*************** Pokemon, Asylum of the Damned Chapter XII Saga III - Infernobadge Saga Chapter V - Raise a little Hell! *************** Tom had just finished his eight-month stay at The PokeMasters. Tom had that warm, fuzzy feeling inside his stomach after helping Jen. Not only that, their bitter rivalry had finally been put aside. With nothing behind him and everything in front, now was the time that Tom decided to get the Infernobadge. Tom and Porygon stood outside the Gym doors, ready for a Pokemon fight. With a heavy sigh, Tom entered the Gym. Judging from the brightly colored orange and red color scheme within the gym, Tom could only guess that this Gym leader used fire-type Pokemon. "Great, I don't have any water-types," Tom thought to himself, "this is going to be tough." And Tom got quite a surprise when he entered the Battle Field. There was a very large lava pool in the form of a circle around the large circular battle field like a moat. In the center of the field stood a tall long-black haired man wearing a black jacket with yellow and orange flame decals around the bottom. The man turned around when Tom called out to him. "Are you open for any challenges?" Tom asked. "Sure. What's your name, kid?" The man replied confidently. "Tom. What's yours?" "I have no name. But people call me Charlie." "A secretive guy," Tom thought, "But Charlie's fine." "Well," said Charlie, "will you go first, or shall I?" "Your pick," Tom said, as he walked onto the battlefield across a makeshift bridge of rock. Charlie opened up the side of his jacket and plucked a Pokeball from one of the item attachments from the inside, enlarging the Pokeball and opened it up. "Come out, Slugma!" Charlie ordered as a red beam of energy shot out of the Pokeball, which formed itself into a small red, slug-like Pokemon with very large eyes sticking out on top. Tom pulled out his Pokedex. "Slugma, the Lava Pokemon," Tom's Pokedex said. "Slugma's body is covered in red hot lava. This Pokemon is almost always moving, to keep the lava hot and liquid-like, giving it more freedom to move. It's body composition looks somewhat like Magby's and Magmar's, but no connection has been discovered between the two." "Let's make this a best out of three match," Charlie proposed. "Sure," Tom agreed. Tom put the Pokedex back in his jacket pocket. "I can't use Pinsir, she's a bug type," thought Tom. "I can't use Hitmonlee, he's just unreasonable," Tom grimaced. "I'll have to give Porygon a try." Tom concluded as he looked down at Porygon. Poygon nodded, and drove out to the battle field and faced Slugma. "Alright, Slugma!" Charlie called, "Earthquake!" Slugma jumped up into the air upon Charlie's command and slammed her body forcefully into the ground. The ground shook so violently that, after rocking Porygon off of his feet, even Tom and Charlie felt the impact of the attack. Porygon landed on it's side, but soon rightened itself out. "Porygon, Iron Tail!" Tom ordered. Porygon's tail turned a grayish-hued blue and suddenly looked even more stiff than before. Porygon rushed at Slugma and made a sharp turn into Slugma, whacking Slugma with its steel-like tail. Slugma was sent flying all the way to the edge of the barttle field and landed at Charlie's feet. Slugma groaned weakly in defeat. Charlie put Slugma back in her Pokeball, reached for another, and opened it. Porygon strode back to Tom as Tom opened up Machop's Pokeball, letting the grayish-blue pokemon out. "Machop!" Tom's Pokemon squealed. Charlie's new Pokemon looked like a small black dog with a skull-like formation on her forehead, and two boney lumps on her back. Tom pulled out his Pokedex again. "Houndour, the Dark Pokemon," the Pokedex said. "When on the move, they usually communicate in barks and howls that only they and their evolution Houndoom can understand. Houndour are very agile, as they are a combination between Fire and Dark type Pokemon." "Houndour, Rage attack!" Charlie commanded. Houndour rose up in hackles, hissing and growling at Machop upon Charlie's command. "Machop! Submission!" Tom commanded. Machop dove at Houndour and slipped behind her, put his foot on her left leg and yanked her tail. Houndour yelped as she tried to writhe her tail free, but Machop's grasp proved to be much too tight. Suddenly, she whipped her neck around and bit Machop on the arm. Machop yelped in pain and furiously tried to wrench his arm free of Houndour's jaws, but could not tug his arm out of the Pokemon's tooth-lock, and the more Machop struggled, the more Houndour held on. Finally, when Machop fell to his knees, Charlie called off Houndour. "That's enough Houndour. Let him go." Houndour obeyed and released Machop immediately. Machop held his bleeding arm as he walked in defeat back to Tom, leaving a trail of dripping blood behind him. Charlie and Tom zapped their respective Pokemon into their Pokeballs. Charlie reached into his jacket, and pulled out another Pokeball. After releasing the Pokemon inside, a large black-yellow Pokemon took the field. Suddenly, a fire flared on it's back. "Quilava, the Volacno Pokemon," Said the Pokedex to Tom. "Using its fire on it's back, it can use a variety of attacks like Flame Wheel." Tom plucked a Pokeball from his belt and let the Pokemon out. "Go! Cyndaquil!" "Cynda!" Cyndaquil cheered upon being released. "Lava," The Quilava said menacingly. Cyndaquil squeaked and ran to Tom and hid behind his leg. "What's this?" jeered Charlie, "A Cyndaquil?" Tom ignored him and crouched down to Cyndaquil. "C'mon Cyndaquil, don't be afraid," Tom said, trying to encourage his Pokemon. Cyndaquil shook her head fiercley. "Come on, you're the last Pokemon I can use!" Tom pleaded. Cyndaquil still refused. Tom sighed and said, "Do it and I'll buy you something." Cyndaquil squeaked nervously as she nodded slowly, and then made her way to the battlefield. As soon as Cyndaquil took the center of the field, Charlie commanded, "Quilava, Tackle!" Quilava raced at Cyndaquil and rammed his skull into her forehead. Cyndaquil was sent skidding across the field and slipped over the edge. "Cyndaquil!" Tom gasped as he dashed after his Pokemon and slid along the edge on his side. Tom found Cyndaquil hanging on to the ledge by her tiny stubby fingertips. "Quil!" she shrieked. As soon as Tom took her hand and helped her up, Cyndaqui's body began to glow brightly. The glow so bright it nearly blinded Tom and everyone else on the field. When the glowing subsided, Tom was amazed at what he saw. There, standing before him, was a newly evolved Quilava. "Quilava," Tom murmured feebly, happy for his new Quilava. The Tom turned to the rival Quilava and ordered, "Quilava, Quick Attack!" Quilava raced towards the other Quilava with speed so fast that all Tom and Charlie saw was a black-red blurr which collided into Charlie's Quilava with incredible impact. The Quilava was sent skidding across the feild, only to have Tom's Quilava meet him on the other side with a whack onto Charlie's Quilava's back, sending him skidding to the other side again. Charlie's Quilava staggered to his feet and charged Tom's Quilava again. Tom's Quilava then sucked in a deep breath and blew out a thick coloumn of smoke, the Smokescreen technique. Charlie's Quilava was lost in the thick fog, unable to see anything but a black haze. And soon he was unconsious when Tom's Quilava leapt through the smoke and smacked him across the field with a Tackle. Charlie gasped when his Quilava landed at his feet, slumped over on his side and knocked out cold. Charlie sighed as he zapped his Quilava back into his Pokeball. "Lava!" Quilava roared, declaring her supremacy. Charlie walked over to Tom with a grin. "Nice job, kid." Charlie said, as he handed Tom the Infernobadge. -End ********