#7: Nerves of Steel (Pt. 2)
“Klink, that’s enough; go, Steelix!” Jasmine wasn’t backing down, which was fine, because neither was Jari.
“Alright Blaze... you don’t have to battle... but... if you so desire, I’ll let you!” Jari flipped open the PokeDex app once again, checking the Steelix entry. “So it’s Ground-Steel....” He frowned. “You might not be too effective.”
“Mon!”
“Fine. If you say so...” Jari took the initiative to take the first move. “Use... Blaze Kick!” The monkey wasn’t able to live up to the standards it had in the beginning of the battle; it was obvious it was low on energy. Barring that, however, the Pokemon which it was battling was pretty slow, making an easy target.
“Steelix, Earth-”
“MISS JASMINE!”
“Clyde, what do you want now?” Clyde fixed his flustered glasses, almost trembling as he spoke.
“T-t-the knights outside...”
“Speak up.”
“T-the knights, t-t-they seem to have hostile intents. Some have left, b-b-but I’ve heard chit-chat from outside about them barging in and seizing the place... I s-s-suggest we try and talk with them before the match c-c-continues.”
“Not yet. No. Let me finish this battle, Clyde. Tell them that I’ll talk to them later.”
“Y-y-yes ma’am.”
“Now, Steelix, Earthquake!” Jari had been expecting this, and he called for Acrobatics immediately, and Blaze jumped on walls the earthquake whittled out. He then landed a sure kick (as a result of Acrobatics) on Steelix, and although it wasn’t the most effective attack it had been the best way to avoid the quake that had gone on below.
“Mach Punch! Quickly!” Landing an attack first, it caused good damage. But as the Steelix looked down at the fire monkey and gave it a sinister look, Jari knew something was wrong.
“Earthquake!”
Jari’s Pokemon collapsed in front of the huge rock snake, and Jari ran across the arena, returning the Pokemon. “You did well...” he whispered to the Pokemon as he returned it to it’s PokeBall. Jari looked back and grimaced. “I’m not out of this yet!” he yelled, grabbing his second, albeit his last, PokeBall. “Go, Ronin!” The small eagle materialized in front of him, ruffling his feathers as his name suggested and giving a carefree look. It squaked, which Jari was sure would’ve been a smart-arse remark but he declined to comment.
“A Rufflet, eh? Very speedy, but not the best candidate in this case. You’re fighting a Steelix, not a fighting type.”
“I know.”
“Alright. Then proceed to show me all you got!” Jasmine’s eyes lit up enthusiastically.
“Damn right I will!” Jari took of his sunglasses and put them in his pocket, then whispering to the Rufflet, “you know what to do.”
“Squak?”
“Remember the fire?” The Rufflet gave a look of recognition and nodded, then proceeding to look on. “Alright then. Go on!”
The Rufflet began it’s frenzied search for grass. Without grass, it could not perform Grass Knot... but before it could, Jasmine was quick to call for an attack. “Rock Slide!”
It would take a bit before this attack was performed. “You know what... Double Team!” Jari yelled out to the Rufflet. Doing as it was told, multiple copies of Ronin appeared in the air as they all seemed to search for grass. At this point, the Rock Slide began, falling down but only hitting a small illusion from the Double Team which whittled away quickly.
“There’s no grass anywhere... what am I going to do...” Jari began to look around quickly... until he finally saw some weeds growing out of the battle area. There! He could pull of a Grass Knot there! Jari made a covert signal (and by covert I mean literally a wave over at the grass when Jasmine wasn’t noticing) to Ronin, where it quickly made a knot. Now to lure him... he would need to taunt him somehow. But Ronin was already on the job, running in and angering the large snake towards the trap. Steelix would come in and make attacks, repeatedly using Dragon Tail, as Ronin bounced back after each one, evading him well. The crowd in the stands, who had at first been quiet and now booming about the battle, seem to almost be applauding. But at the last attack, where the Steelix would’ve hit the trap, it backfired. The Steelix hit Ronin with a huge Dragon Tail, sending Ronin plummeting as the Steelix, in turn, fell over the knot and collapsed, exhausted from the attacks it had taken. The knot had been outrageously strong considering how heavy Steelix was.
“Ronin!”
“Steelix!”
“S-squak.” Ronin shook it off, standing up, shaking itself. So did the Steelix... for a second. But afterward, the Steelix collapsed, exhausted.
“Steelix is n-not able to continue... Ronin wins... but...” Clyde, announcing the battle’s outcome. “But... MISS JASMINE, PLEASE LISTEN!”
“What? Oh, the Knights. They’ll have to wait until I get this kid his badge.” Jasmine tossed it at him. “Here, you deserve it.”
“Thanks!”
All of a sudden, a member of the audience jumped out of the audience. Chan. “Hmm, you seem to have mastered that Rufflet’s skill. The one you poached off of me!”
“A wild Pokemon is anyone’s catch! There’s no poaching!”
“Whatever. Screw ethics, though, I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!”
“My Pokemon are low on HP. DO you still expect me to-” Jari had no time to finish his sentence as the front door blew open and the Knights quickly surrounded them, unleashing Pokemon straight away. The corwd had run away, except for a few stragglers who jumped out of windows near the top of the stands littered around the gym.
The leader stepped up as Chan, Jasmine, and Jari stood back to back. “Hello, Jasmine. We’ve been meaning to speak with you. It’s a shame we must meet like this, with hostile intent.” He circled the group, glaring. “I’m afraid the time to speak has gone, and the time to battle is now. And the future...” He held a fire in his eyes. “It shall be ours.”
“Hell no!” Jari clenched his teeth. “You’re going down!” He winced. All of his Pokemon were down on HP. It would be suicide to try and attack with Pokemon. Instead...
“I have... to... TRY!” The ground began to rumble with a fury that even he didn’t know he could muster. “I have... to... stop... you... from doing anything! To anyone! You won’t get away with blood on your hands! You’re not leaving this building until you’re fried from the inside out, dammit!”
The magma exploded out of the ground, crevices opening themselves up slowly and Knights flailing into the lava below. The Pokemon themselves, most of them fire types, either swam in the lava without harm or escaped the gym when no one was looking. Jari winced, wondering what would happen to those still in PokeBalls. They were heat resistant, though, so he was sure they’d be fine.
As the last one fell, the leader still stood in front of them, now with his mouth gaping wide. “U-uh-uh...”
“I think the word you’re looking for his GOODBYE!” Jari yelled, enveloping his hand in stone and punching the man into the lava below. Then, quickly closing up the holes he had opened, he grinned. “Get... me... something to eat...” he whispered, collapsing.
December 23rd, 2012, 06:47 PM
RIANBOW SPADE! (My answer to everything. 
)
© 2002 - 2013 The PokéCommunity™, pokecommunity.com.
