From: Roberto Perez-Vila <RobfromVoid@prodigy.net> Subject: [PW!] A Most Honorable Match - Robert vs. Koga! Date: Monday, April 12, 1999 8:08 PM >"Well, Charmeleon's too weak to fight, and Vileplume's attacks aren't good >against poison." Rilli shrugged. "But if you're worried about Haunter, then >you don't have to use him. This is your battle, Robert." >Robert thought hard for a moment. "Okay, I think I know what to do. Thanks, >Rilli." >The girl smiled lightly and pecked him on the cheek. "Good luck, Robert." >Nendil Robert steps up closer to Koga. They stand face to face in a plain room with wooden floors and ancient tapestries on the walls, some distance separating them. Aiya stands near her brother, preparing to watch the match. Mithril-rama stands near Robert, also eager to watch the ensuing battle. Robert squints his eyes towards the Ninja Master and says, "Go." "Very well." Koga grins slightly, "To begin this match, I shall lead with Muk!" His Pokeball seems to appears out of thin air and it gets thrown to the ground before anyone can see it in his hand. The Pokeball opens up and the red energy released gathers to form a huge pile of sludge with visible eyes, mouth, and deformed arms. The blob opens its gaping mouth and bellows, "MUKKKK!!! Muh Muh Muh MUK!!!" Robert contorts his face in disgust at the Poison Pokemon, "Ewww! That thing's disgusting! But... where have I seen it before?" Robert tries to jog his mind, and remembers that a Team Rocket member used such a Pokemon when he was on Cinnabar Island. "But what defeated...?" Robert snaps his fingers, recalling the fact that RK's Alakazam, Mindbender, defeated the Muk with just one Psychic attack. "Psychic Pokemon! Slowbro, let's get rid of this muddy mess!" Robert grabs the fifth Pokeball on his belt and tosses it into the plain battle field. The tall, fat Water Pokemon appears, the giant Shellder still biting his tail! "Slow... Slowbro... Slow?" He stares at the Muk, his jaw hanging open, as usual. Koga nods upon seeing the Pokemon, knowing that it is Psychic despite its overall dopey appearance, "You have chosen wisely, child. Muk, use Disable." The Muk grins and glares at Slowbro. A blue aura surrounds Slowbro, and a few seconds after the color fades, Slowbro looks just a little more confused than it usually does. Robert is quick to scoff, "What the heck was that?! It didn't even hurt Slowbro! Okay Slowbro, use Confusion!" Robert simply smiles as he waits a thirty seconds, knowing that most of Slowbro's attacks are delayed. This time, however, the attack seems more delayed than usual, and it dawns upon Robert that Slowbro isn't going to use it! "What?! Slowbro, listen to me! Use Confusion!" Slowbro looks down sadly in response and mumbles, "Slowww..." "It's no use, Robert." Koga smirks smugly, happy to know that Muk Disabled the correct move, "Muk has Disabled your Slowbro's Confusion attack. Muk, Sludge Attack!" Muk slithers forward towards the forgetful Slowbro and spits a fountain of a murky dark fluid from its wide open mouth, "Muh Muh Muh MUK!" The vile ooze splatters itself all over Slowbro's body and sinks deep into his belly, poisoning him! "Eeeeewwww!" Robert turns away, not being able to withstand the sight of his soiled Slowbro. He slowly begins to turn back and shouts, "Alright, Slowbro, you may not know your Confusion attack, but use Surf!" Slowbro gradually tries to rub the sludge off of his body, but suddenly stops, realizing that Robert has given him an order, and begins to concentrate. A few drops of water begin to rain down indoors. The rain seems to focus entirely on Muk, and Slowbro spews out two large gushes of cold water at the Muk, which swallows up the water and coughs it up, fearing that which can clean it up. Koga shakes his head, "Muk, Minimize yourself so that the water can't hit you!" Everyone in the room watches as Muk shrinks down, the Poison Pokemon concentrating its own sludge until it becomes a tiny little ball, which yells, "MUK!" Robert raises an eyebrow, possibly more confused than his Pokemon. "What the...? Oh well, it doesn't matter... Hmm... Slowbro... Use... Swift! That should hit!" Slowbro acts at a rapid pace when the command is given to him, and swings his tail, attached Shellder included, at the minuscule Muk! The Shellder spews bright stars from it's mouth and after the barrage of hits comes to a stop, the Muk gradually expands its body to it's usual size, but comes up fainted! Koga closes his eyes and rubs his forehead, "Muk has lost, but he is my weakest Pokemon. I shall now choose a stronger opponent. I shall now choose Weezing!" Koga's nimble fingers produce the Pokeball from within his purple kimono, and it quickly hits the ground, where it breaks open! The two giant orbs of pure toxic gas attached together float up into the air above Slowbro, both seemingly depressed. They proclaim together, "BWEEEE ZEENG!" Robert feels his stomach rumbling... His lunch was becoming unsettled by the sight of the hideous creature! While trying not to vomit, Robert mutters, "Slowbro... go for another Surf attack!" Koga quickly commands his obedient Pokemon, "Weezing, Smog!" The Weezing does as its master commands and the larger of the two heads spits out a large cloud of purple toxic fumes which gather around Slowbro... The damage the Smog brings about when combined with his already poisoned state makes Slowbro fall over, fainted! Robert speaks in gasps, trying to keep his lunch from spewing out, "Ugh. Come Back. Slowbro." Robert recalls his fainted Slowbro. "Okay. Time for. Haunter to. Give it a... a..." Robert grabs his mouth and covers his nose... Shortly after, he swallows his saliva, among other things, and tosses out Haunter's Pokeball! Haunter appears and looks over towards his trainer. Upon seeing his face turning green, Haunter laughs, "Haw Haw Haw Haw HAUNTER!" Haunter decides to become green too, and inflates his cheeks like Robert! "Haunter!" Koga chuckles at the silly Ghost Pokemon, "This should be easy. Weezing, spread a Smoke Screen!" The Pokemon's two heads spew out the same amount of smoke, which ends up blanketing the entire room. Mithril-rama can't even see Robert, and she stands very nearby him! Robert sighs delightfully since he doesn't have to see the Poison Pokemon's disgusting round heads any longer, and in-between coughs, he shouts out, "Haunter, use Hypnosis to put the Weezing to sleep!" The smoke screen begins to dissipate just as Haunter's eyes glow in the general direction of Koga's Weezing. The Ghost Pokemon waves his disembodied hands around in circles... Something surprising occurs, however, as the larger of Weezing's twin heads falls asleep while the smaller one does not. The smaller ball of gas tries to stay afloat as the larger one sinks to the ground... Koga frowns at this, but then gets an idea, "Weezing, Haze!" The smaller of Weezing's heads begins to focus and the entire room becomes hazy to everyone. When the haze dissipates, both of the Poison Pokemon's heads are wide awake and ready for battle! Surprisingly, the Smoke Screen has also completely disappeared! Haunter looks confused, "Haunt? Haunter?" Robert simply shrugs, "At least the Smoke Screen is gone. If Hypnosis doesn't work, try Night Shade!" Haunter nods at his trainer, "Haunter!" He floats up to the unsuspecting Weezing and dark matter begins to form in-between the Haunter's two floating hands... The darkness is blasted out towards Haunter's target, and Weezing falls back in pain. Haunter chuckles, "Haw Haw Haw Haunter!" Koga strokes his chin, considering which of Weezing's moves would work against Haunter. "Nothing... Not even... Hmmm... Well then, Weezing, try your Sludge attack!" Weezing yells out, "BWEEE ZING!" It floats over to Haunter and spews Sludge out of its heads, the toxic substance very similar to Muk's! Due to Haunter's Poison Type advantage, the Ghost simply laughs at the attempt to defeat him, "HAW HAW Haunter!" Robert chuckles too, "Well, Koga, looks like your ugly Pokemon are no match for my star Pokemon, Haunter!" Robert stands proud and closes his eyes. Haunter mimics his trainer's behavior, allowing Weezing to get another attack in. "Sludge attack once again, Weezing." Koga declares. His loyal Pokemon spews out more Sludge towards Haunter, who frowns slightly, but continues to float proudly. "Haunter!" Robert opens his eyes to become aware that Weezing's Sludge attacks just might be wearing Haunter down. "Well, okay then, Haunter... another Night Shade! This'll be your first Gym Battle win!" Haunter smiles... his smile soon turns into an evil grin as he once again forms the darkness in-between his hands and blasts it out at Weezing, who is weakened to the point where it is floating near the floor of the Gym, much lower than when it was originally released, "Wee... Weezing?!" Koga frowns, but decides to continue with the only strategy that might defeat the Ghost, wearing it down gradually. "Weezing, do not give up yet! One more Sludge attack!" Weezing tries to nod, but fails, and conjures up the energy to spew an immense steam of pure Sludge at Haunter, who doesn't see it coming, and gets plastered onto one of the various tapestries on the walls of the mansion! The Haunter's eyes appear as "Xs," meaning that Weezing has actually managed to defeat Haunter! Robert frowns and stomps the ground, "All that stupid Pokemon's ever beaten since I began this journey is a Seel and a Tauros! How embarrassing. Haunter, return." Robert recalls Haunter from his place on the wall... Koga seems just a little surprised that Weezing managed to defeat the Haunter, but shakes it off and resumes his stern stare to look professional again, "Whom shall you choose now, Robert?" Robert squints his eyes and thinks out loud, "Hmm... Geodude needs more time to learn Rock Slide... I guess I have no choice." He reaches down for the yellow and brown Pokeball on his belt. "Pikachu, go!" He chucks the Pokeball at the Weezing, in hopes of knocking it down, but it doesn't reach. Instead, it snaps open on the floor of the Gym and reveals a very feminine Pikachu, who is stretching and yawning with her eyes closed. "Piiika..." She opens up her eyes to see the Weezing floating directly in front of her! She sends out a shrill scream and runs over to Robert on all fours, "PIKA!" Koga smiles, "It looks like your Pikachu doesn't want to battle Weezing. You chose her, though, so now you will have to manage. Weezing, Tackle!" Weezing is too tired from battling Haunter, however, and its Tackle attack goes very slowly. Robert sees this and shouts, "The enemy's weak, Pikachu! Get'm!" Pikachu begins shivering and turns around slowly, "Pi... ka...?" She sees the huge two headed Pokemon gliding towards her... Robert commands her, "Pikachu, Swift! Get that attack in before Weezing!" Pikachu nods and runs up to Weezing on all fours, sending bright stars flying from her cheeks! After a few stars make contact with Weezing, it passes out, much to Koga's dismay. "It makes sense. Your Haunter wore my Weezing out, and your Pikachu just finished the job. Pikachu won't be able to defeat my next Pokemon, however. The Pokemon I am about to chose is one of my most fearless ones... Golbat!" A Pokeball flies down to the ground and pops open... The elongated mutant bat creature flaps its wings rapidly, "Gol Bat!" Robert and Pikachu both shriek out at the sight of the monster... Robert stutters, "The only thing I hate more than Bat Pokemon is Evolved Bat Pokemon... and that thing takes the cake! Koga's Pokemon keep getting scarier and uglier! I'm afraid to find out what his last Pokemon is.... AHHHHHH!!!" Mithril-rama shouts out some words of encouragement, "Don't show Pikachu you're scared of it, or else she'll fear it too!" Robert nods, "You're right. Don't worry, Pikachu, you're an Electric Pokemon and that nasty bat is a Flying type. You should be able to defeat it with just one Thundershock! Use it now!" Pikachu steps forward fearfully and her red cheeks light up and sparks emerge... The sparks gather and concentrate to shock Koga's Golbat! The Golbat, however, shrugs it off, and continues to flap its wings rapidly... Robert's eyes widen, "What?! Pikachu's Thundershock didn't hurt Golbat?!" Koga nods, then smiles, "You have much to learn, Robert. Golbat is most likely much stronger than Pikachu, and Thundershock is one of the weaker Electric attacks. Golbat, Leech Life!" The Golbat swoops down next to Pikachu and sinks it's fangs into Pikachu's rear end! Pikachu's black eyes widen and she scream out in pain, "PIKA! PIKA! PIKA!" Instinctively, she sends out a Thundershock, but the Golbat doesn't seem to mind since it is recuperating its health by sucking the energy from Pikachu while she does this... Pikachu falls over, face forward, with two small fang marks left on her butt. Robert yells out, "NOOOOO!!! What did you do to my Pikachu, Koga?!" Koga frowns, "I am sorry that my Golbat took a bite out of your Pikachu, but I'm sure she will recover from it." "Yeah... Sorry... right..." Robert narrows his eyes towards Koga, not thinking of how fearsome Golbat is, but rather trying to figure out how to avenge his Pikachu. "There's only one Pokemon left for me..." Robert quickly recalls his fainted Pikachu and places her special Pokeball back on his belt. "That Pokemon is..." Robert grabs Geodude's Pokeball and snaps TM48 off of it, hoping that Geodude has had time to learn the move. "Geodude!" He tosses the Pokeball with so much force that it hits Golbat on his forehead before snapping open... "Geodude! Geodude!" The round Rock Pokemon with arms hovers around, ready for action... Koga furrows his brow, "A Geodude? Most people have evolved their Geodude by the time they challenge me." Robert growls, "Well, this particular Geodude doesn't want to evolve, okay? Besides, I'm sure Pikachu weakened your Poison bat enough for Geodude to handle it!" "Perhaps, but can it handle my next Pokemon? I doubt it." Koga looks down at Geodude and can't help but smirk. "Geodude!" Robert and his Pokemon yell this out together... Robert commands his Rock Pokemon, "C'mon, Geodude, use... Rock Throw!" Geodude looks around for rocks in the Gym, but comes out short. "Dude?" Question marks appear over his head. "Geo?" Robert pauses, "Oh no! The same thing that happened in Lt. Surge's Gym! I forgot to bring rocks in here... Hmm... wait a minute... Geodude! You ARE a Rock! Throw yourself!" Geodude pauses, considers this, then smiles at the discovery, "Geodude!" He bounces on the ground once and sends his entire rock hard body flying towards Golbat, who had lowered its guard! When the Pokemon collide, the flying Pokemon crashes down to the ground, crushed under the weight of Geodude! Geodude hovers aside, and Golbat doesn't get up. Koga is taken aback, "WHAT?! Golbat... defeated by a mere Pikachu and Geodude?!" "Yeah, Koga..." Robert stands proud of his Pokemon, "Just goes to show you that Pokemon that don't evolve are just as great as evolved Pokemon!" "Well, if Geodude doesn't evolve... then what is it doing now?" Koga asks, looking down at the glowing Rock Pokemon. Robert's eyes lower from Koga's to the old mansion's wooden floor. There, Geodude is indeed glowing white... "Huh?! Geodude... are you... evolving?!" Geodude struggles slightly, but then begins to rumble... His rough solid stone skin begins break up into jagged rock scales... His arms grow much longer and large rock fingers form at the end of each arm... The rocky scales begins to protrude at Geodude's foundation and tiny legs develop... When the process is complete, a larger, heavier Rock stands in Geodude's place. He raises up his arms and grunts, "GRAV! GRAVELER!" Robert becomes teary eyed, "Geodude! You finally evolved! This is wonderful! It's time to celebrate!" "It is not time to celebrate just yet, Robert." Koga's stern voice brings Robert back to reality. "You have only defeated three of my Pokemon. One remains... Venomoth." Koga grabs Venomoth's Pokeball and launches it towards the newly formed Graveler. The purple and silvery Poison Bug appears, flapping it's huge wings. "Veno... moth!" Robert grabs his hair and begins to pull at it, "AHHHH! It IS the most hideous creature!!! A giant moth?! I HATE Bug Pokemon more than I hate Bat Pokemon!!! Graveler... It's all up to you to stop the fiend!" Koga shouts out a command before Robert can, "Venomoth, one Psychic attack should do the trick." Robert freaks out, knowing very well that rocks tend to be very susceptible to Psychic attacks... "Noooo.... Graveler... Harden your rocky scales!" Graveler obeys and manages to make his stone skin much Harder... Hard enough to withstand the devastating waves of Psychic energy that Venomoth blasts out seconds after Graveler Hardens! "Okay, Graveler... Rock Throw!" Robert clenches his fists, knowing that at this point, the battle can go either way. Graveler obeys and rolls himself into a ball, then uses his new legs to propel himself up into the air! The Rock Pokemon crashes into Venomoth and sends it down to the ground much like Golbat, but unlike Golbat, Venomoth survives... Koga frowns, then gets an idea, "Your Graveler can't do anything if he is asleep. Sleep Powder, Venomoth!" Robert sweatdrops, aware that the battle is over if Graveler decides to take a nap. He notices that Venomoth is flying closer to the ground since Graveler knocked it down... "Graveler, use Rock Slide... NOW!" As Venomoth's Sleep Powder begins to slowly fall down on Graveler, the living boulder rolls up into a ball and Slides his entire body over towards Venomoth, knocking it farther than Weezing knocked Haunter! The Venomoth falls to the ground right in front of Koga's feet, whispers, "Veno... moth..." and faints... Robert blinks twice, then cracks a smile, "I... I WON! YES!!! It took forever, but I won!!!" He can't contain himself as he dances around in circles... Mithril-rama runs over to him for a hug, and they embrace for a very long time... Graveler marches up next to Robert, and Koga is not far behind. Koga speaks up, "Robert..." Robert turns towards the Gym Leader at the mention of his name. Koga continues, "I doubted your ability as a trainer, but you have defeated all four of my Poison Pokemon, proving your worthiness to wear this Soul Badge." Koga produces his plain scroll, detaches the Soul Badge from it, and hands it to Robert after a quick bow. Robert stares at the small pink heart shaped badge with his eyes all teary, "Thank you, Koga! You're not so bad, after all. I just think your sister needs to learn not to throw Ninja Stars around and your Golbat needs to be less violent!" Robert pins the Soul Badge directly under the Boulder Badge on his black shirt. "Just my advice..." Koga nods and pats Robert on the shoulder, "We will try our best to make guests feel more welcome here. In this spirit, we will show you the quickest route out of this venerable mansion. Follow us." Koga and Aiya walk up to a hidden door and slide it open, which reveals the green grass of the outside world... Robert and Rilli both exit, and wave good bye to Koga and his sister, Aiya, as they close the secret door again. Robert stretches and looks up at the afternoon sun. "Wow! It's already lunch time... Were we in there that long?" Mithril-rama nods, also stretching, "It seemed like a long time. Where should we go next?" "Well, first, we should go to the Pokemon Center... then..." Robert pulls out the map he bought in Vermilion City and studies it for a moment, "Maybe we should head out for the Seafoam Islands? We haven't been there... Then again, I could sure go for some food right about now... Hey! Didn't you mention that you had relatives around here? Maybe we could go eat at their place! I could sure use some good ol' fashioned home cookin'!" -Robert