Chapter 57:  Difficult Choices (Part A) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

Things were bad, my next opponent was one of my closest friends.  
How would I be able to battle Abby, knowing full well what she was fighting 
for?  
She didn’t have any worries or regrets in fighting a friend, the way her 
expression and words changed as soon as she saw we were to battle, it was like 
she now only regarded me as an opponent, and everything we’d been through had 
suddenly disappeared.  
I sat sadly at the Rest Stop, my favourite cafe in the Pokémon Village, my head 
resting against my folded arms.  
“Tetsubo?” called someone.  
“Uh huh?...” I mumbled.  
“Well if this is the reception I get then I must be doing something Really 
wrong.” joked Giselle.  
“I’m sorry, its just-”  
“Something to do with the battles, with that young girl?” she inquired.  
“That ‘young girl’ is a close friend, and...”  
“Its hard to be forced to battle your friends, but tell me Tetsubo, what 
difference does it make? You agreed it would be nice to battle here in the 
League with me.”  
“Its... complicated...”  
“So, no support for me? I’m up against-”  
“Bryan.” I suddenly realised, I’d somehow forgotten since having things on my 
mind.  
“So you can tell its him behind that mask too.  Don’t worry though, I’m not 
scared of him.”  
“Be scared Giselle, or at least be cautious, trust me when I say don’t hold 
back, and don’t underestimate him, and-”  
“Tetsubo, you worry about your own battle.  You know I don’t like to see you so 
down about things since that time in Pokémon Tech.  Just remember one thing, 
even if you were to let your friend win, where’s the proof she’d get to the 
finals and win the League? Don’t you hold back either, no matter what the 
consequences, it would be an insult to win when the opponent didn’t give it 
their all, okay?”  
“Okay...  Thanks Giselle.”  
“Meet me in the arena after my match if you can.  We’ll talk more then...”  
Giselle scurried off to see some of her own friends, leaving me alone to 
contemplate.  
She was right, I couldn’t throw away the match because I knew why Abby was 
competing, in fact, even if she did beat me, there was no guarantee that she 
would even win the League, or that she would beat Bryan.  
I knew him and his Pokémon more than anyone battling here, I had the best 
chance of defeating him with the knowledge I had, while anyone else would 
underestimate him and not be able to make up for that mistake.  
Though I’d never mentioned it before, I would be willing to help Abby however I 
could, I wasn’t absolutely sure I’d win the League, but I had my sights set on 
making sure the winner wasn’t Bryan, and if on the way I happened to win the 
entire League, I Would use my minute of fame in part on getting Abby’s face on 
television, after all we’d been through together, how could I not?  
“Tetsubo!” called Emily, “There you are.”  
“What’s up Emily?...”  
“How could you forget? Scott’s battling, surely you’ll give him some support 
now that the matches are set one after another instead of simultaneously.”  
“I was just thinking... about my match.”  
“Oh right, Abby.  But still, can’t you just set any troubled thoughts aside for 
the next ten minutes for Scott? I’m sure he’d appreciate it.”  
I nodded and followed Emily, but only worried more, if Scott won, then the 
possibility of us battling would be 1 out of 2, and he also had a better reason 
to fight in the League than I...  

“And this battle is over, Scott’s Dragonite has performed fantastically against 
Gabriel’s Charizard and Blastoise but has finally succumbed to defeat!” called 
a commentator as Emily and I arrived in the arena and took our seats, on the 
field, Scott’s Dragonite fell to the floor encased in ice from a Blizzard 
attack.  
“Good job Dragoon, you knocked it down a peg or two, the rest shouldn’t be too 
hard to do away with...  Go!” stated Scott.  
“Snorlax...” grumbled Bob as it appeared in a sleeping position.  
“Pathetic!” chuckled Gabriel, a man with long straight dark hair wearing a dark 
green trenchcoat, “Blastoise! Hydro Pump!”  
The twin jets mounted and fired a huge blast forward, but as they hit the 
durable Snorlax, it only rolled onto its stomach and woke up.  
“He should have known better than to misjudge your strength and defense.” 
smiled Scott, who noticed another Hydro Pump attack being readied, 
“Earthquake!”  
A foot slammed the floor in the fashion of a sumo wrestler and a tremor 
occurred, along with a shooting line across the ground that lifted chunks of 
the floor upwards, preventing most of the Hydro Pump from getting through, but 
it didn’t stop the direction and force of the shockwave.  
As the Blastoise stumbled back, Scott initiated a secret attack, and lines of 
energy drew into Bob’s mouth.  
“Hyper Beam?” questioned Gabriel, his Blastoise stunned and shaking off some 
dizziness.  
“Wrong!” shouted Scott, as a white beam exploded from Bob and grew in size 
until it hit the Blastoise head on and exploded, Bob wasn’t tired out by this 
so it was clear this wasn’t Hyper Beam, but it was close to it:  Solar Beam.  
The Blastoise was heavily weakened by the strong attack coupled with the type 
disadvantage, and was then victim to a Rock Slide attack as Bob pushed against 
the pile of rubble to send it crashing down on the Blastoise.  
“Its better than I thought, but you’re better Blastoise, initiate technique 
number two!”  
With that, the Blastoise charged forward, and the Snorlax took a defensive 
stance to brace the upcoming physical attack, but at the last moment, the 
Blastoise leapt back a tiny distance, its cannons extended from its shell, and 
a close range Hydro Pump attack drenched Bob.  
This wasn’t over, and the Blastoise opened its mouth, a cold wind was expelled, 
and because of the water on Bob, it was easy for the Blizzard attack to freeze 
him entirely, the Blastoise was then ordered to use Skull Bash, and upon 
hitting Bob, the ice shattered and he was free, but these linking attacks were 
taking their toll on his health.  
Bob next countered with Mega Kick, his weight powering it up and dashing the 
Blastoise to the floor and skidding back on its shell, Bob went into a full run 
to reach the Blastoise before it uprighted itself, picked it up and used 
Seismic Toss, dashing the opponent again to the floor.  
The Blastoise stood up this time, another Hydro Pump being generated, most 
likely to repeat the earlier technique that had worked well for Gabriel, Scott 
wasn’t worried, he smiled and said calmly “Blizzard.”  
The Snorlax initiated a Blizzard of its own, a cold wind coming out of its 
mouth and immediately affecting the water jets, first turning the ends to ice 
so that the rest of the attack was repelled and splashed back on the user, the 
ice then travelled down the water jet, freezing not only the drenched 
Blastoise, but going into its cannons and blocking them completely.  
The Blastoise was shivering and unable to move, it toppled over and lay 
helpless.  
Gabriel’s Primeape was next, appearing and immediately using Mega Punch to hit 
Bob in the gut, of course, its large belly cushioned the blow and the Primeape 
was repelled.  
While it flew back, Scott had his Snorlax use Amnesia to raise its special 
stats a bit, in an attempt to stop this, the Primeape dug underground hoping to 
appear under a foot and topple the giant.  
“Take a Rest Bob.” smiled Scott, and he let himself drop to the ground and 
sleep briefly, the Primeape’s presence made itself known when Bob’s body 
bounced up by a minuscule height, the Primeape was unable to burst up due to 
Bob’s extreme weight.  
It headed back to where it’d dived in and instead used Rock Slide, the upturned 
parts of the field that had been raised by the last attack making it easy to do 
so.  
Scott’s Snorlax was hit hard and awakened, marched towards the Primeape and 
outstretched its arms, and then leapt forward to crush the opponent with his 
weight.  
The Primeape made a run for it but didn’t make it all the way, and had to 
thrash around to squeeze out from under Bob, as it did, Scott ordered the next 
attack, Bob got on all fours, and shunted forward, smacking the Primeape hard 
with his head.  
As it tumbled back, Scott thought it was about time he made use of the raised 
special stats and used Water Gun, another new technique he’d taught Bob.  
The Primeape made a swift recovery though, and used Thunderbolt the moment Bob 
initiated his attack, the shock conducted through the water all the way to the 
parts that hadn’t left Bob’s mouth and hurt it a lot, he wasn’t as protected on 
the inside as he was outside.  
“Snorlax...” he growled, but showing fatigue.  
Scott had him perform Fire Blast next, but the Primeape launched a Rock Slide 
attack to block it, while Bob fell back and breathed heavily, the Primeape 
secretly used Focus Energy to give it a boost of strength, and then charged and 
spun forward in the air, its fists outstretched.  
It dealt a massive blow to the Snorlax’s head with Submission and with all its 
strength, reached under the Snorlax and briefly lifted it up with an 
alternative version of Seismic Toss, but threw it immediately.  
The Snorlax crashed into the arena side, unable to move, Scott was dismayed “I 
didn’t think anything could bring my Snorlax down...  Don’t worry though, you 
did your best Bob...”  
“Raiii!!!” cried Raichi happily as it appeared after the Snorlax was recalled.  
The Primeape started the next fight by screeching, the sound drove the Raichu 
back, by doing so, the Primeape bought enough time to use Focus Energy to boost 
its attack again.  
Raichi ran forward but the Primeape screeched again, in an attempt to keep it 
at bay while it continued upgrading its stats with other techniques.  
A huge golden ray burst through the sound waves and hit the Primeape head on, 
Raichi had backed away early this time and used Hyper Beam while the Primeape 
had remained still and blocked its own vision with sound waves.  
Raichi dashed forward and lifted the Primeape and threw it far before fatigue 
kicked in, the Primeape recovered quickly and again used a powerful Rock Slide 
attack to launch several pieces of rubble forward.  
“Raichi! Use your tail!” shouted Scott.  
“RAI!!!” screamed Raichi, its long tail with the zigzag end arcing down as one 
huge rock closed in, a cutting and smashing sound were heard, and when the dust 
settled, Raichi dashed out with no damage, while two halves of the rock fell 
and broke into pieces.  
As Raichi slammed into the Primeape, Gabriel gasped “I had no idea Raichus 
could do that, this guy’s the best opponent I’ve ever had.  But that doesn’t 
mean I’m gonna lose to him.”  
The Primeape retaliated with Mega Punch, Scott ordered Raichi to go defensive, 
it backed away from the punch, leapt back from a Low Kick, jumped around a Fury 
Swipes attack and flipped back from a Karate Chop that pummelled into the 
ground, Raichi’s tail reached out and touched the Primeape, before giving it a 
massive shock that downed it at last.  
“No... way...” glared Gabriel, “I’m going to have to work harder for my 
victory.”  

The next matches went on for a bit, so to summarise, Raichi next had to fight a 
Nidoking, and was way out of his league, Electric attacks were absolutely 
useless, and he only had his speed, physical attacks and Fighting-type 
techniques to fall back on, while the Nidoking stomped it down several times 
and threw its weight around until the poor Raichu was down.  
Next came Scott’s Poliwhirl, who despite its small size, beat the Nidoking by 
dodging everything it had (including Earthquake attacks) while using Water Gun 
at every opportunity, Hydro Pump was what finished the match.  
Next though came a fierce Electabuzz, who shocked the tired Poliwhirl 
immediately into defeat.  

Now, Gabriel’s Electabuzz was locked in a long battle against Scott’s Magmar, 
they’d traded many Thunderbolts and Flamethrowers and both Pokémon were heavily 
damaged.  
Kindle used Psychic and held up the Electabuzz in the air with invisible force, 
but it was able to release a Swift attack, and many stars appeared from behind 
it, flew around the sides of the Electabuzz and pummelled into the Magmar, 
breaking its concentration and allowing the Electabuzz to crash down.  
It charged forward and used Submission to send it into a spin of punches, Scott 
had Kindle use a weak Ember attack, but to blind the Electabuzz by catching it 
in the eyes, it missed the Magmar and its awkward stance and crash dealt itself 
a lot of damage.  
Before Kindle could take advantage of the opponent’s loss in accuracy, Gabriel 
had his Electabuzz use Flash to light up the arena and blind Kindle.  
The Electabuzz could just about make out the Magmar’s position and attacked 
with Mega Punch, but at the last moment, the Magmar reached out, grabbed the 
opponent’s arm and hurled it over him with Counter, Kindle had been dealt more 
damage than the Electabuzz at the start of the round, but now it was finally 
evening the energy out.  
“Thunder Punch!” shouted Gabriel.  
“Fire Punch!” called Scott.  
The two fists charged with specialty types collided with each other, a burst of 
flame fired forward and set the Electabuzz alight, while a huge blast of 
electricity frazzled the Magmar.  
Both Pokémon stumbled, screamed in pain and then collapsed on the floor.  
As the commentator screamed about the Double Knockout, Scott and Gabriel 
reached for their Pokéballs, Scott released his Onix first, aware that Gabriel 
couldn’t freely choose a type that bettered Rock and Ground-types unless his 
final Pokémon had the right moves, Gabriel smiled, “Okay Onix you got there, 
but I caught this rare one at Mount Charcoal...”  
“Mount Charcoal?!...” questioned Scott, his eyes narrowed and a shocked look on 
his face.  
“OOONNNNNN!!!” roared a larger Onix, a scar across one of its eyes, both Scott 
and Shard stared with open mouths in fear.  
“Its the Onix that once hurt Shard, and then me...” spoke Scott, “I thought 
Raichi had blinded it by shocking its other eye but it seems to have recovered 
from that...”  
Something came over him and he looked both angry and confident, “Payback 
time.”  
Scott had his Onix use Harden, figuring the age difference between the two 
would result in the opponent’s stats starting out being higher than his 
Pokémon.  
The one eyed Onix charged forward and dealt out a Tackle attack, but Shard 
resisted due to its rocky skin building up a little more defense.  
“Rock Slide!” called Scott, and Shard performed the attack, sending a straight 
line of rocks tumbling forward at the enemy, who curled up and let the rocks 
hit its back and side, it had used Bide, but released what little power it had 
gotten right away, a white wave shot outwards and struck Shard hard.  
“Okay, type advantage.” nodded Scott, “Dig underground!”  
Shard nodded also and jumped up and then down under the arena floor, Gabriel 
waited a few moments before calling “Earthquake!”  
The tail of the large Onix struck the floor hard and several cracks and tremors 
spread out, because Shard was within it, he was dealt a lot of damage and was 
forced to surface.  
“I know you’re tiring, but we have to win, that Onix has had it coming for 
years! Use Strength!”  
Shard wrapped its tail around an upturned rock and flicked it forward, the 
other Onix obviously underestimated or miscalculated its strength as it made no 
attempt to dodge, and as a result it was smacked hard and fell to the floor.  
There it lay, but its tail secretly scooped up many rocks, and as Shard closed 
in, dumped them all over Scott’s Pokémon.  
Unknown to the opponent, Scott’s Pokémon also used a charge attack, Rage, 
enhancing its strength and making the most out of an unfortunate mistake, he 
hit hard with Double Edge but had pains from recoil damage.  
The large Onix recovered all the same and leapt forward, Shard dodged the main 
body, but the tail smacked and wrapped around him like a spinning chain, and 
the one-eyed Onix held up Shard and squeezed.  
“Ooonnn...” groaned Shard.  
“Don’t just sit there crying Shard, let out all the hurt this Pokémon ever 
caused you when you were a baby!” shouted Scott, which meant to use Screech to 
bellow out at such a level that the enemy had to release him and back off.  
The opponent didn’t react as planned though, he released Shard, but leapt into 
the freed Onix with a tackle to shut him up, to which Shard replied to in 
kind.  
“This can’t go on for much longer, I can’t tell if that Onix is even halfway 
down on health, while Shard’s level is clearly showing.” thought Scott.  
“Body Slam!” called Gabriel, and the huge Onix launched itself forward.  
“Duck now!”  
Shard’s body dropped to the floor and stretched so that it was shaped like a 
straight line, because he was smaller than the enemy, he was barely able to 
position himself so that the enemy Onix flew over him and crashed.  
Shard dealt the enemy its own Body Slam but jumped back as its tail was raised 
and forced down to crack the ground with its great strength.  
“Dig again Shard, but this time let’s play it smart.” called Scott, and the 
Pokémon obeyed.  
“What does he mean ‘play it smart’?” questioned Gabriel, before noticing a 
small crack just as it appeared, “Earthquake!!!”  
Another tremor shook the arena and the radius around the large Onix was now 
made up of broken fragments of the floor, but Shard wasn’t seen within.  
He was quite a distance away, but the dust hadn’t cleared yet and neither 
Gabriel nor his Onix could see yet, but Scott could, “Finish it! Fissure!!!”  
Shard’s tail slammed the ground, and a cutting tear shunted forward in a 
perfectly straight line, as soon as it hit the ring of cracks, an immediate 
effect occurred, and that area caved in while many pieces went hurtling 
upwards, the one-eyed Onix was shaken by the knockout attack, lost its footing, 
so to speak, and fell into the pit where it lay defeated.  
“YEAH!!!” screamed Scott out loud, “We did it! We beat that nasty Onix! You 
have made me So Proud Shard.”  
“Ooonnn...” it mumbled happily, spiralling upwards around Scott and tightening 
slightly to hug its trainer.  
“I can’t believe I once wanted to catch that horrid powerhouse, I’m so glad I 
chose you, the weedy little wounded Onix, and raised you into a champion...  I 
mean all of that in the nicest possible way Shard...” smiled Scott, hugging 
back as much as he could with a Pokémon made of rock.  
“You there...” called Gabriel, “... You’re the best opponent I’ve ever faced.”  
“You’re not bitter about losing at all, are you? Its just I had to win, 
because-”  
“Don’t give me your reasons for competing, it’ll ruin the moment, just know 
that I and my Pokémon will grow stronger and then I wish to battle you again 
and win.”  
“We’ll see in time I guess, just do us all a favour and keep that Onix under 
control, I know first hand how powerful and wild that Pokémon is.”  
With a brief nod, Gabriel gave something of a reply, and then turned to leave.  

Soon after at one of the many Pokémon Centres, I’d called Blossom for yet 
another trade, and she patiently waited for my final choice, I’d chosen which 
Pokémon to send back, but I needed to choose the right one to receive.  
“I’ve accounted for most of Abby’s Pokémon, but Spectre might not be enough, I 
need another Pokémon in case I can’t defeat her Hypno with brute force...”  
And then I remembered Flutter, the Pokémon Abby gave to me, perhaps that would 
work, but first I’d need to talk with it, make sure it wouldn’t disobey me in 
favour of evening out any blows its opponent dealt it, and if it would even 
battle considering it used to belong to Abby.  
As I left the Pokémon Centre, I heard Abby call out, “Tetsubo...”  
“Shouldn’t you be preparing for your match?”  
“I only have six Pokémon, what’s to prepare? Look, I’m sorry I acted so mean 
before, it was all in the moment, and I’d let myself forget all you’ve done for 
me...  Tetsubo, I have a favour, and no, its not for you to go easy on me...  
I’d... like you to use Flutter for our battle...”  
“I was considering doing that, he’s right here.” I said, holding its Pokéball 
and then putting it with the others on my belt, “But may I ask why?”  
“We’ve never battled before, and this should be special considering all we’ve 
been through together, and I just wanted proof that giving Flutter to you was 
for the best, I want to judge how well you’ve managed to train it.” she 
explained, though a little nervously.  
“Well if you’re okay with it, then I guess Flutter will be too.” I smiled.  
We were about to go spectate match between Rick and his friend, the girl I’d 
later learn was called Veronica, but something came up.  
“No! You can’t take away my Pokémon!” cried a young trainer, Abby and I ran 
round a corner and saw the boy collapsed on the floor and reaching out towards 
two short foreign men in Rocket uniforms dashing away, “No...”  
“Kid, are you okay?” I questioned.  
“I’ll be fine, but my Pokémon...  I can’t chase after them, I think I twisted 
my ankle in the struggle.”  
“Say no more, we’ll get ‘em back, come on Abby...”  

While we chased through the Pokémon Village, Rick and Veronica entered the 
arena.  
“Rick...  I wish it didn’t come down to this, after all we’ve been through, I-”  
“Ronnie, whatever happens here, its just a battle, it doesn’t have to be at all 
personal unless you let it be.  Let’s just have fun today and the better 
trainer will progress to the next round.  After everything that’s happened, 
won’t it be good to have fun with your old friend?...”  
“Oh Ricky...  You’re one of a kind.” smiled Veronica, something of a rarity it 
seemed...  

It was quite a run, the two Rockets sprinted back and forth through the village 
and around the arenas, trying to lose us and hide away but failing...  

Battles were flying by, battles I’d see after the League but a regret to me 
that I couldn’t see my good natured rival battle with a full squad of Pokémon 
in the flesh.  
Rick’s Muk beat a Parasect, Veronica’s Marowak forced it to be recalled, Rick’s 
Victreebel outperformed it and made it retreat, but in a battle against an 
Arbok, both Pokémon came down with a bad status, but the Victreebel fainted 
before it could be recalled to save its strength, a Poliwrath and Golbat were 
next, but surprisingly the Golbat came out on top.  
Rick’s Mr Mime beat that but lost to Veronica’s Marowak, and then Rick’s 
Arcanine outperformed it even with type disadvantage.  
Veronica’s Arbok returned to battle the Fire-type, and shockingly, the Arbok’s 
poison was highly effective against the Arcanine.  
Rick’s Electrode was next and won without actually exploding itself, but it was 
forced to do so against a Ninetales in order to keep Rick’s chances of winning 
present.  

The end of the match was soon happening, Rick’s battered Muk plunged down to 
hit Veronica’s Poliwhirl, which was also pretty beaten up.  
“Hydro Pump.” spoke Veronica calmly, and the Poliwhirl looked up and grounded 
itself to drain every reserve it had upwards, the Muk was hit hard by the blast 
and the water affected its body and made it more liquid in form, so much so 
that it fell apart and the Muk lost control.  
The Poliwhirl used what was left of the water to propel it to one side, while 
the Muk splattered on the floor and wasn’t strong enough to pull itself back 
together.  
As the crowds cheered, Rick sighed as he recalled his Pokémon, “Mom...” he said 
silently, looking to the skies, “I did my best and this is as far as everything 
I’ve learned has taken me, I’ll keep fighting until I achieve my dreams of 
being the number one trainer...”  
He turned back to Veronica, who looked a little uncertain and in disbelief that 
she’d won.  
“Like I said, we had fun.  Don’t go feeling guilty about winning fair and 
square, and know that I’ll stay here to support you until the end of the 
tournament.” he said kindly to her.  
“Oh Rick...” blushed Veronica before questioning quietly, “Why ever did fate 
have to separate me from you, you’ve transformed into the nicest most charming 
man I’ll ever know...”  

The two Rockets had finally left the Indigo Stadium and village area and 
retreated outside.  
“Weez!!!” cried out a Weezing.  
“Cate!!!” squealed a Raticate.  
Flutter had single-handedly managed to take out both Pokémon on its own, 
despite these particular opponents being stupidly weak, it was still a good 
thing to let Flutter warm up before its battle, now the Rocket pair were 
cornered at a high cliff.  
“Just give me back those kid’s Pokéballs, you’re obviously no match for me, 
and if you couldn’t tell, I’m still in the tournament.” I threatened.  
“Stolen His Pokémon, we should have done.” argued one to the other.  
“Right are you, Pokémon of ours, useless they were.” agreed the other.  
I took a step forward with a menacing look on my face, and the pair turned and 
leapt over the edge, but pulled a cord in their uniform to activate very 
compact hand glider attachments.  
“Flutter! Use Whirlwind! If anything we have to retrieve those Pokéballs!”  
“Freee!!!” he squealed, and the powerful gust not only knocked the Pokéballs 
out of their weak grip, but sent their gliders spinning uncontrollably into the 
distance where they’d surely crash.  
“Pokéballs, I have lost!...”  
“Lost have we both! Blasting off, Team Rocket are!!!...”  
I wasn’t concerned about them, as the Pokéballs had dropped down the side of 
the cliff, but luckily, they’d temporarily landed in a tree branch growing at 
the mountainside.  
My Butterfree’s attack had unfortunately affected the environment here, and I 
could feel fairly strong gusts blowing, “Its too windy for you Flutter, stay 
put while I climb down to get those Pokéballs back, but stay alert in case I 
need you...”  
As I climbed down, Abby stepped towards her Butterfree and looked down upon 
it.  
“Flutter...  We need to talk...”  

End of Chapter 57A  

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Chapter 57B
Back to Story List #41 - #60
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