บท 74: Ace vs Gary
"This battle will be between Gary Oak and Ace Ketchum. It will be a six on six match, with no time limit. Substitutions will be allowed. Battlers ready?" Nurse Joy asked after outlining the rules of our match.
Gary and I, each standing on either side of the same arena I'd been using for a training ground, nodded to affirm our readiness after I'd finished swapping out some of my Pokemon for some that weren't as tired.
"Begin!"
""Go-!""
"Aerodactyl!"
"Lickitung!"
"SCREAAAAAAA!"
"TUNG!"
"Wait Lickitung-!"
I cried out as my Lickitung immediately turned towards me after I released it, before running its massive tongue up my face to show its slobbery affection.
"Pft! What a Pokemon!" Gary snickered in amusement.
"Yeah yeah, yuck it up Larry." I told him with a dry tone while wiping the slobber from my face. But even as I did that...
"Lickitung, use Lick!" I ordered it suddenly, as the match had started the moment we'd thrown our Pokemon out.
"Ah! Dodge it Aerodactyl!" Gary quickly ordered as Lickitung stretched its impossibly long tongue at its opponent.
With another screech Aerodactyl began an acrobatics display in the air as it tries to dodge the tongue that whipped around in an attempt to lick it.
"Now rush in with a Wing Attack!" Gary ordered, to which Aerodactyl growled in affirmation as it began to dive right at Lickitung.
As it did so, Aerodactyl's wings began to glow with flying type energy as it honed in on its target. But that also eliminated its window for evasion.
"Now Lickitung!" I cried out when the Aerodactyl was close enough, prompting Lickitung to whip its tongue at the fossil Pokemon.
The result was Aerodactyl getting a prolonged and VERY slobbery lick right across the face, which completely destroyed its focus. Now Aerodactyl lost control over its dive as its entire body seized in disgust from the lick, inflicting a paralysis-like state upon it that caused it to crash into the ground beside Lickitung.
"Aerodactyl!" Gary cried out.
"Now Lickitung! Use Wrap before it recovers!" I commanded hurriedly.
"Licky!" Lickitung declared as it stretched its tongue yet again before wrapping it several times around Aerodactyl, pinning its wings to its body in the process.
"Now raise it up, and Slam it into the ground!"
Though it has to strain to lift the weight of Aerodactyl, Lickitung did as I commanded as it raised Aerodactyl up into the air about ten feet. Then, it stopped supporting Aerodactyl's weight to allow it to fall, while also adding its own force behind the drop.
"!!!"
*SLAM!*
Gary flinched noticeably as Aerodactyl was slammed headfirst into the arena floor, before Lickitung raised it back up and did it again.
"Damn it! Get out of there Aerodactyl!" Gary cried with increasing urgency. "Bite it!"
"Lickitung-" I tried to warn it, but was too late as Aerodactyl readily used Bite on the part of Lickitung's tongue that was closest to its jaw.
"!!!"
"TUUUUUUUNG!" Lickitung cried out in pain as it immediately dropped Aerodactyl, and retracted its quickly swelling tongue.
Still dazed from the licking and slam it had received, Aerodactyl landed roughly on the ground after Lickitung dropped it, and had yet to orient itself enough to be able to fly. But that didn't matter.
"Quick Aerodactyl, use Flamethrower!" Gary ordered hurriedly.
"Lickitung, Rollout!" I commanded right after him.
"Screaaa!"
"Licky!"
Both of our Pokemon cried out in response as we approached what we knew to be this match's climax, with Aerodactyl expelling a gout of flames from its mouth, while Lickitung curled into a ball and rolled right at it.
I watched as Lickitung charged right into the path of the flames as they licked and burned its body, but it continued rolling despite the damage it was taking to slam into Aerodactyl without any mercy.
"Again!"
*Slam!*
"Again!"
*Slam!*
"Again!"
*Slam!*
Over and over Lickitung hit Aerodactyl with Rollout, battering it again and again until finally Aerodactyl couldn't take any more, and collapsed.
"Aerodactyl is unable to battle. Lickitung wins!" Nurse Joy declared to end the match.
""YAY! Ace, Ace, he's the one! He and Lickitung really won!"" Came a cheer that directed everyone's attention to May and Dawn behind me, who had both dressed in their cheer outfits and were cheering me and Pokemon on alongside Piplup and Combusken.
Incidentally, Dawn told me she also ordered an outfit for Joy, but it was still a few days out.
What most people were looking at though was the two men who were waving a giant flag with my name on it on the sidelines, along with their Pokemon.
"That's our master!"
"Show that punk who's boss!"
"Lee!
"Chan!"
"Where did they even get that?" I uttered to myself questioningly as I looked at the flag.
I turned my attention back to the arena to see Lickitung happily trotting back over to me after winning its match, though there were numerous burn spots on its body, and its tongue was swelling after Aerodactyl bit it earlier. I'm pretty sure that was the only reason it wasn't slobbering all over my face right now.
"You did really well Lickitung. Go and see Joy about treating your burns and tongue." I told it encouragingly.
"Licky!" Lickitung declared happily, before trotting over to Joy as I said to get treated.
That granted me a look from the Nurse Joy officiating our match, but I just nodded slowly in affirmation to her to show I knew what she was thinking.
Unlike the games medicinal items and medical treatment in the middle of battle wasn't allowed, so by treating Lickitung I was forfeiting further participation from it. That was ok though since the burns on its body and the bite on its tongue basically rendered it unable to fight anyways, so there was no reason to keep it from getting treatment right now anyways.
Instead, I grabbed my next Pokeball while Gary returned his Aerodactyl and did the same.
"Go, Meowth!"
"Go Raticate!"
At the exact same moment we threw out our next Pokemon, which appeared in the arena opposite each other as they flexed and prepared for battle.
"A Raticate? That doesn't seem like the kind of Pokemon Gary would use." May uttered confusedly.
"I know. I thought he'd use something more 'flashy' or 'cool'." Dawn said in agreement.
"Humph! Don't underestimate my Raticate! It's the first Pokemon I caught, so I've had plenty of time to turn it into a real monster like my starter!" Gary boasted confidently.
"We all get the point, Mary." I said with a smirk, making Gary grit his teeth in annoyance as I got his name wrong, AGAIN.
"We'll see if you can keep mocking me, Ace the Waste. Raticate, Agility and Double Team!"
"Raticate!"
Fake Out!
"Meow!"
"!!!"
Reacting through my aura in response to Raticate's speed and the numerous illusionary copies that appeared, Meowth pinpointed the real Raticate and appeared right in front of it, before slapping his paws together to psych it out.
"Shake it off Raticate!"
"Keep it up Meowth! Fury Swipes!"
With Gary and I both giving our orders, Raticate tried to shake off flinching from the Fake Out, while Meowth flexed his claws to swipe at Raticate repeatedly.
"Hyper Fang Raticate!" Garry commanded urgently as his Pokemon became under attack.
"Cate!"
With its front teeth glowing eerily, Raticate quickly swung around at Meowth with its mouth open, and bit down onto Meowth.
"MEOW!"
Meowth screamed in pain as he was crushed by the powerful incisors, which prevented him from being able to escape.
"Pay day!" I ordered urgently.
"M-Meowth!"
Declaring such, Meowth hurled a mass of coins at Raticate from point blank, surprising it enough that it's hold on Meowth loosened, and he could get away. But Raticate wasn't going to take that lying down.
"Finish this Raticate." Gary ordered, as it was obvious Meowth took a lot of damage in that last attack.
"Raticate!"
"Look out Meowth!" I cautioned him, but it was no use as Raticate shot forward faster than Meowth could react.
"Cate! Cate! Cate! Cate! Cate! Cate! RATICATE!" With a flurry of Quick Attacks, Raticate pummeled Meowth before dealing one last attack that sent him crashing to the ground.
"Meowth is unable to battle! Raticate wins!" Nurse Joy declared.
"""Raticate Raticate, he's so great! Your defeat was only fate!"""
The cheerleaders on Gary's side chanted excitedly while swinging their pompoms around, to which I could practically feel May and Dawn glaring at them from behind me.
"Meowth, return." I said while recalling him to his Pokeball. "You did well Meowth." I told him in a comforting tone, before placing him back on my belt.
Now I was down two while Gary was only one, but that was ok since I didn't doubt my next Pokemon would be able to deal with Raticate, while also unsettling Gary quite a bit as well.
"Go Pokeball!" I cried while throwing them out, and as my next Pokemon appeared in the arena Gary was visibly shaken to his core.
"Gary, I'd like to introduce you to the first Pokemon I caught, Wartortle." I said with a smirk.
"WARTORTLE!" Wartortle cried out challengingly as he focused on Raticate, who he stood twice as tall as.
"Where did you get THAT!?!" Gary demanded angrily.
"Secret~." I replied in a singsong voice, making him even angrier.
"Raticate, knock that second-rate Wartortle down a peg!" Gary immediately ordered.
"Raticate!"
"Wartortle, Protect."
"War!"
As he said that, Wartortle created a wall of light between himself and Raticate right as the overgrown rat was about to hit him, but it only glanced off the shield instead.
"Now Water Gun." I ordered calmly, before Wartortle did just that as he blasted Raticate back from the force.
"Finish it with a Skull Bash!" I declared as Raticate tumbled, leaving an opening.
"Wartortle!"
With a cry, Wartortle began to literally fly forward at a rapidly increasing pace.
"Damn it! Get up Raticate!" Gary was urgently ordering his Pokemon, but Raticate was too waterlogged to put its speed to use.
*CRASH!*
With an impact that everyone in the arena heard, Wartortle smashed his head into Raticate with enough force that the soggy rat was sent rolling back, and came to a stop at Gary's feet.
"Raticate is unable to battle, Wartortle wins!" Nurse Joy stated.
"Good job buddy." I praised Wartortle once his win was announced.
"War!" He gleefully cried out, before performing his bully Maguire dance for everyone.
Meanwhile I saw Gary was gritting his teeth as he recalled Raticate, and glared at my Wartortle reproachfully. I couldn't blame him though, as I was pretty sure my Wartortle inherited his father's alpha genes, which was why he was already so big.
Typical Wartortle only got to be about three feet tall, and mine was rapidly approaching four without showing any signs of his growth slowing.
"You ready for the next round?" I asked him while the girls did another cheer behind us.
"Tor!" Wartortle declared as he turned to face the arena.
"Humph! You may have gotten yourself a good Pokemon, Ace the waste, but it doesn't mean much if the trainer isn't good as well. Go, Abra!" Gary declared while sending his next Pokemon out.
I narrowed my eyes as I looked over the Abra in question, which hovered in place while staring down Wartortle. Something told me this Abra wasn't as weak as the one Zubat faced the other day...
"Get ready Wartortle." I warned him as we both prepared for the match, and Gary smirked in excitement.
The next thing I knew the Abra had disappeared from its place with Teleport, and reappeared behind Wartortle.
"Behind you!" I tried to warn Wartortle, but it was in vain as the Abra delivered a powerful Thunder Punch to him.
"War!" Wartortle cried out in pain and surprise from the attack, but that didn't stop him from trying to get the Abra back. Unfortunately, it used Teleport again to escape right before Wartortle used Bite on it.
I watched as the Abra appeared right behind Wartortle yet again as he tried to retaliate, and deliver yet another Thunder Punch to his blind side that sent him reeling. The entire time, I watched Gary's smile widen behind them.
"So that's it..." I uttered as I realized what was going on.
If my guess was right, Gary was having Abra read his mind so he wouldn't have to vocalize his commands, similar to what I typically did with my aura. But, this was Gary 'Motherfucking' Oak we were talking about here.
That Abra was giving off a much stronger aura than any other Abra I'd seen before, plus it was using mainly physical attacks so far, meaning that Gary more than likely spent a small fortune turning it into a monster to make up for Abra typically being fairly weak until they evolved.
"Alright then..." I muttered to myself as Wartortle took ANOTHER Thunder Punch from the Abra. Thankfully they weren't that strong physically, even if numerous drugs and items were used to make them able to fight.
I closed my eyes and focused my aura while also channeling calming energy to Wartortle so we could deal with the situation.
Through my aura I sensed Wartortle before me surrounded by a large wall of energy, which was the spectators of the battle. However the space within that wall was completely empty aside from Wartortle as Abra vanished yet again. But as we waited, I sensed an aura fluctuate behind Wartortle's right arm.
There!
"WAR!"
With a cry Wartortle swung around right as Abra appeared in the spot I directed him to, swinging his tail right at it while also channeling water type energy into it to use Aqua Tail.
"Abra!" Gary cried out involuntarily as his Abra fell to the ground.
"Now Wartortle, Rapid Spin!" I cried out before Abra could recover.
"TORTLE!"
With a cry Wartortle retracted his arms, legs, head and tail into his shell before he began to spin while flying right at Abra.
*BAM!*
*BAM!*
*BAM!*
Over and over Wartortle hammered Abra with his shell, refusing to let up and give Abra the chance to use Teleport again. Until finally, Abra collapsed to the ground.
"Abra is unable to battle, Wartortle wins!" Nurse Joy stated as she called the match.
"Damn it!" Gary swore at his third defeat, though anything else he might've said after that was drowned out by the girls cheering behind me.
"That was excellent Wartortle." I told him in praise, to which Wartortle proceeded to do his victory dance yet gain.
"Go ahead and take a rest for now, I'll call you out again if I need to." I said while returning him to his Pokeball. Though I knew he'd say he had another round or two in him, I also knew that Wartortle took quite a bit of damage from those Thunder Punches.
It was better to let him rest for right now in case I needed him again later.
For the next match though...
I considered which one amongst my Pokemon I wanted to use, before deciding on one as Gary held up his next one as well.
""Go-!""
"Growlithe!"
"Cranidos!"
"Growl!"
"Dos!"
Both of our Pokemon growled as they appeared opposite each other, while also readying themselves for the coming battle.
"Growlithe, Flame Wheel!" Gary commanded immediately.
"Growl!" It responded while flames gathered in its mouth, before it curled into a ball and rolled forward at Cranidos.
"Brace yourself." I told him calmly, as Cranidos lowered his head at the incoming Growlithe.
"Now!"
"Dos!"
With a cry, Cranidos swung his head at Growlithe before it could hit him, sending it flying from the force while its flames did absolutely nothing to his head.
"Growl!" Growlithe exclaimed from surprise as it landed in a heap on the ground.
"Now charge!" I commanded as Cranidos charged at his top speed right at Growlithe, his head lowered for a devastating Headbutt.
"Get out of there Growlithe!" Gary ordered quickly, prompting Growlithe to quickly jump out of the way.
"Now Howl, and then a Flamethrower!" Gary commanded.
"Grooooooooooooowl!" Growlithe responded with a cry that echoed throughout the Pokemon center, bolstering its strength and power before expelling a mass of flames from its mouth.
"Charge through them Cranidos." I ordered him, and my Pokemon didn't hesitate.
Though a steady stream of fire was coming right at him, Cranidos took it head on as he continued his charge at Growlithe, scaring the fire type as its flames began to falter.
*BAM!*
With a hit that made everyone flinch, Growlithe was sent flying yet again as Cranidos delivered a powerful Headbutt. But this time it didn't get up.
"Growlithe is unable to battle. Cranidos wins!" Nurse Joy declared. And while I felt good winning another round, the situation became slightly awkward when Growlithe remained unconscious.
"If you wish, I can take your Growlithe for immediate attention." Another Nurse Joy said to Gary when it was apparent it was hurt.
"Thank you." Gary told her gratefully before they took it away.
While I did feel a little awkward about how hurt Growlithe was from Cranidos' head, I didn't offer an apology or anything in this situation. A Pokemon getting hurt was always a possibility during a battle, and even worse situations could lead to a death.
And while I would normally apologize or something in this situation, the other party was Gary. And I knew Gary would be pissed more than anything at receiving an apology from ME.
So instead I remained silent while recalling Cranidos to my side, since I didn't intend to use him this time. Gary had only two Pokemon left, and either one of them could be his own Wartortle. And I had no doubt that thing was even more monstrous than his Abra.
So, with Cranidos being a rock type that was weak to water types, I wasn't going to leave him in only to immediately get his ass kicked.
Instead, I selected the fifth Pokeball from my belt to give him a chance against Gary's starter before using my secret weapon, Parasect.
"You ready for this buddy?" I whispered to the Pokeball, which shook in my hand eagerly.
"Go, Weepinbell!" Gary cried out as I was preparing to send him out.
"Well, this round will be easier than thought!" I exclaimed out loud, much to Gary's chagrin.
"Go, Charmeleon!"
"Charrrrr!" Charmeleon growled as he made his appearance, and every single eye focused on him.
"That's a Charmeleon!?!"
"It's so beautiful!"
"Why does it look like that???"
Immediately the arena erupted in a storm of muttering and exclamations as Charmeleon made his first ever public appearance. And instead of being nervous, he began to flex his claws for them all to see.
"What is that!?!" Gary demanded angrily.
"My starter of course!" I told him cockily, to which Gary gritted his teeth yet again. Poor guy might need dentures by the time he's twenty at this rate.
"Just what I'd expect from a cheater though!" Gary snarled, before ordering, "Weepinbell, Stun Spore! Then Wrap!"
Charmeleon didn't even appeared worried as the cloud of spores rained down towards him, to which he blew out some 'light' flames that roasted all of the spores like he'd learned under Mt. Moon.
And when numerous vines shot out from Weepinbell to Wrap around Charmeleon's body, he didn't even flinch. Instead, my starter grabbed several of the vines with a sinister smirk and yanked on them suddenly.
All of a sudden Weepinbell was flying right at Charmeleon as the latter held up his other claw, which he had clenched into a fist that was clad in flames.
Fire Punch.
And that was all she wrote.
In an instant Weepinbell was knocked out from the intense power of Charmeleon's flames, which were far stronger now than they had been back when he first evolved to fight the Parasect.
"Weepinbell is unable to battle! Charmeleon wins!" Nurse Joy declared.
"Man, it's not only unique, but it's strong too!"
"How did he get it to listen to him?"
"I don't know man... My own Charmeleon has been pretty moody towards me lately..."
Again there was numerous mutterings about the strength of my Charmeleon, which made him puff out his chest with pride from the result of his first battle.
"Don't get cocky." I told him wryly, but Charmeleon just looked back at me with a smirk.
I shook my head at his attitude while Gary returned his defeated Weepinbell to its Pokeball, his hand shaking the entire time. I could only imagine what the thoughts going through his head were right now, and he hadn't even seen the rest of the powerhouses I had on my team, like Grovyle, Parasect, Exeggutor, Pidgeot, and of course, Lucario after he had evolved.
And my team would only grow stronger once I trained up and evolved my new Pokemon, on top of the Dratini egg I received from Dragonite, and the other Pokemon I would receive from Brock any day now once it was ready.
"Let's go Sherry, one last Pokemon." I told Gary tauntingly, but he was so shaken by the strength of Charmeleon that he hadn't even responded to me getting his name wrong...again.
But after breathing for a few seconds, Gary regained his focus as he looked at me and held up his last Pokeball.
"This may be my last, Ace the Waste, but that doesn't mean this battle is over." Gary stated firmly, before throwing it out.
"Go, WARTORTLE!"
"TORTLE!"
What appeared was a Wartortle that, while not as tall as mine, definitely possessed a stronger and more intense aura to it. As I thought, Gary was definitely pumping his team full of drugs.
Though the drugs themselves weren't bad for Pokemon, or illegal, I personally preferred actual gains over artificial ones.
Time to see which was better.
"Charmeleon, Smokescreen."
"Charrrrrrr." With a low growl, Charmeleon opened his mouth to exhale a cloud of thick smoke that obscured the entire arena.
"What the-?" Gary exclaimed as it became impossible for anyone to tell what was going on there anymore. Impossible for everyone but me.
"Charmeleon, there." I ordered while pinpointing exactly where Wartortle was through its aura, which Charmeleon could sense as well as he shot forward.
"Wartortle, Withdraw!" Gary quickly ordered as Charmeleon delivered a powerful Slash attack to Wartortle, sending it skittering across the arena.
"Now make it rain!"
I cocked a brow at Gary's command, since it sounded like he told Wartortle to use Rain Dance, but in reality his Wartortle began spraying water from all the holes in its shell.
"Ahhh... That one." I muttered as I realized what Gary was doing. If you can't see your opponent, then just attack everywhere at once.
"Not bad, but it's not enough for you. Right, Charmeleon?" I asked my starter.
Rather than verbally respond, Charmeleon responded by exhaling a blast of draconic energy in the form of a Dragon Breath, which bombarded the spinning Wartortle without mercy.
"WAAAAAAAR!" Came a cry from within the Smokescreen.
"Wartortle!" Gary cried out urgently. "Use Surf!"
"!!!"
Both Charmeleon and I were alarmed when we heard that, before the arena was suddenly filled with a flood of water.
"Try to jump above it Charmeleon!" I ordered him, to which we all saw Charmeleon leap up and out of the Smokescreen.
"There he is! Wartortle, use Hydro Pump!" Gary quickly ordered, before a powerful blast of water came out of the smoke to hit Charmeleon.
"Charmeleon!" I exclaimed worriedly. He may have trained to resist water, but he had JUST started his training, and I doubt such training would help against a Hydro Pump to begin with.
I watched as he fell back down into the cloud of smoke, his aura greatly diminished from the damage he took from that attack.
But Charmeleon wasn't the only one hurting, as I could tell that Wartortle was struggling to move after the earlier Dragon Breath, which must've paralyzed it.
"Just a bit more Charmeleon, and it's your win!" I said to try and get him to get up.
The good thing about him being back down in the smoke was that it meant Wartortle couldn't locate him anymore, so Charmeleon was able to slowly rise to his feet without any problems.
"Stay on your guard Wartortle!" Gary ordered it on the other side.
I remained silent though while waiting for Charmeleon to get steady on his feet, and when he finally did I stated firmly, "let's end this Charmeleon. Flamethrower!"
"CHAR!" Charmeleon roared as his aura spiked up just ever so slightly, and flames gathered in his mouth.
"There it is Wartortle! Quick, use your strongest Water Gun on that light, NOW!" Gary ordered urgently.
"War!"
At the exact same time our Pokemon unleashed their last attacks at one another, while both were completely exhausted, Charmeleon from taking that Hydro Pump, and I was willing to bet that Wartortle was from using it and Surf. I bet it was only able to use it that one time, which would also explain why it was only using Water Gun right now.
*PSSSSSSSSSSSSSH!!!*
There was an explosion of team in the middle of the arena that blew away the smoke as the Flamethrower and Water Gun connected with one another, making everyone who was watching try to shield themselves as the hot steam hit them.
But no one tried to get out of the arena to escape it. None of them could as the match grew more intense by the second, and Charmeleon and Wartortle tried to over power the other.
"Come on..." I muttered under my breath as Charmeleon struggled to keep up with Wartortle.
But slowly and surely, the Water Gun started pushing back the Flamethrower as Charmeleon started running out of energy to fight. And then all at once, his Flamethrower went out and the Water Gun hit him to send him crashing to the ground.
"Charmeleon is unable to battle. Wartortle wins!" Nurse Joy declared.
For a moment there was silence as everyone registered what just happened, before there was a deafening cheer as they all applauded such an outstanding match.
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