Risky Bettings (Part A) by Michael Keens/ Exodus After his Gym Battle at the Damask Town Gym, Scott set his sights on Saffron City for his next Gym win that would give him his sixth badge. He was making good time and his Pokémon team was coming along well. Now he had a full team: Shard: A huge Onix, Scott’s first and favourite, loyal to the end and very strong, Shard knew Scott better than any of his other Pokémon, Scott was practically a brother since he had raised him to be big and strong when all he was to start with was a quivering little snake on Mount Charcoal. Raichi: He had had a fair share of names as he grew up from a little Pichu that was a great help to Scott when his Onix went missing. He had the electric power that would fry anyone susceptible to them. He was cheerful and understanding and fast on his feet. Squirt: The Poliwag that originally belonged to Casey. He had experienced true pain being in that car accident, not physical pain but emotional pain of seeing his trainer getting injured and ending up in a coma. Since then he had worked hard to help Scott raise the money he needed to revive her, and though small, was pretty experienced and tough. Dragoon: As a Dratini, it was wounded and afraid in Grey Town, Scott rushed it to the Pokémon Centre and brought back up to its full strength. It was a brave battler and would someday become Scott’s trump card, it had already evolved into a Dragonair and someday, a Dragonite. Kindle: A tough and withdrawn Magmar, though seemingly grumpy, he was only really acting out Scott’s hidden emotions. He was also a strong battler and went along with all of Scott’s decisions. Finally, there was Lancer: Pre-named for when he evolved, Scott had nursed it back to health and trained it for several days, both their endurance was rewarded when Lancer evolved in a Gym Battle and won it for him. He was now a powerful Sandslash with cutting edge claws. Scott was doing his usual business of taking on all willing challengers before the Gym Battle. “Weeeezzz!!!” screamed a Weezing as Shard slammed all its weight on it and forced it to the ground. “Good match, but I’ll have to ask for the money now.” Scott said politely, yet firmly. Cue Ball withdrew his Pokémon, mumbled a little, and handed him 500 credits, he was a muscular bald man in a dark green leather jacket. “Ah don’t believe this match was fair!” he argued. “Of course it was, we were playing by the Official League rules.” explained Scott. “That’s the problem. If we were playin’ on mah terms, Ah would have won.” “I’m not interested.” replied Scott. “You sure? You’re pretty compassionate about winnin’ money, mus’ be a special cause, you could get all the money you need in this place.” “I’m listening...” “Go to the Saffron/ Vermilion underground path, down there they’ll be an alley with a locked door. Jus’ say this password: ‘Three Pokémon in the fight of their life.’ an’ the guard’ll let you through. Anyone past there will tell you how we play.” “This wouldn’t happen to be an illegal tournament, would it?” asked Scott suspicious. “Well, its a little less advertised than the Pokémon League Ah admit, but its just the place for you if you’re lookin’ to win major bucks.” “I’ll check it out then.” “Good, Ah’ll have you registered there soon, come bah tonight, be there by 8 pm.” That evening, Scott revitalised his Pokémon and went to the underground path. It was a busy marketplace at night and some stalls weren’t selling the most legal of Pokémon goods. Scott would never resort to using unreliable drugs on his Pokémon, it was dangerous and it was the sort of thing to get a trainer disqualified from the Pokémon League. He found the alley and knocked on the door, a slide opened up and some very nervous eyes peeped through. “What you want?” “Three Pokémon in the fight of their life.” Scott recited. “Hold on...” There were several clicks of multiple locks and the door opened, Scott slid through and the short suspicious guard shut the door immediately. What happened from now on would not be dealt with by the police. The alley led through to a long wooden bridge over stormy waters and through to a small cliff with a large warehouse that took up most of it. Scott could already hear the cheers of desperate people. He opened the door and many people stood watching television sets with tickets in their hands. This was a betting house, and for what, Scott soon saw on the screen, a wrestling ring with Pokémon battling it out, but fiercely and without commands, they were acting on their own and using their body parts rather than special attacks to beat down their opponent, the scratching of claws and pounding of fists on both Pokémon excited the crowd, intent on winning lots of money. “Scott, you made it!” said Cue Ball rushing up to him, “You’re in the second to las’ bout of Round 1 against me. Now let me take you through the rules, each match, the trainer must put down a specific amount of money which doubles as the rounds go up. You’ll have to gamble 1, 000 credits, if you win the round, you get double that, but it must all be bet on the next round, and it continues for four rounds. You can only use the same three Pokémon through all four rounds and they cannot be switched with other Pokémon, nor healed. They are responsible for winnin’ and no commands can be given. The battles are one-on-one at any one time but the Pokémon can tag another and switch. The rounds end when any one of the three Pokémon of one team is unable to battle. Oh and one more thin’, its a no-holds-barred tournament, the Pokémon can do whatever they want to win, even if it means killin’.” “Killing?... Now I’m not too sure.” muttered Scott. “Those are the risks, if a Pokémon tries to tag, the opponent will try to stop them from takin’ a breather, sometimes even if it means killin’ them.” “And Kester’s Kabutops finally falls, Roland’s Primeape finishes what his Tentacruel started and wins the match! Collect your winnings now, the last two matches of Round One are still in its registration process, so go to the bar and relax and we’ll notify you of when the betting for the next match takes place.” said a commentator’s voice echoing throughout the warehouse. “That’s it, we have to go.” motioned Cue Ball. Cue Ball led Scott to a couple of doors, and guided him to the left one to pick his Pokémon. Scott thought carefully, “I can’t use Squirt, he’s too inexperienced, and too innocent for this, nor can I use Dragoon, I once found him wounded and this is sure to freak him out, Lancer’s pretty new to my team and Kindle has high pride and so might not work as well as the more experienced.” He reached his decision. “Maggg!!!” “Raichu.” “Ooonnn...” “Guys, this is nothing like we’ve faced before, but it might be just what we need to speed up the moneymaking. This is like a no-holds-barred wrestling match, only one of you can battle at a time and tag whenever you feel the need to, but the opponent may try anything to stop you from doing so. I won’t be able to guide you.” They nodded, acknowledging these rules. “I know you’re allowed to, but please don’t go down to some people’s levels, just knock your opponent unconscious and don’t hesitate to switch, we can’t have any selfish pride as you’ll need to conserve your energy, plus it could cost you your life. Do you understand?” They all nodded and agreed in their language. “Then let’s go win this gig.” Scott’s Pokémon were led through, the metal door shut and locked so Scott couldn’t go through to the tournament. In the room was a comfortable chair to watch the match on the television directly in front of it, there was also a camera located just above that transmitted Scott’s face and expressions to one of the big TV’s in the main arena so that he could be seen by the audience. Lastly was a tray to put the money in. There were steel gates in the main arena which Scott could see, they were what the doorway his Pokémon just went through would lead to, but they probably wouldn’t open until the money was fed through. “And in the second to last match, is a newcomer versus an old favourite. Scott Addison who will be using an Onix, Raichu and Magmar. His opponent Cue Ball is using a Muk, Machoke and Arbok. The current odds on Scott are 4 to 1, and odds for the favourite: Cue Ball are 6 to 4. The betting will be open for 5 minutes before the match begins. Be sure to bet early, the odds Are likely to change!” Scott thought hard, was this the right thing? Was it really worth risking the lives of his Pokémon, no, his friends?... The betting soon ended and the steel gates opened, the Pokémon crawled or walked to the ring and Kindle and the Muk entered the ring while the others stood to the side. “Begin the match!...” Scott blocked out the commentator’s voice and watched the match with his own eyes and ears. The Muk crawled forward and tried to crush Kindle in a tidal wave of sludge, he leaped out of harms way and blew Ember ashes onto it, they burnt right through and left holes in the Muk who was unable to heal as yet. It flung its arms forward and toxic matter was thrown, Kindle spat flames and burnt them into nothing then breathed flames on the Muk causing him to melt, he clawed at it a couple of times while it was melted so that it wouldn’t harden around his hands. “MUK!” it screamed, and leaped forward but not in attack, it got far away from Kindle and tagged the Machoke. “Raichu!” called out Raichi sticking out his tiny arms but Kindle wouldn’t tag. “No Kindle, don’t let your pride be your undoing, switch with Raichi...” muttered Scott. Kindle charged forward and struck the Machoke in the chest with a Fire Punch, but was punched multiple times in response and kicked back. “Maggg!” he shouted angrily. He then blew his flames to fend off the Machoke but it pushed through them slowly and grabbed Kindle’s foot and spun him round, he released him and Kindle bounced off the wires and shot back at him, the Machoke swung a fist forward but Kindle reacted and spat a blast of poison into his eyes. “Maaaa!!!” the Machoke shouted and missed the punch before falling to the floor, he slowly crawled back to its screaming teammates, Kindle knew that one Pokémon would have to be knocked unconscious to win and used a Fire Blast which exploded on the Machoke’s back. He breathed heavy after that, the pressure was getting to him. “Rai! Rai!” screamed Raichi, telling him to ignore any selfish pride and let Shard finish the job, his strength would counter the type advantage should the Machoke fight back. He looked at the Arbok he would have to fight should the Machoke make it back and then at his team mates, then he sighed and tagged Shard, who leaped over the ring and crushed the Machoke, making him faint. “And using teamwork, Scott’s team finishes off the Machoke in a very quick time time indeed! Those that bet on Scott, please go and collect your money before the next match.” “Alright!” Scott cheered, Kindle might have a high sense of pride but he wasn’t stupid, he’d need his energy for later on. The tray slid out and there was 2, 000 credits on it now. The door Scott had come through opened and, looking at the screen, so did the steel doors the Pokémon came out of. “Will the Pokémon please return to their rooms until the next match. The winning trainer is free to bet on other matches but must return to his room before his next match.” There were sixteen steel gates in total around the ring, so using basic maths, there would soon be only eight more trainers including himself left in the tournament. Scott would be okay as long as his Pokémon worked like a team and to the best of their abilities. Cue Ball was waiting outside, his Pokémon had been recalled. “Your Pokémon are better than Ah thought. You’re free to bet on other matches as long as you save 2, 000 credits for your next match. Ah bid you good luck and farewell Scott, perhaps we’ll battle again next time.” “Maybe.” replied Scott, unsure if there would be a next time. He couldn’t see his Pokémon until they battled and couldn’t talk to them until they either lost or won the tournament. He hoped he’d be able to talk to all of them. From what he’d seen of the Primeape/ Kabutops fight, the remaining competition would be tougher than the last match... End of Part A Part B Back to the Side Stories Back to the Pokézone