Chapter 41:  Royal Flush (Part A) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

After a few days of travelling and training, Emily, Abby and I reached the next 
town on the south west island, Ebony Town, it had a lovely selection of shops 
with a large forest in the centre of the large town, it was here that me and 
the girls took a rest.  
We’d previously visited the Pokémon Centre and healed and switched around our 
Pokémon, and since this was a peaceful open area, we released virtually all our 
Pokémon to relax and do what they wanted.  
Whirlpool and Trap, our new allies but not officially our Pokémon were playing 
together in the forest, taking turns to hide and search for each other, Emily, 
Abby and I watching them carefully to make sure no Rockets snuck up and stole 
them.  
Our Pokémon were doing different things and enjoying themselves, it had been a 
while since we last relaxed from our journey.  
Shockwave, my Electabuzz was exercising, jogging around and lifting heavy 
objects, it was nice to see him act to responsible about his development but 
not have the urge to steal electricity like he used to.  
Pollen, my Gloom was wandering around and looking at and smelling all the 
flowers, Grass-types tended to do that a lot given the chance.  
Bahamut was slivering up trees and practising briefly flying from tree to tree 
with its tiny wings.  
And Twinkill was darting around in the air from time to time, diving in lakes 
and circling the park, or being close to me.  
I had my Charizard and Nidoking, but I didn’t think quiet time was the sort of 
thing they’d appreciate.  
Abby’s Pikachu, Vulpix and Clefairy were all playing together, so much that it 
looked like Abby had let them get close to each other before she lost her 
memories, it explained why her other Pokémon were like her but not these three, 
they were the Pokémon that Abby originally trained, a link to her past, and 
probably why she was dead set against not evolving them.  
Her Rhyhorn was laid down not too far from Abby and watching her like it were 
her guardian, her Magikarp was swimming in the water, but not splashing around 
like a fool, it was calmly floating around the lake, and Abby’s Hypno was up a 
tree practising with its pendulum.  
As for Emily’s Pokémon, her Gloom was riding atop on Solar, now an Ivysaur, and 
they looked like they were the best of friends.  
Her Ninetales was dozing off happily, while her Shellder was getting up to 
mischief, occasionally waking the Fire-type up or playing tricks on the other 
Pokémon, but they didn’t react to it much, they just tried to ignore it.  
And her Wigglytuff, Harmony, was happily skipping around the park.  
I counted the Pokémon and only saw five.  
“Okay, the reason why I don’t have all my Pokémon out is because Inferno and 
Needle are a little too rowdy to be around here.  What’s your excuse, Emily?” I 
said pleasantly.  
“You mean you have Needle with you?” she asked hastily.  
“Uh huh, why so interested?...  Oh.” I realised.  
“I was waiting until we were back travelling together and until I could switch 
my Pokémon.  Tetsubo, I promised Poisoness that I’d find you so that she could 
find her partner again, that’s one of the reasons I came back to Fuchsia City.” 
explained Emily.  
“Emily, Needle’s changed a little, I don’t know if-”  
“Please Tetsubo, I promised her, and its not like we’re real busy or anything.” 
interrupted Emily with her plea.  
“Okay...” I sighed, throwing the Pokéball just after Emily.  
“Nido-Rina...” purred Poisoness, before she saw me, eyes widening.  
Needle appeared behind her, but was not as she’d thought he would be, he’d 
evolved for one thing.  
“NIDO...” he said loudly, before looking down on his former love.  
“Rina?...”  
“Nido...”  
“Rina!!!” cheered Poisoness, running over to Needle, but he turned his back on 
her.  
“Huh?!...” exclaimed Emily.  
“Needle, what are you doing.  Its Poisoness, you know, the Pokémon you love?”  
“Nido.” he snorted.  
“Rina...” whined Poisoness, close to tears.  
“Tetsubo, what’s going on, why is your Pokémon being so rude to its 
girlfriend?!” accused Emily.  
“Don’t blame me, I thought he’d be happy to see her, maybe its because he’s 
been apart for so long that he’s gotten used to being alone, we should give 
them some time to-”  
“That’s not it.” said Abby quietly but firmly.  
“You what?” I inquired.  
“Isn’t it obvious? Its because you evolved it.” said Abby.  
“I didn’t mean too, I had to in order to save it from an Aerodactyl, you were 
there Abby.” I pointed out.  
“It doesn’t matter, the point is, you evolved it, and Pokémon’s personalities 
are known to change when they’re evolved.  It doesn’t matter if its early, late 
or Stone-induced, when they evolve, they grow like people, but incredibly 
fast.  
Needle’s tougher now and I don’t think Emily’s Nidorina is good enough for it 
anymore.” stated Abby.  
“Don’t say that!” argued Emily.  
“But its true, don’t blame me for Tetsubo’s Pokémon’s attitude, I’m just trying 
to help you see what’s going on here.” replied Abby.  
“My Nidorina is great, and she used to work with Needle practically every time 
they were battling! It shouldn’t matter that he’s bigger than her now...” 
moaned Emily.  
“Its almost like a child wanting to be loved by a much older guy, he’d rather 
find someone his own age to be with.  Its your fault really, you left Tetsubo.” 
accused Abby calmly.  
“Abby, I’d keep quiet about that incident if I were you, you know nothing about 
why I left...” threatened Emily.  
“... I never really thought about it.  At first I assumed Emily would return to 
me someday, and possibly with a Nidoqueen instead of a Nidorina.  But I realise 
now that Needle accepted its separation, moved on and battled hard.  I realise 
now that since it evolved, its done nothing but battle tough opponents.  I 
suppose that’s how its come to like living.  Or maybe its my fault for not 
allowing it to spend time out of battle to be itself.” I pondered out loud.  
“Its not your fault Tetsubo, I’ve seen it battle and I know it likes it.” 
comforted Abby.  
“So this is my fault?” exclaimed Emily angrily.  
“Well perhaps you shouldn’t have wasted your Moon Stone on that Wigglytuff of 
yours.” shrugged Abby.  
“So what if I did? I’ve still got another Moon Stone, why don’t I just evolve 
it and make things right.” suggested Emily.  
“That won’t help.” said Abby, “Remember that metaphor a few moments ago, that 
would be like a child trying to act more mature, the older guy might still feel 
the female is below him, its going to take more than a stone to make things 
better, and besides, you don’t know how that Nidorina will turn out when it 
evolves, you have to think long and hard before evolving a Pokémon, as you’ve 
seen, the old personality you know and love could be gone forever, the memories 
will still be with the Pokémon, but maybe not its former self.”  
“Gosh Abby, I don’t think I’ve heard you say so much in one day.” I noted.  
“I’m just trying to stop Green from making a wrong decision.” she replied.  
“Rina...” sobbed Poisoness quietly, Needle noticed and looked a little guilty 
about it, but before anything could come of it, someone interrupted.  
“Hey!...  Are you Tetsubo Capture?” questioned a muscular trainer wearing a 
yellow coat, black trousers and a red bandana.  
“Uh huh.” I answered slowly.  
“I challenge you to a Pokémon Battle!”  
“Wait a moment, how do you know who I am?”  
“You’ve saved a lot of people from Team Rocket, and I only like to battle the 
best trainers.  How about it?”  
“Who are you?”  
“Biggs McGrove, I’m competing to enter the Pokémon League.”  
“Well, I guess a one-on-one battle wouldn’t hurt.”  
“Go, Hellhound!”  
“Well since you’re out, Go Needle!”  
Needle immediately turned away from Poisoness and ran forward to stand by me, 
upsetting the Nidorina and angering Emily.  
“GROWLLL!!!” barked a confident Arcanine.  

“Arcanine, the Legendary Pokémon.  This Pokémon has been admired since the 
beginning of time for its beauty, it runs with grace and beauty as if it were 
flying.”  

“Tough call...” I pondered, “But still, this is only a Trainer Battle, its been 
a while since I battled without anything on the line, let’s give it our all.”  
“I’ll expect nothing less from such a high ranking trainer.  Hellhound! Start 
the battle by using your Roar.”  
“GROWLLL!!!” it barked monstrously, but Needle wasn’t at all fazed, Roar wasn’t 
too effective against big and tough Pokémon.  
“Go in and Tackle it!” I shouted.  
“NIDO!!!”  
“Heh, I figured you’d have it charge.  Hellhound, use your Dragon Rage!”  
“Uh oh...”  
Blue flames erupted from the Arcanine’s mouth and hit Needle, before growing 
into a ring and exploding upwards to form a blazing tower, with Needle dead 
centre on the inside.  
“Nido...” it groaned, trying his best to fight off the flames.  
“Now follow up with Agility, and prepare for the usual attack...” ordered 
Biggs.  
I couldn’t tell what it was, and with Needle trapped within the pillar of fire, 
there was only one thing to do.  
“Poison Sting!”  
The sharp needles shot through the flames at an alarming speed, and the impact 
sent the Arcanine spiralling backwards.  
The flames dissipated, and I called out, “Thrash attack!”  
The Arcanine barely had the time to recover before Needle was all over it and 
punching away.  
“Oh my...” groaned Emily quietly, “Is this what happens when a Nidoran evolves 
into its final stage?...  I don’t think I want to see Poisoness turn out that 
way...”  
I turned back to Biggs, who was grinning despite his Pokémon being 
battered, “Do it now!”  
“GROWLLL!!!” it wailed, before biting down on Needle’s arm.  
The attack was cancelled, and Needle swung its right arm desperately to shake 
off the dog, but it remained clamped down and digging into it with its teeth.  
“Nido...  Nido...” groaned Needle, the teeth were extremely sharp and causing 
some damage to his arm, worse still was the fact that the Arcanine was powering 
a second attack.  
“Ha hah! Flamethrower!”  
“You’re crazy...” was all I could mutter before the Arcanine blasted out the 
fiery wave at close range.  
A huge explosion followed and blasted both Pokémon to either side, Needle was 
damaged despite its natural resistance to Fire attacks, and the Arcanine fell 
back covered in smoke but still strong.  
Both were angry, and charged headlong into the cloud of smoke.  
“Horn Drill!” I yelled.  
“NIDO!!!...” it screamed, pushing through the smoke, horn spinning like crazy, 
but it stumbled part-way through and rushed out the other side, bouncing on one 
foot until it regained its balance.  
“But... where did that Arcanine go?...” I questioned, before the smoke cleared 
and the answer lied behind it, but was too late to retaliate to.  
I turned away from the hole in the ground to shout at my Nidoking but the 
Arcanine reached it first, bursting from underground to damage it with shifting 
upward rocks.  
My mouth open wide, I gave a look of disbelief, Needle tumbled hard having been 
hit by a Poison-type weakness.  
“Go get it!” cheered Biggs.  
“Double Kick!” I intervened, and Needle lifted its left foot and knocked the 
Arcanine down with a crushing stomp, and the right leg came at it soon 
afterwards to kick it back.  
“Ooh...” groaned Emily, showing a lot of discomfort and concern, but because of 
Needle’s nature rather than its safety.  
As the Arcanine fell back, a ball of fire was blasted forward, and hit my 
Nidoking in the face.  
Despite Fire attacks being somewhat weak against Ground-types, the Ember attack 
had successfully hit Needle around the eyes, blinding it temporarily.  
“Needle, try to shake it off.”  
It did so, and turned to face a stampeding Arcanine as it leapt up and slammed 
all its weight down hard on Needle.  
Needle snarled and countered the Take Down with a follow up Tackle attack, 
forcing the Arcanine to slide back and forcing it to rethink its strategy.  
“Use your Roar!”  
“Now’s about time for the Focus Energy.”  
“GROWLLL!!!...” the fire dog roared, but it didn’t faze Needle at all, it 
wasn’t even paying attention, charging its power and glowing with an aura to 
show for it.  
“Aw no...” groaned Biggs.  
“Go Needle! Fury Attack!”  
“Um, um, Flamethrower!”  
Needle roared monstrously as it charged forward with no remorse, easily 
stepping aside as several Flamethrower attacks were fired to hinder the 
attacker, but to no avail.  
Needle reached the Arcanine and started punching away, and finished off by 
ramming the dog’s face into the floor.  
“Horrible...” muttered Emily.  
I turned back to her and made somewhat of a mistake in doing so, as the 
Arcanine had some strength left in it to leap up to bite Needle.  
“Needle! Thrash attack!”  
“NIDO!!!...”  
The Arcanine was lifted into the air from the first punch, and kept on being 
lifted in the air by each continuous punch, until it wailed out, and fell 
unconscious, but was still punched several more times before Needle let it 
drop.  
I guess it would no longer let up on opponents since the Fuchsia Gym Battle 
taught it not to hold back.  

Biggs exhaled and sighed, before recalling his Pokémon and grinning, “Great 
match Buddy, I guess I’ve still got to brush up on my training.”  
“You gave me a run for my money too, I suppose I’ll see you in the Pokémon 
League.”  
“Count on it!” the man shouted, as he ran off.  
I exhaled myself after the tough battle, and walked back into the park with 
Needle close behind.  
“So, any decision on Poisoness’s evolution?” I inquired.  
“Do you think your battle helped?!” snapped Emily, “That was terrible what your 
Nidoking did, how it acted! I can’t let Poisoness evolve into a monster like 
that!”  
That caused Poisoness’s, Needle’s and my eyes to widen in disbelief.  
With that she recalled all of her Pokémon and dashed away towards the Pokémon 
Centre, the Poliwhirl following closely behind her.  
“But...  Emily...” I called out.  
“We’d better follow her...” said Abby, recalling her Pokémon, retrieving the 
Weepinbell, and departing towards the Pokémon Centre herself.  
I sighed and started recalling the Pokémon, only, Needle had a strange 
expression on its face as soon as I pointed his Pokéball towards it.  
“You feeling down because of what Emily said?...  Me too...” I stated, taking a 
seat against a tree and facing the Nidoking.  
“I know you’ve outgrown Poisoness in terms of size, but she still loves 
you...”  
“Nido?...”  
“But I can’t blame you for this...  You remember when Emily left us, don’t 
you.  
You were a little saddened, but you dealt with it right away, unlike me, but on 
the other hand, it looks like Emily dealt with our separation while Poisoness 
was obsessed over you.  So I understand what’s she’s going through, even though 
it was me that declined getting back together with Emily, but its different 
with you and Poisoness, you haven’t done anything wrong...  Will you come back 
to the Pokémon Centre?”  
I was answered by a shaking head.  
“Okay then, you can stay out here and think about things, just be careful and 
don’t stray too far from the Pokémon Centre, okay?”  
With that, I walked away from the powerful Pokémon in deep thought, we both had 
some problems to resolve with the people we loved, we’d grown and changed in 
our separation with them, and I wasn’t sure if we’d ever resolve this 
conflict.  

End of Chapter 41A  

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Chapter 41B
Back to Story List #41 - #60
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