EPT“Ha ha ha, you really think you and your rag tag team can make it?”
Gary was leaning casually outside the hospital flipping through his dex, only lifting his head once in a while to sneer at me. I ignored him for the most part, after all I made it here despite no one believing in me. I knew I had it in me to go all the way.
“Hey! When I talk, you listen, got that?”
Gary was finished looking bored, and now walked purposefully over to me. I know what he wanted. The same thing he always wanted. Power. And it was getting harder and harder to prevent him from getting it.
Why did I pick first? I was fool to rush in and grab one ahead of time. But what if he had taken the one I wanted? The one I’ve always wanted since I first saw it. But still, it was all too easy for him to pick the counter later. I should have waited, I should have planned ahead. And every time we met from that one fateful day, I paid dearly for my haste.
We took our battle to the grove next to town, so as not to disturb the non-combatants. From the very beginning it was clear who had trained more, who had done more practicing, and spent more time with their craft. But there was this really great sale at the giant mega mart, how could I have passed that up?
I rolled to my left as the ground beneath my feet exploded in mud and dirt. Damn, when did he release Onyx? There was no time to think. Working off of instinct and training, I grabbed the third ball from my belt, and as I came to my feet I released Golbat into the air. As he looked to me for direction, I glanced around quickly for any sign of Gary and the rest of his team. No doubt he would counter with Mareep soon, I needed to end this quick. I made a quick slashing motion across my neck, and started running west, toward the lake I had spotted earlier. As I passed Golbat, I felt the hair on my arms raise. No! It was too soon, how did he find me? I tried to warn my team.
“Gol…”
The tree beside me exploded in a massive thunderbolt that appeared out of nowhere. I watched helplessly on my back, as golbat fluttered weakly into the bush. I had to get up, or I was done for. My muscles screamed at me as I forced myself to my knees. My belt was gone! It must have come undone from the recent explosion. I looked around frantically. Not now, not now, I can’t let it end like this.
“Looking for something?”
I turned around slowly, there was Gary with his final two pokemon, Mareep and Venusaur. I could beat him, I just needed my belt. Where was it?
“Ha ha ha, I thought I told you, you’re not good enough yet.”
I watched in horror as he gave the final command to Venusaur. This was how it was going to end, after everything I’ve done?
Wait! Out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement. But who could it…
“Golbat no! Get out of here!”
The razor leaf struck golbat clear in the chest and ripped through his wings. Blood spattered on my arms and face as golbat fell to the woodland floor. Gary looked as shocked as I was. I threw down a smoke bomb and dived backwards into the bush. I ran west, once more heading for that lake.
Golbat.
Why did he do that? I never trained him the most, never gave him very much attention. Why? What made him decide to sacrifice himself? Sacrifice. The word turned to ash in my mouth, and filled my eyes with anger. There was no way I was going to lose now. Not anymore.
Golbat.
As I was running to the lake, I tripped over something. What was..? Yes! My belt, and my two remaining pokemon. Quickly I released Wartortle, and told him to wait in the trees. This had to work, I would only get one chance.
Golbat.
I reached the lake, but it was too shallow to release Gyrados. I took a step back and looked around for something, anything I could use to buy some time. Out of the trees burst Gary, ready and willing to finish me off.
Golbat.
I was planning on his eagerness. Closer. He had to come closer. Away from the tree line and a way out. Come closer damn you!
“All your time training, all those gym leaders you beat, and this was best you could do?”
Golbat.
I had to wait. I to let him come closer. I bit my cheek to stop myself from saying anything. Come closer!
“Not even gonna put up a fight, eh? Well I wouldn’t either if I had such useless pokemon”.
Golbat.
My eyes burned red, who cares, that’s close enough.
“Now Wartortle”, I yelled, “Make it rain!”
Wartortle sprang from the bush and gushed water from his mouth that enveloped the whole lake. C’mon, this had to work, it had to.
Golbat.
Yes! The water was deep enough. I released Gyrados into the water, and watched in grim sastisfaction as Gary chased around after Wartortle. I felt Gyrados charging up behind me, the heat from his mouth was getting intense. Too late, Gary realized what was happening as well.
“You…”
The hyperbeam cut off his words as it blasted him and his team at full force. I shielded my eyes from the resounding light, and when I could see again, the entire battlefield had changed. Gary’s pokemon were nowhere to be found, and Gary himself was propped up against a tree, a pool of blood quickly growing beneath him.
As I walked over, he remained ever defiant, even to the last.
“You think that this makes any difference?” he screamed. “Do you really think you can beat those four? They’ll destroy you, just like they did to me!”
GOLBAT.
“Gyrados”, I whispered, “Hyperbeam….”
TL;DR I recently played pokemon gold and it brought back some great memories.
