************* Pokemon, Asylum of the Damned Chapter XXXIII Saga VI- Hydrobadge Saga Chapter III- Hell Washes Over ************* Tom collapsed on the bumper, exhausted. "Return..." Tom wheezed as he zapped Machamp back inside his Pokeball. Jen opened the door of her car and hopped out. "We're here," Jen said cheerfully, "Hydro City!" "Yeah... whatever..." Tom breathed hard, resting on the trunk of Jen's car, "you get your car fixed... I'll challenge the gym leader here," Tom said, trying to catch his breath as he heavily staggered off to the local gym. "See ya' around then, Tom," Jen said, waving him off. ************** Tom swung open the large doors to the Gym. The blinding bright lighting of the inside met his eyes as he walked down the wide hallway. "Hello?" Tom called out, his voice echoing through the empty battlefield. "Hey there," A soft voice called out to him in reply. Tom soon saw a figure produce itself from the side of the room out of a free-walking doorway. A tall, slender female strode into the light, "Who are you?" she asked, brushing her long blonde hair aside with her hand. "Tom. And you?" Tom asked. "Samantha. What brings you here?" she said, putting her hands on her waist, right by the edge of her torn-made jean shorts, which barely covered anything above her hips. Tom couldn't resist staring at her short shorts; he had no idea that there we shorts out there that were so revealing. "What's up?" Samantha asked flirtatiously. Tom instantly snapped out of his daydreams. "Nothing," Tom sheepishly replied. Then, Tom remembered why he had come here. Quickly zipping out a Pokeball from his belt, Tom enlarged the ball, and opened it up. The red beam of energy that shot from the ball soon took shape and materialized into Ampharos. "Ampharos!" the Pokemon cheered joyfully. "An- electric type?" Samantha stammered. "The name of the badge you offer is called the 'Hydrobadge,' right?" Tom asked Samantha, a smug grin on his face. Samantha weakly nodded. "So I figured that means you use water types!" Tom concluded. Samantha suddenly lost her shocked expression, and shrugged. "Whatever," she sighed to herself, "You want my badge, come get it." With that, Samantha took out a minimized Pokeball, and enlarged it without hesitation. Within instants, a large Kingdra was standing before her. Oddly, the Kingdra was just standing on his tail, completely out of the water. Samantha took a small remote control like device out of her other pocket. The ground began to rumble underneath them. The floor seemed to spread apart, further and further, revealing a large pool full of water underneath the battlefield. Tom had to quickly back step a few meters to keep himself from falling inside. When the placid pool was finally fully exposed, seven small rectangular platforms popped out from the bottom and into the surface. "Well?" Samantha asked Tom, "You game?" Tom nodded. "Let's dance." Samantha looked down at her Kingdra and nodded at him. Kingdra promptly hopped into the pool, wading waist-deep below the surface. Ampharos followed suit, and ambled onto the nearest of the seven platforms on the pool. "Straight two-on-two okay for you?" Samantha asked. "Sure." Tom replied. "I've gotta' warn you, Tom," Samantha said slyly, "I'm not going to go easy on you. My Pokemon are the toughest ones in Hydro." "That's okay with me," Tom replied back, rebounding Samantha's remark, "I won't show you any mercy either. I never do to anyone." "Kingdra, Hyper Beam!" Samantha ordered her Pokemon. "Ampharos, Blast it with a Zap Cannon!" Tom commanded Ampharos. Ampharos hunched over and raised his fine fur into hackles, little sparks and bolts of electricity cackling and zipping around him. Before Ampharos finished charging enough electricity for his assault, Kingdra had already sucked in enough air into his body. Letting it all out in one large bellowing breath, Kingdra shot an insanely large bright beam of energy from his mouth, aimed right at Ampharos. The beam crashed into Ampharos dead in his gut. Ampharos let out a scream of pain, the beam knocking him over, almost into the water. Kingdra, bent out of shape and totally exhausted from the massive Hyper Beam, just sat in the water, breathing heavily, hardly able to move. No sooner had Ampharos recovered from the massive blow, Ampharos screeched again, and let out an enormous surge of electricity- almost as absurdly overkill as Kingdra's Hyper Beam- aiming it for Kingdra. However, with Ampharos charging so much electricity into one single concentrated blast, Ampharos could hardly see where he was aiming it. The blast sailed right by Kingdra, missing him by a good three feet. "Fuck," Tom growled to himself. Ampharos collapsed to his knees, wheezing, a bead of sweat dribbling down his forehead. Suddenly, Kingdra disappeared under the surface of the water. Ampharos quickly jumped to his feet, searching for the whereabouts of his foe. Kingdra was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, Kingdra popped his head out from the water, right between Ampharos and Tom. "Kingdra!" Samantha ordered, "Ice Beam!" Kingdra again sucked in a deep breath, and blew out a thin beam of ice at Ampharos. Barely having enough time to turn around to face Kingdra, Ampharos was hit in the side by the blast. Ampharos staggered to the side, almost tripping over the edge of the platform and into the water. "Kingdra! Headbutt!" Samantha commanded her Pokemon. With amazing agility, Kingdra leapt out of the water, heading straight for Ampharos. Kingdra's double-pronged head slammed into Ampharos', sending both sailing into the water and below the surface. Tom bit his lip in anxiety. Soon, Kingdra's head popped out of the water. Ampharos soon surfaced- face down and motionless- floating on the surface. "Ampharos!" Tom yelped, leaping onto the platform, which Ampharos used to occupy. Tom pulled Ampharos from the water and into his arms. Ampharos was still alive, breathing weakly and knocked out cold. Tom worriedly zapped Amparos back into his Pokeball. Putting back that Pokeball onto his belt, Tom quickly produced another. And within seconds, Primeape was standing on the platform Ampharos was on. Samantha sighed, and zapped her Kingdra back into his Pokeball. Soon, she had a new Pokeball taken from her pocket, and opened it up. From the red flash of energy shooting from the ball came a Starmie. With a quick spin of its rear spines, Starmie launched itself into the water. "Primeape, Cross Chop!" Tom ordered his Pokemon. "Starmie! Take Down!" Samantha commanded Starmie. Starmie spun its hind fins again, and launched itself out of the water, headed straight for Primeape. Starmie hit Primeape square on the nose, sending him reeling backwards. However, before Starmie could escape to the water again, Primeape viciously slammed both fists onto Starmie's sides. Starmie screeched in agony, falling back into the water, sinking below the surface and out of sight. Primeape took time to rub his bloody nose while looking for Starmie, hopping from platform to platform. Suddenly, Starmie popped out of the water and stood right behind Primeape. Then, the gem in Starmie's center began to flicker and sparkle. Starmie looked smaller all of a sudden. "No doubt a Minimize..." Tom muttered to himself. "Starmie! Flash!" Samantha ordered her Pokemon. "Primeape, cover your eyes!" Tom yelled as quick as he could when he heard Samantha's tactic. But it was too late. By the time Primeape could even move, Starmie's gem generated a blinding flash of light. Tom quickly turned his head away, shielding his eyes with his jacket. When it was over, Tom rubbed his sore eyes, trying to get a clear picture of the battle scene. Primeape wasn't so lucky, he had his eyes shut tightly, rubbing them vigorously. "Use a Body Slam, Primeape!"" Tom called out to Primeape. Primeape, eyes half shut from the Flash, leapt into the air, attempting to land on top of Starmie. However, Starmie quickly sidestepped with its lower spines, allowing Primeape to land harmlessly beside it with a ground-shaking rumble. "Starmie, Hydro Pump!" Samantha ordered her Pokemon. Just as Primeape was about to stand up, Starmie aimed it's top spine at him, and let loose a massive blast of water at him. Primeape was knocked clear off of his feet, and sent skidding across the water like a smooth stone. Primeape finally landed on the floor beside Tom, on his back and dazed. Groaning, Tom knew what that meant- Primeape was defeated, and so was he. -End for now... ************