Copyright d2kfuture 2002 If you have any comments, insights, enquiries etc. about my fic then please email me at: d2kfuture@hotmail.com THE BLACK LEAGUE Chapter 2 Scyther and I wandered slowly down the slope, taking our time and enjoying the scenery. After all, he could always teleport us to the bottom of the hill if we ran short of time. For the moment, however, we were enjoying the fresh, clean mountain air. I was anxious to fill my one remaining pokeball. I had had 3 before I had met my Scyther, but had wasted one in a fruitless attempt to capture it. The second had been used to capture it for real. Now, I had one remaining pokeball which I could use to make an addition to my little team. My Scyther, who we decided would not have a nickname, as he detested such things. I soon discovered that he was very set in his ways, and nothing I said could alter them. About half-way down the slope, he began to express an interest in the league which we would be taking part in. I began to explain the rules to him. ‘There are 21 gyms in the Black League. One for each type of pokemon. That means 17 are accounted for. Four remain. There are 3 mixed gyms and one Elite gym. The gyms may be assaulted in any order but the Elite gym must remain until last. In the Elite gym, you must battle the gym leader using all your pokemon at the same time. The idea is that if your pokemon have not learned to act as a team by the time you have completed all of the 20 other gyms, the Elite gym will quickly stop them from being allowed in to the final competition. The competition will be held again 2 and a half years from now. The current champion is John, the unrivalled master of Dark pokemon. His fearsome Houndoom is known throughout the land for its deadly moves. In the Black League, up to 10 pokemon may be used in one battle. This is a huge increase upon the 6 that are used in the other, more amateurish leagues. This was done to add to the strategy in the battle. One last thing, The gyms were noit just made for battles. Half the challenge ins actually finding the gyms, as they are hidden in the most remote corners of our land. To the north, near the southern borders of Johto, is where most trainers start off’. We continued to walk in silence for about half a hour. The Scyther was turning over the situation in his mind, and I was on the lookout for any rare pokemon. The sun was beginning to set and I was about to suggest that we teleport the rest of the way when, suddenly, a Houndour sprang from the dank foliage on the left hand side of the road. I decided to capture it if possible. Without me saying a word, Scyther sprang forward. He executed his Cut technique and the Houndour staggered slightly. It mustered up its strength and used Ember, but Scyther dodged easily by using Double team. Then it used False Swipe, leaving the Houndour on the brink of fainting. I had to pokeball on hand and needed no encouragement to throw it. The pokeball shook once or twice, then stood still. I ran towards it joyfully and released the Houndour. Maybe it would evolve into a Houndoom like John’s!!!! The Houndour appeared, nervously licking it’s wounds. It seemed friendly enough and I told Scyther to explain everything to it. Five minutes later, Scyther told me that she, the Houndour, was willing to accompany us on our journey. Scyther also told me that it would try to teach the Houndour how to converse with humans, but it would take a few weeks. I nodded my agreement. The Houndour also hated pokeballs, it turned out, so it walked along in front of us. I remembered my idea of teleporting and suggested it to Scyther. He agreed, and a minute later, we were in the large building at the bottom of the hill. We were the last ones to arrive, and we caused quite a stir, walking in dirty, bedraggled but proud. I soon noticed that most of the others had only caught Rattata, Pidgey or Spearow. These would be the mediocre trainers. Some had no pokemon by their side. These were obviously the no- hopers, and they would be issued Magikarp the following morning. Some had, like me, caught quite rare pokemon, and two trainers in particular, caught my eye. A girl to my left had a Smoochum and a Nidorina, while a tall, upstanding boy in front of me had an Elekid and a Magby. These were rare finds indeed and I felt envious. A minute later, a middle-aged, grey-haired man entered the room. He stood on a large platform at the front of the room. Immediately, all of the 50 or so trainers in the rooms quietened down. He began speaking in a slow, penetrating voice, ‘ I will call out the names of everyone here. When you are called, make your way to the front of the room, and you will be issued a pokegear and a small supply of items. Also, the pokemon you caught will be recorded and you will be given a rating out of 100 for your efforts. Afterwards, a chart will be displayed on the wall. That chart will remain there forever, as proof of your achievement’. Then he began calling names out from a list. The girl with the Smoochum’s name turned out to be Amanda and the boys name was Michael. I was one of the last to be called. ‘Jack’. I made my way to the front of the room. When the man say my pokemon he raised his eyebrows and nodded his approval. ‘A fine catch, Jack’, he whispered. I thanked him and made my way over to the rapidly filling chart. Amanda and Michael were both near the top. In fact, they were level on 93 points. Just then, my name flashed up on the board right next to theirs. I had gotten 93 points too!! I nearly shouted out with joy. Just then however, a new name flashed up on the board. ‘Harold: 97 points: Noctowl, Quagsire and Skiploom’. That was an amazing catch an I felt a sudden dash of envy. Then I looked at my pokemon, and the envy disappeared. I would train my pokemon to be the best that they could be and they would beat this Harold. I went over and congratulated Mike and Amanda. They were very friendly and praised my pokemon too. We made arrangements to meet up in the morning. I went to sleep very happy that night. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow when we would begin our long journey to attempt to become champion of the Black League.