Insert
[Name]
- SAUAN –
Supplemental And Unplanned
Author’s Note
Deleted.
No longer applicable. If you’re curious, ask.
- I -
Chapter VI
**********
“Not bad, eh?”
Maxim boasted while petting his new Gyarados. He had
just finished telling of his battle with the Rocket grunt. It was boring until Magikarp evolved, bluntly put. After that it was hardly a
contest, and the Rocket had to run for his life. Maxim seemingly picked up on
my slight sigh and raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t think I would win, did you?
Well?”
“If I’m brutally honest…” I started, pausing a bit for
the dramatic effect. “If your Magikarp hadn’t
evolved, you wouldn’t have stood a chance.”
“I’ll take
you up on that challenge! … Just as soon as I actually find
my other Magikarp.”
Maxim raised a valid point. Team Rocket hadn’t exactly
been careful with the Pokéballs. Of course, they
never expected to have to return them, so it kind of made sense that they
hadn’t cared about which ball belonged to who. The
ancient truck was loaded with crates, and in each crate were several dozens of Pokéballs. Just how long had they been out here? I snorted
at my thought. Probably as long as it would take us to figure out which were
Maxim’s.
“No thanks, my own Pokémon are pretty battered. I’d
like a visit to Fuchsia’s Pokémon Centre first.” I said, before an idea hit me
while looking at the piece of scrap before us. It would certainly save us a lot
of time. “Hey, if we can get that thing started I can drive us there.”
“What?” Rose asked as if I were nuts. I couldn’t
exactly blame her. I mean, the thing did look pretty beat down, I concluded as
I circled it once more. True, I had never driven a truck before, or any car for
that matter. Let alone one without power-steering and an engine that looked
just about ready to blow up in someone’s face, if they ever got it started in
the first place. The thing’s red painted plating was rusted completely through
at some places, and as I tugged on the door I felt something give way inside,
after which I carefully withdrew my hand before it fell off completely. It
swung open with a loud creak, so I guessed I had broken the lock. Now remained
the challenge of starting the thing…
**********
“You two are so incredibly incompetent it makes me
puke!” The Rocket yelled at his subordinates after finally reaching the safety
of their safe house in Fuchsia. “All you had to do,” He started again, pointing
at ‘Jason’. “Was beat a single Magikarp, and you couldn’t even do that!” Jason looked at his feet
in shame while his boss continued after turning to ‘Billy’. “And you, you
couldn’t even start that stupid truck!”
“But
boss,” Billy objected. “You couldn’t either… And you sort of l-”
“Don’t even go there!” The boss roared after being
reminded that he didn’t really do all that well himself. “Who were those kids
anyway?”
“Well, they’ll probably be headed to the Gym, right?”
Jason said, catching the boss’s attention. “So stake out there. They have to
state their names and origins for the challenge, right?” The boss replayed that
thought in his head once before his frown turned into a dark grin…
**********
We only just drove into the city’s outskirts when the
engine died again, but this was close enough. I jumped off holding Dugtrio’s Pokéball and started
running. His condition had worsened on the way back, now that the poison slowly
started doing its job.
“You guys go find a police station and show them the
truck. I’m taking Minimum to a Centre!” I yelled back as I ran further into the
town. It wasn’t long though before I realized how stupid I was being. I had no
idea where I was going and at this rate I’d run out of time and breath by the time I finally did. I cursed myself under my
breath. Why didn’t we get antidotes when we were in Lavender? I looked left and
right looking for any street sign that could give me a clue, and I didn’t
notice the man until I nearly hit him.
“Careful boy, where is the fire?” He asked after
stopping me. I briefly looked up and saw a hard face lined by greying spiky
hair. He grunted after I explained why I was in such a rush, and as I made to
take off again he stopped me. “Show me your Dugtrio.”
Hesitantly I reached for Dugtrio’s
Pokéball, not even knowing why I was listening to
this man. Wouldn’t letting him out speed up the poison’s work? I shook off the
thought as I pressed the release, causing the ball to split open and reveal a
very sick looking mole. Dugtrio looked seriously ill; I had no idea it would go
this fast. Kneeling down I placed my hand on one of the heads as I stumbled for
words. I was definitely worried now, with the heat radiating off Dugtrio’s body, and only just kept myself from cursing out
loud about wasting time here. Surprisingly the man knelt down beside me and
placed his own hand on another head only a second later and presented Dugtrio
with some sort of herb-like plant.
“Chew on this. It’s a natural cure.” He spoke softly,
and Dugtrio weakly took the plant. The effect didn’t take very long to show, as
barely half a minute later I could tell his temperature had gone down some. I
breathed a sigh of relief and turned to thank the man, but he had already
gotten up and was about to start walking. “The Pokémon Centre is up on that
hill overseeing the town, right next to the Gym. Until we
meet again.”
I stood up, watching him turn a corner and disappear.
I recalled Dugtrio with a faint smile on my face and started running for the
hill the man had pointed to. Houses shooting past me in a blur, I reached the
Centre quickly now that I knew where to look. As I walked through the door I
was greeted by… “Rose? How did you… You beat me here?” She smirked and called
me a Slowpoke…
**********
“Dugtrio is going to be just fine, but he’s going to
need some rest. You should keep him out of battle for a day or two. And next
time, be more careful.” Nurse Joy told me after taking care of Dugtrio. I said
my thanks, promised to be more careful, and walked out the door. As the man had
said, the Centre was located on a small hill, and the view of the city was
pretty nice from up here. I caught a glimpse of what looked like a zoo in the
distance and made a mental note to go see that before we left again. Rose, who
had been waiting outside, abandoned her spot against the wall and looked at a
fairly large building a few meters away. It was oriental, with some writing on
it I assumed was Japanese. The man had said the Gym was right next to the
Centre, so I walked towards it.
“I think this is the Gym, Rose.” I said, fairly impressed
with the looks of the thing. It was a carbon copy of those houses you’d see in
one of those ninja movies on TV. Thinking back to my game, I remembered Koga’s
Gym had some surprises for the challenger. You didn’t just walk up to him, but
you had to go through some sort of maze of invisible walls and trainers. And as
I thought of that I wondered what it would be like now.
“Are you coming in?” Rose asked from the doorstep
after sliding the door open, throwing me off my thought train. I took one last
nervous look at the Gym before stepping through the door. If only I hadn’t
missed that episode where Ash went to fight Koga, maybe then I’d have an idea of what I was getting
into.
“Careful,”
I whispered. “there could be traps in here.”
“Oh please, that would be lame. And why are you
whispering?” Rose said as she laughed my comment away. “Nobody would trap a Gy-AH!” Rose sudden cry of surprise made me spin around,
and I had trouble to keep myself from laughing at the sight. The place was
trapped alright, and she’d fallen for one. “Quit laughing and get me down from
here!”
I decided it was best to do so, and I quickly lowered
the net back to the ground. As I looked at the floor I noticed shallow carvings
in the wood, in the pattern of the net. That was why we didn’t see it… Rose was
not happy at getting netted. Either that, or she
wasn’t happy at me being right. In any case, she turned around with a dark
cloud over her head and kept walking down the corridor while muttering
something about smart-ass Gym leaders. I shook my head as I followed her with a
chuckle. However, when I reached the corner, the lights went off. And after a
few more minutes of walking I got the distinct feeling we were walking in
circles. I looked down at the floor again, but couldn’t see anything because it
was dark. As Rose walked on, I reached down and ran my hand across the surface.
I felt carvings. Suddenly Rose stopped and motioned me over.
“Look over there… Is that light coming through the
wall?” I looked at the wall she pointed at and- there was light coming from the wall. If our corridor hadn’t been so dark
I wouldn’t have seen it. There was some coming from underneath it, and some
shining through a small slit, barely visible, as if there was a door. This Gym
didn’t have invisible walls, but invisible doors. Slightly
less original, but no less annoying. I knocked on the ‘wall’ just to
make sure, and it did sound as if it wasn’t very thick and had a big open space
behind it.
“I was wondering when you’d figure it out!” A voice suddenly
shouted from behind the wall. I heard a clicking sound and the wall slid away,
revealing a big room. The walls of this one looked like they were made of
concrete instead of wood, and… there was no ceiling? This was some sort of
courtyard! I continued my quick scan and noticed a battlefield painted on the
floor, and standing at the far end of it was the man who helped me earlier with
Dugtrio.
“That’s what he meant by ‘until we meet again’.” I
muttered as I looked at Koga. He just smirked back at me, until he noticed
Rose, who was still pretty pissed. His smile faltered slightly as Rose stomped
forward.
“You’re the Gym leader? Good! I, Rose of Saffron City,
challenge you for your badge!” She yelled. I wisely stepped back a few paces
and took up position next to the door. Just in case she brought the Gym down.
“So be it. The rules are simple. Each will use three
Pokémon, and the first to knock out all three of the opponent’s Pokémon wins.
You may switch yours out, but I may not. Do you understand?” Koga said, carefully.
“I understand,” Rose started, after which Koga
attempted to speak again but Rose cut into him. “But I only have Haunter, so my
choice is obvious.” Haunter floated onto the battlefield at the remark, and
gave a slight nod of respect to the gym leader.
“I see. Well, I would hate to be unfair, so let’s make
it a one on one.” I smirked at Koga’s response; he was such a sucker when it
came to doing the honourable thing. It would probably cost him this match as he
ran a Poison type Gym, last I checked, and Haunter had a severe type advantage
in that case, even to the point of rendering Koga’s special attack move Toxic
useless. Rose had it in the bag. Koga kept a calm demeanour though, unfazed by
his opponent. “Now, Venomoth!”
Well, at least he wouldn’t be holding back, I thought as the giant purple moth
Pokémon took form in a bright flash. I seriously needed to get some sunglasses;
I would not get used to that. “There will be no time limit. We fight until one
caves or forfeits. Begin!”
“Haunter, start off with Nightshade!” Rose called, and
Haunter complied by charging its disembodied hands with black energy and
releasing it at the Venomoth. Koga ordered a Psybeam immediately and the two attacks collided in the
centre of the Gym, causing a small explosion. And that started off their
battle. “Again!” Rose ordered.
“Disable!” Venomoth’s
counter froze Haunter in its tracks, and it was having visible trouble breaking
the psychic hold. Until Rose called for Hypnosis and Venomoth
had to let go to avoid direct eye contact. The moth fluttered up beyond the
roof of the Gym, waiting for an order, and Haunter exploited this by blending
into the shadows. “Use Foresight to track it, Venomoth!”
“Haunter quick, Confuse Ray!” Venomoth
had just started scanning the room with its Foresight when an ominous ball of
light was launched at its back from the farthest corner. Koga quickly had it
dive down causing it to miss the first pass, but the Ray made a second attempt
as Haunter, eyes aglow, steered it back to its target with a flick of its
non-existent wrist.
“Psybeam!”
Koga called just as the Ray was about to hit. Venomoth’s
Psybeam obliterated the attack, but after it finished
Haunter was nowhere to be found. I looked around the room trying to spot the
Ghost, but it was well hidden. Rose would no doubt exploit this.
“Use Shadow Punch, and make it count!” She said
moments later. Suddenly multiple ghostly fists shot from the ground below and
pummelled the poor moth into submission. “Now Lick!” Rose quickly added.
Haunter slowly rose from the ground directly in front of the tired bug and
promptly slammed the flat top of its tongue into it. As several sweat drops
rolled down both Koga and Venomoth’s heads Haunter
moved its tongue upwards, licking the moth’s entire front. It didn’t take long
for the paralysis to kick in this time either, and the moth dropped to the
floor an instant later, shaking like a leaf as it tried to overcome its
complete neural shutdown.
“A well fought battle. I must commend you, young lady, you have earned your Soul badge.” Koga withdrew his
fallen bug and crossed the field, extending his right hand to Rose, who shook
it and gratefully took the badge from the palm of his left. He then looked at
me, sizing me up with his cold stare. “I suppose you are next?”
“I am. Rick of Lavender Town, to cover the
formalities. And I have more than enough Pokémon, even without Dugtrio.” I
said, taking my spot on the field.
“Ah yes, I watched you bring him in. Give it a few
days and he’ll be fine.” He smiled, before his face tightened up again. “But
now, we will do battle. As said before, three Pokémon each in single battles.
You may switch, I may not. As I am the defending party I shall pick first.”
Koga took
out a Pokéball and brought out a purple fur ball; Venonat, a half Bug, half Poison type. My fingers searched
out Blaze’s Pokéball and unclipped it from my belt. Even
if Rose had just knocked out one of his strongest, if not the strongest of his
Pokémon, I wasn’t about to underestimate him. “Let’s go Blaze.” I said before
tossing the ball into the field. The red lizard appeared moments after, looking
ready.
“There is
no time limit. We fight until one caves or forfeits, begin!”
“Blaze,
Flamethrower!” I yelled, hoping for a quick ending. Blaze complied immediately
and shot an intense tongue of flames at the small fur ball, but its reaction
speed proved to be faster than I thought. Venonat
dodged to the side and the attack missed. I was stunned.
“Venonat, use Sleep Powder!” Koga ordered, shaking me from
my shock. Venonat started shaking wildly, sending
blue powder flying into the air. I quickly ordered Blaze to use another
Flamethrower and torch the stuff before it got to him. He got a good deal of
it, but some of it still lingered and he was slightly dazed. “Now, Tackle him!”
“Snap out
of it Blaze, shake it off!” Blaze shook his head a few times, but by the time
he cleared it Venonat slammed its tiny body into him.
Grunting at the impact, Blaze responded quickly by grabbing the little thing
with his claws and smirked at his captive. My own expression quickly mimicked
his as I was about to give him the order to torch it, but I changed my mind as
I watched the thing wiggle desperately in Blaze’s grip. “Koga, I suggest you
withdraw Venonat. I want to win, but I don’t want to
injure it badly.”
“As I
said, we fight until either Pokémon faints, or one of
us gives up. I have no intention of giving up. Venonat,
Psybeam!” Koga replied gruffly. Well in that case,
who was I to disappoint?.
“Slam it
Blaze!” Venonat’s eyes were starting to glow as it
prepared to fire, but Blaze responded by throwing it slightly upwards and
slamming his tail into it – not before pumping up his tail flame a bit, of
course. The small Bug let out a cry on every impact with the floor while it
bounced across the battlefield. “Now another Flamethrower!”
Blaze once again breathed fire at the fur ball, which was lying face down on
the Gym floor. He didn’t miss, and Venonat was out.
**********
- II -
Author’s Note
Re-uploaded
to let you know I’m alive and to get rid of the childish note. Stuff happened
and people died, and that made me realise there are far worse things out there
than losing a popularity vote. Speaking of votes, on a random visit to the main
page I saw I actually won last time, so I’m bound to continue by my word, too.
Chapter seven:
The battle with Koga intensifies and comes to an anticlimactic end. While Rick
is waiting for his Pokémon to recover, he and Rose decide to visit the Safari
zone, intent on seeing some rare Pokémon. The visit turns out to be slightly
more exciting than expected…
**********
- III -
Legal Gibberish
I do not
in any way own Pokémon or any of its copyrights and rights of other merchandise
related to it. All characters and places in this story are entirely fictional
and taken from or based on various aspects of the Pokémon universe. Any form of
copying and/or misuse of this story by others will be reported. Please respect
the imagination and effort made by others. Stealing is bad, don’t do it.
WeirdDutchGuy