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

Pokemon, Asylum of the Damned

Chapter XXXV

Saga VIII- Zerobadge Saga

Chapter I- For Whom the… Dog Barks…?

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

Tom’s foot kicked the little pebble along the road, sending it skittering 
all over the rough gravel path and off into a ditch. It was quite dark 
outside, Tom yawned. He needed a line-change of Pokemon and some sleep. He 
whipped out his trusty Pokedex and pressed a few buttons on its console. 
Three of his six Pokeballs stuck to his belt vanished, and three more 
appeared in their place. Tom stuffed his Pokedex back into his jacket pocket 
and plucked off one of the three new Pokeballs from his belt, and promptly 
opened it up. With a blinding flash of light, Yanma was hovering in mid-air 
before him. “Hey Yanma,” said Tom, “D’ya’ think you could see where Zero 
City is?” Yanma nodded and fluttered up into the sky as Tom continued on 
walking. Soon, Yanma returned to Tom, and pointed his antennae in one 
direction.

“South, huh?” Tom asked his Pokemon.

Yanma nodded. “Yan!” he squeaked cheerfully.

“How far is it?” he asked.

Yanma’s large eyes blinked twice. “Two kilometers, eh?” Tom asked again. 
Yanma nodded again.

Suddenly, Yanma threw himself into a mid-air barrel roll violently. “Really 
rough terrain, huh?” Tom asked. Yanma again nodded.

Tom looked over his shoulder. “Wonder what Jen’s doing right now,” he asked 
himself, “And I wonder what Larry’s up to.” Tom grimaced at the memory of 
his escapade at Mega City with the Rockets. “Bloody lucky to be alive,” Tom 
murmured, rubbing his neck, “again.”

Suddenly, a loud howling echoed over the rocky road, stopping Tom and Yanma 
in their tracks. Yanma’s antennae perked up."Yan!” he shrieked, staring at a 
large boulder a few meters from the roadside.

“You’re right, Yanma,” Tom muttered, “It did come from there.”

A glowing pair of red eyes peered out from the side of the large rock, 
staring right at Tom and Yanma. Trotting of paws filled the air as the eyes 
advanced on the duo from the darkness under the night sky. Growling and 
snorts could be heard from the menacing creature of the night as it neared 
Tom and Yanma. Tom leaned his head closer to Yanma. “Yanma, if it gets too 
close, get it with a Take Down.” Yanma nodded. Tom quickly dug his hand into 
his jacket pocket and pulled out a small penlight. He screwed the cap onto 
the light, and a thin beam of light illuminated the darkness. He shone the 
light at the advancing creature. It bore two demon-like horns on its head, 
and it looked like a wild dog, jet-black fur glimmering from the penlight. 
Tom again pulled out his Pokedex.

“Houndoom, the Devil Pokemon,” his Pokedex said, “the evolved form of 
Houndour. Like Houndour, Houndoom communicates in special barks, which only 
themselves and their pre-evolution can understand. Houndoom have been known 
to be highly aggressive, and will attack anything entering its territory. 
Approach with extreme caution.”

Tom gulped. The Pokedex seemed to spew truth as the monster stopped right in 
front of Tom, his hackles raised and hissing madly. “Yanma,” Tom asked his 
Pokemon, “Did you see a Pokemon nest anywhere here?” Yanma weakly nodded. 
“Crap,” Tom groaned.

Tom was soon separated from his companion by a wall of fire shot from 
Houndoom’s mouth. Tom was almost blinded by the flash of fire. When he 
opened his eyes again, he saw Yanma pinned to the ground by Houndoom’s front 
paws. Tom was about to reach for another Pokeball, when Houndoom quickly 
swung his head around and let out another blast of fire at Tom. The 
Flamethrower attack seared Tom’s Pokeball belt. Tom grabbed a Pokeball 
anyway and tried to open it up. All of his Pokeballs was welded shut. 
"Shit!” Tom cursed.

Suddenly, Yanma’s body began to glow. Yanma let out a deafening scream and 
unleashed a large blast of energy at Houndoom, knocking the devilish dog off 
him. “Yanma!” Tom gasped, “I never knew you knew Solarbeam!”

Yanma nodded. “Yan!”

Houndoom had gotten back to his feet, muttering and hissing. “Yanma, blow 
him away! Solarbeam!” Tom commanded.

Yanma nodded, and stared into the sun. Yanma hovered in the air on one spot, 
never shifting his gaze from the sun. Houndoom lunged at Yanma again, 
tackling the small dragonfly Pokemon and pinning him down. Tom was about to 
intervene, until Houndoom craned his neck and gave him a warning growl. Tom 
poked his tongue through his missing tooth space. “Don’t want to do that 
again,” he thought to himself.

Yanma screeched again, and let out another blast of solar energy. The 
Solarbeam smashed into Houndoom’s jaw, knocking the Pokemon over to his 
side. Houndoom breathed wearily on the ground. “He’s a perfect catch now,” 
Tom thought. He reached for one of his empty Pokeballs, and then remembered 
that they were all seared shut by Houndoom’s Flamethrower. “Yanma!” Tom 
called to his Pokemon, “Skull Bash this Pokeball open!” he commanded, 
enlarging the ball. Yanma nodded, and Tom threw the Pokeball at Yanma. Yanma 
charged at the Pokeball and collided with it head-on, smashing the ball open 
and knocking it back to Tom. Tom wound back his arm, and hurled the Pokeball 
at Houndoom. “Pokeball, go!”

Houndoom looked up just in time to see the Pokeball hit him in the face. 
Within instants, Houndoom was zapped inside the Pokeball.

The Pokeball shook violently for a few seconds on the rocky ground, and soon 
became still. Tom ran over to his newly captured Pokemon in his Pokeball, 
scooped it up, and transported it back to the Ionica Professor. Tom, with 
Yanma’s help, smashed open the rest of his Pokeballs, and continued down the 
road to Zero City.

-End

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