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Pokemon, Asylum of the Damned

Chapter XLV

Saga X- Finalbadge Saga

Chapter II- A Dish of Cold-Cut Pain

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The doors to the Pokemon Center in Canyon City swung open suddenly, and in 
stumbled Tom, carrying his bloody jacket in a bunch underneath his arm, the 
skin uncovered by his black tank top laced with bruises and cuts. "What 
happened to you?" Joy asked in concern from behind the Center's counter as 
Tom leaned up against it, breathing heavily out of a swollen and bloody 
lower lip and black eye, "It looks like you got hit by a semi!"

"Everything short of that," Tom groaned, digging his Pokeballs off his belt 
and dropping them onto the counter. "My Pokemon are all K.O.'d," Tom 
muttered, "I had to come halfway from Elementia to here without their help."

"But the wild Pokemon!" Joy gasped, "Especially the really vicious ones 
here-!" Tom gave Joy a soundless sigh and stared blankly at her. "Oh my, 
I'll have to fix you up too!"

****

With a multitude of bandages taped to his face and without his trench coat, 
Tom entered the Canyon City gym. "What happened to you?" The tall 
dark-haired gym leader asked Tom as Tom weakly wandered into the gym.

"Nevermind," Tom moaned, "Can I just battle you so I can get into Pokemon 
League?"

The gym leader shrugged and adjusted his khaki vest over his red T-shirt. 
"Okay," he said, "What kind of battle are you looking for?"

Tom groaned and rubbed the bandage on his forehead. "Any kind," he said 
tiredly.

"How's a one on one sound?" the gym leader asked. Upon receiving no reply 
from Tom, he said, "Then send out your best!" Just before Tom could reach 
for a Pokeball, the leader said, "Oh, where are my manners? My name's Karl. 
Yours?"

Tom rubbed his slightly swollen eye. "Tom," he muttered.

Karl reached underneath his vest and pulled out one minimized Pokeball. "I 
must warn you," Karl said as he enlarged his Pokeball and held it in his 
hand, "I'm a lot tougher than my reputation."

"So I've heard," Tom grimaced, pulling out a Pokeball of his own.

"Any special stipulations you'd like?" Karl asked politley.

"Just a straight match," Tom replied.

"Suit yourself," said Karl at the two of them stood on their ends of the 
battle field, "Go, Ditto!" Karl lobbed his Pokeball into the center of the 
field where it burst open in a flash of light. When the lightshow 
dissipated, there stood a small pink blob in the middle of the floor. Tom 
pulled out his Pokedex.

"Ditto, the Transform Pokemon," the Pokedex blankly spat out. "It's only 
ability is Transform, where the Ditto rearranges its cellular structure and 
characteristics to that of an opponent. It also copies the moves of the 
opponent as well, but their usage creates a very high amount of stress on 
the Ditto, causing it to grow weak faster than the real opponent. A Ditto 
cannot re-form back into its original form once it has transformed, but will 
eventually revert back to its original self once its adrenaline levels are 
lowered again."

Tom flipped his Pokedex shut and tucked it back into his jeans pocket. "I 
wish Porygon Two was here," Tom muttered quietly to himself as he tossed his 
own Pokeball onto the field, releasing the Pokemon inside. Now facing the 
Ditto was Tentacruel, glaring at the small pink blob with his piercing red 
eyes.

"Tentacruel, Acid!" Tom commanded

"Ditto," Karl ordered likewise, "Transform!"

Just as soon as Tentacruel sucked in a deep breath to spew out an Acid 
attack, the Ditto's body flashed a bright white as it slowly shifted and 
rearranged its shape. When the glow subsided, a perfect replica of 
Tentacruel was in its place. Tentacuel, momentarily awed by the sudden 
mirror image of himself, halted his attack. "Ditto," Karl commanded, "Hyper 
Beam!"

The imitation Tentacruel let a wild blast of energy loose upon Tentacruel, 
blowing him over before he could launch a counterattack. "Tentacruel," Tom 
commanded, "Headbutt!"

As soon as Tom had commanded it, Tentacruel sprung up and rushed into the 
impersonating Ditto, ramming his jewel-encrusted skull against its. This 
knocked the Ditto over onto its back just as Tom ordered, "Now give it a 
Sludge Bomb!"

Just before Tentacruel could follow up on his attack, Ditto leapt back to 
it's feet and lashed a tentacle out at Tentacruel's serrated nose, again 
halting Tentacruel's attack. Tentacruel growled as he limped backwards and 
rubbed his bony appendage from the strike. "Ditto, finish him off!" Karl 
commanded, "Hyper Beam!"

Again, Ditto sent a vicious blast of energy at Tentacruel in his moment of 
weakness. Just before the beam hit its mark, Tentacruel flung his body to 
the ground, letting the beam sail harmlessly over his head. Tom had to do 
the same to avoid being blasted into oblivion when the beam missed its 
target. With the ill-fated Hyper Beam lost, the Ditto-Tentacruel sunk down 
on its belly and gave a long, exhausted sigh. "Now Tentacruel!" Tom ordered 
again, "Sludge Bomb!"

The Ditto barley found time to blink once before Tentacruel spat out a 
gigantic wad of black oily gunk at it, smashing the Ditto-Tentacruel to the 
floor and squashed underneath the murky glob's weight. Almost as soon as it 
went down, the Ditto pushed the thick ball of slime off of its body and 
rolled to its feet. Suddenly, as soon as the Ditto regained a standing 
posture on its tentacles, it buckled to the ground and groaned. When Tom 
noticed the Ditto-Tentacruel's eyes glaze over and turn a sagging bloodshot, 
Tom cheered, "It's poisoned! The Sludge Bomb worked!"

"This isn't over yet," Karl replied quickly, "Ditto, Sludge Bomb!"

And with another blast of toxic slime balls, Tentacruel soon found himself 
to be under a sudden weakness as well as the Ditto. Now only able to stand 
up on the middle of their tentacles thanks to the ravaging of the toxins 
within their bodies, the Ditto and Tentacruel glared at each other with 
whatever strength they had left. "One last Headbutt!" Karl ordered his 
Ditto, "Finish him!"

Just as the Ditto charged at Tentacruel again, it suddenly stopped halfway 
to its target and collapsed. Tentacruel gave a weak snicker of superiority 
before he too broke down to the floor, breathing heavily. "Damn," Karl 
muttered under his breath as Ditto's Tentacruel body gave way back to its 
pink jelly body. Karl and Tom zapped their Pokemon back inside their 
Pokeballs and tucked them into their pockets. "You're a lot tougher than you 
let on," Karl commented.

"I can't believe a Ditto nearly beat me," Tom muttered.

Karl shrugged as he walked over to Tom. "It's my philosophy in life that 
everyone is created equal," Karl said as he approached Tom, "And I think the 
same goes for Pokemon."

Tom rubbed the band-aid on his cheek. "I guess that could be right," Tom 
said.

Karl dug into another pocket on his vest and handed its contents into Tom's 
hand. "Not many have won this," Karl said as Tom gazed in awe at the object 
he had handed him, "but there'sthe Finalbadge."

****

When Tom came back to the empty Pokemon center with the Finalbadge in his 
wallet, he found Joy wearing a sombre expression. "How're my Pokemon doing?" 
Tom asked Joy when he approached the counter.

Joy looked at Tom with regret. "They're not going too well," she said.

Tom nearly died of a heart attack. "What do you mean?" Tom asked weakly.

"They've got nearly every bone in their bodies broken," Joy said, "Just what 
did happen to them?"

Tom looked to his right. "I got in a fight with a very powerful Pokemon," 
Tom said.

"That took out six Pokemon at once?" Joy gasped. "Your Pokemon are well over 
level sixty each!" Joy exclaimed, "How could that possibly happen?"

"It was a Pokemon from hell," Tom muttered bitterly, "I'm lucky I escaped 
with my life." Tom immediatley recalled from memory when the silver Scyther 
chose to give him the tiny cut on his chin when he could have sliced his 
head off his shoulders just as easily.

"Well in any case," Joy said, half-believing Tom's story, "They're going to 
be out of any sort of action for a very long time," she said.

"For how long?" Tom asked.

"About a month," Joy replied.

"A month!" Tom gasped, "But Pokemon League starts in two weeks!"

"Well that's just too bad," Joy said sternly, "You'll have to make do 
without."

"Dammit," Tom cursed under his breath.

"Well, when they're in shape again," Joy said, "We'll let you take them back 
via the PC system."

Tom sighed bitterly to himself. "Thanks anyway," he muttered as he turned to 
leave the Pokemon Center.

-End
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