From: Continue <continue2@mindspring.com> Subject: [PW!] Fiery Challenges (was: Re: [PW!]Life goes on....) Date: Thursday, November 25, 1999 2:21 AM Time Lady wrote: > >The next morning, the gang found Sarah Jane waiting for them in the >hospital lobby. "The doctor released me," she explained. > >"Where's your crutches?" asked Christy. > >"I left the crutches back in Saffron," said Sarah Jane. "But my ankle >doesn't hurt any more. I guess with all that energy....." she trailed off >thoughtfully. > >"Yeah. So what do you want to do now?" asked Runt. > >"I'd like to go and try for the Volcano badge.... and then I'd like to stop >at my home in Rosetta before we go to Viridian," replied Sarah Jane. Jon put in "If that’s where you want to go, we can head there now. I’ll lead the way." With that the group made its way through the streets, eventually coming to the relatively new building that was constructed to serve as Blaine’s re-opened gym. There was a short line of people going into the gym. However, the line seemed to move fairly quickly and many people could be seen leaving the gym equally quickly. The difference was that the expressions on the people entering looked like people that were generally happy while those that were leaving were sporting looks that ranged from concern to anger. As the group settled into line Julia asked "What’s going on here?" Jon once again demonstrated his knowledge about the town where he grew up. "Blaine’s been doing this ever since he opened the new gym. It’s to get rid of all the people trying to get a badge who aren’t serious pokemon trainers. There’s three gym trainers in there. To get by each one you have to answer a question correctly or fight the trainer. If you can’t get past the trainers, you can’t challenge Blaine. It looks like it works well, nobody who isn’t a serious trainer has made it past the second trainer." Julia nodded "It does sound effective." A short time later the line had advanced to the point that the group got inside the actual building. Sarah Jane was about to step up to the first trainer but stopped in her dead in her tracks. Pteryx began to squawk immediately after. Christy asked "What’s wrong?" as Sarah Jane began to tend to the baby Aerodactyl. Sarah Jane says "Nothing. She’s just hungry. I’m going to feed her, but this is going to take a few minutes. Someone else should go first." Damian steps forward "I think I’m ready. I’ll go first." The gym trainer is relaxing against one of the walls and quickly deflects Damian’s approach by pointing to a computer set into the wall next to him. "Answer the question on the computer first. If you get it wrong, you face me." Damian moved to the console and pressed the flashing button. He was rewarded by a message on the screen that read: Which of the following types of attack is a normal-type pokemon most vulnerable to: A. Rock B. Fighting C. Psychic D. Ghost The young trainer pressed the button labeled ‘B’ and the computer pinged. The door that lead further into the gym slid open and Damian walked through accompanied by Drake. The second gym trainer looked to be doing the same thing as the first. He glanced at Damian and the Dragonite standing next to him and said "No offense, but I hope you get the question wrong. I usually only get a challenge that’s worth my time every other week." Damian pressed the flashing button on the new computer and was shown: Which of the following does not learn Hyper Beam naturally: A. Aerodactyl B. Dragonite C. Onix D. Snorlax Damian selected ‘C’ and the routine that happened after the first question repeated itself, with one exception. Instead of laying up against the wall, the gym trainer was laying back in a recliner and was watching a TV. He proceeded to take a drink from a soda can and waved Damian over to the computer set into the wall. After the sweatdrop disappeared, Damian repeated the routine that he had done with the other two computers. The question now was: Which of the following gym leaders are you most likely to get a win from? (Go pester him instead) A. Brock B. Lt. Surge C. Koga D. Giovanni Damian sweatdropped and nearly fell over after reading this question. After recovering he recalled where he got his first badge and pressed ‘A’. Once again the computer pinged and the door slid open. The gym trainer burped out "Go…on…in.", then said in a normal voice "Ooh…too much soda. Anyway, no big surprise here. Most of the trainers that make it here answer that last question right. Blaine’ll be waiting for you already." What was spoken turned out to be true. After walking through the last doorway Damian could see someone waiting at the opposite end of the field markings within the incredibly spacious room. It was an older gentleman dressed in red who, unlike many of those who have experienced as many years as he had, was not stooped over and moving as if made of glass. In fact, his voice still carried a great deal of strength as he said "It’s been a long time since anyone challenged me for a badge with either a Dragonite or a Magnemite. They are interesting choices. This is going to be a four on four match. Which of those two will be first?" Damian looked to Drake at his side and then to Bulletproof over his shoulder before saying "Uhm, neither actually. They’re, uh, moral support I guess. They don’t fight for me in normal battles. They just, uh," he shrugged "help me out I guess." Blaine’s face almost formed a disapproving scowl. "That’s not what I would expect of someone who could reach me for a challenge. If you really are ready for me you should have trained your pokemon well enough to obey you, or at least gotten it to trust you enough to let you command it. Are you sure you’re ready for this?" The young trainer stiffened "Drake’s just a special case. I think it’s good that he didn’t obey me as soon as I got him. I probably would’ve ending up using him too much and ended up not really training my other pokemon. And last time I checked Bulletproof needs some more training. I don’t think it’s ready for this yet. But the pokemon that I’m going to use are ready." One side of the aged gym leader’s mouth pulled up to form part of a grin. "Maybe you are ready. Let’s find out. For my first pokemon I’ll use Arcanine." Blaine reached behind his back and produced a pokeball. Once opened there was a flash of light which resolved itself into what was promised, an Arcanine. Damian took four pokeballs out of his backpack and piled them at his feet. He grabbed one and said "My first pokemon will be Quake." The pokemon that formed after he tossed his pokeball shouted "Rhyhorn!" once it finished forming. "Quake, Horn Attack!" "Arcanine, Ember!" The rocky rhino pokemon quickly closed the distance as it charged across the field of battle. Awaiting it was the tiger-striped dog with licks of flames now coming from its mouth. This didn’t seem to deter the Rhyhorn as it charged right through the fire and slammed into its opponent. Quake caught the Arcanine under the chin with its horn and shoved the fire pokemon into the air. It landed on its side, giving out a small yelp. "Quake, Stomp!" "Arcanine, Leer!" Standing over his downed target, the rhino pokemon brought one leg up and drove it into the side of the fire pokemon. After writhing for a moment from the pain of this attack, Arcanine locked eyes with Quake and stared until the Rhyhorn took an involuntary step backwards. "Quake, Stomp again!" "Arcanine, Take Down!" In one smooth motion, the dog pokemon regained its feet and slammed into its opponent with all the physical force it could muster. Both pokemon shook from the collision, but it was Arcanine who was on the ground again. The rocky pokemon unsteadily made its way to the fallen fire pokemon and once again brought a rocky limb down into the side of its foe. "Quake, one more Stomp!" "Arcanine, Ember!" Yet again a rocky limb smashed into Arcanine, causing it to squeeze its eyes shut from the pain. This time, though, its eyelids relaxed and it passed out. A red beam shot from Blaine’s pokeball as he recalled his defeated fire dog. Just after Arcanine disappeared, Quake began to glow. It stood up on its hind legs and began to grow. After it had grown in all proportions and the hide had less protrusions, the glow subsided leaving a "Rhydon!" Blaine took the opportunity to dispense some wisdom. "Unless you held back your pokemon’s evolution, the only reason that pokemon won that match in its previous form was because of its type resistance. Judging from the moves you used, you probably haven’t used ant TMs on this pokemon, either. Rhydons don’t naturally learn good moves, so you’re going to have to use some TMs if you ever want it to become a formidable pokemon. Take this advice seriously, the only reason your pokemon won here is luck." The young trainer nodded "I’ll have to find out what TMs Quake can learn. Until I know what a Rhyhorn is capable of I think I should just switch to another pokemon." With that he recalled the newly-evolved Rhydon back to its pokeball. Once it had disappeared he chose another pokeball. In the meantime, Blaine had swapped pokeballs and proceeded to release his second pokemon. It appeared with a "Ninetails!" Damian responded by releasing his second pokemon. Its appearance was punctuated by a high-pitched "Clefairy!" "B-Clef, Metronome!" "Ninetails, Flamethrower!" The round pokemon’s attack was able to resolve itself fast enough so that it struck first. However, the only thing that manifested to signify that the attack worked was the brief appearance of a small purple sphere on B-Clef’s forehead. This was followed by a similar occurrence on Ninetails’ forehead. Ninetails opened its mouth to initiate the flamethrower attack. Just as this happened the purple sphere appeared on the side of the fire fox’s head. As the stream of fire shot out, Ninetails’ head was shifted slightly to the side. The result of this was that the attack narrowly missed its intended target. While Damian seemed confused, Blaine seemed rather amused. By way of explanation he offered "It’s not everyday that you see a Kinesis attack. Sometimes a wild Kadabra will learn it, but other than that it only rarely manifests by the use of the Metronome attack. Don’t count on seeing that again anytime soon." Damian nodded in acknowledgment. "B-Clef, Minimize!" "Ninetails, Tail Whip!" This time Ninetails moved up to its opponent in order to avoid missing. It then spun around to execute the commanded attack. This took a little longer than normal because it had a lot of tails to whip. For the Clefairy the experience was like getting attacked by a power floor waxer and this was registered by the shout of "Clef! Clef! Clef! Clef! Clef! Clef! Clef! Clef! Clef!". After this the pink pokemon dizzily spun slowly around on one leg ending it with one final "Clef!" coughed out along with some fur that had inadvertently ended up in its mouth. After this it finally managed to get off its attack, shrinking down to half-size in the process. "B-Clef, Sing!" "Ninetails, Quick Attack!" Before the puffball pokemon could open its mouth, Ninetails slammed into it. While reeling from the blow, the Clefairy still managed to begin singing. The fox pokemon responded by promptly yawning and curling up comfortably on the floor. "B-Clef, Doubleslap!" Despite being a little bit shaky, B-Clef still began to repeatedly pummel its sleeping opponent. At the first opportunity, Blaine recalled his pokemon. "I’m not going to bother to bring this to its foregone conclusion. But from what you’ve just done, I would suggest using a Moon Stone to evolve your Clefairy into a Clefable as soon as you can." Once again the young trainer acknowledged the advice with a nod. Blaine also repeated the action of swapping pokeballs and producing another pokemon. The one that appeared this time gave a cry of "Rapidash!" "Rapidash, Fire Spin!" "B-Clef, Sing!" The fairy-like pokemon began to sing, but the unicorn-like pokemon didn’t fall asleep. It was instead concentrating on whipping its head back and forth and using the flames to create a small burning tornado. After it was formed, Rapidash directed the cone of flames to consume its small opposition. When the flames had dissipated a fainted ball of burnt fluff was left behind. It was Damian’s turn to do as Blaine had just done. Namely recall his fainted pokemon, pick out another pokeball, and send out a new pokemon. A call of "Go, Spook!" was met with a response of "Gengar!" once the ghostly pokemon finished forming. "Rapidash, Tail Whip!" "Spook, Hypnosis!" The fire horse pokemon ran up to the Gengar and turned to slash its fiery tail through its ghostly foe. Having a tail composed of flames pass through itself jarred Spook, but it still obeyed the command it was given. It began to move its hands around in slow circular patterns and slowly intone its name repeatedly. Like Ninetails did before it, Rapidash fell to the ground, asleep. "Spook, Dream Eater!" The Gengar moved over to the now sleeping unicorn pokemon and put its hands in the sleeper’s head. Once its eyes began to glow, its victim began to twitch. Blaine responded by sighing "Not again." and yet again recalling his sleeping pokemon. Blaine held up the new pokeball and pronounced "This is the last one. Hopefully you have saved the best for last, because I have." He tossed the pokeball and out popped one of the most bizarre pokemon in existence. It had two arms and two legs and stood up on those legs as a human would. It had claws at the end of its fingers and toes. It had a reptilian tail with a flame on the end and the coloring on the rest of the body made it appear as if it was on fire. It also had a huge sloping brow, but to complete itself it had a duckbill. It gave a slow, deep call of "Magmar!" After a long period of not doing so, Damian’s t-shirt changed. It now read: "Aah! It’s Frankenduck!" "Magmar, Fire Blast!" "Spook, Hypnosis!" Spook tried to do to Magmar what it had done to Rapidash, but it didn’t seem to have any effect. The flaming duck exhaled a stream of fire that formed into the shape of a character. The fiery character quickly ate up the distance between combatants and struck down Spook. The Gengar struggled to get up, but just gave in after and few seconds and fainted. Damian recalled the ghost pokemon and picked up his last pokeball. "Ok, Edgy, it’s up to you now." The pokemon that materialized after the pokeball was popped open was a "Kabutops!" "Magmar, Fire Punch!" "Edgy, Slash!" Both pokemon moved in close to deliver their attacks. Fire formed around Magmar’s closed fist just before it delivered a blow to Edgy’s chest. The blow left a very light discoloration from the flames. It was a different story when the Kabutops raked its arm across the freaky duck pokemon’s chest. There was a visible cut that left its bearer shaken. "Magmar, Smoke Screen!" "Edgy, Slash again!" :Magmar backed off and opened its beak. Smoke poured out and shrouded its body and some area around it in darkness. The Kabutops still attempted to hit its foe, but merely ended up making several futile swipes through thin air as it attacked the dark mass. "Magmar, Fire Blast!" "Edgy, Hydro Pump!" The only visible combatant backed off and planted both of the long, metallic blades that served as its arms into the floor. It then threw its arms wide. Out of the cloud of darkness came the familiar flaming character. Just as that happened a column of water shot from the prehistoric pokemon’s torso. The water engulfed the flaming character and it disappeared with a fizzle. The column of water continued into the cloud and within a second Magmar could be seen flying out of the cloud on the other side, pushed by the force of the water. Once the attack subsided, the drenched fire pokemon tried to stand but couldn’t.. Blaine recalled his pokemon as it fainted. He then proceeded to dispense one last bit of information "That was a very good selection. Omastar would have been better." He then walked over to Damian and produced two objects for the young trainer. "I now award these to you for your accomplishment. A Volcano Badge to show your victory and TM 38. It teaches Fire Blast, the most powerful fire move a pokemon can learn. I hope you have a fire pokemon to teach it to." Damian’s t-shirt changed yet again. It now read: "I saw Frankenduck and I got more than this lousy t-shirt." A confused look appeared on Blaine’s face. "I thought your t-shirt had something else written on it a moment ago. Are my eyes deceiving me or did your t-shirt just change?" Damian began to answer "Well…" However, a voice from beside him cut in "It used to do it a lot more. Change that is. It’s a very strange thing." Both Blaine and Damian looked over to the source of the voice and saw Drake. Blaine looked somewhat surprised, Damian looked absolutely shocked. Damian turned to the Dragonite and said "I didn’t know you could speak English. When did you learn to talk?" The Dragonite responded "I learned while with my original trainer." Those was still a look of confusion on Damian’s face. "Well, why haven’t you said anything to me this whole time?" "My original trainer just didn’t have what it takes to become one of the best. He only made it so far. After that, no matter how many wild pokemon he had us fight to level up, he just didn’t know how to beat a tough opponent. When he gave me to you, I decided that I wasn’t going to waste my abilities on yet another trainer as bad as he was. I resolved that you would have to prove yourself before I would use my abilities for you. You just managed to do what he never could by earning your seventh badge, so I decided that you had earned the right to know about what was going on. I’m still not going to let you order me around until you earn your eighth badge. If you manage that, then there won’t be any doubt in my mind that I won’t be wasting my abilities on you." At this point Blaine spoke up. "While this is interesting, I am running a gym and there are others waiting to challenge me. Could you at least move off the designated field area?" Drake smiled and said "I’ll forgo the Jar-Jar impression, but yeah we can talk over against the wall." <TBC> Jeff Hauser* *Sig Sold Seperately