Chapter 28:  Vicious Cycles (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

The atmosphere was chaos, and Pokémon of all sorts were unleashed, I didn’t 
dare use the Pokédex here as it’d probably get broken and all the recent data 
would be lost.  
I dodged a Kingler that was seemingly attacking people, I decided to confront 
the new leader of the Wild Dogs, perhaps his retreat would stop this battle 
early.  
“Rush! I challenge you!” I shouted as loud as I could.  
“Take a number!” he shouted, and a Hitmonlee appeared in front of me.  
“You’ll have to take me on first.” said an evil voice from within the crowd.  
“Go! Inferno!”  
“Char...” he yawned, this was getting out of control now.  

The Hitmonlee tried a Hi Jump Kick, and missed, and fell to the floor 
pathetically, it happened occasionally, the move was unreliable and easily 
dodged.  
Inferno wasn’t impressed and napped, so I quickly recalled him.  
The Hitmonlee aimed another kick so I released Whirlwind who dive-bombed the 
Hitmonlee with its beak.  
Whirlwind, aware that I was too busy avoiding attacks and strange people, took 
matters into its own wings and ‘Wing Attacked’ it.  
One last Gust attack made it fall to the ground, Fighting-types were weak 
against Flying attacks.  
“Tough guy, eh?” said the sinister voice, “Well take this!”  
“Wartortle!”  
Whirlwind flew down for another go but the Wartortle blasted bubbles into it 
and it was thrown into a Pinsir’s range who batted it to the floor, then a 
Tauros stepped on it.  
I recalled Whirlwind quickly, this zone was too dangerous to stray away from 
our designated fighting area, it was small, but leaving the space would mean 
more danger.  
“Go Scramble!”  
“Exeggcute!”  
They were careful not to leave, being a group of eggs, they were delicate and 
could only face one Pokémon at a time.  
The Wartortle blasted a jet of water, but the eggs casually changed their 
formation and the jet blasted through the ring of eggs.  
They used Mega Drain followed by a Barrage attack, the Wartortle fell back, 
aimed to get up, but was recalled.  
“He knows his types.” I muttered.  
Next came a Psyduck, followed by a stone which landed on its head.  
“Cruel trainer.” I thought, but the headache was helping the Psyduck focus its 
Psychic attacks, its eyes glowed blue and it literally looked evil.  
Scramble was thrown telekinetically into a Kingler, then into Chopper’s Golem, 
Tyra’s Cloyster and an Arcanine, and then blasted back into the arena.  
Scramble struck back with a Mega Drain but the Psyduck aimed at the stolen 
energy and it dissipated, he may have lost the health but he wouldn’t let 
Scramble have it.  
As a last ditch effort, Scramble flung itself at the Psyduck who started 
scratching it.  
The two stopped using Normal-type attacks and just started barging each other.  

“No! No! No! You’ll never win like that!” said the mysterious man, his tone 
changed.  
“Chad?! What are you doing?!” I shouted, I should have remembered that Chad’s 
Squirtle had evolved, the idea of it was new to me, since the day Chad had 
left, I always thought of him with his team and his Squirtle, until recently, 
and the Hitmonlee and Psyduck were even bigger giveaways, I was thrown off by 
the fake accent and the stone trick on the Psyduck.  
“Chad! Why are you defending that criminal?!” I questioned.  
“If you’ll just sit and relax, I can explain.” said Chad calmly.  
“What’s there to explain, leave those bikers and help these people!” I 
ordered.  
“What, like they’re any better?” asked Chad a little sarcastically.  
“Chad, you’re really pushing our friendship to the edge.” I said angrily.  
“So are you.” he replied.  
I growled through clenched teeth and looked for Abby.  

She was riding her Rhyhorn to protect herself, while dealing some damage to the 
wild Pokémon.  
I swerved and jumped and then pathetically tripped and fell on the back of the 
Rhyhorn.  
“Abby, could you get me to Rush?” I asked.  
“Was that Chad I just saw?” she asked me.  
“Uh huh, he’s on their side for some reason, get me past him and to Rush and 
I’ll end this war.” I explained.  
“Armour, you heard what he said.” she said calmly to her Rhyhorn.  
“Rhhhyyy!!!” he yelled and charged forward, it was strange being on one of the 
most fearsome Pokémon I’d ever seen, and that this one was on our side for 
now.  

We reached Rush at last.  
“Rush! I challenge you! If I win, the bike gang takes the bridge, and if you 
win, its yours!”  
“What’re ya doin’?” yelled Chopper.  
I opened my coat and revealed the five badges sewn on, I couldn’t hear him 
after that so I assumed it was clear for me to do this.  
I turned to Rush, “Three-on-three battle, Go! Spectre!”  
“Gengar!”  
“Go Tentacruel!” he shouted.  
“Tenta-Cruel!”  

“Tentacruel! Bubblebeam!”  
“Night Shade!”  
The dark matter glowed blue and exploded, sending water and burning black gloop 
on both Pokémon, Spectre took more damage somehow.  
“Now Poison Sting!”  
“Confuse Ray!”  
The shards bounced off Spectre since he was partly a Poison-type, the beams 
shot from Spectre’s eyes into the Tentacruel.  
“Constrict!”  
The front claws rose up and hit the Tentacruel in the head.  
“Nice one Spectre, now go over there and Lick it.”  
The slippery tongue scraped up the Tentacruel’s face.  
“Finish it, Psychic attack!”  
The Tentacruel fell back defeated.  
“Its not over yet, Go! Electabuzz!” shouted Rush.  
“Blllaaabbrrrzzz!!!” it shouted and immediately shocked Spectre with a Thunder 
attack.  
Spectre was blasted and blackened.  
I decided to recall it for now.  
“Inferno, this is a challenge, don’t back down.” I said releasing him from his 
ball.  
The only way I could win was to use Inferno’s biggest weakness apart from 
Water, Rock and Ground-type Pokémon, his pride.  
“CHAR!” he yelled and dived forward and slashed the Electabuzz.  
“MELEON!” he yelled, beating his chest in victory, but the Electabuzz leapt up 
and ‘Thunderpunched’ Inferno, he fell back and sparks ran through him.  
“Smokescreen!”  
He swung his tail flame and smoke compromised the Electabuzz’s vision.  
“Dragon Rage!”  
Inferno shot a spinning blue flame which turned the Electabuzz black.  
“Charmeleon!!!” he yelled, whipping his tail and knocking the Electabuzz off 
the bridge.  
“Buzz!!! BUZZZZZZ!!!” it yelled nervously.  
Rush recalled it quickly.  
“Grrrr, we’ll win this bridge yet, with my trump card! Ninetales! Go!”  
“Nine!” it growled with a fierce expression.  
“Confuse Ray!”  
“Char?...  Char...  Meleon!!!” Inferno yelled aiming a Slash attack at me, I 
was quick to recall him.  
“Nice trump card, but type advantage will prevail.  Go Twinkill!”  
“Star!”  
“Ninetales! Another Confuse Ray!”  
“Star...” Twinkill groaned after getting hit and turned towards me.  
“Aw no, not again.” I groaned.  
With most people, the Pokémon just attacked themself, why did mine attack me?  
Twinkill dived forward and then stepped on the ground and bounced backwards, 
flipped over and squirted a Water Gun at the Ninetales.  
“Aw Twinkill, thanks buddy, you fought the confusion, I can’t say I’m impressed 
with that move though, you scared me.”  
“Star.” it apologised.  
“But you did good.” I added.  
“Nine!!!” screamed the Ninetales and ran forward, its tails flying around and 
not in very good condition, this wasn’t a normal Ninetales, it wasn’t a beauty 
queen and it wasn't friendly.  
I’d have to go all out.  
“Twinkill! Bubblebeam!”  
“Star!”  
The Ninetales was too quick, it was in its Quick Attack phase and dodged the 
bubbles and slammed into Twinkill.  
“NINE!!!” it roared and Twinkill turned away and shivered.  
“Take Down!”  
The Ninetales charged forward but Twinkill turned around menacingly, points 
outstretched.  
“Nine?”  
The Ninetales was stunned by a Water Gun, but in the middle of the splashing, 
it fired off a Fire Spin with consumed Twinkill and rose it into the dark rainy 
skies.  
“Its over.” smiled Rush.  
“Sttttaaaarrr!!!” shouted Twinkill, spinning with energy, it used our secret 
technique Thunderbolt to escape and counterstrike.  
“Nine!” shouted the Ninetales surrounded in electricity.  
“Bubblebeam!”  
“Star!”  
The Ninetales finally went down.  

“Nice trump card, but it failed, the bike bridge is now the bike gang’s 
hangout.” I said confidently.  
“Heh heh heh.” laughed Rush, “That wasn’t the trump card I meant.  Look down 
there.”  
Chad was standing proud and triumphantly and Chopper looked upset.  
“Looks like yer friend ‘ad the same idea, and since you and ‘im both won their 
challenge, the bridge is still up fer grabs.”  
“Chad...” I groaned.  
“I rule!” he yelled, “Oh yeah, Uh huh, oh-  Ow!”  
Abby had stormed up to him and slapped him in the face.  
“Idiot.” she said bluntly, “We could have stopped this fighting, if anyone gets 
hurt, its on your hands.”  
“What?! I was, its not my fault Tetsubo also challenged the other leader.” 
argued Chad.  
“But they’re criminals, they’re worse than the bike gang.” growled Abby.  
“Owwww!!!” screamed the biker called Jimmy, the one with the Tauros, Tyra’s 
Cloyster had mercilessly come down on him.  
“And your guys are any better?” he asked sarcastically.  
Abby stayed silent, her mouth was slightly open, she was accepting that she and 
I had made a terrible mistake.  
The bike gang was just as ruthless as the Wild Dog bikers, why did I believe 
them?  
I tried to push through and reach the edge of the battlefield, the edge of the 
bridge, there was a statue I could climb up on and perhaps be heard by 
everyone.  
I ducked as a defeated Blastoise flew by and crashed into a wall, leaped as a 
Muk pounced on a Raticate and sidestepped a charging Arcanine, finally I was at 
the edge, except a Fearow flew by and I lost my grip...  

I fell down and would hit the waters at too fast a speed, but Abby leapt over 
the edge and caught my hand, but it wasn’t enough, she was too young, Chad 
quickly grabbed her feet and slowly pulled us up.  
“Abby...  Chad...  I owe you my life.” I thanked slowly.  
“Don’t worry buddy, that was payment for all your past deeds.” smiled Chad.  
“I’ll ask you to repay me whenever I need it most.” said Abby.  
“We need to get their attention.” I said to my friends, who climbed the statue 
with me.  
“I’ve got just the thing...  CHAD THE CHOSEN! RENOWNED POKÉMON CHAMPION!” Chad 
shouted.  
Abby and I covered our ears as he did.  
Everyone turned their attention to us and Chad smiled and gave me a thumbs up.  
“This has got to stop! Look at yourself!” I shouted.  
“You’re hurting people, you’re even hurting your friends.” added Abby with more 
of an angry tone.  
“We tried getting to the source but that didn’t work, if you continue to fight, 
then people are going to die, is some silly bridge really worth the lives of 
you and your friends?” I continued.  
The people stopped and looked at each other.  
“I think we’ve reached out to them.” I said quietly, but then suddenly several 
devices snatched up the Pokémon belonging to the bike gang.  
Large white rings that restrained the Pokémon’s arms, they were attached by 
cables to a robotic Fearow.  
“Golem!”  
“Cloyster!”  
“Hahahahahahaha!” laughed some familiar voices.  
The large machine flapped over the gangs.  

“We strike during day or night!”  
“We attack, with all our might!”  
“Don’t mess with us, or we shall fight!”  
“We’re pretty good at our rhyme.”  
“The masterminds, of crime.”  
“We always succeed, every time.”  
“Cletus!”  
“Cassie!”  
“Claus!”  
“If y’all got valuables, yuh’d better block it!”  
“We put Pokémon in our pocket!”  
“We’re the best, so don’t knock it!”  
“We are... Elite Rocket!”  

“Those two gangs were so busy fighting each other, it was easy to nab a 
battalion of Pokémon.” boasted Claus through a speaker.  
“An’ those bikers ain’t gonna help their rivals!” laughed Cletus.  
“If only they worked together...” mused Cassie.  
The Wild Dog Gang looked up at me and I glared back at them as if explaining it 
all with my eyes.  
“Everyone! Attack!” yelled Rush, and the Wild Dogs’ Pokémon all diverted their 
attacks to the Elites’ robot.  

“No! No! No! Why did you put ideas into their heads Cassie?!” screamed Claus.  
“I didn’t think they’d take me seriously!” replied Cassie.  
“The first time anyone listens ta us, and its when yuh tell ‘em ta attack us, 
Missy.” complained Cletus.  

The Fearow robot exploded and the Elites were blasted into the skies while the 
Pokémon fell back down but landed safely on the bridge.  

“Two different groups, workin’ toge’der, its so nice...” sniffed Cletus.  
“I thought you were angry about that.” questioned Cassie.  
“Its kind of like the way we are.  We’re blasting off again...  Together...” 
finished Claus.  
The Elites disappeared and the debris fell into the ocean.  

I spoke up again, “Look at yourselves now, doesn’t a victory feel meaningful 
when you’re fighting for something worthwhile? You’re not that different from 
each other, why do you two gangs have to fight, you both love bikes, Pokémon 
and this bridge.  Can’t you become one gang and share this bridge 
together?...”  
The two leaders thought about it.  
“You’d forgive me?” asked Rush.  
“Well for some reason, Chad wanted to fight for you.  I suppose you can’t be 
that bad to earn his trust.” I replied.  
“But-”  
“Whatever reason you did what you did in Celadon, lets just leave the past 
where it should be.” I sighed.  
“If you can forgive me, then I’m sure we can forgive each other.” said Rush and 
he extended his hand towards Chopper who hesitated for a moment but returned 
the handshake.  

“We’ll be okay from here.” I said to Chopper and Rush soon afterwards.  
“Thank you for solvin’ our conflicts, we owe you a lot.” said Chopper.  
“You’ve got a big ‘eart Tetsubo, I ‘ope we can one day be more like you.” said 
Rush kindly.  
I smiled.  
“Don’t look at what’s different between you two, look at what’s the same, and 
learn to live together.” I said smartly.  
“Maybe we’ll see you again sometime.” said Chopper.  
“Maybe...” I replied.  

We arrived at the Merry Town Pokémon Centre and healed up a group of sick 
Goldeen.  
We urgently needed some rest, we had battled through the night but achieved so 
much.  
Abby was slowly coming out of her shell and Chad, was surprisingly becoming 
more sensible.  
It was nice to have friends and I was sure the newly united gang would remember 
this lesson for years to come.  

End of Chapter 28B  

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