Subject: [PW!] Karl Challenges Falkner Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2001 18:28:10 +0100 From: "Steffan Alun" <iceduck@hotmail.com> Organization: BT Internet Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon I'm getting back into PW! I'm sure this'll be as short-lived as my first try, but at least I'll have more than one done. When I've got a few more written, I'll try getting an interaction going. For now, I'm not dependable enough. I have several good titles ready, but it means having to develop Karl and his situation some more, so for now "Karl Challenges Falkner" is all I have. It's been months since the first installment, but you don't need much background information other than the fact that Iceduck is a Psyduck, Nomak is a Farfetch'd and Ess is an Unown. *** Karl Challenges Falkner By Steffan Karl entered Violet City's gym, and was amazed to see how many bird Pokémon there were, not to mention how many were contained inside the gym. He'd been training hard for the last few days, and was itching to start the battle. He confronted Falkner, who didn't see him. Karl didn't have any friends at home, and didn't have much confidence. He took off his Psyduck's Pokéball, hoping Falkner would notice him to save him the bother of attracting attention. However, Nomak held no truck with this. He flew up to face Falkner, and gave him a very unpleasant look. Karl was as confused as Falkner was at this - Nomak always lost his temper, but he was looking quite vicious now. "I'm sorry, sir," Karl mumbled, trying to catch Nomak. "That's quite alright," replied Falkner. "He's probably just worked up at seeing other bird Pokémon. I bet this Farfetch'd is a pet, correct?" "Yes," answered Karl. "How did you know?" "You can't control a gym without having some degree of knowledge about the type of Pokémon you use." "That must be quite hard to do, with so many flying types in the world. Dragons are probably easier to learn about, since there aren't as many - is that why Claire's so hard? Because she has a better knowledge of the type she uses?" "Oh, not at all," said Falkner, chuckling. "Claire's hard to beat because of her immense passion for Dragons. I probably know more than she does, since I train so many different Pokémon, but her training skills are superior. Anyway, did you want to battle?" "What? Oh, erm...yes, please," stuttered Karl, who'd almost forgotten why he'd come. He took Iceduck's Pokéball again, and prepared to throw it. "Far!" Nomak gently pecked him on the leg. "What's wrong, Nomak? Do you want to take this battle?" "FAR!" Nomak flew up, cawing. "Ok, then. I suppose living in Cherrygrove didn't give you many battling oppertunities." Nomak prepared to battle. Falkner took his first Pokéball, and threw it into the arena. It was Pidgey. "It'll be a two-on-two battle," he said. "Nomak - try...attacking it," said Karl. "You won't get any respect like that," laughed Falkner. "He's too good for you as it is. You need to shout the command! Oh, and tell him what move to use as well." "Ok..." Karl felt very self-conscious all of a sudden. "Nomak! Peck it!" Nomak flew up and shot for Pidgey, pecking it with all it's might. "Pidgey! Use your Gust attack!" Pidgey let out a gust of wind. Karl was surprised at the Pidgey's strength - the ones he'd trained against were, on the whole, very weak. Seeing a trained Pidgey fight was a bizzarre scene, but one Karl loved to see. If only it wasn't attacking his Farfetch'd... "Pidgey! Tackle it!" "Nomak, use your Fury Attack!" As Pidgey dove to tackle, Nomak defended by attacking it repeatedly. Seeing the dazed Pidgey, Nomak started to laugh. "Nomak! Use the chance to Swords Dance!" "It knows Swords Dance, does it?" asked Falkner, a note of mild surprise in his voice. "I'm rarely challanged by such experienced Pokémon." However, Nomak certainly did know the move, and was taunting Pidgey with it as they spoke. "Pidgey! Use Mirror Move!" Karl was very surprised to see this - Pidgey started dancing as well! Nomak was very confused, and pecked the bird again. "Don't give up, Nomak - use Leer for an easy win!" Nomak Leered at Pidgey, who was still dancing. Nomak was getting bored of preparing to fight - in full disregard of Karl's next commands, he pecked Pidgey a third time, knocking him out. "Well done," said Falkner, sounding genuinely impressed. "Pidgeotto! He's been weakened for you!" He threw in his second Pokéball. A Pidgeotto came out, and prepared to attack. "His attack power's too high," said Falkner. "Teach him a lesson with Mud-Slap!" Pidgeotto slapped a lump of mud up to Nomak. It didn't even get halfway. Nomak laughed again, Swords Dancing to add insult to injury. Falkner kicked himself for forgetting that Mud-Slap didn't affect Flying types - his own type of choice! "Nomak, just Peck it!" Karl was panicking - he didn't particularly want to return here. Nomak drove his beak into Pidgeotto, but Pidgeotto retaliated easily - it struck Nomak with its wings, slamming him int the wall. "Nomak! Are you alright?" Karl bent over Nomak, but it was certainly put out of action. This was a bad thing, as he only had two other Pokémon, neither of whom were even half as strong as Nomak. "Iceduck! It's your turn!" Iceduck was thrown up to face Pidgeotto. "This won't be a problem!" shouted Falkner. "Mud-Slap it!" Pidgeotto threw a lump of mud into Iceduck's face. It didn't seem particularly impressed. "Use your Ice Beam!" Psyduck shot a beam of ice into the sky, missing Pidgeotto completely. Pidgeotto shot down towards Iceduck and pecked him on the head. "Leave Iceduck alone," said Karl, seeing the tears of laughter in Pidgeotto's eyes. "Iceduck! Disable its talons!" Iceduck looked the bird in the eyes, disabling its Mud-Slap ability. "Now use Confusion!" The result of Iceduck's Confusion attack was that Pidgeotto was slightly annoyed at the fact that it couldn't throw mud, and very little else. "Oh, no..." Karl said to himself. "Try Ice Beam again, Icy." Iceduck shot another Ice Beam into the sky, this time catching Pidgeotto on the wings. It took the bird down to earth with great force. With minimal fuss, Falkner handed over a badge, and Karl left the gym in a great mood. He headed for the Poké Center to heal his creatures, whistling loudly and happily.