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Pokemon, Asylum of the Damned

Chapter XXXI

Saga VII- Hydrobadge Saga

Chapter I- An Old Friend

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It wasn't until a few hours of walking that Tom realized that he had not 
thought about anything since he left Mega City. Instantly, his mind turned 
upon pondering the fate of Porygon. "I sure hope he's alright," Tom thought 
to himself. Tom sighed, and continued down the dusty dirt road upon which he 
walked. He was sure lonely without Porygon to talk to.

Just then, two loud horns honked from behind him. Tom turned and saw a small 
yet shiny hoodless car driving towards him, it's driver stopping beside him 
when it caught up. "Hi Tom," the familiar face of the driver said.

Tom looked at the inside of the car, then at the driver and muttered, "Jen?"

Jen nodded, and then reached over to the passenger side door, unlocking it. 
"Hop in," she said, smiling. Having being on his tired and aching feet all 
day, Tom opened the door and got in the car.

"So how have you been, Tom?" Jen asked as they drove along to Hydro City.

"A little dead," Tom sighed.

"Oh?" Jen inquired, "How come?" she asked.

"You wouldn't understand," Tom said, then he lowered his voice to a silent 
whisper. "And I don't want you to understand, either."

"Hey Tom, where's that Porygon of yours?" Jen asked. "Isn't he usually out 
with you?"

"I umm," Tom began, looking for words that would cover up his little run-in 
with Team Rocket. "We... we were separated in a crowd in Mega City," Tom 
finally managed to blurt out. "I looked all over or him..." Tom said, 
playing on his lie, "but I couldn't find him anywhere."

Jen's face sagged into a frown. "Well, I'm sure wherever he is, he won't 
forget you, Tom," Jen said, trying to comfort Tom.

Tom was silent for a few moments, then said "Yeah, you're right, Jen. 
Thanks."

"No problem, Tom," Jen smiled.

"So how've you been, Jen?" Tom asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, not bad," Jen hummed. "Oh, guess what Tom?" she asked, "I've decided to 
break the record for most Gym badges earned," she stated.

"Really?" Tom asked, "What's the record?"

"Oh, about three-hundred something."

"Three-hundr- that's a lot of badges, Jen."

"Yeah, I know. I've got eighteen already."

"Eighteen!"

"Yeah, what else would I be doing since we last saw each other? That was, 
what, two months? Why? What have you been doing?"

Tom choked. "I was... um... resting."

"Yeah, I need some rest too," Jen sighed. "While I was out battling Gym 
Leaders, I got my driver's license as well," Jen smiled.

"So this is your car?" Tom asked, to which Jen nodded. "How much did it 
cost?" Tom asked again.

"About two-thousand so." Jen hummed.

Tom sighed. "Pretty cheap for this awesome car," Tom said, relaxing on the 
leather seat.

"Hey Tom, how are your other Pokemon doing?" Jen asked.

"Quilava and Doduo evolved, I caught an Ursaring and got an Ampharos," Tom 
replied.

"Really? I caught a bunch of new Pokemon too," Jen said. "Hey Tom, I'll have 
another round with you," Jen challenged Tom.

Tom looked at her sideways and said, "Go ahead."

Jen had parked her car off the dirt road, she and Tom got out. Tom knew he 
didn't have a battle for two months now, ever since he was restored back to 
life. Jen pulled a Pokeball off her belt, and opened it up. "Go, 
Feraligatr!" she commanded. The mass of energy coming from the Pokeball 
materialized on the ground in front of Jen, revealing a large, alligator- 
like Pokemon. Tom pulled out his Pokedex.

"Feraligatr, the Big Jaw Pokemon." Tom's Pokedex said. "Using its large, 
powerful lower jaw, it can rip even sheet rock into shreds. It has a vicious 
nature, and is extremely hostile in the water. Feraligatr is the evolved 
form of Totodile, following its evolution, Croconaw."

"Your Totodile evolved?" Tom asked Jen.

Jen nodded. "Twice," she said.

Tom reached to his belt, and plucked off a Pokeball. "Go, Ursaring!" Tom 
commanded, letting his Pokemon out of her Pokeball. Ursaring formed from the 
ball of energy coming from the Pokeball.

"Urrr..." Ursaring grumbled.

"Hey Tom!" Jen called, "How about we make this a first-to-faint match?" Jen 
proposed.

"Sure. Why not?" Tom agreed.

"Ursaring, Slash!" Tom commanded.

"Feraligatr! Counter with your Slash attack too!" Jen ordered. Ursaring and 
Feraligatr charged at each other, bearing both their claws. Ursaring and 
Feraligatr collided and took a wild swipe at each other. Feraligatr received 
a Slash on his lower jaw, while Ursaring was cut on the left side of her 
face. Both Pokemon stepped back, rubbing their bleeding cuts. "Feraligatr! 
Hydro Pump!" Jen commanded. Feraligatr sucked in a mass of air, lowered his 
head, and then let a streaming blast of water fly out of his mouth towards 
Ursaring. Before Tom could give Ursaring any instructions, she was hit in 
the stomach by the Hydro Pump, sending her flying backwards, crashing into a 
nearby tree. The tree snapped in half from the shattering impact of 
Ursaring's body.

When Ursaring got up, she hunched over, and rested her arms on her knees. 
Tom, seeing Ursaring was obviously outclassed, recalled his Pokemon. Tom 
stored Ursaring's Pokeball onto his belt, and pulled off another one. 
"Ampharos, go!" Tom commanded. Ampharos' body leapt out of Tom's Pokeball, 
and stood in front of Feraligatr.

"Oh, crap," Jen muttered to herself, sensing Feraligatr's type disadvantage. 
Before she could put Feraligatr back into his Pokeball, Tom had ordered, 
"Ampharos! Thunderpunch!" Ampharos ran towards Feraligatr with all his 
speed, and punched Feraligatr with an electrically charged fist to 
Feraligatr's midsection. Feraligatr wheezed and gasped, and doubled over 
before falling on his face, defeated.

"Well, guess I win, Jen," Tom smirked, zapping Ampharos back inside his 
Pokeball.

Jen sighed, and pulled Feraligatr back inside his Pokeball. "I guess so," 
she groaned, "You were always better than me, anyway," she sighed.

Tom walked over to her, and stopped within arm distance of her. "You beat me 
once, remember?" Tom said, trying to make Jen feel better.

"Yeah, but that was just once. You're a hell of a lot better than I am," she 
sighed. Tom was surprised. He never thought he would hear Jen say that.

"You're pretty good yourself." Tom commented.

Tom and Jen got back into Jen's car, and they both headed off to Hydro City.

-End...