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Pokemon, Asylum of the Damned

Chaper LX

Saga XIII- Master Battles Saga

Chapter II- Round One, again!

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The music, the crowd, the rising anticipation; it was just as he had 
remembered it the last time he had ventured out into the arena's feild, 
except this time, the gathered audience was avidly cheering for him as he 
and Porygon Two made their way to the field. "The following contest is 
scheduled for two falls inside the desert battlefield," came the voice of 
the unseen announcer, echoing around the stadium. "Introducing first, from 
Halla Town, he was elected last tournament's Pokemon League people's 
champion, Tom Simms!"

"People's champion?" Tom mused to himself, "Man, I've really missed a lot!"

Tom and Porygon Two walked the their end of the dry, sandy field amongst the 
cheers and the camera flashes. As soon as Tom put his foot on the ladder to 
his trainer box, his music suddenly cut short, replaced by another tune. 
"And from Hydro City, winning a total of eight badges, the Kakuna Kahuna, 
Roy Antenn!"

"Kakuna Kahuna?" Porygon Two snorted as a short red-haired boy approached 
the field, "this kid's certaintly full of himself, isn't he?"

As Tom put on his headset, Roy had mounted his trainer box, and the two drew 
a Pokeball each. "I'm going to enjoy beating you, Tom," came Roy's confident 
voice in Tom's headset.

"You wish," Tom retorted, tossing his Pokeball out onto the field. Roy had 
done the same, and Donphan quickly materialized at Tom's end, staring down 
the newly-unleashed Venomoth on Roy's end. "Trainers ready," The referee 
called, "Pokemon ready, begin!"

"Donphan, Take Down!" Tom ordered.

"Venomoth, Stun Spore!"

As soon as Donphan smashed his skull into Venomoth's chest, a puff of dust 
exploded from out of Venomoth's body, engulfing the two Pokemon. Tom held 
his nose as whisps of the edges of the cloud of dust and sand drifted his 
way. When the dust finally settled, Venomoth was lively fluttering in the 
air, while Donphan was lying on the ground, trembling violently.

"Venomoth, Psychic!" Roy ordered.

Before Tom could speak, Venomoth's eyes began to light up, and Donphan was 
quickly covered in an eerie glow. Powerless to do anything, Tom watched in 
horror as Venomoth willed Donphan into the air, and sent him violently 
smashing into the ground, buried beneath the sand.

Roy grinned quietly to himself as Tom recalled the motionless Donphan, a 
bead of sweat dribbling down his forehead. Grimacing, Tom put Donphan's 
Pokeball back onto his belt, and drew another. "Go, Houndoom!"

With a quick, blinding flash, Houndoom materialized on the field in front of 
the Venomoth. "Let's see how your Venomoth likes my Houndoom's fire 
attacks," Tom taunted into his headset.

"For a people's champion," came Roy's reply, "You sure are naive."

Tom was struck confused. "Just watch this, bug-boy," he said. "Houndoom, 
Flamethrower!"

"Venomoth, Poisonpowder!"

Houndoom was quick to suck in a deep breath, and with a blood-curdling howl, 
he unleashed a scorching blast of fire from his mouth. The flames licked 
Venomoth's body, scorching it as Houndoom continued to roast his opponent. 
When Houndoom's breath finally left him, the flames died away, and Venomoth, 
charred and blackened, was still flutting in the air, hardly showing any 
sign of pain.

Tom's jaw dropped. "No way!" He gasped. "Your Venomoth should've been burned 
to a crisp!"

"I didn't spend a whole year training my Pokemon for nothing," Roy 
snickered. "If you think you can beat me with just fire types, you're dead 
wrong."

Tom's lip curled into a nervous snarl. His last Pokemon with him was Porygon 
Two, and with just a glance into its eyes, Tom knew that Porygon Two could 
not take down two Pokemon with experience levels like the Venomoth's. Tom 
clenched his fists, and admitted it to himself. Unless he was ready turn to 
his last resort, he was finished.

"Had enough, people's champion?" Roy taunted. "Ready to give up?"

Tom quickly smirked. "I'm not giving up, Roy," he said, "I'm just getting 
started." Tom quickly took off his headset, put his foot on the guard rail, 
and looked up into the sky. And with a deep breath, he screamed at the top 
of his lungs, "Moltres!"

The stadium was suddenly silent. They had all heard Tom as clear as day, And 
they began to wonder if he still had the headache from last year. Chattering 
and gossip were quick to break out amongst them, as the blue sky that hung 
over them cleared itself of the clouds.

Suddenly, the temperature flared. A drink was dropped on the floor in the 
stands, and it immediately fizzled into steam. Roy found himself fanning his 
face with his hand, and Venomoth was flapping his wings feverishly. Just 
when the temperature peaked, someone leapt up from their seat in the crowd 
and pointed at the sky. Everyone in the stadium followed suit, and soon, 
they were all gazing in awe.

A small ball of flame appeared by the sun, offshooting as it slowly 
plummeted to the ground, growing in size as it dove to the stadium. Before 
anyone else knew what was going on, the fireball took a wild swoop along the 
battlefield, and in a heartbeat, a blazing rush of flames scorched 
everything on the arena, blasting waves of heat upon everyone. When the thin 
whisps of smoke and clouds of sand cleared, Venomoth was lying motionless on 
the field, singed completely black and barely even breathing. And as the 
ball of flames slowly floated onto Tom's guard rail, a tiny voice in the 
crowd gasped. "It can't be," the announcer's wonderstriken voice murmured 
over the loudspeakers as the flames on the giant figure subsided, stretching 
his majestic wings, "A Moltres!"

As Moltres gently glided down to the battlefield, Tom put on his headset 
again. "Like I said," Tom grinned, "I'm just getting warmed up."

Roy could not stop himself from shaking as he zapped Venomoth back into his 
Pokeball, and drawing another. "G-go, Nincada," Roy murmured, staring at 
Moltres in disbelief. A small, flying bug-type Pokemon popped out of Roy's 
Pokeball, and he almost dropped to the ground when he saw the blazing bird 
in front of him. "Come on, Roy," Tom jeered, "make your move."

Roy stuttered uncontrollably. "N-N-Nincada, D-d-d-double E-edge," He 
murmured.

Nincada thrust himself into Moltres' chest, and bouned off of it like a tiny 
pebble. "My turn!" Tom exclaimed. "Moltres, Fire Blast!" And with a massive 
flash of flame, Nincada was left as a smoking shell on the field, jerkily 
twitching his wings.

Roy suddenly took off his headset, and threw it onto the field. Recalling 
his scorched Nincada, Roy waved to the referee, his face a mask of shame, 
shock, and pity.

"The winner of this match by forefit," The announcer murmured, hardly 
believing the scene before him, "Tom Simms!"

The crowd screamed and cheered like they never had before.

-End

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