Chapter 95: A Completely Normal battle PT1
Larry wiped his mouth with a napkin after finishing his food. "Thank you for the meal," he said to the chef, who smiled and nodded. Not many people were around him by the time he finished his food, and that was rather strange- but it was okay. Larry had finished his food and felt satisfied.
"Hello there."
There are a few things that could make Larry shiver. Looking at the clock on a Sunday night, which marked the end of his day off, looking at his fridge and seeing there was no food left… And hearing the voice of his boss, Geeta.
When he turned to his left, he saw his boss standing beside him and smiling.
"H-Hello-" Larry said. There were few reasons why Geeta would come to him right now. Either he had done something wrong, or there was something he could be doing better. There was nothing in between when it came to her.
"I hope you enjoyed your food," Geeta said.
Larry had a feeling that it might be the last food he'd ever have. A single bead of sweat fell down the man's cheek.
"Y-Yes. I did," Larry replied.
"I want to talk to you about something. You're not in trouble." Geeta said. Larry felt a weight lift off his shoulders the moment she said that. "I want to discuss a strategy that I want you to take against your upcoming challenger, Kai."
Geeta pulled out two things from her pockets. It was a master ball, and a normal Pokeball. Larry's eyebrows rose as Geeta brought them closer to him.
"These two Pokemon are both normal types." Geeta said. "The one in the Pokeball is a Smergal. The one in the Masterball is…."
"Okay," Kai said, "Aeon's got the berry, right?" Kai along with Penny and Arven circled around Aeon, who held a single Sitrus berry in his hand. They were in the middle of a forest, but that was for a strategic reason: they planned to hide in bushes and wait in case anything went wrong.
"Yes, for the fifth time, he has it," Arven said.
"I know, I know, it's just that- as soon as we go into the bushes and I throw this thing, who knows what'll happen..?"
"I still think we should get a cage." Penny said.
"Exactly, we need a cage," Aeon said.
"Okay- for the twelfth time," Kai groaned. "We can't find a bird cage in this city big enough to hold Bombirdier!"
"Besides, it'd just break out if anything- it may as well not even be there." Arven said.
"Do you see, Penny?" Aeon said, leaning toward her and whispering. "This is the pain of having a brain among dummies."
"Riiight, right…" Penny grumbled.
"I heard that!" Arven yelled.
"No you didn't." Aeon said.
"Yes I did!"
"Okay, prove it. What did I say?"
Arven began pouting.
"Yup." Aeon said with a sly smirk. "That's what I thought."
"Kai, I'm going to kill your boyfriend." Arven said.
"I'd really prefer it if you didn't," Kai said.
"Guys- focus!" Penny cried. Penny pointed at Aeon. "Aeon, berry, yes?"
Aeon showed his sitrus berry. "Yes."
"Good." Penny pointed at Kai. "Kai. Pokeball. Yes?"
"...Why are you talking like that? " Kai muttered.
"Maybe they think that since they have brains they can talk down to us like we don't understand English," Arven said.
"Kai. Pokeball. Yes..?" Penny sounded more agitated.
Kai sighed in defeat. "Yes. I. Kai. Pokeball, yes."
"Are we hiding in the bushes now?" Arven asked.
"Hey," Kai said, "You're supposed to talk like a caveman, Arven."
"No, that's stupid."
"YOU'RE stupid!" Kai yelled.
"Hey! Weren't you against it earlier?!"
"Yeah! But If I have to suffer, so do you!"
"Aeon," Arven said, "I'm going to kill your boyfriend."
"Umm…please don't?" Aeon asked.
"That's it-" Penny grabbed both boys by the hand and pulled them to the bushes.
"HEY- WAIT!" Kai groaned.
Arven began blushing. "H-Hey-!" He cried.
Once the three of them went into the bushes the three of them started muttering.
"Throw the pokeball." Penny muttered.
"Is Aeon ready?" Kai asked. "We've gotta ask if Aeon's ready. HEY AEO-"
"JUST THROW THE THING," Arven yelled.
"Okay- okay, jeez. All right Aeon, here it comes, in three… two…"
"Don't count down, just do it!" Arven yelled.
"Shut it! Don't interrupt me! Okay- THREE, TWO- ONE."
Kai threw the Pokéball over Aeon's shoulder, and out of it came Bombirdier, whose back was turned to Aeon. Bombirdier looked around for his trainer, then turned his head, and almost immediately squawked loudly as though it were shocked.
"Wait- wait- hey! Wait- hold on!" Aeon said. "I'm- I'm not trying to hurt you- I'm not going to hurt you, okay?"
Bombirdier immediately began flapping his wings as though it were about to take flight.
"Hey- wait- wait, please! Wait! I want to- I want to apologize! Please- wait!" Aeon cried. He showed the Sitrus berry in his hand, and Bombirdier's eyes widened. "I'm- I'm not going to hurt you, see? I- I just want to give you this berry.."
Bombirdier stopped flapping his wings. For a while, he and Aeon stared at each other. Aeon slowly began taking a step, and Bombirdier took a step back.
"I- I just- I just want to- give you this berry. I- uh…we didn't start on the right foot…when we met. I-...I wanted to tell you that- uh…I'm…actually a robot. A-And…there was something…complicated…going on with me. When I fought you it was because you grabbed Kai… and I-... I wanted to protect him. I just-... I lost myself."
Aeon slowly took another step, and Bombirdier didn't take a step back.
"Whatever you saw there- when I fought you- that wasn't…me. It wasn't me at all…" Aeon said, taking another step. "I- I want to apologize…and- start…f-fresh. Is that okay…?" Aeon took another step forward, and took another step, and another step. Bombirdier didn't move until the berry was close to him, and then Bombirdier took a step back.
"It makes…sense…that you're afraid of me. I'm afraid too.. Of what I could become. I could…accidently hurt all of my friends. Or worse…" Aeon said. His voice was trembling. "But- I want you to help me, Kai, and everyone else, to fight to make sure that doesn't happen. Please..?"
Bombirdier saw Aeon's berry in front of him, and sniffed it before taking it from the robot boy's hand with his beak. Then, with one gulp, Bombirdier ate it.
"Uh-...d-did- you like it..?" Aeon asked. Slowly reaching out to pet Bombirdier's head. Bombirdier immediately pulled himself away from Aeon, then flew away.
"Wha-!?" Aeon cried. He spun to Kai, who stood up along with Penny and Arven. "Kai- you've got to return him to his Pokeball!" Aeon cried.
Kai didn't move. He just smiled.
"Kai..?" Penny said.
Bombirdier flew far away from sight.
"Kai, he's- he's getting away…" Arven sounded more confused than concerned.
Kai put his hands on his hips. "Give it a second," he said.
"...What're we waiting for, exactly?" Penny asked.
"Shush," Kai said, extending a finger. "Wait for it."
After about thirty seconds, a balled up plastic bag fell onto Aeon's head like a rock.
"Wha-" Aeon said, furrowing his brow as he took the balled up plastic bag.
"Aaand there it is." Kai said. He crossed his arms and smiled proudly. "That means things are fine with you two, by the way,"
"Really..?" Aeon said.
"Yeah. I think that dumb bird's way of showing it acknowledges your existence is by dropping things on your head. I'd say, 'it's his way of showing affection.' but I think we all know that demon isn't capable of liking anyone."
"Why call him a demon?" Penny asked.
"He is one! You don't understand- that thing is straight up devious- who knows what it's-"
A trash bin fell from the sky and bonked Kai's head. Kai stared at the trash bin for a minute and then groaned loudly.
"I'LL KICK THAT BIRD'S BUTT!" Kai roared.
"Well, as long as he listens to you during battle, I don't see a problem," Arven said. "Aeon, how are you feeling?"
"Huh- what?" Aeon said, breaking his trance from staring at the plastic bag. "Uh…Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Just…processing things."
"What- you surprised he forgave you?" Arven said. "Of course he did. You're you."
Aeon smiled. "Yeah. You're right."
Kai's phone began ringing, and he yelped. He looked at his pocket before pulling out his phone.
"Hey, who is this?...Geeta?! Why are you calling me?...Oh- my Gym battle? I'm about to have my last one. Yeah. I was about to challenge Larry like, right now. Wait- you're gonna watch? Perfect! Okay- we're coming."
Kai turned off his phone.
"Okay guys. Me and my Pokémon are gonna have a strategy meeting. You guys… uh, go do something else."
"What?" Penny asked.
"Yeah- just- uh. Go. Go do something. Anything. Shoo."
"Why can't we be a part of your meeting?" Aeon asked.
"Because- it'd be much more exciting if I just wowed you guys on how well I strategise for the battle."
Aeon narrowed his eyes. "Arven, I'm going to kill my boyfriend," he said.
"Okay- first off, don't steal my kill," Arven said. "Second-"
Penny sighed. "If he wants alone time, we should give it to him. Whatever he's planning, I'm sure it'll be fine. Right?" Penny looked at Aeon, who sighed and nodded.
"Right…" Aeon said.
Penny then looked at Arven.
"I have zero faith," Arven said.
"HEY! I HEARD THAT!" Kai roared.
"No you didn't!"
"Yeah I did!"
"Prove it!"
"You said 'I have zero faith'!"
"Ugh- I was kidding! You know I was kidding!"
"You know," Aeon said, "That trick only works when they actually didn't hear yuo."
"Well how did you know I didn't hear you?!" Arven roared.
"I didn't."
"What!?"
"Doing a whole lot of not-leaving-me-alone right now!" Kai cried.
"C'mon guys, let's go," Penny said.
"Fiiine... Hey- Kai! I'm gonna kill you when you get back!" Arven shouted.
"Not if I kill you first!" Kai yelled. "Now shoo! Go!"
Arven sighed and Aeon patted his shoulder. "It's okay," Aeon said. "We can kill him together."
"Yeah. He won't expect the brother one-two combo." Arven said.
"If you two are gonna kill him, we should discuss that while Kai isn't around, so that we surprise him." Penny said.
"Yeah. By the way, Penny, I appreciate you being a mediator…" Aeon's voice drifted off as he went farther away.
"Yeah, honestly, we'd probably kill each other if not for you…" Arven said as his voice drifted off as well.
"Wha- re-really? What stopped you from doing it before…?" Penny said, as her voice drifted off.
Kai waited until they were gone, smirked, and pulled out all his Pokeballs. Out of them came Quaquaval, who let out a loud roar with excitement, Tinkaton, who hopped with joy… Pawmot, who smiled and scratched behind its ears, Houndstone, who let its tongue out upon seeing Kai, and Charcadet who yawned and sat on the floor.
"Okay, last but…not least…HEY- BOMBIRDIER!"
Bombirdier cawed as it flew straight down toward Kai, landing on his head.
"Dumb bird." Kai grumbled. He looked down and saw Houndstone looking up to him and barking. On top of the tombstone on its head was Charcadet, who was climbing down to walk up to Kai before raising its tiny arms up to him. Kai picked the fire type up, and saw Quaquaval sitting down and adjusting its feathers. Tinkaton stared at Pawmot with heart-shaped eyes, and Pawmot chuckled, scratching the back of his head and blushed.
"Okay, now to get everyone's attention..." Kai muttered. Bombardier let out a caw in an attempt to get everyone's attention as though it were the leader, but no one listened, and the flying/dark type looked annoyed.
"Okay, guys, listen up!" Kai said. All of his Pokémon turned to him. Bombirdier looked even more annoyed as it flew down to stand with the rest of Kai's Pokémon. "It's time for a strategy meeting." Kai continued.
Penny, Arven and Aeon sat around dinner tables in the Restaurant/Pokémon Gym. The sound of other people talking filled the entire room. Standing in the Pokémon battlefield, conveniently placed right beside where everyone was eating, was Larry, who was doing squats.
"I wonder when Kai'll show up…" Penny asked, resting her hand on her chin. She and her friends sat around a tiny round table.
"I don't know," Arven said, sighing. "Better question is, why did Aeon bring the Pom-poms?"
Penny and Arven turned to Aeon, who darted his eyes back and forth to them.
"What?" Aeon said.
"Nothing, nothing. Just admiring Kai's 'biggest fan'," Arven said with a snicker.
"I think it's nice that you're that supportive," Penny said.
"So much so that you'd join him?" Arven teased.
"I'd rather explode." Penny replied.
Arven laughed. "Same here. See- you wouldn't catch me dead with those pom-poms." Arven said.
"I remember very long ago when I saw you fight against Team Star members," Aeon said, "You did better once I cheered you on."
"Oh yeah... Man that was a long time ago, huh," Arven said.
"I just want to show that same support to Kai, and then have him do better, too." Aeon said.
"Aw," Penny said.
"Don't 'aw,' him," Arven said. "He may seem pure but he'd sell me to the highest bidder."
"Yeah, probably," Aeon said.
Arven shot a glare. "Oh you little- you are so going to get i-"
"LADIES AAAND GENTLEMEN!"Kai's voice had everyone in the crowd spinning their heads to the entrance. Kai had already slammed the door open and had a big smirk on his face. "The star of the show has finally arrived!"
Kai grinned to himself as he walked with swagger straight to his side of the battlefield. Penny turned her head to Aeon and saw him staring dreamily at Kai.
"Uh…Aeon?" Penny asked. "Aren't you…"
Aeon's eyes widened in shock as though he broke out of a trance. "Oh! Right," He said. "Uh- Kai! Kai!" Aeon started doing a little dance. "He's our man! If he can't do it, no one can! Goooooooooo KAI!"
"Thank you, thank you, my adoring fan, thank you.." Kai winked and blew a kiss at Aeon. Aeon blushed and smiled.
"On a scale of one to ten, how hard is Aeon crushing on Kai?" Arven said.
"Scale on of one to ten? One-hundred," Penny said.
"Now then," Kai said, putting a hand on his hip and staring straight at Larry. "I'm pretty sure you're going to owe me a Gym badge soon."
"Is he, now?" The sound of Geeta's voice made Kai swing his head. Geeta was standing on the sideline of the battlefield.
"Wait- why aren't you-" Kai pointed at the crowd of spectators. "You're supposed to be in the crowd- Why are you-"
"I'm going to watch over this battle." Geeta said.
"Watch over- why? What are you, some sort of referee?"
"Goodness. Kids these days don't understand how it was back then before Invokers were around… I'm sort of like a referee, yes. " Geeta said.
"Ohh, okay. Makes sense," Kai said. "Anyway- hey, Larry!" Kai cried. "Are you ready to give me my badge!?"
Larry was continuing his squats. "Ninety nine… one hundred." He mumbled. "Okay. Yes, I'm ready to go."
Kai pulled out his first Pokéball. "Okay, good! Get ready to lose! Go- Pawmot!"
Kai threw his Pokéball, and out of it came Pawmot. Pawmot let out a battle cry, and as soon as he did, Tinkaton forcefully came out of her own Pokéball. The fairy/steel type immediately squealed, and then started bouncing with joy. Kai turned his head to Tinkaton.
"Why aren't you in your ball!?" Kai cried. Tinkaton's eyes became heart-shaped as she continued to bounce with joy.
"Huh. Looks like Pawmot has his own biggest fan," Penny said. "Too bad we don't have an extra set of Pom-poms."
"I do," Aeon said.
"What? How? When?" Arven asked.
"I kept the ones that were given to you both just in case you two decided to change your minds."
"I'd rather gargle molten lava in my mouth," Penny said.
"I'd rather jump off a plane without a parachute," Arven said.
Aeon narrowed his eyes. "You two could just say no, you know. Hey Tinkaton! Come over here!" Aeon shouted for Tinkaton's attention as he put his pom poms down on the ground. Then, he pulled out another pair out of his jacet. "Come cheer for Pawmot with me!" Aeon cried.
Tinkaton ran over to the sidelines, picked up the om poms on the floor. Then the two of them started doing a little dance.
"Go Pawmot- go go! Go Pawmot, go go!" Aeon cried.
Tinkaton cried out with Aeon.
"Aeon is really getting into this," Penny said. "Tinkaton, too."
"Yeeeeep. Just goes to show how far Aeon's willing to go for the guy," Arven said.
"Y'know, you keep mentioning how much he loves Kai," Penny said. "Are you jealous?"
"Wha- me?! Jealous? Pfft- no! Why- Wha- Why would I be jealous?"
"Ah, you are Jealous."
"No I'm not!"
"Uh-huh."
"Shut it!"
Kai's smirk widened. "Well!?" He cried. "Who's going to be Pawmot's first victim!?"
"Hm." Larry said, closing his eyes for a moment. "Well, I know who I'll use. Go. Staraptor."
Larry threw his Pokeball, and his flying/normal type companion let out a battle cry as it took flight.
"A Flying type!?" Kai cried. "I'm not sure if you get it, but Pawmot's an electric type. He'll make short work of your Staraptor."
"What I like about my battles is normalcy," Larry said. "It's normal for arrogant kids like you to come storming in, demanding a battle. It's normal for them to find out what my ace Pokémon is, and use an electric type to counter it. And...It's normal for my Staraptor to surprise them and beat electric types."
Kai's smirk faded away. "What..?" He said.
"Staraptor versus Pawmot!" Geeta cried. "Let the battle begin!"
Pawmot and Staraptor glared at each other from across the arena. Both Trainers prepared themselves as well.
"Staraptor! Air slash! Now!" Larry cried. Staraptor flapped his wings with enough force to shoot razor-sharp blasts of wind at Pawmot.
"Pawmot- dodge it, and counter with Thundershock!"
Pawmot nodded, going on all fours to run from the raining salvo of wind projectiles, which created dust in its wake. Then, Pawmot leapt into the air and conducted a powerful electric blast with its cheek pouches- which surged at Staraptor.
"Staraptor! Tailwind, now!"
Just as Staraptor heard Larry's command, it began flapping its wings much faster than ever- and in a blink of an eye, it disappeared just before the thundershock could hit it.
"What!?" Kai cried.
"Now use Swift!" Larry cried.
Staraptor appeared again above Pawmot as though it teleported and let out a battle cry before firing star-shaped projectiles at Pawmot, who cried out in pain as they pelted the electric type.
Pawmot lay flat on the ground, and Kai watched in complete shock.
"As I said," Larry said as Staraptor landed in front of his trainer. "It's completely normal for Straptor to defeat Electric types."
Meanwhile, on the sidelines, cheering from Aeon and Tinkaton had stopped, and the two of them just stared in worry.
"Dang…" Arven said. "That Starraptor's made of tough stuff."
Suddenly, Kai began to smile, and so did Pawmot. Larry's eyes widened as Kai began laughing maniacally like he was a villain about to unveil his master plan.
After finishing his laughter, Kai let out a sigh.
"Thank goodness," Kai said. "I was worried this was going to be too easy. My Pokémon and I have been itching for a fight that'll make our hearts race. If you weren't able to at least do that, we would die of boredom."
"Looks like Kai isn't phased at all," Arven said. "Goodness, I swear the way Kai acts sometimes, it reminds me of that girl Nemona."
"WHOOO! GO KAI!" Nemona cried out from behind Arven.
"OH SWEET LORD-" Arven squealed as he fell off of his chair.
"Are you okay!?" Penny cried.
Arven groaned and looked up, seeing Nemona with her arm extended at him, and Penny standing beside her with her hands over her mouth.
"I'm fine..." Arven said. "At least I was... until she came here."
"Hey!" Nemona cried. "And here I was about to say that I missed you!"
"I miss how it was when you were gone."
"You're mean," Nemona said with a frown.
"Ugh- I didn't mean it. Now help me up, will ya?" Arven said. Nemona took Arven's hand and helped him up. Nemona shot a smile at him, and Arven groaned.
"You know, Arven," Penny said, "I'm starting to think that Aeon caught the 'tsundere' part of him from you."
"Shut it, Penny." Arven said. "Anyway, what're you doing here? Shouldn't you be...y'know, anywhere else?"
"I'm training with Geeta for a while. We've got a big surprise planned for Kai later on. Geeta wanted to see how things were going, so I tagged along."
"Something tells me that you prodded her to come with you."
"How'd you know!?" Nemona cried.
"I hate you," Arven muttered.
"Yeah, you're definitely a tsundere." Penny said.
"Shut it, Penny!" Arven said.
"What's a tsundere?" Nemona asked. "Can I battle it?"
""No. You can't battle it," Arven said with a groan. "I swear, sometimes I feel like you pretend to be this stupid."
"You can't prove it's an act," Nemona said.
"What?" Arven said.
"What?" Nemona said.
Kai shot a finger at Larry and his Staraptor. "Now that the warm-up's over, we can finally get into the meat and bones of this fight..! Ready, Pawmot?!"
Pawmot yelled its own name in affirmation and went on all fours.
Larry began stretching his arms. "Well...there's only one way to see how this'll go. Starraptor, let's do this."
Starraptor nodded and took flight. Both Pokémon glared at each other while waiting for their trainers to say a command. Kai couldn't stop smiling the entire time.
"Show us everything you've got, Larry!" Kai cried. "Just know that we're going to shoot back whatever you bring us back at you with double the strength!"
Author's note: Chapter 95! Give it up for chapter 95!
I really hope you guys are enjoying it. This is by far the longest fanfiction I've ever written. Heck, it's the longest story I've ever written... I think. LOL
Here's a removed scene
-Context: This is around the time when Kai is about to throw the Pokeball to let Bombirdier out to talk with Aeon.-
"Is Aeon ready?" Kai asked. "We've gotta ask if Aeon's ready. HEY AEO-"
"JUST THROW THE THING," Arven yelled.
"Okay- okay, jeez. All right Aeon, here it comes, in three… two…"
Kai threw the pokeball over Aeon's shoulder, and out of it came…Tinkaton.
Tinkaton yelped as she hopped with joy after being released from her ball. Everyone there stared at her with shock, and she stared at them with a confused look. Then, she shrugged and walked off.
"...Why-" Penny muttered. "Did-"
"YOU TOOK OUT TINKATON'S POKEBALL!?" Arven shouted.
"YOU WERE RUSHING ME!" Kai cried.
"I THOUGHT YOU SAID THAT WAS HIS POKEBALL YOU LITERALLY HAD IT IN YOUR HAND FOR TEN MINUTES!" Arven shouted. "YOU SAID AND I QUOTE, 'THIS IS BOMBIRDIER'S POKEBALL! HOW? HOW DID YOU MESS THIS UP?!"
"I LITERALLY HAD IT IN MY HAND I SWEAR- IT WAS HIS!"
"THEN WHY DID TINAKTON COME OUT!?"
"I DON'T KNOW! SOMEONE SWITCHED MY POKEBALL OUT!"
"EXCUSE AFTER EXCUSE AFTER EXUCSE AFTER-"
"IT'S NOT AN EXCUSE IT'S A LITERAL FACT!"
"PLEASE ARCEUS IN HEAVEN PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW I WAS ABLE TO BECOME FRIENDS WITH THIS IDIOT."
"SHUT. UP. I DONT WANT TO HEAR IT FROM YOU! MR. NO-BRAIN."
"EXCUSE ME?!"
Penny just planted her hands on her face and screamed into them.
The reason why it was removed was because I felt like it stretched the 'funny' part of the story a bit too long, plus I felt like Penny would just lose her MIND.
Anyway, see you guys next week!