My Little Pokemon

by Alabenson

A Bad Bad Man

“So, this is Umbral Circle, huh? Well it’s…I guess it’s not any worse than Griffinstone was,” Rainbow Dash said as nicely as she could as she and the others looked down over the collection of mostly abandoned buildings that comprised the ‘town’. Nearly every visible home or shop had been boarded up, save the Pokémon Center and what looked to be a warehouse that had been converted into a biker bar, and even those appeared relatively dingy.

“Jeez, this place is a complete dump!” Spike said, feeling a bit less diplomatic than Rainbow Dash. “No wonder those two were grumpy if they came from this place. I just hope the doctor they have here is any good.

“We could always just try the next town over,” Twilight suggested. “My arm could hold out a little while longer, as long as I don’t move it around, and—”

“Oh no, we’re getting you to a doctor pronto,” Rainbow Dash said. “Actually, the fact that this place is such a dump might actually be a good thing. If this place really does have a doctor, then I’ll bet they’ve probably got a lot of experience dealing with stuff like your arm.” For a moment it looked like Twilight wanted to argue the point, but a wince of pain indicated she had more pressing concerns. “Yeah, we seriously need to get you to a doctor. Uh, there is an actual doctor in this place, right Spike?”

“According to the Pokédex there should be,” Spike replied, sounding a bit less than certain.

“Well what the hay are we waiting for, then? Let’s get going!”

*********

While not much to look at, the small building that housed Umbral Circle’s sole clinic was mercifully intact. “It helps that Nero’s warned everyone against causing any problems here, or at the Pokémon Center,” Doctor Thorne, the clinic’s physician, explained as he examined Twilight’s arm. “Most of his lackeys down at the gym might be idiots, but Nero himself understands that they’ll all be in serious trouble if Nurse Joy or I get chased off.”

“Um, who’s Nero again?” Twilight asked out of equal parts boredom and curiosity.

“Nero’s the local gym leader, though gang leader is probably more like it. Most of the punks that follow him are only a half-step away from joining up with some group like Team Rocket, but Nero does a decent job keeping them under control. There are rumors going around that Nero was an admin with someone a while back, but I kind of doubt it.”

“Uh huh,” Twilight said absentmindedly, only vaguely paying attention to what the doctor was talking about. “So, about my arm…”

“I’m afraid you have a fractured ulna. Luckily, it’s a simple break, so should be fine after few weeks in a cast. If you can hold tight for a bit I’ll get everything ready.”

“A few weeks?” Twilight groaned in disbelief. Her efforts to get everypony back to Equestria had been difficult enough as it was, having one of her arms in a cast would make her mission substantially harder. “Isn’t there anything you can do that could hurry everything up? Even just a little?”

“No. There isn’t,” Doctor Thorne replied flatly, with the tone of someone who’s had to answer a question far more times than they feel they really should. “You’re just going to need to be patient and let your body repair itself naturally. Speaking of which, in addition to your arm you also have a cracked rib. I can’t do much for that besides recommending that you get as much rest as possible and avoid exerting yourself." Doctor Thorne frowned as Twilight found herself unable to look him in the eye. “I’m serious, miss. From what you and your friends told me, you’re extremely lucky that you weren’t hurt much worse than you were. That said, if you insist on overexerting yourself, then there’s going to be a very real possibility that your luck in that regard isn’t going to hold out.”

“I…understand. I’ll try my best to take things easy,” Twilight replied after a moment’s hesitation. It wasn’t a lie, per se. Twilight fully intended to do her best to follow the doctor’s instructions, but only as far as she could while still working to fix things.

Doctor Thorne, meanwhile, seemed to sense his patient’s intentions and threw his arms up in the air. “Fine, then. Go do whatever it is you want! It’s not like you’ll be the first patient of mine to ignore me. Just let me get that arm in a cast and then you can go off training or fighting or whatever other idiotic thing you think is more important than your own health.”

Twilight silently nodded her head as she let the doctor go to work on her arm. “It’s not like I can really blame him for reacting like that,” Twilight thought to herself. “I mean, how many times have I been in his shoes, trying to talk Rainbow Dash out of doing something crazy? Or to get Applejack to take a break before she wears herself out again? Still, I can’t afford to just abandon my mission over something as minor as a broken arm. I’ll just need to be a little more careful for now until I figure out how to get everypony back to Equestria. I just hope I can keep Spike and Rainbow Dash from freaking out and trying to stop me from continuing to collect gym badges. Speaking of Spike and Rainbow Dash, I wonder where those two wandered off to. I haven’t seen either of them since they dropped me off here.”

*********

“I don’t know about this, Rainbow. Are you sure it was alright for us to leave Twilight at the doctor’s like that?” Spike asked nervously as he and Rainbow Dash walked through the ruined town.

“Come on, Spike, Twilight’ll be fine. It’s not like we’d be allowed in the examination room anyway, so I don’t think Twilight will mind if we look around while we wait for her instead of sit in the waiting room. Besides, I know you’re curious about that big warehouse-looking place too.”

“Not really,” Spike replied, far less convincingly than he had hoped. In truth, while Spike was indeed rather curious about the building, that curiosity was tempered by nervousness. There was something about the building that reminded Spike of his first encounter with Garble, and while Spike couldn’t explain the reason for his reaction it was enough to put him on edge. As the pair turned a corner and the building in question came into view, Spike could feel his sense of apprehension increase. The massive, industrial-sized building was mostly unadorned aside from a few flickering neon signs that had been affixed near the front door proclaiming ‘Troublemakers Welcome’. The rows of motorbikes parked outside, along with the muffled sounds of loud music playing within indicated that the building was indeed occupied with the desired audience.

“Come on, Spike, you can’t tell me that you’re not just a little bit curious about what they hay is going on in there,” Rainbow Dash said as she noticed Spike’s apprehension. “Alright, how about this; we’ll go in for just a bit to see what the hay the deal is, and if it does start to look like trouble then we’ll head straight back out. How does that sound?”

“I guess that would be alright,” Spike replied, though he didn’t sound completely convinced. “I mean, we shouldn’t get into too much trouble just by going inside and looking around.”

“We’re not gonna get in trouble at all. We’re just gonna look around for a bit and see what the deal is with this place, and then we’ll head back to the doctor’s office to check on Twilight. Hay, we’ll probably get back before Twilight’s even done having her arm fixed up, she won’t even know we ever went here in the first place.” Spike, unable to come up with any further arguments, nodded his head as the pair approached the building’s entrance.

The moment Rainbow Dash pushed the door open and stepped inside, she found herself staring into the chest of a mammoth, black and white ursine Pokémon. The creature stood with its arms folded in front of its chest as it grumpily stared down at Rainbow Dash and Spike before it finally let out a snort and ponderously moved to one side. Beyond the Pokémon, the interior of the building resembled a massive pool hall, with various rough-looking people clustered around an assortment of pool tables, dartboards and pinball machines. A large bar had been erected along the wall to the left of the entrance, and some sort of massive chain link fence enclosure topped with barbed wire dominated the back of the building. The building itself was filled with the general din of the crowds inside, along with the clacking of billiard balls and chimes of pinball machines. Every so often, however, shouts could be heard rising above the ruckus as a fight broke out over some disagreement or another.

“Well, we’ve seen the inside. It sure is a neat place, but now that we’ve seen it why don’t we go head back to the doctor’s and tell Twilight all about it,” Spike said as he started edging towards the door, only for Rainbow Dash to grab him by the arm.

“Are you kidding? We can’t leave yet, this place is awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, a statement which was somewhat undercut by the sound of a bottle being smashed as a particularly large fight broke out near one of the pool tables. “Anyway, I’m gonna look around this place a bit more before we go, but I guess you can leave if you really want to.” Spike briefly considered Rainbow Dash’s offer before letting out a sigh and shaking his head.

“No, if you really want to stay, then I can hold off checking in on Twilight for a little while longer,” Spike said. Rainbow Dash grinned ear-to-ear at this before sauntering over to the bar with Spike in tow and plopping down onto one of the stools. As Spike clambered onto the seat next to her, the bartender, a bald, burly man with a scarred face, slammed a pair of glasses down onto the bar in front of them.

“You two are new here, ain’t ya? Well, this here’s a special welcome drink we’ve got fer newbies, on the house,” the bartender said as he poured a fiery red liquid into each of the glasses.

“Wow, thanks,” Rainbow Dash said as she picked up the glass, motioning for Spike to do likewise. Wasting no time, Rainbow Dash proceeded to gulp down the contents, only for her eyes to widen in horror as her entire mouth felt like it had been just set on fire. The empty glass crashed to the floor as Rainbow Dash let out an anguished cry of pain while the rest of the bar’s patrons roared in laughter, the bartender especially.

“How’d ya like yer newbie special? That’s some high quality pure Tamato Berry juice,” the bartender said with a wicked grin as he leaned over the bar to grin at the gasping Rainbow Dash.

“Mmm, yeah, high quality is right, this stuff’s great!” The bartender immediately turned his attention to Spike, who was happily finishing off his glass. “Could I have another glass, please?”

“Uh…sure,” the bartender said, staring at Spike in disbelief as he poured him another glass of the hot sauce. “Wow, you’re really just drinking that stuff right down, aren’t you?”

“Of course,” Spike said before noticing Rainbow Dash, who was still coughing fitfully on the floor. “Hey, Rainbow, are you alright? You don’t look so good.”

“No, I’m fine. I’m great, in fact,” Rainbow Dash wheezed as she pulled herself back up onto the barstool. “That stuff just caught me off guard, is all. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Is that so? Well, in that case how’d you like another round too?” the bartender asked evilly, still brandishing the bottle.

“No! I mean, nah, I’m good. Besides, Spike here’s enjoying the stuff so much I wouldn’t want there to be any less for him,” Rainbow Dash said quickly.

“In other words, you’re just hiding behind yer little friend again like ya did when we ran into ya out in the gravel fields!” Rainbow Dash spun around to see Nancy, one of the trainers she and Spike had encountered earlier, sitting at a nearby table. “Yeah! Me and Joe ran into those two yesterday out in the hills—”

“And we kicked your butts!” Rainbow Dash shouted back, eliciting a wave of laughter from the other patrons.

“Only because ya were too much of a chicken to take us on without usin’ yer fancy Z-moves,” Nancy countered.

“Then how come Spike managed to beat you when he doesn’t even have any Z-crystal things?” Rainbow Dash fired back.

“Alright, alright, simmer down both of you!” the bartender yelled. “We’ve all heard the story already, Nancy, you picked a fight with a couple of kids and managed to get your rear end handed to you. Now sit down and shut up before you make yourself look even dumber than you have already, unless you want Pangoro over there to toss you out. And as for you,” the bartender continued, turning his attention to Rainbow Dash. “Knock it off with the smartass routine already. We’ve already got enough annoying loudmouths around here without some new punk comin’ in and runnin’ her mouth off. You keep it up and the boss is liable to come out and teach you a lesson in manners the hard way.”

“Oh yeah? Well I’m not scared of whoever this ‘boss’ guy is. Bring him on!” Rainbow Dash declared. As soon as the words had left her mouth, however, Rainbow Dash realized that the entire bar had suddenly become deathly silent as a palpable tension filled the air.

“You really shouldn’t have said that,” the bartender said, regretfully shaking his head as he turned away.

Nancy, on the hand, was elated by how things seemed to be turning out. “See? What’d I tell you? These two punks think they can mouth off about the boss and get away with…” The words seemed to die in Nancy’s mouth, however, as several of the other patrons had begun banging bottles down onto to the tabletops and stamping their feet in a steady rhythm. At the same time, a chant slowly started to build throughout the building, one name being repeated again and again.

“Nero. Nero. Nero. Nero. Nero…”

*********

“Alright, that should just about do it for your arm. You’ll want to check back in with a doctor in about four weeks or so to see how everything’ healing, but there shouldn’t be any problems as long as you don’t aggravate things in the meantime,” Doctor Thorne said.

“Right,” Twilight replied as she adjusted her sling, making a mental note to stop by Ponyville General the moment she was back in Equestria.

“I’m serious about not aggravating things, by the way,” Doctor Thorne said. “If you have to keep Pokémon battling or whatever, that’s one thing. But hold off on the rock climbing or BMXing or whatever it is you did to injure yourself in the first place. Otherwise, you might wind up with something that isn’t going to heal in just a few weeks.”

“I understand,” Twilight said, a little more sincerely this time as she stepped into the office’s waiting room. “Um, doctor, do you know where my friends are?”

The doctor, however, simply shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea. If I had to guess, I’d say they probably wandered off to investigate the local gym. It’s pretty much the only intact building around here.”

“Oh right, you mention something about this town having a gym leader earlier,” Twilight said. “Where exactly is the gym, anyway?”

“It’s the big warehouse-looking building, you must have seen it when you arrived, its kind of hard to miss. In any case, I doubt your friends will be in any trouble or anything. Nero keeps most of the dolts who hang out at that dump on a pretty tight leash, so as rough as it looks its actually pretty safe. Your friends would have to really try and find some way of provoking the entire gym all at once for there to be any real problems,” Doctor Thorne said with a laugh.

“Ah hah hah hah, yeah, there’s no way Rainbow Dash would…in a gym full of…anyway, I really should get going. Bye!” Twilight said before bolting out of the clinic as fast as her legs could carry her. “It’s not that I don’t trust Rainbow Dash or anything, I’m just being cautious, that’s all. She wouldn’t really deliberately pick a fight with an entire gym full of trainers. I’m going to get there and see that everything’s fine and then I’ll just feel silly and we’ll all have a big laugh over this.” Twilight continued trying to reassure herself as she hurried through the empty streets until she finally came to a stop in front of the gym itself. “So, this is the Umbral Circle gym. It…definitely is a building. Maybe I really am being silly. It isn’t as though Rainbow Dash just goes around picking fights, and most of the people we’ve met in this world have been perfectly nice. I should just go in there and—” Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of feet stomping in unison along with what sounded like some kind of chant, “—and try and fix whatever Rainbow Dash has managed to get herself into.” Wasting no time, Twilight quickly pushed through the door to see Rainbow Dash and Spike surround by crowds of the gym’s trainers, all of whom were chanting the name ‘Nero’ over and over again. Suddenly, the door to an office overlooking the warehouse-turned gym was kicked open as a hulking man in a brown overcoat stormed out.

“What the hell are you idiots doing now?” the man demanded as he glared down over the gym, abruptly intimidating the crowds into silence.

“Hey Nero, we got some fresh meat here that’s asking for a beatdown!” One of the trainers called out, causing Twilight to groan internally as her worst fears were realized. Quickly, Twilight considered her options before hitting on a potential plan to drag Rainbow Dash out of the situation she had gotten herself into.

“Um, hello,” Twilight spoke up, immediately causing all eyes in the gym to turn and focus on her. “I don’t mean to interrupt anything, but I had heard this was a Pokémon gym. I was going to challenge the gym leader here to a battle, but it looks like you’re all a bit too busy with…whatever it is you’ve got going on here.” In a flash, Rainbow Dash’s offenses were quickly forgotten as the far more enticing prospect of seeing a gym battle arose. Seeing this, Twilight decided to give the situation a bit of an extra push. “I guess it’s alright with me, it doesn’t really look like this gym’s really all that equipped to handle gym battles anyway.” If the gym had been quiet before, it was deathly silent now as nobody dared utter a sound, until finally Nero burst out laughing.

“And here I thought this was going to be a complete waste of my time! Well, little girl, you’ve certainly got a lot of guts. I don’t know if you’ve got much brains, but you’ve got guts. Do you really think you’ve got what it takes to take me on when you’ve got one arm in a cast?” Nero mocked.

“I really only need one arm to throw a Poké Ball, so having my arm in a cast shouldn’t make much of a difference,” Twilight replied matter-of-factly, causing Nero to let out another chuckle.

“Alright, I’ll give you that one. But any idiot can come in here and run their mouth about how tough they are. Let’s see if you can actually back that attitude of yours up. Take her to the pit!” The entire gym roared with approval as Twilight tried to puzzle out just what Nero meant by that last statement. Twilight got her answer faster than she expected as the large, ursine Pokémon that had been watching the door moved up behind her and began ushering her towards the chain-link enclosure at the back of the gym. The crowd instantly parted to make way for Twilight and her escort, laughing and jeering as she went by, but otherwise careful to not impede her progress. As Twilight drew closer to the structure, she saw that the fence was surrounding a Pokémon arena that had been partly sunk into the ground, giving any spectators an unobstructed view of the fighting. Nero was already standing at the far end of the field, arms folded in front of him as he watched Twilight approach. “What’s the matter, little girl? Having some second thoughts about challenging me?”

“No, I’m just wondering how I’m supposed to get down into there,” Twilight replied. In response, Twilight found herself pointed towards a set of dingy stairs that led down into the arena. “Oh.”

“I hope your skill at battling is better than your sense of direction,” Nero said. “Otherwise this is going to be a disappointing fight. Now, how many badges have you gotten already? Let me guess, I’ll be your first, am I right?”

“This will be for my third badge, actually,” Twilight said as she stepped into the arena.

“Your third badge? Then you should already know how this works by now. We’ll be fighting three-on-three, and don’t expect me to show you any mercy. Go Pawnaird!” Nero roared as he tossed his first Poké Ball into the field, revealing a bipedal, red and black creature covered in wicked-looking blades.

“A three-on-three match, huh? That’s new,” Twilight said to herself as she took stock of her opponent. “These gym battles must start involving more Pokémon as you get further along. Anyway, that…whatever it is looks like its some kind of Steel-type. Lucky for me, I did some research on those after Mercury City. So…Go Charmeleon!” Twilight called out as she threw out her own Poké Ball, letting Charmeleon out into the arena. “Alright, Charmeleon, I know we only just patched things up, but I’m really counting on you here.” Charmeleon eyed Twilight, its gaze lingering briefly on her arm, before turning towards its opponent and letting out a snort of confidence. “Great! Okay then, let’s show everyone here what you can do! Let’s start things off by giving it a taste of your Fire Fang!” Charmeleon nodded once before immediately charging straight towards Pawniard, its open mouth filled with bright orange flames. Nero, however, appeared unconcerned.

“Pawniard, Sucker Punch.” Hearing this, Pawniard took up a defensive stance, but otherwise remained stationary as Charmeleon bared down on it. Just as Charmeleon was about to strike, however, Pawniard shot forward and slammed one of its forelimbs into Charmeleon’s midsection. For a moment, it appeared as though the force of the blow had left Charmeleon winded. However, Charmeleon quickly recovered and used the opportunity to chomp down onto Pawniard’s shoulder, while flames erupted from its mouth.

“Good work, Charmeleon. Now quick, use Ember!” Twilight yelled as she watched Pawniard stagger backwards away from Charmeleon. Pressing its advantage, Charmeleon snapped its tail forward, throwing a shower of cinders directly into Pawniard’s face. The bladed Pokémon desperately waved its arms in front of itself in a futile effort to ward off the attack, before stumbling backwards and falling to the ground unconscious.

“Vicious and utterly without mercy. I approve,” Nero said as he recalled his Pawniard to its ball. “But, let’s see if you can keep it up. Go Inkay!” Nero’s next Pokémon proved to be a blue, squid-like creature with a pink mantle that floated up in mid-air while leering evilly at Twilight and Charmeleon. Twilight took a moment to assist this new opponent before lifting up Charmeleon’s Poké Ball.

“Charmeleon, return! Go Whirlipede!”

“What’s the matter? Was you Charmeleon not up to the task?” Nero asked in a mocking tone. Twilight, however, refused to allow his barbs to get to her.

“Oh, Charmeleon could definitely have taken that thing down. But I thought I’d let it get some rest while Whirlipede handles your…whatever it is.”

“Is that so? Well then, let’s see how you Whirlipede handles this. Inkay! Use Psybeam!” Letting out a stream of high-pitched, tittering, evil laughter, Nero’s Inkay proceeded to spin itself upside-down before firing out a beam of blue light, with a stream of pink circles streaming down its center. The attack hit Whirlipede head on, leaving it looking distressed and disoriented despite not appearing to have suffered any physical injuries.

“I don’t know what you just did, but I do know that you’re going to need to do much better than that if you want to beat Whirlipede. Speaking of whom, Whirlipede, use your Bug Bite attack!” Whirlipede obediently shot forward, the horns on its front glowing white as it went. As Whirlipede sped across the ground towards Inkay, it bounced itself into the air and slammed itself directly into its opponent, sending an unconscious Inkay crashing to the arena floor. “Hah! Good work Whirlipede!” Twilight said as she looked up at Nero. “So, who’s not up to the task now?” Rather than being upset at Twilight’s taunting, however, Nero simply gave her a knowing smile.

“You’re cocky. I like that. But you’ve missed two important things. The first is your Whirlipede.”

“My Whirlipede? What’s that supposed to –” Twilight stopped short as she watched her Whirlipede suddenly speed straight into one of the arena’s walls, before ricocheting off towards another. It quickly became painfully clear that Whirlipede had come away from its battle with Inkay in a much worse condition than Twilight had initially thought.

“The second thing you’ve missed is this,” Nero continued as he took out his third Poké Ball. “Houndoom! Go!” Nero’s final Poké Ball unleashed a massive, evil-looking canine onto the field, its head crowned by a pair of curved horns and bony ridges running down its spine.

“Whirlipede, return!” Twilight quickly called out as she hastily recalled her Pokémon. “Alright then, Charmeleon and Whirlipede are both pretty banged up, I’d rather not send either of them in against that thing if I can avoid it. Maybe Sneasel –” As Twilight pondered her next move, the Houndoom let out an impatient snort of black smoke. “Nope, ice and fire are not a great mix. Well, that just leaves…Noibat! Go!” Noibat squeaked happily as it emerged onto the field, darting around in the air as Houndoom watched menacingly.

“Hmph, if that’s the best you have left then maybe you should have run while had the chance,” Nero snorted. “Houndoom, Snarl!”

“Oh no you don’t. Noibat, use Air Cutter!” Noibat immediately began frantically beating its wings, whipping up a buffeting wind that filled the arena. At the same time, glowing blades of crescent-shaped pressurized air shot out directly towards Houndoom. The monstrous canine barely seemed to even notice the assault, however, and regarded Noibat with a look of bored contempt even as Noibat’s attack scored several direct hits. As the blustering assault raged around it, Houndoom took a deep breath before letting out a horrendous, deep-throated growl accompanied by a stream of purple and black rings of energy. The blast ripped its way through Noibat’s windstorm before striking Noibat dead on, leaving the unfortunate Pokémon looking visibly shaken.

“Pathetic. Houndoom, finish it off with Ember,” Nero commanded. Houndoom wasted no time following its master’s instruction, spitting out a cloud of cinders at Noibat that sent the poor Pokémon crashing to the ground. “What’s the matter?” Nero asked as Twilight was forced to recall Noibat to its Poké Ball. “Have you run out of spirit already? And here Houndoom and I were hoping for a real fight.”

“You haven’t beaten me yet. Charmeleon, go!” Twilight yelled. “Let’s see how you handle fighting fire with fire.”

“I have a better idea,” Nero said as he uncrossed his arms, revealing the glowing Z-crystal on his wrist. “Why don’t I fight fire…with pure darkness. Houndoom! Black Hole Eclipse!” As Nero went through the motions to build up the energy for his attack, a particularly sinister-looking aura began to form around him, quite different than the usual golden energy that accompanied other Z-moves Twilight had seen. As Nero struck the final stance, the dark power rushed into Houndoom, who raised its head as if it were about to howl to the moon. Meanwhile, a ball of red and black energy began to form about Houndoom, quickly swelling in size until it was almost as big as Houndoom itself. Once the sphere had reached its final size, Houndoom snapped its head forward, sending the sphere flying towards Charmeleon. As the sphere approached, Twilight could feel the air around her being pulled into it, the suction rapidly increasing in strength until Charmeleon was pulled up into the air and then inside the sphere itself. Moments after Charmeleon disappeared from view, the sphere detonated, sending Charmeleon crashing back down to the ground.

“Charmeleon! Are you alright?” Twilight cried out in alarm. For a moment, it looked as though Houndoom’s attack had been too much for Charmeleon to handle. But the, agonizingly slowly, Charmeleon pulled itself back to its feet. “You’re alright! Good, then quickly, use Dragon Rage!” Charmeleon gave Twilight an annoyed glance back as it heard this, but nevertheless turned to face Houndoom before taking a deep breath and blasting out a massive ball of fire. At first, Houndoom appeared more amused than frightened as Charmeleon prepared to launch its attack, only realizing the severity of the situation as the ball of energy was streaking towards it. Despite an abortive attempt by Houndoom to leap out of the way, Charmeleon’s attack struck home, briefly engulfing Houndoom in a whirlwind of fire that left it appearing noticeably battered.

“Cute, but its obvious you’re getting desperate,” Nero sneered. “Otherwise you’d realize what your Charmeleon has already figured out; that it doesn’t have any hope of winning this. Now, Houndoom, use Snarl and fin—”

“Charmeleon, return! Go Whirlipede!” Twilight called out, swapping her Pokémon before Nero had a chance to react. “You really talk too much, you know that?” Nero was left sputtering in rage as Houndoom unleased another earsplitting growl accompanied by rings of dark, crackling energy, and Whirlipede handled the attack only slightly better than Noibat had.

“I’m disappointed,” Nero said, albeit through clenched teeth. “For a moment there I thought you might have been a worthwhile opponent, but now it looks like you were just another weakling who needed to be put in their place. Houndoom, finish this up with another Ember.”

“Just like I expected. Whirlipede, use Protect!” As Houndoom launched a spray of burning motes of fire towards Whirlipede, Whirlipede surrounded itself with a sphere of green energy that deflected the attack. “You are right about one thing, though. I think it’s about time to finish this battle up. Whirlipede,” Twilight called out as she thrust her good arm forward. “Savage Spinout!” As the protective barrier around Whirlipede melted away, it bolted forward and began rolling circles around Houndoom, filling the air with strands of silk as it went. Before Houndoom could react, the strands formed a cocoon around it, capturing it and tethering it to Whirlipede. With its opponent captured, Whirlipede proceeded to rapidly spin about in place, periodically stopping or changing direction to repeatedly slam Houndoom into the floor again and again. By the time Whirlipede finally finished its attack and released Houndoom, it was plainly clear that Houndoom had been rendered unconscious by the assault.

The entire gym was left in stunned silence as Nero calmly recalled his Houndoom to its Poké Ball. Then, after Nero stowed the ball away in his jacket, he looked straight at Twilight and began to applaud. “At this gym, we value strength, and we show respect when a trainer earns it. You’ve beaten me, and therefore you’ve earned the right to these; the Outlaw Badge and a piece of Darkinium-Z.” The various trainers making up the battle’s audience started cheering wildly as Nero walked over to Twilight and presented her with a box containing a skull-and-crossbones shaped pin along with a coal black crystal.

*********

“—so you see, it only made sense that Nero wasn’t going to use a Fire attack against Charmeleon, so that was going to be my best chance to bring Whirlipede back in to finish Houndoom off,” Twilight explained as she, Spike and Rainbow Dash enjoyed some post-battle relaxation. “After that, it was just a matter of making certain Whirlipede had time to build up enough speed to defeat Houndoom before Houndoom could successfully retaliate.”

“Yeah, but are you sure you should still be doing gym battles, you know, with your arm in a cast like that?” Spike asked. “I mean, you did say that doing those Z-move things takes a lot out of you. What if—”

“The doctor already said it was fine,” Twilight interrupted before Spike’s worrying could build any momentum. “I’m not going to be doing any rock climbing or anything like that for the next few weeks, but Pokémon battling should still be alright.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Rainbow Dash said. “I could probably handle all the battling stuff on my own if I really had to, but having somebody else going for badges too helps keep me on my…what do you call the little stubby things on our feet again? You know, the foot fingers?”

“You mean toes?” Twilight replied.

“Yeah, keep me on those things. Anyway, now that you’ve got your third badge, that means the next gym leader is mine. I wonder what type of Pokémon they’ll train?” Rainbow Dash questioned out loud.

“Well, if yer lookin’ fer the closest gym to us, that’d be the place up in Alumina Town,” the bartender said as he approached the group’s table and set down a glass of crimson juice in front of Spike. “Compliments of those idiots over there,” the bartender said, gesturing towards a nearby table full of trainers who were all watching Spike eagerly. “A tall glass of fresh squeezed Tamato Berry juice.”

“All right!” Spike said happily as he lifted the glass towards his fans before gulping its contents down, leading to cheers from the other table.

“So, what kind of Pokémon does the Alumina Gym specialize in?” Twilight asked over the chants of ‘Spike’.

“Pretty sure Alumina’s the Flyin’ type gym. Anyway, I’ve gotta get back to work. Holler if ya need anythin’!” As the bartender wandered off, Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight with a massive grin spread across her face.

“Did you hear that, Twi? The next gym’s the Flying one! This is perfect! I’m going to rule that place!”

Comments

[KnightMysterio]

"This is perfect! I’m going to rule that place!”

Jinx. JINX. Calling it now.

[BeastofGilchrist]

11252798
Gonna have to agree with you there.

[cj dizzle]

BROTHER NERO I KNEW YOU'D COME