Rocket Punch-Up (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus “Slash!” shouted Landslide, Lorraine’s prized Ground-type Pokémon that had recently evolved. “Time to shine Flower!” Cody released his faithful Vileplume. “Vile!” “Landslide, use your Slash attack!” “Flower, use Stun Spore!” The Stun Spore was a longer range attack and won, when the paralysing dust cleared, the Sandslash looked poorly. “Finish it Flower. Absorb its strength.” “Plume!...” Green lights burst out of Landslide and revitalised little Flower. “No! Grrrr, Flounder!” growled Lorraine. “Seaking!” growled the large fish, looking confident, even out of the water. “Flower, Return!” Cody had had a loss from a Goldeen once, who knew Peck, a Flying-type attack and effective against Grass-types. The evolved form would be stronger, but Cody had another Pokémon that was good for the job. “I choose you Sharp.” “Jol-Teon!” Sharp was one of his better Pokémon, in terms of level and attack moves. Cody preferred Stone-induced evolution Pokémon because they could grow so fast, while his other Pokémon were having trouble evolving and even more trouble winning battles, his Stone-induced evolution Pokémon grew strong but stopped learning new moves, except for his Nidoking and Jolteon which had evolved and yet continued to learn new attacks. “Flounder, use Horn Drill!” “Dodge it Sharp, use Quick Attack!” Sharp attacked first, then attempted a retreat, but its leg was hit by the horn, the Seaking was fast. “Agh! Sharp!” shouted Cody concerned. “Jolt...” “Can you go on?” “JOLT!” “Okay! Use a Thundershock.” “Jol-te-on!!!” “Sea?” The blast hit hard, surrounding Flounder in the electric storm, it was down and out. Sharp’s thunderpower was extremely strong. “My turn sister. I choose Hunter!” said Larry stepping in and throwing a Pokéball. “FEARRROW!” screamed the large bird. “A Flying-type.” thought Cody, “Weak against Electric.” But he took one look at Sharp, who was barely standing because of its hurt leg, and thought again. Drawing his ball, he returned the weakened Pokémon, he’d need another strategy. “I choose you Torch!” “Growlll!” The fire puppy leapt out in front of Cody, willing to protect its master. “You ready for a challenge Torch?” “Growl!” the dog smiled. “Okay, let’s start with Ember!” “GROWLLL!” A blast of flame burst from Torch’s mouth and exploded on the Fearow. Cody smiled, “Alright Torch, you-” The Fearow burst through and its sharp beak collided with Torch, who flew backwards, yelped a little, then collapsed. “No! Torch!” “Not so confident now, boy.” said Larry snidely. “I’ve got one last Pokémon, Poisonpin, its all up to you now.” “NIIIIDDDO!!!” “Poisonpin, you’ll have to use your Poison attacks to win. Use Poison Sting!” The Nidoking swung its tail, releasing shards of its poisonous spines. “Agility, now.” The Fearow flew left, right, up and down and miraculously avoided every sting. “Wha?!” spluttered Cody. “Use Fury Attack now.” Hunter dived down causing debris to fly everywhere, the little Machop fell from its hiding place on top of a messy stack of boxes and onto the floor where it continued to watch Cody. The dust cleared and the Fearow was on top, continuing the fury. Poisonpin was losing. “Now, fly into the air and use Drill Peck!” “Poisonpin! Run!” The Nidoking shot a look at Cody, a look that told him, ‘I’m not running, I’m gonna fight.’ Cody nodded, he had an understanding with his Pokémon. Cody didn’t give any commands, Poisonpin had its own plans. Hunter drove itself down into a spin, Poisonpin was still waiting. Gathering speed, the Fearow was fast enough to act as a tunnel drill, Poisonpin finally stopped waiting and struck forward, punching it again and again. The Thrash attack. Hit after hit, Poisonpin kept at it, Hunter took one stab at it and grazed Poisonpin quite badly, but it wouldn’t stop, not until Hunter fell, finally it gave up totally and collapsed, Poisonpin smiled. “They beat my precious Fearow...” muttered Larry, “Grrrr, Bedtime, get him!” “Bedtime?...” questioned Cody. “Wiggly!” A Wigglytuff, and with Poisonpin being partly a Ground-type, his physical defense would probably be higher than hers. “Bedtime, give that Nidoking an early nap.” With that, she started singing, the hypnotic waves were powerful and Poisonpin was soon on his way to the dreamworld. Cody recalled it before Larry took advantage of his state, but now he was in trouble. “My four Pokémon are down, and Jet’s too weak to beat them... I lost...” “Now let’s teach him what happens when you mess with the big kids.” said Lorraine menacingly as the two of them and the evil Wigglytuff approached Cody. “But the battle’s over!” shouted Cody. “This isn’t an Official League Battle, kid.” smiled Larry, “You run out of Pokémon, and we get to rough you up.” A strong punch swung the Wigglytuff into its trainer and the Machop stood protectively in front of Cody. “Machop, you want to help me?” “Chop.” “Okay then, why not try a Low Kick?” “Ma-Chop!” Cody smiled, since this wasn’t an Official League Battle, he could use all the Pokémon he had without restrictions, but so could they. Machop swept its foot across and Bedtime fell to the floor immediately because of the type advantage. “Seismic Toss time!” Picking up the Wigglytuff as if she were a beach ball, it was easy to balance itself as Machop leapt into the air and hurled the Wigglytuff back down. It was hard on the little guy and he had sunk down a little, weakened by Bedtime’s weight and his previous injury. “That’s it, I win, now release those Pokémon!” ordered Cody. “Never! As long as we have Pokémon, Junior Rocket will never give in!” shouted Lorraine. “Yeah whatever.” Cody really didn’t care about what division they were from, only that they were part of the elusive criminals he’d heard a lot about over the years. The two appeared to have new Pokémon and threw both Pokéballs down simultaneously. “Magmar!” “Jynx!” “Go Core! Use Fire Punch!” ordered Larry. “Black Widow, Ice Punch!” added Lorraine. Cody and Machop ducked down and hugged, they didn’t stand a chance against these two powerful Pokémon. Suddenly a ball of flame whacked the Jynx hard while a blast of bubbles hit the Magmar’s tail and weakened him. Tom and Nat’ stood with their Krabby and Charmander, along with Officer Jenny. “You there, you’re under arrest for Grand Theft Pokémon!” “Geez! The cops! Let’s get out o’ here Lor’!” screamed Larry recalling the Magmar, as did his sister and her Jynx. They were so scared of Jenny that they ran straight through the weak metal wall of the shack, leaving behind all the stolen Pokémon. Later on, all the Pokémon had been returned to their trainers, except one. “Cody, it appears this Machop doesn’t have a trainer.” said Jenny. “But it was so eager to free the other Pokémon, I thought it was doing it for-” “Nope, it was just trying to save its fellow Pokémon.” “That’s so cool... You battled so hard and without any personal gain. You’re very good you know...” “Chop...” it smiled approaching Cody. “Huh?” “Looks like it wants to go with you, if you’ll have it Cody.” explained Jenny. “Well sure, you’re so strong and responsible, anyone would want you as their Pokémon, I’m just glad it gets to be me.” Reaching for a new Pokéball, Cody remembered something, and instead, retrieved the old ball. “Return Muscles.” he said confidently, while giving it a nickname. It leapt into the air and struck a fighting pose as the light hit it and pulled it inside. Waving goodbye to Jenny, the trio of trainers continued their ongoing journey... End of Part B Back to Part A Back to the Side Stories Back to the Pokézone