Chapter 21
I'd only been in a couple traditional trainer battles.
Yeah, I know, shocking. In the games, it seems like you can't take five steps without some snot-nosed brat, rich kid with a grudge, or wanna-be champ in the making forcing you into an inescapable Pokemon battle.
But that was the games. In reality, while I did get challenged, I was often too busy running to the next Rocket guy I wanted to knock out. I had maybe four real battles under my belt.
One was in the Galar region against a kid with a Skwovet when I was starting out with just Mudkip. Because no matter what, the first Pokemon battle with a trainer out in the wild always has to involve a rodent. That was hard. Not because of the fight, though Mudkip had some trouble, but because my first instinct when seeing Mudkip get hurt was to grab that fucking squirrel by the tail and smack him against the floor while his smug trainer watched.
Mudkip ended up winning with a water gun that sent the rodent smacking against a tree, and the kid gave me 420 pokebucks. While crying. I'd have felt more sympathetic, but he'd been a jerk during the fight, so I didn't mind.
I beat a Lass later with Tyrunt smashing two Pidgeotto's into the ground. I actually gave her some advice that having just two Pokemon, both of the same type, makes it easier to figure out a way to counter her, and to maybe flesh out her team with some other types before challenging people.
Then, long after I'd gotten to Sinnoh, I fought an Ace Trainer with Mimikyu, Mudkip, Gurdurr, Slugma, and Tyrunt, before I would later get Alakazam.
That girl destroyed me. She had a Kommo-o that beat poor Slugma into the ground before I could switch her out, survived a Dragon Claw from Tyrunt, before Mudkip barely beat the clanging tambourine dragon.
Then she brought out a Gardevior and Mega-Evolved it. The next few minutes was one of my favorite psychic-types singing and dancing as she put on a clinic.
I think that was one of the most depressing moments of my life. She was really condescendingly nice about it, but the fact was we got our asses handed to us. The other three Pokeballs hanging unused on her waist told me that. I think she later won a tournament or something, but I hadn't been able to text her and ask how she did before I got sent to the DC-verse.
Wonder what she was up to?
Later I'd win against a dude who had a Charmeleon and nothing else. So that was three battles against people who didn't know what they were doing, and one against a badass.
Then again, that wasn't the same as my Pokemon being weak. They'd battled all sorts of Pokemon, from Snorlax's, Haxorus', Gengars, and much more. We'd taken down dozens of Team Rainbow Rocket Pokemon of all kinds.
But that Ace Trainer had shown us we had a lot of growth ahead of us.
As that thought ran through my mind, I was standing across from Giovanni. He was smirking, twirling a Pokeball in his hand. Roxanne was looking between us. Mudkip, Tyrunt, and Mimikyu had been brought over by Alakazam. Mudkip was quivering excitedly in his seat. Tyrunt looked like was going to lose his mind. And Mimikyu was drawing on a sketchpad ever since she heard I needed a new costume.
"So this is a normal thing. Back on your world?" she asked curiously.
"Extremely."
"Very normal."
"A large part of the culture, yes," Alakazam finished for us.
"Guess men are alike all over," Roxanne joked.
"I know some female Champions that would laugh at that statement," Giovanni said with a chuckle. "Now. Shall we begin?"
"...Gurdurr. Let's rock."
"GURDURR!" he jumped forward, smashing his I-Beam into the ground. Then he blinked, looking at his side.
Tyrunt was there. I could almost imagine the sweatdrop on Gurdurr's face. "Gur?"
"Tyrunt?"
I facepalmed. The little dinosaur was so eager to fight that he'd thought I'd called his name. Fine.
"All right. Gurdurr, let him take his shot."
"Gurrrrrrr," he growled, but conceded, pulling back to rejoin us.
"Ty, ty, ty!" Tyrunt jumped up and down happily, eager for a fight.
"Hmm…" Giovanni tossed the Pokeball in his hand up and down. "Conceding to your Pokemon's demands… I can understand that you wish to be kind. It is good to kind to your underlings. But battle requires discipline. Allow me to show you!"
He tossed the Pokeball forward. A white light was followed by a roaring purple tank of rage smashing into the battlefield. Nidoking looked around, his eyes landing on Tyrunt. He slowly smiled.
Tyrunt did the same, scratching at the dirt with one of his legs. "Ty."
"Kiiiiiing," the larger Pokemon growled.
"Well. Looks like we're all motivated. Miss Leech? If you would?"
"I'm a lawyer, not a referee," she said with a roll of her eyes. Then she raised a hand, looking between Tyrunt and Nidoking. "...Begin!"
With that call, Nidoking sped forward and swiped down at Tyrunt. The tiny dino leaped back, barely getting out of the way. Nidoking's claws hit the ground.
The whole fucking room shook.
"Jesus!" Roxy fell on her ass, gaping.
I rode the waves as best as I could. No energy, no powers. Just sheer raw strength. Fine.
"Tyrunt, Bulldoze!"
"Ty!" An orange aura flowed off Tyrunt raised as he raised a foot, then stomped it down. A shockwave followed, flowing across the ground in an orange ring that shook the ground before smashing into Nidoking. He took the blow and stumbled, then smirked.
"Good effort," Giovanni complimented. Other than that though, he stood still, hands in pockets. Nidoking and he met eyes.
The purple titan roared, then lowered his head. A white glow surrounded his horn. My eyes widened, and I quickly shouted.
"Tyrunt, use Ice Fang on the beam!"
Thank god, Tyrunt didn't hesitate. His jaw was surrounded in a white haze of power as he jumped from the ground to a boulder, then up into the air towards Nidoking. Nidoking tracked his movements and fired at the apex of Tyrunt's jump, an Ice beam snapping out from his horn.
"TY!" the dino chomped down as the lightning-esque beam of pure cold. His teeth, surrounded in similar energy, chomped down a few feet from Nidoking, and a burst of ice exploded from both of them.
"Ahhh!" Roxy staggered back and fell down.
"Mimikyu!"
While the tiny Pokemon ran to make sure Roxy was okay, I kept my eyes on the fight. I felt the chill as snowflakes fell around us, a cloud of ice hiding Tyrunt and Nidoking from view.
"You seem nervous," Giovanni called out. I glared at him, getting a smug smile in response, before looking back at the fight.
Tyrunt finally appeared from the cloud. He was staggering, whining quietly. His teeth were cracked over with ice. Nidoking came out of the smoke behind him. While the front of his body was frosted over, he looked less damaged from the explosion than Tyrunt had been. His fist clenched.
"Nininini," he laughed darkly. He then kicked Tyrunt in the back, sending him tumbling to the ground before I could say anything.
"Ruuu!" Tyrunt cursed as he rolled on the ground.
"Tyrunt!" I shouted.
Purple sludge rose from the ground around Nidoking in a ring. Tyrunt heard the sound of the attack and looked at me.
His eyes were still filled with determination. He gave me a grin. I felt something like pride in him. He twisted around, running towards Nidoking, letting out a tiny enraged roar. I shouted as he made his suicide run.
"Tyrunt! Use Dragon Tail!"
Green power surrounded him like fire, though something like holographic scales flickered around his tail. He roared "Tyyyyyyy!"
"KING!" With that response, the purple sludge around Nidoking snapped upward to coalesce into a ball of liquid around the size of a trash can. The fumes from the ball burned my nose with acidic power. He punched forward, the ball becoming a wave that crashed down onto Tyrunt.
He screamed. I grit my teeth. And Tyrunt smashed his way through the wave. His body was pitted with small holes, the acid having burned through his rock carapace in massive sections. But I could see Tyrunt grinned as he twisted into the air. His tail burned with the energy of something far older than any of us. When he roared, it was like he suddenly grew thousands of times larger. The Dragon Tail hit Nidoking hard enough to send his neck cracking to the side, his entire body lifting up into the air.
The emerald energy from the attack surrounded Nidoking, sending him flying back. Purple sludge hit the ground, pitting the earth with acidic liquid. We scrambled back as the poison faded away.
"Nidoking!?" was the last thing the surprised giant could roar before the emerald energy turned red, forcibly shoving him into the Pokeball at Giovanni's side.
"...Ty," Tyrunt landed on the ground. He wavered weakly back and forth. Then, with a victorious grin at Giovanni, he fell to the floor with a small puff of dirt going up at the impact. Still smiling, Tyrunt passed out.
"Hm," Giovanni cocked his head to the side. "I'm not sure how to take that. He passed out, but you still managed to force me to change my Pokemon."
Yeah, that was the power of moves like Dragon Tail. Using natural power to force a retreat while causing damage. The I didn't reply, running out to grab Tyrunt into my arms. "Mudkip, you're up!"
"Kip!" as the small blue Pokemon rushed out and I went back to the sidelines to take care of the passed out Tyrunt, Giovanni sighed.
"You really need to learn to savor the moment, Kahu."
"Savoring moments is for rich idiots with nothing but time and people too damn strong to worry about anything else," I snapped, gently lowering Tyrunt to the ground. Mudkip and I glared at him, ready for the next fight.
"...Rich idiots meaning-"
"Oh," I blinked, realizing what that sounded like. "Uh, no. That wasn't an insult towards you. I just meant people who are dumb. You're on the powerful side of the scale."
"Ah…" Giovanni seemed pleased. He also reached for another Pokeball. In a burst of light, Nidoqueen came into existence. The regal queen cooed as she appeared, her voice almost melodious despite how deep it was. She looked down at Mudkip, who crouched in a ready stance.
I was thinking fiercely in the brief heartbeat where Nidoqueen and Mudkip were facing each other. That fight hadn't been ideal, to say the least. We'd done some damage, hitting Nidoking with a ground and ice move, two things he was weak against, but he was a fucking tank. Giovanni still had him as an option. If it wasn't for Nidoking revealing he could use Ice Beam, I could have set up more, maybe have Tyrunt put up a field of Stealth Rocks. But right now, I was down one Pokemon.
Still, I had a chance to keep fighting.
"Nido!" the queen, however, wasn't about to let me think. She raised a hand, poison pouring from the gaps in her armor, solidifying into dozens of tiny caltrops, and tossed them at Mudkip. He paled, dodging the dozens of tiny sharp objects.
Shit. Toxic Spikes.
"Mudkip, hit her with Waterfall!"
"Kip!" a storm surrounded Mudkip. He sped forward like a blue torpedo, heading for Nidoqueen's chest. She crouched down and braced herself. When Mudkip hit her, the water around him exploded on contact. The wave of water splashed us, the snowflakes that had covered the ground were washed away, while the toxic spikes floated on the waves for a moment.
And Nidoqueen withstood the storm. She raised a hand and smacked Mudkip with a giant forearm.
"Mudkip!?" he shouted as he was sent flying into a boulder, the stone cracking under his body.
"Shake it off, Mudkip, you got this!"
"You can do it!" Roxy joined in, surprising the hell out of me. When I looked over, she'd placed Mimikyu on her shoulder at some point.
"Kiiiiip!" with that little growl, he got to his feet.
Nidoqueen ignored him to instead slap her tail against the ground. Tiny spokes of stone poked out of the ground.
And just like that, I knew what I was dealing with. Nidoqueen was a trap setter. If Nidoking was Giovanni's battleship, Nidoqueen must have been his defensive wall. No wonder she'd barely responded to Mudkip's attack. She was made to take hits from fully evolved Pokemon while turning the battlefield into a hell zone.
So I had to hit from a different angle. "Mudkip, hit her with a Water Pulse!"
Mudkip grit his teeth and brought up a wave of water. The water blast that hit Nidoqueen shivered oddly as it smashed into her face. Nidoqueen blinked in confusion, but shook her head. Damn, that hadn't worked. Maybe something-
Giovanni cocked his head to the side. Nidoqueen seemed to treat that as some kind of signal. Because she raised her hands high, then smashed her fists into the earth.
BOOM.
And the ground under Mudkip exploded like a grenade had gone off. He was sent flying upwards, screaming, then smacked into the ceiling. I cursed in my head, resisting the urge to run forward and catch Mudkip. He landed hard.
"Mudkip!" I shouted out to him. "Can you fight?"
"..." he slowly rose to his feet. His eyes were blank for a moment. Then he shook his head, blinking blearily. Holy shit. He'd passed out for a second. Still, he forced himself into a crouch.
"Still standing?" Giovanni chuckled. "Well. That is interesting. How much more can you withstand-"
Mudkip surrounded himself in waves of water and charged forward. He smashed into Nidoqueen with all his might. This time, she staggered back. She smirked a bit.
"Oh?" Giovanni smiled. "Torrent."
My little blue Pokemon was emitting sapphire energy. His eyes were hard as he landed on the ground and growled.
"Mudkip, Water Pulse, now!"
"MUUUUUD!" the sapphire power around him sprayed outward as another blast of water. Nidoqueen clenched her claws into the ground as she withstood the waves. Through the water though, I could see the soundwaves that were bouncing back and forth through the water having an effect, a wild confusion in her eyes. I almost wanted to cheer.
Then she rushed forward. Mudkip's eyes widened. She smashed through the waves like they were nothing. Even in her confusion, she seemed to see Mudkip. With a single jump, she came down towards Mudkip. He twisted out of the way, and she shook the ground on landing, seeming to hurt herself just a bit. But only a bit.
"Waterfall!" I shouted desperately.
He smashed into her back. And she grabbed him before he could move.
Fuck.
"Kip," he mumbled.
She jumped up, holding tight to him. As we watched, she body-slammed the much smaller Pokemon into the ground, and I staggered as the ground shook under us. For a moment, we all stared. Then, still confused, Nidoqueen staggered to her feet, looking around like she didn't know where she was. Mudkip was lying in a crater, eyes closed. Fuuuuck.
"A fine showing. Torrent really is a good ability for those desperate moments. Sadly, not as dependable as Sheer Force is," Giovanni shrugged, though I could see how smug he was. "Who is next?"
"You could be less arrogant," I grumbled.
"Is it arrogance when you really are just that damned good?" Giovanni asked with a chuckle.
I didn't answer. Instead, I stepped forward. Nidoqueen stared at me blearily but didn't attack me as I raised my Pokeball to pull Mudkip back. I would have gone out to pick him up, but the intense fight had covered the ground in a surface of mud. Mud that was now hiding toxic spikes and stealth rocks.
I couldn't send Slugma out there. She'd be torn apart by the attacks. Mimikyu could stand up to the blows a lot better, but I wanted her to wait for a bit. Alakazam for the same reason.
Luckily, I had a Pokemon perfect for this.
"You ready?" I asked Gurdurr.
He nodded. No smiles, no grim determination from Gurdurr. He only lifted his I-Beam onto his shoulders and strode out into the field.
Immediately, dozens of tiny sharp stones popped out of the mud, twisted around, and hit him. Gurdurr grit his teeth as they created a bunch of small cuts all across him. The other stealth rocks around the field shivered, revealing their location so he would be able to dodge or block the next ones. I saw him note those stones, but otherwise nothing.
Nidoqueen raised an eyebrow as Gurdurr steadily approached, a heavy weight to the air around us.
"Ni? Nido, Nidoqueen?" she asked, holding her hands out as she smirked.
"Gur," Gurdurr said matter of factly. He kept walking forward, left arm swinging as his right bounced his I-Beam across his shoulder. "Gurdurr durr."
The brazen confidence seemed to make Nidoqueen amused. She began walking forward as well. "Dododo," she chuckled.
"What are they saying?" Roxy asked me. I placed a hand on my face and didn't answer, focused on the fight.
Just when they met in the center, Gurdurr winced. As his right foot lifted, I saw a toxic spike sink into his skin, filling him with poison. Nidoqueen smirked. And so did Gurdurr.
"Mach Punch!"
A lightning fast fist slammed into Nidoqueen's face with brutal power. She staggered, shocked by the speed and power of the move.
It was one of Gurdurr's trump cards. Most Pokemon had either a standard suite of moves or had gotten some TM's when I could scrape the money together to buy one. But Gurdurr had surprised me. He was descended from a Hitmonchan. With that family line, his usual brutal moveset was supplemented with the clean and crisp moves of a trained boxer.
Seriously, how does boxing always follow me in my life.
Nidoqueen, not to be outdone, twisted around. Her fist was surrounded in a veil of poison as she slammed it into Gurdurr's chin. He grunted at the impact.
"Close Combat!"
Gurdurr pressed in, his I-Beam spinning. Giovanni and I spread our stances out. And for a moment, I wasn't watching a fight. I was in one. I felt like I was facing Giovanni, the taller man taking a series of punches across his body. He responded with another quick venom-boosted jab. I felt the poison in my blood chip away at my stamina, and pushed myself forward on guts alone.
I pulled back from that strange trance. But I didn't stop calling out.
"Drain Punch into the Poison Jab! Close Combat when her right foot goes back! Drain Punch again! Step back and Hammer Arm!"
Gurdurr followed my directions with furious speed. His fists and I-Beam slashed outward as one. It wasn't like watching, say, Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee, use a bo staff. It was more like watching a boxer turned construction worker with a crowbar. All strength and speed, but the technique wasn't from ancient martial arts. Every time he swung the I-Beam to smash it into Nidoqueen's steel hard carapace, it was in the style learned from hours of manual labor, not martial skill.
But then, no one wants a super-strong construction worker hitting them in the face with a giant piece of metal no matter how little martial arts they knew. Supplemented with his boxing technique, I started to feel a bit of hope.
The problem was Nidoqueen. She was a fucking tank. She took blow after blow, her polished scales looking a little scuffed, but otherwise she was still in it. And she was deceptively fast as well. Blows that hit Gurdurr seemed to come from insane angles. It was only after a hard look that I realized this was just an example of her experience. She wasn't hitting at strange angles. She was just seeing the weak points in Gurdurr's defense, keeping herself just away enough to make his blows a bit weaker, smashing him with an attack right when he was pulling back his I-Beam.
Giovanni didn't do call outs. He simply moved to stay in view of the fight. Nidoqueen kept an eye on him, but they didn't interact beyond that. And yet, I felt like they were screaming at each other.
Still. I knew we could do this. I began to see black spots in my vision. That was when I realized I'd been holding my breath for a moment too long, so intensely focused on the fight I'd stopped to put more attention on the trading of blows. I took in another breath, vision clearing.
"This is the most important part of the fight," I mumbled to myself.
"How so?" Roxy asked.
I resisted the urge to jump in surprise. I'd forgotten she was there. I spoke without thinking. "This fight was never about me winning. It was about proving what we can really do. To Giovanni and to ourselves."
She seemed to understand that. Good. I could focus on the fight.
When I'd fought the Ace Trainer, my Pokemon hadn't been as strong as they were now. But Giovanni was even stronger. I'd only survived Nidoking thanks to Dragon Tail. But we were still strong.
But when Gurdurr spat out some violet colored liquid, I felt trepidation in my heart. Guts may be able to make poison into a boost, but that didn't mean the venom wasn't doing damage. Even Drain Punch could only heal so much damage. Combined with that was Close Combat trading Gurdurr's ability to defend himself for raw defensive power. He was pouring it on, but staying that close to Nidoqueen had opened him up for some power blows. The time limit on this fight was getting close.
It needed to end in the next blow. I decided to go for it. Nidoqueen raised her fist back. Her left leg lifted as she prepared another Poison Jab.
That was what I needed!
In that moment, as one leg was lifted at the highest point, I shouted.
"Gurdurr! Low Kick !"
It was at just the right time. He snapped one foot forward, smashing it into her left leg with all he had. She fell to a knee, shocked as the poison around her fist shattered. She looked up at Gurdurr.
He raised his I-Beam high, orange power surrounded it like fire, a vicious grin on his face. I raised a fist in the air, my throat raw when I screamed out. "Superpower!"
The metal bludgeon came down like an executioner's sword. Nidoqueen, unable to dodge the move, didn't seem worried. She only smiled and closed her eyes.
A sound like a rock exploded filled the air. The ground beneath Nidoqueen cratered. She smacked into the floor, dust exploding around them. Gurdurr and I stared down at her. For a moment, I thought I saw her move. My heart stopped. But then, a beam of red light flew into her, coalescing around her before pulling her into the Pokeball in Giovanni's hand.
He had one hand in his pocket and was chuckling lightly. "Well. How interesting… Oh. I believe you should pass out now," he told Gurdurr.
Gurdurr stared at him.
Giovanni snapped his fingers. And Gurdurr's eyes slid closed. He stabbed his I-Beam into the ground, trying to stay up. But the combination of poison and the sheer amount of blows he'd taken made that impossible. He fell to the ground, passing out. I ran forward and turned him over to his back. After making sure he would be okay with some rest and time, I sighed, patting him on his shoulder.
"Good job…"
"It was," GIovanni said idly. He walked forward, bouncing another Pokeball in his hand. "Now… I think I have your measure. I have suggestions for what you could do to improve. For one thing, I'm not sure why young trainers seem so obsessed with fighting like they're in a turn-based video game…"
I winced at that. "I thought that's how tournaments have to be fought."
"The only reason you don't hear thousands of moves being shouted out in tournaments is because professional trainers don't often have to talk to direct their Pokemon," Giovanni cocked his head to the side. "Now… You have three Pokemon left. Do you wish to battle with them as well?"
I thought about that. Alakazam and I shared a look.
"You know as well as I do how this fight will go," he said in my mind.
I did. Alakazam might win against Nidoking. He had a type advantage and some damn powerful moves on his side, enough to maybe beat out Nidoking's power and experience. But he'd be wounded in the fight. Giovanni would make sure of that.
After that, well… Persian. The powerhouse likely had anti-Psychic and Ghost moves. Shadow Claw or Throat Chop would ruin the day for Mimikyu and Alakazam. Then, Slugma was left. She might have a shot at hurting Persian. But that thing was insanely powerful. If I had to be honest… well, if any Pokemon might have a chance of beating all my Pokemon, or at least most of them, Persian was one of them.
So no. This was a training session. Breaking my family on a stone wall would get me nothing.
"No. I… give up," I forced through my throat.
Damnit. Even though it was the right decision, it still felt like ash in my throat.
"Yes. You do," Giovanni smirked at the look I gave him. "Cheer up. It was fun to fight you at least. It has been far too long since I got a real Pokemon battle. Well, part of one at least."
One day, I was gonna find a way to get Batman to fight Giovanni, just so I could see an asswhooping take place.
For now, I swallowed my pride and got to my feet, pulling out a Pokeball. "So… how can I improve?"
"Oh, in a few ways," Giovanni watched me point the Pokeball to put Gurdurr away. With Tyrunt, Mudkip, and Gurdurr in their Pokeballs, Alakazam floated over to us. Slugma came up to me with a sad look on her face. Mimikyu, sitting on Roxy's shoulders kept looking at me with something close to betrayal.
I winced. By giving up before they could even get a fight in, I'd unintentionally signalled to Slugma and Mimikyu that they couldn't win. That they somehow weren't good enough. That wasn't what I'd been trying to do, but it was… Well. I needed to make it up to them soon.
"Walk with me," Giovanni said. He waved a hand and strode away. Persian slinked after him.
Mimikyu wobbled on Roxy's shoulder as the blonde looked at me. "You okay?"
"No," I said without a beat, moving to follow Giovanni. "Losing fucking sucks."
"I thought you said winning wasn't the point of the fight," she said.
"It wasn't. Doesn't mean losing feels any better."
She rolled her eyes. "Men."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Does the lawyer with a near-perfect record want to talk about the times she lost and somehow found enjoyment in it?" I scowled at her. "I acknowledge that I lost, and it sucks. Now I'm going to move on and get stronger."
She smirked at me. "Kalini was right. You're too damn serious."
Funny. I hadn't been before all this.
Before we could continue talking, the doors to the next room opened before Giovanni. He strode into a boxing gym.
The room was large and clean. A large boxing ring sat in the center of the room, and a UFC cage took up the other side. Bags were hanging up on one side of the room on chains leading to rails up above, and the room was ringed with water fountains and weights next to mirrors. It was weirdly sterile.
"You ever use this room?" I asked out of honest curiosity. "I've never been in a gym that smelled this clean before."
"It's new," Giovanni said. "I've only recently begun working out here. Roxanne, you've used it as well?"
"Every day since it was installed," Roxy said. Just under the sound of her voice, there was a sound that was almost familiar. It permeated the air, like a rhythmic drum beat. A 'boom, boom, boomboomboom.' What was that?
"I might want to borrow the ring if you're down," I said as Giovanni turned to look at me.
"You won't have to. It's yours," Giovanni said. He gave me a look. "From what I know of the heroics of this world, heroes are dumb enough to risk themselves in a fight. Now, I prefer to leave that for when it is necessary, but tradition demands you exhibit some form of combat ability. I know you prefer to throw punches anyway. How about we see what you need to make those punches devastating?"
"...You're gonna teach me how to fight?" I asked skeptically.
He scoffed. "Please. I have people for that."
The rhythmic booming sound stopped. A door across from us opened. And Floyd Lawton stepped out. His mask was hanging off his belt. Behind him was a gun range. I could see dozens of metal targets shaped like a person, each with a single hole in the heart, head, armpits, and groin. The ones in the heart were glowing red.
"Go a few rounds with Mr. Lawton," Giovanni said as though I wasn't about to die. "It'll help me select a good teacher for your martial skills."
"Yeah," Floyd said, walking across the room to look down at me. I didn't swallow my fear. "You ready?"
"..."
I got into the ring. And yeah.
Deadshot beat me with his fists like I was made of play dough. And when he found out how durable a Poke-human was, he really let me have it.
Fuck my life sometimes, man. Some parts were awesome, like my Pokemon. And some, like getting beat to a pulp by a mercenary, were really damn awful.
Author's Note: Yeah, Kahu lost and gave up. For those who might be mad he gave up… I mean, it would be a waste of time if he didn't. Giovanni beat three of his Pokemon before one of his was knocked out. Nidoking still had most of his health in game terms, stealth rocks and toxic spikes were still on the field, and Persian is crazy strong compared to Kahu's lower level Pokemon, with a heap of experience on top of that.
Still, I'm kinda proud of this battle. Had fun writing it, I think I did some cool things, and I held back on some techniques that will show up later. It was a fun af ride.
Oh. Uh, this is important for the Nidoqueen v Gurdurr moment. [MEDIA=youtube]USa8d7qfd7g[/MEDIA]