Post by WARendfeld on Dec 5, 2012 12:10:21 GMT -6
Ghost of a Chance
The sun shone down brightly upon Ecruteak City, filling Alex with some confidence as she made her way through town. A healthy breakfast and being fresh off a pleasant day sightseeing hadn’t hurt either. Her positive mood hadn’t been lost on Nicholas, leading him to remark, “You’re looking bright today. That battle yesterday didn’t damper your spirits too much.”
“If a difficult battle was enough to discourage me, then I wouldn’t have gotten out of Lilycove. If anything, it was a good warm-up for the gym battle.”
Not surprised by his girlfriend’s eagerness, Nicholas shook his head. “Well, call me crazy, but I’m not in a rush for you to battle with that Cal guy again. He was a bit too full of himself for my liking.”
“It’s the rare one of us that doesn’t have a little bit of ego trouble. He’s not a bad guy, and besides, the next time we battle, I…”
With split-second timing, Alex ducked and Nicholas instinctively threw raised one arm and threw up a small shield of aura to block the oncoming burst of flames. The two paused to recover as a portly man dressed like a clown approached them and declared, “I’m just the guy you’re lookin’ for! You two kids look like aspiring Pokémon trainers, and I’ve got somethin’ that’ll make your lives easier!”
“Well whatever you’re selling, your sales pitch needs work.” Getting back to full height, Alex checked to make sure she didn’t have any damage from the salesman’s flame burst. “Who the heck are you anyway?”
“Infernando, are you trying to sell dowsing machines to tourists again?”
The portly clown shrugged as he turned to face the new arrival. “Come on, Morty! A guy’s gotta make a living!”
“And that’s fine, but I think the Aura Guardian and his friend here have more stuff to worry about.” The clown went about his business, and Morty turned to the two with an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that, but Infernando’s sales tactics tend towards the extravagant.”
“That’s fine, no harm done.” Nicholas offered a hand and introduced himself. “Nicholas Pendrake. Somehow, I’m not surprised that you know one of us when you see one.”
Morty accepted the hand and shook. “It doesn’t mean that it isn’t a rare pleasure meeting one.”
Alex simply stood back and watched, getting a good look at the man before her. He was roughly equal in height to her and Nicholas, though closer to him than her, with blonde hair that he kept out of his eyes with a headband and brown eyes, dressed in comfortable clothes, the most distinguished thing being the purple scarf he wore around his neck. More than a few girls probably found him handsome given his build, though she was more than happy with the man she had.
“So what brings you to Ecruteak? I hope there isn’t something going on that I wasn’t aware of.”
“No, there isn’t any crisis going on. I’m just here as a supporter.” Nicholas tipped his head towards Alex and explained, “She, however, is another matter.”
Alex offered her hand as an introduction. “Alex Masters. Assuming it’s possible, I’d like to challenge you to a Gym Battle.”
Morty smiled politely and accepted her hand. “Well Alex, I’m more than happy to accept your challenge. Just follow me to the Gym, and be ready for an audience.”
-
Morty’s warning wasn’t an exaggeration as a number of young children sat lining the stands, presumably students of the Gym and aspiring trainers themselves. Once more, Alex found herself glad that she wasn’t self-conscious.
A referee stood ready at the side of the field, flags in hand and ready to start the battle. “This is an official Gym battle! The challenger, Alex Masters, will battle the Gym Leader, Morty, in a three-on-three match! Victory will earn the challenger a Fog Badge! Only the challenger can substitute one Pokémon for another during the match, and there’s no time limit! Let the match begin!”
“Mismagius, go!”
“Have a bite, Snapdragon!”
Appearing opposite Alex’s Vibrava was a spectral Pokémon resembling the traditional image of a Halloween witch, small and purple and with its head resembling a large hat. If the dragonfly-like Pokémon opposite it was in any way impressed, Snapdragon showed no sign.
“Alright, let’s start off strong! Snapdragon, Crunch!”
“Mismagius, Astonish!”
As Snapdragon charged forward to attack, a black cloud formed over her opponent as its eyes flashed red, a ghastly cry echoing from its mouth. Snapdragon cringed and flinched, her attack prevented.
“Alex, I’m afraid if you’re going to rely on brute force then you’re going to have a difficult battle ahead of you. Ghost-types are the masters of misdirection. Mismagius, Confuse Ray!”
“Snapdragon, Fly!” As her Vibrava shot skywards to avoid the incoming attack, Alex countered, “I know how to dodge, and I’ve learned a thing or two about smoke and mirrors myself.”
From the stands, Nicholas smiled, not afraid to take credit where it was due.
Not at all deterred by his challenger’s determination, Morty called out to his Pokémon, “Mismagius, get ready!”
“Now, Snapdragon!”
With gravity helping her down, Snapdragon dove hard. Despite taking the full brunt of the incoming Confuse Ray, she still hit her target. The two broke off, and the Vibration Pokémon attempted to break out of her confusion, shaking her head and trying to clear her senses.
Alex hated Confuse Ray; not only did she not have an easy way to break her Pokémon out of it, but there was nothing stopping her opponent from using it again. There was only one thing for her and her team to do; fight through it and hope for the best. “Come on, Snapdragon, we can get through this! Crunch!”
“Mismagius, another Astonish!”
Mismagius’ attack did little good, but Snapdragon couldn’t manage a response of her own, stumbling about and falling to the ground. One brief shake of her head, however, and she looked as if she had better control of her senses.
“Okay, let’s try this again! Snapdragon, Crunch!”
“Another Astonish, Mismagius!”
Mismagius managed a smug laugh as it attacked once more, confident that its opponent had been brought low thanks to its trainer’s…
A hard Crunch forced the Ghost-type to think otherwise as Snapdragon landed an attack, her senses regained and the confusion lost. As she buzzed back to regain some space from her flinching opponent, she smirked. “<Don’t get cocky, Casper.>”
“Snapdragon, let’s finish this! Dragonbreath!”
“Mismagius, Confuse Ray!”
Mismagius’ attempt to cause confusion in its opponent failed as a stream of blue-green flaming energy tore through the air and bombarded it, finishing it off.
As the judge signaled his defeat and the scoreboard shifted to reflect the loss, Morty recalled his Mismagius and prepared his next selection. “I’ll admit, you’re off to a good start, but Ghost-types aren’t limited to Mismagius! Let’s go, Froslass!”
As the Snow Land Pokémon appeared on the field, Alex could already see that she was back at a disadvantage. “Snapdragon, return!” Even if she had an attack that could do damage, Snapdragon was doubly weak against Ice-types, and she didn’t want to give her opponent too many advantages, which left her with a calculated risk. “You’re giving us a good challenge yourself, Morty! So good, we’re still fired up! Surtur!” As her Blaziken took his place on the field, Alex smiled; Ghost might beat Fighting, but Fire always beat Ice. “Bulk Up!”
“Froslass, Confuse Ray!”
As Surtur strengthened himself for the battle to come, Froslass did to him what Mismagius had done to Snapdragon, messing with his senses and causing him to fumble.
Which is exactly what Alex was expecting. “Surtur, stand your ground and close your eyes!”
Still more than capable of comprehending his partner’s commands, Surtur did exactly that.
While many of his students had difficulty seeing what Alex’s plan was, Morty found himself with a clear idea of it. “Froslass, Shadow Ball!” A purple-black ball of energies formed in the Ice-type’s hands and was quickly launched, hurtling towards Surtur…
…who softly weaved aside to avoid the attack.
Many of the watchful students looked on with amazement, while Morty managed a small, admiring smile. “Relying on senses other than sight to sense and avoid attacks. It’s the rare trainer who’d consider that. But as impressed as I am, it can only last so long! Froslass, Ice Beam!”
“Surtur, get ready!”
A ball of icy energies formed in Froslass’ mouth as her opponent regained his footing and clenched his clawed hands into fists, ready for the attack to come.
Just before she fired, Froslass shot upwards, altering her trajectory of her attack as she fired. As the attack came his way, Surtur turned his head to face it as his trainer called, “Now! Blaze Kick!” He kicked hard with one flaming foot, meeting the Ice Beam and causing an explosion that tore through the arena. As the smoke cleared, however, both Pokémon emerged, Surtur’s eyes now open and his Confusion gone, even if he’d taken some damage in the bargain.
“Well done, but this match isn’t over yet! Froslass, Thunderbolt!”
“Then let’s finish this! Bakunetsu!”
Flames burst from the Blaziken’s wrists as he finished the attack command. “<FIRE PUNCH!>” A stream of flame shot from his hand before Froslass could begin her attack, and instantly knocked her out.
“Impressive!” Morty recalled his Froslass and noted, “I’ve never seen a Fire Punch used quite like that before!” He made his last selection and declared, “But this match is far from over! Go, Gengar!”
“You practice with an attack enough, and you can pull off all sorts of tricks.” As her opponent’s last selection appeared, Alex recalled Surtur and made her own final choice. “And we’ve still got some tricks left! Into the light, ShadowWarrior!”
As the Murkrow appeared on the field, Morty opted to begin his last offensive. There was every chance he’d go down, but he wouldn’t make it an easy victory. “Gengar, Shadow Ball!”
“ShadowWarrior, counter with your own Shadow Ball!”
Both Pokémon fired off their attacks, the two meeting with an impressive explosion.
“Gengar, Hypnosis!”
“ShadowWarrior, Sucker Punch!”
As Gengar’s eyes glowed a brilliant red, the attempt at lulling ShadowWarrior into a trance and eventually sleep failed, barely fazing the Murkrow as he flew headlong at his opponent and launched a pair of devastating punches. Gengar quickly recovered, but the familiar toothy grin was now far less confident.
“I guess your Murkrow has Insomnia. That’s handy.” His brief commentary over, Morty went back on the offensive. “Gengar, Thunderbolt!”
“ShadowWarrior, evade and Fly!”
ShadowWarrior barely managed to dodge the oncoming bolt of lightning, ascending as high above the arena as he could go and already aware of the odds. If his next attack didn’t hit, then it would be amazingly inconvenient.
“Gengar, get ready with another Thunderbolt!”
“ShadowWarrior, go!”
As bolts of lightning shot through the air, ShadowWarrior did his best to weave and dodge, the bursts of electricity narrowly missing him as he slammed hard into his opponent. As he fluttered back and landed, Gengar fell to the ground, knocked unconscious at last.
“The match is over! The winner is Alex Masters!”
ShadowWarrior fluttered back to his trainer’s shoulder, and Alex smiled. “Nice going, old friend.” The Murkrow remained silent, restraining himself to a proud grin.
His Gengar recalled, Morty approached Alex with a pleased smile. “That was an excellent battle, Alex. You’ve obviously trained your Pokémon well, and you applied sound strategy. There’s no shame in losing to a challenger like you.” He presented her a Fog Badge and added, “You’ve more than earned this Fog Badge.”
“Thank you.” Alex accepted the badge and held it tight in her hand. Even though she had a number of things to worry about, this little victory was a small comfort, and she was glad for it.
TBC!
The sun shone down brightly upon Ecruteak City, filling Alex with some confidence as she made her way through town. A healthy breakfast and being fresh off a pleasant day sightseeing hadn’t hurt either. Her positive mood hadn’t been lost on Nicholas, leading him to remark, “You’re looking bright today. That battle yesterday didn’t damper your spirits too much.”
“If a difficult battle was enough to discourage me, then I wouldn’t have gotten out of Lilycove. If anything, it was a good warm-up for the gym battle.”
Not surprised by his girlfriend’s eagerness, Nicholas shook his head. “Well, call me crazy, but I’m not in a rush for you to battle with that Cal guy again. He was a bit too full of himself for my liking.”
“It’s the rare one of us that doesn’t have a little bit of ego trouble. He’s not a bad guy, and besides, the next time we battle, I…”
With split-second timing, Alex ducked and Nicholas instinctively threw raised one arm and threw up a small shield of aura to block the oncoming burst of flames. The two paused to recover as a portly man dressed like a clown approached them and declared, “I’m just the guy you’re lookin’ for! You two kids look like aspiring Pokémon trainers, and I’ve got somethin’ that’ll make your lives easier!”
“Well whatever you’re selling, your sales pitch needs work.” Getting back to full height, Alex checked to make sure she didn’t have any damage from the salesman’s flame burst. “Who the heck are you anyway?”
“Infernando, are you trying to sell dowsing machines to tourists again?”
The portly clown shrugged as he turned to face the new arrival. “Come on, Morty! A guy’s gotta make a living!”
“And that’s fine, but I think the Aura Guardian and his friend here have more stuff to worry about.” The clown went about his business, and Morty turned to the two with an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that, but Infernando’s sales tactics tend towards the extravagant.”
“That’s fine, no harm done.” Nicholas offered a hand and introduced himself. “Nicholas Pendrake. Somehow, I’m not surprised that you know one of us when you see one.”
Morty accepted the hand and shook. “It doesn’t mean that it isn’t a rare pleasure meeting one.”
Alex simply stood back and watched, getting a good look at the man before her. He was roughly equal in height to her and Nicholas, though closer to him than her, with blonde hair that he kept out of his eyes with a headband and brown eyes, dressed in comfortable clothes, the most distinguished thing being the purple scarf he wore around his neck. More than a few girls probably found him handsome given his build, though she was more than happy with the man she had.
“So what brings you to Ecruteak? I hope there isn’t something going on that I wasn’t aware of.”
“No, there isn’t any crisis going on. I’m just here as a supporter.” Nicholas tipped his head towards Alex and explained, “She, however, is another matter.”
Alex offered her hand as an introduction. “Alex Masters. Assuming it’s possible, I’d like to challenge you to a Gym Battle.”
Morty smiled politely and accepted her hand. “Well Alex, I’m more than happy to accept your challenge. Just follow me to the Gym, and be ready for an audience.”
-
Morty’s warning wasn’t an exaggeration as a number of young children sat lining the stands, presumably students of the Gym and aspiring trainers themselves. Once more, Alex found herself glad that she wasn’t self-conscious.
A referee stood ready at the side of the field, flags in hand and ready to start the battle. “This is an official Gym battle! The challenger, Alex Masters, will battle the Gym Leader, Morty, in a three-on-three match! Victory will earn the challenger a Fog Badge! Only the challenger can substitute one Pokémon for another during the match, and there’s no time limit! Let the match begin!”
“Mismagius, go!”
“Have a bite, Snapdragon!”
Appearing opposite Alex’s Vibrava was a spectral Pokémon resembling the traditional image of a Halloween witch, small and purple and with its head resembling a large hat. If the dragonfly-like Pokémon opposite it was in any way impressed, Snapdragon showed no sign.
“Alright, let’s start off strong! Snapdragon, Crunch!”
“Mismagius, Astonish!”
As Snapdragon charged forward to attack, a black cloud formed over her opponent as its eyes flashed red, a ghastly cry echoing from its mouth. Snapdragon cringed and flinched, her attack prevented.
“Alex, I’m afraid if you’re going to rely on brute force then you’re going to have a difficult battle ahead of you. Ghost-types are the masters of misdirection. Mismagius, Confuse Ray!”
“Snapdragon, Fly!” As her Vibrava shot skywards to avoid the incoming attack, Alex countered, “I know how to dodge, and I’ve learned a thing or two about smoke and mirrors myself.”
From the stands, Nicholas smiled, not afraid to take credit where it was due.
Not at all deterred by his challenger’s determination, Morty called out to his Pokémon, “Mismagius, get ready!”
“Now, Snapdragon!”
With gravity helping her down, Snapdragon dove hard. Despite taking the full brunt of the incoming Confuse Ray, she still hit her target. The two broke off, and the Vibration Pokémon attempted to break out of her confusion, shaking her head and trying to clear her senses.
Alex hated Confuse Ray; not only did she not have an easy way to break her Pokémon out of it, but there was nothing stopping her opponent from using it again. There was only one thing for her and her team to do; fight through it and hope for the best. “Come on, Snapdragon, we can get through this! Crunch!”
“Mismagius, another Astonish!”
Mismagius’ attack did little good, but Snapdragon couldn’t manage a response of her own, stumbling about and falling to the ground. One brief shake of her head, however, and she looked as if she had better control of her senses.
“Okay, let’s try this again! Snapdragon, Crunch!”
“Another Astonish, Mismagius!”
Mismagius managed a smug laugh as it attacked once more, confident that its opponent had been brought low thanks to its trainer’s…
A hard Crunch forced the Ghost-type to think otherwise as Snapdragon landed an attack, her senses regained and the confusion lost. As she buzzed back to regain some space from her flinching opponent, she smirked. “<Don’t get cocky, Casper.>”
“Snapdragon, let’s finish this! Dragonbreath!”
“Mismagius, Confuse Ray!”
Mismagius’ attempt to cause confusion in its opponent failed as a stream of blue-green flaming energy tore through the air and bombarded it, finishing it off.
As the judge signaled his defeat and the scoreboard shifted to reflect the loss, Morty recalled his Mismagius and prepared his next selection. “I’ll admit, you’re off to a good start, but Ghost-types aren’t limited to Mismagius! Let’s go, Froslass!”
As the Snow Land Pokémon appeared on the field, Alex could already see that she was back at a disadvantage. “Snapdragon, return!” Even if she had an attack that could do damage, Snapdragon was doubly weak against Ice-types, and she didn’t want to give her opponent too many advantages, which left her with a calculated risk. “You’re giving us a good challenge yourself, Morty! So good, we’re still fired up! Surtur!” As her Blaziken took his place on the field, Alex smiled; Ghost might beat Fighting, but Fire always beat Ice. “Bulk Up!”
“Froslass, Confuse Ray!”
As Surtur strengthened himself for the battle to come, Froslass did to him what Mismagius had done to Snapdragon, messing with his senses and causing him to fumble.
Which is exactly what Alex was expecting. “Surtur, stand your ground and close your eyes!”
Still more than capable of comprehending his partner’s commands, Surtur did exactly that.
While many of his students had difficulty seeing what Alex’s plan was, Morty found himself with a clear idea of it. “Froslass, Shadow Ball!” A purple-black ball of energies formed in the Ice-type’s hands and was quickly launched, hurtling towards Surtur…
…who softly weaved aside to avoid the attack.
Many of the watchful students looked on with amazement, while Morty managed a small, admiring smile. “Relying on senses other than sight to sense and avoid attacks. It’s the rare trainer who’d consider that. But as impressed as I am, it can only last so long! Froslass, Ice Beam!”
“Surtur, get ready!”
A ball of icy energies formed in Froslass’ mouth as her opponent regained his footing and clenched his clawed hands into fists, ready for the attack to come.
Just before she fired, Froslass shot upwards, altering her trajectory of her attack as she fired. As the attack came his way, Surtur turned his head to face it as his trainer called, “Now! Blaze Kick!” He kicked hard with one flaming foot, meeting the Ice Beam and causing an explosion that tore through the arena. As the smoke cleared, however, both Pokémon emerged, Surtur’s eyes now open and his Confusion gone, even if he’d taken some damage in the bargain.
“Well done, but this match isn’t over yet! Froslass, Thunderbolt!”
“Then let’s finish this! Bakunetsu!”
Flames burst from the Blaziken’s wrists as he finished the attack command. “<FIRE PUNCH!>” A stream of flame shot from his hand before Froslass could begin her attack, and instantly knocked her out.
“Impressive!” Morty recalled his Froslass and noted, “I’ve never seen a Fire Punch used quite like that before!” He made his last selection and declared, “But this match is far from over! Go, Gengar!”
“You practice with an attack enough, and you can pull off all sorts of tricks.” As her opponent’s last selection appeared, Alex recalled Surtur and made her own final choice. “And we’ve still got some tricks left! Into the light, ShadowWarrior!”
As the Murkrow appeared on the field, Morty opted to begin his last offensive. There was every chance he’d go down, but he wouldn’t make it an easy victory. “Gengar, Shadow Ball!”
“ShadowWarrior, counter with your own Shadow Ball!”
Both Pokémon fired off their attacks, the two meeting with an impressive explosion.
“Gengar, Hypnosis!”
“ShadowWarrior, Sucker Punch!”
As Gengar’s eyes glowed a brilliant red, the attempt at lulling ShadowWarrior into a trance and eventually sleep failed, barely fazing the Murkrow as he flew headlong at his opponent and launched a pair of devastating punches. Gengar quickly recovered, but the familiar toothy grin was now far less confident.
“I guess your Murkrow has Insomnia. That’s handy.” His brief commentary over, Morty went back on the offensive. “Gengar, Thunderbolt!”
“ShadowWarrior, evade and Fly!”
ShadowWarrior barely managed to dodge the oncoming bolt of lightning, ascending as high above the arena as he could go and already aware of the odds. If his next attack didn’t hit, then it would be amazingly inconvenient.
“Gengar, get ready with another Thunderbolt!”
“ShadowWarrior, go!”
As bolts of lightning shot through the air, ShadowWarrior did his best to weave and dodge, the bursts of electricity narrowly missing him as he slammed hard into his opponent. As he fluttered back and landed, Gengar fell to the ground, knocked unconscious at last.
“The match is over! The winner is Alex Masters!”
ShadowWarrior fluttered back to his trainer’s shoulder, and Alex smiled. “Nice going, old friend.” The Murkrow remained silent, restraining himself to a proud grin.
His Gengar recalled, Morty approached Alex with a pleased smile. “That was an excellent battle, Alex. You’ve obviously trained your Pokémon well, and you applied sound strategy. There’s no shame in losing to a challenger like you.” He presented her a Fog Badge and added, “You’ve more than earned this Fog Badge.”
“Thank you.” Alex accepted the badge and held it tight in her hand. Even though she had a number of things to worry about, this little victory was a small comfort, and she was glad for it.
TBC!