I'm definitely behind on getting this chapter updated. I meant to have this uploaded some weeks ago, but complications rose. I like making my chapters as descriptive as I can make them to hold a well-developed plot together, which took quite a lot longer than I had expected to take. That and the fact that every time I went to write, i found myself being drawn to play Solitare.
It's a very addictive game, might I add, especially when it refuses to let you win. At least Clock Solitare is eaiser to play. You always win, though it's not as challenging as original Solitare.
So without further to do, it's Zack's turn to battle for the badge. Hope I did well enough. It always seems to go better over in my head than when I'm actually writing it. Strange!
Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter 35: Underwater Battle
I had to admit, when Charcoal was sent flying into the water, I thought for sure the match was over. Sure I knew fire was weak against water, but in Charcoal's case, it was much more than that. Imagine my surprise when he came back up and fought with an unlit tail, miraculously beating down the star thing. Of course, he kind of blacked out as well as I watched both him and the star thing spin straight into a wall rather hard and fall to the ground, neither of them moving to get up.
"Staryu!" the red-headed gym leader cried out. He, of course, was totally unresponsive. I think I may have seen cracks in that red circle thing Charcoal might have rammed his claw into. And where the heck was his face? How could a star thing spin around and not get dizzy, let alone make himself sick? Ah well, I'm bound to figure it out one way or another. My trainer raised up a Pokeball and recalled Charcoal inside.
"Laura!" he yelled, tossing Charcoal's Pokeball to her. Laura stood up, catching the ball in both hands. "Get him to the Pokemon Center! I have a battle to finish up."
"Right," Laura said, looking down at Ted. "Ted, let's go."
"Right," he said with a nod as they both ran off but not before Ted yelled out to me. "I know you can beat whatever comes at you, Zack bro. I'll be rooting for you!"
"Thanks, Ted!" I yelled back as I shifted my attention back on the battle field as the gym leader recalled her Pokèmon.
"Didn't I tell you?" my trainer asked her. "I'm a responsible trainer. My Pokèmon's on his way to the Center to be treated."
"Indeed you've kept your word," the gym leader replied. "However, that still doesn't change the fact that you're a hotheaded, loud mouth, reckless thinking rookie." My trainer wasn't too happy with how he was being talked to. I just wanted to get this battle over with and make sure Charcoal was all right.
"Whatever," he said. "Let's just get this battle underway. Zack, you're up!"
"All right!" I said, leaping out onto the platform floating in front of me. The gym leader had another pokeball in hand, ready to call out whatever Pokèmon lied inside.
"Go!" she said, tossing the pokeball into the water. A burst of light was seen from underneath, the light shimmering throughout the pool. It was mesmerizing to stare at, almost like I was staring at a light at the end of a tunnel. And I've been through plenty of tunnels. The light quickly faded as it came and I stood there, on a platform, in some kind of big, square water thing, staring down into the water, waiting for my opponent to appear. Minutes passed as I waited, staring, staring, staring. Stop thinking like Skitty!
"Hey!" my trainer yelled. "What gives? Are we battling or are you just mocking me?"
"Just give it a moment," I heard the gym leader say, sounding a little agitated. So I waited, waiting for something to happen, which, of course, it didn't. It finally got to the point where the gym leader was fed up that she had to yell. "Get out here!"
The minute she said that, I turned about, watching the water rise. I looked up, my opponent taking form as the water rushed off from him. What I was looking at could only be described as similar to that Onix I fought at the last gym. This Pokèmon was blue and scaly and had his mouth open. Why was his mouth open? "SO YOU'RE MY OPPONENT I AM TO BATTLE WITH?" the Gyarados had asked me in a rather loud tone. "IF SO, PREPARE TO EXPERIENCE PAIN!"
I blinked, startled by the sudden shout. "What?" I asked, tilting my head.
"A NON WATER TYPE SUCH AS YOURSELF HAS NO CHANCE IN BEATING ME!" the Gyarados yelled. "PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DOOM!"
"DUDE!" I yelled back. "WHY ARE YOU YELLING?"
"I'M NOT YELLING!" the Gyarados yelled. "THIS IS MY NORMAL VOICE!"
"IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE YELLING!" I yelled.
"I'M NOT!" the Gyarados yelled. "YOU WANT YELLING, I'LL GIVE YOU YELLING! THIS IS WHAT I SOUND LIKE WHEN I YELL!"
"IT STILL SOUNDS THE SAME TO ME!" I yelled.
"I'M NOT YELLING!"
"IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE!"
"I'M NOT!"
"YOU ARE!"
"I'M NOT!"
"YOU ARE!"
"I'M NOT YELLING YOU IMBECILE! THIS IS HOW I SPEAK, DARN IT!"
"GABALOUGAASHA!" I yelled back.
That quieted the Gyarados down immediately as he drew back in surprise at the word I just used. Heck, I'm not even sure what I just said. "What?" he asked, an eyescale raised. "What the heck is gaba- whatever you said?"
"YOU KNOW I'M NOT REALLY SURE!" I continued to yell as I rubbed the back of my head. "IT JUST POPPED UP IN MY MIND!"
"Uh… you can stop yelling now," the Gyarados had said.
"I'M NOT YELLING!" I yelled. Great! Now I couldn't stop yelling.
"Right," the Gyrados asked. "I can tell by how loud your voice is."
"WHY IS YOUR MOUTH OPEN?" I had asked. Again the Gyarados raised an eyescale, his mouth closing slightly at the question. A look of confusion was plastered across his face, so I decided to change the topic. "I HAVE OVERLY SENSITIVE EARS! I THINK I MAY HAVE GONE DEAF!"
"So then how can you understand what I'm saying?" the Gyarados asked.
"MAKE THE RINGING STOP!" I yelled as I leaned forward and splashed headfirst under water. Despite my ringing ears due to all the yelling going on, everything was quite silent as I slowly sank almost like I got caught in yet another explosion and my ears were muffled. Only there was no explosion present.
Moving along with my thoughts, I recalled the last time I had been underwater, only it involved me being stuck within my Pokeball and forcing me to lose my sanity. Being trapped in those things was quite boring, yet I couldn't help but feel that the only reason for my boredom was because I lacked the desire to explore just how far the fake environment expanded. Then there was those berries. If the environment was fake, then how could those berries satisfy my hunger? And what of the fake lake? How was my thirst quenched whenever I drink from it? The more I thought about these questions, the more curious I was to know how a Pokeball provided such essentials. That would be something I'd have to ask Charcoal about. Another thing I was currently thinking about was how badly I began to desire for air as I allowed my thoughts to run wild, something I should really do less of.
Turning myself upright to stop myself from sinking any farther, I began to swim for the surface, my lungs desiring for breathing in fresh air. Unfortunately, before I could make an attempt to swim for said surface, an unknown force from behind attacked. The result of which sent me flying straight into the wall, a set of air bubbles being lost as I hit hard, even though the force of impact wasn't enough to cause much injury. It was more like being caught by surprise and being stunned for several seconds or so. Recovering from the surprise attack, I looked around to see what could have possibly hit me, soon locking eyes with the attacker himself.
"That was a foolish move diving underwater like that, quadruped," the Gyarados commented as he laughed. I had wanted to point out that, even though I was a quadruped, I had an actual name along with what kind of Pokemon I was. Doing so, however, would cost me more air, which is what I currently needed. "This is my underwater domain where I have the advantage. Speed, strength, power, it all means nothing if you aren't a water type. Whereas mine are greatly increased, yours greatly decreases. You can't even hope to make an actual hit without the force behind your attack."
At this point, the ringing returned in my ears. This Pokemon definitely loved to talk. What's the deal with Pokemon wanting to talk all the time? All it did was postpone the battle. And why was his mouth still open? Why did I even care that it was? It never really bothered me before unless I just never really paid much attention.
My attention was snapped back to reality as my lungs began burning for air as the Gyarados came charging at me, the distance between us closing like that. Before I knew it, he was right in front of me, his jaw widening as he made an attempt to clamp down on my body. Just before he did so, he suddenly reversed himself back to the spot he was in moments ago. Thank goodness for my trusty Detect kicking in. Gave me an idea of what I was going to do.
Again the Gyarados came charging, his increased speed boosting him for extra added power, but by that time, I was already making my move. Readying an Iron Tail, I went and swung at him, expecting to land a blow. Unfortunately, that's not what happened. Forgetting that my speed and strength were decreased, the end result had the Gyarados chomping down on my tail, which I'm pretty sure would have been bitten clean off had my Iron Tail not been in effect. That didn't change the fact that the pain still registered to me, an overwhelming desire to scream being imminent.
"Clever move, quadruped," the Gyarados spoke through the side of his mouth. "I was aiming to crush your body in my jaws and had it not been for your Iron Tail, I would have bit said tail clean off." What was with this guy? Was he that brutal? I was beginning to wonder if he even cared about me allowing to live. Deciding against finding out, I turned to release a volley of Swift, but never got the chance to as he suddenly began swimming around the battlefield, my tail still in his mouth as I was dragged along with. Being at the mercy of the Gyarados, all I could do was go along for the ride in hopes he'd let go soon. My lungs were now screaming for air at this point as the Gyarados's speed greatly increased until everything was practically a blur. At some point in time he eventually released his hold on me, sending me crashing into another section of the wall. I barely noticed nor did I feel myself make contact. All that I was made aware of was the fact that I couldn't move nor when I could. All I remember next I was aware of was my making my attempt to break free to the surface.
Unfortunately, just as I was making my attempted escape, the Gyarados had come at me again, only this time managing to successfully clamp his jaw down upon my body, thus began the pressuring pain as he clamped harder. I could feel my body being crushed underneath his powerful jaws, causing me to grit my teeth in an attempt not to scream. I could feel my lungs readying to burst by this point, my chances of reaching the surface dwindling quickly as my vision began to blur. It was in that instant that my instincts kicked in, the last ditch effort in a means to survive.
Having opened my own jaw, I bit down as hard as I could upon the Gyarados in hopes that he would release his hold on me. Instead of that happening, he began to laugh. "You amuse me, quadruped," he said. "Though I admire your valiant efforts in an attempt to beat me, the fact of the matter is that my scales are as thick as steel, impenetrable to break through with such measly attacks. You don't stand a chance in- AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"
The Gyarados screamed suddenly, the reason being that I raked my claw across his eye, causing him to release his hold on me to tend to his wound. No sooner had he done so than I had immediately began to swim for the surface. "My eye!" I heard him scream. "You scratched my bloody eye!" But by this point, I was nearing the surface, seeing the lights shimmering from above as they cast down upon the water's surface. My eyes were starting to burn for unknown reasons as I drew nearer.
"Air, air, air, air!" was all I could think of. "I need air!" However, just before I could make my last few strokes to break through the surface, I stopped suddenly, unable to go any further as panic began to set in due to my path now being blocked by a very ticked off Gyarados with a scratch mark over one eye. "Move Mew damn it! Please! I need air!"
"You insolent whelp!" he said with venom. "Don't think I'll let you escape that easily. That was my good eye! You'll pay for that!" With that, the Gyarados began to spin around, sort of like a wheel, building up speed and momentum as he readied to delivery a powerful blow I knew was coming. "Aqua Tail!"
With a shout, the Gyarados had brought his attack, slamming his tail down directly upon me. The force of the attack was so powerful, it sent me careening toward the bottom. Stupid increased strength and speed! There was no way I'd make it up to the surface without the Gyarados blocking my path. It was like he was really trying to kill me, point proven when I suddenly felt my entire body begin to compress itself, like my insides were trying to catch up with my speed, yet failing completely as I had to grit my teeth, even when I crashed upon the bottom. I could feel my insides ready to burst at any second as blood escaped through my gritted teeth. That only settled my suspicions of the Gyarados trying to kill me, especially when I heard him yell, "Hyper Beam!"
My unfocused eyesight scanned about from where I lied, searching for where the Gyarados was going to strike from. I had only seconds to make an attempt to avoid the attack, yet my entire body seemed to be immobile. I couldn't even figure out the reason why due to the lack of much needed oxygen. All I knew was that my vision began to blur, the effects of unconsciousness beginning to consume me. Lying here, on the bottom of this underwater arena, didn't seem to look so bad all of a sudden. It sure was better than being grounded on the surface above. Here, at least, I was free to float around, almost like I was floating in the air, only my movements were slower.
Up above me was a bright light that seemed to be descending towards me. I had to admit, it was the most beautiful thing I could ever get to lay eyes upon as it shone brighter with its descent. I closed my eyes, waiting to be enveloped in its majestic warmth, a feeling of contempt washing over me. However, just as the light was close to enveloping me, a voice in the tone of a hushed whisper suddenly spoke out. "Zack," it whispered harshly. "You're an idiot!"
My eyes snapped open at the unexpected insult. Where had that come from? And who was she? It was definitely a she, though my reasons for knowing were a myster- Hello! As I came to, my eyes regaining focus, the light I believed myself to be staring at was none other than the Hyper Beam the Gyarados fired off as my mind quickly brought me back up to speed to the predicament I was currently in.
Barely giving it any thought, I turned, my feet touching the bottom as I quickly propelled myself away from the attack, though with the mass density of the water, though managing to avoid taking a direct hit as I realized that I somehow managed to free myself as the attack landed where I laid not moments ago. Though I had managed to avoid the attack altogether, the sheer force of the attack was strong enough to send me flying back, though not as powerful as when the Gyarados had struck me the last few times.
As I went to recover, I suddenly felt something wrap itself around my body and before I could process what was going on, I suddenly felt myself shooting through the water up towards the surface. My mind raced as we reached up near it, the lights from above shimmering down upon said surface. Had my life not been threatened at the moment would I have enjoyed staring at them. As it was, all my thoughts were focused upon the many possible ways I could break free from the Gyarados' hold and break through above to breathe, trying being the key word as not one single solution came to mind.
The Gyarados snaked his giant snake-like head… wait! Why was I suddenly distracting myself trying to determine what kind of creature this Gyarados resembled? Why did I care? How could a snake snake its own head about something if it wasn't a snake? How did that even make sense? And how could any water type Pokemon have the ability to breathe both above and below water? It was like they… something had suddenly clicked in my mind, an answer coming to light as the Gyarados spoke.
"So have you any last words to speak before I end this, quadruped?" Yup. He definitely had every intention of killing me, as I had made mention earlier. "Oh wait! You're underwater. There's really nothing you can say!" He began laughing out of his own amusement, which allowed me the opportunity to gain the advantage. Once again, I sank my teeth into the Gyarados' scales, his laughter coming to an abrupt end as I tried to forego my plan.
"You stubborn quadruped!" the Gyrados growled in an annoyed tone. "I suppose you weren't listening the first time when I told you that my scales are as thick as steel. You're futile attempts to penetrate them are wasted. There's no way that you can-" He stopped in mid-sentence, his voice going completely silent for a second before a strange, gurgling sound began emitting from him. The hold he had on me instantly slackened, allowing me the chance to slip out and break through the water's surface. I instantly breathed in all the fresh air I could hold in my lungs before I released it all in a coughing, hacking, gasping fit as I sputtered, keeping myself afloat by treading my front paws, finding myself one of those floating platforms to hoist myself onto and laying myself down on my side so as to catch my breath.
"Zack!" I heard my trainer cry out. "He's all right!"
"I'm going to have to apologize," the gym leader said. "Gyarados can be short-tempered if he gets caught up trying to win a battle. He doesn't take being injured too well."
"No worries," my trainer said. "Zack's a lot tougher than he looks. There's no way he'd let himself go down that easy." Is he serious? I almost drown and all he can say is 'no worries?' I'd like to see him battle underwater for that length of time I've been down there.
I felt my strength beginning to return as the humans continued chatting, my breathing slowing back to normal. I slowly began pushing myself up once I felt I had enough strength to do so, turning myself around as the Gyarados came bursting out from underwater. "You… stupid quadruped," he said, panting heavily. "You just don't get it. Whether you're underwater or on land, I still have the advantage. You're still in my territory. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable. I'll make sure you'll pay for-"
"Tail!" I yelled out, slamming an Iron Tail straight across his eyes as I had taken the advantage to strike quickly. The sheer force of the attack knocked the Gyarados back, but I was far from finished. Using his scaly body for leverage, I leapt of to the side, swinging another Iron Tail to the side of his head. The blow caused him to change the direction he was falling as we both landed in the water. Almost immediately as I had did I quickly swim back onto a platform to prevent the Gyarados from dragging me back under. Speaking of whom, said Gyarados was struggling to upright himself, his entire body wobbling and swaying.
"Swift!" I yelled out, releasing a volley of yellow stars. The Gyarados turned, the attack bombarding him. Once I had let up on the attack, the Gyarados hunched over, panting heavily.
"That tears it!" I heard him say. "I m through going easy on you. Now you re done for!" He then charged me, his entire being towering over me as he straightened up and began leaning towards me. "Body Slam!" Whoa boy! It had just occurred to me that he was attacking. Just where was my mind? In any case, just before the Gyarados could slam into me and win the match, I leapt into the air, the Gyarados slamming right into the platform I had recently been standing on as I landed upon his head. The Gyarados growled, snapping his head upward as an attempt to shake me off, yet I had already done moved from where I was, leaping high into the air thanks to the Gyarados height. As my ascent began to slow, I glanced down, watching as he looked around for my whereabouts, noticing that I was no longer on his head. After several seconds of searching about for me, he looked up. "There you are, quadruped. It s time to end this."
An orange glow began to charge within his mouth, yet another Hyper Beam readying to decide the winner of this battle. I was not too terribly concerned with this fact at the moment, for something else was on my mind that I felt the need to say. "For your information, I have a name," I yelled down to him as the attack was ready to launch.
"Hyper Beam!" the Gyarados yelled, firing his attack up at me. Dodging the attack was not likely possible, being that maneuvering in the air was quite difficult to do unless one was a flying type. All I could do was watch as the attack came aiming straight up at me, the sheer force of power passing me by leaving nothing but a small, stinging graze upon my side. Wait! What? I actually had to do a double take to make sure what had just happened actually did happen. To my surprise, the attack had somehow managed to bypass me and make contact with the ceiling above. Was it possible that my attacks to the Gyarados blurred his sight that caused his attack to veer slightly off course? Or was it the scratch to the eye that veered his aim off? Whatever the case may have been, it gave me the opportunity to strike before the Gyarados had time to recover.
Mustering what power I had, I formed what I m sure was the smallest Shadow Ball anyone has formed in history. Maybe. However the case, I fired my small Shadow Ball, watching as it fell straight towards the Gyarados who looked like he was breathing rather heavily, his mouth gaping wide open. You know, he probably should learn to keep his mouth shut more often in come something were to fly in it, like a bug Pokemon or tossed trash or even the Shadow Ball that had just been inhaled. Only then had the Gyarados closed his mouth and tore his gaze away from me, standing there completely still as I began to descend. I somewhat knew how it felt to have an attack explode inside one's mouth, memory recalling my battle against Ted. But that was beside the point!
Activating another Iron Tail, I copied what the Gyarados had done earlier, beginning to spin and increase speed as I descended downward. "My name is Zack!" I yelled out, slamming my attack directly upon his head. The Gyarados buckled under the sheer force, giving me the edge to use my tail to act as a sort of spring as I sprung myself off the top of his head, somehow managing to do a semi-back flip and land perfectly on all four paws upon one of the floating platforms. "And I'm an Umbreon."
The Gyarados fell backwards, landing with a mighty splash, one that rocked the platform I was one, yet I had managed to hold firm until the rocking settled down. Silence ensued afterward, no one making a sound as I stood there, staring at the Gyarados' unconscious form. At least I hoped he was unconscious. Taking a Shadow Ball into the mouth with an Iron Tail to the head to follow was a bit brutal to say in the least. My ears had perked up a little as my trainer was the first to break the silence.
"Huh," he said. "We won."
"Yeah," the gym leader said. "Looks like you have."
I looked up at my trainer, watching him as a grin spread across his face. "All right!" he yelled out happily. "We won!" I couldn't help but grin at those words myself as the Gyarados was recalled to his ball.
"Good job," I heard the gym leader say, though quiet she may have been. "Even though you might have deserved that."
"All right Zack!" my trainer said as he gave me one of those human thumbs up things. "Way to go! You rock!"
"It's all in a days work!" I said with a relieved smile, right before my body gave out on me. I felt myself tip forwards toward the water.
My vision blacked out before I even registered falling back in.