CHAPTER 24
PRIMA: LORELEI, THE ICE MASTER
When we got to Pummelo Island, we immediately looked for the Registration Booth to get into the stadium. The lady there told us that in order to get in, you had to pass one last test. You would then get a pass to gain entrance into Pummelo Stadium, and the last challenge in the Orange Islands. The woman directed us toward a small gym-like area near the entryway to Pummelo Stadium. Kamon, Carly and I went inside. In the middle of the gym was a woman that I had seen before...but where? The woman had purplish-red hair with a blue shirt and black pants on. I turned to Kamon to ask if he had ever seen her.
'Yeah,' he said. 'I think so. But my thing is, where? She is really, really familiar, like I have fought her before, but I know I haven't...'
'Same thing here,' I replied.
'That,' Carly said, coming into our conversation, 'is Prima. She uses Ice-type Pokémon. She is a very powerful trainer. Don't take her lightly.'
'Prima...' Kamon thought aloud. He rubbed his chin. 'Aha! I remember where I've seen her. She was the former Ice member of the Elite Four. Her name is Lorelei, but she must go by Prima down here.'
Lorelei (or Prima, whatever) turned toward us and spoke. 'I assume that the three of you want to gain entrance into Pummelo Stadium. Well, only if you can defeat me, Prima, the Ice Mistress,' she said.
'Actually,' I remarked, 'only my friend here and I are battling.' I motioned toward Kamon.
'Ah, well, in that case...' Lorelei started. 'I will use six Pokémon. You two, combined, can only use five Pokémon. It will be a two-on-two match. And none of them can be legendary. At least one of your Pokémon have to be standing when you defeat my last Pokémon. It can just be one trainer's, but at least one has to live. You cannot command your friend's Pokémon. If you abide by all of the rules, do you accept my challenge?'
'It's crazy!' I shouted. 'A five-on-six match!?'
'If you aren't powerful enough to overcome this task, you don't deserve to battle the Champion,' Lorelei responded.
'Oh, we're powerful enough. Right, Kamon?'
'Of course,' he said to me. He turned to Prima. 'Just give us a second.' He turned back to me and continued, 'So, which Pokémon should we use?'
'Tyranitar and Ampharos, definitely,' I said.
'I'll use Typhlosion, Corsola, and Umbreon, then,' Kamon replied.
'Not Umbreon-I'm already using a Dark Pokémon.'
'Oh, that's right. Uh...what about Delibird?'
'We'll have to. We don't exactly have a huge choice,' I said.
'All right.' Kamon turned around and faced Prima. 'We're ready when you are.'
'Okay. My first two Pokémon are Dewgong and Jynx!' Lorelei shouted.
'We should use Ampharos and Tyranitar right now,' I said.
'Ampharos for Dewgong and Tyranitar for Jynx?' Kamon inquired.
'Right.' I thought about a small problem. 'Prima, we can recall Pokémon, right?'
'Of course,' she replied.
'Okay. Ampharos and Tyranitar, go! Ampharos, Thunder on Dewgong, and Tyranitar, Crunch on Jynx!' I commanded. The two attacks caused a great deal of damage to Lorelei's Pokémon.
'Dewgong, Hydro Pump Tyranitar, and Jynx, use Psychic on Ampharos!' said Prima. I knew that Tyranitar was weak against Water, but it was a risk we had to take.
I told my Pokémon to repeat their attacks. Dewgong became paralyzed, and Jynx flinched. Perfect, I thought. 'Tyranitar, Fire Blast Jynx, and Ampharos, use Thunderbolt on Dewgong!' I yelled. Both of Prima's Pokémon were knocked out, and my Pokémon still had two-thirds of their health left each.
'Cloyster and Sneasel, go!' said Prima.
'Drew, recall Tyranitar and let me use Typhlosion,' Kamon told me.
'But Tyranitar can beat them,' I said. 'If Tyranitar-'
Kamon interrupted me. 'We have to join forces to win. Don't try to win this by yourself.' I sighed, and recalled my Pokémon. Kamon sent out Typhlosion. 'Fire Blast on Sneasel,' he commanded.
'And Ampharos, use Thunder on Cloyster!'
'Protect, Cloyster, and Sneasel, Slash on Ampharos!' Cloyster blocked Ampharos's attack, and Prima's Sneasel slashed my Pokémon. She was trying to knock out the weaker Pokémon first. Fire Blast did hit Sneasel, though.
'Another Fire Blast,' Kamon said.
'Another Thunder,' I instructed. This time, Sneasel use Protect and Cloyster used Hydro Pump-this time on Typhlosion. Kamon and I repeated our attacks-it was the only thing we could do. Again, Lorelei switched the Protected Pokémon, and attacked Ampharos. He was knocked out by Sneasel's Hyper Beam. 'Come back,' I said.
'Use Tyranitar's Thunderbolt on Cloyster to finish him off, and I'll use another Fire Blast on Sneasel,' Kamon said. I nodded, and sent out my last Pokémon to rejoin the bout.
However, as soon as Tyranitar materialized, Cloyster blasted Water at her. 'Typhlosion, Quick Attack!' Kamon shouted, pointing in the direction of Tyranitar. Kamon's Pokémon dove in the way of the Water, taking the fall. Typhlosion collapsed in front of Tyranitar. Tyranitar's rage grew, and he unleashed a Thunderbolt on Cloyster, knocking him out. Sneasel had to recharge Hyper Beam, leaving him vulnerable. As I commanded Tyranitar to use Flamethrower, Prima sent out Lapras, in an effort to save her Sneasel.
'Not so fast,' I heard Kamon mutter. He threw out the Pokéball containing Corsola to distract Lapras away from the battle. Kamon's plan worked, and Sneasel fell victim to Tyranitar's enraged attack.
'Nice work. As my last Pokémon, I'll choose Piloswine!' Lapras's first attack was on Tyranitar-Hydro Pump. It knocked him out in one hit. Now Kamon was on his own, with only Corsola and Delibird left. I could play no more part in this battle.
'The battle rests on your shoulders now,' I shouted to Kamon as he sent out Delibird. I then smiled. 'Not to put any pressure on you or anything.'
'Of course not,' Kamon called back, sarcastically.
The final bout begun. Lapras tried a Thunder on Delibird, but missed. Corsola use Hydro Pump on Piloswine, bringing it down to half health.
'Do you think Kamon can win?' Carly asked me.
'No,' I answered. ' I know Kamon can win. If anyone can win this fight, it's Kamon.'
Lapras turned its attack to Corsola, and used Thunder. Corsola used Mirror Coat, reflecting the attack at Lapras. It caused severe damage. With this happened, Piloswine used Rock Slide on Delibird.
'Corsola, Surf Piloswine! Delibird, use Hyper Beam on Lapras!' Kamon commanded. Delibird's attack missed, while Corsola's attack knocked out Piloswine. Lapras then knocked out Delibird with two Thunders (since Delibird had to recharge). The match was down to Corsola and Lapras-both Pokémon down to half-health. Lapras tried another Thunder, but it bounced back at Lapras with another Mirror Coat.
'Then use Body Slam!' Lorelei commanded. However, it did little, since Corsola was also Rock-type. Unfortunately, Corsola became paralyzed.
'Corsola, use Psychic!' Kamon yelled. Corsola was fully paralyzed. Lapras wasted no time in executing another attack-and possibly another Pokémon.
Lapras used Solarbeam-but first, she had the charge it up. Kamon told Corsola to use Recover. Corsola mustered up enough strength to recover some of her health. Lapras then fired its final attack, the mighty Solarbeam. As the attack hit Corsola (doing four times the normal amount of damage, mind you), Kamon commanded his Pokémon to use one last Mirror Coat. As Corsola's health failed, the reflective attack struck Lapras, knocking her out. Corsola fainted shortly after.
'No...my last Pokémon, Lapras...I recall you,' Prima mourned. She continued. 'Well, it looks as though you two have earned the rights to fight the leader of the Orange League...the Champion...'
'And who might that be?' I asked.
'Ash Ketchum,' Prima replied.