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Pokemon, Asylum of the Damned

Chapter XV

Saga III - Powerbadge Saga

Chapter III - Showdown in Funsen City

Part I - An Old Rival

**********

Tom sat in the Funsen Pokemon Center lounge chair, waiting for Hitmonlee to 
be treated from his bloody battle with the Sneasel while Porygon was being 
repaired by one of the super-smart Kadabra. As he sat in the lobby Tom 
wondered how long had it been since he left home. Realizing that it was 
almost nine months since he did, Tom pushed his tongue through the gap where 
the tooth knocked out by the Rhydon had once been. Pokemon training was 
tougher than it looked.

Tom was just heading out of the Center when he bumped into someone, and he 
was surprised to see who it was. "Tom!" His old rival said, greeting him.

"Jen!" Tom greeted Jen back.

It wasn't until three second later that Jen noticed something different 
about Tom. And it wasn't until Tom stretched his mouth in a wide grin that 
Jen noticed Tom's missing tooth. "My God! How... how'd you lose your tooth?"

"You've heard of the Rhydon that was terrorizing Dillem?"

"Yeah, who hasn't? Wait, you- you caught him? Like that Hitmonlee?"

"No, I didn't catch him."

"But then how...?"

"I sent out Kangaskhan.."

"You have a Kangaskhan? Wow."

"...And they tore into each other. Pretty bloody, actually."

Jen gave a look of disgust on her face.

"I tried to separate them, and..."

"You mean, you tried to take on a Rhydon?"

Jen couldn't contain her laughter. "Apparently there's Pokemon, there's 
Humans, and then there's men," she giggled to herself.

"Hey Jen, what've you been doing?"

"Oh, nothing really."

Porygon stood silent. "A few months ago these two wanted to rip each other 
apart," Porygon thought to itself, confused.

"Hey Tom, I'll take you on again. You up for the challenge?"

"Why not?" Tom thought to himself, "I'll beat her like I always do." "Sure," 
came his reply.

"One on one?"

"Your call."

*********

Tom and Jen walked to an empty street, the perfect setting for a Pokemon 
fight. Tom plucked one of his Pokeballs from his waist and opened it up, 
letting Doduo materialize from the usual red beam. Jen could hardly believe 
how cute this twin-headed Pokemon was. "Aw, a Doduo! How cute!" She gushed.

"Caw?" Doduo said, angling his left head in confusion. Jen soon got over 
herself and plucked a Pokeball from her leg-belt. "I have an equally cute 
Pokemon too, Tom," she said as she opened it up. It took all Tom had to stop 
his jaw from dropping wide open when he saw the Pokemon that Jen had 
released.

It was a big, very big and enormously plump Pokemon, and maybe about seven 
feet tall. All it seemed to do was lie down. Tom pulled out his Pokedex.

"Snorlax, the Sleeping Pokemon," Tom's Pokedex said. "Snorlax are very big, 
lazy Pokemon. Snorlax eat almost eighteen times a day, which attributes to 
the fact that most Snorlax are about half a ton each."

Tom could hardly stop himself from blurting out, "Half a ton!"

"A Snorlax can eat almost any type of food, even off the ground. Its 
digestive juices can dissolve almost anything. Surprisingly, it very rarely 
gets an upset stomach, even if it has eaten a pound of mold." The last 
statement made Tom's stomach churn.

"Laaaax..." Snorlax grumbled.

"A Po-ke-mon tha-t po-we-r-fu-l cou-ld po-se qu-ite a pro-bl-em," Porygon 
commented.

Tom looked at the sleeping giant again. "He doesn't look to fast. Doduo 
could easily run circles around him," Tom said.

"Cute, isn't he?" Jen said.

"Doduo!" Tom commanded his Pokemon, ignoring Jen, "Quick Attack!"

Doduo ran towards Snorlax and thrust his right beak into Snorlax's belly. 
Doduo then pecked Snorlax repeatedly, alternating pecks with his left and 
right heads in a Fury Attack. When Doduo got exhausted from his furious 
pecking, he stepped back and caught his breath. Snorlax only yawned and sat 
up, hardly affected by the furious assualt. "Snorlax, Counter!" Jen 
commanded.

"Snor," Snorlax mumbled gripping Doduo by his left head. Doduo squawked and 
squirmed madly, but he couldn't get out of Snorlax's tight grip. Snorlax 
lifted Doduo up high and then slammed him down into the ground.

"Caaaaaaaaaaaaawww....." Doduo mumbled, defeated.

"Damn," Tom muttered as he zapped his defeated Pokemon back in his Pokeball.

"Nice work, Snorlax!" Jen cheered.

Snorlax only yawned as Jen put him back in his Pokeball.

"Nice seein' you again, Jen," Tom said as he turned around and walked away, 
"I've got stuff to do."

Jen waved to him "Seeya' later, Tom!" she said cheerily. Porygon drove up 
and caught up to Tom. "Yeah right," Jen thought, "He can't stand the thought 
that finally I won. Hah!"

"So no-w we-re go-ing to ge-t the Po-wer-bad-ge?" Porygon asked Tom. Tom 
looked down at his cybernetic companion.

"Yep."

************

Part II - Ringing Hell's Bells

[Another obligatory "special-content" warning]

WARNING:

While the rest of the chapter does have a bit of blood splattering, it's not 
nearly as bloody as Ch. 13. For that I'm very, very sorry ;). So once again, 
if you go ahead and scar your innocence from reading this and come whining 
to me about it, blow it out your ass and tell someone who cares. Mmmmm-K?

************

Tom and Porygon stood outside Funsen City's Pokemon Gym. With a heavy 
breath, Tom pushed open the doors. The Gym was fairly dark inside, lit only 
by a few overhead lights which hung from the rafters. Tom's footsteps echoed 
through the open space where he walked with Porygon's feet creating a soft 
stir in the air likewise as they looked around for the Gym leader. The 
leader was nowhere in sight.

Tom was beginning to think the leader had gone out when he heard a faint 
grunt echo through the building. "What do you suppose that was, Porygon?" 
Tom asked his cybernetic friend. Porygon only blinked his eyes off and on 
once. Tom and Porygon followed the source of the noise into a well-lit room.

Standing in the middle of the room was a man, about in his mid-thirties. The 
man had short, ruffled crew-cut hair, wearing a red bandanna across his 
forehead. Beside him was a stand of two concrete blocks, holding up four 
slabs of concrete. With a grunt of effort, the man spun on his heel, 
extended his leg, smacking the concrete slabs with his boot, breaking them 
clean in two. Just noticing Tom in his presence, the man turned around.

"Hi. My name's Jackie. Jackie Chatt," The man said calmly.

"Are you the gym leader here?" Tom asked.

"Yep," Jackie replied. "Let me guess, you want a Pokemon fight?" Jackie 
asked confidently.

"You got it," Tom replied.

Tom, Porygon and Jackie stood at their respective ends of the battlefield. 
"You're the challenger," Jackie said to Tom, "you send out first."

Tom reached under his jacket, and plucked a Pokeball from his belt. "Come 
out, Pinsir!" Tom commanded as Pinsir lept free of the Pokeball.

"Nice bug," Jackie commented as he reached into his jacket and tossed out a 
Pokeball. The ball opened, and a Pokemon emerged.

"Heracross!" The Pokemon roared. Tom pulled out his trusty Pokedex.

"Heracross, the Singlehorn Pokemon," The Pokedex said. "This powerful 
Pokemon thrusts its prized horn under the enemies' bellies then lifts and 
throws them. Heracross are usually found sipping honey and sap from trees. 
Although they are usually docile, if they are disturbed, they will not 
hesitate to run off any intruder." Tom put his Pokedex back in his jacket 
pocket.

"Hey Tom," Jackie called. "Let's make this a best of three match. What do 
you say?"

"Sounds fine to me," Tom agreed. "Pinsir, Slash!"

"Heracross! Take down!" Jackie ordered.

Immediately upon their respective trainer's commands, Pinisr and Heracross 
lunged at each other, and within seconds, the two collided. The two stopped 
as soon as they passed each other, each breathing heavily from their 
ramming-speed charge. After a few minutes of silence, Heracross gripped his 
bleeding side, groaned weakly once, and fell over. Pinsir clashed her 
bloodstained claws in victory, clenching her clawed fists tightly.

Jackie zapped his defeated Heracross back inside his Pokeball, and almost as 
soon as he put it away, he held another in his hand. Tom and Jackie 
simultaneously recalled their Pokemon and sent out another. Tom opened up 
one of his own Pokeballs, and let Hitmonlee loose. The Pokemon that 
materialized from Jackie's new ball cheered, "Hitmontop!" Tom pulled out his 
Pokedex again.

"Hitmontop, the Handstand Pokemon," Said the Pokedex in its same monotone. 
"One of the stranger of Tyrouge's evolutions, Hitmontop is a moderately 
powerful fighting Pokemon. It will spin on its horn to kick an opponent with 
its three feet at blinding speeds."

Tom stuffed the Pokedex back into his trench coat pocket. "Hitmonlee, Mach 
Punch!" Tom commanded.

"Hitmontop, Counter!" Jackie ordered.

Upon command, Hitmonlee charged at Hitmontop with blinding speed, so quickly 
that not even Porygon could follow him. Yet Hitmontop just stood there, 
completely calm despite the rushing agressor. The impact of Hitmonlee's fist 
on Hitmontop's belly sent the Pokemon flying to the other side of the room, 
leaving Hitmontop coughing and sputtering for breath. Hitmonlee charged at 
Hitmontop again, but just as Hitmonlee neared, Hitmontop sprung into the air 
and slashed Hitmonlee with his horn. Hitmonlee staggered backwards, holding 
a bleeding gash on his left cheek.

"Hitmontop, Rolling kick!" Jackie ordered.

Hitmonlee looked forwards only to have Hitmontop smash his foot into his 
face. Hitmonlee fell backwards and crashed to the ground, his eye swelling 
and beginning to close. Grimacing, Tom zapped Hitmonlee back inside his 
Pokeball at the same time Jackie did Hitmontop.

"Come on out, Machop!" Tom said, grabbing another of his Pokeballs and 
releasing the Pokemon inside.

"Machop!"

Jackie reached for another Pokeball, and let out his last Pokemon. 
"Poliwrath!" the Pokemon bellowed the instant it appeared on the field.

"What the hell?" Tom muttered, staring at the Poliwrath as he fumbled for 
his Pokedex again.

"Poliwrath, the tadpole Pokemon," the Pokedex put out, "the highest evolved 
form of Poliwag, following its Poliwhirl stage. Poliwrath are amazing 
swimmers, and are also one of the most resilient water types. With enhanced 
muscle power in its arms when evolved from Poliwhirl, Poliwrath are also 
classified as fighting-type Pokemon. As well, like fighting-types, they 
excel at close-quater combat."

Just as soon as Tom put away his Pokedex, Jackie ordered, "Poliwrath, Body 
Slam!"

"Machop! Double-Edge!" Tom ordered. Machop ran towards Poliwrath, put both 
arms across his chest and rammed Poliwrath with all of his weight in front 
of him, but Machop bounced right off of Poliwrath's big belly as if he were 
a mere pebble rebounding off of a mountain wall.

With a simple wa cry, Poliwrath leapt into the air and landed on Machop, 
flattening Machop instantly. "Chop," Machop wheezed, winded. Poliwrath 
rolled off of Machop and stood back on his feet, hoisting Machop up as well 
by his wrist.

"Poliwrath, Seismic toss!" Jackie ordered.

With that, Poliwrath flung Machop all the way down the battlefield with 
hardly a sweat. "Chop," Machop whined, a stream of blood dribbling down his 
face. Machop wearily got to his feet, bruises all over his body, holding his 
left arm.

"Poliwrath, finish him off!" Jackie commanded, "Ice Beam!"

Poliwrath put both hands together with his palms facing Machop, and a 
speeding a beam of freezing ice shot from his hands towards Machop. Machop 
turned around to look at his opponent, only to have the Ice Beam hit him 
square in the chest, covering him head to toe in ice, freezing him solid on 
the spot.

"Machop!" Tom gasped.

"Looks like this one's over," Jackie smirked. Tom hung his head in defeat.

Suddenly, a faint cracking noise came from Machop's icy tomb. Then, more 
cracking sounds came, becoming increasingly sharp and loud. Then, with a 
scream, Machop burst free of his frozen iron maiden, spraying shards of ice 
and water all over the arena. "Alright, Machop!" Tom gleamed as Jackie stood 
in disbelief. Even Poliwrath was surprised at Machop's resiliency. Now with 
renewed passion, Tom ordered, "Machop, Vital Throw!"

Before anyone else had time to act, Machop had grasped Poliwrath in his 
hands. Then Machop flung himself backwards onto the floor and brought his 
feet up into Poliwrath's belly, kicking Poliwrath high into the air. Tom and 
Jackie watched the large Pokemon's flight peak, and then come back down to 
the ground with a loud smash. As soon as Poliwrath shakily got back up, 
Machop greeted him with a Double-Edge to his face. Poliwrath staggered back 
from Machop's attack, his eye swelling over and his brow dribbling a steady 
stream of blood down his face.

Just as Machop lunged at Poliwrath again, Jackie ordered, "Poliwrath, Hydro 
Pump!"

As soon as Machop grabbed Poliwrath again, Poliwrath tripped Machop with a 
quick sweep of his leg, tackling him onto the floor as they both fell. 
Poliwrath then put both fists above Machop and let out a powerful stream of 
water from them, pummeling upon Machop's chest relentlessly. Machop, 
half-paralyzed by the brutal barrage of water battering on his chest, 
struggled against Poliwrath with whatever strength he had left in him, but 
Poliwrath's attack proved to be too overpowering for Machop to withstand, 
and Machop felt his body rapidly wearing down.

Suddenly, Machop's eyes began to glow. Then his whole body began to glow. 
"What the hell?" Jackie murmured. Poliwrath stopped his Hydro Pump in awe of 
the Pokemon that now looked like a nite-light on steroids. Then, almost as 
suddenly as it had started, the glow subsided. "What?" Jackie couldn't 
believe what he saw, nor could Tom.

Underneath Poliwrath was a newly evolved Machoke.

Machoke shot his hand up with blinding speed, gripping his opponent by the 
shoulder. Machoke got up, still holding the bewildered Poliwrath in an 
iron-crushing grip. Machoke now stood above Poliwrath, a fact he noticed as 
soon as he flung the Pokemon halfway across the room without hardly a 
thought.

Poliwrath slowly got up, a small wound on his hand dripping blood. Tom 
smiled. "Now I might actually have a chance of winning!"

****************

Part III

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Machoke flexed his new rippling biceps over and over again. He liked what he 
saw so much he barley noticed Poliwrath get up. Jackie stood at his end of 
the battlefield, still muttering in disbelief. Tom could hardly contain his 
joy over his newly evolved Machoke. Jackie soon regained his composure and 
spoke to Poilwrath. "Poliwrath, Ice Beam!" Jackie commanded.

Tom snapped out of his daydreaming, and ordered Machoke to counter-attack. 
"Machoke, block it with a Double-Edge!" Tom commanded.

Just as Poliwrath fired another Ice Beam, Machoke put his arms in an X-shape 
formation, tucking his head in the protective pocket of his arms. The Ice 
Beam blasted on Machoke's forearms, spraying ice everywhere, leaving Machoke 
unharmed. When the icy assault was over, Machoke quickly resumed a fighting 
stance, snorting a taunt at Poliwrath.

"Machoke, Cross Chop!" Tom commanded. Machoke ran at Poliwrath at full 
speed, holding his arms away from his body.

"Poliwrath, try to block it!" Jackie ordered.

Poliwrath clenched his fists, narrowed his eyes, and braced himself for the 
worst. As soon as Machoke was within sweeping distance of Poliwrath, he 
flung his arms to each side of Poliwrath. Poliwrath quickly put both arms at 
his sides, trying to block the impact of Machoke's Cross Chop. Machoke's 
hands smashed into Poliwrath's arms with a devastating force so powerful, it 
made Poliwrath shiver violently on the spot.

"Alright now, Machoke!" Tom ordered, "Headbutt!"

Machoke grabbed Poliwrath by the shoulders again, and slammed his head into 
Poliwrath's face. Poliwrath staggered back, holding a bleeding cut between 
his eyes. Then Machoke grasped Poliwrath and threw him across the field 
again, another Vital Throw attack. Poliwrath skidded across the floor and 
came to a halt in front of Jackie. Jackie knelt down to his bloodied and 
battered Pokemon. "Poliwrath, are you okay?" Jackie asked.

"Wrath," Poliwrath moaned groggily, staggering back to his feet.

"Hey Jackie!" Tom called from the end of the field, "You can forfeit any 
time!" Tom taunted. Jackie growled in irritation. Jackie stood up, and 
pointed to Machoke.

"Poliwrath! Body Slam!"

Poliwrath ran at Machoke, and lunged at him. "Machoke," Tom said, 
"Double-Edge!"

Machoke crossed his arms again and ran at Poliwrath. Just as the two Pokemon 
were to collide, Poliwrath swung himself to the right, sidestepping Machoke, 
leaving the lumbering Machoke to stumble forward clumsily. When Machoke 
turned around, Poliwrath smashed his body into Machoke with a Body Slam, 
sending both him and Machoke toppling to the floor. "Poliwrath, Hydro Pump!" 
Jackie ordered. Poliwrath held both hands, balled into fists, and extended 
them in Machoke's direction. Poliwrath shot out a powerful blast of water 
from his fists, smashing into Machoke's back. Machoke was sent skidding 
wildly across the field on his belly, stopping right in front of Tom. Tom 
crouched down to his Pokemon, who now sported a bleeding cut above his left 
eye.

"Machoke, use a Cross Cho-"

Tom's words were cut short as Machoke got up and pushed him away. Tom landed 
surprised and stunned on the floor. After a sharp glare, Machoke turned 
towards his foe, and charged.

"Poliwrath," Jackie commanded, "Body Slam!"

Machoke crossed his arms again with another Double-Edge attack. Poliwrath 
and Machoke ran towards each other, each preparing for one final strike. As 
the two came within meters of each other, they both leapt into the air, on a 
collision course with each other. With a bone-shattering thud, both Pokemon 
smashed into each other, somehow managing to fall back to the grounf on 
their feet. Looking over his shoulder, Poliwrath glared at Machoke 
fearlessly, while Machoke glared at Poliwrath with the same indignance. A 
long silence passed, as neither Pokemon moved a muscle. Then to both 
Jackie's and Tom's surprise, Poliwrath dropped to his knees and fell over, 
defeated.

"No... no fucking way," Jackie stammered, hardly able to believe his prized 
Pokemon had been defeated. Tom let out a loud cry of triumph, and ran 
towards his Machoke, arms wide open, as if to embrace him. Instead, Machoke 
held out his hand blocking Tom, while he examined his nails on his other 
hand.

"You- you- ungrateful little-!" Was all Tom could vent in frustration before 
he zapped Machoke back into his Pokeball.

Jackie chuckled at Machoke's disobedience as he zapped Poliwrath back into 
his Pokeball. "Well, ya' beat me, Tom," Jackie said as he walked across the 
bloodstained floor over to Tom. "And as proof of your victory," Jackie 
reached into his vest, and pulled out a small brown and black badge, shaped 
like a small mallet, "here's my Powerbadge." Tom took a deep breath as he 
pocketed his prize and brushed back his short hair with his hand. "Hey Tom," 
Jackie said smiling "That was a good fight."

Tom smiled back at Jackie. "Hey thanks. You put up a good fight yourself." 
Tom looked down at Porygon, who had remained silent throught the battle. 
"C'mon Porygon, let's go."

*****

Tom was sitting in the Pokemon Center lounge couch, when the automatic doors 
opened, and in walked Jen. Jen noticed Tom sitting on the couch, and smiled. 
"Hi Tom," she said, giving her Pokeballs to the Nurse Joy for treatment. Tom 
shuffled over to make room for Jen on the couch. "Hey Tom, didja' get that 
badge yet?" she asked, sitting dow beside him. Tom dug his wallet out of his 
trench coat and flipped open the clear photo-holders, showing one of Tom's 
badges each.

"Hey Jen," Tom asked, "Have you got any badges yet?"

"You kidding? I sure have," Jen replied quickly, taking out her purse. She 
opened it and took out a Plexiglas-covered container, showing off five 
badges inside. The Darkbadge, Crestbadge, and three other badges Tom had 
never seen before were in the container.

*******

With their Pokemon fully recovered, Tom and Jen were just heading outside 
the Pokemon center when Jen asked, "Tom, how are your Pokemon doing?"

Tom smiled. "Fine, my Machop just evolved," Tom said casually.

"Really?" Jen asked. Tom nodded and pulled out Machoke's Pokeball, letting 
Machoke out again.

"Machoke," Machoke yawned, bored.

"Wow," Jen murmured. "Hey Tom about my Clefairy," She trailed off, as she 
plucked a Pokeball from her belt. When she opened it up, out came a 
Clefable.

"You finally evolved her?" Tom asked.

"Yeah," Jen shrugged.

Tom and Jen were so wrapped up in talking to each other, they hardly noticed 
Machoke and Clefable looking at each other admiringly.

"Machoke," Machoke said, rippling his biceps again for Clefable, bearing a 
toothy grin.

"Clefable!" Clefable gushed.

This drew Tom and Jen's attention. "Look at that Tom," Jen cooed at the 
sight of Machoke and Clefable, gently jabbing Tom in the ribs with her 
elbow. Before they knew it, they were looking at each other. "Well, I, 
better get going," Jen said sheepishly, quickly shifting her gaze from Tom 
to the ground.

"Yeah," Tom said, resetting his eyes to Porygon from Jen, "Me too."

With that, Jen zapped Clefable back inside her Pokeball, and Tom did the 
same with Machoke. Then, without any more than a wave goodbye each, Tom and 
Jen parted ways again.

-End

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