From: "Rob" <robfrompw@yahoo.com> Subject: [PW!] Robert ends his Johto journey. Date: Monday, January 05, 2004 11:59 PM Clair, the blue-haired Dragon Tamer of Blackthorn City's Gym, recaps to the Trainer who's standing across from her on the other side of her Gym's pool, "Robert of Lavender Town, we'll be having a 3-on-3 battle with no time limit in my Gym's Pool Arena for one Rising Badge and one Dragon Scale. If there aren't any objections, let the battle begin!" "Whoa, whoa... wait." Andrew O'Reilly, the Trainer who traveled all the way from Silver Town with Robert rubs his temples. "This is all happening so fast! It seems like just yesterday we left Silver Town and now we're here in Blackthorn City?" Robert reminds Andrew, "We left the day before yesterday." "Still... I guess I'm just used to taking things slowly." Andrew shakes his head, "Nevermind. Go on with your battle." Clair produces a Pokeball and throws it into the pool, declaring, "This time I'm going to start with my Kingdra!" "And this time, my Piggy's grown big and strong after eating a whole lot of roast beef!" Robert pulls his Piloswine's Pokeball off his belt, points it at one platform in Clair's pool, and releases the Pig Pokemon within it. "Piloswine, I choose you! Use Ice Beam!" Realizing that she should have issued her command as she sent out her Pokemon too, Clair shouts, "Kingdra, hit it with a Hydro Pump!" Robert's Piloswine appears on the platform just as Clair's Kingdra lifts his head out of the surface of the pool. The moment she appears, the Piloswine shoots an Ice Beam out of her mouth and the cold blast knocks Kingdra's head back just as he releases his Hydro Pump! The Kingdra makes a cute fountain, but he doesn't hurt Robert's Pig Pokemon at all. "I knew I should've gone with a more accurate attack," Clair tells herself before telling her Pokemon, "Kingdra, Swift!" Robert calls out, "Piloswine, hit Kingdra with another Ice Beam!" This time, Clair's Kingdra is the one who attacks first, as he should have done last time - he sends tiny starts shooting out of his snout at Piloswine! The Swift attack annoys Piloswine, but it doesn't keep her from shooting another Beam of Ice out of her mouth. The Piloswine's second Ice Beam is more powerful than the first since she was angered by the Swift attack, and it encases Clair's Kingdra in a block of ice! Next to Andrew O'Reilly, a short old man who is friends with Clair and who agreed to act as a referee says, "Kingdra is unable to battle. Piloswine is the winner!" Clair recalls her Kingdra, commenting, "It was a good idea to teach your Piloswine Ice Beam - she's very good with it. Kingdra's Hydro Pump missed, but I guaruntee my next Pokemon's Hydro Pump won't." She grabs another Pokeball, tosses it, and shouts, "Go, Gyarados! Use Hydro Pump!" "You guaruntee it? In that case, Piloswine, return!" Robert recalls his Piloswine to send him out later in the match, "If there's one thing I learned during Silver Conference, it's the importance of recalling your Pokemon if you think they can't handle their opponent!" Robert puts his Piloswine's Pokeball back on his belt. The gigantic Gyarados who's long serpentine neck is now protruding from the surface of the water in Clair's Pool looks down at Robert with the angry look that most Gyarados usually have on their faces. He's preparing to Hydro Pump whatever Robert sends out with all his might. Robert pulls a yellow and brown Pokeball off his belt, points it at the Gyarados' big head, and pushes the button on it. The white beam that shoots out coalesces into a shapely Raichu on top of the Gyarados. Robert yells, "Do what you did in the Silver Conference - use Thunder!" "GYAAAAAAAAAH!" Gyarados whips his head forward, sending Robert's female Raichu flying. "Chu!" She crashes onto the platform that Piloswine was standing on moments ago. Before she can stand up, she's hit with a blast of water so pressurized that it pins her to the platform! The Gyarados' Hydro Pump attack continues for a good thirty seconds. When it's over, a Raichu with a wet orange coat and narrowed angry eyes slowly climbs onto her haunches. She points at the Gyarados with an accusing paw, "CHU!" An electrical surge courses through her entire body and releases itself through the pointed paw! "GYAAAAAAAAAH!" Clair's Gyarados calls out once again as he's hit and engulfed by the Raichu's lightning attack, but this time he screams due to pain instead of anger. When the Thunder attack is over, Clair's Gyarados topples into the pool, unconscious. "Gyarados is unable to battle." The old referee declares, "The winner is Raichu." "It's been a while since I've been at a two Pokemon deficit in a match," Clair comments as she recalls her defeated Gyarados and produces her last Pokeball, "I plan to not remain in such a deficit for much longer. My Dragonair's defeated three of your Pokemon all by himself before, Robert, and he can surely do so again! Dragonair, it's all up to you!" Clair throws her Pokeball, commanding, "Use Dragonbreath on Raichu!" Robert calls out, "Raichu, use Thunder once more!" "Draaaa!" Clair's 14 foot tall Dragonair lifts her head high above the pool and shoots his Dragonbreath out of his mouth before Raichu can move, paralyzing her. The orange Raichu points her paw at Dragonair, just like she did at Gyarados, but her paralysis kicks in at that moment, keeping her from attacking and freezing her in that position. Clair smiles, glad that Raichu is paralyzed, "Now use Slam!" "One good paralysis deserves another," Robert remarks before telling his Pokemon, "Keep Dragonair from Slamming you, Raichu - use Thunderwave!" Raichu's paralysis keeps her from striking first and Dragonair Slams her with his tail, sending her paralyzed body flying out of the Arena. Andrew catches the Pokemon before she can hit the wall. The old man next to him examines the Electric Pokemon in Andrew's hands, and noticing that her eyes are shut, he declares, "Raichu is out out bounds AND she's unable to battle. The winner is most definitely Clair's Dragonair!" "Raichu, return!" Robert recalls his Raichu, places her yellow Pokeball with brown marks on his belt, and grabs Piloswine's regular Pokeball, "Fortunately I recalled my Piloswine when I did. She should be able to defeat your Dragonair by herself, making up for the humiliating defeat she suffered the last time she battled him!" Robert releases his Piloswine onto the platform she stood on earlier in the match, saying, "Piloswine, hit Dragonair with one of your powerful Ice Beams!" The blue-haired female Gym Leader orders, "Dragonair, Surf!" Clair's graceful Dragonair dives into the Pool. Within seconds, a wall of water emerges from the Pool and crashes onto Robert's Piloswine! "Pilooo..." Piloswine squeals after being hit by the Dragon's Surf attack, annoyed that she's now soaking wet and rather hurt. "Swiiiine," Piloswine shrieks, shooting an Ice Beam at the surface of the water. Determined to hit the Dragonair wherever he is underwater, she continues to shoot the Ice Beam as she moves her head around, trying to cover every inch of the pool. After a minute, a layer of ice covers the Pool. "Dragonair," Clair shouts at the top of her lungs so that her Dragonair can hear her through the ice, "Break through the ice and hit Piloswine using your Slam attack!" Robert tells his Pig Pokemon, "Piloswine, use Take Down on Dragonair's tail before he can hit you if he breaks through the ice!" "Pilo... swime..." Piloswine breathes heavily after having used Ice Beam for so long, not sure if she can use Take Down. When Clair's Dragonair smashes through the ice and Slams the Piloswine's head, she stops wondering whether she can pull the attack off or not when she faints. "Piloswine is unable to battle," the old man points out from his place on the sidelines, "Dragonair is the winner!" Robert recalls his fainted Ice Pokemon and puts her Pokeball back on his belt, "Okay, so Piloswine wasn't able to make up for her previous loss against Dragonair, but I'm sure my Hitmonchan will!" He grabs the Pokeball of his that contains his Hitmonchan and tosses it at the Dragonair head that's peeking out of the hole in the mostly-frozen Pool, "Hitmonchan, surprise Dragonair with your Mega Kick!" In a flash of white light, Robert's female Hitmonchan pops out of her Pokeball with one of her Hitmonlee-like feet pointed at Clair's Dragonair. The Hitmonchan's Mega Kick hits Dragonair's neck with so much force that it knocks his entire 14-foot serpentine body out of the Pool! Robert says, "Good job, Hitmonchan! Follow that up with an Ice Punch!" Clair says, "Dragonair, don't let her hit you - use Thunderwave!" But Robert's Hitmonchan is faster than Clair's Dragonair. "Monchan!" She leaps over to the Pokemon's head and slams her right fist at it, using her Ice Punch. Since the Dragonair's head was resting on the ice-covered water when it was hit, the moment it's encased in a block of ice, it becomes attached to the surface of the battlefield. Seeing that the Pokemon can't attack, Hitmonchan follows up her attack with three more strategically placed Ice Punches. When her barrage of punches is over, the Dragonair is pinned to the frozen pool, unable to battle. "Dragonair is unable to battle!" The old referee says, astonished that Clair has actually lost, "Robert and Hitmonchan win the match!" Clair recalls her frozen Dragonair and walks right across the ice that remains on the pool. "You have certainly become a better fighter since we last battled. I'm glad you took my advice to gain more experience. Here are your Rising Badge and the Dragon Scale I promised you." She hands Robert a black Rising Badge shaped like a dragon's head and a small blue Dragon Scale that she found at the Dragon's Den. "Awww yeah!" Robert pins the Rising Badge on his black shirt, right next to the Hive Badge he earned from Bugsy, "Woo-hoo! This means my Johto Journey is officially over! I can finally go back home to Lavender Town and settle down for good at the Diversity Gym with Rilli!" -Robert