Pokémon SS, Chapters 71 & 72

[Marril]

So yeah, my SS file got corrupted or something and it took me a long time to sort out and rewrite everything I had before. That's why there's a double chapter this week, to both clog your arteries and taste good at the same time. Ah, you'll see. Battle this week, too! Plus all you electric rat fans get your revenge!

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“So what’d she tell you?” Tschel asked as they again walked onto the trainer platforms, this time to face their second opponents, a Frenchman named Andre and a German named Gustav. He still wondered when they’d fight trainers that weren’t from overseas or, in this case, from across a lot of landmass.
“Like I said three or four times already,” Alex answered, “She didn’t want me telling you.”
“I just want to know if there was anything I should be knowing,” Tschel explained.
“Nothing huge,” Alex repeated.
“This is Marril we’re talking about, it’s always something.”
“Well, she might not be shouting at us so much,” Alex shrugged. “Oh, and people seem to be staring.”
“We didn’t just…” Tschel trailed off. They’d missed the entire introduction, and a Nidoking and Nidoqueen were standing on the coliseum floor. “Oh for the love of…”
Alex chuckled. “Yep. Well, might as well get started late. Go, Blastoise!”
“Go, Espeon!”
“Nidoking, Earthquake!” Andre shouted, right as Gustav shouted, “Nidoqueen, Earthquake!”
Alex blinked. Tschel winced. The doubling-up of a move tended to do one of two things. It either vastly increased the power of the attack, or it completely nullified it. In this case, it was the former. Blastoise retreated into its shell, but Espeon didn’t have a shell to retreat into. Tschel had to recall it for Flareon.
“Flareon?” Alex asked. Tschel shrugged. “If you say so. Blastoise, Hydro Pump!”
Blastoise came out of its shell and crouched on all fours, shooting super-pressurized water from its cannons at Nidoqueen.
“Flareon, Swift!” Tschel pressed the attack. Nidoqueen didn’t seem to mind the jets of water, but the dozens of stars hitting it repeatedly in the face sent it down.
Gustav frowned solemnly and recalled Nidoqueen, exchanging it with a Wobbufet. Tschel wondered what Gustav was thinking, as this decision basically made the fight a two-on-one against Nidoking.
“Blastoise, Hydro Pump Nidoking!” Alex followed up almost instantly.
Tschel nodded. “Flareon, hit it with a Swift!”
Nidoking went down just as quickly as Nidoqueen had, when Andre switched it for a Wobbufet of his own. Tschel didn’t understand the point of a double Wobbufet strategy. Yes, it was frustrating to take down, but it was nothing viable for this level of fighting.
“All right,” Tschel hissed quietly to Alex. “We’ve tossed this strategy around before, and I think we need to use it.”
“But it really hurts the Pokémon,” Alex hissed back.
“It’s either that or we’re going to have a hard time getting rid of those things.”
Alex sighed. “All right, fine. Blastoise, Blizzard!”
“Mirror Coat!” Andre and Gustav shouted at the same time. The blizzard swept over both Wobbufet, nearly freezing them and slowing their movements. They then both glowed and Blastoise was sent to the ground without seeming to have been hit with any force at all.
Tschel winced at the force of the blow. The ground had shaken quite hard. “Flareon, Heat Wave!”
Both enemy Pokémon never had the chance to counterattack. The roiling flames swept out over them, instantly ridding them of their frostbite but at the same time doing it at such a rate as to induce extreme pain. Both Wobbufet collapsed to the ground, warbling.
“Good job, Blastoise,” Alex said grimly. He didn’t like having to sacrifice his Pokémon, despite that it was becoming a regular thing. “Go, Gyarados!”
Andre and Gustav didn’t announce their next Pokémon, which were Plusle and Minun. Alex nearly laughed, but regained his composure. He then frowned, as both were Electric-type, and would easily knock Gyarados aside.
“Flareon, get between them and Gyarados!” Tschel was fast on the uptake. “Heat Wave!”
“Helping Hand!” Gustav ordered Minun. Minun clapped and cheered frantically for its partner.
“Thunder!” Andre followed up.
The hit was indescribable, obviously doing critical damage. Gyarados’ scales blackened around the impact point, then whitened as the voltage increased. Then Gyarados’ entire body glowed red as it was sucked back into its pokéball. The blast of electricity kept going and scored a deep crater into the trainer’s platform right under Alex. He bore quite the sweatdrop.
“Holy crap,” Tschel was in awe. He’d never seen a lightning-based attack do so much damage before. Gyarados was definitely going to be out for at least the next fight. That left Alex with only three Pokémon eligible to fight, and if one of them was similarly knocked out, he’d be disqualified for lack of Pokémon, and Tschel along with him.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Alex said. “But we can’t afford a defensive strategy. We need to break their teamwork as fast as we can, so don’t even think of switching in Umbreon. Go, Milotic!”
“Flareon, Fire Blast!” Tschel shouted. “Hit between the two!”
“Milotic, follow Minun with an Ice Beam!”
Plusle and Minun each dodged the blast of fire separately, allowing Minun to be hit with the ice beam. It didn’t show any signs of freezing.
“Plusle, Charge!” Andre growled.
“Minun, Agility!” Gustav muttered. Tschel wondered if he’d really gotten to the two of if they were simply acting.
“Milotic, dispel the Charge with a Water Pulse!”
“Not quite,” Gustav gloated. “Helping Hand!”
“Thunder!” Andre shouted. Right before the water coalesced around Plusle, the rat shot another bolt of deadly electricity, this one at Milotic. Alex had to look away from the bright light of the impact. When he could finally look, he saw Flareon lying on the ground, its fur blackened, its breathing ragged.
“These guys play for keeps,” Tschel growled angrily. “No mercy, you got that? None.”
“I got ya,” Alex nodded. He was uneasy about fighting as brutally as Tschel wanted to, but he understood his sentiment. Each now had a Pokémon that would easily be out of commission for at least the next battle. It was a cheap tactic, to take your opponents down with you.
“Go, Jolteon!” Tschel switched in his next Pokémon. “Thunder Wave!”
The two electric mice absorbed the electricity easily. Tschel slumped his shoulders.
“Milotic, this isn’t going to be easy,” Alex told his Pokémon, “but I want you to create an aura to dispel Plusle and Minun’s natural affinity with each other.”
Milotic, generally being a gentle creature that enjoyed creating harmony, looked at Alex and hummed a slightly perturbed tune at him. Alex nodded sharply, as if to convey the direness of the situation, and Milotic looked solemnly at the two electric mice.
Nobody was really prepared for the sound, not even Alex. One second, Milotic was silent, and the next, it was shrieking like its tail had caught fire.
Hands over his ears, Tschel shouted, “Jolteon! Double Edge!”
Alex understood why Milotic had hesitated to follow his last order. While it was apparent that Plusle and Minun were out of sync with each other, so too were Tschel and himself. He could see the white-haired boy standing right beside him, but all the usual familiarity and partnership seemed, hopefully only temporarily, gone.
“You’re getting them!” Tschel praised Jolteon. “Keep hitting Plusle with your Pin Missile!”
“Minun, Helping Hand!” Gustav’s voice could barely be heard through the piercing shriek.
Though Minun clapped and cheered its hardest, its voice couldn’t get through to Plusle, who was becoming more and more wounded by the second by the shower of needle-like pins.
“Turn to Minun now!” Tschel shouted. “Bite!”
“Milotic, you can stop now!” Alex shouted. Milotic halted its shriek right as Alex had uttered the word “can,” as if glad to stop. “Hydro Pump!”
Plusle, who was barely able to stand, was struck by the torrent of water and carried clear out of the arena. Minun was soon after recalled, as Jolteon seemed adamant to keep its jaws locked on the poor mouse’s left shoulder.
A sort of uneasy silence hung over the stadium, until finally the judge raised his flag slowly and said without any discernable emotion, “The winners are Alex Yasashii and Tschel Hakujin.”

Walking to the Pokémon Centre briskly but silently, Alex and Tschel were greeted by Marril, who didn’t even say anything right off the bat.
It was right after the two had handed their Pokémon over to Nurse Joy when Marril said, “Well that was brutal of you two.”
Alex shot Marril a look. She looked taken aback, since he almost never got mad at her. “Marril, I just don’t want to talk about it.”
“Sorry,” Marril muttered, ears drooping a bit. She walked over to one of the chairs and sat down. “I know you don’t like putting winning about everything else, but no reason to bite my head off.”
Alex took a deep breath. He still couldn’t get the edge out of his voice. “I’m not; if I were you’d know. I just don’t want to talk about it.”
“It’s all right,” Tschel put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “She’s not trying to make fun of you, she’s just concerned.”
Marril blinked. “Wow, Tschel’s on my side and Alex is against me, this is a first.”
Alex’s look shut Marril up. She looked indignant.
“We’ve just had a rough time,” Tschel said, hugging Alex. Alex managed a smile. “We’re getting over it, though.”
“I feel like I should shout at you two again just for fun,” Marril muttered.
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That's not it for this week, folks. Next chapter goes up next post. Until then, remember that electric mice hate water mice. Yep.

[Marril]

So this is the second chapter this week. Gasp.

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“Well, that went better,” Alex said, sounding almost cheerful, as he and Tschel exited the Pokémon Centre after getting their Pokémon looked after by Nurse Joy after their third match. It had been a one-sided fight anyhow, nothing like the terrifyingly brutal challenge presented by Andre and Gustav during their second match.
“Almost makes me wish I could fight,” Marril snickered. “I’d completely beat them into next week.”
“That’d be an event,” Tschel nodded. “Orthan tournament. Hey, isn’t that Orthan Raichu over there the same one that you were talking with the other day?”
“Yeah, looks like it,” Marril looked over across the hall. “Why?”
“You should go over there, say hi,” Tschel said. “From what you said about the last time you were actually starting to get along before Kani came in.”
“What would I say?” Marril asked, looking at Tschel like he was an idiot.
“Anything,” Alex shrugged. “I can see Kani from here, or at least one of his brothers, can’t tell, and I’ll distract them if you want.”
“Thanks for the offer, but…” Marril started, but she was interrupted by Tschel pushing her over towards Raichu. “This was so planned behind my back,” she muttered.
Alex snickered to himself as he strode over to Kani. He wanted to know what all this anti-human stuff was about, which was why he volunteered to be the one to distract Kani.
“Ah, if it’s not everybody’s favourite, loveable man of confused gender,” Kani shook his head as Alex approached. He had his arms crossed and was leaning against the wall, watching people go by. Alex muttered some not-very-nice words to himself, to which Kani added, “Heard that.”
“Was wondering how long it’d be until you insulted me,” Alex pointed out. He was careful with his words; Marril had made it very clear to him that Kani had taken a completely new outlook on life since they’d last met, and despite how he looked, Kani could fight just as well as Marril could.
That meant, well, Alex wished he knew what that meant.
“I know what you’re over here for, pink-skin,” Kani turned so he was facing Alex, weight almost entirely on his left leg, standing postured.
“What?” Alex asked, testing Kani.
“Marril told you all about how I’m some racist anti-human and you’re here to see if it’s true,” Kani shrugged.
Alex blinked. Not quite true, as he’d originally intended it just to be a distraction for Marril, but that reason had sprung up as a matter of opportunity.
“And are you?” Alex asked.
“What, you think I’d be dumb enough to blatantly profile a species for what they did to me and about seven hundred others?” Kani asked.
“No,” Alex said, not sure if he was lying or not. Really, he didn’t know Kani well enough to answer the question.
“Nah, I’m not noble enough to hold a cause,” Kani explained. He looked completely different now, like he was wistfully remembering better days. “I just think us Orthan Pokémon should be allowed to live off on our own, away from humans and this damn persecution. Away from all the pain.”
Though Alex usually knew when to keep his mouth shut, the stubborn need to help people that he inherited from his dad beat out his sensibility.
“You sure you’re not just running away from your problems?” Alex asked, trying to sound as helpful as he could be, and hoping he didn’t sound mocking.
Kani looked at Alex like he’d just been cursed at. “What?”
“Sounds like you’re just running away,” Alex shrugged. “I know how much it hurts, Marril’s shown me how bad it can get, but you don’t get anywhere by just closing yourself off and keeping things to yourself.”
“Don’t be an idiot, human, of course I don’t do that,” Kani spat.
“I mean with people that aren’t your brothers,” Alex clarified. He looked around, like it would’ve been a bad thing if anyone else heard him. “I don’t know who your former trainer was, and really it doesn’t matter, but if you’re just running from the pain in life by hiding behind isolationism… you’re only going to hurt yourself more and more.”
Kani’s temper flared, and he struck Alex across the face. Alex looked surprisingly unsurprised. In fact, he smiled.
“That was good, actually,” Alex said. “Yeah, it hurt, but you’re allowing yourself to feel something instead of running.”
“You’re judging me having only spoken to me for moments at most!” Kani shouted. A few people turned their heads, but nobody else said anything.
“No, I’m judging you like Marril,” Alex corrected. He took a breath and then said, “I know you’re two different people, but you’ve had the same experience being turned into an Orthan.”
“You know nothing of me,” Kani growled.
Alex didn’t know what to say to that. He knew he did know Kani better than the Orthan Marril thought, but at the same time he didn’t know how to put those feelings into words.
“I guess I’m just generalizing,” Alex admitted, “But you have to admit, I can’t be completely wrong.”
“You’re more wrong than you think,” Kani grumbled. He spun on his heel, put his hands in his pockets, and stormed off, looking indignant.

Kenneth shook his head, watching the Orthan Marril—he was pretty sure Kani was his name—storm off.
“You know, Alex really has way too much of Rei in him,” Kenneth pointed out to Izumi, his arms crossed, leaning against the far wall.
“That can’t be a bad thing, though,” Izumi shrugged. “You saw how guilty he felt to pull out all the stops in the second round.”
“Well, if it were me, I wouldn’t hesitate to hit that hard,” Kenneth figured. “It’s good that he feels compassionate enough to not want to hurt anybody, but that was just weakness. If they’re hitting you that hard, you hit them that hard. Anyhow, what I meant was that Alex was trying to get through to Kani there. Not everyone would do that.”
“Looking at how he got blown off, it’s not surprising,” Izumi replied. She shifted her footing onto her other foot and idly watched the passers-by. She didn’t like how the fluorescent lighting was so bright. It was almost blinding at times. Halve the damn light bulbs, she figured, and you’d still be in the realms of too bright.
“Lighten up, Izumi,” Kenneth said. “Oh, remind me sometime to show you how to take anything lightly.”
“How would…” Izumi started to ask.
“It’s a secret,” Kenneth cut her off. “At least for now. Anyways, I’m going to go get some food, you can stay here and take things seriously if you’d like, or you can join me.”
“Son of a Growlithe,” Izumi muttered jokingly. She followed Kenneth over to the small food court, which didn’t offer very good food at all but at least it was cheap.
“You’d think they’d sell better stuff here,” Kenneth mused, voicing Izumi’s thoughts. “Oh well, too lazy to go find something better.”
“Wow, look who’s in line in front of us,” Izumi whispered to Kenneth.
Kenneth took a moment to see who it was. “Well, if it’s not good ‘ol Pat Lopf slumming like a commoner. Head of the Neo League itself.”
“Wonder if he’d recognize us,” Izumi muttered sourly.
Kenneth waved his hand dismissively. “Paranoia. He might if we were in Rocket uniforms maybe, but come on, he’s going to see through the years and years of hiding I’ve done to our identities in a matter of seconds, at a passing glance? Not even I’m that good.”
Izumi laughed.
“That’s the first step to loosening up,” Kenneth said. “Now, stay loosened up or I’ll be forced to not like it.”
With that, Kenneth studied the menu intently. The line was growing progressively shorter, and he’d quite forgotten what sorts of American-style fast food he liked more than the others.
“Any ideas?” Kenneth asked Izumi. “I’m fresh out of them.”
“You’re asking me?” Izumi wondered. “Hah.”
“Well fine then,” Kenneth pouted. “Let me make all the hard decisions.”
As the line drew shorter and shorter, Kenneth decided that he’d just pick a random number from the list of combos and go with that, even if it turned out to be some vile grease-covered monstrosity.
“Yeah I’ll have a number three and, uh, what’re you having?” Kenneth asked Izumi.
“Eh? Oh, um, number five,” Izumi shrugged, not bothering to look to see what she was ordering. It was a dangerous tactic, thought Kenneth, much more dangerous than helping Team Aqua find Kyogre or surreptitiously making Roland disappear forever. No, the risks of ordering without looking were higher than any of that.
“Here you go,” a tray with some wrapped burgers and packaged salad, as well as two oversized drinks, was handed to Kenneth, who paid for the both of them.
“Looks American enough,” Izumi commented as Kenneth took the food to an unoccupied table.
“I’m guessing good ‘ol Lopf is trying to appeal to the overseas crowds, or something,” Kenneth shrugged, opening a packaged salad and trying it. It wasn’t that bad, all things considered. “So how’s your burger?”
“Overcooked,” Izumi frowned. “I should’ve looked at what I was ordering.”
“You know, I told myself that exact same thing,” Kenneth nodded sagely. “Ordering without looking is the most dangerous thing on earth. If you get something you don’t like, you’re stuck with it, and nobody likes that.”
Izumi groaned. “I’m eating with a nine-year old.”
“No I’m ten and a half,” Kenneth grinned, enunciating the “and a half” like most kids tended to do. “Really, you can’t outgrow fun.”
“Tell me,” Izumi said, “Did you ever actually have Rei take a look and see if there was anything going on in your head that shouldn’t be?”
“Actually yes,” Kenneth said, his tone suddenly reflective. “He seriously told me I’m one of the sanest people he knows.”
“That’s the scary part,” Izumi nodded. “And what’s worse, I’m starting to agree with him.”
Kenneth laughed.
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That's it for this week, folks. Next chapter goes up when it goes up. Until then, remember that you're never too old to enjoy having fun, just don't try doing it by dancing in front of a huge crowd. That never turns out right at all.