NOVEL WEB Chapter 19 - Skittering Showdown
Chapter 19 – Skittering Showdown
“Okay Rena just like we discussed; watch out for its acid attacks, if you can dodge that and keep your distance we should be golden.”
I pulled out my Pokédex to see if the gadget had anything more to add.
Shelmet, the Snail Pokémon. Shelmet can spit a sticky poisonous acid when attacking, and it can defend itself by closing its shell. It has a strange physiology that responds to electricity. When together with Karrablast, Shelmet evolves for some reason.
“Acid!”
“Sunny day!”
Luckily me and Rena already walked through this scenario before entering this battle. Knowing that Shelmet had little mobility and mainly relied on its spit attacks. If Rena kept her guard up and didn’t engage in close quarters action the odds of her getting hit would be minimal.
Shelmet expelled its acid attack, rancid orange goo flew in a straight line towards Rena. Missing her by a hair’s breadth, thanks to her expert dodging. Rena took this chance to intensify the sunlight coming in from the glass ceiling up above us. The battlefield became nice and toasty.
“Fire spin!”
“Protect!”
Burgh didn’t even bother having Shelmet dodge any of our attacks. The snail Pokémon being as slow as its epithet would suggest. Instead opting to use defensive strategies to protect his Pokémon.
The torrent of flame hit Shelmet dead on, but the flames were blocked by a crystalized energy shield that surrounded the bug type. The fire cleared and shelmet came out unharmed by Rena’s attack.
“Disable!”
“Struggle bug!”
Rena being the faster Pokémon managed to hit Shelmet first temporarily making the Pokémon forget how to use its last move. This was part of our strategy making Shelmet unable to hide behind this defensive move. Shelmet proceeded to release a red wave of energy that hit all corners of the battlefield. Struggle bug is one of the weaker bug type moves, its after effect limiting the opposing Pokémon’s use of typed energy outside the body. Rena did get hit by the attack, but casually brushed it off.
“Now finish it with Incinerate!”
Empowered by the sun Rena fired off this fire type move in a beam towards Shelmet’s position. The staunch Pokémon finally panicked after realizing that hiding behind a protective move was no longer an option. A loud bang followed, when the smoke cleared the charred Shelmet was lying unconscious on the battlefield.
“Shelmet is unable to battle the winner is Vulpix!”
Burgh returned his Shelmet before addressing us.
“That was a great use of disable there Egon, but I wonder how you will fare against my next Pokémon? I choose you Joltik!”
His next Pokémon appeared in a flash. The tiny spiderlike Pokémon entered the battlefield.
Joltik, the Attaching Pokémon. This Pokémon clings to larger Pokémon, and absorbs static electricity, storing the energy in a special pouch. Joltik that live in cities have learned a technique for sucking electricity from the outlets in houses.
Anticipating this move I returned Rena for a more favorable matchup.
“Return!”
My fox dematerialized and in return I called forth my other competitor.
“Go Numsy!”
My little camel friend appeared in a flash of light ready to show Burgh what for. Burgh on seeing my switch in started wearing a contemplating expression.
The gym leader’s restriction of not being able to switch out Pokémon really hampered the amount of counter strategy he could bear against me. Unless this particular Joltik was trained in the use of an effective hidden power the most it could do was keep dodging attacks until we eventually got a hit in, and at that size a single hit was all it would take. During higher level gym battles this wouldn’t be much of an issue. Pokémon at that level of experience had a wide arrange of moves and strategies they could employ, even while at a disadvantage. Burgh knew all this but despite that fact he didn’t give up on winning this battle.
“Agility!”
“Bulldoze mess up the field!”
The tiny Pokémon increased its speed tremendously zigzagging and jumping around the battlefield like some sort of spider acrobat. That didn’t matter much to us though as long as official battles are conducted within the confined space of the battlefield. The maximum allowed size of a league approved battlefield hinders the most common forms of dodge tactics. Joltik would have a hard time escaping from tremors, unless it has also learned how to fly.
The battlefield shook, putting a quick halt to Joltik’s speedy movements. I imagine this much force had the potential to jumble up the insides of a regular human. Joltik being a Pokémon would be a bit hardier than that, but at that size it mattered little. After Numsy was done with bulldozing the field Burgh’s Joltik was left reeling on the floor making a perfect stationary target. At this point doing anymore significant damage seemed cruel, so I opted for the less optimal approach.
“Ember half power!”
Burgh never got the opportunity to counterattack, quickly recalled his Pokémon before it got hurt unnecessarily before addressing me.
“The gym leader has chosen to withdraw his Pokémon. This counts as a loss according to the gym’s charter. The leader Burgh has only a single Pokémon remaining!”
“Egon your team clearly exceeds the level of experience I have come to expect from any second badge challenger. Allow me to pose to you a real test of your battling skills, with this last Pokémon of mine. Go Scolipede!”
A giant centipede like Pokémon appeared on the battlefield.
‘A Scolipede! This completely changes everything.’ Although bug type Pokémon were one of the fastest species to evolve into their next forms, I was pretty sure scolipedes only start appearing at fifth level badge fights or higher.
Scolipede, the Megapede Pokémon. Scolipede catches its opponents with great speed and attacks using horns on its head. Scolipede is highly aggressive and will not give up until victorious. It clasps its prey with the claws on its neck until it stops moving. Then it finishes it off with deadly poison.
‘An experienced scolipede could destroy my team. Here’s to hoping this one has only just recently evolved.’
“Numsy strategy 3!”
“Venoshock.”
Numsy led off with enveloping his side of the field with a smokescreen. While Scolipede fired off a glob of poison inside the cloud of smoke. Sneakily digging himself deep into the battlefield Numsy waited for my subtle tap to emerge from his hiding spot underground. Strategy three is our go to if we are certain the opposing Pokémon’s strength is greater than ours.
When the smoke cleared an open tunnel leading deep into the battleground was clear for Burgh to see.
“Interesting strategy Egon. It gladdens me that you can do more than simply overpowering your opponents, but we won’t be beaten so easily! Use protect once you feel it coming up from beneath you, Scolipede!”
‘That’s to be expected from a third stage Pokémon. Its move pool must be considerable. We won’t be beaten so easily though.’ I tap the ground 3 times to signal a change of plans.
A white colored gas started emanating from the hole Numsy left behind which was followed by Numsy breaking free from underneath Scolipede in a torrent of white gas. This was our adapted strategy. Numsy, being immune to its own sleeping gas, can use Yawn to fill the tunnel he dug beneath, giving our opponent a sleep-inducing surprise on his exit from the ground.
Scolipede followed its trainer’s instructions, and a prismatic shield covered its entire body blocking the gas from affecting the megapede Pokémon. However, it couldn’t let up its shield in fear of inhaling some of the gas giving us the freedom to create some distance. ‘Protect is such an amazing move I should really invest into getting a TM for it.’
“Lava plume!”
“Take down!”
“Scooool!”
“Num!”
Scolipede started charging towards us with a considerable amount of speed. Take down was one of the few moves a scolipede at this level could utilize, which my Numsy couldn’t resist. Me recklessly commanding Numsy to counterattack knowing he would take this hit head on was part of my calculations. The effect of sunny day was almost over and getting one last fire type attack in, while under its influence, was worth it; knowing Burgh’s Scolipede couldn’t attack and use protect at the same time.
Numsy unleashed the scarlet flames that blanketed the field around it. As Scolipede’s hit connected, both Pokémon took a considerable amount of damage in the progress. Numsy got hit so hard he flew off all the way back into the corner of the field. While Scolipede received a fiery shower during the close quarters’ engagement with Numsy, while he executed his fire type move.
“Nuumm…”
Numsy stood back up with much effort. The little camel Pokemon was on his last legs, one more hit like that and he’d be knocked out. On the other side of the field Scolipede was having the same problem. The bug type’s exoskeleton was scorched black by taking a direct hit from Numsy’s lava plume.
“Poison sting!”
“Incinerate!”
Scolipede fired off a series of toxic barbs faster than Numsy could retaliate. The small barbs struck the side of his face injecting trace amounts of poison into Numsy’s system. Somehow Numsy endured the hit without fainting and fired a single ball of fire towards Burgh’s Scolipede before falling unconscious. Scolipede took that fireball head on and collapsed on the floor similarly knocked out by the last-ditch effort of its opponent.
“Both the challenger’s Pokémon and the gym leader’s Pokémon are unable to battle! The challenger still has two Pokémon remaining, while the gym leader has no Pokémon left! The Challenger wins!”
‘Ughh that was close! I am pretty sure I would’ve lost that fight if I didn’t have the double typing advantage.’
“The challenger may now step forward to receive his gym badge!”
Burgh and I walked up to the middle of the wrecked battlefield to get the winner proceedings over with. My hopes of receiving a technical machine are pretty abysmal seeing as I fought with a type advantage throughout the match. Not that my Pokémon could use bug type moves to begin with.
“Egon for managing to defeat me I award you the Insect badge. For the feat of besting one of my more experienced Pokémon you may also choose a technical machine from the gym’s storage.”
“Thank you for the badge, but uhm do I really deserve to receive a technical machine? I kept using my Pokémon’s natural advantage against you.”
“If it was just that than yes, I would not have allowed you to pick out a technical machine. However, this is the first time I’ve seen a Pokémon use yawn in such a unique way. That darling Numel showed us his determination, which is most worthy of extra remuneration.”
“Thank you very much leader Burgh. We’ll do our best to make your investment worth it.”
Burgh led us through a side door adjacent to the room we were currently in. Rows of shelves lined the walls of this room with all sorts of items useful for Pokémon training. Vitamin supplements, cases full of honey and of course lots of technical machines.
“These are the technical machines our gym has on offer for promising challengers. Take your time to choose, there are no wrong choices.”
‘X-scissor skip, infestation skip, leech life maybe, megahorn if I ever get to catching a ponyta, pin missile skip, bug buzz skip, pollen puff skip,’
Burgh had a fine collection of bug type technical machines sadly most of them were unusable for my current team. ‘The little one inside the egg could probably use a few of these in the far future.’
It took a while but finally I narrowed down my options. I would either pick silver wind or U-turn. If I picked silver wind it would mostly be for the money. This technical machine has recently been discontinued and if I kept it on me for long enough the resell value would probably go through the roof. As it currently stands it was only worth around 5000 P. U-turn is a move that a handful of the speedier fire types can learn. It messes with the return function of the poké ball and lets the Pokémon forcibly recall itself after dealing damage. In official matches this would be considered a legal move.
“I’ve decided can I get a copy of silver wind please?”
“A fine choice. There are only a handful of this variety of technical machines on the open market. Such a shame that only winged bug types can learn this move. If the Larvesta inside this egg ever evolves you can make good use of this technical machine for sure.”
“Aha!”
The stalker that had been following us towards the storage room while still holding the egg. Had been listening in on our conversation from a discreet distance. Now that the cat is out of the bag, she declared her victory triumphantly.
“I knew there was something special inside this egg. Now tell me how you found this baby while wandering the desert resort?”
I took a peek at Burgh who seemed just as eager to find out the truth of this matter. Not reprimanding Aurea at all for her intrusive line of questioning.
“Not telling. However, the Volcarona who gave me this egg did request to see her offspring from time to time. The next time I visit her you and Burgh can come along, if you stop nagging me.”
That bribe offer seemingly calmed her down. It had the opposite effect on Burgh the gym leader who almost danced in exuberance.
“A most gracious offer Egon! I accept of course. Please let me know a week in advance so I can take time off from my gym duties. This will really help me find my next source of inspiration. Do you think the nesting Volcarona would mind modeling for my next work of art?”
“I guess? She seemed really down to earth for an ancient Pokémon. It’s too bad I caught her during a hibernation period. She went right back to sleep after gifting me the egg.”
“Now if you don’t mind, we have to make a trip towards the Pokémon center. Numsy’s due for a checkup after how hard he fought.”
Following my gym battle I went to the Pokémon center to get Numsy in for treatment. After my successful gym battle the plan was to head back out to the desert resort with Aurea, catch a new partner and then head towards Nimbasa city. My eventual goal was to catch a flight back to Hoenn at the Mistralton airport. Victini noticed the planning session going on inside my head.
“What is Hoenn like?”
“The climate is more tropical. There’s a lot of interesting sights to see, most of the region is below sea level so there are a lot of water routes. The place where I live is nice and toasty though. There’s a good amount of volcanic activity in Lavaridge. It’s a great spot for meeting fire type Pokémon in the region.”
“…can I meet some of your friends?”
“Of course! Flannery is going to love you and the gym Pokémon are all good friends of mine.”
We decided to start playing cards in the center’s dorm room, while Aurea was busy taking care of our transportation. Victini has a penchant for playing games and I liked to indulge her from time to time. Currently I am teaching her the intricacies of playing poker. Her instincts were spot on, and she quickly got a handle for the new game. However, her poker face was terrible. I folded every time she sported a triumphant facial expression.
It was at that moment that I received my very first call on my Xtransceiver. The screen flashed green to let me know I had a call incoming. I put the watch on vibrate for the off chance I was trekking it in the wilderness. Some Pokémon don’t react well to sudden noises. Hitting the accept button a familiar face appeared on screen.
“Heya Egon!”
“Hello Phoebe, how’s traveling in the Unova region? Did you already make it to Driftveil City?”
“I am already at the celestial tower dummy!”
“That fast!?”
“Of course! I just rented a psychic type Pokémon inside Nimbasa to bring me all the way.”
‘Ughh rich people.’
“So, how’s the tower? Did you meet any Pokémon that struck your fancy?”
“So many Egon! All these cute litwick are looking for a new home. It’s so sad that I only get to bring one of them with me! Not only are the ghost types amazing, the people that take care of this place are as well. Did you know they even give lessons to budding psychics inside the tower? I don’t have the gift, but all people are free to observe their beginner courses.”
“Aren’t humans born with those abilities like super rare?”
“Yep! They only have five students at the moment. They use the tower as a practice ground because of the natural ‘silence’ it emanates. The hustle and bustle of populated places give psychics headaches. You should totally come visit too Egon! The caretakers of this place are letting me crash for as long as I want.”
“Friends of your grandparents?”
“No, but people practicing our craft look out for each other. The lady in charge here has the sweetest Golurk. It picks me up and fares me to any floor I want to visit inside the tower.”
Phoebe went on a rave about how amazing the celestial tower is. For close to half an hour. Finally, when she was done, a promise was forcefully extracted from me to come visit as soon as possible. Phoebe was planning on staying there for as long as her visa would allow her to stay in the region which was two weeks since her job with the expedition was already concluded. We finished saying our goodbyes, when Aurea came walking in to inform me that she was ready to return to the desert resort.
I picked up Numsy and Rena from the nurse Joy stationed behind the Pokémon center’s desk and together we were driven back to the expedition camp that was stationed right outside the relic castle for one final time.
We were on the latter half of our journey towards the expedition camp. With nothing to do except watch the scenery Aurea began quizzing me about my plans.
“Are you sure about this Egon? Lenora might still be at the campsite.”
“Yes, I have wasted enough time. I’ll give catching one of the darmanitan a shot and we will leave for Nimbasa city straight afterwards. I still have a few more Unovan fire types that are available for me to partner up with if this doesn’t work out.”
“Hmmm native fire types, that is going to be difficult.”
“How so?”
“The tepig and pansear lines are exceedingly rare to find in the wild. Most trainers have to pay a specialized breeder to acquire them. Pansear of course being the cheaper option of the two. Then you have heatmor which are a very aggressive species. You can find them in the tunnels and their dietary requirements make most trainers a bit squeamish.”
I pulled out my Pokédex to look up known locations where this species has been sighted.
Heatmor, the Anteater Pokémon. Possessing a fire that burns internally, Heatmor breathes through a hole in its tail. A flame serves as its tongue, melting through the hard shell of Durant so that Heatmor can devour their insides.
Known locations: twist mountain, victory road.
‘I am guessing it can’t eat solid foods. Being a species of Pokémon that live underground. These Pokémon must subsist mainly on a carnivorous diet. It’ll be hard to train them out of that predatory mindset.’
Aurea went on with her summation.
“Of course, you can always try catching a litwick. Their dietary requirements are even stranger than that of heatmor. Having to subsist on life energy.”
Litwick, the Candle Pokémon. Litwick appear to be helping to guide the way of people by illuminating areas that are darkened, but in reality they are actually leading them to the Ghost World. They feed off the life energy of people and Pokémon, and use it as fuel for the flames on their heads. This Pokémon is known to haunt dilapidated mansions.
‘Arceus! This is the Pokémon Phoebe wants to catch? She must be feeling extra crazy. Unless she has some way of providing them with sustenance without turning into a dried-up husk.’
“Aurea doesn’t that need for life energy become problematic for the health of the trainer at some point?”
“Wild litwick that live in seclusion are dangerous, yes, because they never know how long it will take to wait for their next feeding opportunity. Trainers that train this species of Pokémon can comfortably provide enough life energy for a singular individual to feed on. As long as the Pokémon knows how to properly portion its meals. The trainer does have to make sure to eat plenty of food and get enough sleep in. Especially since he or she is providing energy not just for themselves anymore. The trainer can also choose to share this burden with his other Pokémon partners making the life drainage completely negligible.”
“And what is this bit about a ghost world?”
“That specific entry has been written based on interviews from trainers that managed to escape after being tricked into following a group of wild litwick into their lair. Egon if you do intend to catch one of these Pokémon, I recommend visiting the celestial tower. The litwick that live there are not as feral. They interact with humans a lot more and are being managed by experienced mediums.”
“Well… I promised Phoebe to visit her at the celestial tower. I guess I can look for a reasonably minded litwick while I am there.”
Aurea beamed at me obviously satisfied that I picked the safer of the two options. This did mean that my stay in Unova will be extended for a while since twist mountain is a tad closer than the celestial tower. I was relatively disappointed at losing the opportunity to go spelunking underneath twist mountain. Finding hidden buried treasures is a man’s romance after all. ‘Guess I’ll have to wait until returning to Hoenn before I can go caving.’
We arrived at the camp site in the afternoon. It was quiet, since the sun was at its zenith, most members of the expedition were either inside the ruins or were cooling off in their tents. The perfect conditions for me to make my move. Aurea, already knowing what I was planning to do, procured a video camera to film the process of the darmanitan waking up from its long slumber. Which according to her would be of significant scientific interest.
Now there were a good dozen or so darmanitan to choose from. Invariably I decided to pick the largest one to add to my team. Who stood at about five ft tall, I figured a bigger darmanitan would make for a better fighter having the advantage of a longer reach and more mass behind each of its blows. In a Pokémon battles experience is king, but adding these small advantages wouldn’t hurt my chances of future success.
I decided to leave Numsy out of his ball in case this darmanitan was as confused as the previous one that had awakened.
“Okay, here goes. At any sign of an impending tantrum blast it with your yawn.”
“Num num!”
I unwrapped my final ragecandybar and stuck it in between the petrified Darmanitan’s mouth cavity. Like before nothing happened straight away until we heard chewing noises emanate from the blue colored gorilla-like Pokémon. It’s blue petrified skin went from purple all the way to deep red. It’s dormant eyebrows flared up and its arms extended outwards until finally the Darmanitan returned to its original form.
To its credit this one kept its cool for longer than the previous one.
“Dar!?”
“Easy there buddy, you’ve been asleep for quite some time now. The world has changed greatly over the years. Do you want some treats?”
“ANITAN! DAR DAR!”
“Let’s go with the plan Numsy!”
Numsy released its sleep gas in the face of the confused Darmanitan. Sadly, gas like this doesn’t take effect immediately and Darmanitan retaliated with a fire punch squarely hitting Numsy in the face. Although the typed energy empowering Darmanitan’s thrust shouldn’t hurt Numsy, the physical force behind it did. Numsy flew all the way backwards where I managed to catch him inside my arms before he had the chance of falling onto the ground.
“You okay bud?”
“Num…”
Judging by Darmanitan’s face, drowsiness was beginning to set in. Just one more round of exchanges should be able to knock him into slumberland.
“Okay Numsy, he’s almost out, we just need to hit him with one more move. Do you think you are up for it?”
“Num… Num!”
“That’s the spirit! Let’s hit Darmanitan with everything we’ve got!”
Numsy jumped out of my arms in order to hit Darmanitan with a super effective move. The Darmanitan who was stuck between being sleepy and upset gave no quarter. Its body became surrounded in red-orange fire, and it charged at the both of us. Naturally I recognized the move for what It was having seen the use of it on numerous occasions.
“Hold steady Numsy, that's a flare blitz coming our way!”
However, before I could order Numsy to counter that maneuver Darmanitan stopped mid charge. The big guy looked at us dumbly before falling on the ground, face first clearly dead tired.
“We did it Numsy! Who’s a good boy?”
“Num num!”
I fished out an unused poké ball from my backpack and threw it at the downed Darmanitan. The Pokémon being sucked inside after the ball collided with its forehead. The ball wiggled something fierce, but after the fourth nerve wrecking struggle my ears registered the all too familiar click of a successful capture. I stepped forward and picked up the ball laying on the desert sands.
“We did it! I captured a darmanitan!”
“Num num num!”
“Excellent posing, Numsy, completely contest worthy.”
Aurea, being done with recording the encounter, walked up to me and Numsy and started addressing us more seriously.
“How are you planning to help this Darmanitan adjust to this now unfamiliar world? The darmanitan that Lenora caught has been sent off to a Pokémon therapist. It kept demanding to be brought back so it could continue its guarding duty.”
“I was planning to make friends with it. My team are experts when it comes to befriending others. Don’t worry we’ll take good care of our newest companion.”
‘Tini, with your support I am sure that we can help Darmanitan adapt to this new world.’