to normal as its own terrain setup takes away Swagger's downside. "Haunter! Focus up!" Morty barks. "Trap it in an Encore!"

"Now K. Rool! Get the Crunch!"

Confusion works a little differently here than it does in the games. It's a lot more straightforward of a thing. There's no 'dice roll' to see if a confused Pokémon will hurt itself -even if such things have happened in the past-, rather the status effect is just..disorientation. A temporary state where a Pokémon is..well..disoriented. There's really no better way to put it.

As such, Haunter here is just a bit too slow in responding to the Gym Leader's newest order. It takes a second to shake it's head clear and by then 's already cleared most of the jump with his teeth shining violet!

"Astonish!" Morty pivots at the last second.

A minor blow smacks K. Rool in the shoulder but it's nothing close enough to stopping the jaws closing around the Ghost's left side. The desert Pokémon drags his foe down to ground level and -still without a loosening of his grip– begins to thrash.

There will be no recovering off that one.

The first flag goes up. "Haunter is unable to battle! The first point goes to challenger Brad!"

A satisfied Morty beams his 'mon back into its Pokéball with a smile. "That was well thought with the Swagger. Many trainers don't bother with Normal moves against Ghost-types. They write them off wholesale."

I grin back, showing some teeth. "Type immunities mostly just apply to damaging moves. Status affect ones can still connect." I explain. "It's why Confuse Ray can still hit Normal types." My expression turns pondering. "Still though, that's quite the unusual Haunter you have there. It made me a bit nervous about what she was working towards."

Morty chuckles once. A self-deprecating little laugh. "She's what happens when you forget to Ghost-proof your TM Case. I admit, it's led to some unusual combinations. Though I can't help but think in hindsight we should've kept it more simple and just gone for Will-O-Wisp."

In a normal Gym match you typically wouldn't see this level of back and forth between rounds. Common practice dictates you save all the comments and feedback until after the post-fight handshake. It just 'makes for a better show' if you do it that way. No great pauses in the action.

'Mark it as another point in Morty's favor for him changing locations.' Private matches are a lot more enjoyable than having a crowd roaring and cheering in your ear the whole time.

The Gym Leader lightly tosses his second Pokéball up and down in his hand. "By the way, I confess I wasn't entirely forthcoming yesterday when we spoke of Unova." His face gains a little smirk. "Truth is, I've actually traveled there myself. It was only for a week's vacation a few months back but I still managed to come away with a souvenir."

With a casual lob his next Pokémon is deposited onto the field with a small burst of light and immediately my eyes narrow. It's male, that's obvious from its coloring, and its regal accouterments do give it the look of a little princeling, but it's the eyes that have my focus. The empty eyes and soulless frown that tell me this isn't a 'mischievous' type of Ghost like the ones you can find in Johto. This is a drag you down into the cold dark depths type of spirit.

Frillish: Lv. 29
Nature: Quiet
Potential: C

"Lock it down with Sand Tomb!"

"Double Team, Frillish!"

A swirling vortex tries to build beneath the floating jellyfish, but due to the state of the floor that Haunter left behind, it's a bit too anemic to get the job done. Afterimages of the hadal Pokémon spread in a ring around the room that leaves K. Rool turning his head left and right looking for the real one.

By now the black Haze has at least started to die away and Morty's the first to capitalize on it. "Frillish, Acid Armor while he's still searching for you!"

While the Ghost and its duplicates all begin to shine with a silvery coat, I begin working on a different plan. 'Quite a lot of Ghosts have the ability Levitate.' Krokorok's brow raises as he feels me start funneling energy into our bond. 'Frillish isn't one of them.'

"K. Rool! Do the thing!"

With an almost devious glee to the gesture, Korokorok brings one foot up...and then slams it down.

Great chunks of stone are upended as the Earthquake tears the ground apart. The majority of the faux-Frillish fade away as their illusions collapse and the real one hiding among is flung skyward with a silent cry.

Morty leans forward at his railing, not having expected the move to have quite that much power behind it. "Recover!"

For a moment I doubt the Water/Ghost is even conscious enough to hear him..but I suppose that Acid Armor raised its Defenses juuuust enough to not get insta KO'd. A restorative glow takes over the Pokémon still falling to the earth and when it lands it's back to looking healthy.

Exhausted. But healthy.

A purple energy seems to snake along the ground to Krokorok's feet and I can feel my boy's confusion as it 'infects him', coming up through the earth and into his soles. 'Tch. Cursed Body. No more 'quakes until the Disable lifts. I suppose that's the risks we take though.' Still, it's not all bad. Now all of the ice has gone and the terrain is effectively back to what we started the match with.

"Let's set up the Sandstorm K. Rool! Now it's our turn to control the field!"

"Water Pulse!"

'Heh. Now this seems familiar.' I chuckle to myself, thinking how a nearly identical scenario appeared against Whitney. The major differences this time being -besides the Pokémon themselves- the upturned earth allows the weather move to take effect much more quickly, and the Water Pulse while much stronger due to STAB and stat factors, just isn't launched fast enough for me to be concerned.

"Protect, K. Rool!"

I can't actually see the croc clearly through all the sand, but I can feel him. And I can feel his smugness as the rings of dirtied sand-filled Water splash harmlessly against his protective dome.

"I withdraw Frillish." The Gym Leader suddenly intones, sucking the little blue 'mon back in with a red beam. "I see no reason to keep him out. That Earthquake swung the balance in your favor too much for us to continue."

I smirk. "And by withdrawing him you deny us our Moxie boost again don't you?"

Morty smiles back. "Well, I'm not supposed to make things too easy on you am I?" He launches his next Pokéball, putting a wild spin on it this time as opposed to the casual toss in of his other two. "Time to get serious. This will be your real test. Up and at 'em Gengar!"

One of the most iconic of Gen I Pokémon lands with a massive grin and for a moment I'm put off by just how big its mouth is. I mean…you see the pictures but it's another thing entirely to really be presented with something that's not only shorter than you but can also swallow you whole. "Gen! Gen!" The 'mon squints its eyes a little from all the blowing sand but eagerly hops back forth between its feet. "Gen! Gen!"

Gengar: Lv. 34
Nature: Rash
Potential: A"Shadow Ball!" The Gengar hops up and a truly massive sphere of energy begins to coalesce before it.

'Don't gamble on the double Protect! Not sure if there's enough time for Dig!' "Shoot it down with Dark Pulse!"

Two spheres of energy, one purple, one black, both with reddish highlights, slam into each other in the middle and I brace myself for a mid-field explosion. Dark counters Ghost incredibly effectively but Gengar's Special Attack positively dwarfs Krokorok's.

Most of the Sandstorm is blown apart as artificial winds whip across the battlefield from the two attacks detonating against each other. My arm comes up to shield, but my eyes remain peeled, keeping focused through all the noise and clamor to try and track the.. 'It's already behind him!'

"K. Rool, Scary Face behind you now!"

"Sludge Bomb."

It's a trade-off of a much different kind this time, and I'm not so sure it was worth it. Gengar's monstrous Speed is now effectively cut in half -which is good, we needed that taken care of- but K. Rool's now ragdolling over the floor. The high-powered Poison move having so much momentum behind it that I can already tell is going to be a nasty bruise come morning.

'If that had managed to Poison him too then I'd be recalling him to his ball right now. God. And that was with his Ground type resist kicking in. No wonder Gengar's have stayed competitive for so long. They're absolute monsters.'

"Shadow Ball again Gengar! He's almost down!"

"Dig to avoid!" 'With the Speed drop we should be able to make it!'

My prediction proves true but I find myself biting my thumb as I think. K. Rool got away that time but it's obvious he's running out of gas. He's getting sluggish. If the ground hadn't already been busted up by the Earthquake I don't think it would have been possible.

I consider Vlad or perhaps Ma Ma to finish this out…and feel Krokorok's violent objection in my mind. He wants to go till he drops. His pride demands nothing less. "Assurance." I command. It won't get its power doubled from its effect but it's at least a move that's easier to land than Bite or Crunch.

"Sucker Punch it the moment it emerges Gengar."

"Gen! Gen!" it accedes, its fist glowing Dark as it watches the ground around it eagerly. There's a slight crumble in the rocks directly to the right of it and both Pokémon spring their attacks out. Gengar's hits first, his small hand smashing directly into Krokorok's cheek, sending the Ground-type skidding away while only getting a tiny nick from the Assurance for its trouble.

'Damn it K. Rool. Don't be prideful like this. You've already won two.' A feeling of 'No!' resounds along my psyche as the croc stubbornly gets back to his feet once more. He's limping, with one hand on his knee and breathing heavily, but he's still technically in this.

A purple energy snakes along the ground a second time to Disable the Assurance move K. Rool barely landed and this time I'm the one who's confused between the two of us. 'Cursed Body again? But that's not right, Gengar has..' The realization slams into me like a sledgehammer.

'Gengar only has Levitate in the early Generations! It was changed in the latter ones! And if it's triggering again then that means the first one has-' This time I don't just add my two cents of energy into the connection. I flood it with as much aura that I can push forth. "Earthquake!"

"KrokoROK!" K. Rool shouts as he becomes the epicenter of a disaster area. The foundations themselves shake as Ground energy explodes outward in a seismic ring of power around the Pokémon. Both Morty and myself grip our respective railings as we struggle to stay upright and Gengar is..

Gengar is..

Gengar is out cold.

From basically full health to nothing in a single blow.

"Krok!" K. Rool disses to his opponent as he himself struggles to stay conscious. "Krok! Krok! Korkorok!" he asserts which is basically desert reptilian for 'Yeah! Get some! You think you hot shit?! You ain't hot shit! How you like that one!'

"Krokorok!" he calls one final time before closing his eyes and collapsing into the dirt right then and there.