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Pokemon, Asylum of the Damned

Darkbadge Saga

Chapter III: A real 'Chop-up

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"Sys-tem dia-g-nos-ti-c... sys-tem at forty t-wo per-cen-t po-we-r," the 
Porygon said blankly while running a system check.

"That Clefairy must've really roughed you up some," Tom said as they 
continued up Route 43.

Tom opened up his Pokedex and pressed a yellow button in the center. 
"Pokemon seen: seven. Pokemon owned: zero. Percent of full Pokedex-Trainer 
experience: 1.4 percent."

Tom groaned. It had already been five days since he left Yorin town. At this 
rate, he would never get any badges, or his shot at Pokemon Leauge. Quickly 
shifting his eyes on the Porygon travelling by his feet, Tom wondered how 
having this Porygon as one of his own Pokemon would help him. Suddenly 
dismissing the thought as soon as it had happened upon him, Tom knew that it 
was not in him to thieve off of someone else. Deciding to keep optimistic 
nevertheless, Tom and Porygon continued forth down the forest trail.

Just then, the Porygon came to a stop, making Tom halt too. There was a 
grayish-blue Pokemon lying belly-up in the middle of the trail. Tom pulled 
out his Pokedex.

"Machop, the Superpower Pokemon," Tom's Pokedex said, "Machops are usually 
solitary Pokemon. While awake in daylight hours, the Machop usually spends 
its time exercising its mucsles, while at night they are almost always found 
sleeping. Machops are also known to take naps almost anywhere, similar to 
the rare Pokemon Snorlax. When on the attack, the Machop likes to use it's 
hands for fighting, and occasionally uses it's feet."

Tom put his Pokedex back in his jacket pocket. "Too bad I can't catch it, 
it'd make a really good team player," Tom groaned.

"Wh-y ar-e y-ou un-ab-le to ca-t-ch th-is Po-ke-mo-n?" the Porygon asked.

"Well..."

Tom started to explain to Porygon about his predicament. When Tom finished, 
the Porygon nodded. "A-ff-ir-m-a-ti-ve," the Porygon said, "Bu-t I w-ou-ld 
be gl-ad to he-l-p y-ou-"

"Oh, no Porygon," Tom cut in, "you're already damaged as it is. And I 
promised I'd fix you. I can't." The Porygon blinked once. "We'd be better 
off leaving him alone."

Slowly yet quietly, Tom raised his leg over the Machop, as not to disturb 
it. Just as he planted his foot on the other side of the Machop, a dry twig 
snapped suddenly, making a loud, dry cracking sound. The Machop shook awake 
and fixed a glare upon him immediately. Tom could tell that the Machop was 
not happy at all from being awoken, and before Tom could move a muscle, the 
Machop struck with a swift Karate Chop between Tom's legs.

Tom yelped in pain and fell over, holding between his legs and groaning. The 
Machop rolled over backwards and sommersaulted to his feet, just seconds 
after being awoken. Still in pain, Tom looked up only to have the Machop 
slap him in the face with another quick strike. Tom collapsed on one knee, 
rubbing his tenderized cheek. The Porygon sped towards the two at ramming 
speed, only to have the Machop swat the Porygon in the face, toppling the 
Porygon to its side. The Machop then grabbed the Porygon's tail, and began 
to swing it around like a centerfuge motion, and threw it into the bushes 
with a Seismic Toss.

By this time, Tom had gotten back up to his feet, wiping a cut on his cheek. 
The Machop suddenly switched his attention back to Tom, boundign up into the 
air with his hand wound across his chest, ready to land another Karate Chop. 
Without hardly a second to think, Tom sidestepped out of the way in the nick 
of time, quick enough to let the Machop sail through the air and hit a low 
branch on a tree around it's mid-section. The branch flexed backwards with 
the Machop, and then springboarded the Pokemon into the air. The Machop 
landed on his back and tumbled onto his belly, thoroughly stunned. As Tom 
looked at the Machop, his brain immediately switched gears.

Pokeball time.

Tom dug into his trench coat's pocket and fished out a Pokeball. "Pokeball, 
go!" Tom called and the hurled the red-white ball at the Machop. The ball 
struck the Machop, zapping him inside, and falling to the ground. The ball 
rocked back and forth along the ground violently, pitching with no end in 
sight. And after about eleven seconds, the ball fell still. Machop had been 
caught.

Tom could have screamed with joy. Just as he scooped up the Pokeball, Tom 
suddenly remembered something. "Porygon!"

Tom ran over to the bushes where Machop threw the Porygon. Tom searched the 
shrub, and pulled out the badly damaged Porygon soon after. "Sys-tem at tw-o 
per-cen-t po-w-errrrrrr...." The Porygon groaned as its voice and eye-lights 
began to fade. "C'mon, Porygon, I'll fix you for sure this time."

-End

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