KQ3: Kamon's Quest III

[Carbonite4]

PROLOGUE

“I was once the greatest trainer in the world,” a man said. He was talking to his children, a boy and a girl, apparently about being a Pokémon trainer. He continued: “No one could stop me. I was invincible. Until, of course, on that fateful day when a trainer, named Kamon, defeated me. That was many years ago, however. I had grown much stronger. I was seventeen years old, blonde like I am now, and just (barely) under six feet tall. My journey wasn’t over then, like I, along with Kamon, believed they were. For, on April 12th, two days after my birthday, a trainer came to Kamon and me and presented us with a new challenge. And one of us would rise up to it. It was our greatest challenge ever, and this is the story:

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

There was a knock on the door. Kamon answered it; it was his house. He invited my girlfriend, Eileen, and me over for some drinks and to catch-up. Kamon’s girlfriend, Jasmine (the Olivine City Gym Leader), was there too.
Anyway, Kamon answered the door. The person, whoever it was, and Kamon talked for a few minutes, and then called me over.
‘Hey, Drew,’ Kamon said, ‘listen to this guy. Tell me what you think.’
The guy said, ‘Well, Mr. Anderson, seeing how you and Mr.…uh, Kamon here and the most powerful trainers in the world, I thought that you two might be up for a little challenge.’
‘What kind of challenge?’ I asked.
‘Well, there is a new league that has formed, 6 gyms, and one elite person, just to the north of here. Over the mountains. It’s in a land called Gehta.’
‘Yeah, well,’ I started, ‘I don’t think I’m really into the whole battle scene anymore. Retired, you see.’
‘Well, I guess if don’t have it anymore, that’s fine with me…’ the trainer said, and turned around.
‘Hold on!’ I shouted.
‘You here that Drew?’ Kamon asked. ‘He says that we don’t have it anymore.’
‘I’ll show him. Hey, you, get back here!’ I yelled.
‘Oh, are you reconsidering my offer?’
‘No. I’m about to make you reconsider you’re statement. Three-on-three match. Or do you think you don’t have it?’ I challenged.
‘Oh I have it all right. Heh…Fine then. Three-on-three.’
‘Let’s step outside,’ I said.
‘Oh, Drew, honestly, do you have to do this?’ Eileen asked.
‘Of course. You can watch me win, again, if you want,’ I responded.
Kamon, the trainer, and I walked out onto the beach.
‘I’ll choose first,’ I said. ‘Go, Ampharos!’
‘Ha! Too easy! Steelix, come out!’
‘Give me a break. Ampharos, Fire Punch!’ I commanded. Ampharos charged at Steelix and struck him with a flaming fist about halfway down his body. It burnt Steelix.
‘Er, yikes. Steelix, Earthquake attack!’ the trainer said.
‘Ampharos, Detect!’ Ampharos protected himself from the Ground-type attack, and then prepared to strike again. ‘All right, finish Steelix off with a Dynamic Punch!’ Ampharos again punched Steelix, this time creating an explosion, sending Steelix through the air and landing in the water. A knockout.
‘This doesn’t look good. Um, Steelix, return.’
‘Come back, Ampharos,’ I said. ‘I want to use all three of my Pokémon. It wouldn’t be fair if just one of you got to fight.’
‘Yeah, right,’ the trainer snapped. ‘We’ll see. I’m gonna use Fearow!’
‘Tyranitar, go. Use Crunch,’ I said. This is boring, I thought. Tyranitar clamped down on top of Fearow, doing extreme damage.
‘Fearow, Drill Peck attack!’ Fearow tried drilling into Tyranitar’s hide, but it didn’t do hardly anything.
‘Finish, Tyranitar. Rock Slide!’ Tyranitar summoned an avalanche to come down on top of Fearow, finishing him.
‘No way. Well, my last Pokémon will beat your Tyranitar. Cloyster, go! Use your Clamp!’
‘Tyranitar, Protect, and then return to your Pokéball. Remember, whoever you are, I was going to use a different Pokémon for each of yours. Now, face Heracross!’ I threw out the last Ultra Ball I could use, and from the shimmering white light emerged the blue beetle. ‘Heracross, Cross Chop attack!’
‘Cloyster, Protect!’ he said. ‘Great now use—’
‘Finish it,’ I interrupted, ‘with a Mega Horn!’ Right when Cloyster opened up his shell, Heracross rammed into him with his antler, one-hit K.O.
‘Uh…return,’ the trainer said. ‘Amazing, simply amazing.’ I recalled my Pokémon.
‘What?’ I asked.
‘Your Pokémon and your skill. You would do wonderful in the Prime League. It’s a shame, though, that you won’t be travelling there.’
‘Don’t count on it,’ Kamon said. I agreed, although I didn’t think the same way. I almost wanted to go out again, to conquer another region.
The urge flowed through my veins. I had to do it. If I didn’t…well, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be happy, or I would feel empty inside, like a part of me was missing.
Kamon said that he almost felt that way when he was training by himself five years ago.
Kamon was a year older than I was, and still had his long hair, although his outfit had slightly changed. Instead of the black vest over a white shirt and long jeans, he wore a red shirt with the black vest over it. He also wore blue jeans, and black shoes. Nothing else really had changed about him.
I, on the other hand, changed from my training clothes to a more regular apparel. I wore a blue
tee shirt, with black jeans, but still tucked into my black boots. I probably needed to get a new pair of
boots; these were getting worn out.
‘Hey, Kamon, do you mind if Eileen and I leave now? It’s getting dark, anyway,’ I asked.
‘I don’t see why not. But hey, it was good talking to you, buddy,’ Kamon responded, slapping me on the back.
Eileen got up from the chair, and said good-bye to Jasmine and Kamon. We both hopped into a motor boat, and then headed back to Olivine.

* * *

Back at my house in Pallet Town, I was talking to Eileen. We had gotten into a small argument. She had gotten angry with me about training, and even slightly wanting to go to Gehta.
‘Look, I am going out with you, not only because I like you, but because you also promised that you weren’t going back into the, like, you know…the whole training scheme.’
‘I didn’t say I was going back…I just said I was thinking about seeing exactly what it was like, and, if it appeals to me…’ My voice faded away. I waved my arm at the air.
‘Yeah, well, ya know what!?’ she demanded.
‘What?’ I asked.
‘I always hoped to marry someone who actually had a college education. And then there’s you…who hasn’t even graduated high school!’
‘Actually, Eileen,’ I began, ‘for your information a trainer usually begins around the first days of middle-school or first days of high-school. They get shipments of school papers to do. You pick them up in Pokécenters and mail back your homework. This June I am graduating. And next year, I am going to get a degree in Engineering or Physics.’
‘You just can’t stand being wrong, can you?’ Eileen said.
‘What!? I am not wrong!’
‘See? My point exactly. You contradict everything people say. You always have to be right. Physics…ha! You should be a lawyer.’
‘Eileen, I want you to leave now. I thought we could have had a nice evening, but you had to just destroy things, didn’t you?’ I said, as calmly as I could.
‘I’ll be happy to leave, Drew. I am tired of your Pokémon, and how winning is everything…you put me second. If it weren’t for me, you’d already be in whatever the hell that place is called, trying to beat that league, too. Goodbye Drew, forever.’ She kissed me on the cheek, and then stormed out of my house. I shut the door behind her.

* * *

I decided I didn’t want to make the choice to go to Gehta. Kamon had already decided against it, and Eileen hated me for even thinking about it. Screw her, I thought. She dumped you, so now she doesn’t matter.
I couldn’t figure out whether I should go or not, so I went to Saffron City to let Sabrina, a psychic, tell me my future. She could tell me whether I should go or not. I flew there on my Lugia.
‘Hmm…’ Sabrina said as she held my hand. Her eyes were shut, and it seemed like she was in a trance. ‘I can indeed tell you your fate.’
‘Well, then,’ I said, ‘what is it?’
‘You are very special, Drew. You have a gift. The Prime League is your destiny. But you, Drew…’ Her voice faded away.
‘Yes?’
‘You will face many, many tough challenges. And victory will be very though to come by. You, Drew, are not destined, however, to be the Prime League Champion.’
‘You mean that…that I won’t conquer it?’ I asked.
‘The future is in your hands, Drew. But fate has you as not being the champion.’
‘Fine. Tell me, Sabrina. What about Kamon? What is his destiny? I heard Lance say that he could be ‘the one,’ which I took to mean—’
‘The most powerful trainer in the world. Yes, that is indeed what Lance thinks,’ Sabrina responded.
‘Well, is it true?’ I questioned.
‘Lance is a fool. Kamon’s future is quite foggy. It is still hard to tell. But be warned, Drew. I kept Kamon alive from that train wreck for a reason. I told him that he wasn’t the only one that lived. I knew he wouldn’t be able to handle the truth that I kept only him alive. I saw the anger swell in him when I told him that I saved him. He still has some part to play, in all of our lives. The fate of many could rest on his shoulders. You, on the other hand, will too affect the future. But not in a way as Kamon will. You could very well be more powerful than he, but you will never go down in history as being more famous than Kamon.’
There she ended her speech, and I bid farewell. I went back to Pallet Town to ponder about my future, and to try to take in everything Sabrina just said.

CHAPTER 2
THE JOURNEY STARTS

I thought about what was supposed to lie ahead of me, and finally came to a conclusion: I was going. In late May, I invited Kamon over to discuss with him what I was about to do. He believed that I was crazy.
‘Dude, you’re crazy,’ he said.
‘Why, Kamon?’ I asked. ‘Don’t you want to get back out there…to adventure again?’
‘No.’
‘I thought you, of all people, would be behind me on this.’
‘Not this time, Drew,’ he said. I got a little angry. So far, not one person has been on my side.
‘Look, Kamon,’ I said, ‘I don’t care what you say, I’m still going out there. And I’m gonna win. Just you watch.’
‘Whatever you say. But I have a gym to take care of, remember? I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to.’
‘That’s not what you said when you left here three years ago. I believed that you went into denial, and then decided to try the whole training thing again,’ I responded.
Kamon didn’t say anything for a minute, sighed, and said, ‘Something like that, yes.’
‘Well, then, why don’t you go this time?’ I asked again.
‘Because I don’t want to, all right? And that’s the end of it, okay?’

* * *

But, of course, I knew it wasn’t going to be the end of it. I didn’t want to go into an unknown land by myself. I knew Kanto already, and Johto wasn’t exactly a hard place to navigate through, but this place was different.
I had gotten a digital map and was looking at Gehta. It was over a mountain range, called the Zenith Mountains. Gehta itself was mountainous, but the center, apparently where the Center Stadium was located, was completely flat. A river ran down from a northern mountain, and flowed into a lake. Besides that there weren’t too many other noticeable features.
There were eight cities, six with gyms, one for registration, but also a rather commercial city, and then one more which basically featured the Center Stadium. Much like Indigo Plateau.
The land was foreign to me, and I wasn’t about to go there alone. Not that I was afraid; I’m not really afraid of anything, except maybe heights. I had to get Kamon to go with me. If I was going to venture north, I was going to need a partner to help me.

* * *

I came to Kamon’s house a week later. I had only one mission: to make him come with me.
‘So, what’ya want now?’ he asked me. ‘Have you given up on going to Gehta already?’
I grinned. Not a happy grin, or a grin that you would grin when you laugh. Of course, it wasn’t an evil grin. It was just a grin. ‘No, I haven’t,’ I said. I sipped some water that Kamon had handed me. ‘And you know what?’
‘What?’
‘You’re going with me.’
‘No, I’m not, and I don’t want to hear any more about it. I’m not leaving. And that’s final. I’m through with training,’ he said, rather sternly.
My grin faded. ‘Look, I don’t want to go there alone. I didn’t mind Kanto and Johto, but Gehta is different. It is the size of Johto, but it is going to be a lot tougher this time. Even if you don’t want to battle at all, I would still like it if you journeyed with me,’ I said. Kamon stared at me for a second, and then looked out the window.
I looked out too; there were to blue birds perched on a branch. After a few seconds, they flew away.
Kamon sighed. ‘I dunno, Drew. I’m gonna have to think about it. Anyway, it’s getting late. I’m gonna get some sleep. Goodnight, Drew.’
‘See ya, Kamon,’ I said. After I walked outside, I muttered to myself, ‘Good, Kamon, sleep on it…’ I hoped that night that Kamon would think about it and decide to come with me. This was it, too. If he decided not to, I was going to leave without him the next day. Time was running out for him to decide, and for me to get started.

* * *

Early in the morning of June 5th, my doorbell rang. I was in boxers and had no shirt on. I slipped on a white tee shirt, and checked the clock. It was 5: 45 in the morning.
I went to the front door and opened it. Kamon was standing there.
‘You’re not ready,’ he said to me.
‘What the hell are you talking about?’ I demanded, yawning.
‘Well, if you want to get to Gehta and over the mountain range by September, you’re gonna have to wake up bright and early and leave as soon as possible.’
I immediately took that as a ‘yes’ to whether or not he was going to leave with me. Kamon already had his backpack packed.
‘I’ll go get my, um…’ I started.
‘Backpack,’ Kamon finished for me.
‘Right. Excuse me, for I’m not used to waking up at quarter-to-six every day.’ I ran to my room and picked my backpack, and got dressed into my old outfit: Baggy black pants tucked into boots, and a sleeveless navy blue shirt, I slipped in my contacts and headed out the door. I looked at the time on my Pokégear; it was 6: 07 on June 5th. I would remember this time for the rest of my life.

[MetaKnight89]

it needs some description...and chapter 2 neeeds to be longer

[The Decapitated Mole]

What's with the repost? I've been waiting for the next chapter or two for a week or so!

[Carbonite4]

I didn't see KQ3 anywhere...if it's still there, eh. Too late. Anyway, yeah, chapter 2 is really short. It's some sort of trend with me. In every single fic I have written, chapter 2 has been the shortest. Go figure.


CHAPTER 3
THE ZENITH MOUNTAINS

About two weeks later, we had reached the Zenith Mountains. We had stopped in several cities in Johto and Kanto, specifically Viridian City. There we picked up any supplies we needed before our long journey ahead of us. We also had lunch, the last lunch in a restaurant for several more months.
Anyway, we had gotten to the pinnacle of the first mountain, and decided to camp out there for the night. It was mid-June, and we were making pretty good time. We figured we deserved a good rest. The next day we started out again, at about seven o’clock in the morning. We had a short breakfast of eggs and toast.
We then journeyed across the summits of other mountains in the Zenith Range, and, after another two-and-a-half days of straight travelling (only stopping to eat, occasionally) we arrived at a small stream.
‘It’s not marked on the map,’ I said, looking at the holo-map emerging from my Pokégear.
‘It must be too small a river to be mapped,’ Kamon said. He unpacked, and declared that we should be spending the night here. It took me no more than three minutes to fall into a long-awaited sleep. Kamon stayed awake, though, until late into the night. According to him, he went to sleep at about two in the morning. He awoke only five hours earlier, an hour after I did.
‘Have a nice sleep?’ I asked. I was eating cold cereal.
‘Peachy,’ he said, picking up his backpack. ‘Now let’s go. Hurry up and get your stuff.’
Man, I thought, I wonder what’s wrong with him. He seemed a little, well, irritated.
We hiked on for a full day, down the mountain this time, following the stream, refilling our water bottles along the way. We continued with this routine for several days. After those days, though, Kamon decided that we should stop.
This struck me as odd, because lately we had been traveling for several days at a time before we stopped. I soon found out why. Kamon fell to sleep almost immediately. Apparently, while I slept every time we stopped, he stayed awake, looking out for anything suspicious. He claimed that who knows what could be up here, and that there might be unknown or dangerous Pokémon up here. Besides that, he added, Sneasel and Murkrow have been reported to be living here, and they have been known to be thieves.
I kept watch that night. I felt like it was my duty; toward Kamon, if anything. I was the one dragging him here. I only got an hour of sleep. We left to go northwest the next day, and climbed up. We traveled another three days straight, stopping once a day to eat. We discovered that our rations were starting to fall short. Kamon ruled that we would only eat once every-other day. Of course I did not like this, but we had no choice; there weren’t any berry trees around here. We continued to trek across the mountains for another week, sleeping only four times.
We kept following the river until early July, because then we discovered that by following it we traveled off course. It would take us weeks to get back on course. After several days of trekking, we arrived at a lake.
‘It would be wisest to go around,’ Kamon said, ‘but to save time we must go across. Send out a Water Pokémon, and we can go through the lake. I used my Feraligatr, and Kamon used his Corsola. We went across the lake, and continued our quest. We were still off course, though. And we were days, if not weeks, behind schedule.
We ran into yet another devastating setback around late July, early August (I couldn’t tell; days seemed to merge into weeks, all of them the same), when we woke up one morning and our backpacks were stolen.
‘Erm,’ I started, ‘wasn’t my backpack right here last night?’
‘Mine’s gone, too,’ Kamon replied. ‘Damn. This sucks.’
A thought occurred to me. I said: ‘Hey, ya know what? It could’ve been a Sneasel or Murkrow! Remember, you said that they could be thieves!’
‘True,’ Kamon said. ‘If I catch whoever stole these…’ Kamon clenched his fists. ‘This journey is looking worse and worse every other day.’
‘We can find them,’ I said. ‘We just have to know where to look.’
‘If I knew where to look, I would have found them already, wouldn’t I?’
‘Well, I suppose. But hey; we can try to follow Pokémon tracks and see if we can find whoever took our stuff.’
‘There are no tracks, however,’ Kamon said.
‘Exactly. Which means…’ I responded.
‘Which means what? That our packs flew away?’
‘Close,’ I said, smiling. ‘Someone must’ve flown away with it. A Murkrow, no doubt. There also must have been more than one, since I don’t think that a single Murkrow could carry one of our backpacks, and even if it could, it would have to carry two; that would have taken a lot longer than we allowed to carry two backpacks very far. We were only asleep for maybe five hours.’
‘So, we will have to look for one of two things: either our backpacks are very close by because the Murkrow couldn’t have possibly carried it far, or a flock of Murkrow, which would be much further away.’
‘Exactly,’ I said. ‘But…but what if they dropped it in the river?’
‘They couldn’t have done that,’ Kamon replied. ‘Look, there would have to be something in the river that would remain, something that’s heavy. Even our packs would be here. Anyway, we have to split up. There are two ways to go; to the left and right sides of the river.’
‘Why not down the river, or up the river?’ I asked.
‘Because looking down, we would probably be able to see where they are, or where our stuff is. We have a pretty good view from up here. And flying up would make little sense; besides, it would take more work to fly up a mountain, and most likely against the wind (because here—don’t ask why—the wind seems to be sucked into the center of Gehta. All of the wind travels down the mountains), which would slow them down. They wouldn’t have gotten very far that way. Especially if it were a single Murkrow. Come on, Drew, let’s get going.’ Kamon ended his speech and then sent out his Delibird. I used Ho-oh. I took the left bank, while Kamon took the right.
After an hour or two of searching, I heard Kamon shouting. I flew back as fast as I could, and discovered that he had indeed found our backpacks. They were actually downstream and on the left bank. Apparently a flock of Murkrow had taken them there because there were several nests built in the trees; two of which had our stuff in it. We collected our things, and then flew toward Chrono. This lasted less than the rest of the day (since it took us half the day to recover our lost items), and we had to let our Pokémon rest. We continued into the night on foot.
By mid-August we ran out of all rations. We tried living off of berries (because, now that we were closer to civilization, berry trees were planted) and other fruits that we found in the wild. According to the map, we had about sixty-five more miles until we reached Chrono City, the first city in Gehta. Kamon also noted that we only had less than two weeks to get there in time. We were only averaging about five miles a day. Of course, this was sixty-five miles as the Spearow flies, and also five miles as the Spearow flies. In reality, he added, we probably walk around ten miles or so a day. It would take much longer than two weeks to reach Chrono at this rate.
‘I think we should use our Pokémon again,’ I said.
‘We can’t,’ Kamon responded. ‘They do not have the energy; we haven’t been able to supply them with enough food and drink to fight, much less fly or carry us great distances. Anyway, we mustn’t use them; we should do this on our own. It’s our journey, not theirs’.’
After he said that, I noticed the expression on his face. He did not enjoy the fact that we probably couldn’t use our Pokémon, and he also didn’t like how we had to travel faster, without stops. It had become harder to get food, and we delayed too much in trying to find some.
Six days later, we discovered that we had gone too far north; we were now thirty miles above Chrono.
‘Now, it is inevitable that we will have to double our pace…travel south, and not take one break. We only have eight days left, Drew,’ Kamon said wearily. Five days later, we were still far outside the boundaries of Chrono. ‘It can only be approached from the south. They have gates blocking people from coming in from the north or east, although we could come in from the west. It would take too long to reach that end, however. We have to rest one day. Only one. But then every day that follows we must travel as fast as we can. We will only have two days, after all.’
We rested there, and, one day later, Kamon woke me up.
‘Let’s go. If, that is, you want to make it on time.’
‘Man,’ I said, ‘do I have to wake up this early?’ It was four-thirty in the morning.
‘Think of this like the army. Now come on—we may have to use our Pokémon. I will call out my Entei, and both of us will ride upon him. He can run faster than either of us could ever hope of running.’ He threw down a Master Ball, and out came his Entei. When both of us were on, Entei started dashing across the land, bounding over any obstacles. Kamon figured that we could make it to Chrono City in no less than a day-and-a-half, unless Entei runs non-stop at an extremely fast pace.
To our luck and advantage, Entei did run non-stop, except once where he needed a drink of water, and did run full-speed. We made it to Chrono on the morning of the last day. Kamon recalled his Entei, and we both headed to the Pokécenter. It had been a long time since either of us had seen civilization.
We walked to the Pokécenter, almost taking our time, knowing that we had finally made it. The only thing to do now was to register here, and then head off once again to the next city.

CHAPTER 4
THE FIRST GYM

We arrived at the Pokécenter at almost noon. We healed our Pokémon, and changed our clothes and washed our old ones.
‘I think we’d be better off buying new ones,’ I said, looking at my torn pants and stained shirt.
‘Nah,’ Kamon responded. ‘We can go ahead and buy some new clothes, but I’m gonna keep these. You know, as a reminder of everything we went through to get here.’
‘Good point,’ I said. We did buy some new clothes, but they were relatively the same as our old ones.
We went to a registration office. We had to wait in line behind about ten other trainers; judging on the way they were bragging about their Pokémon and how they were in the fifties and sixties, we didn’t think that there would be an incredible challenge. Our Pokémon, after all, were in the high seventies and eighties. It took only twenty minutes for us to get up to the counter.
‘Hello,’ the woman behind the counter said, ‘how may I help you?’
‘Yeah, um, I would like to register for the Prime League competitions,’ I said.
‘Of course. May I have your name, please?’
‘Last name: Anderson. First: Drew,’ I replied.
‘Ah, the Mr. Drew Anderson. We were expecting you. We were worried that you, of all people, wouldn’t make it.’
‘Erm, yeah, it’s me…’ The lady took my Pokédex and slipped it into a machine. She then typed for a second, and then proceeded in handing back my Pokédex.
‘You’re all registered. Have a nice time in Gehta,’ she said with a smile. ‘Next, please.’
‘Name’s Kamon. Kamon—’
‘Yes, we know, Drew and Kamon. We were expecting both of you. Pokédex, please.’ She repeated the procedure for Kamon, and in another two minutes we were walking out of the small office.
‘Was that weird or what?’ I said to Kamon.
‘Tell me about it. So, which direction to we go?’ Kamon asked.
‘Well, I think that Gehta is designed to be traveled through easily, going around in a circle. We would go east, toward Shadow City. There is a Dark Pokémon gym there. It’s only a day or two’s walk from here,’ I said.
‘Sound’s good to me. Let’s go.’
We left the city that day and continued our journey. This was remarkably easier than the trek through the mountains, and we actually enjoyed it.
Gehta was very strange, mostly because it’s surrounded by mountains (everywhere you look there is a mountain on the horizon) and the fact that there will be a city, and then nothing for miles, and then a city. And the strangest thing was that the locals were used to this.
After only a day’s walk (we didn’t sleep that night; we weren’t used to sleeping this often…) we arrived in Shadow City, and stayed at the Pokécenter for the rest of the day. The Pokécenters in Gehta, unlike the ones in Johto and Kanto, had rooms that you could stay overnight in, like a hotel.
‘We don’t exactly have a deadline to meet to fight in the Center Stadium,’ Kamon said. ‘We can go at our own leisure.’
‘And we can actually sleep in!’ I pointed out. ‘Every night, too.’
‘Yeah…This is the type of quest I’ve wanted to be on. It seems like every day is a Sunday, where you can really just do whatever. My first quest was constrained to beating Lance, and my second was really just trying to redeem my pride and defeat…well, you, Drew. This is the first journey where I don’t actually have to do anything. I’m mostly in this for you. It would have been tough getting here by yourself,’ Kamon ended. He sighed, and then smiled. ‘Thanks, though, for dragging me along. Battling or not, this is pretty fun.’
‘Hey, no problem…but I thought you were in it for battling too,’ I replied.
‘Well, I will fight, I guess. But it’s not my priority this time around.’
‘Then what is?’
‘I dunno. Nothing, really. I’m just in it for the ride, I suppose.’
‘The journey is only have of it, Kamon,’ I said.
‘You’re right,’ Kamon said. ‘But it doesn’t really matter whether or not I fight. As long as I hang around, I’m fine. No matter what you do.’
‘That’s reassuring,’ I said, although I think it came out sarcastically.
We slept in, like we wanted to, and then headed straight for the gym. The gym leader’s name was Dustin, the Dark Master. Apparently the only people that could be gym leaders here must’ve proven their worth; they had to show that they were a ‘master’ of their training field. I would assume that specialists from around the world got offers. I suspected that one of Kamon’s best friends, Falkner, the leader of Violet City Gym and a Flying Pokémon trainer, was offered, but I guess he turned it down. Falkner, as far as I knew, was still at his normal place in his gym.
We walked into a Dark place, with only violet lights in the ceiling on.
‘Too weird,’ I said, looking around. All of a sudden, normal lights turned on, and a trainer jumped down from the catwalks above. He wore black jeans, with a black shirt, and his hair was died black and red. It was combed back. The red hair was in streaks on the back.
‘Greetings,’ the trainer, who I assumed to be Dustin, said. ‘You must be good to have made it here. However, I have met a lot of trainers, and very few have beaten me. They are obviously not strong enough to beat me. Will you?’
‘Possibly,’ Kamon responded.
‘Of course I’ll win,’ I said, grinning.
‘I have heard that one before,’ Dustin said. His voice was and slightly rasping. ‘Which one of you will battle first?’
‘I will,’ I said, stepping forward.
‘Fine then. It will be a six-on-six match. You choose first,’ Dustin said.
‘All right,’ I responded. Dark Pokémon, huh? I thought. I know just who to choose! ‘The ultimate anti-Dark Pokémon is my first choice. Heracross, go!’ I threw my Pokéball with Heracross within it into the cement stadium.
‘Hitmonlee, come out!’ Dustin commanded. The long-legged brown Pokémon came out, and I was immediately taken aback.
‘Wait a sec…Hitmonlee isn’t Dark!’ I shouted.
‘Of course not. But who says that all of my Pokémon must be Dark? Hitmonlee, Mega Kick!’ My Heracross easily ducked under that attack.
‘Heracross, Mega Horn attack!’ I shouted. Heracross immediately charged at Hitmonlee with its horn glowing. Heracross rammed into Hitmonlee, doing a lot of damage.
‘Yeah, ouch,’ Dustin said sarcastically. ‘Hitmonlee, Hi Jump Kick, now!’ Hitmonlee leapt high into the air, and then, and he was coming down, swung his leg out. It struck my Heracross in the face.
‘Heracross, use a Take Down!’ I said. Heracross body slammed Hitmonlee, doing damage to itself, however. Hitmonlee retaliated with another Mega Kick, but this time it struck Heracross, doing a lot of damage. ‘Finish it,’ I started, ‘with a Reversal!’ Heracross took all of the damage it had received and unleashed it onto Hitmonlee, instant knock out.
‘Not too bad, newbie,’ Dustin sneered.
‘Newbie! Newbie! You take that back, or else…’ I snapped. No one calls me a newbie.
‘That’s right. A newbie! This is your first match in Gehta, right? That makes you a newbie. And or else what, huh?’
‘You’ll see as soon as you send out your next Pokémon…’ My fist tightened as I said those words. He would pay. Those were just simple words, but nobody, nobody says that to even Kamon, for that matter or me.
‘Fine then,’ Dustin said. ‘Houndour, go! Your Fire Blast!’ I let my Heracross be knocked out. I wanted to use my Ho-oh or Lugia against this jerk.
‘Come back, Heracross.’ Hmm… I thought. Lugia is weak against Dark, so I guess I’ll use… ‘Ho-oh, let’s go! Your Thunderbolt attack!’ Ho-oh flew up into the air and quickly struck with the Electric attack. Houndour retaliated with a Crunch, but it did only a little damage.
‘Fine, then. Houndour, Sludge Bomb attack!’ A sphere of poison struck my Ho-oh, not doing much, but poisoning him.
‘All right, Ho-oh; Hyper Beam attack, now!’ I said. My marvelous Fire Pokémon summoned gold energy in its mouth and then blasted it at Houndour, annihilating it. Dustin recalled his Dark Pokémon, and then sent out his next.
‘Okay, Slow—no, Pupitar, go! Rock Slide!’ The blue cocoon Pokémon tossed rocks at Ho-oh, doing four times the regular amount of damage. Obviously, I had to recall him.
‘Ho-oh, return. Tyranitar, come out! Surf!’ You try to take quadruple damage, I thought. The wave crashed over Pupitar, instant K.O.
‘Pupitar, you stood no chance against a Tyranitar,’ Dustin said. ‘Return. Now, I will choose Sneasel! Attack it with Ice Beam!’ The frozen water crystals hit Tyranitar, doing mediocre damage.
‘Tyranitar, get this match over with,’ I said. ‘Fire Blast him.’ A burst of fire enveloped the Dark Pokémon, and he fell, knocked out.
‘I cannot believe this!’ Dustin shouted. His Pokémon returned to its Pokéball. ‘All right. Slowking, attack! Hydro Pump, now!’ The ball of water sailed at my Pokémon, at hit it square in the chest. Tyranitar lived, though.
‘Tyranitar, Crunch, now!’ Huge black jaws clamped down on Slowking, and it did an incredible amount of damage. Still not enough to knock it out.
‘Slowking, finish his Pokémon off with a Surf,’ said Dustin. A wave rushed over my Pokémon, and it collapsed.
‘Come back, Tyranitar,’ I said. ‘Now, what should I choose…I don’t want to go to hard on you. How about Feraligatr. Let’s go!’ I threw the Ultra Ball holding my only Water-type Pokémon out into the arena. My blue alligator came out of its confinement with a flash of light and awaited my command. ‘Finish Slowking with a Crunch,’ I said. Feraligatr bit down on Slowking, finishing him off as I had predicted.
‘No way! Slowking, come back. For my last Pokémon, I will choose my most powerful. Houndoom, come out!’ Dustin yelled. ‘Use Sunny Day, and follow up with Solarbeam!’ Houndoom made the room unbearably bright, and then blasted a light beam at Feraligatr. The attack merely knocked him backwards, and allowed my Pokémon to continue its assault.
‘Earthquake, now!’ I commanded. Feraligatr jumped on the ground, making it tremble. Houndoom took incredible damage, but was not nearly knocked out.
‘Houndoom, another Solarbeam!’ Dustin cried. The attack struck Feraligatr again, but still didn’t knock him out. I decided to recall Feraligatr and send out my Lugia. Feraligatr wouldn’t survive another attack of any kind, and Lugia hasn’t battled yet.
‘Come back, Feraligatr, and go, Lugia!’ I said. ‘Lugia, use your Ancient Power attack!’ Lugia roared, and rocks came up from the ground and slammed into Houndoom, making him faint.
‘What—what kind of trainer are you!?’ Dustin exclaimed. ‘I cannot believe I lost! Houndoom, come back. Dude, you’re not a run-of-the-mill trainer. You’re something special, kid. It will get you a long way.’
‘Thank you,’ I replied. ‘Now, I believe you owe me a badge.’
‘Nope. In Gehta, we don’t have badges. Instead, you give me your Pokédex, and you get a ‘digital badge.’ After you, or if you, defeat all six gyms in Gehta, you go back to Chrono City, and re-register. Only by having all of the badges on your Pokédex will the gate to Center City open. The badges act like keys,’ Dustin explained. ‘Your status can be viewed online. You can see how you are doing, and how all other trainers in Gehta are doing. A great system, if you ask me. Now, if you would hand over your Pokédex, I’ll put the ‘badge’ in it.’ I handed my Pokédex to Dustin. He walked over to a computer and slid it in. He typed a little, and then ejected my Pokédex. He handed it back to me and continued to speak. ‘Does your friend here want to battle?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know,’ I responded. I turned to Kamon. He shook his head ‘no’.
‘Well, I suppose this is good-bye. See ya, kid. And good luck.’
‘You too, Dustin,’ I said.
Kamon and I both walked out of the gym. We continued on to the next city with Dustin’s good omen going through my head.

[Carbonite4]

CHAPTER 5
CROSSOVER 3: DOUBLE-TROUBLE IN GEHTA

Two days later, we were halfway to the next town, Aura Town. The gym there was a Water Gym. I was fully prepared. Kamon still had no interests in battling.
The street we were walking on was about ten to fifteen feet wide. On either side of us was a grassy field, with bushes lining the street. The terrain around us was almost completely flat. As we were walking, two trainers walked past us. One was a boy, and the other a girl. The boy had brown hair spiked up in the front with black hair and pants. He wore an olive green vest and had a silver earring in his left ear. He was wearing gloves, and I noticed two other oddities; two belts of Pokémon, which grabbed my attention right away, and a dragon wing necklace encased in crystal.
The girl had about shoulder-length pink hair, with a pink tank top and black pants. Must love the color pink, I thought. She, on the other hand, only had one belt of Pokémon. I was interested in battling with her. She appeared the less experienced of the two, anyway. I approached the boy to see why he could carry twelve Pokémon and I couldn’t.
‘Hey,’ I said, ‘what’s up with the twelve Pokémon?’
The trainer turned around and said, ‘Who, me?’ I looked around to see if any other trainers were around with twelve Pokémon that I would be talking to.
‘Well, yeah. You’re the only trainer here with twelve Pokémon,’ I responded.
‘If you want to know,’ he said, ‘there is a device that allows you to carry twelve Pokémon. It’s useful for gym leaders who have more than one team, or travelers who need a battling team and a team for Flying, Cutting stuff down, Surfing, et cetera. Or, if you’re like me…’ He grinned. ‘You have two battling teams just for the sake of having two.’
I turned to Kamon to see if he knew about this device. He shrugged his shoulders.
The boy glanced at me, and then at Kamon. ‘The name’s Dart. What’s yours?’
I turned back to the trainer. ‘My name is Drew. And my friend here is Kamon.’ I turned to the girl. ‘Who’s she?’
‘I’m Kaylei,’ she said. She extended her hand. I met it, and we shook. ‘Nice to meet you.’
‘Ditto. So, you care to show me how…skilled both of your teams are? I’ll take on whichever one you want.’ The boy picked the team on his left side, and sent out his first Pokémon; it was a Rhydon. ‘Too easy,’ I said. ‘Feraligatr, go! Surf, now!’
‘Rhydon, Protect, and follow it up with a Thunder attack!’ Dart commanded. His Rhydon crossed his arms, deflecting the Water attack. He then unleashed a lightning bolt upon Feraligatr, doing massive damage.
‘Wasn’t expecting that attack,’ I remarked. ‘Feraligatr, Blizzard.’ My Feraligatr opened its jaws wide, and from it came a flurry of snow and ice. Rhydon suffered tremendous damage, but was still able to battle. ‘Feraligatr, Hydro Pump.’
‘Rhydon, Dig,’ Dart said. He was quite confident with his Pokémon, I noticed. The rocky rhino dug its way underground, dodging my Pokémon’s attack. Rhydon then burst out of the ground, ramming into my Feraligatr. That attack wasn’t as severe as Thunder was, however.
‘Feraligatr, Earthquake, now!’ I cried. It was a battle not necessarily of the better Pokémon; instead, it was a battle of wit. His Rhydon could use a variety of attacks, canceling out my type-advantage. I knew that I would have to battle the same way to beat him. Otherwise, the battle was already lost. And I don’t lose.
Feraligatr slammed its body onto the earth, causing a tremor. The ground split and then formed back together again around Rhydon’s feet. Rhydon collapsed to the ground. He appeared to be defeated.
‘Rhydon,’ Dart started, ‘Horn Drill!’ Rhydon slowly got back up, and then charged at my Feraligatr, its metal horn spinning. Feraligatr was struck in the stomach, instant K.O. I was slightly shocked that my Pokémon went down first.
‘Come back,’ I said. ‘Go, Ho-oh!’ I threw a Master Ball at the opposing Pokémon, and from it emerged the seven-colored Fire Pokémon, Ho-oh. ‘Ho-oh, Giga Drain attack, now!’ Ho-oh sucked the remaining life out of Dart’s Rhydon, forcing him to switch Pokémon.
‘Come back, Rhydon,’ Dart said, putting away the Pokéball that contained his Rhydon. ‘Now, go Kabutops, let’s go! A Rock Slide attack!’ A Kabutops is hard to come by; I’ve only seen a few in all of my adventures.
Kabutops spun around, making boulders fly out toward my Ho-oh. The attack did a lot of damage, but I was certain that my Ho-oh would come out victorious in this one.
‘Ho-oh, another Giga Drain,’ I said. Quadruple damage with a reviving bonus? Couldn’t get any better than that! I watched as Ho-oh continued to drain the life out of Dart’s Pokémon. Kabutops, however, retaliated with another Rock Slide, damaging Ho-oh further. At this rate, Ho-oh would K.O. Kabutops, but would still be down to nearly nothing for health. I decided to take more drastic measures. ‘Ho-oh,’ I said, ‘Solarbeam, now!’ I knew that it would take two turns for Ho-oh to use that attack, but I figured, what the heck? Might as well take my chances. Ho-oh charged up the Grass attack while Kabutops pounded away at my Pokémon’s health. Ho-oh suddenly unleashed the beam of sunlight, instantly knocking out Kabutops. Dart recalled his Pokémon, and then sent out his next battler.
‘Magneton, come out and use Thunderbolt to finish off Ho-oh!’ Dart shouted. As soon as my Pokémon went down, Dart grinned and Kaylei cheered. Damn cheerleaders, I thought.
‘Come back, Ho-oh,. All right, Tyranitar, go! Fire Blast attack!’ My Tyranitar blasted flames at Magneton, doing major damage and nearly knocking him out.
‘Before you go down, at least use Thunder Wave!’ Dart said. At first I didn’t think much of it; Thunder Wave doesn’t do any damage. However, it quickly occurred to me that if I can’t attack, Magneton could still remain out. This is gonna suck, I thought. Tyranitar couldn’t move on her next turn, allowing Magneton to attack again. ‘Perfect,’ said Dart. ‘My plan is going perfectly. Magneton, Thunder, now!’ A sheet of lightning crashed down upon Tyranitar, but it did little; Tyranitar has the strongest defense of any Pokémon on my team.
‘Come on, Tyranitar,’ I said, ‘use an Earthquake!’ Tyranitar managed to stomp on the ground, splitting the earth underneath Magneton. The attack knocked him out easily, and Dart switched Pokémon again. I switched too; I didn’t want Tyranitar out if he’s paralyzed. ‘Lugia, go!’
‘Houndoom, go!’ Dart said. Dear God, not another Houndoom, I thought. ‘Whoa, you have both Lugia and Ho-oh!? Amazing. Houndoom, Crunch!’
‘No way. Detect, and then Hydro Pump, Lugia,’ I commanded. Lugia stuck out its wings, deflecting the Dark attack, and then blasted Houndoom with water.
‘Houndoom, another Crunch.’ I let Lugia get hit, knowing that a Surf would K.O. Houndoom anyway. He’d then be left with only two Pokémon, and I would have three, not counting the paralyzed Tyranitar. I then commanded Lugia to finish off Houndoom with a Surf; the attack of course knocked Houndoom out as I had thought. Dart readied his next Pokémon. ‘Scizor, let’s rock! Swords Dance attack, now!’ Scizor spun around as swords danced around his head.
‘Lugia, Aeroblast,’ I said. Lugia blasted white glowing energy at Scizor, but he quickly moved out of the way. ‘Dang it. Lugia, another Aeroblast.’ Lugia repeated the attack, but it failed again.
‘Ha, you will never hit my Scizor! He’s too fast! Scizor, Steel Wings, now!’ Dart shouted.
As Dart’s Scizor zoomed toward my Lugia, I shouted ‘Lugia, behind you!’ Lugia whipped around in time to witness the bug-like Pokémon flying at him. Lugia blasted Scizor with an Aeroblast, making him crash into the earth below. Leave the flying to my Lugia, I thought. Scizor got right back up, however, and then proceeded in attacking Lugia again; this time with a Hyper Beam. Scizor put his claws together and charged up golden energy between them. He then unleashed a blast of energy at Lugia, doing massive damage. As Scizor was recovering from the attack, Lugia retaliated with a Fire Blast, knocking Scizor out.
‘All too easy,’ I said. Dart winced, and then sent out his final Pokémon.
‘Venusaur, go! Your Body Slam!’ he shouted. Venusaur charged at Lugia, but he flew out of the way, and then turned around and used Psychic. Venusaur was injured, but not injured enough to quit battling. Venusaur also turned around and attempted to attack Lugia with a Giga Drain. The attack did next to nothing, and my Lugia finished Venusaur off with my command.
‘Final attack, Lugia. Make this your final attack. Aeroblast!’ I commanded. Lugia blasted a white beam at Venusaur, knocking him out as I had predicted. No way was Venusaur going to live through a Psychic and an Aeroblast; both attacks were super-effective and they did extra damage because they are the same type as Lugia, Psychic and Flying.
‘I can’t believe I lost…’ Dart muttered gloomily. ‘I guess I never stood a chance against Lugia, huh?’
‘I guess not. Lugia, return,’ I replied. Kamon then stepped up to Dart.
‘I want to see your second team,’ he said. ‘In battle.’ I looked at Kamon in wonder. Kamon had refused to battle this entire time. It was like seeing Clark Kent become Superman in front of you; you couldn’t believe your eyes.
‘I accept your challenge,’ Dart said. ‘Should I send out a Pokémon first, or will you?’
‘I’ll send it out first,’ Kamon said. ‘Typhlosion, go!’ For the first time since we started out, I saw Kamon use a Pokémon in battle. The fiery Pokémon roared, and the flames on its neck and back ignited.
‘Espeon, attack!’ Dart said, ‘with a Psychic!’ Dart’s purple evolution of Eevee glowed blue for a second, and then made Typhlosion get knocked back with a flash of light. Kamon told his Typhlosion to attack Espeon with Flamethrower, but Espeon blocked it with Detect.
‘Typhlosion, again,’ Kamon said. Typhlosion repeated the Fire-type attack, but this time it struck Espeon and did severe damage.
‘Espeon, Return,’ Dart said. At first I thought, Why is he calling back his Espeon now? Both Pokémon have only been hit once, and they both stand an equal chance of winning. But from the look on Kamon’s face when he heard the command I soon figured out what the command was: an attack. In order for an Eevee to evolve into Espeon, it must like the trainer a lot. The attack Return does more damage the more your Pokémon like you. So, Return is guaranteed to do a lot of damage if an Espeon performs it.
Dart’s Espeon charged at Typhlosion and then rammed into him, doing a hell of a lot more damage than I had predicted. It didn’t look good for Typhlosion.
‘Typhlosion, your Return!’ Kamon commanded. I glanced at Kamon; he seemed confident in his Typhlosion. I didn’t think that his Pokémon knew that attack. I decided, however, to stay silent and watch; it was Kamon’s battle after all, not mine. Typhlosion rammed into Espeon, knocking her back and surprisingly doing more damage to her than she did to Typhlosion; Typhlosion must’ve liked Kamon a lot more than Espeon liked Dart.
‘Espeon, finish Typhlosion with another Psychic!’ Espeon repeated her Psychic-type attack, knocking out Typhlosion.
‘Come back, and go Umbreon! Faint Attack, now!’ Kamon threw another Ultra Ball onto the concrete street, unleashing his only Dark Pokémon. This wasn’t any Dark Pokémon, however. This Dark-type Pokémon was the alter-evolution of Eevee.
Umbreon disappeared from sight for a second, but then reappeared behind Espeon, striking her down and knocking her out. Dart recalled his Pokémon, and then sent out a Jolteon.
‘What is this, the all-Eevee evolution team?’ Kamon questioned sarcastically.
‘Of course not,’ Dart said, ‘I just happen to like both Jolteon and Espeon. Now, Jolteon, Double Kick!’ Jolteon turned around and kicked Umbreon with his two hind legs. It was super-effective, but it still did little damage.
‘Umbreon, Confuse Ray!’ Kamon commanded. Umbreon confused Jolteon with a flash of light.
‘Jolteon, Thunder!’ Dart shouted. Jolteon attempted an attack, but hurt itself in confusion. ‘Okay, try Pin Missile!’ I knew that Jolteon’s Pin Missile and Double Kick were super-effective against Umbreon. Pin Missile hit Umbreon, doing even less than Double Kick, but poisoning Umbreon. Umbreon retaliated with a Shadow Ball; at Kamon’s command, of course. ‘Jolteon, Thunderbolt!’ said Dart. Jolteon once again hurt itself in its confusion. At once, though, it snapped out of it. ‘Good job. Thunder, now!’ Jolteon unleashed a bolt of electricity down upon Umbreon, severely damaging her.
‘Umbreon, finish Jolteon off with a Hyper Beam!’ Kamon commanded. Umbreon opened its mouth, gathering gold energy in it. She then blasted Jolteon with a huge gold beam, instantly knocking him out.
‘Return,’ Dart said. A red beam of light swallowed up his Jolteon. ‘Go, Tauros!’ Dart threw another Pokéball into the road; this time, out of the glittering white light emerged the Normal-type Pokémon, Tauros. I have only seen the bull-like creature a few times before. Mostly in the Safari Zone in Fuschia City. I had caught one, but I have never taken it out to battle. I knew that Tauros could learn a lot of elemental attacks, such as Fire Blast or Blizzard. This battle was going to be interesting.
‘Umbreon, Psychic attack, now!’ Kamon commanded.
‘Tauros, Double-Team, and then a Horn Drill!’ said Dart. Tauros easily dodged the attack by making clones of itself, and then rammed into Kamon’s Dark evolution of Eevee, knocking him out.
‘Come back Umbreon, and go Delibird! Attack it with Drill Peck!’ Kamon yelled. Bad mistake, I thought. After Delibird bore its beak into Tauros’s side, Tauros retaliated with a Thunder, nearly knocking out Delibird in one hit. ‘Holy crap! Delibird, Ice Beam, now!’ Kamon’s Delibird flew in the air, and then shot a small ice-crystal ray at Tauros, doing mediocre damage.
‘Tauros, finish Delibird off with Thunderbolt!’ Dart commanded. Electric sparks surrounded Tauros’s body. He suddenly channeled them to Delibird, instantly knocking him out.
‘I can’t believe that! Delibird, come back. You must be one hell of a trainer, Dart. Not many people can knock my Pokémon out this easily,’ said Kamon.
‘You battle a lot?’ Dart asked.
‘Of course. I’m a gym leader,’ Kamon replied.
‘Really? Interesting. But enough talking. More fighting. Send out your next Pokémon!’
‘Fine then. You asked for it. Entei, go!’ Kamon threw out a Master Ball, unveiling his shiny legendary Fire Pokémon. ‘Entei, Fire Blast!’ Entei nodded, and then unleashed a huge wall of flames upon Tauros.
I was highly surprised, because the last time Kamon and I fought he could barely control his Entei. Now he obeyed his every command. Kamon must’ve been through more training than I thought he had. There would be no way he could lose.
‘Shiny Pokémon or not, or even a legendary Pokémon or not, you’ll still fall to Tauros! Surf attack, now, Tauros!’ Tauros created a wave and water, and made it rush over Entei, greatly damaging him.
‘Entei, Flamethrower!’ Kamon said. Fire poured from Entei’s mouth and engulfed the bullish Pokémon. Tauros was burnt, and nearly knocked out, I figured. ‘Extreme Speed, Entei!’ Entei charged at Tauros at full speed, ramming into him and knocking him out. ‘You were saying…?’ Kamon jeered.
‘Ha, you’ll see. It won’t matter. Tauros, come back. Octillary, let’s go. Hydro Pump!’ Dart exclaimed. A large amount of water surged from the snout of Octillary and hit Entei.
‘Entei, Hyper Beam attack, now!’ said Kamon. Entei blasted a golden beam of light energy at Octillary, doing a lot of damage. Not enough to K.O. him, however.
‘Octillary, Octazooka!’ Dart said. A ball of ink and water hit Entei, lowering his accuracy and his health. Entei counter-attacked Octillary with a Stomp, making Octillary flinch.
‘All right, Entei, Skull Bash attack, now!’ Entei lowered his head to attack. As he did, Octillary used a Surf, nearly making Entei faint. Entei then charged at the octopus, and rammed into him with his head. Octillary responded with a Psybeam, confusing Entei. ‘Come on, Entei! Just knock him out! Another Hyper Beam should do it!’ Entei tried to attack, but was nearly finished off when he hurt himself in his confusion.
‘Finish his legendary Pokémon off, Octillary,’ Dart said, ‘with a Hyper Beam of your own!’ Neither Kamon nor I could do anything but watch as Entei was taken down by Octillary’s attack. ‘So much for being a shiny legendary Pokémon.’ Dart chuckled.
‘I’ll make you eat those words! Corsola, go! Psychic attack to knock-out Octillary,’ Kamon said. His Water Pokémon attacked with the telepathic attack, making Octillary get knocked out.
‘Return, Octillary. Magmar, go! Use Psychic!’ Dart exclaimed. The fiery Pokémon was surrounded with a blue aurora. In a sudden flash of light, Corsola took damage. Corsola came back with a Hydro Pump, but it missed. Magmar attacked with a Thunder Punch, doing major damage.
‘Corsola, another Hydro Pump,’ Kamon said. Magmar was severely injured by the blast of water. He attacked with another Psychic, making Corsola take some more damage, but still not knocked out. ‘Corsola, finish Magmar off with Surf!’ That last Water-type attack was enough to make Magmar faint, and to make Dart switch Pokémon.
‘Heracross, go! Cross-Chop attack!’ Dart commanded. A Pokémon just like the one I owned came out, and raised its hands over its head. He then karate-chopped Corsola with both hands, nearly knocking her out.
‘Corsola, Psychic!’ Kamon said.
‘Heracross, Detect!’ Dart said. Heracross blocked the attack, and then knocked out Corsola with Mega Horn. ‘Yes! Only one more Pokémon left!’
‘It’s all I need,’ Kamon said. ‘Corsola, return. Golem, come out! Use Earthquake!’ The rocky Pokémon pounded on the ground, making a tremor under Heracross’s feet.
‘Heracross, Counter!’ Dart said. Heracross reversed all of the damage Golem did in double, plus it was super-effective. Golem was instantly knocked out; Kamon had lost. He sat there in silence for a while, until he recalled his Pokémon.
‘Well, I suppose you won this one fair-and-square, huh?’ he said.
‘I did, didn’t I? Well, it was a good match, Gym Leader Kamon,’ Dart said. I wasn’t sure if Dart was mocking Kamon or not when he called him a gym leader. Kamon and Dart shook hands. ‘Well, I guess I should be going. Maybe I’ll see you two again sometime.’
‘Possibly,’ I said. Kaylei waved good-bye to both of us and then traveled off with Dart. ‘Hey, man,’ I said to Kamon, ‘don’t get discouraged. You haven’t battled in a long time, maybe you’re just a little rusty.’
‘I’m fine,’ Kamon responded. He didn’t look fine. ‘You know what, Drew? I might join you in your little quest. Might, mind you. I don’t feel like fighting the gym leaders. I’ll fight the leader of this league, though. If they let me, that is…’
‘Who’ll deny the Pokémon Master the chance to fight someone?’ I said sarcastically.
‘That’s right,’ he said. We continued on our way to Aura Town, and the next gym. Maybe Kamon would change his mind and battle with me. Only the future could tell.

** Pokémon Update:
Drew- Ho-oh level 79, Lugia level 81, Heracross level 82, Feraligatr level 83, Tyranitar level 83, and Ampharos level 84.
Kamon- Corsola level 75, Delibird level 76, Golem level 77, Umbreon level 78, Typhlosion level 82, and Entei level 85. **

CHAPTER 6
AURA TOWN

Kamon and I arrived in Aura Town the next day. The town wasn’t very big; it seemed as though the only large city in the country was Chrono City. The town consisted of a few restaurants, hotels, and a Pokécenter. The gym was near the end of town, on the outskirts.
Kamon and I healed our Pokémon at the Pokémon Center, and then headed for the nearest restaurant; we were starving. Over a double-cheeseburger with bacon and barbecue sauce (my favorite) and a chocolate milkshake with French fries, we started talking.
‘So,’ I said, ‘you thinking about battling this Water Gym Leader?’
‘Nope,’ Kamon responded. ‘I thought about the battle against Dart yesterday, and I decided that if I truly wanted to be battling, I would have done it before him. Losing your first battle isn’t a very reassuring thing, you know.’
I paused for a moment and then said, ‘Yeah, actually, I do.’
Kamon was taken aback. ‘You!? Mr. I Never Lose!? You know what it is like to set out on a journey and lose your very first battle? When you think you’re something special, and you get the crap beaten out of you? You don’t know, Drew, you don’t know.’
‘Kamon, only two other people in the world know this. Two. My old girlfriend, Amber, and the person that beat me. What you hear now…I don’t want it ever repeated again. You hear me? Never. You must swear to it,’ I said.
‘I promise,’ Kamon said.
‘All right. Well, when I first set out in Johto, I started out with a Cyndaquil. I traveled to Violet Gym. In order to get in, I had to battle a trainer. He used a Doduo. I, of course used Cyndaquil. After a small exchange of attacks, the trainer said that he was going to stop ‘fooling around’ and finish my Pokémon off. He beat the crap out of me, Kamon. If he had battled that way from the beginning, I wouldn’t have lasted more than 30 seconds.
‘I…I thought that I was supposed to be something special. I was some ‘special trainer’ all the way from Kanto. I showed remarkable skills in my Pokémon handling techniques. I thought I was going to win. I knew I was going to win. I decided from that point on that no matter what it took, I was going to be the most powerful trainer ever. I decided that I was never going to go easy on someone. Just like that trainer did with me. Destroyed me. I was going to destroy all of my opponents. And I did, Kamon, I did. Until you came along, that is. You, Kamon, don’t know that feeling. The feeling of defeat when you think you’re at your prime. I had recovered from that battle after I had defeated everyone, including the Elite Four. I knew then that I was no longer a novice, as that trainer called me.
‘I went back to Kanto, and beat everyone there. Even Ash. I knew I was invincible. Even you couldn’t beat me. Or so I thought. Kamon, you don’t know what that is like. To be defeated like that. So, no matter what you went through, it wasn’t as bad as that. Both of those times.’
‘So…’ Kamon started, ‘you are taking on this challenge to recover from your loss to me, huh? And you wanted me to come along so that you could show me that you were better than me. That’s what your deal is, huh?’ I looked at the floor. I then looked up at Kamon. I nodded. My secret had been unmasked. Kamon sighed. ‘Yes, Drew, I know what it is like to lose in your prime. But my defeat was worse than yours.’
‘I doubt it,’ I said stubbornly.
‘Yeah, it was, Drew. You see, the world knew it when I lost. I was undefeated when I challenged Lance. No one had beaten me. No one. But I was shot down because I was still an amateur. Koga foresaw it; he even tried to warn me. He told me that my style of battling would be my downfall. My arrogance, my overconfidence…
‘After I lost to him, I went into training for a year. No one saw me. I didn’t want them to. My life had been destroyed. I took over as gym leader for another year, until you came along. Then my once rival stopped by, and then my best friend. I realized what I had done to my life. I went back into becoming a trainer again. But your life isn’t destroyed, is it Drew?’ Kamon asked.
‘I promised myself…revenge. On all those who beat me. It’s haunted me through every battle, eating me up inside that I might not be as good as someone else. That is why I try to beat everyone who fights me. For revenge, Kamon, revenge,’ I said. Hate was building inside of me. I hated those feelings, the feelings of loss and despair, and my hatred for those who beat me. ‘I accept every challenge, because I know I’ll win. I am the best, Kamon, and I’ll show it to you no matter what it takes!’ I put money on the table to pay for the bill, and then left the restaurant. I headed straight for the gym.
I walked into the Water Gym and looked around for the leader. I didn’t see anyone. The gym itself was like a big indoor pool. The roof was curved, and made of blue glass. The pool itself was in the shape of a circle. It had four small square platforms on it, just big enough for a Pokémon to fit on.
I walked around, looking for a gym leader. Suddenly, a girl popped out of the Water.
‘Hi,’ she said, ‘my name is Lisa. What’s yours?’
Taken aback by her perkiness, I said ‘Er, Drew. Are you the gym leader here?’
‘You bet I am! Water is my specialty! You wanna battle me?’ Lisa asked.
‘Sure,’ I replied. ‘Six-on-six, I assume. You can choose first, if you want.’ I walked over to one side of the pool, and Lisa walked to the other.
‘But of course. Lapras, I choose you!’ Lisa shouted. She threw a Pokéball into the water, and from it emerged the Water Pokémon, Lapras. I decided to throw her off with a little…surprise. My own little trump card.
‘Ho-oh, go!’ I yelled. I knew she would never expect that. I would have the upper hand; well, at least for a moment. But just long enough for me to set-up my attack that would surely bring her Lapras down. ‘Ho-oh, Sunny Day.’
‘Lapras, Thunderbolt,’ Lisa commanded. A surge of electricity shocked my Pokémon, but it did minimal damage.
‘Okay, Ho-oh, use your Solarbeam attack, now!’ Ho-oh fired a yellow beam of sunlight energy at Lisa’s Lapras, nearly knocking it out (it was a critical hit).
Ho-oh was one of my favorite Pokémon, right after Mewtwo and Lugia. Ho-oh was my most prized Pokémon, only because of its diverse attacks and ability to take down anyone who tried to fight it. I knew that Ho-oh would be able to beat any Water-type Pokémon because of its Electric-type attacks and its Grass attacks. Plus, the bonus of Sunny Day (as it boosts Ho-oh’s Fire-type moves as well) makes Ho-oh nearly unstoppable. Even if Ho-oh does take damage, he can gain it back with Giga Drain or Recover. There was no way that Ho-oh was going to lose anytime soon.
‘Lapras, Thunder!’
‘How foolish,’ I said with a smirk. ‘Thunder won’t hit me as long as I’m using Sunny Day; the accuracy is lowered.’ My smirk faded into cold stare into my enemy’s eyes. I wasn’t going to toy with my opponent, like I had started to. No, I was going to pound her into the earth. ‘Ho-oh, finish her Lapras off with another Solarbeam!’ I yelled. I raised my hand and pointed at Ho-oh’s target. Ho-oh attacked its foe again, knocking her out.
‘Return,’ she said. Her voice wavered as she said.
Finally, I thought, she has witnessed my true power.
‘Politoed, I want you to attack! Let’s go!’ Lisa threw another Pokéball into the water. This time, the green toad came forth to battle. ‘Politoed, Mean Look, and then follow up with a Perish Song!’ Lisa ordered. Politoed nodded in agreement, and then glared at Ho-oh, making it unable to return to its’ Pokéball. Politoed then opened his mouth, and a hideous voice echoed through the stadium.
‘I hate to spoil your plans, Lisa,’ I said, ‘but I’ll have to. Ho-oh, Whirlwind attack!’ I watched as Ho-oh flapped its magnificently colored wings, creating a gale. The attack sent Politoed back into the Pokéball, canceling the effects of Mean Look and Perish Song. Don’t mess with the master, I thought. Or you’ll end in disaster.
‘Fine, then,’ Lisa said, ‘Starmie, go! Use Thunderbolt!’ The ten-pointed Pokémon came out and shocked my Ho-oh, paralyzing it.
‘Dang. Return,’ I said. Ho-oh wasn’t knocked out, but I didn’t want to take any chances with using him (I hate it when my Pokémon are paralyzed…). ‘Ampharos, attack! Use Thunderbolt!’ My precious Electric Pokémon electrocuted Lisa’s Starmie, bringing it down to about half life.
‘Starmie, Psychic!’ Lisa yelled. A blue aura surrounded both Lisa’s Starmie and my Ampharos. Suddenly, there was a flash of light. Ampharos took some damage, but not much.
‘Ampharos, finish Starmie with a Thunder!’ I commanded once the effect of Sunny Day had ended. A sheet of lightning crashed down upon Starmie, lowering its health down to only one HP. ‘Damn,’ I cursed.
‘Ha, my Starmie has the Focus Band attached,’ Lisa taunted.
‘No, really?’ I replied sarcastically. ‘Ampharos, Thunder Punch!’
‘Starmie, quickly, a Hydro Pump!’ The back star of Starmie spun around as she blasted a stream of water at Ampharos. Ampharos rolled as he was running at Starmie, dodging the aquatic blast. Ampharos rose to his feet and punched Starmie in the center of the red jewel on its body. Electricity surged through Starmie’s body, and finally knocked her out.
‘All right, trainer, you asked for it’ Lisa said. ‘Starmie, return. Politoed, come back out!’ Lisa sent out her Politoed again, and told him to use Hydro Pump.
Her favorite attack, I thought.
The blast hit Ampharos, doing an incredible amount of damage. Ampharos was standing on the closest platform to the one that Politoed was on (Ampharos was standing on the platform on my side of the pool, but then jumped onto the second platform, and then the third to punch Starmie) when he was hit with Hydro Pump. Ampharos lost his balance, and fell backwards, into the water. I knew that Ampharos couldn’t swim. He was going to be a sitting Pidgey in the water. The real question was, though, if Lisa knew that my Ampharos couldn’t swim.
‘Politoed, his Ampharos can’t swim,’ Lisa said.
Well, that answers my question, I thought. Lisa resumed.
‘Jump into the water, and take Ampharos down!’ I suddenly came up with a plan. It would cause Ampharos to faint, but so would Politoed. I knew that I would have to do it, however, or else Politoed would drown Ampharos.
‘Ampharos, Thunder!’ I cried.
‘What!?’ Lisa exclaimed, ‘are you insane?’
‘Not hardly, I responded. Another bolt of lighting came down and struck the pool, causing an electric current to run through both of our Pokémon. The amount of damage Thunder would normally do was increased many times due to the fact that it hit the water. This total amount of damage knocked out both of our Pokémon, just as I had predicted.
You see, I had a natural ability to know what the effects of an attack would do. I always had that ability. If I used a certain attack, I already knew the consequences. Therefore, I would always pick the right attack, knowing that it would do exactly what I thought it would do, what I knew it would do. I was always right. And that is why I would always win. I could make the prediction within a second. My instincts served me well. They always have, and they always will.
Both Lisa and I recalled our Pokémon. I felt sorry for Ampharos because I had to sacrifice him, but I felt that he knew that it was the wisest thing to do.
‘Well, trainer,’ Lisa said, ‘it looks like I only have three Pokémon left. As my next Pokémon, I’ll choose Kingdra!’
‘Go, Tyranitar,’ I said.
‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ Lisa asked. ‘First, you use a Fire Pokémon. Now, you are using a Rock Pokémon. I’m beginning to think that you are a little…well, crazy.’
‘However, I’m winning by using these oddities, aren’t I?’ I remarked. ‘Tyranitar, Outrage!’ Tyranitar started to glow white. He opened his jaws, and from his gaping mouth a beam of light emerged. The white beam of light was blasted at Kingdra, taking it down to half life. Tyranitar returned to normal.
‘Wow. I didn’t think a Tyranitar could learn that attack,’ Lisa said. ‘I congratulate you. But enough is enough. Kingdra, Hydro Pump!’ The aquatic blast highly damaged Tyranitar, but she was still ready to fight.
Tyranitar returned fire with another Outrage, knocking out Kingdra.
‘Perfect,’ I said.
‘Come back, Kingdra, and go, Kingler! Crab Hammer attack!’ Lisa said. The giant, red crab raised its claw into the air, and then slammed it down onto Tyranitar. The attack did a tremendous amount of damage, and nearly knocked out my Dark Pokémon.
‘Tyranitar, Thunderbolt attack!’ I yelled. Might as well squeeze in a last attack before he goes down, I thought. Kingler took little damage from the Electric attack, mostly because Electric-type attacks weren’t Tyranitar’s specialty.
‘Finish his Tyranitar off, Kingler,’ Lisa said, ‘with another Crab Hammer!’ This time, Kingler swung its claw from the left to the right, slamming it into Tyranitar’s chest. Tyranitar fell to the floor, and remained there, motionless.
‘Come back, Tyranitar,’ I said. ‘For my last Pokémon, I’ll choose Lugia!’
‘Last?’ Lisa questioned. ‘You still have three more, besides this one.’
I smiled. ‘I only need one more. Lugia, Aeroblast to finish Kingler off!’ I replied. Lugia spread its wings apart, and formed a white ball of energy in front of itself. Lugia clapped it wings together, blasting a beam of white energy at Kingler. Kingler was struck so hard form this attack that he flew off of the platform, over the pool, and into the far wall on the other side of the gym. He was obviously knocked out.
‘Dang it!’ Lisa said. ‘Kingler, return. My last Pokémon is actually my most powerful. Blastoise, go!’ She tossed another Pokéball into the pool. The blue Pokémon with the brown shell on its back known as Blastoise emerged. ‘Blastoise, Hydro Pump attack!’ Two cannons mounted on Blastoise’s left and right shoulders opened up, and fired two blasts of water at Lugia. Lugia dove under water, making itself invulnerable to the Water-type attack.
‘Lugia, Twister!’ I ordered. A giant tornado was unleashed upon Blastoise, doing severe damage.
I thought about switching to my Feraligatr. You know, to make the battle more interesting. However, I thought about the last time I had done that, and the tragic accident that followed:

Ash sent out his Blastoise first. I thought of using Ampharos, but quickly changed my mind because I figured that his Blastoise knew Earthquake. I decided to use Feraligatr.
‘Go, Feraligatr,’ I yelled.
Ash said in his raspy voice, ‘Blastoise, Seismic Toss!’ His Blastoise grabbed my Feraligatr by the arms and then threw him to the other side of the arena.
‘Feraligatr, Slash attack,’ I commanded. Feraligatr got back up, and then charged at Blastoise. Feraligatr lashed out at Blastoise, severely damaging him. ‘Now, Crunch!’
‘Blastoise, Dig!’ Ash said. Blastoise burrowed underground as my Feraligatr tried to clamp down on him. Blastoise then emerged from the ground and slammed into Feraligatr. Feraligatr tried to use another Crunch, but it was reversed by a Mirror Coat from Blastoise.
‘Feraligatr, Earthquake!’ I cried. The ground split under Blastoise, damaging him slightly.
‘Blastoise, Skull Bash!’ Ash said. Blastoise lowered its head and then charged at Feraligatr. Feraligatr put out it arms and tried to stop Blastoise, but failed. Feraligatr fell down and was run over by Ash’s Pokémon. Feraligatr hopped back up, however, and tried to attack again. ‘Blastoise! Finish Feraligatr off with a Hyper Beam!’ The two cannons on Blastoise’s back gathered gold energy, and then blasted it at Feraligatr, knocking him out. I had lost a Pokémon first. I was down by one Pokémon already. I would have to try twice as hard with my next Pokémon…

I decided to stick with Lugia. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.
‘Lugia,’ I said, ‘Thunder, now!’
‘Mirror Coat!’ Lisa said. The Electric attack was reversed upon Lugia.
‘Lugia, Iron Tail!’ I commanded. Lugia flew over Blastoise and swung its mighty tail into him. Blastoise flew off of his platform and onto the other platform that was near him. Blastoise stood back up and proceeded in using a Mega Punch, at his trainer’s command. Lugia flew even higher, and then dive-bombed Blastoise with Sky Attack. Blastoise fell into the water.
‘Blastoise, Tackle attack, now!’ Lisa said. Blastoise jumped out of the Water and rammed into Lugia.
‘Lugia, Psychic!’ I said. Lugia returned an attack, nearly knocking out Blastoise. ‘Now, finish him with Aeroblast!’ Lugia fired another white beam, striking Blastoise in the center of his body, knocking him out. I had won. Again.
‘No…come back, Blastoise,’ Lisa said sadly. A red beam of light swallowed Blastoise. ‘Well, hand me your Pokédex.’ I walked over to her and gave her my electronic item. She walked over to a computer in a corner of the gym and inserted the Pokédex into a slot under the computer. She typed for a little bit, and then took out the Pokédex. Lisa walked back over to me and handed me the Pokédex. ‘There, your second badge.’
‘Thank you,’ I said. I put the Pokédex into the side pouch of my backpack. She leaned over and kissed my forehead.
‘You are a great trainer. Good luck and the rest of your journey,’ she said.
I blushed. ‘Thanks again,’ I replied. I turned around and walked out of the gym. Kamon was standing there, waiting for me.
‘I saw your match,’ he said.
‘I figured you would,’ I responded.
‘Look, I’m sorry…if I offended you in any way earlier. You know, at the restaurant,’ Kamon apologized.
‘I know. I’m sorry that I flipped out like that. I really need to, well, control myself better. Anyway, we better be off. The next town has a Steel Gym.’ Kamon sighed, and then nodded.
We both walked on.

[100FangCroconaw]

Yeah, I agree with the decapitated mole.Why can't you search for it?Or if you want, I can search for it and post a message and then you can post the chapter that was supposed to be there.

[Carbonite4]

CHAPTER 7
THE THIRD BADGE

Orun Town was a hazy town, with little features. You had your Pokécenter, your Pokémart, your gym, and your small houses. To put it shortly, Orun was your run-of-the-mill town. Nothing special about it.
Kamon and I arrived there one day after my battle against Lisa. I was ready to battle Gatlin, the Steel Gym Leader of Orun Town. Kamon was ready to…well, watch.
We walked into a completely metal gym. Everything in the gym was metal. The floor, the walls, the ceiling…everything was metal. It was very monochrome. The gym had no special features, either. It was just a large, square, metal gym.
No lights were on in the gym. No lights, that is, except for the one spotlight in the middle of the gym. The spotlight was focused on a man. He was standing completely still, head down, facing away from us. He was wearing a white tee shirt with a dark grey vest. The vest had chains attached to it. He had grey pants and black shoes. His black hair was combed in a mullet; he had a beard, also. As Kamon and I approached him, he turned around quickly and stared at us, head cocked to the side.
‘You two come here, to battle me?’ he asked in a deep voice. He had an English accent. It was an old voice too. Only an older person could speak as he did.
‘I did,’ I spoke. ‘I wish to battle you—and defeat you.’
‘Ah, yes. Fiery young spirit,’ Gatlin said with a slight smile. His greyish-blue eyes glittered as he eyed me. He turned to Kamon. ‘What about this one?’
‘Me?’ Kamon questioned. ‘I’m not battling.’
‘Hmm…a cold, hard personality you have. You are very serious.’ He rubbed his chin and eyed Kamon. Gatlin squinted as he stared into Kamon’s eyes. ‘Afraid, are you?’ Gatlin asked.
‘Excuse me?’
‘Yes, I think you are afraid. You act emotionless. You are burdened by something. I can sense that about you. You carry a great burden, but I’m not quite sure what…’ Gatlin’s voice faded away.
Kamon remained silent. He glanced around and then looked at the floor.
Man, this guy is good at reading people, I thought.
Gatlin turned back to me and said, ‘So, you want to battle me? Fine, then. You send out a Pokémon first.’
‘All right. Your funeral. Tyranitar, go!’ I yelled. I threw the Ultra Ball containing my Rock-and-Dark-type Pokémon into the arena. Gatlin reached for a Pokéball clipped to his belt.
‘I choose you, my Forretress!’ he said. He tossed the Pokéball into the stadium, sending out the sliver shellfish Pokémon. ‘Forretress, Spikes!’ Forretress spun around, sending out barbs to surround Tyranitar.
‘Tyranitar, Flamethrower!’ I commanded. Tyranitar threw his head up into the air, and then faced Forretress and opened his mouth. Flames poured out of it and struck Forretress, doing an incredible amount of damage.
‘Pathetic, really. Trying to get away by using the obvious Fire-type attack. I’ve seen it many times, trainer. Forretress, Swift attack!’ Gatlin cried. Forretress spun around again, but this time, small stars flew out at my Tyranitar, slightly damaging him.
‘Is that the best you’ve got? If so, you’re in a lot of trouble,’ I jeered. ‘Tyranitar, if Gatlin doesn’t like me using Fire attacks, then use Earthquake!’ Tyranitar raised its left foot high into the air (or, at least, as high as a Tyranitar can lift its foot; if you ask me, Tyranitar can’t lift their foot very high at all) and then slammed it onto the ground. The ground did not split and crack, like it normally would, because the floor of the stadium was paved with metal. However, the ground did tremble and vibrate underneath Forretress. It did little damage, though, because of the shielding that the floor gave to Forretress. ‘What!? Hey, that’s not fair,’ I protested. ‘Your floor protects your Pokémon from Ground-type attacks!’
Gatlin chuckled to himself. ‘Aha, so you have figured out my little…secret. You see, many people do not realize this, but Pokémon training might not just be about knowing the right attack and what Pokémon to use. No, the true skill of a trainer lies in his ability to control any Pokémon. Pokémon don’t have to be strong, but instead, it’s the trainer that makes the Pokémon powerful. You have yet to learn that, young, naïve one.’ He glanced at Kamon again. ‘This one however,’ Gatlin continued, ‘seems to have learned this. He knows the ‘old-school’ type of battling, as it is now called. There was once another trainer who believed as he did. He went on and conquered the Elite Four and the Orange Islands.’ Gatlin paused for a moment and sighed. ‘There was one like you, too, trainer,’ he said to me. ‘He also conquered the Elite Four. But, he was overthrown by the first trainer I mentioned. The latter trainer’s downfall was his belief that it was the Pokémon that were strong. Yes, there are strong Pokémon, but is it the person that wields the sword that makes a good swordsman, or the sword that wields the man?’ Gatlin ended his speech.
‘All right,’ I said. ‘That’s great. Why don’t we continue the battle now?’
‘No, wait,’ Kamon interrupted. ‘Who were these trainers?’
‘Heh, I guess you’ll have to find out. All in due time,’ Gatlin responded. ‘You know, there aren’t many trainers like you and me left. Karen of the Elite Four, the first trainer I mentioned, and me. We are really the only ones left, sadly…’ He turned back to me again. ‘Now, where were we, trainer?’
‘My name is Drew,’ I said. ‘And don’t you forget it. Or, I’ll make you remember. His name, by the way,’ I said, pointing to Kamon, ‘is Kamon.’
‘All right, Drew, let’s finish this match. Forretress, Explosion!’ Forretress started to shake, and then flashed white. With a huge burst of orange flames, Forretress was knocked out. Tyranitar wasn’t, however, since he had resistance to Normal attacks. ‘Return, Forretress, and go, Scizor! Fury Cutter attack, now!’ His red Steel Pokémon hovered over the ground, and then sped at my Tyranitar. As soon as he got close enough, he started slashing away at Tyranitar’s hide. The continuous attack did more and more damage, until finally I commanded my Tyranitar to counter-attack.
I said, ‘Tyranitar, Seismic Toss!’ As Scizor swiped his claw past Tyranitar, he grabbed it. Scizor at first was slightly frightened; well, that’s what his face looked like, anyway. Tyranitar glared at Scizor as his second fist grasped Scizor’s other claw. Tyranitar’s grasp was so hard that no one could ever break out of it (in my opinion, at least). Tyranitar lifted Scizor up, high above his head, and then hurled him across the room. Scizor was slammed into the wall, making a dent in the metal. ‘Now that is what I would call power,’ I said.
‘Scizor, finish Tyranitar with a Steel Wing,’ Gatlin said. Scizor shook its head to snap back into consciousness and then flew back toward my Tyranitar, wings out. Scizor rammed into Tyranitar, doing double-damage with his Steel attack. Tyranitar collapsed onto the ground, fainted.
‘Return, Tyranitar. Go, Lugia!’ I said.
Gatlin sighed and returned a comment: ‘You new trainers are all alike. You only use the Pokémon that are powerful, or that would have the type-advantage over another Pokémon. Did the thought ever cross your mind that there is more to training than that? Or maybe, you should pick a Pokémon that would be an underdog. Have you ever done that?’ he asked me.
I thought about that for a moment. ‘No. That would be idiotic,’ I responded.
‘Would it? Why don’t you call back your Pokémon and send out someone that a Scizor would be the underdog to,’ said Gatlin. I did as he said. I sent out my Ho-oh.
‘Let’s do this, Ho-oh. Let’s show him that power does matter. Ho-oh, Sacred Fire!’ I commanded.
‘Scizor, Agility,’ Gatlin ordered calmly. Scizor easily dodged it.
‘Fine then. Ho-oh, Flamethrower!’ I said. Flames gushed out of Ho-oh’s beak and soared throw the air, aimed at Scizor. Scizor preformed another Agility, and went right through the flames, unscathed, leaving a flaming trail behind him. The fire seared as it hit the floor. Steam rose up from the cold metal.
‘As you can see, my Scizor is immune to your attacks. But, do you know why?’ Gatlin asked me.
‘I don’t care,’ I snapped. I switched back to Lugia. ‘Lugia, Aeroblast!’ I summoned my Lugia out from its sanctum.
Lugia opened its wings, and gathered a large amount of white energy in between them. Lugia closed its wings, firing the beam at Scizor. The attack caught Scizor off guard, and blasted him across the room. He got back up, however, and then attacked my Lugia with a Metal Claw. The attack did minimal damage, allowing Lugia to retaliate with Dragonbreath, at my command. The attack paralyzed Scizor.
‘All right, Lugia. Iron Tail, now!’ I ordered. Lugia nodded, and then swung its tail around, slamming it into Scizor. Scizor fainted from the blow.
‘Come back, Scizor,’ Gatlin said. ‘I see you are using more diverse attacks. That is good. Focusing on one type of attack or relying on one Pokémon will be a trainer’s downfall. Now, I choose Skarmory as my next Pokémon!’ He threw a blue-topped Great Ball into the arena, and beckoned his Skarmory to attack. ‘Skarmory, Sky Attack!’ Skarmory flew up into the air and started to glow orange. Flames surrounded her.
‘Lugia, Fly!’ I said. Lugia flew high into the air, higher than Skarmory, and awaited his attack.
Skarmory flew up toward Lugia, flames going all around her, trying to take Lugia down. Lugia dove toward the ground, trying to lose Skarmory. She stayed close behind, however.
‘Lugia, Hyper Beam attack,’ I said. As Lugia attempted to escape the fiery Flying-type attack, he turned around and blasted a gold beam at Skarmory. Skarmory fell to the ground after Lugia ceased fire.
‘Skarmory, get back up and use Drill Peck!’ said Gatlin.
I turned around to see what Kamon was doing. So far, it hadn’t occurred to me to see what Kamon did while I battled. Kamon was standing near the two doors that lead into the gym. He had his arms crossed, and was watching the battle intently.
I turned back to the battle. Skarmory had just struck my Lugia. I knew what to do next.
‘Lugia, Psychic!’ I commanded. Lugia glowed blue, and then flashed white, causing severe damage to Gatlin’s Steel Pokémon.
‘Skarmory,’ Gatlin started, ‘Wing Attack!’ Skarmory lowered its wing and then flew toward Lugia at full speed. The wing was rammed into Lugia, critical hit. Lugia took a lot of damage, but was still able to battle.
‘Lugia, Blizzard attack, now!’ I cried. Lugia spread its wings apart again, blowing a flurry of snow and ice at Skarmory. Skarmory froze because of this.
‘Return, my Skarmory,’ Gatlin murmured. He was obviously disappointed that his prized Skarmory lost. ‘Now, I’ll use you. Golem, go! Rock Slide attack!’ Golem curled into a ball and then spun around. Boulders soared at Lugia, crashing into him and doing major damage.
‘Lugia, Hydro Pump.’ Lugia blasted water at Golem, but once again he curled up into a ball. This time, however, he was using Protect. ‘All right, then,’ I said. ‘Use Waterfall!’ Lugia flew up into the air, and then slammed its body onto the surface of the gym. Water was blasted up from the ground (don’t ask) and then crashed onto Golem.
‘Golem, finish Lugia off with another Rock Slide,’ said Gatlin. Golem threw more rocks at Lugia, knocking it out.
‘Dang,’ I said. So, he can predict the outcome of an attack, just like I can, I thought. I recalled Lugia. ‘Heracross, go! Use Cross Chop!’ Heracross ran over to Golem, raised its fists up high, and then slammed them down on top of Golem, knocking him out.
‘You, return,’ Gatlin said to his Golem. ‘Steelix, I choose you next! Go!’ The huge steel snake Pokémon towered above my tiny Heracross. ‘Steelix, Iron Tail!’ Steelix swung its massive tail into Heracross, knocking it down and causing massive damage.
‘Heracross,’ I started, ‘use Earthquake!’ Heracross stomped on the ground, damaging Steelix through the tremor that she created. Steelix returned the attack be slamming his tail onto the floor. ‘Reversal!’ I shouted. Heracross took all the damage it has received and reversed it onto Steelix, bringing the mighty Pokémon down to the earth.
‘Steelix, Crunch!’ Gatlin yelled. With his final attack, Steelix wrapped its tail around Heracross, crushing her, squeezing the life out of my Pokémon.
‘Heracross, return. Feraligatr, go! Use Hydro Pump!’ Feraligatr fired water out of his mouth at Steelix. Steelix collapsed, fainted.
‘As my final Pokémon, I’ll use Magneton!’ Gatlin said. He recalled his Steelix, and sent out Magneton. ‘Magneton, Zap Cannon!’ One of the Magneton stayed still, while the other two orbited around the middle one. All three gathered electricity and fired at my Feraligatr, causing an enormous amount of damage, as well as paralyzing him.
‘Feraligatr, try to use Earthquake!’ I commanded. It was no use, however, because Feraligatr remained fully paralyzed.
‘Thunder attack, Magneton,’ Gatlin said.
Magneton, of course, is comprised of the three Magnemite. All three of them created on giant bolt of electricity, and sent it crashing down on my Feraligatr. I thought that he could suffer no more; I was wrong, dead wrong.
‘Finish it. Thunderbolt,’ Gatlin ordered. Two of the three Magneton parts created an electric bolt, while the third fired it. The lightning struck and knocked out Feraligatr. He was defeated that easily.
I sighed and recalled my Pokémon. I only had two left. The thought occurred to me that it was not often that I would only have one or two Pokémon left in a battle at any time. If anything, it would be against my opponent’s last Pokémon. However, this was one of those rare times that I actually had only two Pokémon remaining. Unless, of course, he managed to knock out one of my Pokémon. But that would be crazy. There would be no way this guy could do that. Hardly anyone can do that.
Then my thoughts switched to which Pokémon I would use. It would be impractical to use Ampharos. An Electric against an Electric would be silly. However, I would have an advantage over Magneton that I would not have with Ho-oh. You see, he was probably expecting Ho-oh. Ho-oh is weak against Electric-type attacks. Ampharos is not. So, I decided to use Ampharos, no matter how silly I thought it would be.
This entire thinking process took place within about five seconds, mind you.
I pulled the Pokéball containing Ampharos (it was a Pokéball, too. I caught Ampharos on the third day of my journey when he was just a Mareep) off of my belt. It hit the button the make it enlarge. I tossed the Pokéball into the arena, releasing my yellow Pokémon.
I said, ‘Ampharos, Dynamic Punch!’ Ampharos swung its fist around, making it glow white, and then punched Magneton. With a huge explosion, it was knocked out. I had won, again. I showed the old man that my way of battling ruled over his ‘old-school’ battling.
‘Good match,’ Gatlin said. ‘But, you still probably think that your way of battling is better than mine just because you prevailed over me, right?’
How the hell did he do that? I thought. It was almost like he was psychic. Almost.
‘Yes,’ I admitted. I called back Ampharos.
‘It was not because of your style, your Pokémon, or your choice of attacks. It was you. You have a gift that very few other trainers in the world have. You just do not know how to wield it to your full potential,’ Gatlin said. He walked over to me and stuck out his hand. I handed him my Pokédex.
Gatlin walked over to the left wall of the gym where a computer terminal was, and transferred the badge onto my Pokédex. He walked back over to me and returned the Pokédex to its rightful owner, me.
‘I wish you the best of luck, Trainer Drew. You too, Kamon. But let me warn you,’ Gatlin said. He leaned over to my face, looked my straight in the eye and whispered to me. ‘Keep battling the way you battle, and you will lose. I think someone has told you that your destiny is to fail. I now see why.’ He had his hands on my shoulders.
I nodded, and then turned to walk away. As Kamon and I walked through the doors, he yelled, ‘Seize your destiny, young one!’
Those words haunt me to this day.

CHAPTER 8
DEMITRI’S ELECTRIC FORCE

Four days later we arrived in Dim Town. Contrary to its name, Dim Town was known for its Electric-type Pokémon.
‘I bet you that you can only win if you use your legendary Pokémon,’ Kamon said to me as we were walking to the Pokécenter.
‘I can too win even if I don’t use Lugia or Ho-oh,’ I replied. ‘And I’ll show you, too, when I fight the leader of this gym.’
‘You’ll probably just use some other legendary Pokémon,’ said Kamon.
‘I don’t have any other legendary Pokémon,’ I said. ‘I’ll tell you what. I’ll use my Espeon and my Typhlosion. How’s that?’
‘Sounds good to me,’ Kamon responded. ‘But what are their levels?’
‘Um…’ I said. I looked at the computer screen that showed my Pokémon and their stats (we were inside the Pokécenter by now). ‘Typhlosion is level 56,’ I said, ‘and Espeon is level 52.’
‘Are you insane?’ Kamon asked. ‘You can’t use a level 52 Pokémon against these gym leaders! They have Pokémon in the 80’s and 90’s! You get killed.’
‘You underestimate my Pokémon.’
‘You overestimate your Pokémon.’
I withdrew my Typhlosion and Espeon, and returned my Ho-oh and Lugia. I walked out of the Pokécenter. Kamon followed.
‘What you are doing is suicide,’ Kamon said as soon as he caught up with me. ‘You can’t win.’
‘You’ll see,’ I responded. They’ll all see, I thought. They’ll all see that I am the best trainer that’s ever lived.
We walked into the gym. The leader was on the other side of the gym.
‘Have you come here to challenge me?’ he asked. ‘The great Demitri of Dim Town? The leader of all Electric-type Pokémon?’
Kamon leaned over to me an whispered, ‘Humble, isn’t he?’ in a sarcastic tone. I nodded.
‘I have come to challenge you,’ I said, stepping into the arena. ‘My counterpart here is not.’ I pointed to Kamon. He glared at me in disdain. I knew he didn’t like it when I said that. But I was just trying to provoke him to battle.
‘All right. Bring it on. Go Raichu!’ Demitri said. He threw an Ultra Ball into the arena, and from it emerged his Raichu.
‘Espeon, let’s do this,’ I said. I threw the Pokéball containing my Espeon onto the playing field, and watched as my Psychic formation of Eevee materialized.
‘Drew, you’re not actually going to go through with this, are you?’ Kamon questioned. ‘Your Espeon will get killed out there.’
‘Remember what Gatlin said,’ I answered, ‘you know, how you have to have faith? I have faith in my Espeon. I know that he can beat his Raichu.’ I turned back to Demitri and his Raichu. ‘Espeon, Psychic!’ Surprisingly, the attack did reasonably well.
‘Raichu, Thunder!’ said Demitri.
‘Detect, Espeon!’ I yelled. A small, blue shield appeared around Espeon as the sheet of lightning crashed down onto my Pokémon. The attack was deflected. ‘Good job. Now, I want you to use Return!’ Espeon let out a small screech, and then charged at Raichu, ramming into him, but only doing mediocre damage.
‘Raichu, I want you to use Body Slam,’ said Demitri. His Raichu charged at my Espeon, and then jumped into the air. He slammed down onto my Psychic-type Pokémon, doing extreme damage. Espeon retaliated with Return. It was a critical hit.
Kamon, at that moment (I think) finally realized that Espeon could win. I think he also realized that I can control any Pokémon.
‘Okay, I want you to use Thunder, Raichu,’ Demitri instructed. Another lighting bolt struck Espeon. This time, though, it damaged him, and it damaged him a lot.
By some miracle, by some feat of imagination, Espeon survived. I was not exactly sure why he survived the attack, Raichu’s most powerful attack. Maybe it was the good training I gave him before I caught Lugia. Maybe it was because he had a really good special defense. But then again, it could have always been that Gatlin was right: all I needed was a little faith in my Pokémon.
‘All right, Espeon, a Hyper Beam!’ I said. Espeon cocked its head into the air, and then lowered it. As he lowered his head, he fired a golden energy beam at Raichu. Hyper Beam slammed into him, knocking him out. Espeon had defeated someone twice his level.
‘Amazing. Your Espeon is really well trained,’ said Demitri.
Kamon walked over to me and commented, ‘I cannot believe that a level 52 Pokémon beat a level eighty-or-ninety-something Pokémon, can you?’
‘No,’ I replied.
Apparently Demitri overheard Kamon’s comment, and said, ‘What level did you say your Espeon was?’
‘Er, 52,’ I responded.
Demitri’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. ‘52!?’ he exclaimed. ‘No way! That’s—that’s impossible!’
‘Obviously not,’ I said. ‘Now, send out your next Pokémon.’
‘All right,’ said Demitri. ‘I will. Ursaring, go!’ Demitri threw a black Pokéball into the stadium (I assumed that it was a Heavy Ball). A large, brown Pokémon with huge claws emerged. I recalled Espeon.
‘Tyranitar, I choose you!’ I shouted. I wanted this battle to be a contest of power. Both Ursaring and Tyranitar are very strong Pokémon.
‘What level is this Pokémon?’
‘I dunno,’ I replied. ‘Somewhere in the late eighties.’
‘Then,’ asked Demitri, ‘why did you use a level 52 Espeon against me?’
‘Because,’ I answered, ‘I wanted to show Kamon back here that I can win using any Pokémon I wanted, even Pokémon of much lower levels.’
‘Ah. Well, you succeeded. Ursaring, Dynamic Punch!’
‘Tyranitar, your Dynamic Punch!’ Ursaring charged at Tyranitar, fist out. It glowed white as he swung it around. My Tyranitar did the same. Their fists met in the middle, creating a massive explosion! Both Pokémon took a huge amount of damage.
‘Ursaring, use Hyper Beam!’ Demitri instructed.
‘Tyranitar, Dig!’ I told Tyranitar. As the gold beam was about to strike Tyranitar, she dug underground. The beam easily missed. Tyranitar broke through the earth under Ursaring, colliding with the giant Pokémon. It was perfect timing. ‘Good job. Now, use Crunch!’ Tyranitar clamped down onto Ursaring, rendering the Pokémon temporarily helpless.
‘Ursaring, use Metal Claw!’ Ursaring held its paw high into the air, and then slashed Tyranitar. It barely phased him.
‘Tyranitar, use Hyper Beam!’ Tyranitar performed the extremely powerful Normal attack, doing a high amount of damage to Ursaring. Ursaring rose up from the ground, and growled. He charged at Tyranitar and then tackled her; Take Down, no doubt. Both Pokémon took damage; Tyranitar took more, obviously.
‘All right. Ursaring, use Skull Bash!’ said Demitri. Ursaring lowered his head, and then charged at Tyranitar again. Tyranitar held out her hands, catching Ursaring. With a surge of power, Tyranitar started pushing Ursaring backwards. Ursaring tried to counter-attack this, but he couldn’t. He started to fall. Tyranitar finished her super-powered maneuver, and Tackled Ursaring. The attack and been reversed.
Teaches you to mess with my Tyranitar, I thought. Ursaring did not move. He was knocked out.
‘Come back,’ Demitri said. Ursaring was sucked back into the Pokéball. ‘Okay, I know what to do. Electabuzz, I choose you! Use Thunder Punch!’ Another Electric Pokémon came out. This one used Thunder Punch, an attack that slightly damaged Tyranitar, but paralyzed her. Usually, I would call back a paralyzed Pokémon. I changed my mind, this time. I would regret it.
‘Tyranitar, Earthquake!’ I instructed. Tyranitar was unable to move. Electabuzz attacked Tyranitar again, this time with Thunder. Tyranitar collapsed under the damage of the attack. ‘No!’ I sighed. ‘Return…’
‘Guess Tyranitar isn’t as powerful as you thought she was,’ Demitri taunted.
‘Hey, you shut the hell up, or I’ll make you pay in double!’ I snapped. I was now very pissed off. No one insults my Pokémon.
‘Ooh, I’m so scared.’ Demitri waved his hands in the air. Now he did it. If I was closer, I would have punched the holy crap out of him. I hate people like that. They piss me off, being a complete jerk about everything, taunting you and stuff. They make me angry. Demitri was one of those people. Demitri was going to pay.
‘Feraligatr, I want you to cause as much pain to his Pokémon as you can. Go!’ I threw a Great Ball at Electabuzz. I missed.
Feraligatr came out with a shriek, and then eyed Electabuzz. I wanted vengeance. Somehow, I think, Feraligatr knew that. Therefore, Feraligatr wanted vengeance too. I didn’t need to tell Feraligatr what to use. Feraligatr knew that all it had to do was inflict pain. It did not matter what Feraligatr used, as long as the attack inflicted severe pain.
Feraligatr used Earthquake; predictable, no doubt. Electabuzz collapsed, but then got back up, prepared to counter-attack.
‘Thunder, now!’ Demitri shouted. Feraligatr stuck up its wings, blocking it; Protect or Detect, I couldn’t tell. Feraligatr then used Slash, once again knocking Electabuzz back. ‘Electabuzz, try Thunder Wave this time.’ I guess Demitri thought that Feraligatr’s abilities would be hindered by being paralyzed. It would have worked, if Feraligatr hadn’t blocked the attack again.
Although I found a cheapness in Feraligatr using the same attack over and over, I did not care. Therefore, Feraligatr did not either. Neither of us wanted it to be touched.
‘Feraligatr, use Hyper Beam,’ I commanded. Of course Feraligatr agreed. Electabuzz was once again pushed aside like a mere rag doll. Feraligatr had to recharge. This left him open for an attack. That was going to be trouble.
‘Now’s your chance, Electabuzz! Zap Cannon!’ Electabuzz shot a yellow electric ball at the defenseless Feraligatr. It missed.
‘You had your one chance to defeat me,’ I taunted, ‘and you blew it. You were arrogant. You were greedy. You tried to not only damage me but paralyze me, as well. Good job. Feraligatr, finish Electabuzz with a Surf.’ Feraligatr did not need to use a powerful attack to knock Electabuzz out. I could have used something powerful, but most likely it would have missed (like Blizzard or something similar). A tidal wave crashed over Electabuzz. He was eliminated from the match.
‘Come back,’ Demitri said. He was obviously furious that his Pokémon had been defeated so easily. You could hear it in the frustration in his voice; you could see it when he called back his Pokémon.
Serves you right, I thought. Next time you won’t make fun of my Pokémon.
‘I want you to show this wannabe the true power of Electric Pokémon,’ Demitri said as he readied another Pokémon. He fingered the Pokéball that it was held in. He threw the Pokéball. It was an Ampharos.
Feraligatr turned to me to see if I was going to give a command. I shook my head. ‘Feraligatr, return,’ I said. ‘Ampharos, you go. Use Iron Tail.’ My Ampharos swung its tail at the enemy Ampharos. The attack struck Ampharos in the torso. I couldn’t tell how much damage it did. I often liked to; it helped my decide what attack to use, and where I stood in the battle. Of course, I always knew what was happening in the fight. That, I believed, was why I was so good. I always knew.
‘Ampharos, use Thunder Wave!’ A ripple of electricity raced across my Pokémon, disabling its every move. It didn’t matter.
‘Ampharos, Dynamic Punch!’ I yelled. Ampharos confronted its enemy, and then punched it with all of his force. The attack not only did a lot of damage, but it also confused him. I can get away with it, I thought. The opposing Ampharos could do nothing but hurt itself. Then again, my Ampharos could do nothing. At all, actually. My Ampharos could do very little physically.
‘Ampharos,’ Demitri started, ‘use your Mega Kick!’ His Ampharos snapped out of confusion and then leapt through the air, his foot ramming into my Pokémon. My Ampharos retaliated with Headbutt, making the enemy Ampharos flinch. ‘Ampharos, use Hyper Beam!’
‘Never! Ampharos, use your Hyper Beam!’ Ampharos attempted a Hyper Beam. Ampharos failed. Not only did Ampharos fail in using Hyper Beam, but he failed me as well.
My Pokémon failed me. Never has this happened. Well, not since Lugia failed me against Kamon in Silver Mountain.
Anyway, Ampharos failed in defeating Demitri’s Ampharos.
‘Over confidence is your weakness,’ Demitri said.
‘Your cockiness is yours. You are far too cocky to be a gym leader. It’s a wonder more people don’t defeat you,’ I remarked.
‘Then I guess we’re sort of in the same boat, now aren’t we. But there is one difference: you think you and your Pokémon are invincible.’
‘I am. We are. Which is why I am going to defeat you! Ampharos, return! Come out Typhlosion!’ I knew that if Typhlosion lost, I’d look like an idiot. I was mocking him. I was going to look like the lesser trainer if Typhlosion didn’t win. If I didn’t win. ‘Typhlosion, Fire Blast!’ My rarely used Typhlosion spat flames out at Ampharos, burning him. Ampharos immediately retaliated with a simple Thunderbolt. Typhlosion was down to (roughly) half-life. ‘Typhlosion, try another Fire Blast!’ Typhlosion repeated the attack, singing Ampharos and highly damaging him.
‘Your Typhlosion is no match for my Ampharos! Use Thunder!’ said Demitri. Death sentence, really. There was no way Typhlosion would live through it.
But what about what Gatlin said? He said that I had to have faith that my Pokémon could win. Right now, I believed that my Pokémon was going to lose. Which is why it would. No, I thought, I can’t let him die.
‘Typhlosion, no! I know you can win! Hang in there!’ I shouted. Typhlosion, by some miracle, lived. No way. It was unbelievable. ‘Yeah! All right, use Dynamic Punch!’ The attack highly damaged Ampharos, and caused confusion. Ampharos damaged itself, nearly getting knocked out.
‘Finish Typhlosion off with Thunder Punch!’ said Demitri. And thus, Typhlosion was knocked out. ‘Ha, how are your all-stars now?’
‘I’ll show you. Typhlosion, come back. Feraligatr, come back out and use Bite!’ It was all that Feraligatr needed to use to knock out Ampharos. Demitri switched Pokémon to Electrode. ‘And what sort of damage do you expect to do to me with an Electrode?’ I questioned sarcastically. ‘It’s an insult to be fighting an Electrode.’
‘It’s an insult to still have you in this gym,’ Demitri retorted. ‘Electrode, Double Team!’ Electrode spun around, spinning across the room, creating mirrored images of itself. No way would I let an Electrode outmatch me. Never.
‘Feraligatr,’ I started. But I stopped myself. I couldn’t use Earthquake. Too predictable; Demitri would be expecting this and would spoil my plans. Dang, I thought. ‘Um, Feraligatr, Slam!’ Well, that wasn’t the wisest decision, but it was something unexpected, nonetheless. Feraligatr’s tail crashed down onto Electrode, critical hit. ‘Great, now use Surf.’
Electrode, for whatever reason, was not attacking as of yet. Carpe diem, ‘seize the day.’ Moment, in this case.
The Water attack surged over Electrode, but did not do exactly what I thought it would. Instead of damaging it normally, it seemed to be absorbed. I quickly realized what was happening. Electrode was using Mirror Coat. A sparkling blue aura surrounded Electrode. The coat of energy was blasted at Feraligatr, highly damaging him.
‘Take that, you rookie,’ said Demitri. Man, I hated him. It was almost as though he did everything in his power to get on my nerves. ‘Now, Thunder!’
It was then when the thought hit me that he was no better than I was. He used the same techniques, the same attacks...everything was something I would do. It was like battling myself. I knew how to stop him.
Anyway, if I lost the match it would be Kamon’s fault. He’s the one that talked me into using Espeon and Typhlosion. He was just trying to make me lose. He was deliberately trying to make me lose. I would get him for that, whether I won or not. No way would he make me lose. He’s not even good enough to battle. I’ll show him, I thought. My rivalry wasn’t against Demitri; he wasn’t even my real opponent. Kamon was. And that would be why I would win.
‘Feraligatr, show Kamon what we are made of!’ I shouted. Kamon was taken aback. Likewise with Demitri. Neither of them knew what I was talking about. Somehow, however, I thought that deep down, Kamon knew exactly what I was talking about. ‘Feraligatr, Earthquake!’ I reversed back to my original style of battling. I wasn’t going to foil Demitri’s plans. I was going to foil Kamon’s by showing him that I can win using my style, whether it also be Demitri’s style or not. Electrode took minor damage (due to Double-Team).
‘Fool. I knew you would do this. Electrode, Zap Cannon!’ At that moment I realized that Kamon really wasn’t my enemy. Demitri wasn’t my enemy. Not even Electrode was my enemy. I was my enemy. I tricked myself into using that attack. I was my own worst enemy.
Zap Cannon missed, allowing Feraligatr to attack again.
‘Damn it...okay. Feraligatr, Crunch!’ Feraligatr’s mighty jaws clamped around Electrode’s circumference, squeezing the life out of it. Electrode tried to fight against Feraligatr again, using Thunderbolt. It did mediocre damage. ‘Now, Slash!’ That was all it took to finish off Demitri’s Pokémon.
‘Return,’ said Demitri. ‘I choose you, Charizard!’ I recalled Feraligatr again and sent out Heracross. ‘Charizard, use Fire Punch!’ The Fire-type Pokémon swung its flaming fist around, and the smacked Heracross with it.
‘Rock Slide,’ I said. I needed to stop using the predictable attacks. It got too, well, predictable. ‘Follow up with Mega Horn!’
‘Not so fast. Use Flamethrower to stop him!’
‘Her,’ I corrected. As Heracross charged at Charizard, a burst of flames seared Heracross, causing severe damage. ‘Your funeral. Reversal, now!’ Heracross held her hands in front of herself, and created a white ball of energy. It was shot at Charizard, doing twice the number of damage that he did to Heracross. Almost a knock-out.
‘Not yet! Charizard, use another Flamethrower!’ Of course, Heracross fainted.
‘Dang! Heracross, come back, and Feraligatr come back out (again)!’ I shouted. I had won this thing. ‘Finish him with Hydro Pump!’ With a final blast of water, Demitri’s last Pokémon was knocked out. I had won. I proved to Kamon, Demitri, and myself that I could win no matter what. I really was the best trainer in the world.
‘I cannot believe that you won this,’ Demitri sighed. ‘It’s pathetic to lose to someone like you.’
‘Eat Spearow crap and die, loser,’ I retorted. I had enough of him.
‘Fine. See if you get my badge,’ said Demitri.
‘Don’t give it to me and I’ll have my Feraligatr kill you.’ Demitri was taken aback. He then conceded, like I thought he would.
‘All right. Give me your Pokédex.’ I handed the mechanical device to him. He uploaded the badge, and then handed me my Pokédex back. ‘There you go. Happy?’
‘Slightly,’ I replied. I left the stadium, and headed back to the Pokécenter.
While there, Kamon was talking to me. ‘Good job using your Typhlosion and Espeon,’ he said. ‘I didn’t think you could do it.’
‘Yeah,’ I said in response. ‘I almost lost, too.’ Kamon nodded. I exchanged my Espeon and Typhlosion for Lugia and Ho-oh, and then left the Pokécenter to go west toward the fifth gym in Sandrock City.

[Carbonite4]

CHAPTER 9
THE CROSSROADS

Half-way to Sandrock City, Kamon and I came to a crossroad: the road went north, to who-knows where, south toward Center City and Center Stadium, west to Sandrock City, and east back to Dim Town. The obvious choice was to go west to Sandrock City. However, I met a trainer that claimed that he was the gym leader of Sandrock Gym.
‘Really?’ I questioned. ‘Then let’s have a Pokémon battle.’
‘All right. It’ll be a three-on-three, okay?’ he asked.
‘Yeah, that’s fine. By the way, what’s your name?’
‘Um...Travis,’ Travis said.
‘Drew,’ Kamon said, leaning over to me, ‘the gym leader—’
‘Hush,’ I replied. ‘Let me fight.’
Kamon sighed and rolled his eyes. ‘Fine. Suit yourself.’
‘Go, Omastar!’ said Travis.
‘Too easy. Ampharos, come out and use Thunderbolt!’ I commanded. My yellow-and-black Electric Pokémon shocked the blue Omastar, causing a lot of damage.
‘Omastar, Hydro Pump!’ Travis instructed. Ampharos ducked, and the Water attack missed. ‘Okay, try Spikes.’ The barbs that Omastar fired surrounded Ampharos. I didn’t want to recall Ampharos anyway.
‘Ampharos, Thunder!’ Omastar collapsed the minute the lightning hit him. An easy victory.
‘Return,’ Travis said. ‘Go Blissey! Use Double-Edge!’ The pink evolution of Chansey created a small ball of energy, and then blasted it at Ampharos. He took minor damage.
‘Ampharos, use Dynamic Punch!’ I said. Ampharos swung it’s glowing fist around, but missed. ‘Dang. Try an Iron Tail!’ Ampharos turned around, and its tail slammed into Blissey.
‘Blissey, Egg Bomb!’ Travis yelled. Blissey took an egg from its pouch and then threw it at Ampharos, causing a small explosion. No real big damage.
‘Ampharos, take Blissey down with Body Slam!’ Ampharos leapt into the air, and then fell down on top of Blissey, paralyzing her. ‘Good job,’ I said.
‘Not so fast!’ said Travis. ‘Blissey, Blizzard!’ Blissey opened her mouth, sending a hailstorm of snow and ice at Ampharos, freezing him.
‘Lucky,’ I shot back. I recalled Ampharos. ‘Heracross, let’s do this. Cross-Shop!’ My only Fighting-type entered the fray, and then chopped Travis’s Blissey with both of its hands, knocking her out. ‘Too easy.’
‘We’ll see. Blissey, come back, and Sneasel, go! Use Ice Beam!’
‘Detect!’ I ordered. It was too simple to block the attack. ‘It was a stupid mistake to use a Dark Pokémon. Mega Horn!’ Heracross lowered its head, and then charged at Sneasel. Heracross’s horn rammed into Travis’s Dark Pokémon, one-hit knock-out.
‘Well, you are a pretty good trainer. Return, Sneasel. All right, all I need is your Pokédex, and I’ll give you the Stone Badge.’
‘Drew, I think you’d better listen to me—’ Kamon said.
‘Shut up, Kamon,’ I retorted. ‘You’re not going to keep me from getting a badge. You tried to make me lose last week, but you’re not going to this time.’ Kamon glared at me.
‘Fine. Go ahead and give him your Pokédex,’ Kamon said.
‘All right, I will,’ I said. I pulled the Pokédex out of my backpack and handed it to Travis. He took a few steps back and then put the Pokédex in his backpack.
‘Thanks, man, now I can go on to Sandrock, and then to the last gym! You saved me a lot of time!’ Travis said. He smiled evilly. It was then when I knew that it was his intention the entire time to steal my Pokédex. He wouldn’t have beaten me any time. It was never his intention to beat me. I was tricked into fighting him, blinded by my own arrogance.
Travis sent out a Pidgeot, and then flew away.
‘Well, go after him, Drew!’ Kamon yelled. I was sort of in shock at the moment. I snapped out of it, though, and then sent out Lugia. I hopped on and flew after him.
‘Get back here, Travis!’ I shouted. If his name was even Travis. By the time I actually got into the air, Travis was almost out-of-sight. Behind me, Kamon was flying on Delibird.
The chase continued, but I was getting no closer to Travis. It seemed like all hope was going to be lost. My quest had failed.

* * *

I sat in the Sandrock City Pokécenter, in absolute shock. ‘I can’t believe it,’ I told Kamon. ‘My quest is over, just like that. Sabrina was right.’
‘You can still fight the other gym leaders,’ Kamon said. ‘And re-challenge the leaders you have already beaten.’
‘It’s taken us months to get here! It’ll take us months to get back...’ I replied. I was incredibly depressed. I was almost sick. It made me sick to think of everything in the world. I hated it all. And, for once, Kamon was the only person I could really rely on right now. Just hours before, I snapped at him, accusing him of betraying me.
‘It’ll work out, you’ll see.’
I sighed. ‘It always does, doesn’t it?’ Kamon remained silent. ‘Well, we better get on our way.’
‘To where?’ Kamon asked.
‘Home. I’ve had it with the place. I’ve been humiliated enough,’ I said.
‘You can’t give up now,’ Kamon reassured me. ‘You’re...you’re the best. No one is better than you are.’ I closed me eyes.
‘Not anymore. Nothing I have done matters now, until I conquer this league. You’re still famed with being the best in both Johto and Kanto. And if this really is the ultimate league, and I can beat it, then I’ll be the best ever. But not yet. Not now.’
‘You can still achieve that dream,’ Kamon said.
‘Not anymore.’
Kamon sighed again. ‘Wait! Didn’t Travis say that he was going to Sandrock City?’
‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘so?’
‘We might be able to cut him off.’
‘I doubt it.’
‘Well, we’ll at least be able to catch up with him.’
‘All right,’ I said, ‘but how are we going to get there? Lugia or Ho-oh can’t fly fast enough.’
‘No,’ Kamon started, ‘but Entei can run faster than your Pokémon can Fly. Let’s go.’ I followed him outside. He released his Entei, and we hopped on. ‘Entei, we need you to run as fast as you can to Sandrock City,’ Kamon whispered in his Pokémon’s ear. Entei nodded, and then used its agility to race across the ground. About a half-an-hour later, we arrived in Sandrock City. Kamon and I looked around. We didn’t see Travis.
‘Let’s go to the gym,’ I said. ‘He might be there.’ Kamon agreed. He recalled his Entei. We both walked to the center of town, where the gym was (as all gyms usually were). Sitting outside of the gym, face in hands, was Travis. ‘Aha!’ I shouted. ‘You thought you would get away, eh?’
‘Go ahead and take your Pokédex back,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t beat Sandy. I imagine that the last gym would be harder.’
‘Logical,’ said Kamon. I took the Pokédex from Travis. It was unharmed.
‘Say you’re sorry,’ I said, ‘or else I will make you wish you were never born.’
‘Yeah, I’m sorry,’ Travis muttered under his breath.
‘What!?’ I said. ‘I didn’t quite hear you.’ I wanted to hear him say it out loud, not so soft that hardly anyone could hear him.
‘You heard me,’ Travis said, ‘I’m not going to repeat myself.’
I let my Tyranitar out of her Pokéball. ‘Maybe you’ll change you mind?’ I asked. Travis gulped.
‘Yeah, sure, I’m sorry man, really!’ Travis exclaimed. I called back Tyranitar.
‘Good. Now get out of here so I can fight the leader of this gym.’
‘Actually,’ he said, ‘could I watch you fight her?’
I sighed. ‘Why not? Go ahead.’ I walked through the doors of the Sandrock Gym, and challenged the gym leader.

CHAPTER 10
THE MASTER OF GROUND POKÉMON

‘You dare challenge me?’ Sandy called.
‘That’s right,’ I said. She looked past me.
‘What about the long-haired one?’ she asked. ‘The other person already battled me and lost...’
‘The “long-haired one” isn’t battling,’ I replied. ‘Only I am.’
‘Then choose your Pokémon, trainer,’ she said.
‘All right,’ I replied, ‘go Feraligatr!’
‘Typical,’ Sandy said, ‘Kangaskhan, go!’ The red-head Sandra threw a green Pokéball (presumably a Safari Ball) into the stadium. ‘Kangaskhan, use Dizzy Punch!’ The brown Normal-type Pokémon attacked Feraligatr with a devastating punch, confusing him.
‘Feraligatr,’ I said, ‘shake it off and use Earthquake!’ Feraligatr, still confused, used Earthquake, highly damaging Kangaskhan.
‘Come back Kangaskhan, and go Nidoqueen!’ Sandy yelled.
Why did she do that? I asked myself. Kangaskhan wasn’t knocked out.
‘Nidoqueen! Use Thunderbolt!’ Nidoqueen was surrounded by electricity. She then fired it at Feraligatr.
‘Feraligatr, Hydro Pump!’ Feraligatr shot a blast of water at Nidoqueen, critical hit. A one-hit knock-out. Sandy recalled her Nidoqueen and then sent out her Kangaskhan again.
‘Kangaskhan, use Skull Bash!’ said Sandy. The enemy Kangaskhan lowered her head, and then rammed into Feraligatr, making him flinch.
‘Feraligatr,’ I said. ‘Ice Punch attack!’ Feraligatr’s fist was surrounded by sub-zero ice; he punched Kangaskhan and froze her.
‘Lucky,’ Sandy said. ‘Come back Kangaskhan. Dugtrio, go! Use Dig!’ The three-headed Ground-type Pokémon burrowed its way underground.
‘Feraligatr, Earthquake!’ I instructed. It was too late, however, because Sandy’s Dugtrio attacked Feraligatr from beneath the earth before he was able to counter-attack. Feraligatr retaliated with Surf, however, which did a tremendous amount of damage to Dugtrio.
‘Dugtrio, Slash!’ Sandy commanded. Somehow (don’t ask how, it’s still a mystery), Dugtrio slashed my Feraligatr, critical hit, knocking it out.
‘Return. Lugia, let’s go. Waterfall!’ I cried. Lugia slammed itself into the ground, making water crash down onto Dugtrio. Because of Dugtrio’s low defense, it was knocked out. Too easy, I thought. Dugtrio was swallowed up by the red beam of light emitted from the Pokéball.
‘Marowak! Come out and use Bone Club!’ Sandy shouted. The orange Pokémon with a skull on its head threw a bone at Lugia, hitting it in the head and made it flinch. ‘Good job. Now use Hyper Beam!’ Marowak twirled its club around, and the pointed it at Lugia. Out of the end a golden beam was fired at my Pokémon. It did an incredible amount of damage.
‘Lugia, Blizzard!’ Lugia spread its wings apart, blasting snow and ice at Marowak. He couldn’t attack (he had to recharge from Hyper Beam), allowing Lugia to perform another move. This time Lugia used Aeroblast, but it missed.
‘Marowak, try a Faint Attack,’ said Sandy. Marowak disappeared for a second, but then quickly reappeared behind Lugia, striking it with his bone club. ‘Great, now—’
‘Lugia, Psychic!’ I said. Marowak took some serious damage, but was still on its feet.
‘Marowak, use Mega Kick!’ said Sandy. Marowak jumped into the air, and then swung his foot around, kicking Lugia with all his force.
‘Lugia, enough fooling around! Use Hyper Beam, now!’ Lugia blasted a gold light beam at Marowak, but he used Detect to avoid it.
‘Marowak, finish Lugia off with Rock Slide!’ Sandy shouted.
No way will Marowak knock my Lugia out with Rock Slide, I thought. Several rocks smashed into Lugia, causing severe damage. ‘Lugia,’ I said, ‘take Marowak down with Steel Wing!’ Lugia whacked Marowak with its wings, knocking him out.
‘Dang it, return. I’ll use you now, Larvitar!’ Sandy threw a Pokéball into the amphitheater, unleashing the very small Pokémon.
‘You’re—you’re kidding, right?’ I questioned. ‘You’re not honestly using a Larvitar against my Lugia!?’
‘We’ll show him, won’t we, Larvitar?’ Sandy spoke to her Ground-type Pokémon. ‘Larvitar, use Outrage! Follow up with Crunch!’ Larvitar shot several large, white, glowing balls of energy at Lugia, nearly knocking it out. Crunch did Lugia in.
‘Come back Lugia,’ I said. ‘Go Ho-oh!’
‘You,’ Sandy remarked, ‘must be the crazy one here. Ho-oh has quadruple weakness to Rock-type attacks.’
‘Okay,’ I replied. ‘Ho-oh, Sunny Day.’ Ho-oh made the room unbearably bright, and then awaited Larvitar’s next move.
‘Larvitar, use Rock Slide!’
‘Ho-oh, Protect, and then use Solarbeam!’ As soon as the rocks were shattered, Ho-oh fired a ray of sunlight at Larvitar. ‘Oh, and by the way, Sandy,’ I said. ‘Larvitar has quadruple weakness to Grass.’
‘I’ve...I’ve never seen a Ho-oh—or any Fire Pokémon for that matter—use Solarbeam before,’ Sandy said.
‘Well,’ I responded. ‘Get ready, because you’re about to see it again. Another Solarbeam, Ho-oh.’ Ho-oh repeated the attack, knocking Larvitar out. ‘Too easy. Would you like to try another Pokémon?’
‘Cocky loser jerk,’ Sandy retorted.
‘Loser? I think you’re the one who’s lost, not me.’
‘Shut up. Rhydon, go! On second thought...I’ll just forfeit now. You’ll defeat him with one of the several Pokémon you have left in some sort of glorious attack, won’t you?’
‘Probably,’ I said.
‘All right, then. I concede. You are truly better than I am.’
‘That,’ I said, ‘is just about one of the smartest things I have heard a trainer say since I first arrived here.’ I handed my Pokédex to Sandy, who transferred the badge onto it. I recalled my Pokémon and walked out of the gym full of confidence and assurance that I would win, no matter what.

* * *

‘That was the best battle I have ever seen,’ Travis said to me while I was standing around in the Pokécenter, waiting for my Pokémon to heal.
‘Thanks,’ I replied.
‘No wonder I didn’t win. I think I should go back to the first city, train my Pokémon, and try to fight all of the leaders, fair and square,’ Travis said.
Thank goodness, I thought, I thought he was going to follow us. ‘You do that,’ I said to him. Travis got up and left.
Kamon and I left for the final gym, in Nimbus Town. After that, I would travel back to Chrono and then north to Center Stadium, where I would show everyone that I was the best, and that Sabrina was wrong, and that Kamon wasn’t as good as I was. I was the best. Always was, and always will be.

CHAPTER 11
DOWNFALL

We reached Nimbus Town faster than we did any other town or city: in only a day and a half. I wanted to get there and win as soon as possible. The voyage thus far had been hell.
The leader of the Nimbus Town Gym was named Rex. He used Flying-type Pokémon. He, supposedly, was better than Falkner, who was the best Flying Pokémon trainer.
The gym was not really a gym at all; more like an open stadium. To enhance his Flying Pokémon’s techniques, no doubt.
Kamon and I walked into the center of the stadium, where we found Rex. ‘I,’ I said, ‘challenge you to a Pokémon battle.’
‘You do realize that this is the last gym in Gehta, don’t you?’ Rex the gym leader asked me.
Of course, I thought. ‘Yeah. I intend on beating you and getting the last badge I need to go on to Center Stadium.’
‘You intend on beating me?’ Rex questioned. ‘Well, I guess I should just give up the badge right now, if you’re going to win anyway...’
‘Sure. Go ahead. It’ll save you time and effort.’
‘Sarcasm, you dolt. I was making fun of you. You can’t just walk into a gym and say “Hi, I’m going to beat you!” ’ Rex replied. I felt rather stupid.
‘Who cares?’ I said. ‘Let’s go on with it. Six-on-six match, right?’
‘Of course. You can send out first, if you want.’
‘All right. I’ll send out Ho-oh as my first Pokémon!’ I shouted.
‘Whoa...I have never seen the legendary Ho-oh in real life. Amazing that you actually caught it. It was a dream of mine to own all of the legendary bird Pokémon, but now I see that I could never achieve that dream,’ Rex said.
‘I only own Lugia and Ho-oh,’ I responded. ‘You can still try to catch the three legendary birds Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno.’
‘Wow,’ said Rex, ‘you have both Lugia and Ho-oh. Unbelievable. Anyway, I’ll choose Gligar first!’ Rex threw a Pokéball into the Stadium, unleashing the small Ground-type Pokémon. Ho-oh used Fly, striking Gligar and only doing mediocre damage. ‘Gligar, use Rock Slide!’ Rocks pummeled Ho-oh.
‘Ho-oh, Sacred Fire!’ I shouted. A pillar of flames struck Gligar, burning him. He retaliated with another Rock Slide, critical hit, and nearly knocking out Ho-oh. ‘Use Drill Peck,’ I said. Gligar was drilled by Ho-oh’s beak, but it didn’t stop him.
‘Gligar, finish Ho-oh off with one last Rock Slide,’ said Rex. Ho-oh collapsed onto the ground as it was destroyed by the powerful Rock-type attack. Ho-oh really never stood a chance, I guess.
‘Come back,’ I said as Ho-oh was dematerialized. ‘Feraligatr, come out and use Ice Punch!’ That one Ice attack was all that was needed to knock out Gligar. Now we were even.
‘Jumpluff, go!’ Rex yelled. ‘Use Sunny Day!’ The blue, round Pokémon was released into the stadium.
It was at that point that I noticed that he wasn’t just using Flying-type Pokémon, he was using Flying Pokémon that had another type, also; this could give them the advantage over my Pokémon.
Jumpluff increased the sunlight in the stadium, making the dark, cloudy day a little brighter. Feraligatr used Blizzard, at my command, doing an extreme amount of damage to Jumpluff. However, Jumpluff then fired a sun ray at my Water Pokémon, doing a lot of damage. A second Blizzard missed, allowing Jumpluff to attack again with Solarbeam.
‘Feraligatr, try to attack Jumpluff again with Crunch!’ I instructed. Feraligatr’s jaws clamped down on top of Jumpluff. Still, however, not knocked out. Apparently this Jumpluff was either more powerful than I thought, or she has a lot more health than I thought she did.
‘Jumpluff, finish off this trainer’s Feraligatr with another Solarbeam!’ Rex commanded. Another gold beam of light energy was blasted at Feraligatr, taking him down, too. The sunlight faded.
‘Return, Feraligatr,’ I said gloomily. ‘All right. Heracross, I choose you! Use Seismic Toss!’ Heracross picked up Jumpluff and threw her against the wall. Still not knocked out.
‘Use,’ Rex said, ‘Slam, now!’ Jumpluff slammed its body on top of Heracross, doing mediocre damage. Heracross fought back with Mega Punch, finally knocking Jumpluff out. ‘Come back.’ Jumpluff was swallowed up by the red beam of light emitted my Rex’s Pokéball. ‘Go Xatu. Use Wing Attack!’
I couldn’t believe it. No matter which Pokémon I used, he would send one out that was better than mine. Unbelievable. He would always have the upper hand.
‘Heracross, Mega Horn!’ I shouted. Heracross charged at Xatu, ramming her horn into the Psychic bird Pokémon.
‘Psychic, Xatu,’ said Rex. He knew he could win this battle. He was calm and confident.
Heracross took serious damage, and only survived because of the Focus Band.
‘Heracross, Reversal!’ I commanded. It was too little, too late, however, because Xatu used Quick Attack, knocking her out. ‘Return...’ I sighed. I didn’t know who to choose. Unless, I thought, I could use Lugia... ‘Lugia, go! Shadow Ball attack!’ Lugia struck Xatu with the Ghost-type attack, knocking him out.
‘Come back Xatu, and go Gyarados! Use Thunder!’ Once again, Rex had another chance to get the upper hand. A bolt of lightning crashed down on Lugia, doing a lot of damage. Lugia came back with Thunder, too, doing even more damage. ‘Blizzard,’ said Rex. Gyarados performed the Ice-type attack, doing an extreme amount of damage. Lugia was still able to counter-attack with another Thunder, knocking out Gyarados.
Well, that was easy, I thought. Rex recalled Gyarados and sent out Delibird.
‘Delibird, use Blizzard!’ Rex instructed. Delibird blasted ice and snow at Lugia, knocking it out.
I honestly couldn’t believe it. How could his Pokémon be so strong?
I called back Lugia. I couldn’t send out Tyranitar, which left only Ampharos. Both of the Pokémon had some sort of advantage over Flying-type Pokémon. ‘Ampharos, go! Use...um...Iron Tail!’ Ampharos really had no advantage over Delibird, aside from the Electric attacks. But Delibird really had no advantage against Ampharos, so it was all good.
Ampharos’s tail slammed into Delibird, doing a lot of damage. Delibird fought back with Drill Peck, but it did little.
‘Ampharos, I want you to use Thunder!’ Lightning crashed down on top of Delibird, making him flinch.
‘Delibird, use Blizzard,’ Rex commanded. Delibird’s repeated attack missed, thankfully. ‘You lucky son-of-a-gun,’ Rex remarked. ‘You’re getting all of these breaks.’
‘You’re lucky I’m not destroying you,’ I snapped.
‘I’m sure,’ Rex responded.
I grumbled. I hated it when people made fun of me. But I knew he was right, so I wasn’t going to say anything. ‘Ampharos, use Zap Cannon,’ I said. A yellow electric ball was shot at Delibird, paralyzing him and nearly knocking him out. I took advantage of the situation immediately. ‘Ampharos, Thunder Punch!’ Ampharos swung its fist, sparks flying, into Rex’s Ice-and-Flying-type Pokémon, bringing it down.
‘As my last Pokémon,’ said Rex, ‘I use Fearow! Hyper Beam, now!’ Fearow shot the high-powered beam at Ampharos, doing a lot of damage. I still had the match in the bag. As long as I didn’t screw up.
‘Thunder,’ I commanded. Fearow moved away from the lightning, avoiding Ampharos’s attack. Fearow then attacked Ampharos with Sky Attack, nearly knocking out Ampharos. ‘Thunderbolt!’ Ampharos fired a charge of Electricity at Fearow, but he reflected it with Mirror Move, knocking out Ampharos. ‘Come back. I choose Tyranitar as my last Pokémon. Use Rock Slide!’ An avalanche of rocks tumbled down on top of Fearow, bringing it (by my estimate, of course) down to half-life. I told Tyranitar to use the attack again, but Fearow flew high into the air to avoid it. He then dive-bombed Tyranitar, causing mediocre damage. As Tyranitar got up, Fearow attacked her again with Steel Wing. Tyranitar wouldn’t last very long, at this rate.
‘Like my Fearow’s Agility combos?’ Rex taunted.
I held up my hand. ‘I’m thinking of a finger. Guess which one it is.’
‘Screw you,’ said Rex. ‘Mud Slap, Fearow.’ Fearow kicked dirt into Tyranitar’s eyes, doing a little damage, but lowering Tyranitar’s accuracy. ‘Now, use another Steel Wing.’ Fearow slammed its wing into Tyranitar again. Tyranitar tried to use Rock Slide, but missed. Fearow attacked Tyranitar with Toxic, and then Sky Attack. My Pokémon wasn’t going to last much longer, unless she could finish off Fearow quickly.
‘Tyranitar, try another Rock Slide!’ I yelled.
Fearow easily dodged the attack. Tyranitar was hurt by poison. Fearow attacked again. Tyranitar fell to the ground. She didn’t move. I looked up. The world was in slow motion. I could feel my pulse. Rex grinned. I closed my eyes. Tyranitar couldn’t really be knocked out. But she was.
No, maybe he wasn’t. I opened my eyes. Tyranitar was still. I put my hand on her Pokéball. I recalled my last Pokémon.
I finally took a breath, and then collapsed onto the ground. I knew I had lost. Yet, I still could not bring myself to think that I really did. I thought that I still had another Pokémon left, though, in reality, I knew I didn’t. Rex had outmatched me. I had finally lost my first battle in Gehta.

[The Decapitated Mole]

Yay!It's all back! I'm kind of glad that drew lost. He was kind of a dillhole. Kepp 'em comin!

[100FangCroconaw]

Yay!We're back to the new chapters!Anyways, nice chappies.

[Carbonite4]

CHAPTER 12
REDEMPTION

I either couldn’t allow myself to believe—or I truly didn’t believe—that I had lost to Rex yesterday. I never lost. Never.
‘Well,’ said Kamon, ‘nobody’s perfect.’
‘I know, but couldn’t I lose after I beat him?’
I didn’t need, or want, a response form Kamon at that moment. Kamon, I guess, knew that. He did not reply to me.
It was then when I realized two things, both of which may have been true. The first was that Sabrina said that it was my destiny to lose in Gehta. Who it was against, she didn’t say. Rex may have been that person. The second thing I realized was that maybe I was supposed to lose to Rex, in order to protect me from some greater danger, like losing against the Master of the Prime League. Maybe someone was trying to make me quit now so I wouldn’t have to lose later.
I decided that I had to battle Rex again, as soon as possible.
‘Shouldn’t you try to level up your Pokémon more?’ Kamon questioned.
‘No way,’ I replied. ‘I know I can beat him with the Pokémon I have now, without making them stronger.’
‘All right...’ Kamon said.
I went back to Rex’s stadium, and re-challenged him to a match.
‘You,’ Rex said, ‘really want to fight me again?’
‘It’s not really a “want” as much as it is a “must,” ’ I responded. ‘Now, I want you to choose your Pokémon first.’
‘Suits me fine,’ said Rex. ‘Go Xatu.’
‘Tyranitar, come out and use Spikes!’ I commanded. I was going to make sure that Xatu wasn’t going to get recalled.
‘Xatu, Steel Wing attack,’ Rex said. The purple Psychic Pokémon dove at Tyranitar, wings stiff. His outstretched wings slammed into Tyranitar, doing mediocre damage. Tyranitar came back with Crunch.
‘Now, follow up with Rock Slide!’ I instructed.
‘Agility,’ Rex yelled. Xatu attempted to dodge all of the boulders that were sent his way, but failed. The rocks smashed into him, knocking him to the ground. Xatu got back up and attacked my Pokémon again. ‘Xatu, another Steel Wing!’ The attack did less than well, and Tyranitar easily knocked out Xatu with Slam. ‘Well, you managed to knock out one Pokémon with pretty good success. But let’s try this one: Fearow, attack Tyranitar with Hyper Beam!’
‘Endure,’ I said. Tyranitar stuck her hands out, catching the gold Hyper Beam. She then used Mega Punch, reversing the beam on Fearow. He took serious damage, but retaliated with Sky Attack, nearly knocking Tyranitar out.
‘Okay, Fearow, you can do this. Steel Wing!’
‘Cheap,’ I retorted. Tyranitar fell to the ground, unconscious. ‘Come back. Ho-oh, go! Use Sacred Fire!’ Flames reigned over Fearow, causing a high amount of damage. Rex’s Fearow tried to hit me with Drill Peck, but Ho-oh avoided the attack. ‘Now, finish Fearow off with Wing Attack!’ Fearow was slapped by Ho-oh’s wings, and fainted.
‘Gyarados, go! Use Rain Dance!’ Rex commanded. Gyarados caused it to rain in the stadium, in a pathetic attempt to hinder my Ho-oh’s abilities.
How pathetic.
‘Ho-oh, Thunder,’ I said. It was all too easy. With one thunderclap and a strike of lightning, Gyarados was knocked out. A one-hit K.O.
‘Unbelievable,’ Rex said. ‘Unbelievable! Gyarados, you can rest. I’ll choose Gligar as my next Pokémon, go!’
‘You,’ I replied, ‘are just trying to use the same Pokémon you did against me the first time in an attempt to defeat me again.’
‘Who says you don’t repeat the same techniques over and over?’
‘Who says I do? And anyway, I learn from my mistakes.’
‘I didn’t make any, so I don’t need to make any adjustments. Now, you are stalling. Let’s get on with this. Gligar, Rock Slide!’ Rex said. Rocks crashed down on Ho-oh, but it survived.
‘Ho-oh, Sunny Day!’ I commanded. The rain went away and sunlight leaked into the amphitheater. Gligar used Rock Slide again. I told Ho-oh to use Solarbeam, but it didn’t do half as much damage as I thought it would. I guess it was because Gligar was not only Ground but also Flying-type, thus lowering Solarbeam’s damage to a state of mediocrity.
‘Gligar,’ Rex started, ‘use Rock Slide. That’ll teach this...trainer (whatever his name is) to try to use legendary Pokémon against me.’ And with that, Ho-oh was out of the fight.
Ho-oh dematerialized into the Master Ball. I sent out Lugia (using a legendary Pokémon on purpose) next. The silvery Pokémon appeared in the stadium in a flash of red light. I told Lugia to use Blizzard (which would do four times the normal amount of damage, since Gligar is both Ground-and-Flying types). Of course, Gligar was knocked out.
‘Lucky. Gligar, return, and Jumpluff, go! Use your Hyper Beam!’
‘Lugia, attack with Hyper Beam, too!’ I shouted. I knew that Lugia was more powerful than Jumpluff. So Lugia’s Hyper Beam overpowered Jumpluff’s Hyper Beam, making both beams strike Rex’s Grass Pokémon. He was, slowly, losing.
‘Jumpluff, Giga Drain,’ said Rex.
‘Don’t josh me like that,’ I said. ‘You know that attack will do nothing. Lugia, Dragonbreath.’ Small blue flames poured from Lugia’s maw, knocking Jumpluff out. Rex only had one Pokémon left, Delibird. I still had Heracross, Feraligatr, and Ampharos left.
‘Delibird, go! Blizzard!’ Hail struck Lugia, freezing it.
I sighed. ‘Well, now I only have three Pokémon left. The hardest thing to do is choosing which Pokémon to beat you with,’ I taunted. I recalled Lugia.
‘You,’ Rex said, ‘can shut the hell up. I don’t want to hear anything from you.’
‘You won’t,’ I replied, ‘once I beat you and leave. Ampharos, go! Use Thunder!’ Lightning seared Delibird’s feathers, and caused a lot of damage. It wouldn’t be long until I had Rex’s digital badge.
‘Delibird, another Blizzard!’ Rex shouted.
‘In another sad attempt to freeze my Pokémon?’ I questioned. Rex didn’t respond. The Ice-type attack did little. Ampharos used Thunderbolt, but it did not quite knock out Delibird, allowing him to attack once again. Of course, Rex told him to use Blizzard, but it missed.
I had won. The winning attack was a simple Thundershock. Very simple. Rex was forced to not only call back his last Pokémon, but also give me a well-deserved badge.
‘I told you,’ I said to Kamon later on, ‘that I could win.’ Kamon did nothing but smile and shake his head.

* * *

I finally figured out why Kamon did not want to battle. He was depressed, I think. He wanted to battle, but he could lose. He did not want to lose. Like me, he was afraid of losing. What I realized was that the only cure for the illness was to battle again. That was why I had to battle Rex again. That was why I had to fight in Gehta.
That was why Kamon would have to battle, eventually.

CHAPTER 13
THE GATES OF CENTER STADIUM

Kamon and I followed the circular path around Gehta, finally making it back to Chrono City. We walked in the Pokémon Center and approached the counter.
‘Welcome back,’ the nurse said. ‘You registered here last September, didn’t you?’
‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘And I’m here to re-register to move on to the Center Stadium.’
The nurse gasped. ‘You conquered all of the gyms!?’ she exclaimed.
‘Yes,’ I said, and handed her my Pokédex. She slipped it into the computer in front of her, and typed for a little while.
‘It does appear as though you have beaten everyone. Good job...anyway, here you go. There will be a slot next to a gate just north of here where you can slide your Pokédex into. The gates will only open that way.’
‘Like some sort of digital key?’ Kamon asked.
‘Yeah,’ Nurse Joy replied. ‘Are you going to give me your Pokédex?’
Kamon blushed out of embarrassment. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I’m...I’m just tagging along.’
‘Oh, sorry. Well, have fun!’
I thanked her and then left the Pokécenter. There was a road that went north, just like she said. It took half a day to reach the Gate. It was probably sixteen feet tall, by the looks of it. Large, black metal gates that towered over you. It had metal bars instead of being solid, so we could see further down the road. It would probably take another half a day—or even a full day—to reach Center City.
I walked over to the stone wall to the left of the gate. The wall seemed to stretch into oblivion. I assumed it went around the entire city.
There was a small slot in the wall. I slipped my Pokédex into the slot. The Gates swung open, and my Pokédex popped out of the slot. I took it out, and then proceeded through the Black Gates.
About half-way to Center City, someone stopped me. ‘A trainer!’ he shouted. This person had light brown hair, short, and spiked up in the front (though it also looked like it was spiked and combed to the left). His left ear had a small gold earring.
‘Er, yes,’ I said.
‘You must be pretty good in order to have gotten into here. My name is Chris. Who are you?’
‘Drew,’ I said.
‘I am the Prime League Mistress’s younger brother. I am also a Guard of Center City. Even if you got past the Gates, you still have to get through me,’ Chris said.
‘Fine by me,’ I replied. I liked his attitude. Someone looking for a challenge.
‘All right,’ Chris said. ‘Blastoise, go!’
I thought for a moment, and then selected a Pokémon. ‘Lugia, come out and use Thunder!’ I wasted no time in getting in the first attack. The lightning hit Blastoise, causing a lot of damage. Chris’s Pokémon retaliated with Blizzard, however, also doing a lot of damage. The two Pokémon exchanged attacks, both doing about the same amount of damage.
‘It appears,’ Chris said, ‘as though we are equal.’
‘It does,’ I agreed. ‘However, this is where I show you my true power. Lugia, Aeroblast!’ Lugia spread it wings apart, and then fired a white beam. The struck Blastoise in the face, and sent him smashing into the ground. However, he was still, amazingly, not knocked out.
‘Blastoise, Hydro Pump,’ said Chris. The Water attack did less than Lugia’s Aeroblast, but it still did a considerable amount of damage. ‘Good job. Now, use Body Slam!’ Blastoise slammed itself on top of my Psychic Pokémon, knocking it out.
I was slightly angered. ‘Return,’ I said. ‘Now, Ampharos, go! Your Thunder Punch!’ My only Electric-type Pokémon flashed into battle, and then proceeded in knocking out Blastoise in one attack. ‘Great.’
‘All right, Blastoise, come back. Well, now, who should I choose next...okay, I know. Arcanine, go! Use your Extreme Speed attack!’ Chris’s Arcanine attacked Ampharos in a blur of speed. The attack did less than mediocre damage.
‘I laugh at your pathetic attempts to damage my Pokémon,’ I mocked. ‘Ampharos, Thunder!’ As the bolt of lightning was about to strike Arcanine, he moved out of the way, dodging it. Chris smiled. I didn’t say anything.
‘Arcanine, Fire Blast!’ Chris commanded. Flames swelled in Arcanine’s mouth. They then surged at Ampharos and engulfed him. My Pokémon attacked Arcanine with Thunder. ‘Arcanine, try a Hyper Beam.’ The gold beam slammed into Ampharos, brining him down to only a little health. I still felt confident that he could win.
I had forgotten about what Gatlin said to me a long time ago. He told me that I had to believe in my Pokémon’s abilities, and they would succeed. Well, I believed that Ampharos would defeat Arcanine.
‘Ampharos, Dynamic Punch!’ I shouted. Ampharos squinted as he swung his fist around, charging up the attack. His glowing white fist hit Arcanine, causing an explosion. Arcanine was confused, and attacked itself. Take that, I thought.
‘Arcanine, snap out of it,’ said Chris. ‘And use Fire Spin.’ The rather weak attack missed, allowing Ampharos to attack again. He used Zap Cannon, knocking out Arcanine.
The whole...believe in your Pokémon thing really does work, I thought.
‘Arcanine, return. Scizor, go! Use Hyper Beam!’ said Chris. Scizor closed its claws, gathering energy between them. He then blasted the beam at Ampharos, knocking him out.
‘Hmm...you are stronger than I thought,’ I said. ‘I’ll have to fight better. Ho-oh, go! Sacred Fire!’ The column of flames smashed down on Scizor, nearly knocking him out (because of the four-times damage). As the charred Scizor got back up, Ho-oh used Drill Peck, knocking him out. ‘Ha!’ I shouted.
‘All right. You got lucky. I’ll use Gengar next. Attack with Crunch!’ Chris yelled. Gengar performed the Dark attack on my Fire-type Pokémon, but Ho-oh came back with another Sacred Fire, burning Gengar. ‘Gengar, Shadow Ball!’ The purple, smoky ball hit Ho-oh, doing a minute amount of damage.
‘Ho-oh, Fire Blast!’ I said. Fire swarmed around Gengar and eventually overwhelmed him. Gengar attack Ho-oh with Psychic, but Ho-oh reacted with Flamethrower, knocking out Gengar via critical hit.
Chris recalled his Pokémon. ‘Jolteon, go! Thunder, now!’ he instructed. The lightning hit and nearly knocked out Ho-oh. Ho-oh tried to redeem itself by using Psychic, but it didn’t do quite as much damage as I hoped. Jolteon easily knocked out Ho-oh with Skull Bash. ‘And you thought you had the upper hand,’ Chris taunted.
‘Ha ha. Ho-oh, return. Heracross, I choose you as my next Pokémon! Use Earthquake!’ Heracross raised one foot into the air and then slammed it onto the ground, causing it to split beneath Jolteon. Jolteon was, of course, knocked out. ‘You were saying...?’
‘Shut up. Anyway, I’ll use Tyranitar. Go!’ Chris threw an Ultra Ball into the grass. The all-too familiar Pokémon emerged from the light.
Speaking of light, it was getting to be evening. The sunlight was fading, a night was setting in.
‘Tyranitar, Fire Blast!’ Chris told his Pokémon. Flames shot out from Tyranitar’s mouth, scorching Heracross. Heracross used Earthquake, at my command.
The attacks went back and forth, each Pokémon doing about equal damage to the other one. The match would, eventually, come down to the trainer’s skill and wit, not the Pokémon’s strength. I think both of us knew that.
Finally, it seemed as though both Pokémon were going to be knocked out soon. I told Heracross to use Mega Horn, while Tyranitar used Fire Blast (again). Both Pokémon suffered attacks, but Heracross was the one who fell.
‘Come back, and go Feraligatr! Use Surf!’ I commanded. The wave surged over Tyranitar, knocking him out. Only one Pokémon left, I thought.
‘Only one Pokémon left,’ Chris said. I sat there with an awkward look on my face. ‘Dragonair, go! Use Thunderbolt!’ Sparks struck Feraligatr, doing a high amount of damage and paralyzing him. Dragonair then slammed itself on Feraligatr. ‘Dragonair, Outrage!’
‘Feraligatr, Blizzard!’ Feraligatr got in that one last attack before getting knocked out by another Outrage. I called back Feraligatr and used Tyranitar. I told her to use Outrage, which knocked out Dragonair. Thank goodness that ended... I thought. Chris recalled Dragonair.
‘Well, that was a pretty good battle, and you proved yourself worthy. Good job,’ Chris said.
‘Thank you,’ I replied, and then walked past him and onto Center City.

* * *

Chris had said that the leader of the Prime League was a Prime League Mistress. I didn’t expect it to be a girl. Anyway, I expected her to be much harder than Chris was. I’m sure Chris was just a taste of the evil that has yet to come.

**Pokémon Update:
Drew- Heracross lv. 89, Feraligatr lv. 90, Tyranitar lv. 91, Ampharos lv. 93, Lugia lv. 92, and Ho-oh lv. 93.
Kamon- Corsola level 76, Delibird level 77, Golem level 78, Umbreon level 79, Typhlosion level 83, and Entei level 84**

[The Decapitated Mole]

Hey, that's good. New chapters are always good. Yup. Nice work, carbo.

lol

[Carbonite4]

CHAPTER 14
BOUT AGAINST DESTINY

I had finally reached Center City. I healed my Pokémon, and then headed straight for Center Stadium.
‘Don’t you think you should train a little?’ Kamon asked me.
‘No way,’ I replied. ‘I’ll take on the “Prime League Mistress” all by myself, with no help. I don’t need to become better to beat her.’
Kamon sighed. ‘All right. Your funeral,’ he said.
I walked down the long stretch of road from the local Pokécenter to the overly large stadium. Ironically, there were no seats in the stadium—no stands. Also, the stadium was a dome (except for a small hole on the top for sunlight). The sides, until the domed top part started, were concrete.
As I walked to the center of the stadium, I heard a voice shout, ‘You! Are you the trainer that has conquered all of the gyms in Gehta, and now wants to challenge the Prime League Mistress?’
I turned around. ‘Yes,’ I responded, ‘I am. Dare I ask who you are?’
A girl with bluish hair in pigtails walked to the center of the stadium, where I was standing. She had a red shirt with a white jacket over it. She also had yellow shorts. ‘My name,’ she said, ‘is Crystal. I am the Mistress of the Prime League, and determined Master of all Pokémon.’
‘Determined?’ I asked.
‘Yes. By Lance and the Elite Four. They determined that I was the most powerful trainer in the world,’ Crystal replied.
‘They,’ I replied, ‘must have forgotten about me.’
‘Remember, Drew: I beat you. Therefore, I would be more powerful than you, and Crystal would be more powerful than I am,’ Kamon told me. I had forgotten about that.
‘Does this mean that you are the infamous Drew?’ Crystal said.
‘Infamous? Not hardly. I am the true-blue trainer, Drew Anderson from Pallet. This is my friend, Kamon.’
‘That’s what I thought. Well, Drew, Kamon, this will most certainly be an...interesting match.’
‘I will select my Pokémon first, if you don’t mind,’ I said.
‘Be my guest,’ said Crystal. Kamon stepped back toward the door of the stadium. He was, as always, going to watch from the sidelines. Coward.
I threw a Pokéball into the arena. Heracross was my choice Pokémon for the battle. ‘Get ready, Heracross. We need this win more than any other.’
‘I want you to battle, my Dragonite!’ Crystal yelled, throwing a Lure Ball into the arena. The Final Battle was under way.
‘Heracross, I want you to attack Dragonite with Seismic Toss!’ I commanded.
‘Dragonite, don’t let yourself get hurt! Aeroblast!’ Crystal said. As Heracross rushed at Crystal’s Dragonite, a white energy beam was forming between Dragonite’s outstretched wings. Once Heracross reached Dragonite, he blasted the beam at my Pokémon, doing four times the normal amount of damage, and almost knocking Heracross out (she lived through the Focus Band).
‘What a way to start a match...’ I muttered to myself. ‘Heracross, Reversal!’ I was determined to win the match. I was going to use all of my force to win.
Heracross’s attack did average damage. Dragonite easily knocked out Heracross with Headbutt. I switched Pokémon to Tyranitar.
‘Wow...a Tyranitar...’ Crystal commented. I wasn’t exactly sure why she cared so much. ‘We know exactly how to handle those, don’t we, Dragonite?’ Right then I knew why she was slightly in awe. She must also be in possession of a Tyranitar. It was a grave mistake to use this Pokémon.
‘Tyranitar, Rock Slide!’
‘Dragonite, Protect!’ Crystal shouted. The rocks shattered against the star-shield that surrounded Dragonite. ‘Good job. Now I want you to use Hydro Pump!’
‘Crap. Tyranitar, Dig!’ I instructed. Tyranitar avoided the attack, but Dig did nothing to Dragonite. ‘All right, try Outrage!’ Crystal was taken aback. She certainly wasn’t expecting that attack.
A greenish-bluish-white (hard to describe) energy blast whacked Dragonite in the torso, sending him down to the ground. As he got up, another Outrage blast slammed into him. This time, Dragonite lay on the ground, lifeless.
‘Return, Dragonite,’ said Crystal. ‘Suicune, come out and use Hydro Pump!’ She threw a Master Ball at Tyranitar, unleashing the legendary Water dog. His blue and purple coat shimmered in the sunlight coming from the hole in the roof. The eruption of water caused a great deal of damage to Tyranitar.
‘Return, Tyranitar,’ I said (though he wasn’t knocked out), ‘and go Ampharos! Use Thunder Wave!’
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kamon shoot a puzzled glance at me. I think that he thought it was odd for me to use a strategic attack instead of an offensive attack. But I knew what I was doing.
The attack paralyzed Crystal’s Suicune. This gave me an early advantage over her.
‘Now, Thunder!’ I shouted. A strike of lightning hurt Suicune, but it didn’t even bring it down to half life, by my guessing.
One thing I found odd about most of the gyms in Gehta was that they did not have an overhead display of you Pokémon’s stats. The same went for the Center Stadium. I would have to continue guessing at the damage (though, I must admit, I was very good at that).
‘Suicune, Psychic,’ said Crystal. The Psychic-type attack did little. Ampharos retaliated with Thunderbolt, but Crystal had another plan in mind. ‘Mirror Coat!’ Ampharos’s Electric attack was reversed, doing a high amount of damage.
‘Ampharos, try an Iron Tail!’ I shouted. Ampharos swung its mighty tail around, and Suicune collapsed. Not knocked out, however.
‘Suicune, use Blizzard,’ Crystal commanded. The Ice attack did a lot of damage, but still did not knock out Ampharos. I told my Pokémon to finish off Suicune with Thunder Punch. The attack did exactly as I planned.
‘Yes! Good going, Ampharos,’ I said. Crystal recalled her Pokémon.
‘Tyranitar, come out! Use your Earthquake!’ The ground shook and cracked beneath Ampharos. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
Well, I thought, that’s only two Pokémon. I sent out Feraligatr. ‘Surf!’ I said. The tidal wave crashed over Crystal’s Tyranitar, but he came back with Thunder. Because he did not have a type-advantage (with using an Electric attack), the attack did little.
‘Now try a Slam,’ Crystal told her Tyranitar. Tyranitar’s tail smashed down on top of Feraligatr.
‘Feraligatr,’ I started, ‘you know what to do. Hydro Pump!’ The blast of water did a lot of damage, but Tyranitar was still in the match. Crystal’s Pokémon were some of the strongest I had seen.
‘Tyranitar, I want you to attack Drew’s Feraligatr with Dynamic Punch!’ Tyranitar punched Feraligatr, causing a massive explosion. Feraligatr returned the attack with Earthquake, knocking out Tyranitar. ‘Interesting. I severely underestimated your Pokémon. Return, Tyranitar. Raikou, go! Use Spark!’
At first, I laughed at the thought of Spark bringing down my Feraligatr, but I quickly stopped when Feraligatr fainted.
‘Damn,’ I cursed. I called back my Water Pokémon. My only real choice was Tyranitar, unless I was going to risk using either Ho-oh or Lugia. I sent out my slightly damaged Rock-and-Dark-type Pokémon, and hoped for the best. ‘Earthquake, now!’ I shouted. I was too late; Crystal recalled her Raikou.
‘Nice work. Now I will use one of my prized Pokémon...Celebi, go!’
Like the world went into slow motion, I watched a gold-and-silver Pokéball get tossed into the stadium. A small green Pokémon materialized from the shimmering light. I had never seen it before. I turned around to look at Kamon. His eyes were wide, in awe, staring at the elusive Pokémon. He pulled out Max, the Pokédex.
‘Celebi, the Time travel Pokémon. This Pokémon is so rare, there is almost no data on it.’
‘What can you tell me?’ Kamon asked Max.
‘It is a Grass-and-Psychic-type Pokémon. Very rare. Very strong. That is all.’ Kamon put Max the Pokédex away.
‘Good luck, Drew,’ Kamon said. ‘You’re going to need it.’
‘Thanks,’ I responded, ‘but I don’t think I need luck. I can beat her with my own...surprises.’
‘We’ll see,’ Crystal spoke. ‘Celebi, Solarbeam!’ The Pokémon raised its arms into the air, and started absorbing light energy from the sun.
‘Tyranitar,’ I said, ‘Hyper Beam attack!’ As Tyranitar’s gold beam was fired at Celebi, it fired Solarbeam. Celebi’s Solarbeam overwhelmed Tyranitar, and sent her flying across the room, smashing into the concrete wall and cracking it. ‘Holy crap. Tyranitar, are you okay?’ Tyranitar didn’t stir. ‘Come back. Ho-oh, come out and use Sacred Fire!’ The battle of legendary Pokémon started.
The flaming pillar crashed down onto Celebi, doing a lot of damage. Celebi used Ancient Power, however, doing equal (or maybe even less) damage. Ho-oh stuck Celebi with Fire Blast, but Celebi used Psychic. Celebi, however, was knocked out after another Fire Blast from Ho-oh.
‘Not so strong now, huh, Celebi?’ I taunted.
‘Your Ho-oh may have been stronger,’ said Crystal.
‘Obviously,’ I replied. ‘Now send out my next victim...I mean, your next Pokémon.’ Crystal scowled at me.
‘Raikou, come out and use Thunder!’ Her Electric Pokémon re-entered the fray, and opened the match with the powerful attack. Ho-oh came back with another Sacred Fire, burning Raikou. It did not matter, since Raikou finished Ho-oh off with Zap Cannon.
‘Return, Ho-oh, and go Lugia! Earthquake!’ I yelled. My final Pokémon slammed its foot on the ground, nearly knocking Raikou out. However, because Raikou was burned, it fainted. ‘Ha!’
‘Mew, go!’ said Crystal. Again, Kamon and I were stunned. Another legendary Pokémon. It was almost unfair. Especially because Mew could use any attack. ‘Mew, Blizzard!’ A snowstorm surged around Lugia, causing a lot of damage. I told my Pokémon to use Shadow Ball. Even though it was super-effective, the attack wasn’t very powerful to begin with, and therefore did little. ‘Mew, Thunder!’ The lightning bolt missed, leaving Mew open for an attack.
‘Lugia, attack Mew with Aeroblast!’ I commanded. The colossal white beam slammed into Mew, making it smash into the rocky wall on the other side of Center Stadium. Mew retaliated with Sky Attack, doing mediocre damage. ‘Come on, Lugia, destroy Mew! Hyper Beam attack!’ Lugia blasted Mew with the normal-type attack, nearly knocking it out.
‘Mew, Softboiled, and then use Iron Tail!’ Crystal said calmly.
I could not believe it. All of that work for nothing. Mew recovered all of the damage I had dealt to it, just like that. And now, Lugia was almost out of the match. Even if I used Recover, Mew would have gotten in two attacks, and I’d only recover those attacks. Then Mew would attack again, and, eventually, I wouldn’t be able to recover anything. This was going to suck.
However, Mew used something slightly unexpected; Confuse Ray. Mew then attacked with Stun Spore. I was paralyzed an confused. I wasn’t going to be attacking any time soon.
‘Now,’ Crystal said, grinning from ear to ear, ‘Thunder!’ Lugia survived the attack, but hurt itself from confusion. I told Lugia to attack Mew with Dragonbreath, but Lugia was paralyzed and couldn’t move. ‘Finish Lugia off with Horn Drill!’ said Crystal.
She was so arrogant and so confident that she would win, that she didn’t even have to attack with a normal attack. She could use a one-hit K.O. attack and see how it worked, and then go back to normal battling. But, of course, who wouldn’t, in this position. In my position of screwed.
Horn Drill, however, knocked out Lugia. I recalled my last Pokémon. Once again, I had lost in the Prime League. I wasn’t really even close to beating Crystal. It was almost like she had seven Pokémon.
I couldn’t live with myself. Everything had happened, just like Sabrina said it would. But, as I was leaving the stadium, and Crystal was healing her Pokémon, something completely unexpected, yet something I knew would eventually happen, happened.
‘All right,’ Kamon said. ‘It’s my turn.’

CHAPTER 15
KAMON’S TURN

Crystal turned around. ‘Excuse me?’ she said.
‘I will battle you,’ replied Kamon.
I knew it. The entire time I was right. Kamon was just here to show me up. Now was his chance to succeed where I failed. He was going to take advantage of my loss to try to show off. That bastard. I thought he was my friend. I thought that I could trust him, but there he went, behind my back to try to show off. Arrogant. I realized how I utterly loathed him. Every second of him being near me. I hated it. I hated him. Kamon must lose. And when he does, I will laugh in his face. I will finally show him that even though I lost, I was still better than he was. And he would never be better than me. Never.
‘Okay, Kamon,’ said Crystal. ‘Will you choose first, as Drew here poorly did?’
Now they were mocking me. Mocking me and everything I stood for. I was nothing without my Pokémon, and without being the best. I was a nobody without all of that.
‘No, you can go ahead,’ Kamon replied.
But maybe, it was my own arrogance that caused my fall. I was cocky, overconfident that I would win. I chose a Pokémon first, instead of trying to pick the best Pokémon for the match, like I normally would. If this was any other battle, my opponent would have chosen first. I would have chosen a better Pokémon. I would have won.
‘All right. I choose Tyranitar first!’ Crystal yelled.
No, it wouldn’t matter what happened in the battle. Crystal had four legendary Pokémon. Mew alone was like two legendary Pokémon combined. So, it’s like five or fix legendary Pokémon, in addition to her Tyranitar. There would be no way I could have won that one. Never. I was...
‘Delibird, go! Blizzard, now!’ Kamon commanded.
Weak. I was too weak. And it killed me to think of that. I was never weaker than anyone. Never.
‘Tyranitar, Iron Tail!’ said Crystal. I saw Kamon’s Delibird get hammered by Tyranitar’s colossal tail, but he was still ready to fight.
There was one time where I was weaker than someone. It was when Kamon fought me. I was weaker than he was. That was why he won, and that was why I was in Gehta.
I watched as Delibird retaliated with Ice Beam, but was then pummeled with rocks—Rock Slide. Delibird didn’t move. Kamon already had one Pokémon down.
No, I wasn’t in Gehta because I was trying to show Kamon that I wasn’t weak. I was in Gehta because I wanted to show Kamon that it was a fluke that I lost, and that I really was better than him. I wasn’t weak, I was superior.
My vision focused on the battle. Apparently, Crystal’s Tyranitar was knocked out, since she was using Suicune against Kamon’s Umbreon. Umbreon attacked with a Toxic. However, Suicune came back with Hydro Pump, nearly knocking out Umbreon. Kamon commanded her to use Crunch.
What if Kamon wasn’t trying to beat me or try to show me up. Maybe he wasn’t trying to impress me. Maybe he was just trying to win, too, like I was. But he didn’t have a secret motive. He just wanted to battle.
‘Umbreon, now use Skull Bash!’ Kamon exclaimed. His Umbreon smashed into Crystal’s Suicune, critical hit, I assumed, knocking it out.
‘Unreal! Return. Let’s go Mew!’ Crystal yelled. Mew attacked Umbreon with an Iron Tail, but Kamon’s Dark Pokémon was still in the match.
‘Try to pull of a Faint Attack,’ said Kamon. Umbreon faded away for a moment, but then struck Mew from behind. Mew tried to attack Umbreon, but it didn’t effect Umbreon.
‘You fool,’ I spoke up, ‘anyone knows that a Psychic-type attack won’t effect a Dark-type Pokémon. It’s common knowledge.’
‘Hey, you’re not battling anymore, loser,’ Crystal said. I started to walk out onto the playing field, but Kamon motioned for me to stop. I contained my anger and resumed leaning up against the wall, arms crossed.
Mew knocked out Umbreon with a Mega Punch, making Kamon switch Pokémon to Corsola. Like that would work. However, when Mew tried Psychic, Corsola reversed it with Mirror Coat.
I went back to thinking about my journey. I had realized that I was being naïve this entire time. I was the one that was ruining this voyage. Kamon didn’t have a secret motive, I did. It was stupid. I should be in this to have fun, not to compete with Kamon, a person that wasn’t even competing with me. I was an idiot. I was trying to make this entire thing something it wasn’t.
Like I just snapped out of a trance, I looked back at the battle. Both Corsola was gone, but Mew was still out. Kamon was using Entei.
‘Entei, Fire Blast,’ Kamon yelled. His Entei fired flames at Mew, engulfing the Psychic Pokémon.
‘Mew, Hyper Beam!’ Crystal instructed. Entei blocked it with Detect, and then, miraculously, knocked out Mew with a Fire Blast and then Hyper Beam (because Mew had to recharge, Entei got two attacks).
Unbelievable. Kamon managed to knock out Mew, the one Pokémon I couldn’t. It was only because Mew used Hyper Beam. That was the only reason. I was convinced. It wasn’t like Kamon was better than me...
‘Mew, return,’ said Crystal. ‘I cannot believe you beat Mew. Even your comrade here couldn’t do that.’ She was just teasing me because I lost. I’ll get her back for that. ‘Now, Raikou, go! Thunder!’ Entei suffered the Electric attack, but, unfortunately for Kamon, fainted. Raikou was too much for the Fire-type Pokémon to handle.
‘Come back, Entei. I choose you next, my Golem! Earthquake!’ Kamon commanded. I watched as the Pokémon exchanged attacks, until finally Raikou went down after a Fissure from Golem. Kamon wouldn’t be able to win this one, but he would sure come close.
‘You’ve gotten mighty lucky, Kamon,’ Crystal remarked. ‘But your luck ends here!’
‘It’s not luck,’ Kamon commented, ‘it’s skill.’ He smiled. I did too, though I doubt he saw me.
Kamon, for once, was enjoying himself. I knew it. I knew he enjoyed battling. I knew that is why he came along with me. He wanted to battle, but there must have been something inside him that made him not want to...maybe it was the fear of losing.
Kamon sent out his last Pokémon, Typhlosion, after Celebi knocked out Golem. Typhlosion quickly knocked out Celebi with a Fire Blast—a critical hit.
‘It seems that you have me down to my last Pokémon,’ said Crystal.
‘It does,’ Kamon replied. ‘Now send it out.’
Kamon must have known that he was going to lose. It was inevitable. Crystal still had her Dragonite against Kamon’s lone Typhlosion. Kamon must have also realized that the only way to succeed would be to face his fear of losing, as I had. That was why he was battling now. It was truly the only reason why Kamon was battling now.
One of the most amazing things was that Kamon was still in the battle. My Pokémon were far superior than his. Of course, his Typhlosion would probably be knocked out right now. And I practically won that last match. Still, he shouldn’t have lasted that long.
‘Dragonite, come out and use Surf!’ Crystal cried. The orange dragon nearly knocked out Kamon’s Pokémon with the tidal wave. Kamon told his Typhlosion to use Dynamic Punch, but it missed. Dragonite knocked out Typhlosion with Slam.
‘Wasn’t even close,’ I heard Kamon mutter under his breath. He recalled his Fire Pokémon.
‘Nice try, Kamon,’ Crystal said. ‘I take a great interest in your Entei, but he is far too weak for my team. But he was shiny, wasn’t he?’
‘Yeah, he is,’ Kamon responded.
‘Well, the two of you come back when you have decided you can take me on again. And Kamon, come back when your Entei is more powerful, okay?’
‘Yeah, sure,’ we called back.

* * *

Back in the Pokécenter in Chrono, Kamon and I were talking.
‘I cannot believe we both lost,’ I said. ‘I was almost there, Kamon. Almost.’
‘You have to learn to live with loss,’ Kamon replied.
‘You knew you were going to lose, didn’t you?’ I asked. Kamon nodded. ‘So you battled her...to try to teach me that we all lose once in a while?’
‘Even the losers win, sometimes. Therefore, the winners must lose.’
‘How profound,’ I said sarcastically.
‘Drew,’ Kamon said after several minutes of silence, ‘my Pokémon haven’t gotten any stronger than when I fought you, have they?’
I shook my head. ‘No,’ I said.
‘Well, we’re going to have to do something about that, now aren’t we?’
‘Like what?’ I inquired.
‘We’ll figure it out,’ he said. We sat in the Pokécenter, pondering our next move. Whatever it may be, I knew it was going to take all of our skill, once again, to overcome all of the obstacles. We would have to fight Crystal again. The only real question was, when?

[Carbonite4]

CHAPTER 16
CROSSOVER 4: THE TOWER

Kamon and I were sitting in the Pokécenter in Chrono, discussing what we should do next. I opted to stay in Gehta. I knew I could beat Crystal, now that I know what her Pokémon are.
She completely threw me off guard. She had four legendary Pokémon are her team! There would be no way to beat that easily. Kamon said that I was getting a taste of my own medicine, however. He said that all of the trainers I beat probably felt the same way, since I used two legendary Pokémon.
Kamon, on the other hand, wanted to go south, to the Orange Islands. He said that down in the Orange Islands there were four more gyms and a stadium.
‘The leagues just keep getting smaller and smaller,’ I remarked. Kamon nodded.
He continued, ‘Well, I think it would be good training.’
‘It’s an amateur league, Kamon,’ I said. ‘It would do no good to us at all.’
‘It’s not an amateur league,’ Kamon corrected. ‘Well, at least, that’s what I’ve heard. No, it’s not as hard as this league, but it will still do us some good. It can’t hurt, Drew.’ I pondered that for a moment. Then, suddenly, Kamon’s eyes lit up and he raised both his eyebrows. He snapped his fingers. ‘I got it!’ he shouted.
‘Got what?’ I asked. Several people glanced at Kamon to see what he was yelling about.
‘We can go to the Battle Tower just north of Olivine! It’s perfect. They have different levels of abilities there, so we can battle against people just as strong as we are. What do you say?’
I thought about that for a moment, and then said, ‘Sounds good to me. When can we leave?’
We left almost immediately. We had a choice as to whether we were going to hike back over the Zenith Mountains, or to fly. I chose to fly.
Kamon unleashed his Delibird, while I used my Lugia. I preferred riding on my Lugia than riding on Ho-oh because I felt that Lugia was more graceful. Ho-oh’s movements were not.
We flew over the once green mountains that were now blanketed in white, fluffy snow. The sky was a perfect blue; there wasn’t a cloud in sight. It made the ride back to Kanto much easier.
We arrived in Viridian City about a half an hour to an hour after we left Chrono. Kamon and I recalled our Pokémon, and then rode a bike (which we borrowed from the local Pokécenter) to Saffron City. We took the train back to Goldenrod, and then flew back to Olivine.
The weather in Olivine was not quite as good as it was in Gehta. It was not snowing, but it was still cold (it was January). The sky was cloudy, and it was raining. This made the trip very miserable.
‘From here,’ Kamon said, ‘we go northwest. The Battle Tower isn’t far from here. It should only take us ten minutes or so.’
‘Couldn’t we just fly to the Battle Tower?’ I asked.
‘I think that our Pokémon have flown enough today,’ Kamon replied. ‘And should not have to work harder to make up for your laziness. Come on, let’s go.’ We walked, in the rain (I like to emphasize this because I did not enjoy this one bit, and I hope that Kamon hated it too. I was completely miserable), until we had gone above the city. It started to rain harder.
In front of us was a sign that read (although it was very hard to read because of the rain):
‘BATTLE TOWER STRAIGHT AHEAD 1 MILE.’
From where I was standing, I could see the Battle Tower. Or, at least, its shadow through the rain. It was a tall, dark image, rising above us into the heavens.
The closer we got to the Battle Tower, the taller it seemed to get. However, it could have been because of the rain (impairing our vision).
I looked up once we got to the base of the structure. I could not see the top.
‘Kamon,’ I said (although I had to speak slightly louder than normal because of the rain making so much noise). ‘How tall is this thing?’
‘About 77 stories high,’ Kamon replied. I looked at him in disbelief. It was taller than the Tin Tower, the place where I caught Ho-oh.
We rushed inside. We were dripping wet, and getting water all over the floor. Small water puddles formed in our muddy tracks.
Of all things I forgot to bring, I thought. It was a poncho or an umbrella.
Kamon and I walked up to the reception area. The secretary turned around to greet us.
‘Hello,’ she said. She paused while she glanced at our soppy clothes. She continued: ‘Er, welcome to the Battle Tower. Will you be battling today?’
I took a quick look at Kamon, who rolled his eyes. It was like, No duh we want to battle here. That’s why it’s called the Battle Tower. Why else would we be here?
‘Yes,’ I responded.
‘Which level would you like?’ she questioned.
‘One hundred,’ I said. Her eyes enlarged as I said those words.
‘One—one hundred?’ she stuttered.
Must I repeat myself? I thought. ‘Yes, one hundred.’
‘Oh, okay,’ said the secretary. She obviously did not get very many people asking for the chance to fight against trainers with level 100 Pokémon. ‘Well, step right this way.’ She led us to an elevator, and hit a button with the number ‘66’ on it.
Apparently to floors go like this: floor one is the reception area. Floor two is a Pokémon Center. Floors three through nine are battle areas for level 10 Pokémon. The first battle areas on floor three were for the first stage, and so on. You had to beat seven people, or win on every floor for the level 10 Pokémon, to win the grand prize.
Floors 10 through 16 were battle areas for level 20 Pokémon (or less). Floors 17 through 23 were battle areas for level 30 Pokémon. Floors 24 through 30 were for level 40 Pokémon. Floors 31 through 37 were for level 50 Pokémon. Floors 38 through 44 were for level 60 Pokémon. Floors 45 through 51 were for level 70 Pokémon (which is usually the highest any trainer would go. The challenge level most frequently picked was level 50). Floors 52 through 58 were for level 80 Pokémon. Floors 59 through 65 were for level 90 Pokémon. Finally, floors 66 through 72 were for level 100 Pokémon. Floors 73 through 77 were a mystery to me, but I thought that they might be management offices. And, probably, where they control everything that goes on in the Battle Tower. You know, like a secret control room. Rumor had it that there were several basement floors, but no one that has ever been there had spoken of them. Either that, or no one had been down there.
There was a ‘ding,’ and the elevator doors opened.
The battle arena in front of us was very simple: the floor was blue tile, with white tile forming the distinct shape of a Pokéball. Kamon walked into the center of the battle floor. I waited by the elevator.
So this is what it was like watching me battle back in Gehta, I thought. A trainer walked through a door in the far left corner of the room. He joined Kamon in the center of the arena.
‘You ready,’ he asked. ‘Because I’m going to maul Pokémon.’
‘Of course I’m ready,’ Kamon replied. ‘I’m always ready.’
‘Then send out a Pokémon,’ the trainer said. Kamon threw out an Ultra Ball, unleashing his Typhlosion. The opposing trainer used Sandslash.
‘Typhlosion, Dynamic Punch attack!’ said Kamon. Typhlosion charged at the spiky Ground-type Pokémon, swinging its glowing fist around. There was a huge explosion as Typhlosion struck Sandslash.
‘Sandslash, Earthquake!’ the opposing trainer commanded. Sandslash jumped up into the air and then slammed its claws onto the tile arena.
The earth didn’t move much; I assumed that it was because the Tower was designed to absorb the shock of an earthquake and other attacks emitted from Pokémon.
However, the attack, as far as I could tell, did the same amount of damage.
As the battle continued, a lady walked over to me and said, ‘Are you waiting to battle?’
‘Yes,’ I responded. ‘I’m waiting for him to get through so that I can fight someone.’
‘Oh, you should have said something,’ the woman replied. ‘Here. Come with me.’ She walked over to the other side of the arena. I turned around to see Typhlosion attack Sandslash with Fire Blast. Sandslash retaliated with Slash.
We walked through the small door in the far left corner of the room. We entered a dark hallway, with only a few lights. About one quarter of the way down the corridor, we came to a door. The lady I was walking with opened the door, and let me in.
‘A trainer will be with you in a moment,’ she said. I nodded.
This room was exactly like the room that Kamon was battling in. I could tell no difference.
Within a few moments’ time, a female trainer appeared. She had blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, with a green shirt and blue jean shorts.
‘You must be my opponent,’ she said.
‘Then you must be my victim,’ I returned. Her eyes narrowed.
‘I don’t think so,’ she replied.
‘We’ll see,’ I said. ‘Go, Heracross!’ I threw a Pokéball into the enclosed battle room. It unleashed my Heracross.
‘Ninetales, attack! I want you to use Flamethrower,’ said the girl (I didn’t have a chance to catch her name).
‘Block it,’ I said, ‘with a Detect!’ Heracross stuck out her hand out with perfect timing; Ninetales’s attack was deflected. ‘Now, use Earthquake.’ Heracross raised her right foot into the air, and then slammed in on the ground. Of course, because I had seen this attack used earlier, I knew that Earthquake would do little in the Battle Tower. It still did enough damage to keep me happy and Ninetales at bay.
‘Ninetales, use a Confuse Ray!’ The yellow fox-like Pokémon created a sparkling white light. It shined over my Pokémon, confusing it.
‘That won’t stop us,’ I retorted. ‘Heracross, Rock Slide!’ Heracross hurt itself in confusion, but was still in the battle. The girl’s Ninetales attacked with Fire Blast, but missed. Heracross snapped out of his confusion. ‘Great job, Heracross, now try to use Rock Slide again.’ Ninetales was pummeled by boulders, and was knocked out.
‘Return, my Ninetales,’ said the girl. ‘Venusaur, go! Skull Bash, now!’ The girl’s Venusaur reared its head back, and then charged into my Heracross, knocking her out.
‘Probably going to recall you anyway,’ I commented. ‘Ho-oh, go! Use Sacred Fire!’ My legendary bird of Fire attacked Venusaur with the pillar of flames. Venusaur retaliated with a Body Slam, but it did less than mediocre damage.
‘Venusaur, try a Hyper Beam!’
‘Ho-oh, dodge it!’ I commanded. ‘Fly!’ Ho-oh evaded the high-powered Normal-type attack, and then rammed into Venusaur. ‘Take that,’ I muttered under my breath. While Venusaur recharged, I told my Ho-oh to use Fire Blast, knocking out Venusaur. My opponent was down to only one Pokémon. I had this match made.
Of course, I won. I also won the next five matches. Finally, I was down to the last match; if I won, I won the prize. I didn’t know how Kamon was faring.
The last match was against someone named Jason. He was in a wheelchair, and, for a reason unknown, looked very familiar.
My thoughts went back to several years ago, before I was a trainer. I remember hearing about a person named Jason Creight, but I couldn’t remember what exactly he did, or why I remembered him; all I remembered was that he was a powerful trainer who was in a wheelchair. Many more years experience than I had, of course.
All I had to do was beat this trainer, if he was indeed Jason, as I suspected.
‘So, you are my last foe,’ I said.
‘That’s right,’ the trainer replied. ‘My name is Jason. Yours?’
I grinned. I was right. ‘Drew,’ I responded.
Jason’s eyes lit up. ‘Oh? As in the same Drew who has conquered all of the leagues? Well, except for the Prime League—’
I cut him off. ‘Yeah, that’s me. Now let’s battle. Send out your Pokémon.’
‘Feisty. All right, Charizard, go!’ Jason yelled. The first Pokéball was thrown into the arena. I sent out Feraligatr. ‘Charizard, Aeroblast!’ The Fire Pokémon spread its wings apart, gathering energy for the Flying-type attack. The was blasted at Feraligatr, sending him to the other side of the arena.
‘Feraligatr, don’t let him push you around! Hydro Pump!’ I commanded.
‘Of course you’re using that attack,’ said Jason. ‘Too stereotypical. Charizard, dodge it!’ Charizard flew back down toward the ground, almost touching it, and dodged the attack.
Tricky, I thought. ‘Feraligatr, Waterfall!’ A column of water crashed down on Charizard, causing a lot of damage. Not nearly enough to get knocked out, of course. Jason’s Charizard responded with an Iron Tail. ‘Try a Blizzard, Feraligatr.’
‘Trying to freeze my Pokémon? Unlikely. Sunny Day, Charizard!’ Jason instructed.
Man, this guy thinks of everything, I thought. The Ice attack did an average amount of damage. Feraligatr was going to have to pick up the pace, or we were going to lose. Feraligatr used Surf, at my command, nearly knocking out Charizard.
‘Earthquake,’ Jason told his Pokémon. The attack brought Feraligatr to his knees, but not knocked out. Thankfully.
‘All right, now use your Surf again,’ I commanded my Feraligatr. Another tidal wave crashed over Charizard, knocking him out. ‘Yes! Great job, Feraligatr.’
‘We’ll see how you fare against my next Pokémon. Dragonite, go! Use Thunderbolt!’ Jason cried.
This was the third trainer in a row that has used a Dragon Pokémon against me; the last two used Dragonite. You’d think I’d be able to handle them by now.
I called back my Feraligatr and switched Pokémon to Lugia. ‘Lugia, Dragonbreath!’ Even if Lugia lost, Tyranitar could fight against Dragonite. She had Outrage, after all.
‘Dragonite, Thunder!’ Jason said after his Pokémon recovered from the blue flame attack. Lugia held up its wing, deflecting the Electric attack. ‘Amazing. I’ve never seen a Pokémon block an attack that way before.’
Neither have I, but I didn’t say anything. ‘Lugia, Psychic!’ I yelled. There was a flash of blue light, and Jason’s Dragonite suffered another harsh blow. Dragonite attacked Lugia with a Hyper Beam. ‘Drat,’ I said. ‘Lugia, you use a Hyper Beam, too!’ The two Pokémon exchanged attacks, until finally both seemed to be down to only a little health. It was my turn to try and knock out Jason’s Pokémon.
Jason beat me to it. ‘Dragonite, Outrage!’ The blast of energy knocked out Lugia. I switched Pokémon to Tyranitar, and told him to use Rock Slide. No use in using an attack that will leave me confused if I could use another attack and still knock him out.
After Tyranitar knocked out Dragonite, I shouted, ‘Yeah! Tyranitar, all you have to do is hold off one more Pokémon!’ Moreover, Tyranitar was at full health.
‘Steelix, come out, and Dragonite, return! Steelix, Iron Tail!’ Jason instructed. This was going to be harder than I thought.
Steelix slammed its tail into Tyranitar, doing an extreme amount of damage. Tyranitar quickly recovered from the blow, and then used Earthquake. Steelix counter-attacked with another Iron Tail, but Tyranitar caught it.
‘Yes! Good job, Tyranitar. Now, Seismic Toss!’ Tyranitar swung Steelix around and then threw him into the air. The Pokémon crashed into the wall opposite of where Tyranitar was standing. However, the gargantuan Pokémon rose tall over Tyranitar, and then slammed its body on my Pokémon. It was like my attack did nothing.
‘Steelix, Earthquake!’ Jason ordered. I told Tyranitar to block it with Protect, and then to use Earthquake. Steelix suffered through the attack, but then used his own Earthquake, greatly damaging Tyranitar.
‘Come on, Tyranitar! I know you can pull off this win!’ I looked across the room, over at Jason. His face tensed, and his eyes narrowed on the fray. He was obviously very experienced, and very determined to win the fight. Almost battle-scarred, but not quite. Like, something was lost—the fire in his attitude, or as he put it, the feistiness. Maybe it wasn’t battling, but whatever it was it gave him a rough look. This guy has seen one too many battles, maybe, I thought.
Anyway, I had to get back to the match. I told Tyranitar to use another Earthquake, but Jason said, ‘Steelix, Detect and then Iron Tail!’ The attack caught both of us off guard. The attack knocked Tyranitar to the floor, but somehow, he rose back up, ready to fight.
‘Tyranitar, another Earthquake,’ I said. Sure, it was cheap, but it was, really, the only attack I could use. Steelix fell, but was not knocked out. Jason’s Steel-type Pokémon attacked Tyranitar with a final Earthquake—Tyranitar collapsed, and did not come back up. I had lost, again.

* * *

I thanked Jason for the experience, though I was angry because I lost. I found Kamon in the lobby, talking to Jason. Two things struck me as odd—the first was how Jason was already down here, and the second was how Kamon was talking to him.
‘Kamon, how do you know him?’ I called. Kamon turned toward me.
‘I met him a few years back, when I was trying to conquer the Indigo League. We battled, and it ended in a tie,’ Kamon replied.
Jason continued: ‘I told him that the next time I saw him, we’d battle again, and I’d win.’
‘So, did you two battle?’ I asked.
‘Yeah,’ Jason responded. ‘I fought him right before I fought you. Now, how do you know Kamon?’
‘We’ve been traveling through the Prime League together,’ Kamon answered for me.
‘So who won?’ I inquired (again).
‘I did,’ Jason said proudly. ‘I might add, Kamon, you haven’t gotten much stronger since I last saw you. Proportionate to my Pokémon, at least.’
‘Kamon hasn’t been battling very much, lately,’ I said.
‘You should have tried to battle in the level 80 or level 90 arenas. I’m sure your Pokémon aren’t even into their 90’s, right?’ Jason asked Kamon.
Gloomily, Kamon answered. ‘Actually, I doubt that they are in their 80’s.’
Jason was taken aback. ‘You didn’t do well in the match, but for having Pokémon nearly 30 levels lower than mine, you did good.’
‘I think,’ I spoke up, ‘it’s the philosophy of believing in your Pokémon and they will do better. I don’t really think it works.’
Jason shrugged. ‘Maybe. I will have to try it. Well, it’s been good seeing you, Kamon. And good meeting you, Drew,’ Jason said. Kamon and I wished him goodbye, and then left the Battle Tower.

* * *

Back in the Olivine Pokémon Center, Kamon and I were once again deciding on what to do next.
‘I elect,’ I said, ‘to go to Gehta. I think I’m strong enough, now, to win.’
‘You might, but I’m not,’ Kamon replied. ‘I’m heading to the Orange Islands. It wouldn’t hurt if you went, but you can do whatever you want.’
I sighed. ‘I’ll go ahead and go with you. You never know—I might need a little practice.’ I smiled. Kamon just shook his head and chuckled. We left Olivine and then took the train in Goldenrod over to Kanto, and then headed south.

CHAPTER 17
THE JOURNEY SOUTH

We traveled south, to Cinnabar Island. Apparently, the Orange Islands were pretty far south from Cinnabar. We had to Surf down to Cinnabar, and then Surf down to the Orange Islands.
This was not an easy task; the distance between Cinnabar Island and the Orange Islands was a great one. The ocean was also very choppy, since it was a windy day.
‘We should wait a day,’ I suggested.
‘No,’ Kamon refused. ‘We’ll be a day behind, and I do not want to get behind in our journey. Time is of the essence.’
‘It’s not that important,’ I objected.
‘If we want to get back to Gehta and beat Crystal as soon as we can, it is,’ Kamon responded.
‘We don’t have to rush ourselves,’ I said.
Kamon paused for a minute before replying. ‘This is unlike you, Drew.’
‘How?’ I questioned.
‘I would think that you, of all people, would want to get back at Crystal.’
I nodded. ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘But I think I have taken a small lesson from you—to savor the journey. For the journey is the most important part of our quest, right?’
Kamon smiled. ‘Yeah...’
Kamon hopped on his Corsola, and I climbed on top of Feraligatr. We Surfed as far as we could, until we came to a small island.
‘We should stop here,’ Kamon said, ‘and switch our Pokémon.’
‘All right.’ I recalled the exhausted Feraligatr, and sent out Lugia. Kamon sent out Delibird.
Lugia skimmed the surface of the water as he flew off toward the Orange Islands. Kamon and I stopped off at another island on our way down. It was growing close to evening.
‘It’s too late to continue,’ said Kamon. ‘We can stop here for the night.’
We recalled our Pokémon, and put down some sleeping bags. We went to sleep almost immediately. However, we were awoken in the middle of the night by a strange noise.
‘The hell was that?’ Kamon cursed. He stood up and picked up his Pokéballs. I did the same.
‘I dunno,’ I replied. ‘I sounded like it came from over there.’ I pointed to woods behind us. ‘We need to go see what it is.’
‘We don’t need to, but we should,’ Kamon said. ‘Just to see what it is.’ We walked into the woods, in search of whatever it was that made the sound. I almost found it completely pointless. Almost.
The forest was quite dark (aside from the fact the it was night), and it made it hard to see. I was forced to call out my Ampharos and have him use Flash. After an hour or two of searching, we came up empty handed.
‘I think we should call it a night,’ I said. ‘This is stupid.’
‘True. But...’ Kamon replied.
‘But what?’ I asked.
‘Which way is the way back?’ We stood around, trying to think of which way to go; neither of us knew.
‘Why don’t we use our Flying Pokémon to Fly us out of here?’ I proposed. Kamon pointed up. The trees blocked out the sky. There was a think canopy over our heads, preventing any way out. ‘Ah, that’s a good reason.’ Suddenly, Ampharos turned around, and started running away from us. ‘Ampharos, where’ya going?’ I shouted. Ampharos motioned for us to follow him.
We chased my Pokémon through the woods, until he finally stopped, in front of a stone temple-type of thing. What it was exactly, I wasn’t sure. Ampharos motioned for us to follow him inside.
We walked inside the dark temple. Ampharos’s Flash was not enough to illuminate the temple, so Kamon sent out his Typhlosion. We traveled to the center of the relatively small temple, where a statue of a Pokémon was.
‘What Pokémon is it?’ I asked Kamon. He shrugged.
‘Maybe if I use Max,’ Kamon said, pulling out his Pokédex.
‘Unidentifiable,’ Max said.
‘Ah, thanks Max. That was a lot of help,’ Kamon commented sarcastically.
The statue was of two Pokémon—one was a small bird, and the other looked exactly like the other, but larger, and with arms.
Kamon looked down, toward my belt. ‘Hey, Drew,’ he said, ‘your Pokéballs are glowing.’
I also looked down. The Pokéballs containing Lugia and Ho-oh were glowing. I released the two Pokémon. Lugia and Ho-oh were, to say the least, in a state of shock when they saw the statue. They stepped back, in awe and then let out a cry. Lugia fired an Aeroblast into one side of the statue, illuminating the larger bird. It glowed blue. Ho-oh fired a Sacred Fire into the other side, making the smaller bird glow red. Lugia and Ho-oh then turned to me and nudged at my back pack. I searched through it, not knowing what to take out.
‘I don’t know what you want!’ I told my Pokémon. I started to take things out of my back pack, and when I passed Lugia’s Silver Feather and Ho-oh’s Rainbow Feather, my Pokémon stopped me. I took the two feathers out, and placed them in two slots in the statue. The entire temple lit up, but still nothing big was happening. ‘Now what?’ I asked, turning to Kamon.
‘Maybe there’s something else that you need to put in there. Something sacred,’ he responded. I thought for a moment, and then came up with the perfect item.
Sacred Fire, the Feathers, and now something else sacred, I thought. Sacred Ash!
I took a small container out of my back pack. There was grey dust in it. I walked over to the statue again, and looked around. In between the two birds was a small hole. I placed the Sacred Ash in the hole. Suddenly, the entire temple started to shake and crumble. Kamon, the Pokémon, and I ran out of the temple. We turned around, just to watch the green temple collapse onto itself. However, two glowing birds flew out of it rubble.
‘We unleashed two Pokémon,’ I said. ‘They must be legendary or something...’ The red and the blue bird Pokémon screeched, and then flew away. I called Ho-oh to my side, and hopped on. ‘Come on, Ho-oh, we’re chasing after them.’ Ho-oh refused. ‘What!? You’re supposed to obey me! Now let’s go!’
‘Drew,’ Kamon intervened, ‘I don’t think that they want to chase after them. Nor are they supposed to.’
I sighed. ‘I know, but I just wanted to...catch them...or something...’ Kamon beckoned me to follow him back to the campsite. I recalled my Pokémon and followed Kamon back onto the beach. The sun was about to rise, and the sky was growing brighter. We gathered our stuff, and prepared to leave again.
We left the island, and then Surfed to the next island, where we found a Pokécenter. Kamon decided to call Professor Elm.
After the Professor picked up the phone, Kamon spoke. ‘Hey, Professor Elm,’ Kamon said. ‘I wanted to tell you about two Pokémon we saw.’ Kamon slipped his Pokédex into the slot under the computer screen.
‘Hm...,’ Elm said thoughtfully. ‘I may have something useful for you, if you encounter any other Pokémon like this. It’s a new Pokédex.’ A slightly different looking Pokédex came out of the slot underneath the computer screen.
‘Thanks, Professor,’ Kamon said. He took out the Pokédex and put it in his back pack. Elm and Kamon talked for a little while. While they did, I healed both Kamon’s Pokémon and my Pokémon.
‘Ready to go?’ I asked, after Kamon ended the call.
‘I think,’ Kamon said, ‘since we’re down south and all—and it’s hot—that I should cut my hair.’
I was taken aback. ‘Oh?’
‘Yeah. Back to the way it was when I first started. C’mon, let’s go.’ I followed Kamon out of the Pokécenter, and to a barber shop. Kamon cut his hair short, except for a single clump of hair in front. He put on a hat, letting the clump of hair stick out.
‘So,’ I started, ‘what are you going to name this Pokédex?’
Kamon thought for a minute, and then answered. ‘Bob,’ he said. ‘I’ll name it Bob.’
We laughed about it.
We then traveled off to the next island, and our first Orange Island battle.

[Carbonite4]

CHAPTER 18
ENTER THE ORANGE LEAGUE

The first island with a gym on it in the Orange Islands was called Tropicana Island. The leader there used Psychic-type Pokémon. A pretty easy bout, if I played my cards right.
Kamon finally decided to fight against the gym leaders. ‘I want to try to beat Crystal,’ he said.
‘You do realize,’ I added, ‘that you have yet to conquer any gyms in the Prime League?’
‘I know,’ Kamon replied. ‘But I think Crystal wouldn’t mind if I challenged her again, would she? I mean, you wouldn’t refuse a challenge, would you?’
‘Of course not.’ I grinned.
We walked into the small gym, where a lone trainer sat in the back of the room. He had sandy hair and wore a tropical button-down white-and-blue shirt.
‘Ah, some new competitors,’ the leader said. ‘I’m Zack, the leader of Tropicana Island Gym. Which one of you is going to fight me?’
‘We both are,’ Kamon said. ‘But my friend Drew will fight you first.’
I leaned over to Kamon and whispered, ‘Thanks for volunteering me.’
‘No problem,’ Kamon remarked, sarcastically.
‘How experienced are you?’ Zack asked.
‘I think I should be the one asking that,’ I replied, ‘but you asked first. As high as you can go. 100’s, preferably.’
Zack was taken aback. ‘Er, all right. I choose Espeon first!’ he shouted.
I threw a Master Ball into the arena, unleashing Ho-oh. ‘Ho-oh, go!’ I yelled. ‘Sacred Fire attack!’
Zack winced as his Pokémon suffered the harsh blow. ‘Espeon, Psychic!’ he commanded.
‘Detect, and then Shadow Ball!’ I shouted. Ho-oh launched the smoky ball at Espeon, causing a high amount of damage. Ho-oh was still unscathed. Espeon counter-attacked with another Psychic, at Zack’s command.
‘Great job, Espeon,’ said Zack. ‘Now, use Return!’
‘Ho-oh! Fly!’ I commanded. Ho-oh dodged the Normal-type attack, and then dive-bombed Espeon. Espeon recovered, and then attacked Ho-oh with Quick Attack, finally doing damage. ‘Finish Espeon off with Flamethrower!’ Ho-oh’s beak opened, and flames spurt out. Espeon fainted from the Fire attack.
‘All right, return, Espeon,’ Zack said. ‘Hypno, go! Use Poison Gas!’ The green gas seeped into Ho-oh’s lungs, poisoning my Pokémon. I then told Ho-oh to use Fire Blast, causing a lot of damage. Hypno put Ho-oh to sleep with Hypnosis, and then used Dream Eater, recovering his health.
‘Ho-oh, come on! Wake up!’ I shouted. It had no effect. Hypno used Dream Eater again, nearly knocking out Ho-oh, and recovering all of his health. Dang, I thought.
‘Now finish Ho-oh off with Skull Bash!’ Ho-oh took the attack, and fainted.
‘Come back Ho-oh,’ I said, ‘and go Heracross! Mega Horn attack!’ Hypno was thrown back by the force of the attack. He got back up, however, and then assaulted my Bug Pokémon with Psychic, doing double-damage. Heracross struck back with another Mega Horn, knocking out Hypno.
‘Return. Now, I choose you! Venomoth! Use Fly!’ Zack instructed. Venomoth flew through the air, and then attacked Heracross with the aerial attack. The attack did four times the normal amount of damage—Heracross only lived because of the Focus Band.
‘All right!’ I said. ‘Good job Heracross. Reversal attack!’ Heracross unleashed a powerful energy attack, and then prepared to be knocked out. Venomoth merely Tackled Heracross, knocking her out. I called back Heracross, and sent out Lugia. No mercy. ‘Aeroblast!’ That was all it took. I had won my first Orange Island gym match. I recalled my Pokémon.
‘Well, I guess you earned this,’ Zack said, handing me a jeweled rock. ‘Now,’ Zack continued, turning to Kamon, ‘are you going to battle?’
‘Of course,’ Kamon said, smiling. He stepped up, and then challenged Zack. Kamon chose his Pokémon first. ‘Delibird, go!’
‘Gengar, go!’ said Zack. ‘Thunderbolt attack!’ Sparks shocked Delibird, bringing him down to the ground. Delibird came back with Blizzard, though. ‘Gengar, now use Nightshade!’ The black energy wave damaged Delibird.
‘Delibird, Wing Attack!’ Kamon commanded. Delibird slapped Gengar with his wing, doing mediocre damage. Gengar retaliated with Toxic, poisoning Delibird. Now was Kamon’s chance to take the lead. ‘Blizzard, now!’ he shouted. The snow and hail destroyed Gengar. Zack recalled his Pokémon.
‘All right, now, I’ll send out Alakazam! Go!’ Zack cried, throwing the Pokéball containing his Alakazam into the arena. ‘Thunderbolt!’ Delibird was shocked by the Electric attack, but was not knocked out.
‘Good job, Delibird,’ Kamon said. ‘Try a Quick Attack!’ Delibird zoomed toward Alakazam, but he came back with Psychic, knocking out Delibird. ‘Nice try, Delibird. You can rest now. All right, go Corsola! Hydro Pump!’ Alakazam was blasted with water, but quickly recovered.
‘Alakazam, use another Thunderbolt,’ said Zack. As Alakazam used the attack, Corsola reversed it with Mirror Coat, taking Alakazam out. ‘That was quick...’ Zack muttered. ‘Return. As my final Pokémon, I’ll send out Exeggutor!’ Zack called out his Pokémon, and told him to use Solarbeam; one-hit knock-out.
‘Dang,’ Kamon said. ‘Come back Corsola, and go Typhlosion! Use Fire Blast!’ Exeggutor was engulfed by the flames, but survived. Kamon’s face tensed as Exeggutor used Earthquake, greatly hurting his Pokémon. Kamon commanded Typhlosion to use Fire Blast again, making Exeggutor faint.
‘Beaten twice in a row...interesting. Exeggutor, return. You, too, deserve this badge.’ Zack handed Kamon the Tropicana Gym Badge. ‘Now, good luck to you both.’ Kamon and I thanked him, and then moved on to our next gym, on Kumquat Island.
‘Apparently,’ Kamon said, ‘there’s a Grass gym there.’
‘Too easy,’ I said. ‘Which Pokémon, do you think, should I use to annihilate them? It doesn’t really matter, does it?’
‘Arrogant fool,’ Kamon retorted.
‘Who, me?’
‘No. Never. Not Drew, of all people...of course you! Drew, you can’t let one win go to your head. Nobody’s invincible.’
‘I am,’ I murmured, though I don’t think Kamon heard me.

CHAPTER 19
KUMQUAT ISLAND

Grass Pokémon weren’t exactly hard Pokémon to fight. In fact, in my opinion, they were weak. That was why I didn’t have a Grass-type Pokémon on my team.
Fire Pokémon were great. Plus, one needed a Pokémon that can Fly. Therefore, I had Ho-oh.
Psychic Pokémon were almost essential. The Flying part of Lugia makes him weak, but it’s a small price to pay for the strongest Pokémon in the world (besides maybe Crystal’s Mew).
Water Pokémon were also a necessity. Feraligatr just happened to be strong enough and have diverse enough attacks to make my team. A Lapras could easily replace him, though Lapras cannot learn Crunch and Earthquake.
If one did not have an Electric Pokémon, one was in some deep trouble. Electric Pokémon were some of the greatest Pokémon to have around. Of course I had to have Ampharos. Besides that, he’s a very powerful Pokémon.
Tyranitar was a very, very Pokémon, and was Dark and Rock. Though neither type was essential, he made a great team-mate.
Heracross was just a wasted spot, really. Bug and Fighting Pokémon are almost worthless, since they are weak to several types, and not too strong against many types. Still Heracross was a great Pokémon to have. She could have been replaced, but I liked her. She was a good Pokémon.
That was my team. A very formidable team, but it could be tweaked. I wasn’t sure how, but it could. Kamon said that it wasn’t the Pokémon I used, it was how I used them. I think he was full of crap. Lugia could beat any Pokémon he wanted.
‘Because,’ Kamon said, ‘you have faith in your Lugia. Let’s take my former rival, Jet, for instance. He had no faith in his Pokémon, and treated them as mere tools. He failed at every attempt to beat me. Now look where he is.’
‘Um,’ I said, ‘where is he?’
‘Jail,’ Kamon replied.
‘Ah.’
We continued on to the next island: Kumquat Island. We healed our Pokémon and then walked into the gym.
This gym wasn’t like a normal gym; this gym was made out of grass and wood. Like an old-fashioned island hut.
The leader was a girl named Ashley. When I was about to challenge her, Kamon stepped in my way. ‘I wish to battle you first,’ he said. I scowled at him. ‘For once, I want to battle first.’
I sighed in defeat. ‘All right,’ I replied.
‘I will tell you,’ Ashley said to Kamon. ‘I am no pushover. My older brother is the Champion of the Orange League.’ I thought for a moment, and then asked how old she was. ‘13.’
‘Hm...’ I said. Then, I thought, I wonder who her older brother is...
Kamon sent out his first Pokémon. ‘Delibird, go!’ He should have saved Delibird for later, but hey, it’s his battle.
‘Then I’ll choose Beedrill! Go!’ Ashley yelled. ‘Use your Pin Missile!’ Beedrill fired several needles at Delibird, doing mediocre damage.
‘Delibird, Fly!’ Kamon commanded. Delibird flew into the air, and then slammed into Beedrill. Ashley’s Pokémon retaliated with Hyper Beam, doing an incredible amount of damage. Delibird came back with a Wing Attack—critical hit—knocking him out. ‘Nice work, Delibird!’ Kamon exclaimed.
‘Beedrill, come back, and go! Victreebel! Acid, now!’ Ashley said. Delibird suffered the attack, and fainted.
‘Return,’ Kamon said. ‘Entei, come out and use Fire Blast!’ The legendary flame Pokémon unleashed the powerful Fire-type attack, nearly knocking Victreebel out.
‘Victreebel, Body Slam!’ Victreebel went to slam itself on top of top of Entei, but missed. Kamon didn’t miss an opportunity to attack, so he commanded Entei to use Flamethrower, knocking Victreebel out. ‘You rest, Victreebel. I choose you, next! As my last Pokémon, I choose Bellossom!’ Ashley sent out her final Grass-type Pokémon, and told her to use Sleep Powder. The attack failed.
‘Entei, another Fire Blast!’ Kamon cried. Flames poured from Entei’s mouth and struck Bellossom.
‘Bellossom, Sleep Powder!’ Ashley said. This time, the attack succeeded. Entei drifted off into a deep slumber. ‘Good job, Bellossom. Now attack with Giga Drain!’ Bellossom sucked health from Entei while he slept. Ashley then told her Pokémon to use Hyper Beam, taking away even more health.
Finally, Entei woke up and used Flamethrower, but missed. Bellossom knocked the shiny legendary Pokémon out with another Hyper Beam.
‘Dang,’ Kamon said. ‘Go Typhlosion! Fire Punch!’ Typhlosion upper-cut Bellossom, knocking her out.
‘Aww...return. Well, you win. Here’s your badge,’ Ashley said. Kamon received his badge, and I stepped up.
‘All right, it’s my turn,’ I said. ‘Go, Heracross!’
‘Scyther, come out and use Wing Attack!’ said Ashley. The Bug Pokémon slammed into Heracross, doing an unusually high amount of damage.
‘Heracross, return. Tyranitar, go! Rock Slide!’ Rocks pummeled Scyther. Before Ashley’s Pokémon could come back with another attack, Tyranitar used Rock Slide again, knocking out Scyther.
‘I’ll choose Meganium next,’ said Ashley. ‘Use Solarbeam!’ While Meganium gathered energy, Tyranitar used Flamethrower. Meganium then fired the gold Solarbeam, but Tyranitar caught it in her hands.
Tyranitar was getting pushed backwards by the beam, but she wasn’t giving up. Suddenly, Meganium used another Solarbeam, overwhelming Tyranitar. She rose from the ground, however, and then used Fire Blast. The attack missed.
‘Meganium, finish off Tyranitar with Giga Drain!’ the enemy Meganium sucked the remaining health from Tyranitar. I recalled my Pokémon, and then sent out Heracross again.
‘Heracross, Mega Horn,’ I instructed. Heracross charged at Meganium, buried her horn in his side, and then flung him across the room. ‘Great job,’ I said.
‘Meganium, Body Slam!’
‘Detect!’ Heracross blocked the attack and then proceeded in using another Mega Horn, critical hit, knocking out Meganium.
‘As my last Pokémon, I’ll use Ivysaur! Use Body Slam!’ Ashley yelled. This time, the attack succeeded, paralyzing Heracross. I called her back again.
‘Feraligatr, go! Use Blizzard!’ I commanded. Snow and ice battered Ivysaur, but the Pokémon was not yet knocked out.
‘Ivysaur, Razor Leaf!’ Small razor-sharp leaves sliced away at Feraligatr, but he came back with Ice Beam, knocking out Ivysaur. I had won. Again.
‘Good job,’ I said, recalling my Pokémon. Ashley did likewise. She handed me the badge, and Kamon and I moved on to Pulp Island.

[Carbonite4]

CHAPTER 20
DREAM

I met the girl of my dreams the day we got to Pulp Island.
Kamon and I headed straight for the gym, where we met two people (co-gym leaders): Carlos, and his younger sister, Carly. Surprisingly, neither were Hispanic.
Carlos used Ice-type Pokémon, while Carly used miscellaneous Pokémon.
Carly had shoulder-length dark blonde hair. She was slightly shorter than I was, and had a perfect figure. ‘I’ll battle the short one,’ she said in a sweet, gentile voice.
‘I—I accept,’ I stuttered.
Kamon shot an awkward glance at me. ‘You okay, man?’
‘Never been better,’ I whispered.
Kamon walked over to Carlos. They both sent out their Pokémon: Carlos sent out Dewgong, while Kamon used Typhlosion. He picked wrong, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was Carly. I meant, the battle with her. Whatever.
‘You can send out first,’ I said.
‘No,’ Carly objected. ‘You first. I insist.’
I cleared my throat and sent out my first Pokémon: Ampharos.
‘Donphan, come out and use Earthquake!’ Carly commanded. Ampharos fell down, startled, and then hopped back up. Surprisingly, it didn’t do that much damage.
‘Thunder!’ I yelled. Wait, that’s not right, I thought. I pondered on that last attack for a moment. Then, Carly spoke up.
‘Idiot. Have you ever fought in a Pokémon battle? Magnitude,’ she said. Donphan slammed its feet on the ground, causing a Magnitude 8. Ampharos took even more damage.
‘Ampharos, Fire Punch attack,’ I said. The attack glanced off of Donphan. Carly wasted no time in telling Donphan to use Earthquake again. Ampharos fainted. ‘Wow, that was quick,’ I commented.
‘I’m sure,’ Carly replied. ‘Now send out your next Pokémon.’
‘If you insist,’ I said, smirking. Carly just rolled her eyes. ‘Feraligatr, go! Whirlpool!’
‘Whirlpool?’ Carly questioned. ‘What sort of pathetic attempt at an attack is that? Donphan, Mega Horn!’ Feraligatr was launched across the room. Her regained balance, and then attacked Donphan with Hydro Pump. Donphan fell.
‘Finally,’ I muttered under my breath.
‘Togetic, I choose you! Metronome!’ Togetic wiggled its finger, and then kicked Feraligatr in the leg. Low Kick, no doubt.
‘Feraligatr, Slash!’
Carly sighed with relief. ‘I just realized that your Pokémon could use Ice-type attacks,’ she said.
‘Huh? Oh, so?’ I responded. Carly looked dumbfounded. I thought for a second, and then remembered that Togetic was Flying-type, too. God, I am such a dumb ***, I thought.
‘Now, Togetic, use Body Slam!’ Carly’s Togetic slammed itself on top of Feraligatr, paralyzing him. Togetic then used Hyper Beam, doing even more damage.
‘Feraligatr, Ice Beam attack!’ I instructed. Togetic used Detect, blocking it.
‘Togetic, Thunderbolt!’ said Carly. Togetic shocked Feraligatr, critical hit, knocking him out.
‘I can’t believe this,’ I exclaimed. I called back Feraligatr, and sent out my last Pokémon: Tyranitar. ‘Tyranitar, Rock Slide!’ Tyranitar hurled rocks at Togetic, also knocking it out.
‘Come back Togetic, and go, Vaporeon! Use Hydro Pump!’ Carly commanded. Vaporeon doused Tyranitar with water. She retaliated with Earthquake, doing minor damage. ‘Vaporeon, another Hydro Pump!’ Tyranitar suffered another Water attack.
She can’t take much more, I thought. ‘Tyranitar, Hyper Beam!’ Tyranitar launched the golden light beam at Vaporeon, but it did not knock Carly’s Pokémon out. Carly wasted no time in using Waterfall, knocking out Tyranitar. I had lost to someone not even half as good as I was.

* * *

Kamon, of course, had won.
‘It’s not everyday,’ Kamon said, ‘that one has more badges than the mighty Drew Anderson.’
‘Shut up,’ I snapped.
‘Drew, seriously, what happened?’ Kamon asked me.
‘I...I don’t know. It was like, I wasn’t all there. I didn’t even really...try to win,’ I replied.
‘Hmm...’ Kamon said thoughtfully.
‘It might have been...her. It was like...I got all infatuated when I was around her. I was entranced. Like I was in a spell. Being around her is intoxicating. I couldn’t battle.’
‘Ah, well, that’s your problem. You are in love,’ Kamon said.
‘No! I mean, I guess so,’ I responded. I sat down, thinking about it.
‘Look, don’t let your emotions get in the way of battling. You have been known for never going easy on someone. Don’t let it end now,’ Kamon told me.
‘You’re right. I’m going to go back there and fight her again. This time I’ll win. I must win.’
‘You always win, remember?’ Kamon said satirically.
‘Of course.’
I went back to the gym. Carlos greeted me this time. ‘Do you want to fight me this time, or my little sister?’ he said, almost with a laugh.
‘Oh, I’ll fight you sister,’ I said. And I’ll win, too, I thought.
‘I’ll send out first, this time,’ said Carly. ‘Go Arcanine!’
‘Lugia, go!’ I yelled. ‘Lugia, Rain Dance, and then Hydro Pump!’
‘Yikes. Arcanine, Body Slam!’ Carly commanded. Lugia was too quick, and Arcanine was knocked out. One-hit K.O.
‘Good job, Lugia,’ I said.
‘All right, come out Yanma! Your Wing Attack!’ The blow just glanced off of Lugia. I told Lugia to use Aeroblast, also knocking out Yanma in one hit. ‘Incredible. You’re like, a completely different person this time,’ said Carly.
‘Well, I think last time, I was a little, er...’ I paused for a moment, and then continued, ‘distracted.’
‘Oh?’ Carly said, slightly surprised. ‘By what?’
I heard Kamon laugh from behind me. I turned around and gave him an evil glare. He stopped laughing.
‘Nothing. Anyway, send out your last Pokémon. I want to hurry up and beat you and move to the next gym,’ I said.
‘Cocky. My last Pokémon will be...Espeon! Use Shadow Ball!’ Carly instructed.
‘Protect,’ I started, ‘and then another Aeroblast!’ Lugia deflected the attack, and then launched another white beam at Carly’s Pokémon. Espeon was not knocked out in one hit, though.
‘Shadow Ball!’ Carly commanded. The attack didn’t do too much.
‘Lugia, use your Shadow Ball!’ I said. Lugia blasted the purple ball at Espeon, knocking him out. ‘Yes!’ I cheered. ‘Come back Lugia. Now...’ I said, turning to Carly. ‘A badge?’
‘Of course,’ she said. She walked over to me, and handed me the badge. Kamon and I left the gym, and went back to the Pokémon Center.

* * *

‘I don’t want to leave,’ I responded to Kamon’s question. ‘Not yet, anyway.’
‘You want to stay for her?’ Kamon asked.
‘Yeah,’ I replied. ‘But...he have to continue our quest. It’s not over yet.’
‘It’s quite a predicament,’ Kamon said.
‘I have an idea,’ I said, getting up. ‘You stay here; I’ll be right back.’ I ran out of the Pokécenter, and headed back to the gym.



CHAPTER 21
THE WHIRLPOOL

Carly decided to join us on our journey.
‘So,’ Kamon said to me as we were preparing to leave, ‘how’d you do it?’
I grinned. ‘My boyish charm, of course,’ I replied, sarcastically. Kamon smiled and shook his head. Carly walked from the counter at the Pokécenter and over to us.
‘Are you two ready to go?’ she asked.
‘Ready when you are,’ I said.
‘All right, then. Our next stop is an island called Mandarin Island. It doesn’t have a gym, but we should Surf out to there, and then to Tangerine Island the next day,’ said Carly.
‘Sounds good to me,’ I said.
We left the Pokécenter, and sent out our Pokémon: Kamon with his Corsola, me with my Feraligatr, and Carly with her Vaporeon. We hopped into the water, and continued our journey.
Kamon turned to me and said, ‘You hired her as a navigator?’
‘Well...’ I started. ‘Yeah.’ I turned to Carly. ‘Your brother can take care of the gym while you’re gone, right?’
‘Of course,’ Carly responded. ‘I was planning on leaving, anyway. This just gives me a chance to see the world earlier.’ She thought for a moment, and then continued. ‘Where are you guys planning on heading anyway? I mean, after the Orange League?’
‘You ever hear of Gehta?’ Kamon asked.
‘Hmm...’ Carly thought aloud. ‘I think so. Isn’t it some land north of Kanto?’
‘Yeah,’ I answered.
‘Then what are you doing here?’
‘Well...er, you see...’ I stuttered.
‘We lost in the Prime League,’ Kamon took over, ‘and we have come here to train.’
‘Ah.’
We continued to Surf across the ocean. Day shifted to evening, and then into night. However, there was an unnatural darkness to the sky.
‘A storm’s brewing,’ Carly said. ‘We should find an island to land on, but the closest one is Mandarin Island. It’s too far away, though...’
‘Then we must make haste, and get there as soon as possible,’ said Kamon. ‘Corsola, we need to move faster. Let’s go!’ Carly and I also told our Pokémon to move faster.
Half-way there, according to Carly, we came across a small problem: there was a giant whirlpool blocking our path.
‘We cannot go around it,’ Carly said. ‘It’s too wide. We could try, but who knows what else is on the side of it?’
‘It’s our only choice,’ I replied. ‘Lest we go through it.’
‘We’ll have to,’ Kamon said. Rain splattered up against his head. ‘We need all of our Pokémon to use Whirlpool at the same time. Ready, go!’ All of us charged into the giant whirlpool, and all of our Pokémon used Whirlpool at the same time. However, it wasn’t working. We got about half-way across, and failed. We got sucked down, swirling, swirling, until the darkness overwhelmed us.

* * *

When I woke up, Kamon, Carly, and I were on an island. Laying on the beach, in the sun. ‘Where are we?’ I asked. I turned to my left. Carly was unconscious. I turned to my right, where Kamon was sitting on a rock. I walked over to Carly and shook her. She slowly opened her eyes.
‘Hey,’ I said, ‘you okay?’
‘Hm, what?’ Carly said. She looked up and saw me. ‘Get off of me, you creep!’ she yelled, pushing me.
‘Hey, I was just trying to wake you up!’ I retorted.
‘He wasn’t doing anything wrong,’ Kamon added.
Carly sighed. ‘All right, and thanks anyway,’ she said. ‘Now, where are we?’
‘We’re not sure, yet,’ Kamon said. He hopped off of the boulder and then walked over to us. He helped me up, and I helped Carly up. ‘Regardless, we’re going to have to get off of here and get to the next island.’
‘But how are we supposed to do that,’ Carly interrupted, ‘if we don’t know where we are?’
‘Well, we can always just use Fly and try to see where we are,’ I remarked.
‘We could,’ Carly said, ‘but it would be difficult.’
‘Better than staying around here and doing nothing.’
‘Tell you what,’ Kamon said, ‘why don’t we set up a camp or something, get something to eat, and then go from there?’
‘Sounds good to me,’ I said, turning to Carly.
‘All right,’ she said.
I was responsible for finding sticks for the fire, while Kamon prepared the food. Carly found a waterfall. Her part was done. She opted to take a shower while there.
I continued on my little quest for wood. I hadn’t found many, but I stumbled across a large area of trees—good for wood. As I was picking up sticks, I came across the clearing with the waterfall. Carly was standing there, in the nude, bathing. I dropped the sticks and ducked behind a log.
‘Hello?’ Carly called out.
I cleared my voice. ‘Yeah, it was just me. I didn’t know you were back here...’
‘Oh...no, that’s okay,’ Carly replied. I raised an eyebrow. ‘I was getting out anyway.’ I crept out from behind the log, and picked up the branches I dropped. I glanced up again; Carly was wrapped in a towel. Where she got it, I hadn’t a clue. ‘If you want to take a bath,’ she continued, ‘you may do so. I’m going back to the camp.’
‘That’s all right,’ I said, ‘I just need to gather wood for the fire.’
Carly slipped on some clothes. ‘I’ll help you, if you want. I mean, I’m not doing anything else, so I figure I could help,’ she offered.
‘Thanks,’ I said. The two of us continued to pick up twigs. After we decided that we had enough branches, we went back to the camp.
‘Where have you two been?’ Kamon exclaimed. He took the twigs from us, and lit the fire with his Typhlosion. We ate dinner (soup), and then laid our sleeping bags down.
In the morning, we put our sleeping bags away and got our stuff together. Kamon sent out his Delibird and flew off, trying to find another island. Meanwhile, Carly and I stayed behind.
‘It seems,’ Carly said, ‘like you two know where you are going. Kamon is trying to find the next island by himself.’
‘Yeah...’ I replied.
Carly paused for a moment, and then continued. ‘Which means that you aren’t in need of a guide, are you?’
‘Well, um...’ I started. Should I tell her the truth, or just make up something? I thought. ‘Honestly, no, we didn’t need a guide. I just wanted you to come with us because...well, I like you.’
‘Wow. Um, I’m...I’m not exactly sure what to say,’ Carly stuttered.
‘You don’t have to say anything,’ I replied. I couldn’t even look her in the eyes.
‘Okay,’ she said. She leaned over to me and kissed me. I was taken aback.
Kamon came back. ‘Well, I saw another island, about fifteen miles to the south. We should be able to reach it before evening if we leave now.’
‘All right,’ I said. I helped Carly up. We left the mysterious island, and onto the next one. Which one it was, we didn’t know, but it would put us one step closer to our goal.

[Carbonite4]

CHAPTER 22
MORTY’S PROPHECY

The island we landed on was Satsuma Island. It didn’t have a gym. However, we saw signs everywhere advertising a gym leader on the island.
‘Beats me,’ Kamon said, ‘what they are talking about.’
‘Well, this island doesn’t have a gym,’ Carly replied. ‘For that I’m certain. There are only four gyms in the Orange League.’
‘Then we should go see what this gym leader thing is,’ I remarked. We followed the signs to a tent that said, ‘Meet Morty Here.’ ‘As in Morty from Ecruteak?’ I questioned.
‘I would assume so,’ Kamon replied. We walked inside, and sure enough, it was the one and only Morty from the Ghost Gym in Ecruteak.
‘Ah, hello. Welcome. If you would like me to read your fate, step over here. I can also judge how powerful you really are...’ he said. He extended his arms, palms out. There was a chair on either side of him. The tent was only lit by a single candle in front of him, on an old wooden table.
I stepped up. ‘I’ll go,’ I said.
‘Fair enough,’ Morty replied. He motioned for me to sit in the chair on his left side. I sat down, and he carefully stared at me. ‘You’ve had a Psychic Reading before, haven’t you?’
Caught off-guard, I answered, ‘Uh, yeah.’
‘Aha...and you want to know if what Sabrina told you is true?’ Morty asked, almost rhetorically. He already knew.
‘Yes. Because...I think she’s wrong,’ I answered.
‘That you are not supposed to succeed in the Prime League...Drew, it’s your destiny.’
‘No! My destiny is to be the most powerful trainer ever!’ I snapped.
‘All the power on Earth cannot change destiny,’ Morty replied sternly.
‘I...I already lost to Crystal once. Are you saying that I am doomed to fail again?’
‘Hm...it’s unclear. Yes, you are destined to fail in the Prime League, yet...there’s another factor that could change the outcome.’
‘What do you mean?’ I inquired.
‘I’m not sure, quite yet. You see, you were supposed to go to the Orange League. Meeting that girl in the corner,’ Morty said, leaning close to me, ‘was not just coincidence. It was supposed to happen this way. But there’s another factor, which will effect your future.’ Morty sat in a long silence. ‘Someone will enter your world. He or she will make a difference. I leave you with that,’ Morty concluded.
Kamon, who apparently was gone for my reading, came back into the tent. Morty was taken aback, and then stared, wide-eyed, at Kamon.
‘What is it?’ I asked him.
Morty sighed and shook his head. ‘Nothing, don’t worry about it,’ he said. We left Morty’s tent.
‘Well,’ I said, ‘that was weird.’
‘What did he tell you?’ Carly asked.
‘Nothing I already didn’t know,’ I replied.
We continued across the island until we the shore. But even as we sailed off to Mandarin Island, Morty’s prophecy haunted my mind.

* * *

We arrived on Mandarin Island late in the evening, and decided to spend the night in a hotel there. We only had enough money for two rooms—a family room (with a TV and a pull-out bed) and a bedroom. Carly tried to declare the bedroom for herself, but Kamon, being the oldest, decided that he should get it. Carly got the pull-out bed, and I would sleep in a chair.
Sometime in the middle of the night (I was still awake because the chair was possibly the most uncomfortable thing I had ever slept on), Carly got up from the pull-out bed and walked over to me.
‘I feel real guilty for making you sleep there,’ she said.
‘It’s not your fault,’ I replied. ‘It’s Kamon’s. I’ll be mad at him.’
She laughed. ‘No, really. You haven’t been sleeping all night. Why don’t you sleep in my bed? I will admit it’s not much more conformable, but it’s better than sleeping in a chair...’
Taken aback, I stuttered in my reply. ‘Yeah, er, sure.’ I crept into her bed, and had one of the best nights of my life.

* * *

We came around to Tangerine Island the next day, but we waited another day to battle the gym leader. I was still unsure about battling, though, because of the loss to Carly and Morty’s prophecy.
The gym leader was a Fire-type Pokémon user. Her name was Trixie. I decided to let Kamon battle first.
Kamon chose Golem, while Trixie used Arcanine. Golem used Rock Slide, and Arcanine, at Trixie’s command, struck back with Earthquake. Kamon was, obviously, not expecting that. He told his Golem to use Earthquake, also, nearly knocking out Arcanine.
These people are so below us, I thought.
‘Arcanine,’ Trixie began. She moved her red hair from in front of her face to behind her ear. ‘Another Earthquake!’
‘Detect,’ Kamon shouted, ‘and then Rock Throw!’ Golem blocked the attack and then hurled more rocks at Arcanine, knocking it out.
Trixie called back her Pokémon and then sent out Ninetales. After a couple of exchanged attacks, Ninetales was the victor. Kamon recalled Golem, sent out Corsola, and knocked out Ninetales with a single Surf. Ninetales went back into the Pokéball, and Trixie used Magcargo as her last Pokémon. Kamon easily defeated Magcargo with Hydro Pump. Kamon received his badge, and I stepped up.
‘Now,’ I said, ‘the real battle begins.’

CHAPTER 23
THE SURPRISE

I stepped up to fight Trixie. ‘I’m ready when you are,’ I said.
‘All right,’ said Trixie. ‘I’ll choose Magmar first. Go!’
‘Then I’ll choose my Feraligatr. Come out and use Hydro Pump!’ The Water attack greatly damaged Magmar, but he came back with Thunder Punch—an attack I did not expect at all. ‘Whoa. Er, uh, Feraligatr,’ I stuttered, ‘use your Surf to finish Magmar off!’ The tidal wave rushed over Magmar, knocking him out.
‘I recall Magmar,’ Trixie said, ‘and will use Typhlosion, go! Thunderpunch!’ Typhlosion swung it’s fist around, and then plowed it into Feraligatr. While it did not knock him out, I still called back Feraligatr.
‘Tyranitar, take over for Feraligatr. Use Earthquake!’ I instructed. Tyranitar pounded the ground, making it crack beneath the two Pokémon. Trixie’s Typhlosion retaliated with Dynamic Punch, not only doing four times the normal amount of damage, but also confusing Tyranitar.
‘Take that,’ said Trixie. I recalled Tyranitar and sent out Feraligatr again.
‘Your Hydro Pump, now!’ I commanded. The injured Feraligatr blasted water at Typhlosion, knocking him out. Thus far, I hadn’t lost a Pokémon. I liked my new strategy; your opponent had to keep compensating for your Pokémon, and neither of them got knocked out fast...you always had the edge on the battle.
Trixie winced as her Typhlosion fell to the ground, knocked out. Her Pokémon was swallowed up by the red light of its Pokéball. ‘As my final Pokémon,’ Trixie said sullenly, ‘I’ll choose...Charizard.’ She sent out her last Pokémon, knowing that she was going to lose this battle. My Pokémon outnumbered hers, 3-1. Out of spite, I called back Feraligatr again. I sent out Ampharos. ‘Why,’ she started, ‘did you do that?’
I shrugged. ‘Beats me, but I think that my Ampharos can beat your Charizard,’ I replied.
I noticed Kamon out of the corner of my eye. He was wide-eyed, sort of in awe, but not by how well I was doing; instead, it seemed like he had seen something, like a ghost. Or something that had scarred his life, and this battle was bringing back memories of the incident.
‘Ampharos, Thunder!’ I said. Her Charizard took the damage, but quickly returned the hit with Earthquake. I had forgotten that he could use that. I told Ampharos to use Rain Dance.
‘Tricky,’ Trixie remarked. ‘You thought you could lower my abilities while upping Thunder’s accuracy. Nice job, but not quite good enough...another Earthquake, Charizard!’ Ampharos suffered another Ground attack.
I had two choices: try to knock out Charizard in one hit, with luck, by using Thunder, or try to paralyze him with Thunder Wave. If I paralyzed him with Thunder Wave, I could get at least two attacks in. I thought about it, and then made my decision.
‘Thunder,’ I said. I took a breath, and then continued, ‘Wave, now!’ Ampharos zapped Charizard, hindering his movements. I then took advantage of the opportunity by using Thunder, twice in a row, knocking out Ampharos’s fiery opponent.
Kamon was taken aback. At first, he was sort of shocked, but then he nodded, accepting my decision. What all that was about, I wasn’t sure.
I retrieved my badge from Trixie, and then proceeded out of the gym. On our way back to our hotel, I turned to Kamon and asked, ‘What was up with all of the facial expressions back there?’
‘Hm? Oh, nothing. Don’t...don’t worry about it. I think I just realized the difference between you and me,’ Kamon replied in riddle. Puzzled, I asked what he meant. ‘I told you, nothing. Don’t lose sleep on it.’ We walked on, back to the hotel.

* * *

Drew took a breath.
“What happens next, daddy?” the little boy inquired of his father, eyes gleaming.
“Well,” Drew said, shifting his legs. “What happens next I didn’t know happened until much later on...” He continued:

* * *

Carly walked over to Kamon, who was reading the newspaper. ‘Kamon?’ she said. ‘I need to talk to you about something.’
‘Fire away,’ Kamon said, eyes not moving from his paper.
‘Well...’ Carly started. She took a deep breath, and attempted to continue. ‘What I need to tell you is—now, you can’t tell Drew!’
‘All right. Continue.’
Carly gulped, and then spoke again. ‘I’m pregnant.’
‘Congratulations.’
Carly scowled at Kamon. ‘WHAT!’ she yelled. ‘How could you say this!!! It’s horrible.’
‘Oh. Then, I’m sorry that you are pregnant. Who’s the father?’ Carly didn’t reply. Kamon thought about it for minute, and then threw down the paper. He jumped off the couch, turned around, and exclaimed, ‘Holy ****! Drew is the father!?’ Carly nodded. ‘Damn...well, this is interesting.’
It was at this moment when I came back into the hotel room, returning from the grocery store. I looked at the scattered papers all over the floor. ‘Uh, why is the newspaper all over the floor?’ I asked.
‘Nothing, no reason,’ Carly said, and then ran into the bedroom, locking the door behind her.
‘What was that about?’ I questioned Kamon.
He sighed. ‘She told you already; don’t worry about it.’
‘You’ve told me that a couple too many times already.’
Kamon smiled. ‘Well, it’s good advice.’ He slapped me on the back, and then picked up the paper. ‘Anyway, we got to get going. Our next stop is Pummelo Island, where Pummelo Stadium is. It’s where we get to battle to Orange League Champion.’
Carly came back out with her stuff. She was crying. I asked her what was the matter, but she wouldn’t tell me. I gave up.
We left for Pummelo a few moments later. It was our final challenge in the Orange Islands. The only thing that stood between us and facing Crystal, once again.

[The Decapitated Mole]

Hey, good many new chapters. Sorry I haven't responded in a while, I kinda haven't had much time. But NEwho, This story is great! Keep the new chapters coming

[Carbonite4]

CHAPTER 24
PRIMA: LORELEI, THE ICE MASTER

Kamon’s birthday was the day after we left for Pummelo Island. We almost missed it—it was on Valentine’s Day. We had a small celebration at a restaurant on an island near Pummelo. It was his 19th birthday—he was officially two years older than me, for now. My birthday wasn’t until April.
When we got to Pummelo Island, we immediately looked for the Registration Booth to get into the stadium. The lady there told us that in order to get in, you had to pass one last test. You would then get a pass to gain entrance into Pummelo Stadium, and the last challenge in the Orange Islands. The woman directed us toward a small gym-like area near the entryway to Pummelo Stadium. Kamon, Carly and I went inside. In the middle of the gym was a woman that I had seen before...but where? The woman had purplish-red hair with a blue shirt and black pants on. I turned to Kamon to ask if he had ever seen her.
‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I think so. But my thing is, where? She is really, really familiar, like I have fought her before, but I know I haven’t...’
‘Same thing here,’ I replied.
‘That,’ Carly said, coming into our conversation, ‘is Prima. She uses Ice-type Pokémon. She is a very powerful trainer. Don’t take her lightly.’
‘Prima...’ Kamon thought aloud. He rubbed his chin. ‘Aha! I remember where I’ve seen her. She was the former Ice member of the Elite Four. Her name is Lorelei, but she must go by Prima down here.’
Lorelei (or Prima, whatever) turned toward us and spoke. ‘I assume that the three of you want to gain entrance into Pummelo Stadium. Well, only if you can defeat me, Prima, the Ice Mistress,’ she said.
‘Actually,’ I remarked, ‘only my friend here and I are battling.’ I motioned toward Kamon.
‘Ah, well, in that case...’ Lorelei started. ‘I will use six Pokémon. You two, combined, can only use five Pokémon. It will be a two-on-two match. And none of them can be legendary. At least one of your Pokémon have to be standing when you defeat my last Pokémon. It can just be one trainer’s, but at least one has to live. You cannot command your friend’s Pokémon. If you abide by all of the rules, do you accept my challenge?’
‘It’s crazy!’ I shouted. ‘A five-on-six match!?’
‘If you aren’t powerful enough to overcome this task, you don’t deserve to battle the Champion,’ Lorelei responded.
‘Oh, we’re powerful enough. Right, Kamon?’
‘Of course,’ he said to me. He turned to Prima. ‘Just give us a second.’ He turned back to me and continued, ‘So, which Pokémon should we use?’
‘Tyranitar and Ampharos, definitely,’ I said.
‘I’ll use Typhlosion, Corsola, and Umbreon, then,’ Kamon replied.
‘Not Umbreon—I’m already using a Dark Pokémon.’
‘Oh, that’s right. Uh...what about Delibird?’
‘We’ll have to. We don’t exactly have a huge choice,’ I said.
‘All right.’ Kamon turned around and faced Prima. ‘We’re ready when you are.’
‘Okay. My first two Pokémon are Dewgong and Jynx!’ Lorelei shouted.
‘We should use Ampharos and Tyranitar right now,’ I said.
‘Ampharos for Dewgong and Tyranitar for Jynx?’ Kamon inquired.
‘Right.’ I thought about a small problem. ‘Prima, we can recall Pokémon, right?’
‘Of course,’ she replied.
‘Okay. Ampharos and Tyranitar, go! Ampharos, Thunder on Dewgong, and Tyranitar, Crunch on Jynx!’ I commanded. The two attacks caused a great deal of damage to Lorelei’s Pokémon.
‘Dewgong, Hydro Pump Tyranitar, and Jynx, use Psychic on Ampharos!’ said Prima. I knew that Tyranitar was weak against Water, but it was a risk we had to take.
I told my Pokémon to repeat their attacks. Dewgong became paralyzed, and Jynx flinched. Perfect, I thought. ‘Tyranitar, Fire Blast Jynx, and Ampharos, use Thunderbolt on Dewgong!’ I yelled. Both of Prima’s Pokémon were knocked out, and my Pokémon still had two-thirds of their health left each.
‘Cloyster and Sneasel, go!’ said Prima.
‘Drew, recall Tyranitar and let me use Typhlosion,’ Kamon told me.
‘But Tyranitar can beat them,’ I said. ‘If Tyranitar—’
Kamon interrupted me. ‘We have to join forces to win. Don’t try to win this by yourself.’ I sighed, and recalled my Pokémon. Kamon sent out Typhlosion. ‘Fire Blast on Sneasel,’ he commanded.
‘And Ampharos, use Thunder on Cloyster!’
‘Protect, Cloyster, and Sneasel, Slash on Ampharos!’ Cloyster blocked Ampharos’s attack, and Prima’s Sneasel slashed my Pokémon. She was trying to knock out the weaker Pokémon first. Fire Blast did hit Sneasel, though.
‘Another Fire Blast,’ Kamon said.
‘Another Thunder,’ I instructed. This time, Sneasel use Protect and Cloyster used Hydro Pump—this time on Typhlosion. Kamon and I repeated our attacks—it was the only thing we could do. Again, Lorelei switched the Protected Pokémon, and attacked Ampharos. He was knocked out by Sneasel’s Hyper Beam. ‘Come back,’ I said.
‘Use Tyranitar’s Thunderbolt on Cloyster to finish him off, and I’ll use another Fire Blast on Sneasel,’ Kamon said. I nodded, and sent out my last Pokémon to rejoin the bout.
However, as soon as Tyranitar materialized, Cloyster blasted Water at her. ‘Typhlosion, Quick Attack!’ Kamon shouted, pointing in the direction of Tyranitar. Kamon’s Pokémon dove in the way of the Water, taking the fall. Typhlosion collapsed in front of Tyranitar. Tyranitar’s rage grew, and he unleashed a Thunderbolt on Cloyster, knocking him out. Sneasel had to recharge Hyper Beam, leaving him vulnerable. As I commanded Tyranitar to use Flamethrower, Prima sent out Lapras, in an effort to save her Sneasel.
‘Not so fast,’ I heard Kamon mutter. He threw out the Pokéball containing Corsola to distract Lapras away from the battle. Kamon’s plan worked, and Sneasel fell victim to Tyranitar’s enraged attack.
‘Nice work. As my last Pokémon, I’ll choose Piloswine!’ Lapras’s first attack was on Tyranitar—Hydro Pump. It knocked him out in one hit. Now Kamon was on his own, with only Corsola and Delibird left. I could play no more part in this battle.
‘The battle rests on your shoulders now,’ I shouted to Kamon as he sent out Delibird. I then smiled. ‘Not to put any pressure on you or anything.’
‘Of course not,’ Kamon called back, sarcastically.
The final bout begun. Lapras tried a Thunder on Delibird, but missed. Corsola use Hydro Pump on Piloswine, bringing it down to half health.
‘Do you think Kamon can win?’ Carly asked me.
‘No,’ I answered. ‘ I know Kamon can win. If anyone can win this fight, it’s Kamon.’
Lapras turned its attack to Corsola, and used Thunder. Corsola used Mirror Coat, reflecting the attack at Lapras. It caused severe damage. With this happened, Piloswine used Rock Slide on Delibird.
‘Corsola, Surf Piloswine! Delibird, use Hyper Beam on Lapras!’ Kamon commanded. Delibird’s attack missed, while Corsola’s attack knocked out Piloswine. Lapras then knocked out Delibird with two Thunders (since Delibird had to recharge). The match was down to Corsola and Lapras—both Pokémon down to half-health. Lapras tried another Thunder, but it bounced back at Lapras with another Mirror Coat.
‘Then use Body Slam!’ Lorelei commanded. However, it did little, since Corsola was also Rock-type. Unfortunately, Corsola became paralyzed.
‘Corsola, use Psychic!’ Kamon yelled. Corsola was fully paralyzed. Lapras wasted no time in executing another attack—and possibly another Pokémon.
Lapras used Solarbeam—but first, she had the charge it up. Kamon told Corsola to use Recover. Corsola mustered up enough strength to recover some of her health. Lapras then fired its final attack, the mighty Solarbeam. As the attack hit Corsola (doing four times the normal amount of damage, mind you), Kamon commanded his Pokémon to use one last Mirror Coat. As Corsola’s health failed, the reflective attack struck Lapras, knocking her out. Corsola fainted shortly after.
‘No...my last Pokémon, Lapras...I recall you,’ Prima mourned. She continued. ‘Well, it looks as though you two have earned the rights to fight the leader of the Orange League...the Champion...’
‘And who might that be?’ I asked.
‘Ash Ketchum,’ Prima replied.

CHAPTER 25
VENGEANCE OF THE FORMER POKÉMON MASTER

I was going to be the first to fight Ash. I had already fought him, so I wasn’t afraid. Kamon would fight directly after me, without knowing whether or not I won. I was also not allowed to watch his match. So neither of us would know the outcome of the other one’s match until both were finished.
I went into the giant Pummelo Stadium. There were no people in it, to save privacy. There were, however, cameras to tape it and run the battle later on that night. Because, of course, Pokémon battles were more popular than the most popular of sporting events.
Ash was standing on the other side of the stadium. He was taken aback that I was his opponent. ‘You, again?’ he said.
‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘Me. Again.’
He straightened his hat and cleared his voice. ‘Well, this battle is not going to be like the last one. I’ll show you the true power of my Pokémon. I have been training this entire time, and now all of my Pokémon are level 100!’ Ash exclaimed.
‘Have you been awaiting the day that you can challenge me again?’ I asked.
‘No, but I have always looked forward to it,’ he responded.
‘It’s a shame to look forward to an event that you will lose in,’ I remarked. I smirked.
Ash scowled. ‘How dare you! I will make you pay for that!’ He threw a Pokéball into the stadium, unleashing his Venusaur.
‘Are you purposely trying to make this easy for me?’ I asked.
‘Send out your Pokémon,’ Ash dictated.
‘No need to be hasty,’ I replied. ‘Nor do you need to be that rude.’
‘And your sarcasm isn’t?’
‘Rude? Nah. Now, let’s see...which Pokémon shall win—I mean, shall I send out—first? Ah, here we go,’ I said, fingering my Pokéballs. ‘Ho-oh, go! Use Sacred Fire!’ Out of the glistening light emerged possibly my best Pokémon. ‘You are making this too easy.’
Ash didn’t reply to my comment. Instead, he said, ‘Venusaur, Hyper Beam!’
‘Fly!’ I yelled. Ho-oh flew out of the way of the attack, and then rammed into Venusaur. Before Ash could call another attack out, Ho-oh used Sacred Fire, burning the Grass-and-Poison-type Pokémon.
‘Dang it...Venusaur, Toxic!’ I told my Ho-oh to use Protect. Venusaur got to attack again. ‘Fine then. Use Body Slam!’ The attack did little, and Ho-oh finished off Venusaur with Fire Blast.
‘Great job, Ho-oh,’ I said. We were already off to a great start. Ash recalled Venusaur, and sent out Blastoise. ‘You’re kidding me,’ I joked. ‘You honestly believe that your Blastoise can overcome my Ho-oh?’
‘Why not?’ Ash demanded.
‘Aha...never mind, then. Ho-oh, Sunny Day, and then Solarbeam!’
‘Blastoise,’ Ash started, ‘Rain Dance!’ As Ho-oh was preparing to fire, the sun faded.
Crap, I thought. Blastoise then used Hydro Pump, causing severe damage. Ho-oh fired Solarbeam, but it wasn’t half as powerful as I wanted it to be. ‘Sunny Day!’ I screamed again.
‘Then Blastoise, another Rain Dance!’
‘Sunny Day!’
‘Rain Dance!’
Screw it, I thought. This will keep going on forever. ‘Giga Drain!’ I said. Ho-oh recovered most of the health that Blastoise took away, while chipping away at Blastoise’s stamina.
‘Blastoise, Surf!’ Ash instructed. Blastoise performed the medium-strength attack, but it was not powerful enough, even with it raining, to knock out Ho-oh.
In a last-ditch attempt to knock-out Blastoise, I told Ho-oh to use Hyper Beam, but it missed. Blastoise took out Ho-oh with a simple Skull Bash.
‘Return,’ I said. ‘Ampharos, come out and use Spark!’ While the attack did not knock out Blastoise, it did paralyze him. It was just what I needed. With a Thunderbolt, Blastoise was down for the count.
‘Snorlax, I choose you!’ Ash shouted. ‘Earthquake, now!’
‘As opposed to using Earthquake later?’ I remarked.
‘Laugh it up...’ said Ash.
Earthquake did severe damage to Ampharos, though he still wasn’t close to getting knocked out. I told him to use Dynamic Punch. It worked to the success in which I planned it to—not only confusing Snorlax but also doing incredible damage. Snorlax hurt itself in confusion, allowing Ampharos to attack again, this time with Thunder. Now Snorlax was confused, paralyzed, and about to be knocked out.
‘And now the tides turn,’ Ash murmured. ‘Snorlax, Rest!’ With one move, all of my work had been undone. I told Ampharos to repeat the attacks, but as soon as Snorlax woke up, he went back to sleep again. ‘Snore!’ Ash commanded.
I watched in horror as Snorlax, even though he was asleep, lash out against Ampharos. I called back my Pokémon. I had a plan.
‘Lugia, go! Dream Eater, now!’ Snorlax was in a bit of trouble, now, since Lugia was weakening Ash’s Pokémon during his sleep. When Snorlax woke up, Lugia performed Aeroblast at my command. It was a critical hit.
‘Uh...Snorlax, Rest! Wait, no, um...’ Ash stuttered. Before he could figure out what to do, Lugia had finished his Pokémon off with Iron Tail. ‘All right, come back. Pikachu, go!’ Taken aback by the weak, un-evolved Pokémon, I wasn’t exactly sure what move to call. Sure, I had faced Pikachu before, but he still wasn’t evolved. Could this be Ash’s Trump Card?
‘Lugia, Earthquake!’ I commanded. As Lugia struck the ground, Pikachu ran as fast as he could and leapt up into the air, doing flips (and avoiding my attack). As Pikachu got closer, he used Thunder, striking Lugia with the lightning bolts. ‘Lugia, Psychic!’ The attack, surprisingly, did little against Pikachu.
‘Pikachu, Zap Cannon!’ Ash commanded. Pikachu launched the ball of electricity at Lugia, but missed (thankfully).
‘Lugia, Hyper Beam, now!’ Lugia blasted Pikachu with the devastating blow, but it still wasn’t enough to knock out Ash’s Pikachu. While Lugia recharged, Pikachu unleashed two powerful attacks: Thunder and another Thunder. It knocked out Lugia.
‘It looks like you’re legendary Pokémon failed,’ Ash remarked.
‘Well, I guess I’m going to have to fight fire-with-fire here. Or Electricity with Electricity, or whatever. Ampharos, come back out and use Iron Tail!’ Pikachu dodged it. ‘Then Headbutt!’ Pikachu jumped over Ampharos while he used Headbutt, and then used Slam. However, as Pikachu laid on top of Ampharos, my Pokémon shocked Ash’s Pokémon with Thunder. Pikachu staggered around after the attack. Being opportunistic, I commanded Ampharos to finish Pikachu off with Body Slam.
‘No! My...my Pikachu...’ Ash said sadly. His Pokémon laid motionless on the ground. ‘I’m only down to two Pokémon. And you have what, four? Three if I knock out Ampharos!’ Ash sighed, and sent out his next-to-last Pokémon: Espeon. ‘Espeon, Psychic!’ Ampharos fainted with that.
‘That’s all right, go! Tyranitar! Use Crunch!’ Tyranitar bit down on Espeon, but she came back with Swift. It did little. With another Crunch, Espeon fell.
‘As my final Pokémon, I’m sending out Charizard! Use Earthquake!’ I was sort of nonchalant about Tyranitar. If she fainted, oh well. I still had Feraligatr.
‘Rock Slide,’ I told her. Charizard suffered through tons of rocks crashing on his head. Tyranitar, without my say in it, picked up the half-dead Charizard and tossed him into the air. Charizard made no attempt to recover as he fell to the Earth. Tyranitar Stomped on him to finish him off.
Though I had one, I almost felt sorry for Charizard. It was like he had given up, like Ash had. I guess a trainer’s feelings really were channeled into his or her Pokémon.
Now it was time to wait. Wait and see if Kamon defeats Ash or not. And if I finally become the Orange League Master.

[Carbonite4]

CHAPTER 26
THE ULTIMATE BATTLE

The next day, I was summoned to the stadium to hear the results of Kamon and my battles, and the announcement of the new Orange Island League Champ.
As I walked in, Ash greeted me. ‘You did well yesterday,’ he said. ‘And now, I would normally be crowning you as the new Pokémon Master of the Orange Islands.’
‘Normally?’ I questioned. It became apparent to me what happened: Kamon had also won, and now I was going to have to battle him.
‘Yes, for you see, your comrade beat me, also. It came down to the wire, his Typhlosion against my Pikachu, but in the end, he proved to have greater stamina...anyway, your fate is now in your hands. If you wish to claim your position as Pokémon Master, you must beat Kamon, and vise-versa.’
Kamon stood at the other end of the stadium, waiting for me. It’s now or never, I thought. I stepped up onto the concrete playing field.
‘Just like the old days,’ Kamon shouted to me from across the arena.
I smiled. ‘Kamon, you have no clue how long I have waited to show you my true power...’
‘I’m sure,’ Kamon replied. He threw out a capture ball, unleashing his first Pokémon: Typhlosion.
I was caught off guard, really. Why would Kamon use one of his most powerful Pokémon—if not his most powerful Pokémon—first? Well, no matter. I would have to counterattack it with something he wouldn’t suspect.
‘Heracross, attack!’ I said, throwing out Heracross’s Pokéball.
‘I don’t know what you are trying to pull,’ Kamon said to me, ‘but from my point of view, it sure looks foolish. Typhlosion, Fire Blast!’
‘You see, Kamon, therein lies the difference between you and me. Reversal, Heracross!’ I commanded.
Kamon watched in horror as Heracross took Typhlosion’s attack and returned it. Typhlosion stuck its fist out to block it, but with no success; the flames overtook him, and he fell to the ground.
Of course, Heracross took damage, also, but not to the degree that Typhlosion did.
‘Typhlosion, get up!’ Kamon called. His Pokémon rose from the embers, ready to engage his adversary. ‘All right, Drew. If you don’t want to fight with special attacks, I guess we’ll fight physically.’
‘Fine by me,’ I replied.
‘Typhlosion, Dynamic Punch, now!’ Kamon yelled. His Pokémon punched mine, confusing her. I told Heracross to retaliate with Counter, but it failed, and she hurt herself in confusion. ‘Now’s your chance! Finish her off with Flame Wheel!’ While Heracross was confused, Typhlosion launched a ring of fire at her. The flames engulfed my Pokémon, knocking her out.
‘Bravo,’ I said. ‘Heracross, return, and Feraligatr, go! Whirlpool!’ The relatively simple attack was enough to knock out Typhlosion.
‘Then I guess I’ll have to use Umbreon! Use your Faint Attack!’ Umbreon disappeared from sight, but then quickly reappeared to strike Feraligatr. However, within a couple of seconds, Feraligatr reacted to Umbreon’s attack with Slash. While Umbreon was laying on the ground, Feraligatr stomped on her.
‘Good job, Feraligatr,’ I said.
As Umbreon rose, Kamon said, ‘Umbreon, Hyper Beam, now!’ The golden energy beam struck Feraligatr, but did not knock him out (thankfully). Feraligatr used Ice Beam twice while Umbreon recharged. ‘All right, Umbreon, Toxic!’ After Feraligatr became poisoned, he took down Umbreon with Submission.
‘Nice work, Feraligatr. Just don’t let the poison get to you.’
‘Umbreon, return. Corsola, come out and attack Feraligatr with Psychic!’
Corsola damaged Feraligatr with the blue aura attack, Psychic. Feraligatr managed to get in one Earthquake before he fainted from the poison of Toxic. I recalled Feraligatr and sent out Ampharos.
Ampharos used Thunder, but Corsola reflected it with Mirror Coat. I changed my strategy, as Kamon did, to physical attacks. I told Ampharos to use Iron Tail, doing a high amount of damage to Corsola. In turn, Corsola used Earthquake. Before I could tell Ampharos to finish off Corsola, Kamon told his Pokémon to use Explosion, knocking both of us out.
‘Well done, but a foolish move,’ I said.
‘It knocked you out, didn’t it?’ Kamon inquired.
‘Yeah,’ I responded, ‘but you didn’t even give yourself a chance.’ Kamon shrugged. I switched my Pokémon to Tyranitar, and he to Golem.
Golem began the fight by using Earthquake. Tyranitar returned the favor with the same attack. Golem then used Dig. Now’s my chance, I thought, and commanded Tyranitar to use Fissure.
‘No!’ Kamon shouted. His eyes widened as the ground split in two, and his Golem was raised from the Earth, unconscious. ‘I’m down to only two more Pokémon. Well, I had better make the most of it. Entei, go! Use Solarbeam!’
‘Tyranitar, Rock Slide!’ I cried. As boulders sailed towards Entei, it fired Solarbeam, shattering the rocks and striking Tyranitar in the chest. She was knocked out. I was flabbergasted. How could my Tyranitar, who was almost at full health, get knocked out in one hit by Kamon’s Entei? I thought. He can’t be that powerful. But...maybe he is. After all, he is shiny... ‘Lugia, go!’ I said. ‘Hydro Pump!’
Entei raced around the water blast, and then rammed into Lugia—Skull Bash. However, as Entei fell back down to the earth, Lugia fired Hydro Pump again, severely hurting Entei. Entei turned around and used Fire Blast. Lugia came back with Aeroblast, but it wasn’t a critical hit; Entei was still a threat.
‘Entei, Hyper Beam!’ Kamon shouted.
As I told Lugia to use Hyper Beam also, I remembered something. Kamon’s last Pokémon was Delibird. Therefore, if I could knock out Entei, Ho-oh would have a huge advantage over Delibird. But I couldn’t let Ho-oh get hurt, because then it would greatly hinder my chances of winning. Lugia had to defeat Entei right now. Even if it meant self-destructing (though Lugia could not learn that move).
The energy beams of Hyper Beam met in the middle, and immediately exploded. Apparently our Pokémon were far too powerful to launch the same attack at each other. Or, at least, and attack like Hyper Beam.
‘Lugia, Surf!’ I commanded.
‘Entei, Extreme Speed!’ said Kamon. Entei rushed towards Lugia, but before it could hurt my Pokémon, it was hit with a tidal wave. Kamon’s legendary Pokémon was hurt even more, but still not knocked out. ‘Another Fire Blast!’ Flames swallowed up Lugia, burning it, but not knocking it out.
‘Lugia, Aeroblast!’ I instructed. A white energy beam exploded on impact with Entei, knocking it out, finally. I sighed with relief.
‘Delibird, you’re my last Pokémon,’ Kamon muttered. ‘Make me proud. Go! Use Blizzard!’ With that, Lugia fainted. I sent out my last Pokémon, Ho-oh.
Kamon knew as well as I did that he would lose. It was inevitable now.
Kamon’s eyes lit up as he told his Pokémon what to do. ‘Blizzard again!’ Ice sickles surrounded Ho-oh, and encased it. The crystal rock containing Ho-oh fell to the ground. Kamon cheered. ‘All right! Nice job, Delibird.’ He was grinning from ear to ear.
It made me defeating him hurt even worse. With one attack, his hopes were gone.
‘Sacred Fire!’ I yelled. The ice shattered and melted as flames shot up from the ground. A pillar of flames struck Delibird, one-hit K.O.
After we recalled our Pokémon, Kamon and I met in the middle to shake hands.
‘No hard feelings, right?’ I said.
‘Of course not,’ Kamon replied.
‘Good. I mean, it’s like, my job, you know? To beat you...’
‘And you finally did.’
‘What do you mean, “finally” ?’ I questioned. ‘This makes us 2-1; two wins for me, one win for you.’
‘Ah, true. Well, anyway, we gotta get outta here.’
‘Right.’
Ash handed me the Orange Island League Trophy, and crowned me Pokémon Master of the Orange Islands.
Now all that was left was Gehta.

CHAPTER 27
THE FINAL FIGHT

It took us a while, but Carly, Kamon, and I made it back up to Gehta. It was, apparently, the farthest north Carly had ever been.
‘I’ve been into Kanto,’ she said, ‘but that was it. I’ve never been here before.’
‘Quite frankly,’ I replied, ‘I don’t want to be back.’
‘Why?’ Carly asked.
‘Because...well, I fought the master of the Prime League—Mistress, actually—last time I was here, and, well...I lost. I don’t think I’m powerful enough to win.’
‘Yes you are,’ she assured me.
‘She is just...so powerful. You don’t understand. She uses Mew, Suicune, and Raikou. It’s insane.’
‘You can win. I know you can.’
‘Thanks,’ I said, and kissed her.
Kamon and I walked into Center Stadium in Center City. The very stadium where we lost to Crystal only months earlier (it was the beginning of March now).
‘You can battle first,’ Kamon said to me. ‘I want to see how you fare.’
‘All right,’ I said quietly. I was still uneasy. Could this be the way that Kamon felt when he went to battle me again several years ago?
Kamon stood in the corner of the stadium again. Carly joined him. I walked slowly into the center of the amphitheater where Crystal stood. She had heard we were coming, and was awaiting my arrival.
‘Back again, I see. But only to lose again?’ Crystal sarcastically remarked.
‘Shut up and start the battle,’ I retorted.
‘Hasty!’ she said, shaking her index finger. ‘But, if you insist...I’ll send out Tyranitar first! Go!’ She threw an Ultra Ball into the arena, unleashing the familiar Rock Pokémon.
The Final Fight had begun once again.
‘Heracross, go!’ I shouted.
Crystal thought for a moment before she selected her move. I knew I had caught her off guard. ‘Mega Kick!’ she commanded.
Her Tyranitar lept off the ground and kicked Heracross in the torso. It was perfect for my next attack: Reversal. I told Heracross to reverse the damage, doing four times the normal amount of damage, and nearly knocking out Tyranitar. Things were already going better than the last time I fought her.
‘Tyranitar, Fire Blast!’ The stick-figure flames enveloped Heracross, but my Bug-Pokémon rose from the ashes, and attacked Tyranitar with Earthquake. My first knock-out. ‘Dragonite, I choose you! I wish for you to attack with Aeroblast,’ said Crystal. Before the colossal bluish-white beam crashed into Heracross, I recalled my Pokémon.
‘If you want to fight that way, go Lugia!’ I cried. ‘Dragonbreath!’ The bout was similar to the last one, with the exception that I knew what was coming. The green flames licked Dragonite’s body, causing mediocre damage.
‘Dragonite, your Thunder!’
‘Protect!’ I shouted. Lugia stared up as the lightning bolt crashed down, and then bounced off Lugia’s shield. Perfect timing, I thought. Again.
‘Dragonite, Outrage!’ Crystal commanded. The energy attack beat down Lugia, but my Pokémon came back with Blizzard, doing tremendous damage. Plus, Dragonite was confused. Or so I thought. Dragonite flashed white, and was cured. There was only one explaination: a bitter berry. ‘Dragonite, Thunderbolt!’ Electric sparks shocked Lugia, brining it down to its feet, but not quite knocking it out.
‘Lugia, Rest, and Snore!’ Lugia went to sleep, recovering all of its health. Before Dragonite could retaliate, Lugia used Snore, knocking him out.
‘Return, my gracious Dragonite...and come out, Celebi!’ said Crystal. Celebi unleashed a Solarbeam while Lugia snoozed. The attack woke my Pokémon up, though.
‘Lugia, Aeroblast again!’ The beam blasted Celebi across the room. Celebi came back with Ancient Power, but it did little. Lugia used Ice Beam, but it, too, didn’t do much.
‘Celebi, Hyper Beam attack!’ Crystal yelled. Celebi fired the golden light beam, critical hit, nearly knocking out Lugia. I recalled Lugia, and sent out Heracross.
‘Mega Horn!’ I shouted. Celebi was nearly knocked out. Celebi used Giga Drain, recovering a little health, and knocking out Heracross. I sent out Ho-oh, and told it to use Flamethrower. The spout of flames was enough to knock out Celebi. Things so far were definitely going my way.
‘Mew, go!’ said Crystal. My worst fears became a reality as the small Psychic-type Pokémon emerged.
‘Ho-oh, Sacred Fire!’ I shouted, trying to keep my cool. Mew was slightly charred by the attack.
‘Mew, Rock Slide!’ Rocks tumbled down on top of Ho-oh. My Pokémon was buried in the gravel. However, with a burst of flames, the rocks disintegrated, and Ho-oh was back in the battle.
‘Hyper Beam!’ I dictated. Crystal mimicked me in instructing Mew to use the same attack.
Instead of just firing beams straight at each other, the two Pokémon flew around the room, blasting Hyper Beams. Walls fell and parts of the ceiling crumbled. Ho-oh and Mew continued the intricate dance, weaving in and out of falling boulders and trying to keep away from the other Pokémon’s Hyper Beam. Finally, a slab of rock fell down on Mew. As the tiny Pokémon plummeted toward the ground, Ho-oh dove while firing Hyper Beam. The rock shattered, and Mew was struck by the attack.
‘All right!’ I shouted. Mew hit the ground, sending a cloud of smoke up.
As Ho-oh continued its dive toward the earth, Mew rose from the ground and attacked Ho-oh with Psychic, and then Hydro Pump, knocking out Ho-oh. I sent out Lugia.
‘Lugia, Iron Tail!’ I said. Lugia slammed its tail into Mew, but it came back with Thunder. Lugia used Mirror Coat, reflecting the attack and causing enormous damage to Mew.
‘Softboiled,’ said Crystal. She smiled widely.
‘Perish Song,’ I told Lugia. The eerie tune caused a countdown clock on both Pokémon. Crystal tried to switch Pokémon, but I was too quick—I commanded Lugia to use Mean Look. Both Pokémon were going down.
‘You...idiot!’ she said. ‘You will lose your most powerful Pokémon!’
‘So will you,’ I replied. I smiled. ‘And in this case, I think you have to more powerful Pokémon.’
The muscles in Crystal’s face tightened. She was irate. ‘Unless, of course, I can knock you out! Mew, Hyper Beam!’
Crystal had gone into a frantic battle mode. She was trying to pull off the most powerful attacks she could in a desperate attempt to win. It almost never worked.
I told Lugia to use Recover, twice. We were down to one move each.
‘Explode,’ Crystal muttered.
‘You fool!’ I shouted. Mew self-destructed, taking itself down. Lugia swiftly retreated to the outside of the stadium, as to not take the full damage of the attack. Lugia barely survived (I felt relieved that I used Recover twice). Crystal whimpered as she called back her Mew.
‘Raikou, go! Thunder!’ The attack nearly knocked out Lugia. Raikou was attacked by Lugia’s Earthquake. Lugia fell to Thunderbolt.
‘Tyranitar, come out and use Earthquake!’ I said. The concrete floor of the stadium ruptured, and Raikou languished through another attack. Crystal call back Raikou and sent out Suicune.
‘Hydro Pump!’ she yelled, pointing at Tyranitar. A raging wave of water gushed about Tyranitar. She used Thunder, though, at my command. Suicune repeated the attack, knocking out Tyranitar.
‘Ampharos, go! If you will, use Thunder!’ Ampharos unleashed the powerful Electric attack on Suicune, but it was reversed with Mirror Coat. It didn’t matter; Ampharos knocked out Suicune with Thunderbolt on its next turn.
Raikou was Crystal’s only Pokémon. Plus, it was damaged. However, Feraligatr was the only Pokémon I had aside from Ampharos. It was vital that I kept Ampharos alive—losing him would give Crystal the advantage. She was still very much in this battle.
‘Raikou, Hyper Beam attack!’ Crystal cried. Her Pokémon opened its maw, blasting the beam at Ampharos. My Pokémon came back with Dynamic Punch and Iron Tail (since Raikou recharged). Crystal told Raikou to use Hyper Beam again, this time punishing Ampharos enough to knock him out.
It all came down to this. Raikou was almost knocked out, but if I didn’t hurry up, Crystal could easily get back into the match. Even, though I hated to say it, win.
‘Feraligatr, go! Earthquake!’
‘Detect!’ said Crystal.
‘Another Earthquake!’
‘Protect!’
‘Cheap,’ I remarked.
‘Whatever works,’ she said, smiling.
‘The end justifies the means?’
‘Exactly. Now, Raikou, Thunder!’ The lightning zapped Feraligatr, brining it down to half-life.
‘Feraligatr, use Crunch!’ I commanded. Raikou took the hit, but did not fall. Somehow, it was still alive. This was becoming a battle of stamina. Almost a stalemate. Whoever got in an extra attack would win, by my guess.
‘Raikou, Spark!’ Crystal must have thought that Feraligatr was injured enough so she only needed to use a weak attack. I learned early on to always use benefit of the doubt—air on the side of more powerful attacks. She hadn’t learned her lesson; Feraligatr lived.
In an instant, almost like a beam of light graced the stadium and Feraligatr awoke with an unnatural stamina, Feraligatr seized the opportunity and knocked out Raikou with Earthquake. I finally beat Crystal. I finally became the Pokémon Master. Not only of Johto, but of Gehta and the Orange Islands. Kamon still reigned over Kanto, though. I’d have to get him back for that.
Crystal collapsed, too. In grief that her throne was stolen. ‘You rightfully earned it, too,’ she said. ‘You were able to overcome four legendary Pokémon. You are definitely more powerful than I.’
‘Thank you,’ I said.
‘Therefore, you are now crowned Pokémon Master. You will now be recognized as more powerful than any other trainer. Here is the badge—the final badge. This badge is a real badge, though. Keep it with you—trainers across the world will recognize it and you.’ Crystal spoke. She slowly strolled over to me and handed me a blue circular badge with a red Pokéball in the middle. Behind the Pokéball was a map of Kanto, Johto, and Gehta. Around the outside in yellow letters it read, ‘Declared Pokémon Master of the World & United Pokémon League—Johto, Kanto, and Gehta.’
I thanked Crystal again and walked to the back of the stadium. Carly ran up to me and hugged and kissed me. ‘I told you that you can win,’ she said.
‘You were my good luck charm,’ I replied, grinning from ear to ear. I turned to Kamon. ‘It’s your turn.’
‘I’m not battling,’ he said.
I was taken aback. ‘Why? I thought that the entire reason why we went down to the Orange Islands was to become powerful enough to beat Crystal!’
‘Even if I beat her,’ Kamon started, ‘I wouldn’t be able to beat you.’ Kamon, Carly and I turned around to leave Center Stadium.
As we were leaving, Crystal shouted, ‘Kamon, wait!’
Kamon turned around. ‘Yes?’
‘You said that you trained this entire time, right?’ she asked.
‘Yeah, why?’
‘Well, I only need your Entei to complete my collection. I’d be willing to trade a Pokémon for it,’ Crystal replied.
‘Which Pokémon?’ Kamon said, puzzled look about his face.
‘Well, I suppose that you wouldn’t want Dragonite or Tyranitar, since they aren’t legendary...I couldn’t give you Suicune or Raikou...so I guess the only Pokémon would be Celebi. Would you take it?’
‘Uh, yeah! Of course!’ Kamon said. He released his Entei. ‘Look, buddy—I know that we’ve been pals for a while now, but this is it.’ He sighed. ‘Goodbye, Entei.’ He hugged his Pokémon, and recalled it. Crystal did likewise.
At the local Pokécenter, they exchanged Pokémon. We bid our farewells, and left to Johto.

[The Decapitated Mole]

Heeeeyyyyy, waidaminnut! Wait just a polyp-picking minute! I see what is transpiring here. Oh, wait, no I don't. I thought Drew was supposed to lose! And he is not the Pokémon Master of the world, so he doesn't deserve that badge. I demand an explanation!

NEwho, so is that it, or is there more? Great new chapters, by the way.

[Carbonite4]

Drew's win will be explained in the next chapter. It also happens to be the last. It should be up Sunday-ish. Chapter 28: Coming Home & the Epilogue.

[Carbonite4]

Also, Drew did lose. Remember? He lost twice, once to Rex, and again to Crystal.

An alternate scenario that someone pointed out to me was that Drew could win against Crystal, but then lose against Kamon. However, that is impossible, since Drew already beat Kamon once, (twice, but once recently) and Kamon's Pokemon are only in the 80s. while all of Crystal's Pokemon are 100 and Drew's Pokemon are:

Heracross: 98.
Ampharos: 100.
Feraligatr: 99.
Tyranitar: 100.
Ho-oh: 100.
Lugia: 99.

After he beats Crystal, it's:

Heracross: 99.
Ampharos: 100.
Feraligatr: 100.
Tyranitar: 100.
Ho-oh: 100.
Lugia: 100.

It will be interesting to see him fight in Shadow of the Legacy, no?

[Carbonite4]

CHAPTER 28
COMING HOME

Before we left, I talked to Crystal again. I advised her to use less legendary Pokémon. She told me that I had no business in telling her what to do, but in a sort of friendly way. We left on a good note, and she agreed that she would try to be more fair.
Meanwhile, at the Pokécenter in Chrono, we phoned our family and friends. Kamon called his mom, Professor Elm, and Jasmine. I called my parents and Professor Oak. We were finally coming home, almost a year after we first found out about the Prime League.
We flew home—Kamon on his Delibird, and Carly and I on my Lugia. We first stopped off at Viridian, healed our Pokémon (they were exhausted from flying), and then walked to Pallet Town to see my parents.
‘Oh, Drew, we are so proud of you,’ my mom said.
‘Yes, son,’ said my father, ‘I never could have imagined that one day you would become the most powerful trainer in the world.’
‘Well, don’t forget Kamon, here,’ I replied. I introduced my parents to Kamon. ‘This is Kamon. One of the only people to beat me. Of course, I got him back, didn’t I?’
Kamon laughed. ‘That you did, my friend,’ he chuckled. ‘That you did.’
We left my parent’s house and went to Prof. Oak’s. He offered us lunch and toasted to our journeys.
After lunch, we left to Johto, via Flying again. We landed in New Bark Town, where Kamon’s mother and Professor Elm lived. Elm congratulated Kamon for participating in the Prime League, and was, generally, ecstatic that one of his trainers made it that far, and had become that famous. He shook hands with me, and praised me.
He had known who I was before this, because I went to Johto to begin my quest, instead of my homeland of Kanto. He was the one to give me Cyndaquil.
We went to the air again, this time to Olivine to meet Jasmine. Then we met someone none of us expected.
Eileen.
‘What are you doing here?’ I asked, bewildered that she was here. She was hanging out with some guy, whom I assumed was her new boyfriend. His name was, apparently, Jeff.
‘I came by here to congratulate you,’ she said delightedly. She walked seductively over to me and kissed me.
‘Who is this?’ Carly asked.
‘My ex-girlfriend,’ I responded sternly. Then something dawned on me—why we broke up. ‘Hey, wait a second!’ I shouted. ‘We broke up because you said that you didn’t want me to leave, and that you were tired of me training!’
‘Oh, that...’ said Eileen. ‘Well, uh...you see, I didn’t know exactly what you were doing, and all the exotic places you were going, and—’
‘You know what? I don’t really care what your excuse is,’ I retorted.
‘But, I you’re missing the point, I want to get back with you! Start over on a new leaf!’
‘No, Eileen, you are missing the point. I don’t care about you, or your boyfriend, or anything else. We are through. We were through a long time ago.’
‘You mean ex-boyfriend,’ Jeff spoke up.
‘Wha—what?’ Eileen stuttered.
‘You were just about to leave me for this Champion punk, no offense,’ said Jeff.
‘None taken,’ I assured him.
Jeff nodded, and then continued. ‘I’m not going to be with someone that is going to leave me at any moment. I’m through with you.’ He turned around and left. We did likewise.
‘Drew,’ Carly said, ‘don’t you think we should have been more...sympathetic?’
‘No!’ I replied. ‘I’m angry at her, and I think she got what she deserved.’
‘She was crying.’
‘She’s a hypocrite and would turn her back on anyone. Even a “Punk Champion” like me.’ Carly agreed.
We sailed across the sea (now with Jasmine), and to Kamon’s gym. There were protestors outside.
‘What the hell?’ Kamon cursed. ‘Hey—what’s going on here!?’
‘The gym leader has been gone for almost a year now!’ someone shouted.
‘Yeah, and we’re going to raid the gym and take all the badges!’ someone else yelled.
‘Oops,’ said Kamon. ‘I forgot about that.’
‘Hey, wait a sec—I know you!’ said this one kid. Kamon gulped. ‘You are the Pokémon Master!’
Realizing he was talking to me, I started to speak. ‘Why, yes, I am. And uh...’ I was trying to get their attention away from Kamon. Carly whispered something in my ear. ‘And I’ll be taking autographs over here!’
I walked over to a bench and sat down. The mob ran over to me with pens their signs. They flipped over their protest signs to be used as paper to get my signature.
Meanwhile Kamon and Jasmine opened the doors to the gym and slipped inside. No one ever noticed.

* * *

Life went on normal from then on. In April, we celebrated my birthday. The two presents that stood out most were the plaque that Kamon and Jasmine got me that read, ‘Drew Anderson: Pokémon Master of Johto, Gehta, and the Orange Islands. From, Kamon & Jasmine. PS: (from Kamon) I’m still better than you in Kanto.’
The second gift wasn’t really a gift at all. I found out that Carly was two months pregnant. A small shock, but we’d get through it. We always did.
‘Kamon,’ I said, one summer afternoon. It happened to be June fifth, the anniversary of our journey. ‘Before we left, I consulted Sabrina, and she said that I would fail in the Prime League.’
‘You did,’ he replied.
‘Yeah, but then I won. She also said that you would triumph over me.’
‘Did she say that I would triumph over you in training?’
‘No, she said that you would become more famous than I would...’
‘Well, there you go. My destiny may not be fulfilled, yet.’
‘Speaking of destiny, she said it was my destiny to fail. But I won.’
‘Just goes to show you,’ said Kamon, ‘that destinies are not always etched in stone. You can always change them.’
‘True,’ I replied. I thought for a moment, and then continued. ‘I never believed in that destiny stuff, anyway.’

EPILOGUE

“Is that it?” a little boy asked his dad.
“Pretty much. Soon after, you two were born,” he replied.
Julia smiled. “That was a nice story, but too much battling,” she said in her squeaky voice.
“Too much battling?” Drew questioned his daughter. “There’s no such thing as too much battling!” He smiled back.
“I liked the battles,” Andrew remarked. “They were cool.”
“Of course they were...” Drew said. “Of course they were...”
Carly walked over to them. “Lunch is ready,” she said.
“Good, ’cause I’m starving,” Drew replied.
“If you were so hungry, you should have made it yourself,” Carly responded playfully.
Andrew ran over to the table in the kitchen, while Drew picked Julia up and put her on his shoulders. At the same time, the doorbell rang. Little did Drew know that it was Kamon, who was going to introduce them to another challenge: an ultimate tournament.
Because, of course, you can never have too many battles.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could.
To where it bent in the undergrowth,
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

[The Decapitated Mole]

GO DREW! Smack that little whore DOWNtown!
Wow, that was a great story. Can't wait for the 'ultimate tornament.' I guess that's Kamon's Quest IV, right? Like I said, I can't wait.

[Carbonite4]

Hm...I forgot that KQS2 isn't posted here.

No, sadly, there will be no KQ IV. KQ3 is the final installment. However, if you want to read the Ultimate Tournament, go to my page at FanFiction.net (http://www.fanfiction.net) . I use the same name.

I MIGHT post Kamon's Quest Special 4: Giovanni's Revenge here, since it ends KQ.