Next chapter I will attempt HTML I swear. :)
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Logfile: May
Location: Mount Pyre, Lillycove Pokemon Center, Lillycove contest hall,
Lillycove General Hospital...
The situation was impossible. May and Gwen and their pokemon were locked in a
desperate battle against Team Magma atop Mount Pyre. Magma Admin Tabitha and his
squads, plus Brody, had been poaching wild pokemon there, including several
"Shiny" pokemon. The Wild Pokemon appealed to May and Gwen to put a stop to the
poaching. Now Gwen and May were locked in a desperate double battle against
Tabitha and Broady. If Gwen and May win, the captured pokemon are set free. If
they lose, then both May and Gwen have to join Team Magma...
Gwen shuddered. Then nodded. "I'm for it!"
"And I." May agreed. "I choose, Combusken!"
"And I pick Squirtle!" Gwen shouted.
"Go Ditto!" Broady called out his own pokemon.
"Mightyena!" Tabitha called out his pokemon.
"Squirtle, start things off with a Skullbash attack!" Gwen called out.
"Combusken, attack with Sky Uppercut!" May shouted.
"Mightyena attack with Hyperbeam!"
"Ditto! Transform into Squirtle! Then use Hydropump!"
Squirtle blasted its way through the Hyperbeam and screamed, falling backwards.
The Hydro pump hit Combusken and sent it flying into a boulder.
"SQUIRTLE!!!"
"NO! MY COMBUSKEN!"
"That was almost too easy." Said Tabitha, turning away. "Maxie, Tabitha
reporting in. We have two interesting... WHAT THE??"
Combusken was struggling to its feet. "Com..."
Squirtle had hidden inside of its shell. Which had mostly protected it from the
Hyperbeam. "Squiiiiirtle!"
"Tabitha, what's..."
"Combusken, firespin!" May snarled. The communications console melted, stranding
the Magma gang. The conversation was cut abruptly short.
The wild pokemon that had been caged were crying out, cheering for the two girls
and setting up a most aweful racket. That was when the cavalry arrived. The wild
pokemon poured into the campsite, engaging the Grunts in battle and keeping them
from getting to May or Gwen.
Combusken began to glow, and grow, and reform until it became. "Blaaaaaziken!"
It roared.
"Alright! Combusken evolved into Blaziken!" Grinned May. "Now you'll pay.
Blaziken, take Squirtle and toss it."
"Squirtle, use the momentum to power up Skullbash!"
Blaziken leapt easily fifty feet in the air, tossing Squirtle. Squirtle flew in
a high arch, turned abruptly downward, and dropped.
"Now Blazekick!" May pointed at the transformed Ditto.
Blaziken shattered Ditto's transformation and left the shapeshifting pokemon
totally exposed. As for Squirtle and Mightyena, the Skullbash knocked Mightyena
to the ground with a sickening crack of broken bones. When it struggled to rise,
it's left front leg was hanging at a bad angle. It collapsed and was called
back. "It's up to you Brody." Tabitha growled.
"Ditto, transform into Blaziken!" Brody growled. Ditto struggled to rise, once,
twice, three times, beneath Blaziken's clawed foot. It began to glow. A shiver
of dread went through Gwen. If Ditto succeeded in transforming into Blaziken
this battle would be over. They would stand no chance.
Gwen made one last desperate move. She unsheathed her sword and charged Brody.
Within seconds the sword was pressed against Brody's throat and his arms were
twisted behind his back. "Belay that Ditto. Or your trainer loses his head."
Gwen snarled.
"Gwen? NO!" May cried in distress.
Gwen shook her head. All battling in the campsite had stopped. Brody had paled
beneath his makeup and frozen, eyes wild in fear.
"I mean it Ditto. I /will/ kill him." Gwen glared.
Ditto stopped transforming and pulled back. Gwen, shaking, pulled back from
Brody, who fell to the ground with a bleeding mark at the juncture of neck and
shoulder. "BRODY!" Cried Tabitha as he rushed to his fallen comrade.
May pulled back, eyes round that Gwen would have gone to such measures to secure
victory.
Tabitha looked up at Gwen with a knowing sneer. He tossed something to Gwen.
"That's a Magma Emblam. It allows you access to our hideout. You're more like us
than you know trainer. Just show it to the door guard and they'll let you in.
Team, move out! We've got casualties."
Gwen waited, stunned, until the Magmas retreated into their helicopter and fell
to her knees, sobbing. "May... I just... I couldn't..." She sobbed. May pulled
Gwen into her arms, kissing her forehead gently. "Shhh... its alright..."
"Jigglypuff?" The Jigglypuff that Gwen had saved peeked out from behind the
rock. It hopped up into Gwen's lap and wiped away her tears. "Jiggy."
Altaria leaned in behind Gwen, covering her comfortingly with its wings.
"Taria..."
The other pokemon gathered around, including squirtle. Gwen looked at the Magma
Emblam, holding it in her hands. Then she stuffed it into her pocket. Ninetails
had taken out the shield generators guarding the captured pokemon and was now
busy melting the bars of the cages. The two white Mightyena came forward. Along
with a two vulpix, a shuppet, and a duskull.
Ninetails shook its head. "You did what had to be done. If Ditto had transformed
into Blaziken you would have lost, period. The two Mightyena, vulpix and the
shuppet and duskull are all looking for trainers." Shuppet went for May, Duskull
for Gwen. Vulpix and Mightyena also joined one of them each. The pokeballs they
had been placed in disappeared for Birch's laboratory. The Golden Ninetails came
forward then. "We have guarded these bushes for centuries trainers. Each of you,
take a Starf Berry. They are your reward. Use them wisely."
Then Jigglypuff turned to Ninetails. "Jiggy puff! Jiglly puf jig!"
"It would seem, young lady." Ninetails told Gwen. "That Jigglypuff would like to
join you."
Gwen smiled through her tears and scooped up Jigglypuff, offered it a pokeball.
"I think we'd better go." May said with a sigh. "Thank you for the Starf Berry."
She bowed politely to Ninetails. Both girls mounted their pokemon and flew,
their backs to the rising sun, as they returned to Lillycove.
Jessie was waiting for them outside the Pokemon center. "GWEN!! Where were you
all night! I was worried sick!"
Gwen wrapped her arms around Jessie and started crying again. Jessie hugged her
little sister tenderly. "Shhh... shhh... what happened?" She asked gently.
Nurse Joy poked her head out of the pokemon center. "Oh dear... come in please!
I'll make tea."
Ash, Brock, Max, James and Misty gathered around.
"Where's Drew?" Gwen sniffed.
"Funny thing, he went out bright and early this morning, as soon as we opened
back up. He said something about needing to find something at one of the
stores." Nurse Joy said, puzzled. "But he didn't say where he was going beyond
that. Let me make some tea."
Nurse Joy made tea. And May explained what had happened, including the part
about Gwen attacking Brody with her sword. "You actually attacked the Magma??"
Ash demanded, shocked.
"I would have killed him. I was so angry at him..." Gwen sobbed, still snuggled
against Jessie's chest. "And you know what Tabitha said just before he left? He
turned to me and he said, that I was more suited to Team Magma than I knew... I
was so said, so frightened that I would actually attack another human." Gwen
sobbed.
Blaziken came out of its pokeball and rumbled helpfully. It scooped up the
bereft trainer and held her close. "Blazi...ken... blaziken..."
"Blaziken said that it wouldn'ta had a chance against Brody's ditto if it had
transformed. It's too strong, so he wants to thank you." Meowth explained.
That was when the Video Phone rang. It was Professor Birch. "Gwen! May! these
alternate color Mightyena you've captured are amazing! They've... oh dear..." He
took in Gwen's tears. "What happened?"
"Tell you some other time." Gwen said, standing and wiping away her tears.
"Listen, your pokedexes can tell you your rosters at any time. Just press this
button here." Birch held up the button. "It will show you what pokemon you've
captured and how many. Listen, are you still going to use Squirtle as a contest
pokemon May?"
May shook her head. "I don't think so. Let's see what we've got here."
She pressed the button on her pokedex and the roster came up. It looked
something like...
~~~~~~~~~~May~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Starter: Blaziken
Team: Blaziken
Beautifly
Skitty
Bulbasaur
Munchlax
Squirtle
Other Pokemon: Eevee
Teddiursa
Snubble
Houndour x6
Skarmory
Murkrow
Shuppet
Vulpix
Mightyena (alt. col.)
Holding Onto for Gwen: Milotic
Eggs: 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gwen reluctantly looked at her new roster charts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~Gwen Tori~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Starter: Torchic
Team: Torchic
Shellgon
Altaria
Chikorita
Squirtle
Houndour
Other Pokemon: Teddiursa
Houndour x4
Skarmory
Hoot-Hoot
Murkrow
Duskull
Vulpix
Mightyena
Jigglypuff
Eggs: 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm not entering this one." May said thoughtfully. "But Gwen, what pokemon are
you going to use?" She asked curiously.
Gwen looked over her Roster. "I think I'm going to use Houndour. Nurse Joy this
may sound silly but do you have any skeet that I could have it use its
flamethrower on?"
"Skeet? What are we? A shooting range?" Nurse Joy wondered. "I'll see what I can
find. Houndour need a lot of exercise, more so than other dark pokemon its size.
I'll see what I can find." she repeated as she headed into the back room.
"You're still going to enter despite being attacked?" Asked James, curiously.
"I can be sad later." Gwen replied softly. "There's too much that has to be
done."
"Here." Nurse Joy came back with a group of plastic discs, similar to frisbees.
"These are fireproof. Some trainer left them behind one day. He was using them
to train his Cyndaquil."
Gwen took them. "Thank you." She got up and found a clear place out front of the
pokemon center. "Okay HOUNDOUR! COME OUT!"
Houndour howled as it came out. "Okay... now what moves does Houndour know..."
Gwen opened up her pokedex. Houndour, start things off with a Howl attack!"
Houndour let out a loud howl, even leaning back some, nose pointed to the sky.
"Okay, now use Bite attack on this disc when I throw it okay?"
Houndour kept its eyes on Gwen as she threw the disc into the air. It leapt,
body twisting in an amazing feat of acrobatics and caught the disc, leaving
marks in the plastic. It brought the disc back and Gwen got ready to toss.
"Okay, this time use Flamethrower on it okay? I'm going to throw a lot of discs
and you need to hit each one."
Houndour's accuracy was uncanny because not only did it show power with its
flame, it didn't miss a beat.
"Cool Houndour." Said a voice behind Gwen. Gwen whirled to find an Aqua in
uniform watching her. The Aqua had a cape clipped to her one strap top. Instead
of a bandana she wore a comodore's hat. Her boots were tipped in metal. A
sneasal was standing next to her, cleaning one of its paws. "I'm Duel, a trainer
of ice and dark pokemon. I wouldn't mind trading for my sneasal."
Gwen shook her head. "I'm entering a contest with this Houndour. Besides, its
part fire. Not an oceanic pokemon at all."
"Suit yourself." Duel replied. "I'll see you in the contest by the way." She
replied. "See you..." And with that Duel was gone.
Gwen was left totally unnerved by that encounter. "What does she think she's
going to do?" She wondered. "And what was an Aqua doing here?"
The evening came and May decided to enter the contest after all, with Skarmory.
Drew was using Roselia. Duel didn't bring out her pokemon ahead of time. But
Gwen's paranoid mind suspected all sorts of icy horrors. Jessie was entering
with Teddiursa, having done a ton of research on how to teach pokemon attacks.
She'd spent the day with it trying to teach it Dynamic Punch and several other
attacks specifically for this battle.
Gwen was shaking by the time her name was called. Duel kept staring at her
across the room, with a glare that could freeze hearts. Finally the backstage
manager called out. "Duel, you're up next." Duel got up and Gwen's attention
turned to the TV.
"Next up is the mysterious ice coordinator Duel. What pokemon will she choose?"
"Goooo! Sedna!"
Walrein came out of the pokeball and Gwen felt sick. Walrein were incredibly
powerful. Their only real weaknesses were electricity and fighting type moves.
Gwen's houndour had neither. And if their Sheer Cold attack hit it was an
instant KO. Gwen shook her head.
Drew also paled. "Roselia and I are going to have a real trouble with that one."
May shook her head. "Who is she anyway?"
"A member of Team Aqua." Replied Gwen. "I saw her wearing an Aqua uniform this
morning, training her Sneasel."
"What would Team Aqua want with a pokemon contest?" Wondered May. "It doesn't
make sense. They want to expand the water, not battle."
"Maybe she wants to prove a point." Suggested Jessie. "I know a lot of Rockets
who jocky among each other in displays of power in front of the boss. All to
establish a strength hierarchy. Basically this Duel trainer is showing off her
prowess, both to Magmas and to her fellow Aquas, as well as anybody who's
watching the contest."
"May..." Gwen turned to May. "You, out of all of us, have the right pokemon to
beat her. Promise me, that if I lose, you'll go back and beat her in this
contest."
"Hey don't forget about me." Jessie pointed out. "Teddiursa knows some fighting
moves that would help against her Walrein."
Gwen nodded numbly. Her heart frozen in dred. She had never faced such an
advanced pokemon, aside from Drew's Flygon. But the Flygon had lost because of a
type advantage. This pokemon had a type advantage against her /plus/ it had a
higher level.
Houndour drew closer to her worriedly. "Dour..." It said, getting up on its back
paws to lick Gwen's face. It curled up on the bench next to her with its head on
her lap.
Duel came back in. "Tori, Gwen, you're up." Said the manager.
Gwen squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and led Houndour out. "And Gwen
and her Houndour are the next to hit the stage. What attacks will they be
appealing for us today?" Asked the announcer.
Gwen took a deep breath, and with confidence she didn't feel she called out.
"Start things out with a Howl attack!" Gwen called.
The howl echoed with triumph and strength through the silent hall. "And a Howl
attack shows the world how confident Houndour is in its strength this
contest..."
"Now use bite!" Gwen tossed frisbee number one. Houndour lept ten feet in the
air and caught the frisbee with a snap that broke it in half.
"Now that's a strong, healthy bite attack." The announcer told the crowd. "And
next..."
Gwen tossed three frisbees. "Okay, now use Flamethrower!"
"Houndour shows off its accuracy by hitting a moving target with its
Flamethrower."
Houndour's flamethrower attack hit each target without fail. Gwen noticed a
slight frown on the head judge's face. "Doubleteam Houndour!" Houndour seemed to
divide into duplicates.
Gwen tossed one last frisbee straight up. "Overheat!" She called as Houndour
turned a deep, deep red before shooting sparkling golden fire at the frisbee. It
landed on the ground, smouldering and melted.
The doubleteam powered down and the crowd cheered ecstatically. The judges
leaned close to each other for a moment before they offered their comments.
"Flawless." Said the head judge.
"You worked really hard on your appeal." Said Nurse Joy with a wink.
"I feel you need to work a little harder." Said the third judge.
10, 8, 9.9= 27.9 points total.
Gwen nodded silently and led Houndour off the stage. She almost ran into an
elegantly dressed stranger in the back room. "Oops, sorry." She said with a shy
smile.
The man nodded. "No problem." A very rambunctious Houndour hopped up on its hind
legs to try and jump the man.
"Houndour no!" Gwen protested.
"He probably smells these." The man reached into a coat pocket and pulled out a
handful of pokeblocks. "Here you go."
Houndour ate them all right up, barking cheerfully. "My name's Gwen. I entered
my Houndour here in the contest."
"Yes, I saw your appeal." Said the man, running a hand through his grey and
white hair. "Unfortunately its a common one among coordinators. That's why you
didn't get a perfect score. You'll have to make up for that in the battle round.
Why, I even did the same with my water pokemon when I first started entering
contests." Explained the stranger. "Come and sit. I may not have entered this
contest, but the judges don't mind if I come around to have a look."
"Err..." Gwen said nervously.
Houndour bounced up onto the bench and curled up with its head on its paws,
looking up at the stranger.
Suddenly, "Juan!" May called out.
"May!" Juan stood and greeted the young coordinator.
"Wait a minute, you're the sootopolis gym leader right?" Gwen asked suddenly. "I
knew you looked familiar."
"That's right. But I was also a contest coordinator when I was younger."
Explained Juan. "My pokemon even took me to the grand festival. He explained.
Then he saw Gwen's sword. "Oh dear. You wouldn't happen to be a gatekeeper as
well would you?" He asked curiously.
"That's right. I'm from the inter." Explained Gwen. "But I'm stuck here for now.
So I've become a contest coordinator."
"My student, Wallace, is a gatekeeper." Juan said with a nod. "He's taking care
of the gym while I'm gone."
Suddenly, something wriggling in Gwen's backpack made her turn and open it. The
egg in her bag was cracking! "May, check your pack, quick! I think the eggs we
got at the Safari Zone are about to hatch!"
Sure enough, pieces chipped off the egg bit by bit until... "Pi-chu!" Pichu said
happily as it came out of the egg.
"It's a pichu! Oh you're so cute!"
"Chu!" Pichu said cheerfully.
May sighed and offered Gwen another pokeball. "I was about to give you your
Milotic back. After the fight with Team Magma it obeyed you perfectly. So I
figured you deserved it."
"What's that about?" Juan asked curiously.
"My first day as a trainer, I caught both an Altaria and found an injured
Milotic. May was worried that the Milotic wouldn't obey me. So she hung onto it
for me for awhile.
Gwen took the pokeball. "Thank you."
May pulled out her egg to check. "Mine doesn't look ready to hatch just yet."
"I wonder if Pichu will know volt tackle." Gwen said thoughtfully. "I'm sure it
will hatch soon. Pichu, can you be a dear and climb into my backpack. You can
watch from there but I don't want you getting hurt after just being born."
"Piii? Chu??" Pichu asked, cocking its head curiously. Then its stomach rumbled.
"Chuuuu chaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" It wailed.
Gwen dug for the pokeblock she'd saved from Slateport. "Here, have some
pokeblock, it's nice and sweet." She offered a handful to the baby pokemon.
Pichu stopped and seemed to consider the pokeblock. Then it snapped up the
handful greedily.
Juan laughed. "Baby pokemon tend to be bottomless pits." He explalined. "And
they can't stand hunger."
"You think?" Gwen asked with a sigh as the Pichu crawled into Gwen's backpack
and fell asleep. "At least its sleeping now."
"The appeals round is almost finished." Drew pointed. "Juan, nice of you to join
us." he said with a stiff nod.
"I came to scope out the talent." Juan explained. "I'm looking for trainers to
join my gym. The only requirements are that you have at least a year of
experience as a trainer and at least one water pokemon."
"I've only been a trainer for about a week and a half."
"Ah, that would explain your Houndour's lack of discipline." Juan said with a
nod.
That made Gwen's hackles rise. But she knew the truth in what Juan was saying.
"Oh /really/?" She asked, clearly annoyed.
"Really. A trainer has to work for years to reach the level of artistry required
for winning the Grand Festival." Juan explained. "You don't just waltz into a
contest hall and come away with a ribbon. That's why I'm putting the experience
bar on my search for gymtrainers."
Gwen stood and glared at Juan angrily. "And where do you thinkt he experts come
from?" Gwen demanded. "They come from beginners like me. If I didn't decide to
enter right away I'd waste away waiting for the next one!"
Juan regarded Gwen thoughtfully, but his expression betrayed nothing of his
thoughts. Jessie came in then with her Teddiursa. "The crowd loved it!" She
sighed in relief. "I don't think I got a very good score though."
"That's the last appeal, the following trainers have made it to the finals..."
Said the announcer. Gwen turned to the TV and froze. Gwen was there, May was
there, Drew was there...
...and so was Duel.
Gwen gulped. "I've got that sinking feeling." She muttered.
"The first battle will be May vs. Duel, and Gwen vs. Drew." The announcer called
out.
Gwen gulped. "You're using Roselia right Drew?"
"That's right."
"May, take out Walrein, and watch out for the Sheer Cold attack."
"Battle one, May vs. Duel, will the challengers please report to stage one for
match one?"
"Don't forget to use some fighting moves! Fire moves won't work on Walrein."
Gwen warned. "And watch out for the Sheer Cold attack. If it hits, its all
over."
"I will." May agreed. "See you!"
"And the first battle is May and her Blaziken vs. Duel and her Walrein! BEGIN!"
"Blaziken! Start things off with a Sky Uppercut!"
"Sedna, /you/ start things off with Sheer Cold." Duel told her Walrein.
Sheer cold was a terrifying move. It was like blizzard multiplied by ten.
Blaziken tried to dodge, but no go. Its feet got frozen to the ground.
"Now Walrein! Rollout!" Duel said with a wicked grin. The rollout attack hit
Blaziken dead on, freeing its feet but causing heavy damage to May's HP bar.
"Blaziken! Jump and use Blaze kick!"
"Bllaaaaaaziken!!!"
"And when did your Blaziken evolve May? Yesterday?" Asked Duel. "My Walrein's
been a Walrein for nearly two years now! And it shows! Walrein! Sheer cold!"
Blaziken's blaze kick cut right through the ice attack and left a footprint on
Walrein's face.
"Still up to it Blaziken?" May asked worriedly as Blaziken used its fire to
deflect the ice attack.
"Blaaaaaaziken!" Blaziken replied cheerfully.
"Walrein! Body slam /again!/" Walrein charged Blaziken and slammed it, hard.
Blaziken stumbled backwards, losing /more/ points.
"This looks bad." Misty said worriedly. "Blaziken's fighting moves give it an
advantage, and its fire moves can be used for a defense, but its losing too many
points trying to block the sheer cold. All it's going to take now is a good,
strong water attack and Duel will beat May!"
"Aaaah." Ash cried as he shouted down from his seat. "DON'T GIVE UP MAY! YOU CAN
BEAT HER!!!"
"Pika pi-i!" Pikachu cried worriedly.
"Walrein, lets finish this up with a Hydro Pump."
"Waaaaaalllllllrein!" Walrein replied as it shot water towards Blaziken with
terrifying velocity.
"Keeeee-eeeee-eeeee-eeen!" Blaziken cried out in pain as it went flying back.
The last of May's points ran out.
Misty just stared down in shock. Blaziken showed no attempt to rise. The look on
May's face went from pale shock to pure hatred in a heart beat. Misty shook her
head. "May... oh dear..."
"Blaziken was doing so well, and... and then suddenly..." Ash said, voice soft
with shock.
"Chaaaaa!" Pikachu burried its face in Ash's side, terrified of Duel.
"Yeah buddy that's about how I feel right now." Ash shuddered. "Later, I want to
talk to Duel, ask her about her strategy."
"Cha?" Pikachu gave Ash a look that said, 'What are you? Crazy?'
"I would too. Look at the way she KO'd Blaziken."
"Ash, isn't Blaziken the pokemon who beat you in the Johto League Finals?" Max
asked curiously.
"Yeah, and it beat Charizard, my strongest pokemon. If Duel's Walrein can beat a
pokemon like that it gives me the shivers wondering what it would take to beat
it." Ash said with another shudder.
"The next match is Gwen and Houndour vs. Drew and Roselia! Will the contestants
please report to stage two for match two?"
"Here comes Gwen." Pointed out Brock.
Gwen was shaking visibly. Houndour leaned against the young coordinator, trying
to give her confidence. "Okay Drew." Gwen pointed to the center of the stage and
Houndour took its place.
"I'll get you this time Gwen." Drew growled.
"Drew, I would like to see you try." Gwen replied. "I'm going to survive to the
final round and, win or lose, I'm going to face Duel."
"Will the contestants please begin!" Said the announcer.
The clock began to tick, but for a long moment the two Rivals were timeless.
Then Gwen shouted. "Start things off with a double team attack!"
"Roselia! Use petal dance!" Shouted Drew as the rose pokemon spun around, jumped
into the air and shot sharply edged cherry blossom petals down at Houndour. The
petals went through most of the decoys, but there were too many of them. "Okay
Houndour! Overheat!"
Roselia was blasted and about half of Drew's points went down the drain. "That
was a pretty sweet trick, nailing me midair when I couldn't fight back." Drew
agreed. "But this is also a sweet trick! Roselia! Synthesis!"
Almost instantly Roselia landed on its feet, almost totally unharmed. Then the
grass pokemon's right leg buckled. "Roselia! What's wrong?"
"Looks like Houndour's overheat has burned Roselia." Said the announcer. "How
will Drew counter this unlucky turn of events?"
"With solar beam Roselia!" Shouted Drew.
Roselia, still on one knee began to glow.
The scene was surreal for Drew. He couldn't see the audience on the edge of
their seats. He could just see the spotlights on himself, Gwen and the two
pokemon.
"Doubleteam Houndour!" And Houndour divided and disappeared into the darkness,
like a black and red ghost. "Now use BITE!"
"Dour!" Houndour cried as it chomped onto Roselia's arm.
Roselia lost more precious HP. "Roselia, Tox..." And then Houndour disappeared
into the darkness again.
"Looks like Drew is having a hard time seeing in the dark contest hall."
Commented Brock from where he was watching.
For Drew, the world was spinning everywhich way. And his head felt horribly
light. "Oh no..." He whispered. "Not now..."
"Houndour! Flamethrower!"
"Roselia dodge and use..." Drew couldn't concentrate... what move was necessary
to light the place up? "Sunny Day!" Drew cried at last.
"Uh oh!" Ash said worriedly. "Doesn't Sunny Day strengthen fire type moves?"
"Yes, but it also cuts down the time it takes to power up for a solar beam."
James pointed out two seats down. "And it makes healing moves like Morning Sun
and Synthesis more powerful."
"Yes, but something's wrong down there." Brock pointed out. "Look at Drew, look
at his face."
Ash looked. Drew looked kind of pale, and his eyes were squinting to see. He
swayed slightly, like he was having trouble standing up. "Drew!" Ash cried,
worried that Drew was showing obvious signs of stress.
"Houndour! Break off your attack!" Gwen shouted, even as the sunny day lit up
the darkened stage with light.
"Ro? SELIA!" Roselia cried, pointing to Drew and crying out worriedly, jumping
up and down and trying to draw attention to its trainer's distress.
"Both pokemon have stopped and Roselia's started a racket!" The announcer
called. That was when Drew collapsed.
"SELIA!!!" Roselia ran into the back room.
"Stop the match!" Juan bellowed as he climbed onto the stage from the audience.
"Call an ambulance!"
Drew was twitching uncontrollably on the ground, tears streaming down his
cheeks. Juan leaned down to take Drew's pulse. "Erratic." He commented. That was
when Roselia came running back full tilt with Houndour. Houndour had a silver
something in its teeth and Roselia was holding some kind of pill bottle.
"Drew!" Gwen cried, rushing over. Houndour dropped the silver medical chain in
Juan's hands. Roselia did the same with the pill bottle.
"Well?" Asked Nurse Joy worriedly.
"According to this chain, which he /should/ have been wearing at all times, Drew
has epilepsy. My guess? He didn't take his medicine." Brock, May, Duel, Ash,
Pikachu and Max had come running. Juan shook the bottle. "He ran out. And
couldn't get new ones."
Max shuddered. "May, what's..."
"Tell you later Max."
"We were traveling with him, is there anything we can do to help?" Asked Brock.
"Stay out of the way when the ambulence comes." Replied Juan. "Judge, I think
Gwen's won this match by default. If its true that Drew has epilepsy then he's
currently in no shape to battle."
"Seliaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!" Roselia wailed, still bawling it put one of its
roses to Drew's nose and wiggled it, letting a trickle of armoatherapy out of
it. "Ro!" Wiggle. "Ro!" wiggle. "Ro!" It sniffed.
"Roselia's trying to use aromatherapy to wake him up." Ash said suddenly.
Drew began to stir, still twitching and rather weak. "Oh no..." He whispered
softly. "I... I'm sorry I had to bother..."
"You're no bother at all Drew." Ash said, wiping tears from his eyes.
"I tried to find more medicine... but none of the pharmacies I tried take...
my... insurance..." He shuddered again. "Roselia... don't cry..."
"I'm the one who lost the contest. I'll accompany Drew to the Hospital." May
said suddenly. "Gwen, I'll meet you back here later okay? Good luck." May gave
Gwen a kiss on the cheek before turning to face the others. "I'll meet you all
back at the pokemon center once this is over."
Gwen blushed slightly and nodded. "See you there and then."
"Okay, what is going on with you two?" Misty demanded.
"Misty now is /so/ not the time." Gwen glared at her Master.
"Okay, but you are telling me by the time we get onto that boat tomorrow." Misty
glared.
Gwen nodded. "If May says its okay." Gwen agreed.
"Sorry for the disturbance everyone." The announcer said as the medics lifted
Drew onto a stretcher. "We'll be taking a ten minute recess." The curtains fell
across the stage.
"Ash..." Drew said softly. "Can you take care of Roselia while I'm in the
hospital?"
"ROOOOOOOOOOO!!" Roselia wailed, climbing onto the stretcher.
The Nurse Joy scooped up the wailing pokemon. "Roselia... please... he needs to
rest." She pleaded.
Gwen shook her head sadly as Roselia's wails quieted into soft sobs. The
pokemon, instead of going to Ash, climbed onto Gwen's shoulder and cried as Drew
was taken out on a stretcher. The wailing woke Pichu from its sleep and the
newborn pokemon also began to cry.
Gwen carried Pichu and Roselia, both still bawling, back to the greenroom. Juan
came in a few minutes later. "Is Roselia alright?" Asked Juan worriedly.
"Does it /look/ alright?" Gwen asked sarcastically. "How's Drew?"
"Drew will be fine Roselia. He just needs his medicine and bed rest. You'll get
to see him tomorrow." Juan promised.
"Selia." Roselia said, turning up its nose at Juan.
"I don't think it likes you Juan." Gwen commented.
"I don't think you like me either." Juan pointed out.
"Perhaps." Gwen said simply.
"Ten minute recess is up!" The announcer said over the intercom. "Will Duel and
Gwen please report to the final stage."
Gwen stiffened as she stood. But Juan grabbed her by the arm just before she
would have come out. "Gwen... what are you fighting for? Don't answer, just
think. And whatever you're fighting for, defend it with all the might you and
your pokemon can muster."
Pichu climbed onto Gwen's shoulder. Roselia waited at the stage entrance, and
Houndour came striding out with Gwen.
Just look in my eyes
Tell me
You've got all that it takes
And much more
All you gotta do is say...
Stop telling me lies
Show me
With every move that you make
You can score...
Just tell me that you want to play
Gwen turned to Houndour. "For Drew okay? Give it everything you've got."
Houndour howled, loud and long, like a wild animal on the hunt. If Gwen were a
pokemon, she'd be glowing with energy.
"I'm sorry to bust your bubble Gwen, buy my Walrein has way more experience than
your houndour. And Houndour's fire attacks will just bounce right of her blubber
too."
"That may be, but you'll never know unless you fight me will you?" Gwen asked as
Walrein waddled out to its place in center stage.
"What are you fighting for Gwen?" Asked Duel. "I can see it in your eyes. You're
running from something, or someone. A trainer who's afraid to face the truth
about themselves, their power, or their past; who bathes herself in the bitter
water of regret; will /never/ win against me. A truely powerful trainer banishes
regret. They focus on the here and now in battle, because if thier minds are
preoccupied with wishes for the past, then they will have no future. Walrein,
start things off with blizzard!"
"Houndour! EMBER ATTACK!" The two attacks collided, warring with each other.
~Flashback~
Smack! Gwen's father was working clay. He made pots and such as a hobby and sold
them for extra money on the sideline. Smack! The ball of clay flattened with
each smash of his large powerful hands. A slab, cut like a Franciscan cross, lay
abandoned on the table next to the work place.
SMACK! "Wow daddy, you're strong..."
Smack! "None stronger dear. Here's some clay of your own to work with..."
~end flashback~
"Daddy..." She whispered softly.
"What was that?" Asked Duel.
"None of your business!" Gwen growled angrily, tears filling her eyes.
You can feel it
But can't steal it
Cos boy I've got the magic touch
Can you be the best?
With the power you possess?
Will you stand up to the fight?
Can you pass the test?
Or are you frightened to confess
That you just can't get it right?
You can win or lose
But you've gotta pay your dues
Step up or step away
Do you really wanna play?
"Houndour! Double team!" Gwen called out. Houndour began to multiply, then
slipped into the darkness of the stage. "Now use bite attack!"
"Walrein, ice beam at the ground!"
Houndour slipped and cried out as it knocked its jaw together with a frightful
crack on the slippery stage.
"Duel has used ice beam to slip Houndour out of its doubleteam attack and even
the playing field some."
"Houndour, back off and use Flamethrower to melt the ice!"
"Walrein, use surf attack!"
Steam covered the field. Suddenly... out of the mist... Houndour attacked! It
bit down hard on Walrein's neck and blood trickled across the icy stage.
"Walrein!" Duel cried. "use your tusks!"
Walrein thrashed around, slashing houndour across the side.
"Houndour, jump free!" Gwen called out.
"Dour!" Houndour tried, very hard, to get up from where it had collapsed.
"Gwen, this is dangerous!" Juan hissed from the entrance. "Call it off!"
"I won't... I can't give up!" Gwen protested as the steam slowly disappeared.
"Houndour! Smog attack!" Gwen shouted. "Then use feint attack."
The challenge is yours
Take it
You've backed down before
Now prove to me
You control your destiny
~flashback~
"I'm gay..." Gwen admitted softly.
"WHAT???" Her father demanded. "And you knew this Miya?"
"I knew." Miyamoto agreed. "She was too afraid to tell you."
"So now you're not only a goddamned, heathen witch, you're also a lesbian??
OUT!!! OUT OF MY HOUSE!!"
"Daddy no!" Gwen sobbed.
"Darroll wait!" Miyamoto protested. "Don't kick her out! She's your own
daughter!"
"OUT!" Snarled Darroll.
"Never!" Miyamoto snarled. "You're not the only one who decides who lives in
this house!"
"Then you're the one who feeds and clothes her. You're the one who pays for her
college education when she gets old enough. You're the one who gives her
everything. Because I will not give money to a heathen... or a dyke."
~end flashback~
"What's wrong Gwen?" Duel's voice came through the smog. "No motivation? Or are
you stuck in the past? Is that what's haunting you? Let go of it all! Unless you
shed every single ounce of excess psychological baggage. All that hurt and pain
and regret, you will never, /ever/ be able to reach your potential as a
trainer."
Let it go? Let it go? Just what was she talking about? How could she know all
the hurt and pain that Gwen had been through, had seen her mother go through?
And it was her fault, hers, all of it!
"Gwen, you're holding back! I want you to hit me with everything! Give it your
all!" Duel's voice came through the smoke. "Now clear up this smoke and attack!"
Keep it steady
Get ready
Show me that you've got the stuff
Can you be the best?
With the power you possess?
Will you stand up to the fight?
Can you pass the test?
Or are you frightened to confess
That you just can't get it right?
You can win or lose
But you've gotta pay your dues
Step up or step away...
"HOUNDOUR! FLAMETHROWER!" Gwen called out.
"NO NOT THAT!!" Brock cried from the audience.
The overheat exploded the smog attack. For a few seconds flaming light blazed in
the darkened contest hall. From it's fiery hell came a hound, a hound of hell,
aimed right at Walrein. It was Houndour, fangs bared the pokemon seemed almost
ethereal in its fury.
"Houndour survived the explosion without losing any points! If anything it looks
even more determined to fight!" The announcer called out. "Walrein has lost a
significant portion of its points. With one minute closing on the clock, will
Walrein be able to cover the distance in time?"
Change your mind-set
And you'll get
Better every day...
Can you be the best?
With the power you possess?
Will you stand up to the fight?
Can you pass the test?
Or are you frightened to confess
That you just can't get it right?
You can win or lose
But you've gotta pay your dues
Step up or step away
"Tell me GWEN!" Duel called across the distance. "What are you fighting for?"
Houndour howled as it sensed victory near.
Gwen couldn't do a thing. She just froze up. "I..."
"Tell me Gwen!" Duel asked, looking sad now. Her tone was mournful, almost
desperate. "I fight for my father, for his honor and trust and yes, for the
strength to aid in his ideals. What do you fight for?"
"Thirty seconds and neither pokemon has moved! Is Duel going to surrender?"
Can you be the best?
With the power you possess?
Will you stand up to the fight?
Can you pass the test?
Or are you frightened to confess
That you just can't get it right?
"It would seem the answer is no. You don't fight for anything or anyone. You
just enjoy fighting. And if that is how you live, then you are no better than
any other run of the mill coordinator, and deserve to be blasted from the
stage!" Duel turned to Walrein. "Walrein, Sheer Cold!"
"Walrein lets loose a devestating sheer cold attack! Can Houndour withstand the
barrage?" The howling wind was deafening. The force of the cold could be felt
across the contest hall.
Gwen's shout was lost in the howling winds of the sheer force of sheer cold. So
cold that the tears froze on her cheeks like diamonds. But inside Gwen was warm,
so warm that she felt her heart would burst apart. She knew now who she fought
for, what she stood for. She felt the cold, and she smiled. Ten... nine...
eight...
"HOUNDOUR! OVERHEAT!" Gwen bellowed, through lips chapped from the cold winds.
Seven... six... five...
Can you be the best?
With the power you possess?
Will you stand up to the fight?
Can you pass the test?
Or are you frightened to confess
That you just can't get it right?
A blast of pure fire, as bright and warm as Gwen's heart lanced through the
darkened stage. It hit Walrein square on. Four...
Walrein glared at Houndour. Three...
Houndour glared at Walrein. Two...
Walrein wavered, the points gage plummeting to zero. One...
DING DING DING DING!! Walrein collapsed.
The lights came on, and Duel extended a hand to Gwen. "Duel." Gwen said before
she went to accept her ribbon. "Thank you. Because of you, I've found a reason
to stand my ground and fight."
"That's all any trainer could have." Duel replied. "And it was because you found
it that you and Houndour survived that sheer cold. You had fire in your
bellies."
Pichu perked its head out of Gwen's backpack. "Chuu!" It shook snow from its
head. Gwen smiled warmly. "Pichu, sorry you had to go through that. That snow
attack was freezing."
"Chuu!" Pichu said happily as it lept into Gwen's arms. Gwen turned to accept
the ribbon from the judge then.
Juan watched as Gwen got her second ribbon from the door to the stage. He
hovered there, as if he wanted to go out to greet her, but something held him
back. Finally, he turned and walked back down the corridor.
"Roselia..." Roselia tugged Gwen off stage as best she could, pulling her
towards the door.
"Okay, okay, we'll go visit Drew!" Gwen said with a nod."If we can find the
Hospital." She spotted a Lady with blue hair in a police uniform, a Growlithe
escorting her. "Excuse me ma'am? My friend got taken to the Hospital, can you
tell me where it is?"
"Six blocks down, across the street from the Department Store." Officer Jenny
replied. "You take the right at Shopper's Way and its right there. You can't
miss it."
"You mean the way I just can't miss you out of a crowd?" Brock asked, swooning
for Officer Jenny. "You stand out so well, you're impossible to miss."
Officer Jenny got a deer in the headlights look on her face. "Okaaaaaay, no more
midnight caffine for Brock." Misty said as she and Max dragged Brock away from
Officer Jenny.
"Brock, Drew's condition is more important right now!" Max protested. "He may be
a jerk but he's ill and we need to go make sure he's alright."
It was late, the streets were deserted. Gwen moved quickly past the shops and
houses and apartments. All was silent, even the Hospital was quiet, until you
noticed the background noise, phones ringing, carts moving, people moaning or
crying, the beeping of monitors. But very little talk.
"Excuse me miss." Misty said as she went over to the counter. "We're looking for
a trainer named Drew. He was brought in with a seizure earlier and had to leave
his pokemon behind."
"Seliaaaa-aaaaaa-aaaaaa!" Roselia wailed for emphasis.
"Chuuuu-uuuuu-uuuuuu!" Pichu cried, mimicking Roselia.
"Pichu you be quiet." Gwen warned it.
"Chuu! Chuu! Pi pi pi pipipi chuuuu!" Pichu ducked back into Gwen's backpack and
hid from a passing nurse.
"Pichu, stop it!" Gwen told the wriggling baby pokemon.
The receptionist noticed the baby pokemon by now. "Oh how cute!" She squeaked.
Pichu's huge eyes peeked out from the top of Gwen's bag. "Oh dear, you'd better
go. There's only half an hour until visiting time is over. He's on the second
floor in room 203."
"Arigato," Gwen replied quickly before she and the others ran upstairs to the
second floor. The door to room 203 was open. Drew was hooked up to the usual
array of monitors. "Heyla Drew. We brought somebody to see you."
"Roselia!" Roselia hopped up onto the bed, shoving Gwen aside in her haste to
get to her trainer.
"Hey Roselia... it's alright... I'm gonna be okay." Drew said with a slow smile.
"I just need to remember to refill my medicine."
"Seeeeliiiiaaaaaaa!!!" Bawled Roselia.
"How soon will they let you out?" Ash asked hopefully.
"That depends on whether or not I have another seizure." Replied Drew. "If I
have another one, another two, maybe three days. But if I don't have one then
they'll let me out tomorrow, with a higher dose of medicine and enough refills
for the next three months." Drew said this last miserably. "I'm sorry to worry
you guys. Who won the contest?"
"Gwen did." Brock told him. "Her houndour caused an explosion that took out half
of Duel's hit points. Then withstood a Sheer Cold attack using Overheat."
Drew nodded. "You're a vicious fighter Gwen. I look forward to seeing you at the
Grand Festival." He said with a weak smile. "Well, now you all know my secret...
I suppose I should tell you how I met Roselia."
"I was kinda interested in finding that out." May agreed.
"When I first started having seizures the doctor told my parents that an
aromatherapy attack, at the right time, could lessen a seizure, and that for a
sick person, caring for a pokemon could help them return to health. So that's
what I did. My dad trains Fire types. He searched and searched and finally he
found a Roselia for me, the same Roselia I'm training now."
"Selia!" Roselia said proudly and let loose an aromatherapy attack to
demonstrate. Drew took a deep whiff and smiled, pulling the pokemon into a hug.
"I missed you." Drew said with a soft smile.
"Chu!" Pichu popped out of Gwen's backpack, looked around, and seeing it was
still in the hospital, ducked back in.
"What is /with/ that thing tonight?" Gwen asked as she looked back over her
shoulder at where the pokemon had been. She pulled out her pokedex for an
answer.
"Some pokemon are sensitive to human suffering. For this reason they are
frightened of hospitals, doctors offices, accident sites, and war battlefields."
The pokedex explained. "This phenomenon has been mostly observed among psychic
pokemon, however, baby pokemon are also suceptible."
"So that explains it. Pichu's scared of hospitals." Ash commented as the little
pokemon's glittering black eyes were the only things visible in Gwen's backpack.
"It's time to head up to the pokemon center." Said one of the Nurses peeking in.
"Drew, if you want to leave tomorrow then you'll need to get some rest okay? And
don't forget to take your medicine before you go to bed."
Drew sighed reluctantly. "I hate taking medicine, forget that I"ve had to take
it since I was a kid. I hate it, and the bloodtests, and the kids looking at me
like I'd sprouted a Dodrio's three heads." He complained, tears in his eyes.
"Nurse, can't Roselia stay with me tonight?"
"Oh all right." The Nurse said reluctantly.
"Okay, good night you two. Get well soon okay Drew?"
"They'll let me out in time for lunch." Drew agreed with a faint smile. "See you
all tomorrow."
"yeah, see ya." May said softly as she turned to go. "Get well soon Drew."
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