Chapter 36
Early the next day, the two Chasers, military soldier, and computer expert woke up and had breakfast together. Chase was still ecstatic about his win the day before, and how his Caterpie had finally evolved. Silver and Bill got into a conversation about designing computers, and Jason polished his Poké Balls while wearing his new cowboy hat. He claimed a clean Poké Ball makes for a happy Pokémon.
Around 10:30am, after everyone was finished and all packed up, the Trainers were about to set a course for their next destination. While Chase, Silver, and Jason were huddled around a map, plotting their next move, Bill moseyed on over to the bulletin board where the Pokémon Center’s staff posted news and fliers containing information on upcoming events.
One particular flier caught Bill’s attention. It read at the top in big, bold letters, “Computer expo today and tomorrow at the Celadon Computer Center!” Down below it read, “Come and view some of the new breakthroughs in computer technology!”
Turning to face his friends, Bill contemplated what to do for a moment. The computer enthusiast then made his way over to Chase, Jason, and Silver—who were still mulling over the map—and said, “Hey, guys?” Their three heads popped up and they all fixed their gazes on Bill. “Um, I was wondering if it would be all right if I hung back in Celadon. You can go ahead with your journey—after all, I still haven’t challenged Erika the Gym Leader myself, and there’s supposed to be this big exposé at the Computer Center that I’d like to go to.”
Chase looked down and thought for a second, then looked back up at Bill and said: “Okay, Bill, that’s fine.”
“Yeah,” Jason added. “Go ahead. That’s all right with us.”
Bill replied with a smile, “Thanks guys.”
Chase then decided on where he wanted to go next. According to him, the three Trainers would be going down Cycling Road to Fuchsia City. Surely the Gym Leader there would accept a challenge to battle.
Then, when they were ready to depart, the trio of friends gave Bill a heartfelt goodbye, and they went their separate ways: Bill headed to the Computer Center, and Chase and company went out towards Cycling Road to the west of Celadon.
By the time they made their way out to the gate of Cycling Road, it was about noon. The sun shone brightly and there were absolutely no clouds in the deep blue-colored sky.
The gate to Cycling Road was a guardhouse. Inside was a large collection of bikes that were rented to people who wanted to get from Celadon to Fuchsia and back easily. The friendly man at the counter in charge of the register explained that if Chase and his friends were taking a ride, they’d need to return their bikes to the guardhouse at the bottom of the bridge near Fuchsia. So they agreed and paid a minimal fee to rent three bikes. Soon, they were off and riding down the large expansion bridge.
But, they ran into some trouble. After a while of coasting leisurely down the road, a burly-looking biker on a motorcycle puttered up beside Chase.
The gruff man wore a black leather jacket and tight-fitting blue jeans, despite his massive girth. His bike sputtered occasionally, and his bare head shone in the sun.
“Hey kid,” the man said casually over the noise of his chopper. “You look like a Pokémon Trainer. Wanna have a Pokémon battle?”
Chase skidded to a stop on his bike and looked at the man and said, “I sure do!”
“Great!” the biker exclaimed happily. “Just by the by, my name’s Percy, but all my friends call me Cue Ball.”
“Nice to meet you! My name’s Chase!”
“Okay then, Chase, let’s spread out a ways and then we’ll choose what Pokémon we’ll use. How does a one-on-one battle sound to you?”
“Sounds good,” Chase replied as he backed away to allow room for the battle.
Once the two were far enough away from each other, and Jason and Silver had also cleared out, Percy sent out the Pokémon he was to use. It was a Koffing. It coughed out poisonous gas as soon as it materialized on the field.
Chase mused over what Pokémon to use, and then he chose one that he thought needed to battle a little more often. Chase grabbed a Poké Ball and tossed it high in the air. The red and white sphere popped open and released Metapod.
“Okay, Metapod! Let’s do this!” Chase shouted enthusiastically, trying to heighten his cocoon Pokémon’s fighting spirit. But right after Chase had said this, Metapod fell over on its side.
“Well, not the Pokémon I would’ve chosen,” Percy mumbled, “but that’s up to you. Is it all right if you went ahead and had the first turn?”
Chase replied, “Yeah, that’s fine. Thanks! Now, Metapod, use Tackle!” Despite the fact it had received a direct order from its Trainer, Metapod remained motionless on the ground. “Um, String Shot?” Chase’s Bug-type shot a weak spray of gooey string out that didn’t even reach halfway to Cue Ball’s Koffing.
Reluctantly, Percy commanded his Poison-type Pokémon to use Smog. Koffing shot out a cloud of dark purple poison that floated slowly over to Metapod.
“Metapod, dodge! Jump! Run! Wiggle! Twist! Moonwalk! Do anything, just don't get hit!”
But Chase’s suggestions fell on deaf ears as the toxic cloud engulfed Metapod. When the poison faded away, Metapod continued to lie on its side, and had swirls in its eyes. Much to Chase’s displeasure, Metapod had been knocked out, and rather easily at that.
“Well…” Percy muttered, letting his sentence trail off as he scratched his hairless head. “…Good game!”
Chase smiled weakly and said, “Thanks, but that wasn’t a very ‘good’ game if you ask me.”
Chase handed Percy some prize money as the biker got on his motorcycle and prepared to leave. But before he rode off, he said, “Well, I hope you can train that Metapod of yours into a Butterfree. I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about ‘em. They learn Psychic-type moves that can really help out, especially when you fight the Fuchsia Gym Leader.”
Chase thanked Percy, saying he would keep his advise in mind, and then watched as the motorcyclist rode off down the road. Chase’s friends tried to console him on his loss, but Chase declared he was all right.
They were soon back on their bikes and once again coasting gently down Cycling Road. All three Trainers enjoyed the sea breeze that blew in from the ocean; Jason claimed it reminded him of his time in Canalave City in the Sinnoh Region as he held his hat down on his head to keep it from blowing off. Chase explained the shoreline was very close to his hometown of Pallet, and went on to say he’d go to the beach a lot in the summer. It was only a short walk from his house, and his family would usually join him.
When they reached the next guardhouse at the bottom of the sloped bridge, Chase, Silver, and Jason deposited their rental bikes into the storeroom of the building upon the request of the man in charge there.
Next, they walked through the short expanse of road that was known as Route 18 and strolled into Fuchsia City shortly after. Chase directed the group towards the Pokémon Center, passing the Gym along the way. Jason and Silver already knew their friend was going to heal his Pokémon up at the Center and then go to the Gym to challenge the Leader there.
After Chase’s Metapod was healed, he asked Silver and Jason to wait in the lobby for him. He claimed he wanted to do something really quick before he set out to the Gym. Chase then hurried outside. They waited only a few minutes before Chase came back in saying, “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s go!”
“What was that all about?” Jason asked wryly.
Chase replied, “Oh, just a little preparation for the Gym battle.”
The Gym was only a short jog away from the Center, so the three friends reached it quickly. Chase stepped through the doors and saw the same man at the counter from the last time he was there. The man still wore sunglasses inside the building, despite it being dark.
Chase stepped up to the desk and asked the man if the Gym Leader was accepting challenges at the moment. The man didn’t reply, and stayed leaned back in his chair with his head cocked. Chase prodded the man further, asking a bit more firmly.
“Huh? What?” the man sputtered, sounding like he had just woken up. He was able to somewhat regain his composure and said sleepily, “Wuzzat?”
“I’m here to inquire about the Gym Leader. I would like to know if he or she is accepting challenges right now.”
“Yeah,” the man replied. “She’s accepting. She should be in the next room through that door behind me.” He glanced down at his watch. “It’s only been a few minutes since I fell asleep—I mean, since the Gym Leader started practicing. Go on in and see if she’ll battle you.”
“Okay, thank you!”
Chase went towards the door behind the man’s desk with Silver and Jason in tow. After all three had gone through the door and had closed it, the man leaned back again and propped his legs up on the counter and began to snore.
Inside the room where the battlefield was located, Chase saw the Gym Leader practicing with her Pokémon, Venomoth.
The Leader was rather tall, and she appeared to be around twenty years old. Her name was Janine, and she had dark purple-colored hair that was tied up into a ponytail, and she wore a black shirt and pants. She also had a purple scarf and wristbands.
“Oh, hello!” Janine said in surprise. “What can I help you with?”
Chase replied, “I would like to have a Gym battle with you, please.”
“That’s fine. Just stand on one end of the battlefield and we’ll get started. It’ll be a three-on-three match, okay?”
“Got it!”
Chase hurried over to his side of the field near the door he had just gone through while Janine returned her Venomoth and approached where she would stand. Jason and Silver sat on the bleachers near the sidelines and watched as the battle began.
Janine sent her Pokémon out first. It was a Weezing, a round and purple-colored Poison-type. Chase released his Haunter, who made a funny face in an attempt to scare its foe.
“All right, Trainer, what’s your name?” Janine called across the room.
“It’s Chase!” he answered back.
“Okay then, Chase, you get the first turn!”
Chase told his Haunter to use Hypnosis. It disappeared, and then reappeared in front of Janine’s Pokémon and put it to sleep. Next, Haunter used Lick, but it appeared to do nothing as Weezing snored loudly.
Haunter backed away and turned to Chase. Its Trainer shrugged and told it to use a Shadow Ball. The Ghost-type complied and sent a ball of dark energy sailing toward the immobile figure.
As Weezing was hit, it woke up and floated back into the air after suffering some of the attack’s blowback.
“Weezing,” Janine shouted, “use Sludge Bomb!”
The Poison Pokémon shot a ball of purple-colored goop at Haunter, who moved out of the way of the attack in a humorous fashion. Janine ordered her Pokémon to continue with the attack, and so Haunter began to fly around the room crazily without being ordered by Chase to do so.
Chase eventually shouted, “Whoa, Haunter, stop for a second!” Haunter stopped and shot an innocent look back at Chase. “Quit goofing around and use a Lick attack!”
Haunter’s face lit up and it swiftly moved in front of the Weezing, and made a scary face. The Poison-type flinched, which gave Haunter the opportunity to lick Weezing with its enormous tongue again.
The round, purple-colored Pokémon shivered and fell to the ground, knocked out by a strange tingling sensation.
“Good job!” said Janine. “But you won’t have such an easy time with my next choice!”
She sent out her Venomoth next. It fluttered in the air with its light purple wings shimmering in the light flowing through the windows.
“Weren’t you just training with that Venomoth? Isn’t it tired?” Chase asked.
“Don’t be concerned, what you saw was just a warm-up. Now, do you want to attack or not?”
“Oh,” Chase smiled nervously. “Okay, Haunter, use Shadow Ball!”
Haunter launched its dark ball of shadows at Venomoth. But an instant later, it had flown behind Haunter at a blistering speed.
“Confound the enemy with blinding speed, then move in for the kill! That is but one of the many battle tactics of the ninja!” Janine shouted enthusiastically. “Venomoth, use Psybeam!”
The Bug and Poison-type Pokémon shot a beam of psychic energy at Haunter’s back. Due to the close range, super effective blow, Haunter fell to the ground, unconscious.
“No! Haunter!” Chase cried out in dismay. He then returned his Pokémon to its Poké Ball. Chase grabbed another one of his red and white spheres and tossed it over the battlefield. It released Charmeleon, who, like always, shot a Flamethrower into the air in an attempt to try and intimidate its opponent.
“Okay, Charmeleon, use Flamethrower and roast that Venomoth!”
Charmeleon cracked a wry smile before it unleashed its powerful Fire-type attack. Janine told her Venomoth to dodge, which it did splendidly. The Poison-type flew high above the Flamethrower’s range and began to do a back flip. It then did a nosedive and hurtled towards the ground.
Just as it was about to collide with the terrain, Venomoth spread its wings and changed its direction swiftly. It tackled Chase’s Pokémon head on, and knocked it over. Venomoth then innocently fluttered back over to its Trainer.
“Charmeleon, are you okay?” Chase asked worriedly.
The Fire-type lizard pushed itself off the ground and gave its Trainer a nod, then turned back to face the opponent.
“Okay then, let’s try a Scary Face!”
Charmeleon made a startling face at Venomoth, who intern just floated there in midair looking rather emotionless with its big, wide, purple eyes.
“Well, that didn’t work,” Chase murmured. “Charmeleon, use Dragon Rage!”
A ball of purple-colored energy was shot at Venomoth. The moth Pokémon tried to dodge, but as it attempted to move out of the way, one of Venomoth’s wings were hit. It fell to the ground, unable to fly with only one wing.
Chase, thinking quickly, commanded “Use Metal Claw!”
Charmeleon’s claws on both of its hands began to glow now. It then dashed forward, quickly gaining ground on the fallen Venomoth. But, as Charmeleon tried to swing its right hand at Janine’s Pokémon, Venomoth jumped backwards and out of the way. Charmeleon then tried trusting its claws on its left hand down upon Venomoth, but again, it jumped out of the way.
Charmeleon’s claws were now embedded in the ground, and it was having a hard time of pulling itself out. Janine called to Venomoth and told it to use Poison Powder. With its one good wing, Venomoth scattered a plume of poisonous particles around Charmeleon.
“Use Flamethrower!” Chase exclaimed quickly.
His Pokémon obeyed, and shot its Flamethrower attack straight towards Venomoth at close range. It was engulfed by the flames, and fell on its back, knocked out.
Charmeleon unhitched itself from the ground as Janine returned her Venomoth to its Poké Ball. It then stiffened as the pain from the poisoning took affect.
Chase then called across the room to Charmeleon. “Are you all right? Can you go on?” he asked. Charmeleon turned and nodded, putting on a determined grin to hide its pain. “Okay, I’ll keep you in for now.”
“All right, time to break out the big guns!” Janine declared as she threw another Poké Ball into the air. What materialized out of the ball was a huge, bulking, purple-colored Pokémon.
Chase then exclaimed in surprise, “Whoa! What is that thing?” He pulled out his PokéDex and flipped it open to turn it on. Immediately, the little red device picked up the large Poison-type’s figure and relayed the information that it had stored in its memory banks on the Pokémon.
“DRAPION,” the little computer started, “THE OGRE SCORP POKéMON. IT HAS THE POWER IN ITS CLAWED ARMS TO MAKE SCRAP OF A CAR. THE TIPS OF ITS CLAWS RELEASE POISON.”
“It’s certainly not something you’d see around Kanto,” said Janine.
“I’ll say,” Chase replied as he stared at the gargantuan figure.
“I caught it when my father and I went to the Sinnoh Region for our vacation this year,” Janine explained. “It was just a little Scorupi when I caught it in Pastoria’s Great Marsh, but I couldn’t help but train it as much as possible while we were up there.”
“It’s not so little anymore.” Quickly snapping himself out of the daze he was in, Chase commanded Charmeleon to use Flamethrower.
Charmeleon once again shot a stream of fire out of its mouth at the opponent. Drapion just stood where it had materialized and took the brunt of the attack. Though, it looked as if it hadn’t taken a bit of damage after the flames had dissipated.
“Drapion, use X-Scissor!” Janine called.
The Ogre Scorp Pokémon obeyed and crossed its arms to make an X shape. It then approached Charmeleon menacingly, about to attack. Charmeleon was able to jump out of the way and hit Drapion with another Flamethrower, but then Janine’s giant Poison-type used a Pin Missel attack that seemed to come out of nowhere. Charmeleon did its best to not get hit by the flying spikes, but it did take some damage.
“Charmeleon, another Flamethrower, and quick!”
Charmeleon, now up against a wall, began to call forth the immense flames from within, but Drapion swiftly thrust its claws at Charmeleon and pinned it against the walls. Drapion’s claws were embedded in the concrete wall, much like Charmeleon’s claws had been stuck in the ground earlier, and it had caught Charmeleon around its chest.
Charmeleon’s flames in its mouth eventually puttered out, only ever embarking a few inches outward. Drapion then tightened its grip and threw Charmeleon across the room, making it role on the ground, and made it eventually hit the wall on the opposite side with its head. Due to the large quantity of damage done by Drapion, along with the poisoning Janine’s Venomoth so generously gave to it, Charmeleon fainted and was unable to battle.
As Chase returned his fallen Pokémon, Silver and Jason were speculating what would happen next from high atop the metal bleachers.
“That Drapion sure is strong,” said Silver.
Jason replied, “I agree. Janine did a good job training it.”
“I wonder who Chase will send out next.”
“I’d go with Politoed, seeing as it would hold up against that Drapion the longest.”
“Hey, look! He’s choosing!”
Chase tossed out his third and final Poké Ball. It popped open and sent a stream of white light hurtling to the ground. A figure began to materialize. It was green, and looked ready to battle. It was the Pokémon that would hopefully earn Chase another Gym Badge…Metapod.
“Metapod?!” Silver exclaimed, dumbfounded. “Does he want to lose?”
“Now, hold on a second.” Jason calmed his friend. “Let’s see what Chase is cooking up.”
“Metapod, use Harden!” Chase called. Metapod’s hard shell flashed for a moment, signifying that it had now hardened, increasing its Defense stat greatly.
“Drapion,” said Janine, “use Poison Sting!” Drapion shot a bunch of purple-colored needles seeping with poison at Metapod, but they all just ricocheted off its hardened shell.
“Harden!” Chase called again. Metapod’s shell flashed once more, again doubling its Defense.
Janine then called out in annoyance, “X-Scissor!”
Drapion approached the immobile Metapod and hit it with its crossed arms, making it hurtle backwards into a wall, cracking the cement. But, Metapod seemed unharmed.
Chase then called, “Harden again!” Metapod’s shell flashed and it hardened even more.
“What is he doing?” Jason thought to himself. He pondered about it for a moment as he watched Metapod being flung all over the battlefield, and then realized something. “I know what he’s doing!” Jason said out loud.
“What’s he doing?” Silver asked curiously.
“You remember when Chase asked for us to wait in the lobby to head outside for a bit?” Silver nodded. “I bet my bottom dollar he had a little pep talk with Metapod about evolving! You see, when a Metapod takes enough consecutive damage,” he explained, “they tend to build up enough energy needed to evolve!”
Just then, Drapion hit Metapod again, sending it hurtling through the air. It eventually came to a stop where, amazingly, it began glowing a brilliant white. It grew wings and its hard shell seemed to smooth out as antennae and feet formed. As the light faded, the newly evolved Pokémon stretched its new wings, and a moment later, fluttered into the air and exclaimed, “Butterfree!”
“All right!” Chase and Jason exclaimed in unison. Chase then commanded, “Use Confusion, Butterfree!”
The newly evolved butterfly Pokémon’s eyes began to glow a light blue, a lot like how the strange boy Milver’s eyes did. Drapion was covered in a light blue veil, but nothing seemed to happen.
“Chase!” Jason called from the stands. “Psychic-type attacks won’t work on Drapion, it’s half Dark-type!”
“Then we’ll have to try something else,” Chase said. Drapion then tried to attack with another Poison Sting, but Butterfree dodged it gracefully in the air. “Okay, Butterfree, try and use Sleep Powder!”
Butterfree flew high above Drapion at Chase’s command, and started scattering green spores around that made Drapion very drowsy. It eventually fell asleep and snored loudly.
“No, Drapion!” Janine called out anxiously.
“Butterfree, I think we have ‘em now! Use Tackle!”
The butterfly began attacking the sleeping Ogre Pokémon with continuous Tackle attacks. All the while Janine was calling to her Pokémon, trying to awaken it. When Drapion finally did wake up, it stood up only to be met with a full-body tackle from Butterfree right in the face. The giant Pokémon toppled over backward and landed on the ground with swirls in its eyes, unconscious.
Overwhelming excitement rushed over Chase as he exclaimed, “Yes! Butterfree, you did it!” Butterfree fluttered around in the air playfully letting out a joyous “Free! Free!”
Janine graciously returned her fallen Poison Pokémon as Jason and Silver cheered happily from the stands, with Jason waving his cowboy hat high above his head in celebration. The Gym Leader walked up to Chase and handed a pink, heart-shaped Badge from her pocket to him.
“Here, you deserve this,” she said kindly. “It’s the Soul Badge.”
Chase replied politely, “Thank you.” He placed his new Gym Badge in his jacket with the rest of his collection. Jason and Silver then joined him, and they all thanked Janine for a wonderful battle and said goodbye.
On the way out of the Gym, the three friends could see the man at the counter sleeping. They all chuckled to themselves and left for the Pokémon Center. When they got there, Chase had his team healed, and then they all went outside to watch Chase’s new Butterfree fly about playfully.
It was then as Chase was having fun with his new Butterfree that Silver got a call on his PokéGear. He shied away from the others and answered it.
“Silver?” a familiar voice came over the speaker. “It’s been a while, how goes that mission of yours?”
“Dad?” the redheaded boy stuttered. “Uh, good. It’s going good,” Silver replied nervously.
“Listen,” Giovanni said in a serious tone. “We need you back here at the base. We’re about to step our operations into high gear, and I need everyone I can get to help.”
“Well, sure, I’ll help. When should I come back?”
“I’ll send a chopper to pick you up within an hour at the longest. Just tell me where you are.”
“Um…” Silver trailed off, looking back at his friends. Butterfree had perched itself up on Chase’s head, lying on its belly. “I’m in Fuchsia City, Dad,” he said with regret in his voice.
“Good, I’ll have Nelson personally escort you back to base. He’ll be delighted.”
“Tell them I’ll be waiting on Route 18, southeast of the guardhouse and near the tree line.”
“Fine. I’ll see you later, then.” Giovanni then hung up. Silver, disheartened, also hung up his phone and stuck it in his pocket as he approached his friends.
“Say, who was that?” Chase asked with Butterfree still on his head.
“Well, that was my dad. He said he wanted me to come home.”
“Oh…” Chase said, saddened at hearing this.
“Then we’ll be seeing you, I guess?” said Jason.
“Yeah. I’ll try and make arrangements to meet up with you guys later. Remember, we have a psychotic clone to take care of,” Silver said wryly.
“I’ll remember,” Jason replied casually. “You just remember not to get too involved with that Team Rocket anymore than you already have. They’re bad news.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind,” Silver said with a nervous smile.
Everyone shook hands with Silver and said goodbye, then Chase and Jason watched as their friend left their company with only their phone numbers in case he needed to call them.
“You know, maybe I should call my parents and tell them how I’m doing,” Chase thought out loud.
“That’s a good idea,” Jason responded with a smile.
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This post has been edited by Westrmistr: Aug 11 2010, 09:17 PM
Pokémon: The Chase for a Hero
Pokédox Forums - The Pokémon Freak Getaway > Pokédox Forums > Fan-Fiction Forum > Pokémon Fan-Fiction
Jul 28 2010, 07:39 PM
