Chapter 7
Around a month and a half had passed, and Sarah was still waiting for Anon to be ready to have her face the Elite Four. While she appreciated the amount of time she had been given to prepare, she was getting impatient. She had assembled what she considered to be the ideal team to defeat the Elite Four several weeks ago, and she was getting impatient. At the moment, she was sitting in the of the Pokémon League Headquarters with Gary and Pidgey. In an attempt to break up the monotony of sitting in silence for hours on end, Gary started speaking. "You know, I can't help but shake the feeling that I should've been doing something for the last month or so."
"You mean like buying a Pokéball for two hundred Pokéyen (approx. two American Pokédollars) and catching a Pokémon that's capable of standing up straight? Yeah, maybe you should've."
Gary looked down at his Pidgey, who was making an attempt to stand without being so lopsided. Of course, this only resulted in him falling over. Gary then replied to Sarah, "You may be right, but I don't see why there's any rush. I'll become the league champion eventually."
Sarah felt like scoffing at this, but realized that it would not have mattered if she had. Gary's head was simply too high in the clouds to be affected by things such as logical reasoning. Sarah sighed, wondering if she would ever get around to facin the Elite Four. Anon had been absent for so long that she began to wonder if the story had been abandoned. Just then, however, an announcement came over the loudspeaker. "Sarah Oak, please report to the main arena. I repeat. Sarah Oak, please report to the main arena."
"It's about time," said Sarah somewhat coldly as she stood up and began to walk down the marble hallway. Gary followed closely behind. He realized that if Sarah were to overcome this challenge, it would prove that she was his Ultimate-Mega-Rival of Doom. The ancient manuscript (Commonly mistaken for a Game Boy cartridge) clearly stated that the protagonist would face the antagonist in a climactic showdown after said antagonist had become the champion of the Pokémon League. For those of you who might have been confused, Gary was always, and still is, the main character of this story. Got it? Sarah is definitely not the protagonist; she is a minor character at best.
After a few minutes, Sarah reached the end of the hallway to find Anon standing next to a sign that read 'No biking or running. Please walk.' Anon spoke first, "Sorry for not writing this story for so long. So many people thought it was over that I took some time to work on the story that I actually care about."
Sarah replied, "That's understandable. So, are we going to get this over with, or what?"
"Yes we are. Just step through this door and the battle will start. Gary and I will be watching with the rest of the spectators in the stands. Good luck."
Gary, Pidgey, and Anon left through a side door to find some decent seats, leaving Sarah to enter the contestant's door by herself. Though she had done her best to hide it, Sarah was incredibly nervous about the upcoming battle. She had heard stories of how cunning, ruthless, and determined the Elite Four were. With her heart pounding, Sarah pushed open the door to the dimmed arena. As soon as she did so, she was exposed to the thunderous cries of a crowd that was eager for blood. She took the next few steps into her designated space on the field, and the stadium's floodlights all convened on her, leaving her half-blinded. A booming voice came forth from the ceiling. "Alright, Pokéfans! Please welcome the latest challenger for the position of Pokémon League Champion! I give you Sarah Oak of Pallet Town!"
At hearing this, the crowd's roar only increased in volume. Most of the shouts from the spectators were supportive, rhythmic chants such as "Let's-go-Pall-et!" or "Sar-ah-Oak! Sar-ah-Oak!" However, there was a sizable section of the crowd that was booing and using less than appropriate vocabulary to show their contempt of Sarah. Incidentally, 95% of these impolite spectators had recognizably Philadelphian accents. After a few seconds, the announcer spoke up again. "And now, to start off tonight's contest, we have the first member of the Elite Four! Give it up for Lorelei!"
As the announcer said this, the floodlights turned to the other side of the field, where Lorelei stood with a disturbingly intimidating look on her face. Sarah was unable to see this famous trainer at first, as her eyesight was returning only gradually. When it did return, Sarah glanced through the crowd to see if she could spot Gary and Anon. She found them in the front row near a corner on her side of the field. It was hard to read any emotion in Anon's face, seeing as its only visible feature was a question mark. Nevertheless, Sarah could tell that he was excited. She then looked at Gary, who was asking the Philadelphian standing next to him where he had learned all of those interesting words. Sarah then returned her attention to Lorelei, who was removing her first Pokéball. Following suit, Sarah fumbled with her belt to find a ball. As if on cue, the announcer said, "It looks like the battle is about to begin!"
At this, Lorelei threw out her first Pokémon, shouting "Go, Dewgong!" At the same time, Sarah dropped hers directly in front of herself, shouting "You can do it, Raichu!"
The two monsters stared intently at each other, and the crowd slowly quieted until there was silence throughout the cavernous dome. Of course, this silence was broken by a Philadelphian who shouted "Raichu sucks balls!"
The trainers and monsters on the field ignored the comment, and Sarah bent down and whispered some commands to Raichu. "Its first attack will be a ranged one, so be ready to dodge it. Dart into the field directly afterward. Keep away from it at good enough of a distance to remain evasive."
Lorelei was less precise with her orders, and gave the first official command. "Aurora beam!"
Both Sarah and Raichu ducked down and made an extensively practiced side roll away from the jet of ice and light. Raichu then sped off towards Dewgong, and began to move in a zigzagged sort of pattern before getting too close. Dewgong fired another beam at him, but he was moving too erratically to be accurately traced. After firing the second beam, Dewgong was temporarily too slow to dodge an attack. Sarah only had to shout the word "Now!" for Raichu to understand. He stopped moving, and shot from his small body a large ball of electricity. The mass of energy hit Dewgong directly, causing it to fall to the ground. It looked like it was about to get up, but Raichu again proved to be quicker, hitting it square in the jaw with a tackle. Dewgong's eyes rolled into the back of its head, and Lorelei recalled it with little change of expression.
The battle continued in a fairly similar fashion, with Raichu relying on speed and type advantage to stay on top. The only real trouble came with Jynx, which Raichu was too tired to face. Sarah was forced to finish the battle with an Arcanine. The continuing fights blurred themselves in Sarah's memory. She was so intensely focused on the moment that the battles were nigh indistinguishable when she tried to recall them. She would not be able to say which order she faced her opponents in, or even before which match it was that one of the Philadelphians urinated on the field and had to be dragged off by security. All she could tell you was that it was after her Kadabra finally sent a Dragonite falling to the ground that something truly memorable occurred.
Lance returned his fallen monster to its ball, and said, "That wasn't half-bad, Sarah. I'm afraid you've defeated my five dragons."
The crowd erupted into applause, and Sarah tried to grasp the concept of the arduous battle being over. As the noise of the crowd reached a crescendo, Lance shouted a single word. "However!"
At hearing this, the crowd quickly fell into silence. "However…Though it wasn't written in my lineup, I came to this match today with six Pokémon!"
Sarah's eyes widened, and her pulse began to spike. Lance raised a mysterious Pokéball that had the letter 'M' printed on its front. "Go! Show her what the Elite Four is truly capable of!"
He threw the ball into the center of the field, and a flash of red revealed the infamous king of psychics: Mewtwo. Sarah was initially too stunned to speak, but as Mewtwo raised its arms and pointed them at Kadabra, she shouted a desperate order. "Use light screen! Hurry!"
Kadabra tried to set up a shield for itself, but to no avail. A burst of psychic energy emanated from Mewtwo's hands, striking Kadabra in the chest with fatal precision. Worrying that he was dead, Sarah ran out onto the field and removed from the top of her bag a revival medication. Just as she gave Kadabra a full dosage, she looked up and saw that Mewtwo's floating figure was making ready to fire again. She managed to get Kadabra back in his Pokéball just in time, avoiding an even more narrowly focused blast of energy. She retreated to a safer distance, and removed the only Pokémon she had that might stand a chance against Mewtwo. She said while trying to look confident, "Go, Beedrill!"
As soon as Beedril appeared, Sarah shouted with desperation, "Evade his attacks! Get close enough to use your stingers!"
Beedril darted off, moving in a flight pattern designed to make ranged attacks difficult. It managed to get just close enough to attack, but Mewtwo moved out of the way faster than the human eye could see. It reappeared in the air behind Beedril, and delivered a kick to its back that sent the insect hurtling towards the ground. From there, another blast of a psychic attack was all it took to incapacitate it. Sarah's Venusaur, Arcanine, Raichu, and Golem all fared no better. Each fall was more painful to Sarah than the last. Resignation was not allowed under the league's rules, so the only way out of a battle was to have all of one's Pokémon pass out. Sarah removed her final Pokéball, the one that contained her injured Kadabra. She stared at it, and found that tears were starting to roll down her cheeks. She was not sad to lose, but rather sad that her friends all had to face that monster with absolutely no chance of success. She could not bear to use the time-honored phrase for sending a Pokémon into battle, but instead whispered, "I'm sorry," as she raised the ball behind her shoulder.
Just then, a familiarly annoying voice came out from amidst the crowd. "Sarah! Wait!"
It was Gary's voice, and Sarah turned to see what else he had to say. Gary shouted out, "Kadabra's got no chance! You've got to use another one!"
Sarah shouted back, "Can't you count? I'm out of other ones!"
"No, wait! Lance used an unregistered Pokémon without receiving an infraction! Going by the Second Generation Fanonical Rule Set, you should be allowed to use an unannounced Pokémon as well!"
Sarah's eyes widened. "You can't mean…"
Gary raised up his single Pokémon. "Use Pidgey!"
"Are you retarded?!"
"Listen to me! This may sound crazy, but I know he can win! I can sense his feelings, and he's positive that he can defeat Mewtwo! I think we've got some kind of special connection, like our brains operate at the same frequency or something!"
Sarah looked at Pidgey, whose eyes appeared to be focused until one of them rolled into the back of its head. She looked at Kadabra's Pokéball, and could tell that Kadabra was not mentally or emotionally prepared to enter the fight. If Pidgey was truly prepared, then maybe there would not be as many hard feelings after the defeat. "You're sure he wants to do this?"
"As sure as I'm Gary Stu from the town of Pallet!"
Sarah stood silent for a few seconds, and then put Kadabra's ball into her bag. She walked over to the stands, and took Pidgey into her arms. As she walked back, she made her voice heard. "I'm bringing in an unannounced sixth Pokémon!"
At hearing this, every Philadelphian in the stadium insulted Sarah using the word "f*ck" in some form or another. Lance scoffed at Sarah and said, "Go ahead! It won't matter!"
Sarah placed Pidgey standing up in the middle of the field, only a few feet away from Mewtwo. Since she had not verbally called out Pidgey, there would be no attacking for the moment. She returned to her designated spot outside of the field, and then turned around to face her opponent and stood strong. She yelled for the entire stadium to hear, "Go! Pidgey!"
Mewtwo raised its arm to obliterate the small bird, and did not notice that Pidgey was making a tiny ticking noise with his nearly unusable vocal chords. After he stopped making the noise, there was a brief second of silence, and then it happened. A light with the strength of a thousand solar flares burst forth from Pidgey and flooded the entire stadium. A staggering shockwave shook the very foundations of the place, and made many Philadelphians urinate involuntarily. Sarah was thrust to the ground by the force, and tried to shield her eyes from the blinding glare. As the dust cleared and her eyes adjusted, she could see some brown and white feathers falling before her eyes. She could not accept what it might mean, and ran out to where Pidgey had stood.
She did not find Pidgey standing there.
She found only a dazed, featherless, but quite alive Pidgey lying on the ground making a strange noise with its throat. She then looked over a few feet and saw Mewtwo's burnt, unconscious form. She had won.
As the crowd began to see the outcome, applause and cheering of unprecedented passion arose. Those listening to the match on their radios could hear the announcer say, "I don't believe it! That little Pidgey just used Explosion to clinch the victory!"
Sarah could not hear the peoples' screams. She could only hear the relief in her heart that Pidgey had come out okay. She picked up the featherless bird and held him to her chest, beginning to cry again. Paying little head to this display of emotion, an official came out onto the field, and raised a microphone to his mouth. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Tonight we have witnessed an extraordinary event! I am here to present to you the new Pokémon League Champion: Gary Stu, who has completed the Pidgey-Only Challenge!"
Sarah immediately snapped to her senses and said, "Wait, what?"
No one heard her. A mob of enthusiastic fans carried Gary on their shoulders out to the center of the field, chanting his name. Gary was too happy to speak. If he had done any hard work to earn this, it would have all paid off. Anon came out onto the field as well and approached Sarah. He said in a cheerful voice, "How do you like the little twists I just used? Between the surprise Mewtwo and Gary's unexpected victory, I think I deserve a medal or something."
"Oh, shut up," was all Sarah could say to him. She then walked over to Gary and handed over his Pidgey.
"Thanks, Sarah," said Gary with all the sincerity in the world, "I couldn't have done it without you!"
Sarah wanted deep down to say something scathing to him about how he had not earned any of this, but she just thought to herself, 'Whatever. I'll just let him savor the moment.' She then smiled and spoke aloud, "No problem, Gary."
Sarah walked back over to Anon, who was writing down ideas in a notepad for his other story. She asked him, "So what's going to happen to us now?"
"I'm not sure. I've never really thought about what happens to the characters after the story ends. I guess it depends on the last line, so I'll make it something that works out well for you, okay?"
"I'd appreciate that."
Before any nice conclusion could be brought about, however, a low voice that belonged to nobody in the stadium established its presence. "I've had just about enough of this."
The cheering ceased and everyone looked around and wondered where the voice had come from. Sarah asked Anon, "What was that?"
Anon didn't answer, and stared off into space. He spoke to himself, "No. It can't be."
The voice came again, "Are you listening? I know you can hear me, Anon!"
Sarah looked around with visible confusion, and Anon continued to stare. Just then, the roof of the stadium was torn off by some gargantuan, metal arm and was tossed miles away. Everyone looked up, and began to scream in terror. Standing above the stadium was a monstrously big humanoid figure. Its body was composed of what looked like gears and other mechanical parts, and its face was that of an old man's. Sarah asked Anon in a panicked voice, "What on Earth is that thing?"
Anon spoke with noticeable nervousness. "They warned me about him, but I always thought he was just a myth. What have I done?"
The voice again thundered down from the giant's mouth. "I lent you my powers in the trust that they would be used responsibly, Anon, but you have done nothing of the sort! You have used my techniques recklessly in mockery of my institution! Now you shall pay for your impudence!"
Sarah pulled on Anon's sleeve and asked him frantically, "What's he talking about? Just what is he?"
Anon spoke in the same tone as before. "He's the very force that allows this kind of story to draw a conclusion. He's the Deus Ex Machina."
To be continued.
