Chapter 27:  Mind and Muscle (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

The heated waves dissipated and the smoke took a while to fade, Alakazam was 
dazed and charred in many places but Inferno was nowhere to be seen.  
“Inferno? Inferno! He couldn’t have been...”  
“CHARMELEON!!!” he screamed, diving out of the small crater from earlier, his 
head was a little blackened but he was otherwise okay and took the sneak 
surprise and used it to slash down the Alakazam.  
It looked weary but unleashed a Confusion attack to blast Inferno away from 
him.  
He landed hard and picked himself up, he was angry to lose control of his body 
so often.  
“Inferno! Rage attack!”  
“Char!!!” he bellowed, beating his chest and running forward, he was bombarded 
with Psychic attacks on the way.  
“That’s more than enough, Inferno, release the Rage!”  
He grinned and ran forward, but the attacks were growing in strength and 
stopping him, damaging him and finally blasting him back.  
He collapsed on the floor.  
“Inferno!” I cried and ran to him.  
He was damaged beyond a major comeback and too weak to stand.  
“Don’t worry Inferno, you did your best.”  
Still, I couldn’t help thinking he could have won if he just battled whenever I 
asked him to.  
I judged each match on the type, the only thing I couldn’t bet on was Inferno’s 
attitude.  
“You may leave now, unless you want to recall your Haunter.” explained 
Sabrina.  
“Hopefully he’ll be ready to battle.” I smiled.  
I let him out and he was asleep.  
“I have a past with a Haunter, I shan’t attack a sleeping one.” said Sabrina 
firmly.  
I didn’t know anything about what she was referring to, but I was glad she was 
giving me this chance.  
I searched my pack and produced the alarm clock I used regularly to organise my 
training time.  
I modified the alarm and made it ring.  
Spectre’s eyes popped out in a comedy fashion and he yawned and floated over to 
me, seized the alarm clock and threw it.  
“Spectre!” I shouted, diving and grabbing it.  
“Hau ha ha ha!” he laughed, he wasn’t going back to sleep.  
I heard a vague giggling and Sabrina had turned away, she tried to act tough 
and cold, but she couldn’t hide her playful side away.  
“Disable.”  
“Hau-” shuddered Spectre, before freezing up and falling to the floor, landing 
with a solid clunk.  
“Finish it quickly, Psybeam.”  
The beam shot out and hit Spectre, before pushing him across the arena floor 
and halfway up the wall, Spectre remained trapped on the wall being pummelled 
by psychic energy.  
“Haunter! Haunter!” he moaned.  
“It can’t end like this...  Spectre! We can win this! Do your best!” I shouted 
compassionately.  
“Haunt-”  
A jolt of extra power hit Spectre and consumed the area.  
“Spectre! Don’t scare me like this!” I shouted.  
“It’s over, no Poison Pokémon could survive that blast.” commented Sabrina.  
“Survive?” I questioned.  
“Gaaaahh!!!” screamed Spectre flying forward, a pink smoke-like substance 
flying off his body, he reached the Alakazam and shot a Night Shade up close 
and personal.  
“Spectre, I was afraid I’d be minus one Haunter.” I said giving a relieved 
smile.  
“It appears you are.” said Sabrina calmly.  
“Gengar!!!” shouted Spectre, he evolved during the blast, that's how he 
withstood it.  
“Spectre! Hypnosis!” I shouted happily.  
The Alakazam was too stunned to avoid it and drifted to sleep.  
“Finish it Spectre! Dream Eater.”  
“Gen... Gar!!!”  
He extended his arms and purple globes of light rejuvenated Spectre’s strength, 
the Alakazam woke up, put a foot forward, then collapsed to the floor.  
“Alright!” I shouted and slapped hands with my powerful Ghost Pokémon.  
Sabrina sighed, “Good job, you gave it your all and succeeded.  I’m glad your 
Ghost Pokémon is okay.”  
Spectre approached her and rubbed itself against her lovingly.  
She giggled a little and stroked its head, she seemed to have a weakness around 
Ghost Pokémon and I wasn’t talking about the type advantage.  
Spectre leaped back to my side.  

“It gives me pleasure to award you the Marsh Badge.  Wear it with pride.” said 
Sabrina with a small smile.  
“But there was a guy outside giving me hassle about a line of victories in the 
Gym.” I commented.  
“Ignore him, he has no right to intimidate or judge trainers.” replied Sabrina 
darkly.  
“Goodbye Sabrina.” I said walking away with my new badge.  
“I wish you all the best and hope that you work things out with Emily, she 
still has feelings for you...” commented Sabrina.  
“Wait, I never knew that, did you just assume that or did you read Emily’s-”  
By the time I had turned around, she had vanished.  
Perhaps it was best that I didn’t know, if I did run into Emily, I’d have to 
deal with it when it happened, I couldn’t be sure what the future held for me, 
but it would have been nice to be given some notice once in a while.  

I returned to the Pokémon Centre and healed up my Pokémon before heading 
towards the Fighting Gym, at least that’s what it used to be called, there was 
a conflict between their Gym and the one with the psychics, after a battle that 
would determine who would represent Saffron City, the psychics won with ease 
and the place was instead used for large tournaments that were broadcast on TV 
worldwide.  
There I found out that only one Pokémon could be entered, they would go through 
four rounds, and the winner of all four won a mystery prize.  
It took a while to decide which Pokémon to compete, Psychot and all Psychic 
Pokémon were  banned, the Fighting Championship was known not to have Psychic 
Pokémon involved, nor could special attacks be initiated, Ice, Fire, Dragon, 
Psychic, Electric, Grass and Water attacks were forbidden and only physical 
moves were admitted, and it really helped to have a human-shaped Pokémon.  
Inferno would be a good choice but what if we ran into an opponent that he 
perceived to be weak? By the time he realised it was a match, he’d probably be 
too late.  
The only other Pokémon that was likely to be admitted and had the body to take 
as much as he could dish out was my Electabuzz, Shockwave.  
I went to the registration desk and before long, Shockwave was registered, and 
just in time too, I was the last entrant, now the tournament was fully booked 
and ready to begin.  

That evening, all sixteen trainers including myself and Chad sat around a 
wrestling ring.  

“Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to this year’s Fighting Championship!” shouted a 
loud commentator, “You’re sure to be in for a great night, with thrills, 
chills, and sixteen awesome Pokémon battling it out for the mystery prize, 
trust me folks, whoever doesn’t win are going to kick themselves when they find 
out what it is.  Now without any further ado, let the tournament begin!”  

The tournament was quick and fierce, the first match was Machoke Versus 
Graveler.  
It was swift and brutal, both Pokémon used a flurry of Mega Punches and Seismic 
Tosses.  
Then the Graveler stomped the floor and the Machoke lost its balance, then the 
Graveler used Rock Slide, dragging itself forward, it hit the Machoke hard, 
bounced into the air and stomped down the opponent.  
“We have a winner!” screamed the commentator.  
I looked around at the audience while the trainers recalled their Pokémon and 
one of them left in shame.  
Abby was nowhere to be seen, perhaps still taking her Gym Battle, and hopefully 
not for a rematch or she’d miss possibly my biggest moment.  

The next few matches were Machamp Versus Magmar, without using its special fire 
powers, it was at a loss, especially since the Machamp had learned Rock Slide 
and defeated it with ease.  

Hitmonchan Versus Kangaskhan, the Hitmonchan didn’t have a little kid to worry 
about and was merciless, the Kangaskhan went into a Dizzy Punch but strangely 
got dizzy itself and was finished by the tough Hitmonchan.  

Marowak Versus Slowbro:  Without its psychic powers, it could only rely on its 
strength, but his speed was a big factor, the Marowak ran circles around him 
and defeated him before he could do any major damage.  

Lickitung Versus Sandslash, Golem Versus Poliwrath...  Sandslash and Poliwrath 
came out on top.  

The opponents sitting between me and Chad lost, and so Chad moved up closer to 
me.  
“The competition is really tough here, Chad.” I said concerned.  
“Uh huh.” he simply replied.  
“Aren’t you at all worried?” I asked.  
“No way, I’m Chad the Chosen, and I’m gonna win.  No hard feelings, Tet’.”  
“And now Trainers Bentley Dash and... Chad the Chosen?...  Is that a real 
name...  Ahem.  Bring out your Pokémon!” shouted the commentator.  

“This is really gonna bug you!” shouted Bentley, a tall man with short red hair 
wearing a green suit.  
“PINSIR!!!”  
“It won’t get the chance.  GET ‘IM!” shouted Chad.  
“Man-KEYYYY!!!” screamed Ragecage.  
Good choice, when a Mankey got angry, it went out of control, but usually 
towards the one that got it mad.  
“Pinsir! Focus Energy!” shouted Bentley confidently.  
“RAGECAGE! FURY ATTACK!” shouted Chad.  
The Pinsir was barely through charging before getting pounded.  
“Guillotine!” grinned Bentley.  
“BACK OFF!” shouted Chad.  
The Pinsir swung its horns down but Ragecage flipped back and landed in a 
defensive stance.  
No real need as the Pinsir got its horns stuck in the ring.  
“Oh yeah baby! We’ve got this one in the bag! RAGECAGE! FURY ATTACK!” shouted 
Chad confidently.  
The Pinsir was stuck and upside down and couldn’t avoid the attack, his trump 
card had failed and cost him the match.  
“NOW SUBMISSION!” yelled Chad happily.  
Ragecage spun himself around and uppercutted the Pinsir high into the air, he 
landed upside down again but his eyes were crosses, he was beyond defeated.  
“We have a winner!” shouted the commentator.  
“OH YEAH!” shouted Chad.  

I had to admit that Chad was a great trainer, he really shaped up, as did his 
Pokémon, the only bad thing to say was his loudness and the overdramatic act.  
“Next we’d like to call up Trainer Kara Trey and Trainer Tetsubo Capture for 
the final match of Round One!”  
Kara was a young woman with long brown hair and two bangs hanging over the 
sides of her head, she wore a purple top and a pink skirt.  
I felt a little nervous, I’d never battled under these conditions, not even at 
the college.  
I cracked a little under pressure and I didn’t much like an audience this big.  
That’s probably why I asked Abby to come along, for a little moral support.  
Chad was okay but not really comforting, the way he carried on only made me 
more nervous about the competition.  

“Go Charmeleon!”  
“Go Shockwave!”  
“CHAR!!!”  
“Blllleeeehhhbuuuzzz!!!”  
“Leer!” commanded Kara.  
“Swift attack!” I ordered.  
“Char?”  
The Charmeleon saw stars literally, they hit him hard and he fell to the 
floor.  
“Er...” I groaned.  
Though the crowds were cheering, it didn’t help one bit.  
My heart was pounding and I wasn’t sure what to do.  
Usually Shockwave’s Electric attacks would be enough, but I was unable to use 
them.  
“Charmeleon! Slash attack!”  
I was unable to decide on a counter-attack, all those strangers were cheering, 
now I wasn’t sure who for, but when Shockwave blocked one slash only to be 
followed up by another in his face, it was obvious who the crowds favoured.  
“Shockwave...  Use...”  
“Buzz?”  
He was concerned about me, so much that he was distracted and was punched 
back.  
“Shockwave!” I shouted.  
“Buzz...”  
He gave a exhausted smile and rustled my hair in a big brotherly way, he 
believed in me, in our promise, that he’d get stronger without excess 
electricity, now we were forced to use none at all.  
“I can’t let a little fear get to me, not if it means you getting hurt...”  
I looked at the crowds again and noticed the door opening and Abby running in 
to watch me.  
I smiled, she wasn’t too open about it, but I knew she was on my side, knowing 
that for sure made me forget about the others.  
“Shockwave! Screech!” I said a little more confidently.  
“BUZZ!!!” he yelled, and the Charmeleon jumped and froze.  
“Quick Attack!” I yelled, and he shot past the Charmeleon while punching it a 
little.  
“Mega Punch!” I shouted, and Shockwave rose his fist and the Charmeleon went 
flying.  
“Finish it off with a Seismic Toss!”  
Shockwave leaped up and grabbed the Charmeleon before throwing it down.  
As if falling wasn’t enough, he was descending faster than he was already 
falling.  
He landed with an echoing crash, it raised a hand but then dropped it.  
The cheers filled the stadium and suddenly my fears and anxieties faded.  
I looked up at Abby who was actually wearing a small smile, this was a rare 
sight and I must have really said the right things for her to be expressing 
happiness.  

The next few rounds went by rather quickly.  
The Sandslash was so agile that the Graveler didn’t lay a finger on it and the 
Sandslash eventually wore it down with its sharp claws.  

Chad’s Mankey got a little beating but prevailed over the large Poliwrath.  

The Hitmonchan won over the Machamp, who appeared to freeze up halfway through 
the fight, his style was strangely familiar.  

And myself and Shockwave had to pull our weight, my Electabuzz had to avoid 
every bone attack from Marowak as one hit meant a type advantage.  
He got a couple of hits to his head, but blocked the rest with his large fists 
and countered as much as he could.  
He waited for the right moment, and finished the match with a Seismic Toss.  
He was battered and I wasn’t sure how much more he could take.  
But still, I had a lot of support and not even Shockwave wanted to back out.  

A little later, Chad battled against the speedy Sandslash and was halfway 
through his battle.  
“FURY ATTACK!”  
“Fury Swipes!” shouted Katie Sweep, a sly-looking female with green hair and 
brown clothing.  
The two clashed and were repelled by the force.  
“Slash attack!”  
“DUCK AND THRASH!”  
“Man?” questioned Ragecage.  
“We’ve trained way past the time you should have learned it, I’m sure you have 
the experience to learn your ultimate attack.” explained Chad.  
“MAN-KEY!!!” cheered Ragecage.  
He swooped under the sharp claws and rose, and then pummelled the Sandslash 
many times.  
“Slash...  Sand...  Slash...” said the Sandslash dizzily.  
Ragecage took initiative and finished up with a Mega Punch.  
The Sandslash tumbled onto the arena floor and collapsed.  
“And Chad’s Mankey wins the match!” yelled the commentator.  
“Yeah! I knew you could learn Thrash eventually!” cheered Chad.  
“Mankey! Mankey! Man?...”  
Finally, Ragecage glowed white and grew into a bigger Pokémon with large fists 
and feet.  
“Primeape!!! Primmmmeape!!!”  

“Primeape, the Pig Monkey Pokémon.  When angered, it gives chase endlessly.  It 
is hard to calm down but usually does only after catching what made it angry in 
the first place.”  

“Oh yeah! My very own Primeape!” cheered Chad happily.  
I smiled, it was always nice to see a trainer’s hard work pay off.  

I stepped up confidently towards my next opponent.  
“Oh no, not you!” shouted the shrouded man.  
“Do I know you?” I questioned.  
“Ah don’t believe it! Can’t we go anywhere wit’out running inta him?!”  
“Get that kid! He can’t shock or spray or burn us here!”  
Cletus and Cassie and...  
I turned around to my opponent.  
“Claus!”  
“Turquoise, you can’t win, my Hitmonchan is the best!” gloated Claus removing 
the black robe and revealed his usual purple uniform and hat.  
“I bet you’re cheating.” I said suspicious, glaring at the three.  
“No, I’m being honest for once, I’ve seen the mystery prize, its a Pokéball.  
One with a rare Pokémon inside, and you can’t unleash your Pokémon on us, 
because we’re here legally.”  
“If you’re not cheating, then what are Cletus and Cassie doing near the ring?” 
I questioned.  
“Spectating.”  
“Yeah right.”  
“Well to be fair, I did say I was being honest, Cletus and Cassie are another 
subject completely.”  
I wouldn’t start a ruckus here, or I might be the one who got kicked out.  
Surely the dizzy spells of the Kangaskhan and the freezing of the Machamp were 
no more than gas and a lot of glue.  
I’d beat him in a one-on-one battle fairly, even if he wouldn’t.  

“Go! Shockwave!”  
“Go! Knockout!”  
“BUZZ!”  
“Monchan!”  
Shockwave battled hard but the Hitmonchan was too quick, he constantly used his 
Comet Punch to batter Shockwave, while he was too tired from his previous 
battle to keep up.  
I knew the Elites had cheated somewhere along the line, that's why Knockout was 
in such good shape.  
“Shockwave, use your Seismic Toss!”  
Shockwave shot forward and picked up Knockout, but before he could throw him 
down, something hit him sharply in the head and Knockout fell harmlessly to the 
floor.  
I glared towards the source, up in the end of the east audience row, was 
Cletus, hiding a slingshot and smiling confidently at me.  
They must have planned all their cheap tricks so that the judges and audience 
didn’t see them.  
“Shockwave! Quick Attack!”  
“Buzz!!!” he screamed, unhappy at the Elites.  
Suddenly he tripped and fell to the floor, a lump in the ring disappeared 
shortly after.  
“Finish it Knockout! Mega Punch!” laughed Claus.  
“Buzz!” wailed Shockwave as he spun uncontrollably to the floor.  
It was over, I had failed, only Chad could prevent the Elites from winning the 
tournament dishonourably.  

I was welcome to stay until the end of the tournament, and I would stay, but 
I’d make sure the Elites couldn’t pull off another dirty trick.  
“Abby?”  
“Tetsubo, I saw what they did, they don’t deserve to win, I didn’t think much 
of them before but now I can see how much trouble you’ve had to endure.”  
“They told me the mystery prize is a Pokémon, now I’m okay that I didn’t win, I 
prefer to choose my Pokémon before promising to train them, but Chad’s really 
eager to win and he’d be heartbroken if he lost.  Abby, will you help me stop 
the Elites?”  
She seemed to think it over before replying, “Let’s show them how tricky We can 
be...”  

While Chad’s Primeape battled Claus’s Hitmonchan, Abby and I sent our Pokémon 
to stop Cletus and Cassie.  

“Ana-der stone, comin’ yer way Primeape.” whispered Cletus aiming another stone 
with his slingshot.  
His aim was true but something stopped the stone and held it in the air, 
telekinetically, and then shot it back, hitting Cletus hard and knocking him 
off the edge of the audience seats and down some distance.  
“Good work Psychot.” I said to my Kadabra.  

“A sticky situation is in store for you...” mused Cassie underneath the ring, 
before a tiny pink hand tapped her on the shoulder.  
All three of Abby’s little Pokémon surrounded Cassie.  
Sparky and Pixie used Thundershock and a Metronome-activated Swift attack.  
Cassie crawled away into Foxfire’s range and she blew a tiny Ember attack which 
set Cassie’s hair alight.  
“NO! Not the hair! Anything but the hair!” she screamed.  
She was so confined that when she crawled, the arena over her got hot, and the 
Pokémon carefully surrounded and blocked off the area around Ragecage.  

“Monchan!!!” screamed Knockout getting a hot foot.  
“FINISH IT RAGECAGE! THRASH ATTACK!” shouted Chad.  
Knockout had to leap around to avoid the heated area at the same time as 
Ragecage pummelled him.  
“SEISMIC TOSS!” yelled Chad.  
“Hit...  Mon...  Chan...” wailed Knockout as he was thrown onto the floor, the 
red hot floor.  
“Monnnnn!!!”  
He leaped up again and Ragecage aimed a Mega Punch true into his face, he 
finally collapsed, and lucky for him, not on a red area.  

“We have a winner! Chad the Chosen wins our mystery prize!” yelled the 
commentator.  
A female model in very little clothing kissed both Chad and his Primeape on the 
cheek, they both started acting crazy and excited, and then she handed Chad a 
Pokéball which he hastily used to release the Pokémon inside.  
“Hitmon-Lee!!!”  

“Hitmonlee, the Kicking Pokémon.  Its springy legs allow it to reach great 
distances with its kicks.  It is able to pull off super fast combos with one 
leg.”  

“Wow cool, its just like that famous fighting movie star, I should name you 
after him, your new name is... Jackie.” said Chad in awe.  
“Um Chad, Hitmonlee’s name was given because its more similar to Bruce-”  
“Return Jackie.” said Chad interrupting me.  
I gave up.  
“You can’t keep that, you cheated! That fire on the ring trick must have been 
seen by everyone!” shouted Claus.  
“What and your slingshot and glue tricks should be allowed?” I argued.  
“You did this and I’ll make sure everyone knows you for the fraud you-”  
“Aggghhh!!!” screamed Cletus, being chased by a flaming redhead and when I say 
flaming, I mean it.  
“Cletus! Claus! Help me! Put me out!” wailed Cassie.  
“Keep away!” shouted Claus, and the Elites quickly cleared out the arena.  

“Tet, what were the Elites talking about earlier, you cheated?” questioned 
Chad.  
“Only as much as they cheated me.” I replied.  
“Funny, I didn’t see any cheating in my match.” grinned Chad.  
“Because we stopped it.” I explained.  
“Don’t ruin my victory, I’d have noticed if they were cheating.” retorted 
Chad.  
I gave up, again, my patience with Chad was limited.  
“So Tet, where’re you headed?” asked Chad.  
“The next nearest Gym is in Delft Town, towards the east, why? You interested?” 
I explained.  
“You used to put me down all the time and I never got to beat you, I’ll hang 
with you and the little girl and show you how good I’ve become.” smiled Chad 
proudly.  
“Don’t call me a little girl.” said Abby calmly and firmly.  
“She’s so cute.” patronised Chad patting her on the head.  
“I hate you already.” she replied coldly.  

All in all, it was a pretty rewarding day, we had new badges and Chad had a 
brand new Pokémon, the new line-up of my travelling buddies was very much a 
disarray of people, whose personalities clashed totally and utterly, I’d have 
to be the responsible one and try to make my two friends get along with each 
other.  

End of Chapter 27B  

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