Chapter 38:The Battle Tower
The group continued on following the signs until they came to the entrance of "The Battle Frontier." They were greeted by a young man with green hair spiked to the right, and purple glasses standing behind a desk with a massive computer. As they approached him he started with a low energy, monotoned monologue, as if he had been doing this for several hours.
"Hello, welcome to the Battle Frontier, please present Pokedexes to enter into the competition."
Nathan jumped in front and presented his Pokedex which revealed his stats.
"Nathan Elm from New Bark Town. Nearly 40 Pokemon seen. Six Pokemon owned. Four badges earned. National Ranking of 336."
"What!? 336!? No way! I'm better than that!"
Kathy was the next one to approach. She was a bit nervous. She didn't have any badges, and didn't feel good about her national ranking. She sheepishly presented her Pokedex.
"Katherine Shinpi from Ecruteak City. Nearly 87 Pokemon seen. Nine Pokemon owned. Zero badges earned. Hosted one Badge battle. National Ranking 214."
Kathy's eyes widened.
"How am I ranked higher than Nathan when he has more badges than me?"
Phillip stepped forward and spoke to the green haired man.
"How are the rankings captured?"
The green haired man looked up from his computer, suddenly interested, as if he hadn't ever been asked a question before.
"The stats are gathered from all gyms and battles. Gym leaders will update information based on their battles. Sometimes even the Pokemon Centers can update information. Many people think the rankings are based solely on badges or the amount of Pokemon captured, but when the gym leaders input the information they will often judge based on a trainer's strategies and abilities. The amount of Pokemon seen and caught does have a little to do with it, and you can never crack the top 50 until you've competed in the Johto League Tournament, after having done that you will have full access to The Battle Frontier."
Phillip looked at Kathy and Nathan, then back at the young man.
"So we won't have full access to The Battle Frontier?"
"Not unless you have won all eight gym badges and competed in The Johto League Tournament."
"So what will we have access to?"
"That's a twofold answer. The bad news is, you will not be able to increase your ranking beyond 51, and you will not have access to The Battle Factory, The Battle Arcade, The Battle Castle and The Battle Hall. The good news however is that you will have access to The Battle Tower and you can start collecting Battle Points if you win battles."
Nathan interrupted the young man and shouted.
"What are Battle Points?"
The young man continued, a little perturbed about Nathan's interruption.
"Once a trainer reaches ten Battle Points they may progress to the finals of that facility. You get one Battle point for lower-level battles, as in trainers below ranking 200, and two Battle Points for trainers between levels 51 and 199. If you get the rare opportunity to face a Battle Brain you will get three Battle Points and a free item from a rarity shop."
"What's a Battle Brain?" Kathy asked.
The young man smiled.
"The Battle Brains are a collection of trainers that run The Battle Frontier. There is one over every facility within The Battle Frontier. There are five in the Johto region and seven in the Hoenn region."
Phillip perked up.
"Hoenn?"
"Yes, The Battle Frontier expands two regions. Hoenn is south past Kanto and Sinnoh."
Phillip began to rub his chin.
"I see."
He looked around at everyone.
"Well, you two are entered. Let's go."
Nathan and Ashley began yelling at him.
"You have to join too!" Nathan shouted.
"Please! Please! Please!" Ashley begged.
Phillip looked down at his Pokedex. He didn't want to submit it to the young man. He knew it would reveal something that he wasn't ready for people to learn just yet. Kathy walked up to him and rubbed his arm as she spoke softly to him.
"Come on Phillip. It'll be fun. It won't be the same without you."
Phillip looked into Kathy's pretty brown eyes and smirked. He looked back at his Pokedex. The young man stuck his left hand out.
"Are you going to enter sir?"
Phillip sighed. He hesitantly handed his Pokedex to the young man.
"Phillip Dorsuta from Blackthorn City. Nearly 126 Pokemon seen. Pokemon owned. Four badges earned. National ranking of 87."
The young man's jaw dropped. Phillip yelled over the man's voice before he could say anything, pretending like he cared about his ranking.
"Wow! Can't believe I'm 87!?"
Kathy looked lost in a thought. Phillip could tell she was trying to figure something out. Phillip snatched the Pokedex from the young man and pulled everyone forward. Nathan and Ashley began asking their usual obnoxious questions. For once, Phillip was relieved.
"How are you ranked higher than me!? We have the same amount of badges." Nathan asked.
Phillip shrugged.
"No idea."
"How have you seen so many more Pokemon than Kathy and Nathan? Haven't you all been traveling together the whole time?" Ashley asked.
"Yes… but remember… I worked with Professor Elm to train all the Pokemon for the new trainers that came through New Bark Town for their first Pokemon for three years."
Kathy still appeared to be thinking about something, when Phillip called out to her.
"Let's get this thing started!"
The four of them proceeded into The Battle Tower. They were greeted in the front by a pretty woman in her early 20s. She wore a black suit, with a black tie and black gloves. Her eyes and hair were a matching Lilac color. She immediately made eye contact with Phillip.
"There is great passion in your eyes young trainer."
The group stopped as Phillip stared back into her eyes.
"I welcome you all to the Battle Tower. Judging by your captivated looks, this your first time here. My name is Anabel, I am the Salon Maiden here."
"What is a Salon Maiden?" Kathy asked.
Anabel giggled to herself a little bit.
"I make sure this section of the Battle Frontier has everything it needs."
"So you're like a decorator or something like that?" Nathan asked.
Anabel smirked.
"Or something like that…"
Nathan puffed up his chest.
"Not to be rude or anything, but can you direct us to the real Pokemon trainers. I'm ready to prove that they are way wrong about my ranking! I'm the best trainer here."
Kathy looked to the ground and shook her head and spoke under her breath.
"Oh brother."
Phillip elbowed Nathan in the side and growled at him in a low stern voice.
"Be respectful. We're out of our depth here."
Nathan jumped back rubbing his side.
"Speak for yourself! I am the depth here!"
Phillip began rubbing his head in annoyance.
"You know what… go ahead… I'll find you later."
Anabel laughed and pointed to inside to the southwest of the building.
"There's a large gathering of trainers in that direction."
Without a second thought Nathan took off in the direction Anabel was pointing. Kathy followed behind him, allowing some distance between them. She looked over her shoulder to shout back at Phillip.
"Don't lose before you get to me Phillip!"
Ashley stayed close to Phillip. Phillip took a few seconds to notice after he was looking around. He looked down at Ashley.
"Aren't you gonna follow Kathy?"
Ashley looked up and smiled.
"You're the one I'm trying to learn from."
Phillip laughed when he realized that Anabel was still standing there quietly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Ms. Anabel. He can be a bit much. But he really loves Pokemon."
"And your friends seem to really love and look up to you."
Phillip blushed and rubbed his right hand through his hair.
"Thanks. I'm just trying to do my best out here."
The eye of Anabel's Pokedex scanned Phillip.
"Phillip Dorsuta, trainer from Blackthorn City. National ranking 87."
Anabel studied her Pokedex.
"Well Phillip Dorsuta, I'll be watching you closely. Do you have any questions?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. What are the rules here? They told me about the point system, but they didn't mention battle rules."
"Very wise of you to ask. Every battle will be a one-on-one matchup. There are no banned types or maneuvers. If you find yourself catching the eye of a special trainer, that battle will be a three-on-three matchup."
"A special trainer?"
"Yes. Every section of the Battle Frontier is overseen by what is called a Battle Brain. If you win enough matches and points you will draw the eye of a Battle Brain. If you defeat a Battle Brain you will get special prizes and opportunities to get something from the shop of the Brain's choice."
"And who is the Battle Brain of this section?"
"I guess you will have to wait and see. I look forward to seeing how you perform Phillip Dorsuta."
As Phillip and Ashley continued into the inside of the tower, they saw Nathan already getting into a battle. His opponent was a brown-haired girl that may have been about 17 or 18. She called out a Skiploom. Nathan called out Totodile.
"Oh! That Pokemon is so pretty!" Ashley shouted.
"That's a Skiploom, you remember that Hoppip that Nathan caught in the tournament?"
"Yeah."
"That's what it will eventually evolve into." He watched quietly.
"Aren't you gonna go over there and help him?"
"He's far too stubborn. It's about time he learns some things on his own."
Ashley saw Kathy cover her face with her hand. She knew what Phillip knew. Nathan's chances did not look very good. As they looked on from the distance he could see Totodile charging and biting at Skiploom. Totodile was moving well, but Nathan was excited and just rushing in without using any kind of strategy. Skiploom rolled out of the way, leaving a cotton looking thing in the air. As Totodile charged he was pulled to a halt. In an instant Skiploom jumped high in the air, almost floating and hit Totodile with a big grass type attack. Totodile fainted. Nathan looked shocked.
Phillip took a step toward Nathan when he was cut off by a young man, maybe a year older than him in fishing clothes who snapped at him.
"Hey, what are you doing watching matches? Shouldn't you be in one by now?"
Phillip scanned the young man.
"I see that you are ranked 87, but your profile says you only have four badges. I have six, there's no way you should be higher than me!"
Phillip shoved his hands in his pockets, a bit irritated with the young man's rudeness.
"I'm guessing you would like to prove that you are better than me?"
"You better believe it! I already have 8 points. You're gonna make it a solid 10. Go Shuckle!"
Phillip stepped back and put his hand in front of Ashley, pushing her behind him to protect her. The Shuckle was much larger than the last Shuckle he battled. This trainer seemed a bit more seasoned too. Phillip was sure the same methods wouldn't work this time around. Phillip looked at his Pokeballs. His mind immediately went to Charlie, but that didn't seem like the right move. The rude guy began taunting him.
"Let's go 87! Why are you so scared!?"
Phillip crunched his nose, and furrowed his brows. This guy didn't know what was about to hit him.
"Go Wooper!"
The guy laughed.
"A Wooper!?"
He continued laughing.
"Wooper! Agility attack!"
Wooper began to disappear and reappear multiple times. The guy's jaw dropped.
"Since when can Wooper do that!?"
A smirk crept to the corner of Phillip's mouth. He wanted to unleash a whole new arsenal of moves he had been working with Wooper on in his training. Most trainers wouldn't even think of cross-training their Pokemon. But Phillip's Pokemon were fighters, and he wasn't going to sit by and let them be disrespected. While he would teach Tyrogue new moves, he would work with all his bipedal Pokemon to be able to do the same. It took longer, but the results were incomparable. He remembered the words of Master Achamp, and Wooper was about to show off. Phillip took advantage of his challenger's hesitation.
"Sword Dance Wooper!"
Wooper began dancing around in a disciplined and fascinating way. Phillip's challenger was frozen.
"Wooper, Take Down attack!"
Wooper charged at Shuckle.
"Withdraw!"
Shuckle went into hi shell. Phillip's challenger was on the defensive.
"Bug Bite attack Shuckle!"
Shuckle popped out with a strong bite. Wooper flipped backwards. The bite missed.
"Mud Shot!"
Wopper's feet hit the ground. He popped up. A powerful ray of mud smashed into Shuckle. Shuckle fell on its side.
"Rollout attack!"
Shuckle rolled towards Wooper. Wooper landed on the ground.
"Mist attack!"
He darted to the side. A thick mist covered the battle area. Shuckle rolled right past Wooper, missing him completely.
"Big Water Pulse!"
Wooper jumped in the air. An aura of water reverberated off him. As the pulses of water slammed against Shuckle, he was overwhelmed. Shuckle went inside his shell. He didn't come back out. The guy conceded the match.
The trainer fell to his knees.
"That was so impressive!"
He crawled over to Shuckle. He looked up at Phillip.
"I'm sorry. You are a great trainer 87."
As the guy walked away Phillip ran to Wooper and gave him a big hug.
"Good job buddy!"
Phillip looked up from his hug. Anabel was watching from a corner. Her hand resting just under her jaw as if she was thinking. Ashley jumped up on Phillip's back.
"That was incredible!"
Phillip laughed and looked at Ashley. She asked a question.
"How did you know Wooper would be strong against Shuckle?"
"You have to know the types of Pokemon. There are primary types, but most Pokemon also have a secondary type. Most people see Shuckle, and because they see a turtle, they assume it is a water Pokemon. To the person who thinks this they would likely use an electric or grass type Pokemon against it, but Shuckle is actually more of a rock type Pokemon, its secondary type is bug, so electric attacks aren't very effective against Shuckle's natural rock shell, and grass type moves would work a little bit, but Shuckle has a lot of attacks that are bug based, and bug types are strong against grass types."
"There's so much to know about Pokemon."
"Yes, there is Ashley."
"So what is my Ledyba?"
Phillip smiled.
"Now we're getting somewhere Ashley. Ledyba's primary type is bug, so she's strong against grass type Pokemon. Her secondary type is flying. This makes her the ultimate weapon against grass type Pokemon. Once she evolves, she will also be able to learn most psychic attacks, but that is something most people wouldn't know."
"How would I learn this?"
Phillip smiled.
"Come with me."
The two of them walked closer to the center of the room. Phillip then pulled out his Pokedex and leaned towards Ashley, showing her his Pokedex.
"The connection is better in the middle here."
Phillip saw a battle taking place a few hundred feet away.
"Look over there."
He scanned two trainers in the middle of a battle.
"Electabuzz, Feeds on electrical energy. During sudden showers beneath looming thunderclouds, one can observe Electabuzz scaling tall trees, where the Pokémon will then wait for lightning to strike."
He turned his Pokedex to the other Pokemon in the battle.
"Magmar, Legend has it that this Pokémon was born from the crater of a volcano. When wounded, it bathes in lava to heal its body, much as one would soak in a hot spring."
Phillip scrolled through some things on the Pokedex explaining it to Ashley.
"Almost everything you need to know is right here. Most trainers don't take the time to read this stuff. They just want to scan and move on, they want to fill up the information, but don't take the time to study it."
"That's why I see you spend so much time staring at your Pokedex before bed!"
"Exactly. There's a lot I don't know. If you scroll here, you see the primary and secondary types of the Pokemon. And on this page it shows you the many moves they can learn."
"It says both Magmar and Electabuzz don't have a secondary type."
"Right, some Pokemon are like that. But if you scroll over here you see all the moves they can learn. Notice this."
"Magmar can do a low kick?"
"Exactly. So even though it's only considered a fire Pokemon, it can do fighting type moves. Therefore…"
"…it has a secondary type of fighting."
"Good job Ashley!"
"So me personally, I've been experimenting with an idea. Even though it's not listed, I got to thinking, if my Pokemon can do this move, why couldn't it do this other move, which requires the same type of movements."
"That's so cool! That's why Wooper could do Sword Dance and Agility?"
"Exactly! I knew Wooper could do Rest and Amnesia, and both of those are focused psychic moves, which meant if I could teach my Wooper to focus, I could teach him to do Agility and Sword Dance. Wooper has a reputation of not being that intelligent, but when I first met this Wooper he was very aware, and very intelligent, so I knew he had the potential to focus in that way."
"Wow! That's so smart!"
"It all comes down to putting in the time and effort to get to know the limitations and ability of your Pokemon, and then pushing them past those limitations."
As they were talking a young woman maybe a year older than Phillip with red haired pulled into a pony tail approached them.
"Your little sister is so cute!"
Phillip looked up and laughed. The girl made eye contact with Phillip. She began blushing and fixing her hair and her shirt. Ashley yelled out.
"Thanks! But… he's not my brother."
The girl blushed even more and then began shuffling her feet uncomfortably and stammering.
"Oh… sorry… he just seemed… seemed to be taking such good care of you… I thought…"
Phillip smiled.
"…It's cool, you're not the first to think that… let me guess, you want to battle?"
The girl was still blushing a little bit, but she was able to regain her composure.
"Yes! I'm one of the best water trainers out here! I'm ranked 66, but that's about to change!"
Phillip nodded. Ashley backed away from the battle area. The girl threw out a Poliwhirl.
"Go Mareep!"
"I'm not scared of an electric Pokemon! So predictable! Hypnosis attack!"
Rays began to float towards Mareep. Mareep jumped back.
"Meet the attack with a Confuse Ray Mareep!"
Mareep sent waves towards the hypnotic waves. The waves collided in the air. They dissipated once they connected. The girl's jaw dropped.
"Agility attack Mareep!"
Mareep began disappearing and reappearing. He was already faster than normal from training so much with Pidgeotto, this increased his speed threefold.
"Body slam attack Poliwhirl!"
Poliwhirl jumped up and down, preparing for a big body slam. Mareep evaded the attack. Poliwhirl bounced off the ground.
"Trailblaze attack Mareep!"
As soon as Mareep landed from his evasion he darted at Poliwhirl with blinding speed. The grass attack sent Poliwhirl rolling on the ground. The attack increased Mareep's speed even more. Mareep changed direction. He ran to get to the spot Poliwhirl was rolling to. Electricity began to build all around him as his speed grew.
"While you have momentum! Take Down attack!"
Mareep got in front of Poliwhirl. He turned around. Mareep slammed into Poliwhirl, still covered in electric waves. Poliwhirl rolled towards its trainer. Poliwhirl was knocked out.
The girl recalled Poliwhirl. Her face had a mixture of sadness and amazement.
"That was incredible. You just did an electric take down attack. I've never seen anything like it before."
He walked over to Mareep. The girl met him in the middle.
"I'm in awe. You're amazing."
Phillip crouched down and gave Mareep a big hug. He looked up at the girl. He was blushing.
"Thanks. Mareep did all the work."
"But you trained him. It's been an honor."
The two trainers shook hands. The girl walked away. Ashley ran up to him with her Pokedex in hand.
"I recorded the whole thing! Mareep was so fast the Pokedex barely registered him."
She moved the Pokedex to scan Phillip.
"Wow. You have 4 battle points and you are ranked 68th now."
"Really? I wasn't even looking for those fights."
"Well, you are 2-0 now. With three more higher level battles you'll be in the finals." Ashley said.
Phillip looked at her and smiled.
"Let's do it then."
To be continued…