Charmander009
Pocket Full of Sunshine
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2008
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Rated: E, PG, or K
Quick Question: Is it okay to double post here?
Summery:
This is the story of a boy named Kody, who lives on the island paradise of Poketopia. But soon, the peaceful utopia is threatened by an ex-CIPHER group, Team PHEONIX, who have thier own plans for thier scientifically enhanced Pokemon. It is up to Kody to stop them, along side a Sinnoh Trainer and an Orre scientist. But will he rise up to the challenge? Or will the Shadows conquer all. It's an epic struggle for the future of the Pokemon world in this story.
Pokétopia: Rise of Team PHENYX
Ch. 1:
The match was a close one. The challenger had only one Pokémon left, while the opposing had two, though one, a Nuzleaf, was pretty banged up. That gave the challenger a little hope, but the opposing Breloom was fresh from the Pokéball. The crowd around the battle was going wild. The red corner was a very popular trainer, but the blue corner challenger was stronger than expected.
Holding his breath, the challenger sent out his last Pokémon. The crowd cheered even loader as the new contestant, a Charmeleon, reared it’s head and roared. The Breloom was a little intimidated by the fire-type, but put on a fighting face. The Charmeleon moved first, using a small Ember move on the Nuzleaf. That proved too much for the grass-type, and it fainted.
The Breloom moved next, charging towards the foe for a Headbutt Attack. Charmeleon was sent sprawling, but it quickly recovered. Annoyed, it Growled. The Breloom became uneasy, but went for a Mach Punch. Before that could land, the Charmeleon breathed out flames, creating a Fire Spin. The Breloom was sucked up by the fire tornado. It struggled against it, then using it’s powerful legs it pushed off the ground and jumped out of the weakening tornado.
It didn’t escape unscathed, however. Fire Spin had inflicted a burn on it. Wincing from the pain, the Breloom didn’t see Charmeleon prepare another attack. It used Flamethrower, toasting the unsuspecting mushroom black and causing it to faint.
The Challenger had won easily. The crowd cheered, chanting the red corner’s name over and over.
“Ko-dee! Ko-dee! Kod-”
“-ee! Kodee!” someone was shaking him awake. “Wake up, for Pete’s sake!”
Kody moaned, keeping his eyes sealed shut. Why would someone wake him up from such a wonderful dream?
“Kody,” the someone said annoyed. “Wake up or you’ll be fired!”
Kody jumped awake, looking around bewildered and confused. He was just at a coliseum. How did he end up in a store? His mother and boss stared angrily at him, then turned to a customer in front of the cash register.
“I apologize, ma’am,” she said, “what can I help you with?”
Kody yawned and stretched, his memory slowly coming back to him. He was at work in his mother’s souvenir shop. He was working the register today, yet the store wasn’t too busy, so he had sat down to rest a moment and apparently he had dozed off. He looked to the base of the chair where a small Pokémon was napping. Kody nudged the Riolu gently with his shoe. It slowly awoke, then looked up at Kody.
“Hey, Toru,” Kody said to it. “You were supposed to keep me awake.”
“Rrrrrrioyyychuuu!” Toru apologized.
Kody ’s mother, Sharon, finished helping the customer then turned back to scold her son.
“We may live in Poketopia,” she began, “but that doesn’t give you the right to stay up all night to watching or battling in the Coliseums. You have other responsibilities, such as school and work. That customer was standing there for five minutes trying to wake you up!”
“I’m sorry,” Kody began,” but the only Coliseums I can go to are at night. Sunny Park and the Waterfall and others are only open during the day when I have school or work.”
“Life doesn’t revolve around battling, Kody. Besides, there’s always the Sunset Col-,”
“I can’t use my own Pokémon there, though!”
“Listen: no more late-night battles from now on. And no more falling asleep at work, okay, hijo?”
“But-,”
“Ah! No buts about it. Now I need you to go in the back and bring out some more of these Pokétopia badges. They fly right off the shelves!” She handed him a slip of paper with numbers on it.
Kody gave up, knowing he had lost. Toru followed him into the back room where shipments of all kinds of souvenirs were stacked and stored until they were unpackaged and brought out front. Boxes stood upon boxes on strong shelving units that reached high to the ceiling.
“This isn’t fair!” Kody sighed. “‘No late-night battles’. What does she think I am, a toddler?”
“Rrrrroiyyyaaaahrrroi,” Toru said.
“Well, yes I did fall asleep,” Kody admitted sheepishly, “but that was a one time thing.”
“Rrrrrroiyyyyyah.”
“Okay, maybe I’ve fallen asleep once or twice...”
“Rrrrroiyyyyah...”
“Three or...”
“Rrrroiyahrrroi.”
“Five times is all... But I won’t do it again.”
“Rrrroichuuuuu Roiyyya.”
“You’re not helping...” Kody looked back at the slip that held random numbers. 775-038-946-26. It was more like an address telling him where the stocked item was in the back room. These particular items he was looking for was located at the far back wall close to the shipment doors. He looked back up to check where he was at now. 775-037-803-55, he needed to go farther back.
“This place gives me the creeps,” He shivered, walking on. It was always cold here, too, he might add.
“Rrrr-rrr,” Toru agreed, trilling his cry.
“I-,” Kody was about to say, but then there was a load crash nearby. Kody paused, more than a little startled, then ran off towards the source of the sound. Before he could turn the corner, a shadowy figure nearly balled him over. The intruder was as surprised as Kody was, but quickly recovered and pushed the boy aside, running for the emergency fire-exit.
“Hey! Stop right there!” Kody yelled after him. Or her. Whatever it was, it was getting away. Kody took off after it without much thought. Perhaps he should have looked for help, but Kody tended to take matters into his own matters.
The thief was quick. Kody had a hard time keeping up with him as they ran through a maze of storage units and boxes. All the time he couldn’t get a good look at the intruder: he was clothed in black, shadowed by a big hat, and the lighting there never was very good.
He rounded a corner just as the thief tipped over a large box of stuffed Pokémon. The toys went all over, burying Kody and Toru in their overflow. When they managed to dig their way out, there was no sign of the shadowy thief.
“Shoot!” Kody exclaimed. “Dang trickster! I almost had him.”
Toru popped his head out from the wreckage, knocking into an small object and sending it skidding across the floor where it bumped Kody ‘s shoe. He reached down and scooped it off the ground. It was an oval black badge with elongated ‘P’ and ‘H’ on it.
“Who was that anyway?”Kody stared off down the aisle.
#*****
“What?!” Sharon exclaimed when Kody explained what had happened and why he didn’t bring a box of badges with him.
“I tried to catch him, but then he did that trick...”
“What did he take? And what did he look like?”
“I couldn’t see that well,” Kody admitted.
Sharon sighed. “What a day! First, our last shipment didn’t make it and now this. I’d better send Charlie to clean up the mess and get your father. Watch the shop while I’m gone, but don’t doze off!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Kody saluted.
Sharon left Kody in the now empty shop. Business tended to slow down when schools across the world started, but Poketopia nevertheless was always busy. Just not the souvenir shops. Kody sat back and remembered how hard his family had worked to get where they were now. They had lived back in Johto when he was a toddler, then they moved to Hoenn, and now here. The Carter Family owned and worked many stores across those regions, but none where as successful as the Poketopia one. All of Kody ‘s brothers and sisters had worked here, and finally so does he, but he doesn’t necessarily enjoy it. What he really wants to do is move into a battling career. He wants to be a Coliseum Leader, or at least one of its trainers. Going into business had never interested him.
What he want above all is to defeat the Poketopia Master, win the crown, and become the Champion.
His mother, however, wants otherwise. She sometimes enjoyed watching battles, but she believed battling careers to be fruitless. Trainers, after all, made very little money and often went hungry. Sharon never wanted this for her children, so she discouraged them from becoming one of them. It had worked for her first three, then there was Erika. Erika was fascinated by Pokémon, as many are, and she longed to raise the best she could. She grew bored with her life, then ran off on a Trainer Journey when they were living in Johto. Word is that she’s a pretty powerful trainer now.
It was her and the battling utopia they lived in that inspired Kody. Now he wants to become a trainer, but his own mother stands in the way. She might have failed with Erika, but she was determined not to fail with Kody.
Kody sighed again, looking out the wide window opposite of him.
“Rrrrrrrigh?” Riolu cocked his head.
Kody looked back at the little guy. He had been a gift from his father to be his friend and guardian, to make sure Kody wouldn’t get into trouble. Kody had hatched it himself from a blue speckled egg, and had become quite close with him.
“I’m not going to fall asleep,” Kody assured him.
“Rrrrighkluuuuu,” Toru smiled.
Kody smiled back, then thoughtfully got into his black hip-bag, pulling out several Pokéballs. These were the party that he had earned and raised to a reasonable level. All were originally rentals but had been given to Kody for hard work and teamwork. He had a long way to go, he knew, but he had a great head start.
He singled them out: the first contained a Staravia he named Jack, who had great aerial attacks and speed. The next was a Luxio, named by the rental caretakers Sparx. Her Spark attack was very powerful, and had a special glow about her. Next to her gray Ultra-ball was a Bayleef named sheepishly Herbie, an excellent grass-type species. Next to his Green-colored Nest-ball, a Marshtomp who he named Skipper who loved to get dirty. The last was a Charmander who, for some reason, hasn’t evolved yet. His name was Echo, though Kody doesn’t know why.
All were good friends of his.
“One of these days,” he promised them. “We’ll amount to something great. Perhaps if we one day become Poketopia Champions, we’ll head for Hoenn or Sinnoh and challenge the League. Get out and see the world.”
“Rrrrigh?” Toru looked up at him.
“Of course you can come,” Kody smiled. “I couldn’t leave without you.”
“Rrrrrrrrigh-rrrroiy!” Toru cheered.
#*****
Kody ‘s father, Mark was agitated. He was in the security center trying to find out if the camera’s had caught any of the action in his store, but the security officers claimed that the cameras had been off-line.
“And why is that?” The large man tried to contain his anger. “Why was no one informed of this? Why weren’t there tighter security?”
“Sir,” one of the officers said, “we found the source of the problem minor. A Rattata had chewed through one of those circuits that fed through your cameras. We patched up the problem as soon as we could. They should be working properly.”
“Minor? Someone broke into my store and stole some merchandise while your stupid cameras were off-line!”
“Someone broke into your store?” Another said, astonished as if he had never heard it before.
“Why else do you think I would be here?”
The idiots looked at each other, confused. Had they gotten so comfortable in Pokétopia that they thought no crime would ever be committed?
One of the screens that showed what the security cameras were recording suddenly blacked out. The security officers jumped up, grabbing their gear, while one checked the computer carefully.
“It’s happening again,” he said. They were finally starting to be concerned.
“Mr. Carter,” the first officer said, “We will look into this as soon as we can. We’ll get someone to swing by and investigate the scene. But right now, our hands are tied.”
“What are you still here for?” Mark waved. He didn’t like this at all. His store getting robbed and the cameras blacking out seemed all too convenient to be a accident. Something was happening in Poketopia.
#*****
Sharon stormed back into the store, her face red with anger and effort.
“Mom!” Kody stood up from behind the front desk, “Any news?”
“Dad went and checked the security cameras,” she started, “but they said the cameras were off-line. Apparently, they thought it was too much effort to get off their butts and do something about it! Now they just say they’ll have someone swing by later to check it out! As if! If I could-,”
“The cameras weren’t working?” Kody interrupted before his mother could fume anymore.
“The officers said that a Rattata had chewed through the wiring. But I don’t thinks so. Camera’s gone off and a store gets robbed. Doesn’t sound right to me. Kody, we need to be more careful. From now on, you’re not allowed to go anywhere without permission or supervision.”
“WHAT?!”
“You heard me mister. We wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you, so until this situation clears up you’ll be watched.”
“But Mom, I can take care of myself just fine!”
“I’m sure you can, but just to be safe.”
“My Pokémon can-,”
“Kody, criminals don’t always play by the rules.”
“But-but-,”
“But nothing! No late nights, and no leaving without permission. That’s it. End of conversation.”
“Arrrrghhhhhhh!” Kody slumped back into his chair.
#*****
Soon night fell upon Pokétopia like a heavy blanket. The moonless skies shone bright above the island, alive with stars, although the bright lights of the utopia snuffed out their light. Some could say Pokétopia was as bright at night as it was at day, but most say the night brought out a new kind of energy for restless Trainers.
Within an minutes, the Gateway Coliseum would be open to challengers. All ready tickets were going fast and people were gathering within in huge packs starving for some action. Trainers were preparing their Pokémon for the battles ahead.
Kody could see it all from his high apartment window. His longing to be there drove him nuts! How unfair was this! He absolutely had no freedom!
His restlessness wrestled against him.
She had said no late night battles, but how would she know if he snuck away? Sharon was working late at the store anyway, double checking security and stock, and he was home alone. Almost alone.
Toru was sound asleep, though.
He could sneak back before anyone knew.
*****
The final boat of the day pulled into the dock. They had met some troublesome weather that had delayed them, but they made it. The new arrivals would at least be able to se the beauty of Pokétopia at night anyway. What better sight to see when first setting foot on the Island than that?
A bed, one guest would argue. That guest was Kasandrah Griffon, a trainer fresh from Sinnoh.
Don’t get her wrong, though. She was overjoyed to finally make it here, but the voyage had worn her out. Kassy had found out, however, that she could easily get sea-sick. When the rough weather kicked in, she didn’t have too much fun.
“Land!” She celebrated when she stood on firm land once again. Her friend Amy giggled.
“Isn’t it great?” she smiled. “Pokétopia at last!”
“Yeah, great,” Kassy said sarcastically, “now let’s find a hotel room. I’m bushed.”
“Wait! Don’t you want to look around?”
“Loved to, but if you haven’t forgotten, I’ve been losing my guts.”
“That’s a shame,” someone behind them said. They turned around to see one of the sailors carrying one of their luggage bags. Kassy had unwittingly left one behind on the boat.
“I believe this is yours,” he nodded to Kassy.
Kassy took it and simply nodded back.
“What makes you say that?” Amy asked, embarrassed by her friend’s lack of manners.
“Well, I saw her carry her bag-,”
“No, I mean, why is it a shame?”
“Oh, well, Pokétopia is a wonderful place at night, and the Gateway Coliseum is about to start. It’s a great show. You should at least go see it before turning in tonight. But, you know, it’s your choice,” the sailor shrugged. He turned and walked away saying, “Enjoy your stay.”
“What was that about?” Kassy frowned.
“What’s your problem! He was pretty cute, you know!” Amy scolded.
“Whatever.”
“I guess you’re a little grumpy from the trip,” Amy sighed.
“Which is why we should find the nearest hotel so I can get some rest!”
“Oh, but the Coliseum! Can we go? P-lllllleeeeaaaasssssse?” Amy begged, tugging her sleeve.
“Stop it!” Kassy snapped, picking up her bag and walked away.
“Please, Please, Please, PLEASE?” Amy pursued.
“Stop!”
“P-L-E-A-S-E?”
“Fine! All right. But tomorrow when I’m going to sleep in late I’d better not hear any complaining!”
“Yes! Trust me, you won’t regret it! Pokétopian battles are legendary!”
“They’d better be...,” Kassy grumbled, but inside she was just as excited as Amy was.
#*****
“I don’t like this,” Quintin, Kody ‘s buddy, yawned. “I don’t like this one bit.”
“What’s the big deal?” Kody replied, putting on his gear and disguise.
“Well, I’m pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that we’re disobeying our parents and sneaking into a Coliseum late at night without permission...”
“Relax, Quint,” Kody smiled. “No one is going to notice. There, how do I look?”
Quintin sighed for the umpteenth time that night. “It’s bad enough that you’re dragging me into this. Yeah, you look okay.”
“Nothing like my old self?”
“Sure.”
“Quint, I’m serious,” Kody stared hard back at him.
“I’m serious. We’re going to be in so much trouble!”
“How’s your thing coming along?”
“I’ve programmed you to be the fifth contestant,” Quintin answered, pointing to his laptop. “You’ll be up against some guy named... Darkos Willforce.”
“Ha! What a loser.”
“I’ve seen weirder. Anyway, he has a Ninjask, a Nuzleaf, a Mightyena, a Houndour, a Kadabra, and a Sneasel registered. All but two are dark-types. He favors using the Sneasel, for some reason. He gloats about it all the time.”
“So dark type, then,” Kody mused. Fighting types would be good to use, but I don’t have any of those. Jack would be good against two, Echo: 3, Skipper: 1. Herbie could hold out against a Mightyena and a Kadabra. Sparx ‘s could deal some damage, too...
“Your match will be in 20 minutes, dude,” Quintin said, breaking Kody ‘s thoughts.
“Okay. Thanks, Quintin. This means a lot to me.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t mention it,” Quintin closed his laptop, getting off the locker room bench. He nodded, “Good Luck,” then left Kody to prepare for the battle.
#*****
“Boy, how lucky were we,” Amy smiled, holding up two tickets. “We got the last ones!”
“All right!” Kasandrah cheered.
“Whoa, someone’s feeling better.” Amy pretended to be utterly shocked.
“Maybe I am,” Kasandrah frowned indignantly. “I’m not always grumpy, you know.”
“Just teasing. Come on! Let’s go!” Amy raced off with both tickets still in hand.
“Hey!” Kasandrah pursued her, pushing through a crowd of people to get into the Coliseum Viewing Building. Several times she almost lost sight of her impatient friend, but finally caught up with her at a ticket gate that led into the building.
“Hurry up, Slowpoke!” Amy waved.
“I’m coming all ready!”
“Tickets?” the ticket person asked blandly.
“Right here,” Amy presented the tickets.
The Ticket Person glanced at them, then waved to a Machop who hoisted up the gate. “Room number 13.”
“Wh-,” Kasandrah began to ask.
“Go to the right, up the stairs, and it’s the third room down.”
“O-K.... Thanks, I guess,” Kasandrah frowned. “Let’s go, Amy.”
They followed the man’s instructions and made it into their room. This box had a few rows of seats but none of them were occupied. Everyone was lined up against the window trying to see the battle that was just beginning. The two girls pushed their way up to the window to see the action.
The opponents were throwing out their first Pokémon. The Red Corner trainer, a little girl that looked younger that Amy, sent out a Pachirisu, while the Blue Corner, a teenage boy, sent out a Kricketune.
“Oh, I forgot to get a program list,” Amy sighed. “I wish I knew who was battling.”
“That’s simple,” A tall, dark-skinned girl with pink hair interrupted. She smiled at them and pointed to the teenager. “That’s Randy the Music Artist. He uses Song-making Pokémon like Kricketune, Chatot, Chingling, Chimecho, Loudred, Jigglypuff, etc.”
Then she pointed to the little girl:
“That’s Sophia the ‘Adorable’. She uses any cute Pokémon she can get.”
“Thank you,” Amy smiled.
“No problem.”
Now the Pokémon began to fight. The Pachirisu started with a blue Spark attack, racing towards the Kricketune and tackling it while sparking. The Kricketune raised its sword-like arms and braced itself against the attack. He thrust them out, knocking the little squirrel away. He swung them again, performing a False-swipe attack.
The brave Pachirisu was hurt, but picked itself back up, Growl-ing. It made the Kricketune uneasy, and caught off-guard it was hit by a Tail-Whip attack. Enraged, it struck back with Fury Cutter.
Now the Pachirisu was facing a little trouble, but it bounced back. Literally. It went for another Spark attack, jumping up into the air and landing it on the foe. Kricketune faced the trouble now.
Kricketune struck again with Fury Cutter.
Pachirisu went down, hit by an intense blow. A Critical Hit.
But it got back up!
Bruised and sore, the strong little squirrel went for another attack: Tackle.
Kricketune dodged it. It’s trainer shouted out a command: Sing! The insect raised it’s arm’s, crossing them as if they were a fiddle and began to play a song. Pachirisu never expected this. It watched amazed, lulled by the soothing music. It’s eyes became droopy, and soon it fell asleep.
There was a moan of dismay in throughout the audience. The poor Pachirisu had been a favorite of the crowd. To see it go down like this after hanging on like that...
The Kricketune stopped playing the music. It cried in victory as if it had all ready won. It gloated and cheered, holding off the final blow and taking in this moment of almost-victory.
It didn’t notice Pachirisu wake up. The trainer had supplied it with a special berry that prevented it from sleeping. Now, it snuck up behind its opponent, cheeks sparking, and unleashed a Thunder-shock.
Taken by complete surprise, the Kricketune couldn’t even react and inevitably fainted.
Pachirisu had won.
“Wow,” Kasandrah was impressed, “that was one tough Pachirisu.”
“Sophia’s pride and joy,” the pink-haired lady nodded.
Randy sent out his next Pokémon, a Loudred, as Sophia recalled her own. Concentrating hard, she decided on her next: a Beautifly. Then the next round began.
#*****
Kody was alone in the locker room, slipping his new fingerless-gloves on. so he thought.
“Pssst!” someone hissed at him.
Kody jumped. “Who’s there?”
“Shhh! Be quiet!” the voice hissed again. Kody looked around and saw a shadowy figure hiding in the dark corner of the room.
“Who are you?” Kody demanded, purposefully louder.
“I said SHUSH! Now, are you Jacob Bradley?”
“Yeah...,” Kody said carefully, remembering the fake name Quintin had given him for the match. “And, again, who are you?”
“You’re next opponent,” the stranger said simply.
Kody almost didn’t say anything, but quickly remembered that Trainers weren’t suppose to know who their up against. “How do-,”
“That’s not important right now,” Darkos replied quickly.
“What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see if you wanted to make our match a little more... interesting.”
Kody narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What do you mean?”
Darkos walked more into the light, revealing a smile on his lips. “Perhaps we could lay a few... bets?”
“Bets?” Kody frowned, liking the situation lesser by the second. “I don’t think so.” He began gathering his stuff up and packing it in his bag.
“Hold on, Growlithe,” Darkos moved forward to stop him.
“Not interested, dude,” Kody waved him off. “Hey!”
Darkos swooped up one of Kody ‘s Pokéballs. It was Herbie ’s.
“Give him back!” Kody reached out to snatch him back, but Darkos was very tall and easily kept it out of the boy’s reach.
“Ah, ah, ahh!” Darkos pulled on a sly face, teasing Kody ‘s reach. “Perhaps I’ll give it back if you listen to my proposition.”
Kody stopped bouncing and glared at him.
“Good. Here’s the deal: If I win our little match today...” he turned and sauntered towards the lockers, “...you will give me one of your Pokémon. One of my choosing. If you win, which I highly doubt that you will, I will give you an exclusive prize Pokémon, one that will be very powerful. Have we an accord?”
“What!? No way!”
Darkos tossed the ball up and caught it in his hand again, reminding Kody of his condition.
Kody gritted his teeth.
“Ha, ha, ha!” the evil man laughed. “You’re not afraid of losing, are you?”
“I’m not afraid of anything, especially your cruel taunts! I’ll take your bet, but you’re going to be sorry!” Kody seethed at the dark man.
Darkos smiled and held out Herbie ‘s ball. Kody snatched it out of his hand disgruntled and disgusted. He grabbed his things and left the locker room to the Dark Trainer.
“Win or lose,” Darkos said to himself once the boy disappeared, “I won’t be sorry, boy.”
*****
Kasandrah had enjoyed the first match. Even though Sophia won the first round with the Pachirisu, Randy beat her Beautify and Jigglypuff with the Loudred. Her weary Pachirisu took down the Loudred, but was too tired to fend off Randy’s Chatot. In the end, Randy had won.
“That was exciting!” Amy cheered. “Who’s up next?”
The pink haired girl smiled. “I think it’s Herb Girl Yasmine up against Metal Master Marshall.”
“What’s with the weird titles?” Kasandrah frowned.
The girl smiled wider sheepishly. “They can be a little eccentric, can’t they?”
“Ch-yeah,” Kasandrah agreed. The trainers left the stage now, and they now waited for the new combatants to emerge.
The pink haired lady turned to the girls, sparking up a conversation to pass the time.
“By the way,” she started, “my name is Roze. You guys must be new here.”
“Yeah, we’ve just arrived from Sinnoh,” Amy answered. “My name is Amy and this is Kassy.”
“Kasandrah,” Kasandrah corrected her friend.
“Nice to meet you guys. I’m from Hoenn. I got here maybe a few months back, looking for adventure. You like Pokétopia so far?”
“Yeah, sure do!” Amy cheered enthusiastically.
“I can’t wait to see more,” Kasandrah agreed.
“How about after the Coliseum’s done I show you around a bit?” Roze asked.
“That sound great!” Amy smiled. “Thanks!”
“Actually,” Kasandrah frowned. Amy slumped. Kasandrah ignored her and went on, “I am pretty bushed. I’d like to get some rest after this.”
“Oh, well I can escort you to the finest Hotel in Pokétopia. How’s that?”
Kasandrah thought on it, then nodded, “I could go for that.”
“Then tomorrow I can show you around,” Roze concluded.
“O.K.!” Amy nodded.
“Here they come!” Kasandrah pointed out the window.
#*****
Kody watched the next match with little interest. It wasn’t a particularly good match since the Herb Lady only had grass Pokémon to use against steel-type, which isn’t very effective. Yet that wasn’t why Kody was distant. He had a lot on his mind.
If I lose my match, he thought, then he’ll take one of my Pokémon. What was I thinking!? It wasn’t that he wanted the Pokémon Darkos offered him, it was the fact that he had called Kody a cowered that had fired his soul. The boy had a little too much pride, and was reckless, needless to say.
Calm down, he tried to relax, There’s no reason to worry because I won’t lose. I show that guy! I haven’t been defeated yet. In fact, two more wins and I can go up against the Coliseum Leader!
But there was always a first, his conscience would argue. Something about that Darkos wasn’t quite right.
Kody was roused out of his thoughts by a sudden cheer from the crowd. The Herb lady’s Breloom had the upper hand against the foe’s Lairon and just made it faint. The cheering, however, dropped when the Metal Master sent out a Skarmory. The Green Corner stood little chance now.
The Breloom looked like it wanted to turn and run, but after some encouragement from its trainer, it launched another attack: Mach Punch.
The move hit the Skarmory square in the chest, but it waved the assault off and Pecked back as if the foe was a mere tick. Peck was super-effective to the dual type Breloom, and sent it flying. Wincing, he stood back up and launched another attack: Sky-uppercut.
Again, no effect.
Breloom looked frustrated, and launched a series of attacks at the steel bird. None seemed to have any effect on the Skarmory. In fact, it yawned out of boredom.
Tired of the pesky foe, the Skarmory finally launched its own attack: Brave Bird.
The Breloom stood no chance. The incredible blow knocked it cold.
Metal Master Marshall won the match easily.
Kody was up next.
*****
“Good Evening, Pokétopians!” the announcer’s voice rang throughout the viewer boxes. Everyone stopped their conversations to cheer.
“The third match of the day is about to commence. Our contestants for this match: Novice Trainer Jacob Bradley versus Dark Trainer Darkos Willforce. The Fourth Match Contestants: Electric Expert Logan Davis against Pokéball Collector Ron Monroe! Here come the combatants now!”
“Oh,” Amy was surprised. “I didn’t know they did that.”
“You guys just missed the announcements before,” Roze explained.
Kasandrah ignored their conversation and watched as Jacob and Darkos entered the field. She noticed, even from her high spot, how darkly Jacob glared at Darkos, who avoided eye-contact and waved at the unseen fans as if he were a celebrity. She watched on, confused, as they stopped at their respected places on the stage. She, nor anyone else, could hear the short dialogue that went on between the two.
“Hope you’ve chosen wisely,” Darkos taunted, referring to the rule that Trainers could chose only 3 out of their 6 Pokémon. “You know what’s on the line.”
“You’re going to regret messing with me,” Kody growled.
Back up in the boxes, the announcer went on to explain:
“Jacob Bradley has quite a few considerable wins under his belt. In fact, he hasn’t lost a match yet, but will that change tonight when he battles Darkos Willforce? The Dark Trainer recently arrived here, but has climbed this far with ease. Whoever wins this match will go to the semi-finals tomorrow evening.”
Kody and Darkos could hear the announcer’s voice echoing down from the audience’s building. The Dark Trainer smirked.
“Sounds like we have plenty of pressure.”
“Shut-up! Let’s battle already!” Jacob/Kody pulled out his first ball.
“Such fire!” Darkos pulled out his own. “We’d be lucky if you joined us.”
“We?” Kody was caught off guard.
Darkos only smiled and released his first Pokémon. The Nuzleaf raised it’s woody fists and cried out to the crowd.
Kody got over his confusion and sent out his own. Jack stretched his wings and screeched. The first round was in his favor.
“The Pokémon appear!” called the announcer.
“Rock the Coliseum!” Kody encouraged his Staravia.
“This will be interesting,” Darkos smirked.
“From the Blue Corner,” the announcer went on, “Nuzleaf. From the Red Corner: Staravia. Red corner advantage.”
“Now the announcer talks,” Kasandrah rolled her eyes.
“This match is a big deal,” Roze explained. “Both Trainers shown huge talent, and one will go to the Semi-finals.”
“So I hear.”
“That’s a gorgeous Staravia,” Amy commented.
“I-,” Kasandrah began, but the announcer’s voice cut her off.
“The stage is set and the curtain is open, the Blue Corner attacks first.”
The Nuzleaf ran up to Jack and gave him a swift attack with Fake Out. It didn’t do much damage, but caused Jack to flinch. Nuzleaf took that opportunity to launch a Faint Attack. Jack shook it off.
“Focus, Jack!” Kody encouraged from the sidelines. “Counter with Fly!”
Jack screamed in agreement then took wing, swooping down at the Nuzleaf and grabbing it with his sharp talons. Nuzleaf struggled to get free, but Jack’s strong feet held him tight, and together they Flew higher and higher until they peaked the Coliseum. Then, Jack let go.
Darkos ‘s Nuzleaf fell to the ground from that high altitude, landing with a heavy thump. The powerful Flying move proved to much for the Nuzleaf. When the dust cleared, it revealed the Nuzleaf fainted.
“Wow!” the announcer said. “What a powerful move! The Nuzleaf stood no chance!”
Darkos growled as he recalled the KO’d Pokémon.
“Great job, Jack!” Kody cheered his Staravia. “Take that, Darkos!”
“Don’t get your hopes up yet!” Darkos snapped. “Go! Mightyena!”
The newly emerged wolf-like Pokémon Howled into the night air, Intimidating Jack.
“The Blue Corner sends out a Mightyena!” the announcer, of course, announced.
“Wow! A Mightyena,” Amy’s eyes grew wide. “I’ve never seen one before!”
“Hoenn native, that one is,” Roze said proudly.
“I wouldn’t mind having one of those,” Kasandrah added thoughtfully.
“Okay, Jack,” Kody coached back down on the battle field. “Focus. Use Wing Attack!”
The Bird Pokémon nodded, then took back to the air, flying full speed at the Mightyena, then whipped it with his wings. The Dark-type was knocked back, but it shook it off.
“Mightyena, Bite it back!” Darkos commanded.
The Mightyena obeyed without a second thought, racing towards the still flying Jack and launched, jaws wide open. The two fell to the ground, Jack pinned under the dog as it Bit down on it. Jack screamed, Pecking back at the foe until it got off of him. Sore but still full of fight, Jack took back to the air away from the foe’s reach.
“Doing good, Jack! Swoop down at it with Arial Ace!”
Jack followed Kody ‘s command, swooping down at the Mightyena, then arched back up into the air. He preformed a tail-feather turn and swooped back down at the Mightyena, inflicting harsh damage.
The foe growled, bruised and sore, but turned around to fight on.
“Take Down!” Darkos ordered.
His Pokémon growled then limped off towards Jack. It attempted to jump up at the flying bird, but just missed him.
“Fly!” Kody urged Jack, taking advantage of the slip-up.
Mightyena would be too heavy for Jack to Fly, so Jack needed a different Fly technique. He Flew up into the air as high as before, then aimed down at the opponent, tucking his wings against his body. He dived downward like a falling star, then at the last minute he whipped out his talons and dug them into the Mightyena.
It howled in pain.
“Taken down by an intense blow!” the announcer cheered when the Dark-type fainted. “Staravia is on a roll. The Blue Corner has only one more Pokémon left while the Red Corner has all three still in play. The match is reaching it’s final stage.”
“That is one tough Staravia,” Kasandrah admitted appraisingly.
“It’s never been knocked out,” Roze nodded. “It even lasted against a Rock-type Sudowoodo before. Poor Mightyena. Didn’t stand a chance, too.”
“This Jacob guy is on fire! Darkos is being whipped!” Amy said.
“He’ll probably win tonight,” Roze agreed.
“Scared, Darkos?” Kody was taunting now.
Darkos growled, “You haven’t seen anything, yet!”
Kody wasn’t swayed. What did he have to lose now? He’d win the bet easily, he figured. All worry had vanished and was replaced with cockiness. Jack was excited, too, despite his injuries. He might win the whole match single-handedly.
“See how you like this! Go, Sneasel!” Darkos threw his last Pokéball.
“The Blue Corner sends out his last Pokémon: a Ice/Dark-type Sneasel!”
The crowd cheered loudly. Everyone had heard of Darkos ‘s strong Sneasel, who, like Jack, has never lost a match. Everyone except Kasandrah and Amy.
Kasandrah, however, saw it for what it really was. Only she could see, when it screeched demonically and chillingly into the night, the horrific dark aura that surrounded it.
“What’s wrong with that Pokémon?!” She exclaimed.
“What do you mean?” Amy looked confused.
“That Sneasel! It looks weird!”
Amy frowned. “Looks like any other Sneasel to me.”
Kasandrah furrowed her eyebrows. “You seriously can’t see that?”
“No...,” Amy answered uncertainly.
Kasandrah frowned and turned to Roze. “Can’t you see that?”
“See what?” Roze quickly looked from Amy then met Kasandrah ’s eyes.
“That Sneasel! Doesn’t it look odd to you? There’s a creepy dark cloud around it.”
“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” Roze frowned, too.
Kasandrah furrowed her eyebrows and looked away from her companions back to the shadowy Sneasel. “Why can’t they see it?” she whispered to herself, “Why can I see it?”
#*****
“Okay, Jack,” Kody yelled to his Pokémon, “let’s finish this match! Strike it down with Air Cutter!”
“Sneasel, use Secret Move #9!” Darkos commanded his.
“‘Secret Move #9?” Kody said confused.
The Sneasel hissed and shrilled, then emitted a black-colored Ice Beam that looked more than unnatural. It propelled through the air and hit Jack square on the back before he could dodge it.
“What was that?!” the announcer hollered, echoing the audiences’ own comments. “Folks, I’ve never seen the like; but it was sure powerful! The Staravia is down!”
Jack fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Kody watched with horror, making no move to recall the fainted Pokémon.
“What’s the matter, Jacob?” Darkos taunted. “Your little song-bird’s done for!”
Kody glowered, “You’ll pay for that! Go, Echo!”
Echo the Charmander ‘charped’ with delight, anticipating the battle. In his excitement, he opened his maw and breathed a Flamethrower towards the sky.
“Okay, Echo! Stop showing off, silly lizard! Attack with Flame Wheel!”
“Char!” Echo agreed, then began to whirl around in circles. The flame on his tail formed a ring of fire around him as he spun like a top towards the foe. The Sneasel was consumed by the fire, but when the smoke and fire cleared, the Sneasel was still standing.
“What?” Kody exclaimed bewildered.
“Sneasel,” Darkos called to the Pokémon, “strike back with Shadow Slash!”
“Shadow Slash?” Kody was confused.
“Shoot!” Darkos slammed the heel of his hand on his forehead. “Did I say that out loud?”
The Sneasel, nonetheless, attack with the mysterious Shadow Slash. It’s long white claws turned a purple-blackish color, then those claws struck out at Echo.
“Echo! Look out!” Kody yelled.
Echo didn’t need to be told twice; he was high-tailing it out of there, yelping in fright. Unfortunately, the Sneasel was faster. Fortunately, the attack missed.
Kody exhaled with relief, as did his Charmander. Darkos snarled and scolded his Sneasel, which Kody took the time to launch another attack.
“Echo, Flamethrower!”
Echo inhaled, then let loose a stream of intense fire.
“Sneasel, Double Team stat!”
Sneasel hissed and grudgingly obeyed his master. It moved so fast that there appeared to be several of it all around Echo at one time. Echo put an end to his Flamethrower and looked uneasily at the Sneasels that surrounded him.
“Careful, Echo,” Kody encouraged him. “Torch it if you can!”
Echo nodded, then began to breathe embers from his snout, twirling around and around until he created a Fire Spin. It expanded and twirled like a mini tornado, and overlapping the line of Sneasels that had surrounded him. There was no chance the Sneasel could dodge it!
Finally, Echo stopped Spinning. The embers sputtered out and the stage cleared, but it only revealed that the Sneasel hadn’t fainted yet. The foe shook it’s head and hissed at the little Charmander.
“Doesn’t anything take it down?” Kody mumbled to himself.
“Enough games!” Darkos spat. “Finish it, Sneasel!”
The strange Sneasel growled, then launched another attack. Just like before, it’s claws turned dark and it’s eyes glinted strangely. Unlike before, it didn’t miss the unsettled Charmander.
“No!” Kody shouted as Echo went down. “How? How did that...”
Darkos just laughed. “One left, Jacob! Go ahead! Make your move! It will be your last!”
“Those fire moves should have taken it down!” Kody yelled in frustration.
Darkos chuckled. “It will take more than fire moves to take down this fellow. He’s a very special type, you see.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe later,” Darkos smiled darkly, “I’ll show you.”
Kody was unsettled. How was it possible that the Sneasel took down two of his Pokémon, ones who had never lost before, and not even break a sweat? He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit.
Then the Sneasel began shrieking.
Kasandrah gasped.
“Can you see it now?” she whirled around to the others, eyes pleading.
“Kasandrah, I can’t see anything wrong with that Sneasel,” Amy sighed, getting agitated. “Stop it, you’re freaking me out!”
“How could you not see this?” Kasandrah turned back to the stage. Through her eyes, she could see what was happening to the Sneasel. The dark aura around the Sneasel turned reddish, fuming like dark thunder clouds. It’s behavior turned violent, and it began to screech on the top of its lungs to the point that everyone had to cover their ears in pain.
Kody covered his own ears as well. Why was the Sneasel acting so weird. He looked over at Darkos and was surprised to see that he looked worried. The Dark Trainer tried to yell at it, but his voice was lost in the intense pitch of the screech.
The Sneasel stopped screeching, however, and began to growl harshly. It looked around its surrounding, hungry for action. It needed a purpose, something to pummel or else it would go mad, or mad-der. There was no opponent Pokémon, unfortunately, but it’s eyes, fevered by the madness it was going through, rested on Kody.
Kody was horrified by what he saw in those eyes as he locked into them. Unlike normal Pokémon eyes, which were bright and alive with light, the Sneasel ‘s swirled with shadows of hate and darkness... and evil intent. Kody knew just what it was going to do, and was terrified by it.
“Aaaaa-aaaa-rrrrrrrr!” it cried, and ran towards the Trainer, claws turning black.
Kody stumbled back, legs failing to respond. He just couldn’t believe what was happening. A Pokémon was attacking him! A Trained Pokémon!
Finally he turned, but tripped over his long pant legs as he ran. He whirled back around as the Sneasel reached him. Time seem to slow down as the evil Sneasel raised it’s claws and brought them down. Kody only had time to lift his arms to shield his face. It stroke once, slicing down Kody ‘s arm, then again, cutting his shoulder. Kody cried out in pain, intense cold filling into his wounds and burned like frost-bite.
“Sneasel! Snap out of it!” Kody could hear Darkos shouting. The other Trainer ran over and tried to pull the Pokémon off of him.
“The Sneasel attacked the Trainer!” the announcer shouted incredulous. All through the audience echoed gasps and cries of dismay. An tense silence ensued as Medical personnel flooded out into the Coliseum and rushed to Kody ‘s side.
Kody was in intense pain. All that could be heard in the Coliseum were his groans and shouts. Just before he blacked out, he caught a glimpse of the Sneasel surrounded by a mysterious aura...
*****
There's Chapter One! I have Chapter Two, but i don't know if it is okay to double post here.
Quick Question: Is it okay to double post here?
Summery:
This is the story of a boy named Kody, who lives on the island paradise of Poketopia. But soon, the peaceful utopia is threatened by an ex-CIPHER group, Team PHEONIX, who have thier own plans for thier scientifically enhanced Pokemon. It is up to Kody to stop them, along side a Sinnoh Trainer and an Orre scientist. But will he rise up to the challenge? Or will the Shadows conquer all. It's an epic struggle for the future of the Pokemon world in this story.
Pokétopia: Rise of Team PHENYX
Ch. 1:
The match was a close one. The challenger had only one Pokémon left, while the opposing had two, though one, a Nuzleaf, was pretty banged up. That gave the challenger a little hope, but the opposing Breloom was fresh from the Pokéball. The crowd around the battle was going wild. The red corner was a very popular trainer, but the blue corner challenger was stronger than expected.
Holding his breath, the challenger sent out his last Pokémon. The crowd cheered even loader as the new contestant, a Charmeleon, reared it’s head and roared. The Breloom was a little intimidated by the fire-type, but put on a fighting face. The Charmeleon moved first, using a small Ember move on the Nuzleaf. That proved too much for the grass-type, and it fainted.
The Breloom moved next, charging towards the foe for a Headbutt Attack. Charmeleon was sent sprawling, but it quickly recovered. Annoyed, it Growled. The Breloom became uneasy, but went for a Mach Punch. Before that could land, the Charmeleon breathed out flames, creating a Fire Spin. The Breloom was sucked up by the fire tornado. It struggled against it, then using it’s powerful legs it pushed off the ground and jumped out of the weakening tornado.
It didn’t escape unscathed, however. Fire Spin had inflicted a burn on it. Wincing from the pain, the Breloom didn’t see Charmeleon prepare another attack. It used Flamethrower, toasting the unsuspecting mushroom black and causing it to faint.
The Challenger had won easily. The crowd cheered, chanting the red corner’s name over and over.
“Ko-dee! Ko-dee! Kod-”
“-ee! Kodee!” someone was shaking him awake. “Wake up, for Pete’s sake!”
Kody moaned, keeping his eyes sealed shut. Why would someone wake him up from such a wonderful dream?
“Kody,” the someone said annoyed. “Wake up or you’ll be fired!”
Kody jumped awake, looking around bewildered and confused. He was just at a coliseum. How did he end up in a store? His mother and boss stared angrily at him, then turned to a customer in front of the cash register.
“I apologize, ma’am,” she said, “what can I help you with?”
Kody yawned and stretched, his memory slowly coming back to him. He was at work in his mother’s souvenir shop. He was working the register today, yet the store wasn’t too busy, so he had sat down to rest a moment and apparently he had dozed off. He looked to the base of the chair where a small Pokémon was napping. Kody nudged the Riolu gently with his shoe. It slowly awoke, then looked up at Kody.
“Hey, Toru,” Kody said to it. “You were supposed to keep me awake.”
“Rrrrrrioyyychuuu!” Toru apologized.
Kody ’s mother, Sharon, finished helping the customer then turned back to scold her son.
“We may live in Poketopia,” she began, “but that doesn’t give you the right to stay up all night to watching or battling in the Coliseums. You have other responsibilities, such as school and work. That customer was standing there for five minutes trying to wake you up!”
“I’m sorry,” Kody began,” but the only Coliseums I can go to are at night. Sunny Park and the Waterfall and others are only open during the day when I have school or work.”
“Life doesn’t revolve around battling, Kody. Besides, there’s always the Sunset Col-,”
“I can’t use my own Pokémon there, though!”
“Listen: no more late-night battles from now on. And no more falling asleep at work, okay, hijo?”
“But-,”
“Ah! No buts about it. Now I need you to go in the back and bring out some more of these Pokétopia badges. They fly right off the shelves!” She handed him a slip of paper with numbers on it.
Kody gave up, knowing he had lost. Toru followed him into the back room where shipments of all kinds of souvenirs were stacked and stored until they were unpackaged and brought out front. Boxes stood upon boxes on strong shelving units that reached high to the ceiling.
“This isn’t fair!” Kody sighed. “‘No late-night battles’. What does she think I am, a toddler?”
“Rrrrroiyyyaaaahrrroi,” Toru said.
“Well, yes I did fall asleep,” Kody admitted sheepishly, “but that was a one time thing.”
“Rrrrrroiyyyyyah.”
“Okay, maybe I’ve fallen asleep once or twice...”
“Rrrrroiyyyyah...”
“Three or...”
“Rrrroiyahrrroi.”
“Five times is all... But I won’t do it again.”
“Rrrroichuuuuu Roiyyya.”
“You’re not helping...” Kody looked back at the slip that held random numbers. 775-038-946-26. It was more like an address telling him where the stocked item was in the back room. These particular items he was looking for was located at the far back wall close to the shipment doors. He looked back up to check where he was at now. 775-037-803-55, he needed to go farther back.
“This place gives me the creeps,” He shivered, walking on. It was always cold here, too, he might add.
“Rrrr-rrr,” Toru agreed, trilling his cry.
“I-,” Kody was about to say, but then there was a load crash nearby. Kody paused, more than a little startled, then ran off towards the source of the sound. Before he could turn the corner, a shadowy figure nearly balled him over. The intruder was as surprised as Kody was, but quickly recovered and pushed the boy aside, running for the emergency fire-exit.
“Hey! Stop right there!” Kody yelled after him. Or her. Whatever it was, it was getting away. Kody took off after it without much thought. Perhaps he should have looked for help, but Kody tended to take matters into his own matters.
The thief was quick. Kody had a hard time keeping up with him as they ran through a maze of storage units and boxes. All the time he couldn’t get a good look at the intruder: he was clothed in black, shadowed by a big hat, and the lighting there never was very good.
He rounded a corner just as the thief tipped over a large box of stuffed Pokémon. The toys went all over, burying Kody and Toru in their overflow. When they managed to dig their way out, there was no sign of the shadowy thief.
“Shoot!” Kody exclaimed. “Dang trickster! I almost had him.”
Toru popped his head out from the wreckage, knocking into an small object and sending it skidding across the floor where it bumped Kody ‘s shoe. He reached down and scooped it off the ground. It was an oval black badge with elongated ‘P’ and ‘H’ on it.
“Who was that anyway?”Kody stared off down the aisle.
#*****
“What?!” Sharon exclaimed when Kody explained what had happened and why he didn’t bring a box of badges with him.
“I tried to catch him, but then he did that trick...”
“What did he take? And what did he look like?”
“I couldn’t see that well,” Kody admitted.
Sharon sighed. “What a day! First, our last shipment didn’t make it and now this. I’d better send Charlie to clean up the mess and get your father. Watch the shop while I’m gone, but don’t doze off!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Kody saluted.
Sharon left Kody in the now empty shop. Business tended to slow down when schools across the world started, but Poketopia nevertheless was always busy. Just not the souvenir shops. Kody sat back and remembered how hard his family had worked to get where they were now. They had lived back in Johto when he was a toddler, then they moved to Hoenn, and now here. The Carter Family owned and worked many stores across those regions, but none where as successful as the Poketopia one. All of Kody ‘s brothers and sisters had worked here, and finally so does he, but he doesn’t necessarily enjoy it. What he really wants to do is move into a battling career. He wants to be a Coliseum Leader, or at least one of its trainers. Going into business had never interested him.
What he want above all is to defeat the Poketopia Master, win the crown, and become the Champion.
His mother, however, wants otherwise. She sometimes enjoyed watching battles, but she believed battling careers to be fruitless. Trainers, after all, made very little money and often went hungry. Sharon never wanted this for her children, so she discouraged them from becoming one of them. It had worked for her first three, then there was Erika. Erika was fascinated by Pokémon, as many are, and she longed to raise the best she could. She grew bored with her life, then ran off on a Trainer Journey when they were living in Johto. Word is that she’s a pretty powerful trainer now.
It was her and the battling utopia they lived in that inspired Kody. Now he wants to become a trainer, but his own mother stands in the way. She might have failed with Erika, but she was determined not to fail with Kody.
Kody sighed again, looking out the wide window opposite of him.
“Rrrrrrrigh?” Riolu cocked his head.
Kody looked back at the little guy. He had been a gift from his father to be his friend and guardian, to make sure Kody wouldn’t get into trouble. Kody had hatched it himself from a blue speckled egg, and had become quite close with him.
“I’m not going to fall asleep,” Kody assured him.
“Rrrrighkluuuuu,” Toru smiled.
Kody smiled back, then thoughtfully got into his black hip-bag, pulling out several Pokéballs. These were the party that he had earned and raised to a reasonable level. All were originally rentals but had been given to Kody for hard work and teamwork. He had a long way to go, he knew, but he had a great head start.
He singled them out: the first contained a Staravia he named Jack, who had great aerial attacks and speed. The next was a Luxio, named by the rental caretakers Sparx. Her Spark attack was very powerful, and had a special glow about her. Next to her gray Ultra-ball was a Bayleef named sheepishly Herbie, an excellent grass-type species. Next to his Green-colored Nest-ball, a Marshtomp who he named Skipper who loved to get dirty. The last was a Charmander who, for some reason, hasn’t evolved yet. His name was Echo, though Kody doesn’t know why.
All were good friends of his.
“One of these days,” he promised them. “We’ll amount to something great. Perhaps if we one day become Poketopia Champions, we’ll head for Hoenn or Sinnoh and challenge the League. Get out and see the world.”
“Rrrrigh?” Toru looked up at him.
“Of course you can come,” Kody smiled. “I couldn’t leave without you.”
“Rrrrrrrrigh-rrrroiy!” Toru cheered.
#*****
Kody ‘s father, Mark was agitated. He was in the security center trying to find out if the camera’s had caught any of the action in his store, but the security officers claimed that the cameras had been off-line.
“And why is that?” The large man tried to contain his anger. “Why was no one informed of this? Why weren’t there tighter security?”
“Sir,” one of the officers said, “we found the source of the problem minor. A Rattata had chewed through one of those circuits that fed through your cameras. We patched up the problem as soon as we could. They should be working properly.”
“Minor? Someone broke into my store and stole some merchandise while your stupid cameras were off-line!”
“Someone broke into your store?” Another said, astonished as if he had never heard it before.
“Why else do you think I would be here?”
The idiots looked at each other, confused. Had they gotten so comfortable in Pokétopia that they thought no crime would ever be committed?
One of the screens that showed what the security cameras were recording suddenly blacked out. The security officers jumped up, grabbing their gear, while one checked the computer carefully.
“It’s happening again,” he said. They were finally starting to be concerned.
“Mr. Carter,” the first officer said, “We will look into this as soon as we can. We’ll get someone to swing by and investigate the scene. But right now, our hands are tied.”
“What are you still here for?” Mark waved. He didn’t like this at all. His store getting robbed and the cameras blacking out seemed all too convenient to be a accident. Something was happening in Poketopia.
#*****
Sharon stormed back into the store, her face red with anger and effort.
“Mom!” Kody stood up from behind the front desk, “Any news?”
“Dad went and checked the security cameras,” she started, “but they said the cameras were off-line. Apparently, they thought it was too much effort to get off their butts and do something about it! Now they just say they’ll have someone swing by later to check it out! As if! If I could-,”
“The cameras weren’t working?” Kody interrupted before his mother could fume anymore.
“The officers said that a Rattata had chewed through the wiring. But I don’t thinks so. Camera’s gone off and a store gets robbed. Doesn’t sound right to me. Kody, we need to be more careful. From now on, you’re not allowed to go anywhere without permission or supervision.”
“WHAT?!”
“You heard me mister. We wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you, so until this situation clears up you’ll be watched.”
“But Mom, I can take care of myself just fine!”
“I’m sure you can, but just to be safe.”
“My Pokémon can-,”
“Kody, criminals don’t always play by the rules.”
“But-but-,”
“But nothing! No late nights, and no leaving without permission. That’s it. End of conversation.”
“Arrrrghhhhhhh!” Kody slumped back into his chair.
#*****
Soon night fell upon Pokétopia like a heavy blanket. The moonless skies shone bright above the island, alive with stars, although the bright lights of the utopia snuffed out their light. Some could say Pokétopia was as bright at night as it was at day, but most say the night brought out a new kind of energy for restless Trainers.
Within an minutes, the Gateway Coliseum would be open to challengers. All ready tickets were going fast and people were gathering within in huge packs starving for some action. Trainers were preparing their Pokémon for the battles ahead.
Kody could see it all from his high apartment window. His longing to be there drove him nuts! How unfair was this! He absolutely had no freedom!
His restlessness wrestled against him.
She had said no late night battles, but how would she know if he snuck away? Sharon was working late at the store anyway, double checking security and stock, and he was home alone. Almost alone.
Toru was sound asleep, though.
He could sneak back before anyone knew.
*****
The final boat of the day pulled into the dock. They had met some troublesome weather that had delayed them, but they made it. The new arrivals would at least be able to se the beauty of Pokétopia at night anyway. What better sight to see when first setting foot on the Island than that?
A bed, one guest would argue. That guest was Kasandrah Griffon, a trainer fresh from Sinnoh.
Don’t get her wrong, though. She was overjoyed to finally make it here, but the voyage had worn her out. Kassy had found out, however, that she could easily get sea-sick. When the rough weather kicked in, she didn’t have too much fun.
“Land!” She celebrated when she stood on firm land once again. Her friend Amy giggled.
“Isn’t it great?” she smiled. “Pokétopia at last!”
“Yeah, great,” Kassy said sarcastically, “now let’s find a hotel room. I’m bushed.”
“Wait! Don’t you want to look around?”
“Loved to, but if you haven’t forgotten, I’ve been losing my guts.”
“That’s a shame,” someone behind them said. They turned around to see one of the sailors carrying one of their luggage bags. Kassy had unwittingly left one behind on the boat.
“I believe this is yours,” he nodded to Kassy.
Kassy took it and simply nodded back.
“What makes you say that?” Amy asked, embarrassed by her friend’s lack of manners.
“Well, I saw her carry her bag-,”
“No, I mean, why is it a shame?”
“Oh, well, Pokétopia is a wonderful place at night, and the Gateway Coliseum is about to start. It’s a great show. You should at least go see it before turning in tonight. But, you know, it’s your choice,” the sailor shrugged. He turned and walked away saying, “Enjoy your stay.”
“What was that about?” Kassy frowned.
“What’s your problem! He was pretty cute, you know!” Amy scolded.
“Whatever.”
“I guess you’re a little grumpy from the trip,” Amy sighed.
“Which is why we should find the nearest hotel so I can get some rest!”
“Oh, but the Coliseum! Can we go? P-lllllleeeeaaaasssssse?” Amy begged, tugging her sleeve.
“Stop it!” Kassy snapped, picking up her bag and walked away.
“Please, Please, Please, PLEASE?” Amy pursued.
“Stop!”
“P-L-E-A-S-E?”
“Fine! All right. But tomorrow when I’m going to sleep in late I’d better not hear any complaining!”
“Yes! Trust me, you won’t regret it! Pokétopian battles are legendary!”
“They’d better be...,” Kassy grumbled, but inside she was just as excited as Amy was.
#*****
“I don’t like this,” Quintin, Kody ‘s buddy, yawned. “I don’t like this one bit.”
“What’s the big deal?” Kody replied, putting on his gear and disguise.
“Well, I’m pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that we’re disobeying our parents and sneaking into a Coliseum late at night without permission...”
“Relax, Quint,” Kody smiled. “No one is going to notice. There, how do I look?”
Quintin sighed for the umpteenth time that night. “It’s bad enough that you’re dragging me into this. Yeah, you look okay.”
“Nothing like my old self?”
“Sure.”
“Quint, I’m serious,” Kody stared hard back at him.
“I’m serious. We’re going to be in so much trouble!”
“How’s your thing coming along?”
“I’ve programmed you to be the fifth contestant,” Quintin answered, pointing to his laptop. “You’ll be up against some guy named... Darkos Willforce.”
“Ha! What a loser.”
“I’ve seen weirder. Anyway, he has a Ninjask, a Nuzleaf, a Mightyena, a Houndour, a Kadabra, and a Sneasel registered. All but two are dark-types. He favors using the Sneasel, for some reason. He gloats about it all the time.”
“So dark type, then,” Kody mused. Fighting types would be good to use, but I don’t have any of those. Jack would be good against two, Echo: 3, Skipper: 1. Herbie could hold out against a Mightyena and a Kadabra. Sparx ‘s could deal some damage, too...
“Your match will be in 20 minutes, dude,” Quintin said, breaking Kody ‘s thoughts.
“Okay. Thanks, Quintin. This means a lot to me.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t mention it,” Quintin closed his laptop, getting off the locker room bench. He nodded, “Good Luck,” then left Kody to prepare for the battle.
#*****
“Boy, how lucky were we,” Amy smiled, holding up two tickets. “We got the last ones!”
“All right!” Kasandrah cheered.
“Whoa, someone’s feeling better.” Amy pretended to be utterly shocked.
“Maybe I am,” Kasandrah frowned indignantly. “I’m not always grumpy, you know.”
“Just teasing. Come on! Let’s go!” Amy raced off with both tickets still in hand.
“Hey!” Kasandrah pursued her, pushing through a crowd of people to get into the Coliseum Viewing Building. Several times she almost lost sight of her impatient friend, but finally caught up with her at a ticket gate that led into the building.
“Hurry up, Slowpoke!” Amy waved.
“I’m coming all ready!”
“Tickets?” the ticket person asked blandly.
“Right here,” Amy presented the tickets.
The Ticket Person glanced at them, then waved to a Machop who hoisted up the gate. “Room number 13.”
“Wh-,” Kasandrah began to ask.
“Go to the right, up the stairs, and it’s the third room down.”
“O-K.... Thanks, I guess,” Kasandrah frowned. “Let’s go, Amy.”
They followed the man’s instructions and made it into their room. This box had a few rows of seats but none of them were occupied. Everyone was lined up against the window trying to see the battle that was just beginning. The two girls pushed their way up to the window to see the action.
The opponents were throwing out their first Pokémon. The Red Corner trainer, a little girl that looked younger that Amy, sent out a Pachirisu, while the Blue Corner, a teenage boy, sent out a Kricketune.
“Oh, I forgot to get a program list,” Amy sighed. “I wish I knew who was battling.”
“That’s simple,” A tall, dark-skinned girl with pink hair interrupted. She smiled at them and pointed to the teenager. “That’s Randy the Music Artist. He uses Song-making Pokémon like Kricketune, Chatot, Chingling, Chimecho, Loudred, Jigglypuff, etc.”
Then she pointed to the little girl:
“That’s Sophia the ‘Adorable’. She uses any cute Pokémon she can get.”
“Thank you,” Amy smiled.
“No problem.”
Now the Pokémon began to fight. The Pachirisu started with a blue Spark attack, racing towards the Kricketune and tackling it while sparking. The Kricketune raised its sword-like arms and braced itself against the attack. He thrust them out, knocking the little squirrel away. He swung them again, performing a False-swipe attack.
The brave Pachirisu was hurt, but picked itself back up, Growl-ing. It made the Kricketune uneasy, and caught off-guard it was hit by a Tail-Whip attack. Enraged, it struck back with Fury Cutter.
Now the Pachirisu was facing a little trouble, but it bounced back. Literally. It went for another Spark attack, jumping up into the air and landing it on the foe. Kricketune faced the trouble now.
Kricketune struck again with Fury Cutter.
Pachirisu went down, hit by an intense blow. A Critical Hit.
But it got back up!
Bruised and sore, the strong little squirrel went for another attack: Tackle.
Kricketune dodged it. It’s trainer shouted out a command: Sing! The insect raised it’s arm’s, crossing them as if they were a fiddle and began to play a song. Pachirisu never expected this. It watched amazed, lulled by the soothing music. It’s eyes became droopy, and soon it fell asleep.
There was a moan of dismay in throughout the audience. The poor Pachirisu had been a favorite of the crowd. To see it go down like this after hanging on like that...
The Kricketune stopped playing the music. It cried in victory as if it had all ready won. It gloated and cheered, holding off the final blow and taking in this moment of almost-victory.
It didn’t notice Pachirisu wake up. The trainer had supplied it with a special berry that prevented it from sleeping. Now, it snuck up behind its opponent, cheeks sparking, and unleashed a Thunder-shock.
Taken by complete surprise, the Kricketune couldn’t even react and inevitably fainted.
Pachirisu had won.
“Wow,” Kasandrah was impressed, “that was one tough Pachirisu.”
“Sophia’s pride and joy,” the pink-haired lady nodded.
Randy sent out his next Pokémon, a Loudred, as Sophia recalled her own. Concentrating hard, she decided on her next: a Beautifly. Then the next round began.
#*****
Kody was alone in the locker room, slipping his new fingerless-gloves on. so he thought.
“Pssst!” someone hissed at him.
Kody jumped. “Who’s there?”
“Shhh! Be quiet!” the voice hissed again. Kody looked around and saw a shadowy figure hiding in the dark corner of the room.
“Who are you?” Kody demanded, purposefully louder.
“I said SHUSH! Now, are you Jacob Bradley?”
“Yeah...,” Kody said carefully, remembering the fake name Quintin had given him for the match. “And, again, who are you?”
“You’re next opponent,” the stranger said simply.
Kody almost didn’t say anything, but quickly remembered that Trainers weren’t suppose to know who their up against. “How do-,”
“That’s not important right now,” Darkos replied quickly.
“What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see if you wanted to make our match a little more... interesting.”
Kody narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What do you mean?”
Darkos walked more into the light, revealing a smile on his lips. “Perhaps we could lay a few... bets?”
“Bets?” Kody frowned, liking the situation lesser by the second. “I don’t think so.” He began gathering his stuff up and packing it in his bag.
“Hold on, Growlithe,” Darkos moved forward to stop him.
“Not interested, dude,” Kody waved him off. “Hey!”
Darkos swooped up one of Kody ‘s Pokéballs. It was Herbie ’s.
“Give him back!” Kody reached out to snatch him back, but Darkos was very tall and easily kept it out of the boy’s reach.
“Ah, ah, ahh!” Darkos pulled on a sly face, teasing Kody ‘s reach. “Perhaps I’ll give it back if you listen to my proposition.”
Kody stopped bouncing and glared at him.
“Good. Here’s the deal: If I win our little match today...” he turned and sauntered towards the lockers, “...you will give me one of your Pokémon. One of my choosing. If you win, which I highly doubt that you will, I will give you an exclusive prize Pokémon, one that will be very powerful. Have we an accord?”
“What!? No way!”
Darkos tossed the ball up and caught it in his hand again, reminding Kody of his condition.
Kody gritted his teeth.
“Ha, ha, ha!” the evil man laughed. “You’re not afraid of losing, are you?”
“I’m not afraid of anything, especially your cruel taunts! I’ll take your bet, but you’re going to be sorry!” Kody seethed at the dark man.
Darkos smiled and held out Herbie ‘s ball. Kody snatched it out of his hand disgruntled and disgusted. He grabbed his things and left the locker room to the Dark Trainer.
“Win or lose,” Darkos said to himself once the boy disappeared, “I won’t be sorry, boy.”
*****
Kasandrah had enjoyed the first match. Even though Sophia won the first round with the Pachirisu, Randy beat her Beautify and Jigglypuff with the Loudred. Her weary Pachirisu took down the Loudred, but was too tired to fend off Randy’s Chatot. In the end, Randy had won.
“That was exciting!” Amy cheered. “Who’s up next?”
The pink haired girl smiled. “I think it’s Herb Girl Yasmine up against Metal Master Marshall.”
“What’s with the weird titles?” Kasandrah frowned.
The girl smiled wider sheepishly. “They can be a little eccentric, can’t they?”
“Ch-yeah,” Kasandrah agreed. The trainers left the stage now, and they now waited for the new combatants to emerge.
The pink haired lady turned to the girls, sparking up a conversation to pass the time.
“By the way,” she started, “my name is Roze. You guys must be new here.”
“Yeah, we’ve just arrived from Sinnoh,” Amy answered. “My name is Amy and this is Kassy.”
“Kasandrah,” Kasandrah corrected her friend.
“Nice to meet you guys. I’m from Hoenn. I got here maybe a few months back, looking for adventure. You like Pokétopia so far?”
“Yeah, sure do!” Amy cheered enthusiastically.
“I can’t wait to see more,” Kasandrah agreed.
“How about after the Coliseum’s done I show you around a bit?” Roze asked.
“That sound great!” Amy smiled. “Thanks!”
“Actually,” Kasandrah frowned. Amy slumped. Kasandrah ignored her and went on, “I am pretty bushed. I’d like to get some rest after this.”
“Oh, well I can escort you to the finest Hotel in Pokétopia. How’s that?”
Kasandrah thought on it, then nodded, “I could go for that.”
“Then tomorrow I can show you around,” Roze concluded.
“O.K.!” Amy nodded.
“Here they come!” Kasandrah pointed out the window.
#*****
Kody watched the next match with little interest. It wasn’t a particularly good match since the Herb Lady only had grass Pokémon to use against steel-type, which isn’t very effective. Yet that wasn’t why Kody was distant. He had a lot on his mind.
If I lose my match, he thought, then he’ll take one of my Pokémon. What was I thinking!? It wasn’t that he wanted the Pokémon Darkos offered him, it was the fact that he had called Kody a cowered that had fired his soul. The boy had a little too much pride, and was reckless, needless to say.
Calm down, he tried to relax, There’s no reason to worry because I won’t lose. I show that guy! I haven’t been defeated yet. In fact, two more wins and I can go up against the Coliseum Leader!
But there was always a first, his conscience would argue. Something about that Darkos wasn’t quite right.
Kody was roused out of his thoughts by a sudden cheer from the crowd. The Herb lady’s Breloom had the upper hand against the foe’s Lairon and just made it faint. The cheering, however, dropped when the Metal Master sent out a Skarmory. The Green Corner stood little chance now.
The Breloom looked like it wanted to turn and run, but after some encouragement from its trainer, it launched another attack: Mach Punch.
The move hit the Skarmory square in the chest, but it waved the assault off and Pecked back as if the foe was a mere tick. Peck was super-effective to the dual type Breloom, and sent it flying. Wincing, he stood back up and launched another attack: Sky-uppercut.
Again, no effect.
Breloom looked frustrated, and launched a series of attacks at the steel bird. None seemed to have any effect on the Skarmory. In fact, it yawned out of boredom.
Tired of the pesky foe, the Skarmory finally launched its own attack: Brave Bird.
The Breloom stood no chance. The incredible blow knocked it cold.
Metal Master Marshall won the match easily.
Kody was up next.
*****
“Good Evening, Pokétopians!” the announcer’s voice rang throughout the viewer boxes. Everyone stopped their conversations to cheer.
“The third match of the day is about to commence. Our contestants for this match: Novice Trainer Jacob Bradley versus Dark Trainer Darkos Willforce. The Fourth Match Contestants: Electric Expert Logan Davis against Pokéball Collector Ron Monroe! Here come the combatants now!”
“Oh,” Amy was surprised. “I didn’t know they did that.”
“You guys just missed the announcements before,” Roze explained.
Kasandrah ignored their conversation and watched as Jacob and Darkos entered the field. She noticed, even from her high spot, how darkly Jacob glared at Darkos, who avoided eye-contact and waved at the unseen fans as if he were a celebrity. She watched on, confused, as they stopped at their respected places on the stage. She, nor anyone else, could hear the short dialogue that went on between the two.
“Hope you’ve chosen wisely,” Darkos taunted, referring to the rule that Trainers could chose only 3 out of their 6 Pokémon. “You know what’s on the line.”
“You’re going to regret messing with me,” Kody growled.
Back up in the boxes, the announcer went on to explain:
“Jacob Bradley has quite a few considerable wins under his belt. In fact, he hasn’t lost a match yet, but will that change tonight when he battles Darkos Willforce? The Dark Trainer recently arrived here, but has climbed this far with ease. Whoever wins this match will go to the semi-finals tomorrow evening.”
Kody and Darkos could hear the announcer’s voice echoing down from the audience’s building. The Dark Trainer smirked.
“Sounds like we have plenty of pressure.”
“Shut-up! Let’s battle already!” Jacob/Kody pulled out his first ball.
“Such fire!” Darkos pulled out his own. “We’d be lucky if you joined us.”
“We?” Kody was caught off guard.
Darkos only smiled and released his first Pokémon. The Nuzleaf raised it’s woody fists and cried out to the crowd.
Kody got over his confusion and sent out his own. Jack stretched his wings and screeched. The first round was in his favor.
“The Pokémon appear!” called the announcer.
“Rock the Coliseum!” Kody encouraged his Staravia.
“This will be interesting,” Darkos smirked.
“From the Blue Corner,” the announcer went on, “Nuzleaf. From the Red Corner: Staravia. Red corner advantage.”
“Now the announcer talks,” Kasandrah rolled her eyes.
“This match is a big deal,” Roze explained. “Both Trainers shown huge talent, and one will go to the Semi-finals.”
“So I hear.”
“That’s a gorgeous Staravia,” Amy commented.
“I-,” Kasandrah began, but the announcer’s voice cut her off.
“The stage is set and the curtain is open, the Blue Corner attacks first.”
The Nuzleaf ran up to Jack and gave him a swift attack with Fake Out. It didn’t do much damage, but caused Jack to flinch. Nuzleaf took that opportunity to launch a Faint Attack. Jack shook it off.
“Focus, Jack!” Kody encouraged from the sidelines. “Counter with Fly!”
Jack screamed in agreement then took wing, swooping down at the Nuzleaf and grabbing it with his sharp talons. Nuzleaf struggled to get free, but Jack’s strong feet held him tight, and together they Flew higher and higher until they peaked the Coliseum. Then, Jack let go.
Darkos ‘s Nuzleaf fell to the ground from that high altitude, landing with a heavy thump. The powerful Flying move proved to much for the Nuzleaf. When the dust cleared, it revealed the Nuzleaf fainted.
“Wow!” the announcer said. “What a powerful move! The Nuzleaf stood no chance!”
Darkos growled as he recalled the KO’d Pokémon.
“Great job, Jack!” Kody cheered his Staravia. “Take that, Darkos!”
“Don’t get your hopes up yet!” Darkos snapped. “Go! Mightyena!”
The newly emerged wolf-like Pokémon Howled into the night air, Intimidating Jack.
“The Blue Corner sends out a Mightyena!” the announcer, of course, announced.
“Wow! A Mightyena,” Amy’s eyes grew wide. “I’ve never seen one before!”
“Hoenn native, that one is,” Roze said proudly.
“I wouldn’t mind having one of those,” Kasandrah added thoughtfully.
“Okay, Jack,” Kody coached back down on the battle field. “Focus. Use Wing Attack!”
The Bird Pokémon nodded, then took back to the air, flying full speed at the Mightyena, then whipped it with his wings. The Dark-type was knocked back, but it shook it off.
“Mightyena, Bite it back!” Darkos commanded.
The Mightyena obeyed without a second thought, racing towards the still flying Jack and launched, jaws wide open. The two fell to the ground, Jack pinned under the dog as it Bit down on it. Jack screamed, Pecking back at the foe until it got off of him. Sore but still full of fight, Jack took back to the air away from the foe’s reach.
“Doing good, Jack! Swoop down at it with Arial Ace!”
Jack followed Kody ‘s command, swooping down at the Mightyena, then arched back up into the air. He preformed a tail-feather turn and swooped back down at the Mightyena, inflicting harsh damage.
The foe growled, bruised and sore, but turned around to fight on.
“Take Down!” Darkos ordered.
His Pokémon growled then limped off towards Jack. It attempted to jump up at the flying bird, but just missed him.
“Fly!” Kody urged Jack, taking advantage of the slip-up.
Mightyena would be too heavy for Jack to Fly, so Jack needed a different Fly technique. He Flew up into the air as high as before, then aimed down at the opponent, tucking his wings against his body. He dived downward like a falling star, then at the last minute he whipped out his talons and dug them into the Mightyena.
It howled in pain.
“Taken down by an intense blow!” the announcer cheered when the Dark-type fainted. “Staravia is on a roll. The Blue Corner has only one more Pokémon left while the Red Corner has all three still in play. The match is reaching it’s final stage.”
“That is one tough Staravia,” Kasandrah admitted appraisingly.
“It’s never been knocked out,” Roze nodded. “It even lasted against a Rock-type Sudowoodo before. Poor Mightyena. Didn’t stand a chance, too.”
“This Jacob guy is on fire! Darkos is being whipped!” Amy said.
“He’ll probably win tonight,” Roze agreed.
“Scared, Darkos?” Kody was taunting now.
Darkos growled, “You haven’t seen anything, yet!”
Kody wasn’t swayed. What did he have to lose now? He’d win the bet easily, he figured. All worry had vanished and was replaced with cockiness. Jack was excited, too, despite his injuries. He might win the whole match single-handedly.
“See how you like this! Go, Sneasel!” Darkos threw his last Pokéball.
“The Blue Corner sends out his last Pokémon: a Ice/Dark-type Sneasel!”
The crowd cheered loudly. Everyone had heard of Darkos ‘s strong Sneasel, who, like Jack, has never lost a match. Everyone except Kasandrah and Amy.
Kasandrah, however, saw it for what it really was. Only she could see, when it screeched demonically and chillingly into the night, the horrific dark aura that surrounded it.
“What’s wrong with that Pokémon?!” She exclaimed.
“What do you mean?” Amy looked confused.
“That Sneasel! It looks weird!”
Amy frowned. “Looks like any other Sneasel to me.”
Kasandrah furrowed her eyebrows. “You seriously can’t see that?”
“No...,” Amy answered uncertainly.
Kasandrah frowned and turned to Roze. “Can’t you see that?”
“See what?” Roze quickly looked from Amy then met Kasandrah ’s eyes.
“That Sneasel! Doesn’t it look odd to you? There’s a creepy dark cloud around it.”
“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” Roze frowned, too.
Kasandrah furrowed her eyebrows and looked away from her companions back to the shadowy Sneasel. “Why can’t they see it?” she whispered to herself, “Why can I see it?”
#*****
“Okay, Jack,” Kody yelled to his Pokémon, “let’s finish this match! Strike it down with Air Cutter!”
“Sneasel, use Secret Move #9!” Darkos commanded his.
“‘Secret Move #9?” Kody said confused.
The Sneasel hissed and shrilled, then emitted a black-colored Ice Beam that looked more than unnatural. It propelled through the air and hit Jack square on the back before he could dodge it.
“What was that?!” the announcer hollered, echoing the audiences’ own comments. “Folks, I’ve never seen the like; but it was sure powerful! The Staravia is down!”
Jack fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Kody watched with horror, making no move to recall the fainted Pokémon.
“What’s the matter, Jacob?” Darkos taunted. “Your little song-bird’s done for!”
Kody glowered, “You’ll pay for that! Go, Echo!”
Echo the Charmander ‘charped’ with delight, anticipating the battle. In his excitement, he opened his maw and breathed a Flamethrower towards the sky.
“Okay, Echo! Stop showing off, silly lizard! Attack with Flame Wheel!”
“Char!” Echo agreed, then began to whirl around in circles. The flame on his tail formed a ring of fire around him as he spun like a top towards the foe. The Sneasel was consumed by the fire, but when the smoke and fire cleared, the Sneasel was still standing.
“What?” Kody exclaimed bewildered.
“Sneasel,” Darkos called to the Pokémon, “strike back with Shadow Slash!”
“Shadow Slash?” Kody was confused.
“Shoot!” Darkos slammed the heel of his hand on his forehead. “Did I say that out loud?”
The Sneasel, nonetheless, attack with the mysterious Shadow Slash. It’s long white claws turned a purple-blackish color, then those claws struck out at Echo.
“Echo! Look out!” Kody yelled.
Echo didn’t need to be told twice; he was high-tailing it out of there, yelping in fright. Unfortunately, the Sneasel was faster. Fortunately, the attack missed.
Kody exhaled with relief, as did his Charmander. Darkos snarled and scolded his Sneasel, which Kody took the time to launch another attack.
“Echo, Flamethrower!”
Echo inhaled, then let loose a stream of intense fire.
“Sneasel, Double Team stat!”
Sneasel hissed and grudgingly obeyed his master. It moved so fast that there appeared to be several of it all around Echo at one time. Echo put an end to his Flamethrower and looked uneasily at the Sneasels that surrounded him.
“Careful, Echo,” Kody encouraged him. “Torch it if you can!”
Echo nodded, then began to breathe embers from his snout, twirling around and around until he created a Fire Spin. It expanded and twirled like a mini tornado, and overlapping the line of Sneasels that had surrounded him. There was no chance the Sneasel could dodge it!
Finally, Echo stopped Spinning. The embers sputtered out and the stage cleared, but it only revealed that the Sneasel hadn’t fainted yet. The foe shook it’s head and hissed at the little Charmander.
“Doesn’t anything take it down?” Kody mumbled to himself.
“Enough games!” Darkos spat. “Finish it, Sneasel!”
The strange Sneasel growled, then launched another attack. Just like before, it’s claws turned dark and it’s eyes glinted strangely. Unlike before, it didn’t miss the unsettled Charmander.
“No!” Kody shouted as Echo went down. “How? How did that...”
Darkos just laughed. “One left, Jacob! Go ahead! Make your move! It will be your last!”
“Those fire moves should have taken it down!” Kody yelled in frustration.
Darkos chuckled. “It will take more than fire moves to take down this fellow. He’s a very special type, you see.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe later,” Darkos smiled darkly, “I’ll show you.”
Kody was unsettled. How was it possible that the Sneasel took down two of his Pokémon, ones who had never lost before, and not even break a sweat? He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit.
Then the Sneasel began shrieking.
Kasandrah gasped.
“Can you see it now?” she whirled around to the others, eyes pleading.
“Kasandrah, I can’t see anything wrong with that Sneasel,” Amy sighed, getting agitated. “Stop it, you’re freaking me out!”
“How could you not see this?” Kasandrah turned back to the stage. Through her eyes, she could see what was happening to the Sneasel. The dark aura around the Sneasel turned reddish, fuming like dark thunder clouds. It’s behavior turned violent, and it began to screech on the top of its lungs to the point that everyone had to cover their ears in pain.
Kody covered his own ears as well. Why was the Sneasel acting so weird. He looked over at Darkos and was surprised to see that he looked worried. The Dark Trainer tried to yell at it, but his voice was lost in the intense pitch of the screech.
The Sneasel stopped screeching, however, and began to growl harshly. It looked around its surrounding, hungry for action. It needed a purpose, something to pummel or else it would go mad, or mad-der. There was no opponent Pokémon, unfortunately, but it’s eyes, fevered by the madness it was going through, rested on Kody.
Kody was horrified by what he saw in those eyes as he locked into them. Unlike normal Pokémon eyes, which were bright and alive with light, the Sneasel ‘s swirled with shadows of hate and darkness... and evil intent. Kody knew just what it was going to do, and was terrified by it.
“Aaaaa-aaaa-rrrrrrrr!” it cried, and ran towards the Trainer, claws turning black.
Kody stumbled back, legs failing to respond. He just couldn’t believe what was happening. A Pokémon was attacking him! A Trained Pokémon!
Finally he turned, but tripped over his long pant legs as he ran. He whirled back around as the Sneasel reached him. Time seem to slow down as the evil Sneasel raised it’s claws and brought them down. Kody only had time to lift his arms to shield his face. It stroke once, slicing down Kody ‘s arm, then again, cutting his shoulder. Kody cried out in pain, intense cold filling into his wounds and burned like frost-bite.
“Sneasel! Snap out of it!” Kody could hear Darkos shouting. The other Trainer ran over and tried to pull the Pokémon off of him.
“The Sneasel attacked the Trainer!” the announcer shouted incredulous. All through the audience echoed gasps and cries of dismay. An tense silence ensued as Medical personnel flooded out into the Coliseum and rushed to Kody ‘s side.
Kody was in intense pain. All that could be heard in the Coliseum were his groans and shouts. Just before he blacked out, he caught a glimpse of the Sneasel surrounded by a mysterious aura...
*****
There's Chapter One! I have Chapter Two, but i don't know if it is okay to double post here.
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