From: Viashino <aashe@email.msn.com> Subject: [PW!] Nova and Derek 1st Badge Date: Sunday, August 22, 1999 6:42 PM Go Mankey!” Derek yelled, and hurled the Pokéball into the grass. “Mank… Man… Keyyyy!” Mankey cried. It stood toe to toe with a wild Pikachu. The Pikachu let out a cry and shot a bolt of electricity at Mankey. The pig-monkey Pokémon flipped to the side, the bolt missing by several feet. “Fury Swipes!” Derek ordered. Mankey flipped into the air and came down, its arms outstretched. It landed on Pikachu, knocking the rodent Pokémon to the ground. Its sharp claws came down on Pikachu, one, twice, three times. Mankey hopped back, and Pikachu sat up. Pikachu grabbed its face and screamed. “Finish it off with a Karate Chop!” Mankey jump into the air, one hand fashioning itself into a blade like shape. “Maaaaannnnnkkeeyyyyyy!” It whooped and brought its hand down, bluntly striking Pikachu in the head. Pikachu let out a soft cry, and passed out. Mankey rolled away with the follow-through. “Mankey!” “Pokéball, go!” Derek called and threw a Pokéball at the fallen Pokémon. It sailed through the air, and landed perfectly on Pikachu. It opened, and a beam came out, dematerializing Pikachu for capture. It sucked the Pokémon into the ball and it snapped shut. The light came on, and the Pokéball jiggled with the struggling Pokémon entrapped inside. All of a sudden, a tone sounded from the Pokéball and the light went off. “Yeah!” Shouted Derek, leaping high into the air. He came down and threw a fist into the air. “I caught my first Pokémon!” “Great job, Derek!” Nova congratulated him. She smiled and he returned the gesture. He went over to the Pokéball on the ground, picked it up and showed it to Mankey. Mankey growled and swiped the Pokéball from his hand. It rolled over to Nova, and she picked it up. Hurt, Derek recalled Mankey. “What do you suppose that was all about?” Nova asked. “Mankey is known to be a selfish and jealous Pokémon. It can often become territorial with its master.” Derek stated, looking down. “Wow, how did you know that?” She said, handing him Pikachu’s Pokéball. “I have been doing some studying.” He replaced the now full Pokéball to his belt. Then he put Mankey on his belt as well. Watching him do so, Nova remembered the Pokéball that had accidentally rolled into her pocket the other day. She realized she didn’t even know what kind of Pokémon it contained. She was about to say something about it to Derek but decided against. She was going to wait until she knew what kind of Pokémon it was before she told him. If only she could get a chance to take a peek. She suddenly had an idea. “I have to go use the bathroom.” She said sheepishly. His face turned red. “Okay, I’ll wait here.” He replied, his ears on fire. She went behind a tall patch of bushes. She ventured further into the woods. When she thought she was out of view from Derek, she removed the Pokéball from her jacket, which was tied around her waist. She looked at it, and twirled it around in her hands. She pushed the button, and there was a flash. A shape took form in front of her in the air. When the light had disappeared, so had the Pokémon. Nova looked around in surprise. She got discouraged when she realized that the Pokéball was empty. All of a sudden, a rock next to her floated into the air. She watched in surprise as the rock floated by her and dropped on her other side. A sudden wind rushed by and a shape formed in front of her face. Nova screamed in horrible realization when she recognized the Pokémon in front of her face. She jumped and ran though the bushes. Derek heard something big coming through the bushes. He got out his Pokéball with Mankey inside and prepared to do battle. Suddenly, Nova fell through the bushes. There was a look of true terror in her face as she threw herself behind him. Before he could say anything, another thing crashed into view. Nova screamed again and hid her face in Derek’s shoulder. Derek took a good long look, and brought out his Pokédex. He pointed it at the strange Pokémon and pressed the button. A picture appeared on the screen that was identical to the Pokémon in front of him “Haunter. A Ghost/Poison type Pokémon. No further information available.” “Haunter… Haunter… Haunt!” It said in a moaning voice. Derek laughed, and Nova looked up. The Haunter was making faces at them. Her frown turned into a smirk, than a smile as the fear faded away. “Where did this Pokémon come from?” He asked her. She told the story of what had happened. “You are lucky. Haunter is a very difficult Pokémon to capture.” Nova was beaming, and she went over to the Haunter. It recognized her as its new master, and it rubbed into her cheek the way a kitten would do. She laughed, and recalled Haunter. She put the Pokéball on her belt, and they gave each other a high five. It was about 8:00 the next day, and they had woken up about an hour ago. Nova was starved, and had sent Derek out to find some food. That was when he had run across the wild Pikachu. They hiked about ten minutes when a familiar voice called out to them. “I see you losers are still way back here!” Jasmine called from behind a tree. She stepped out into the sunlight, gently tossing a Pokéball into the air. “What do you want, Jasmine?” Nova said. “I simply want a friendly battle.” “Let’s go then!” Nova stepped in front of her and got out a Pokéball. “Not you! I want to fight your boy friend.” Nova’s jaw dropped, and Derek went about three shades of red. Nova stood up, and put the Pokéball back on her belt, a smirk on her face, knowing the power of Derek’s Mankey. “Okay. Have at it.” She said and stepped back. “Okay, dork. Let’s go.” Jazz yelled at Derek. Derek hung back a little, intimidated by the girl’s cruelness. “What are you? A sissy?” She remarked. That put a fire in Derek’s eyes. “Go Mankey!” He threw his Pokéball, it cracked open, and a Mankey stood there, its eyes on narrowed at the rude girl. She didn’t even flinch. She tossed her Pokéball in front of Mankey. There was a flash, and suddenly a hole appeared in the ground. “Trio… Dugtrio… Trio!” A three headed, brown Pokémon stood straight up in the ground. Derek didn’t hesitate. “Mankey, Karate Chop!” Mankey flew at the Dugtrio. “Dugtrio, Dig Attack now!” Before the swift Pokémon could land the strike, the Dugtrio moved with lightning speed. It dug swiftly underground. Mankey stopped short of its target, it glanced around. All of a sudden, there was a rumble, and Dugtrio blasted up underneath Mankey’s feet. Mankey was tossed high into the air. It landed on its head, and fainted. Derek gasped and Jasmine laughed. “Your sissy Mankey couldn’t stand up to my Dugtrio! I win!” “Not so fast!” Derek yelled. He knew he couldn’t use his Pikachu, because electricity doesn’t effect ground, so he had to use Gyarados. Derek picked off the Pokéball from his belt. He hesitated. “I’m not gonna wait all day!” She yelled. Derek started to see red. He was starting to strongly dislike the braggart. He threw his Pokéball. There was another rumble as the giant Pokémon emerged from the ball. Its roar was deafening and Jasmine looked as if she was about to scream. Derek was relishing the look on her face, as was Nova. “Gyarados, Water Gun attack.” Derek said with eerie calmness. The monstrous Pokémon roared again, and let loose a stream of water. It hit the Dugtrio with such sudden impact, it was lifted out of its hole and slammed right into its trainer. Jasmine flew back and slammed into a tree. She stood up, soaking wet, screamed and grabbed her Pokémon in her arms. “Gyarados, Growl.” The Gyarados’s growl turned into a deafening roar, and Jasmine ran even harder. The Gyarados turned around, but Derek was ready for it. He held up the Pokéball and blasted the Pokémon with the return beam. It hit the Pokémon and sucked it into the ball. Nova jumped, and yelled. She gave Derek a high five. “You showed her!” She smiled. Derek had seen just before she had run away some blood on her boot. He decided he wouldn’t say anything to Nova. He was surprised as she planted a kiss squarely on his cheek. They both blushed, looking into each other’s eyes for a while. “We should get going.” Derek whispered. Nova agreed and they started deeper into Viridian Forest. They hiked uneventfully for hours, stopping every so often to look at some flowers or watch some Pokémon. About noon, they stopped for some lunch. Remembering that they didn’t have breakfast, they rubbed their growling stomachs. Nova looked for some water, while Derek, with his knowledge of local edible plants, hunted down some food. He was picking through some bushes, and found some strawberries. He smiled, picking the ripe fruit. What luck they were having! Without warning, Derek’s head snapped forward. His eyes dimmed, and the world went dark, as he was struck from behind. A black gloved hand grabbed the lapel of Derek’s jacket and dragged him into the bushes. Nova splashed some cold water on her face, and used some to brush back her hair golden. It felt good on her face in the heat. Absently, she pulled down her cutoff tee shirt the best she could, and submerged the pot that she kept in her bag into the stream. She let the air sporadically bubble out of the pot, removed it, and poured some excess water back into the swirling current. She looked up into the sky, and thought about how she missed her father, Koga, and how she had gone two days without practicing her martial arts. ‘Maybe Hitmonlee would make a good sparring partner.’ She thought. Toying with the idea, she walked back to the clearing they had left their belongings in. She assembled a satisfactory pile of kindling, and using a match from her bag, soon got a cozy fire going. Placing the pot over the leaping flames, she seated herself on her bag, and folded in her legs. Her back was straight, her hands were placed conservatively on her knees, in loose fists. Nova closed her eyes, and let her mind clear. Her consciousness floated away, and her body was left in reality. Her breathing slowed, as did her heartbeat. She was in such a deep trance that she didn’t notice the Black Figure sneaking up on her till he was over her. His hand came down in a swift chop. Her keen ninja senses could feel the disturbance in the air, and she snapped back into reality. She caught the stranger off guard and twisted his hand behind his back, turning swiftly around. He followed up with a torque of his own, instead catching Nova behind her back. She used the momentum to throw a back sweep, knocking the Black Figure off his feet. He fell hard, rolling on his shoulder. She promptly leaped to her feet, rolling in a wave from her upper back, to her rear. The figure leaped to his feet in the same manner, but with not enough time to block the beautiful sidekick, thrown by Nova. It caught him in the chest and he flew back, rolling down the hill and landing in the stream. She stood at the top of the hill, staring down. He glanced up, face hidden inside the shadow of his hat. Nova gracefully leapt, with a flip, and landed perfectly at the foot of the hill. The Black Figure twisted in the water and tried to run. She ran and caught him squarely in the middle of the shoulder blades with a Flying Dragon Kick. He flew forward, stumbled, tripped, rolled, and came to his feet running. He led a tense chase through the foliage. Nova followed him closely, but the bushes were too thick to land a tackle. Suddenly, the Black Figure halted and turned. The startled Nova nearly crashed into him. With unbelievable speed, the Black Figure threw a vile top the ground. It broke, and the air quickly filled with a dense smoke. It stung her lungs, and made her eyes water, as she desperately searched for the Black Figure. But he had disappeared. Instead of the Black Figure, she crashed into a large object and fell to the ground. When the smoke cleared, she looked up and gasped. Derek hung on a rope by his feet, swinging daftly from a tree branch. He looked unconscious. She took out her pocketknife, and cut him down, using all of her strength to carry Derek back to camp. She lay him down and put up his feet, propped up on his backpack. She shook him, and when he still didn’t wake up, she glanced around. Usually, Nova wasn’t a girl to take advantage of someone, but she gazed into his deep blue eyes. She stroked his face, thinking about how she could lose herself in those baby-blue eyes of his. She tenderly leaned into him, softly puckering her lips in a gentle kiss. She had much practice at this, and only gave these kisses to the guys she thought were special. Only, she bumped into his cap. The impact caused him to wake up right then. He was startled to find himself in such a position with Nova, and she blushed and silently kicked herself in her mind. He sat up, rubbing the back of his neck. “Wha… what happened?” He asked, staring into her jade-green eyes. Green was Nova’s color; it suited her name well. “We were attacked by that Black Figure again. He knocked you out and tied you into a tree. He tried to get me but I managed to defeat him. I chased him, but he used a smoke bomb and got away.” “Ouch!” He winced at the pain in his neck. “I’m not very hungry right now, are you?” He grinned at her. She laughed, surprised to find she was relieved that he was okay. She agreed, and they gathered their things. Nova helped Derek to his feet, promising that she would give him some basic Ninjustsu training when they had some spare time. They hiked another half-hour, when suddenly Nova shouted. “I see the entrance to Pewter City!” They gleefully raced to the house that read Pewter City on the side. However, in their happiness, they failed to see the Pokémon that sat in the middle of the road. It jumped into the air, flapping its wings quickly. The Butterfree let out a cry and flapped Stun Spore down upon our heroes. Derek froze in place, mumbling something about how this wasn’t his day. Nova rolled, and in one sweeping motion threw her Pokéball at the Butterfree. The ball caught the Butterfree squarely in the chest, deflecting its initial attack. The ball opened and the wily ghost Pokémon floated into view. “Haunter! Haunt! Haunter!” It cried. Nova ordered Hypnosis attack, knowing full well its capabilities because she has studied her Pokédex earlier, but it failed. The lag in the recovery of Haunter’s power gave Butterfree enough time to land a Confusion attack. The strike brought Haunter within an inch of fainting, but came back with another Hypnosis. The Butterfree faltered, than submitted to the powerful mind waves. Nova wound up and tossed an empty Pokéball onto the fallen Butterfree. The beam caught Butterfree perfectly and pulled it right into the chamber. The ball did not move much, the Pokémon inside sound asleep, so the light went off easily. The captor let out a yell of excitement. Through the battle, Derek had fallen to the ground, frozen in position. Nova administered some Paralyze Heal she had picked up in Viridian City. “Now were three p, completely even.” She smiled. He congratulated her and stood up. Derek now had a Mankey, a Gyarados, and a Pikachu. Nova followed with a Hitmonlee, Haunter, and Butterfree. They made their way slowly to the house ahead of them. They limped through the empty house and exited out into the bright sunlight. They squinted at the light, having spent a day and a half under the dense leaves of Viridian Forest. She helped him limp to a Pokémon Center in the middle of the town. Nova helped Derek sit down then, took the Pokéballs with his fainted Mankey, Pikachu, and for good measure, Gyarados. Added with her own Pokémon she approached the woman at the counter. This lady had pink hair, with two separate braids pinned into loops. “Hi, I'm Nurse Joy. Can I help you?” She smiled sweetly at Nova. “Yes you can. We need these Pokémon recharged, so we can face Flint, the Gym Leader.” She handed her the Pokéballs. Nurse Joy was setting the Pokéball on a tray, when someone burst into the room. It was a young boy, accompanied by a Chansey. They were carrying a stretcher with Charmander strapped to it. “Hold on Charmander! You will be okay!” He screamed, sizzling tears streaming down his red face. “Oh dear.” Said Nurse Joy. “That’s the forth one today.” “Did they come from the Gym?” Nova quipped, staring intently at the battered Pokémon as they rushed past. “I am afraid so. Ever since Brock's Geodude evolved into a Graveler, few people seem to be able to beat him. Graveler’s power is contested only by a few Pokémon. Golem, Gyarados, and several fighting Pokémon, namely Mankey or Primeape.” She disappeared into the back room. Nova got discouraged at they mention of two of Derek’s three Pokémon. Hitmonlee’s strength was considerable, but it might not be a match for Graveler’s incredible bulk. Speed and smarts over brute force will always triumph, that was Koga’s slogan. But would speed help her in this battle of rock hard wits? The nurse returned with the tray of Pokéballs. Nova’s Pokéballs were on the left, and Derek’s were opposite. She handed the tray back to the nurse and walked over to Derek. He seemed to have worked out the kink in his knee, because he stood just fine. Derek strapped the Pokéballs on his belt and stretched, hands reaching for the ceiling. He walked out, closely (and I mean closely) followed by Nova. They looked at the map, and discovered that the Pokémon center was conveniently located a couple of blocks from the Gym. They hiked, each in solemn quiet thought about the challenge ahead. There was a heavy cloud of tension that surrounded our heroes, both had Butterfrees in their stomachs. They caught site of the impressive Gym, towering over them. The entire weight of the Gym was help up by large stone pillars that were much taller than the actual building. Derek took a deep breath, and led the way inside. Nova followed him in. They had decided that Derek should go first, lest he be defeated, it would make it easier for Nova to defeat Brock’s weakened Pokémon. They walked in, looking around. It was too dark to even see the hands in front of their faces. With a large booming click, the lights flashed to light. There was an awesome arena in the middle of the Gym, and at the head of the arena knelt a hard looking man, with a beard and a green jump suit. “Greetings, I am Brock, leader of the Pewter Gym. Do you wish to challenge me?” He said with a sigh. The speech was obviously rehearsed, and clearly said one to many times, as it was stressed. Derek stepped forward. “I wish to challenge you. I am Derek of Vermilion City. I want a Boulderbadge.” He defiantly stated. “Very well, this will be a two on two battle. Are you prepared to lose?” Brock said, standing and climbing down the steps to the trainer box. “No.” Derek said with a glint in his eye, also stepping into the arena. “I am prepared to win.” Brock stepped up and revealed a Pokéball. “Graveler, I choose you!” The Pokéball soared into the air, cracked open, and a flash revealed a monstrous looking rock Pokémon. “Graveler!” It cried, its first two arms curled into fists, the second set above its head. It stood with a smug grin on its face. “Go Gyarados!” Derek yelled, knowing that water was super effective against rock. The Pokéball released the blue dragon-like Pokémon that towered over its opponent. The Graveler did not flinch in the face of Gyarados. “Gyarados! Leer Attack!” He demanded, a feeble attempt at weakening Graveler ’s defense. However, Graveler held fast. “Graveler, give it the Rock Throw.” Brock stated, clearly and loudly. Graveler scooped up two large boulders and chucked each at Gyarados. The first of which missed Gyarados, barely, but still a miss. However, the second smashed into Gyarados’s nose, well, the little nose it had. The awesome strength obtained by the Graveler showed itself as the Gyarados flew back and smashed into the wall. It was dazed, but not out yet. However, Derek miscalculated and took the Gyarados as unconscious. He remembered that Pikachu would do no good against Graveler, so he sent out Mankey. “Mankeeeeeeyyyyy!” The Pokémon stood courageously in front of the much larger Graveler. Brock ordered Graveler to give another Rock Throw. It hurled boulders at Mankey, but was surprised to find that the Mankey had skillfully dodged both boulders. Derek laughed to himself. Mankey had gotten angry, and nobody, not even Graveler, could cross Mankey and get away unscathed. “Mankey, Karate Chop attack!” Mankey flipped into the air and came down hard on Graveler’s head. Graveler winced and shuddered as a thin crack made its way down the center of its body. Mankey screamed with the follow through and quickly jumped out of the way. Graveler wobbled and fell to its knees. “Mankey, finish it off with a Seismic Toss.” Derek commanded. Mankey obeyed, moving smoothly towards the Graveler. However, before it could grasp the Pokémon in its paws, Brock recalled Graveler, stunned at the Mankey’s strength. Through the entire battle, Gyarados had been watching the skill that its master displayed. It was surprised, as well as breath taken at the ease with which he handled his Mankey. “Onix! Go!” He yelled, still stunned from the previous defeat. The Pokéball opened and before them stood a huge Pokémon, it stretched all the way to the ceiling and let out a roar that resonated in Derek’s bones. Before Mankey could attack, a second roar, not unlike the first rang through the Gym. The Gyarados leaped at the Onix, fangs open for the Bite. The Gyarados was slightly shorter than Onix, but the height was to Gyarados’s advantage as it caught Onix under the head, at the throat. Onix roared in pain and shook Gyarados off. Gyarados spit a large piece of rock from its mouth. Derek recalled Mankey, and ordered Gyarados to let Onix have it with the Water Gun. A large stream of water flew from Gyarados’s mouth and splashed all over Onix. It fell to the ground, weak, but still capable of fighting. It was panting like a dog. “Gyarados…” He hesitated to order the next move. “DRAGON RAGE, NOW!” Unbelievably, Gyarados followed orders. It stood straight up, and started to spin in a circle. It seemed as if it were gliding over the land as if it were water. A tornado formed, and the strong pull of the wind kicked up blinding clouds of dirt. However, as strong as it was, Onix could not successfully defend itself from the deadly move. Its struggles were futile, and the large snake Pokémon was sucked into the twister. Comically, it looked like Gyarados was dancing with Onix, spinning in a circle like that. The tornado lifted off the ground, and abruptly stopped. The Onix fell to the ground, and in its weakened state, fainted. Derek jumped up into the air, and didn’t see Gyarados coming at him. He shrieked when he saw the monster’s head flying at him, but to his surprise, Gyarados caught him in mid-jump on its head. It lifted him high into the air and roared triumphantly. When it set Derek down, he recalled it, and bowed to Brock. A stunned Brock, jaw hanging open, returned the gesture. He approached Derek and handed him a metal badge. “You have defeated me. You deserve this. Congratulations, you have won a Boulderbadge.” He said, a smile playing at the corner of his lips. Derek whooped with joy and rushed over to Nova. They hugged warmly, and both approached Brock. Derek explained to Brock that Nova wanted to challenge him next. He agreed, but it would only be a one on one battle. He took out Graveler and administered some Full Restore. Graveler flexed its rock-muscles and groaned. It took quite a punch from Mankey. They stepped into the arena, and of course Brock chose Graveler. Nova thought, and finally chose Haunter. She sent out the ghost/poison Pokémon. It stared meanly at Graveler. “Haunter, Hypnosis!” She called. The mind-waves lapped out at Graveler, who fell into a deep sleep. “Graveler, wake up!” Called Brock, to no avail. “Night Shade, Haunter!” Haunter glowed bright white and suddenly the light faded into the room, making it pitch black. It flashed several times, the inky blackness swirling over the fluorescent lights. The blackness covered Graveler, fading into the cracks. Graveler shook and convulsed, and suddenly stopped. Graveler’s stone eyelids fluttered, then opened. It staggered to its feet and shook its head. It was unable to see clearly and couldn’t think right. “Graveler, Rock Slide.” Graveler picked up a huge boulder, and rolled it like a bowling ball across the floor. Haunter didn’t move, however. The boulder passed right through it. Graveler stared at the Ghost Pokémon, still woozy. Nova smiled, knowing that she had already won. “Haunter… Confuse Ray!” Haunter sent out powerful ghost waves that slammed into its target’s brain. Graveler, on top of the mental beating it had taken earlier, staggered around drunkenly. In a panic, Brock ordered another Rock Slide. Graveler picked up a rock. In its dazed condition, Graveler mistook its trainer for its opponent. It hurled the one ton boulder at Brock, who dived out of the way just in time. He shot the bright returning beam to Graveler, who instantly disappeared, mixing with the beam. Flint declared Nova the winner and also handed her a badge. He congratulated the two excellent trainers on their victories, and watched them leave. Brock sighed and grabbed the keys to the Gym from under a pillow and locked the Gym. It was 5:00, time for dinner and he needed to take his Pokémon to the Pokémon center. He turned the corner, watching the two trainers disappear in the distance. Hearing a stick crack, Brock turned towards the noise. He saw a black shadow disappear into the trees, however he shook it off and continued on his way.