Smash's Legacy

The bird pokemon that is Pidgeotto takes to the skies, soaring effortlessly over the grassy plain as the crowd waits in anticipation of its next attack. Its trainer, a young male roughly in his early twenties, clothed in denim shorts that hang past his knees and a plain navy blue t-shirt, stood calmly, flicking his hand through his black hair that hung just over his confident brown eyes. The trainers stood on opposite ends of the battlefield, seemingly boxed in with barriers assuring their safety, the same barriers cover the entire crowd, for these pokemon battles were very rough, and incredibly violent.
“Now Granbull! Thunderbolt!” The opposing trainer called to his pokemon, issuing a command he believes would turn the tide of the battle in his favor. The Granbull glows and begins to spark, and it releases this energy in a wave towards its foe.
The Pidgeotto floats in the air, as if allowing the dangerous attack to connect. The charged electricity flowed through the air and landed on the bird, causing it to cry in agony before fading into nothing but empty air.
Out from behind the Granbull appears the Pidgeotto, delivering a powerful tackle to the back of the confused bull-like pokemon, sending it tumbling on the ground to lie unconscious and defeated.
The crowd immediately roars in appreciation of such a display of skill, and the victorious trainer pulls out a pokeball and sends out a red light, retrieving his pokemon before walking calmly out of the battlefield.

***************

“That was really something! Don’t you think so Smash?” A cute teenage girl shouted, still caught up in the crowd’s excitement, her Eevee sitting on the shoulder of her closed beige jacket, seeming comfortable against the fluffy hood.
“Yeah, that guy is pretty good…” the late teenage boy said in reply, slouching against his seat, wearing a dark open jacket and a black muscle shirt underneath, his black hat with a red pokeball stitching covering his messy brown hair. “Wonder when I’ll get a chance to battle him” he said with a grin.
“Well we’d better get back to the lobby, they’re about to announce the Top Ten” she said as she stood up, picking up her bag as she began to walk off slowly in her short white skirt and sneakers. Smash stood up and stretched out, picking up his backpack which he rested against his dark denim pants.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself Eve, you didn’t even compete” he said jokingly, and Eve turned her head with smiled, walking up to Smash before taking his hand and dragging him through the crowd and into the lobby.

***************

The lobby, a large open room in the centre of the Pokemon League complex, was filled up with eager trainers awaiting confirmation as to whether they’d fought their way into the Top Ten or not.
“Welcome trainers, and we hope you enjoyed your time at this Pokemon League tournament!” the voice being sounded from the speakers around the room. “We’re about to announce the Top Ten trainers! These trainers will have the chance to compete against the Elite Four, the four toughest trainers in all of Sinnoh!” and when the words spoke, a large television monitor began to descend from the ceiling, and once the whole screen could be seen, it turned itself on, showing all the trainers on television through cameras located around the room.
“The first trainer is Mags!” and the monitor showed the trainer, the latest victor who won with the Pidgeotto. “Next is Vela!”
Smash looked at Eve, her anticipation was apparent as she held on to his left sleeve tightly, hanging on every name the voice announced. “Wow, you seem more nervous than I am” he said with a smile.
“And finally, Smash!” and as expected, his face was seen on the monitor, and he couldn’t help but shout in excitement, which seemed in sync with Eve’s outburst. The Eevee sitting in her hood was trying to stay calm, her bouncing caused the creature to unintentionally jump in and out of her hood.
“All successful trainers are to report to the big red doors in five minutes. The next stage will commence when all ten trainers enter the next room.”
“Well… this is my stop” Smash said to Eve, and she couldn’t help but smile at his carelessness.
“Kick some ass.” She said in response before moving forward to embrace Smash in a friendly hug. “Come out Champion or else we’re not friends anymore.”
“You love me too much to leave me, admit it” Smash said, tormenting his friend. She replied with a smack of her hand on his arm and Smash played along, faking the injury but clutching his arm in ‘pain’. He then fixed himself up and headed towards the red door, “I’ll be back soon!”
Those were the last words she’d hear from him in a while.
Smash walked through the large red doors and into a smaller room, on his right was a pokemon centre booth, to heal all injured pokemon, and a few of the top ten, including Mags walked over there immediately after spotting it. In front of him was a little waiting area, with a small three seater lounge and coffee table. To his right was a man standing in front of a corridor with a plain white door at the end, the only way out other than the red doors they used to enter.
“Are we all here?” said the 5’5’’ man, wearing something similar to a butlers attire, his slick black hair was combed back and his cleanly shaven face offered a professional appearance. He looked around the room, possibly counting the number of trainers present in order to continue.
“Good. All here.” He paused for a second, as if assembling the words he needed. “You have all proved your worth here at the Pokemon League and have risen as the Top Ten trainers, earning you the privilege to battle the Elite Four. You will all battle the first Elite Four member, one after another, and only the victor of each battle can remain. After everyone has challenged the first member, the remaining challengers will battle the second member, and so forth. Each battle will be fought under the single battle rules, each trainer will be allowed the use of only three pokemon, and the battle will be over when the referee, Xatu, cries out. Each trainer will stand in the trainer zone, as you will be protected by a barrier set up by a Mr.Mime, ensuring trainer safety. Any questions?” he said, looking around the room awaiting any queries.
One lady raised her hand. “Is it true they’re like gym leaders? They focus only on a certain type of pokemon?”
“Yes you are correct. But do not see this as weakness, for the Elite Four are experts in their respected fields.” Seeing the further lack of questions, the butler stands aside to give room for a single trainer to walk past and through the door. “You may now enter, one at a time please, in any order you wish.”
The trainers all looked at each other, and almost immediately, the lady that asked the question, Vela, stepped forward impatiently. “My turn first boys” and without any hesitation, she rushed to the white door and entered the fray.
Smash looked around and shrugged, he didn’t mind letting her test the water. Plus he wanted to talk to the trainer from before, the impressive Pidgeotto trainer Mags. He approached the man, who sat on his own on the far right side of the lounge, looking as though he was lost in his own thoughts. Mags noticed Smash’s approach and raised his head to the teenager.
“Nice victory with that Pidgeotto.” Smash said, trying to spark a conversation while he waited for his turn. “The idea of using double team as bait to catch the Granbull off guard worked great.”
“Thanks, it’s a good tactic. I try to out-think my opponent rather than rely on pure force…” Mags replied as he put out his hand. “I’m Mags, nice to meet you.”
Smash shook Mags hand. “I’m Smash”
The white door opened suddenly, and Vela walked out, with a depressed, defeated look on her face. Smash couldn’t help but look shocked at how quickly that battle had finished.
“Already? No way!” Smash shouted, and judging by the look on some of the other trainers faces, he wasn’t the only one who thought so.
“Next up please” the butler said casually, as if he wasn’t at all surprised at how quickly Vela was defeated, and even less surprised that other trainers seemed a little reluctant to step forward after such a beating.
Smash looked around and felt that he might have to step up to the challenge, and just before taking his first step towards that white door, Mags walked past, accepting the battle before Smash got his chance.
“Awww man. Now I have to wait again.” Smash said with a disappointed look on his face as he moved over to Mags’ seat on the lounge, and he sat in it… bored and waiting.

***************

Almost 5 minutes later, Mags walked back out through that white door, and stopped for a moment before raising his hand in a thumbs up, restoring a little hope to the other remaining trainers. Smash stood up from his seat and began to walk towards Mags, raising his hand to greet him with a hi-five, and Mags happily played along.
“Gotta heal my pokemon a little, be right back.” Mags said to Smash before walking over to the healing station.
“Next please”
Smash quickly moved towards the door, eager to put his skills to the test and prove himself equal to Mags. He walked towards the door with anticipation and excitement, and once he placed his hand on the door handle, he took a deep breath and proceeded inside.

***************

Smash entered a large, open room, and was a little surprised at the blank atmosphere. He looked around the room, and could see a square section on the ground where the trainer is meant to stand. He also noticed a Xatu standing perfectly still against the centre of the left wall, the referee for the match. He looked across the room to see a male teenager, looking roughly his own age, with green hair in a bowl cut with a single part of his hair standing up vertically. He wore a black sleeveless shirt with a simple orange line pattern on it and orange pants. He smiled at his latest challenger.
“Hello! Welcome to the Elite Four challenge! I’m Aaron, and I’ll tell you now I’m a huge fan of bug pokemon!”
“Then where are the trees? This room looks bare… I feel kinda naked here” Smash said sarcastically.
“It’s all about a level playing field. You see bug pokemon are nasty-mean… and beautiful too. I’m going to become perfect, just like my bug pokemon! Let me take you on!” Aaron said enthusiastically, pulling out a pokeball and hurling it into the field infront of him. “Go Scizor!”
“I guess this doesn’t come as much of a surprise then” Smash said as he reached for his own pokeball, throwing it out to release his companion. “Let’s go Houquan!” A small orange chimp appeared, with blue markings around the top of its eyes, a spiky ruff of white hair around its neck, and a flame that resided on the tip of its thin tail.
“A Monferno? Guess I’m at a disadvantage” Aaron said with a smirk. “Scizor, quick attack!” The Scizor heard the command and nodded in approval, lowering its body before quickly dashing at its foe, moving so fast it almost seemed invisible, delivering a shoulder thrust into the Monferno’s face, causing it to recoil backward, hands covering its face. The Scizor then attacked with a Metal Claw, opening its claw-like hands and attempting to slash into the chimp.
Monferno had recovered enough to see the claw coming at him, and jumped back to dodge the mighty blow. “Houquan, taunt it then use ember!” Smash commanded, and the Monferno understood, the flame on its tail glowing a little more intensely, and it poked its tongue out to taunt the enemy.
“Quick Scizor, attack it while it taunts, it’ll be wide open!” and the Scizor dashed forward, unleashing a flurry of vicious slashes, but the steel shell of the Scizor made it slow, and the Monferno was dodging every attack with impressive dexterity, jumping and spinning away from all harm.
Unfortunately for the bug pokemon, all the spinning and jumping was slowly releasing little balls of fire from the chimp’s tail, each one that connected with the Scizor seemed to leave a burn, and the continuing ember barrage caused the steel armor of the bug to heat up. The Scizor had to move away from the monkey to avoid further burns, and it opened its wings, using them to help cool itself down.
“Attack it now! Mach punch!” and hearing that, the chimp launched itself at the Scizor with blinding speed, connecting a solid punch to the abdominal region of the bug, forcing it back a few steps. “Fire punch!” Smash shouted, and the Monferno leapt forward, its hand igniting as it travelled through the air, it’s flaming fist landing into the same impact point as the previous punch.
Aaron gained a shocked expression as his beloved Scizor fell to the ground, clutching its gut in pain, the armor it wore seemed to glow a brighter shade of red as it had heated up, and the bug’s face showed it was in immense pain.
A shriek can be heard as the Xatu shouted out, signaling the victory of Smash’s first pokemon. It’s right arm raised, awarding Smash his first point, to which point he smiled. “Good work Houquan! Keep it up.” Monferno held up an arm and smiled, its pride apparent.
“Impressive win… but don’t think the battle is anywhere near over!” Aaron said, reaching for another pokeball to launch into the battle. “Go Heracross!” he called out as his pokeball released a big blue beetle pokemon, equipped with a large horn on the top of its head. The bug pokemon stood ready for battle, shooting intense gazes across the room to the Monferno that had taken out its other companion. Monferno hopped around slightly, eager to start the fight.
“I think I’ll start the fight this time… Houquan use Mach Punch!” and the Monferno dashed forward with incredible speed, landing a solid punch into the abdomen of the beetle pokemon, but surprisingly, the attack seemed ineffective against its powerful shell.
Aaron grinned. “Counter with headbutt!”
“Headbutt it back Houquan!” Smash yelled, hoping his order would reach his friend in time for it to react.
The Heracross began to ram its head towards the chimp, and after hearing its trainer’s voice, the Monferno did the same, the two heads clashing heavily, both pokemon stumbled back, attempting to regain focus.
Unfortunately Heracross looked like it had recovered first, and it readied its horn for an attack. “Stone edge! While it’s still dazed!” and almost immediately, the beetle dug its powerful horn into the ground, tore out a giant chunk of rock and hurled it at the small chimp.
“Jump Houquan! Jump!” Smash cried out, and his Monferno regained its focus in time to see a giant chunk of rock flying towards it at dangerous speeds, and as the rock got close enough, the nimble chimp leapt on top of it and launched itself into the air.
Unluckily for Monferno, that was expected, as the Heracross was already mid-flight and travelling towards its foe surprisingly fast. “Aerial Ace!”
“Counter with Flame Wheel!”
As the large beetle reached the chimp in the air, its mighty horn ready to break the monkey’s bones, Monferno used its hands to push down on the horn moments before it connected, and using the forward momentum of that push, the chimp spun forward, its flaming tail burned intensely as the heated flame connected with the Heracross’ back, propelling the bug straight down into the ground.
“Finish it off! Fire Spin!” and with that command, Monferno opened its mouth, summoning a small swirling flame that it shot down onto its weakened foe. The small swirling flame grew upon impact, creating a large vortex of spiraling fire that burned the beetle alive, its agonizing cry sounded as an alarm, forcing the referee, Xatu, to intervene and stop the match by using its psychic power to move the poor beetle out of the flames. Aaron immediately called his hurt pokemon back.
Monferno landed on the floor and ran on all fours over to Smash, who was cheering at yet another victory. The Xatu raised its right wing to award yet another point to the challenger and bring him one step closer to a complete victory.
“Not again! This victory won’t come easily! Go Yanmega!” Aaron called out in obvious frustration, and he threw out his last pokeball, his last chance to turn this battle around.
Out from the light appeared a large dragonfly, easily twice the size of the chimp, with four red and white wings protruding from the back of its dark green body, and large red eyes with a ‘Y’ through them, which forced any playfulness out of the Monferno, as it focused intently on its new opponent and prepared for a war.
The dragonfly was constantly moving around in the air, moving at a reasonable speed for its size, awaiting its master’s command.
“What is that thing?” Smash asked himself, his hand reaching behind his pants to his back pocket and pulling out a small, red handheld gadget that was referred to as a pokedex, a pokemon encyclopedia. The small tool sat sideways, opening up to show a dual screen interface, a directional pad on the left side and a small, retractable scanner hiding on the right side. He aimed it at the large dragonfly in order to study it, and it spoke words in a computerized, monotone voice.
Yanmega, the Orge Darner pokemon. When it flutters its wings, it can create shockwaves that cause internal damage to its opponents.
“Internal damage?” Smash said to himself, realizing the possible danger his companion was in.
“Sonicboom!” Aaron called out, and hearing that, the Yanmega moved its wings in a quick burst that released a powerful shockwave that travelled towards its enemy with vicious intent.
“Move Houquan!” Smash cried out desperately, his latest pokedex entry causing him a lot of concern. Unfortunately, the Monferno was a little worn out from its previous opponents, and couldn’t move away from the sonicboom in time to avoid it, the powerful shockwave seemed the phase right through it, its internal organs the target of the attack, which forced the chimp to drop to its knees and cough up its own blood.
“Double Team” Aaron called out calmly, the situation finally turning in his favor. The large dragonfly split into two, and the two dragonflies flew around the air at an increased speed. Aaron couldn’t help but smirk.
Smash looked at the dragonflies, and their movements in the air seemed to steadily increase over time, and a look at his Monferno, who had stood back up to its feet, clutching its abdomen in pain. “Houquan, they’re getting faster with every passing second, and you look pretty beat up. Want to let one of the other guys handle this one?” Smash asked his companion, who turned its head to him with a serious expression, and Smash knew it wouldn’t just give up once the situation turned sour. Smash couldn’t help but smile at his pokemon’s determination, “If you really want to do this then I have a plan, but it’s gonna hurt. You ready?” Monferno nodded in response, and it faced its opponent.
The two dragonflies began to move through the air even faster, and they began to circle the injured chimp with blinding speed. “There is no way you can win with that Monferno now. It’s stubbornness will get it killed, and what then?.” Aaron said to Smash, boasting with confidence the advantage he had gained. “Which one is the real Yanmega?” he stated, a question that he himself didn’t know the answer to, for the dragonflies were moving too fast to be seen effectively, and the double team only made it harder. “Bug Bite!”
“Endure! NOW!!” Smash shouted with all of his might, knowing very well the increasing speed of the Yanmega, and knowing the threat it possesses.
The Yanmega appeared with blinding speed on the left shoulder of the wounded chimp, it’s sharp fangs deeply penetrating the flesh and muscle, causing large amounts of pain to the already hurt pokemon.
But that was the plan.
“Grab it! Don’t let go!” Smash shouted, his plan coming into fruition. Monferno wrapped both of its arms around the Yanmega, and with all of its power it held it down, trying to keep it close. The dragonfly didn’t agree, flailing around savagely in an attempt to release itself.
“Now! Endeavor!” The chimp began to release what looked like heat waves from its entire body, this invisible energy slowly engulfing the large bug, its movements slowing down as Monferno caused its foe to be as weakened as it was. The dragonfly then cried as it felt a heavy hit to its underbelly, a hot burning sensation that caused immense pain. Monferno had begun a barrage of fire punches with all of its remaining energy, and only due to the currently weakened state that the Yanmega was now in could it cause any real damage.
“NO! It won’t end like this!” Aaron yelled in disbelief, “Sonicboom! Get it off you!”
The dragonfly focused its energy into its wings, moving them at high speeds and releasing a close range shockwave into its foe, instantly causing the chimp to release its grip and fall to the floor, more blood flowing from its mouth and nose.
Xatu shrieked again and raised its left wing, signaling that Aaron had been awarded a point. As it lowered its left wing, it began to raise its right wing, to the surprise of both trainers, who then turned their gaze to the Yanmega, who couldn’t sustain its flight due to the fire punch barrage, its wings barely twitching and blood dripping from its still head.
Smash reached for his pokeball and held it out in front of himself, a red beam reaching out to consume the Monferno and return it to a state of hibernation. “You did a great job Houquan. I’ll fix you up as soon as I can, I promise.”
“I will now concede defeat…” Aaron said as he returned his injured pokemon to its pokeball. “Even though I lost, I’m sure you came to understand how great bug pokemon can be…” a smirk appearing on his defeated expression, “The next three members are all tougher than me, good luck.”
“Can’t wait! Tough battles are what I live for!” Smash said enthusiastically before turning away to exit the battlefield.

***************

The white door opened, gaining Mags’ attention as well as the other top ten trainers, and Smash walked out confidently before raising both of his arms in victory. A smile grew on Mags’ face, as he was hoping that his new friend would get the win. He stood up from his seat on the lounge and approached Smash, and when he got close enough, he put his hand out for a handshake.
“Good job Smash!” Mags said, and Smash couldn’t help but smile.
“What can I say? It’s what I do best…” he said in response, shaking his new friend’s hand. “Hold on, gotta heal Houquan, he took on Aaron all by himself, and took a heavy hit at the end.” Smash then quickly moved over towards the pokemon centre booth and gave the kind nurse Joy his pokeball.
Mags stood confused for a moment, “Houquan?” he said to himself, unsure of what pokemon it was.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get your pokemon fixed up in no time at all” Nurse Joy said with a cute smile on her face before taking the pokeball and placing it on a special machine, resting the pokeball on one of six padded indents obviously used to place pokeballs in. The nurse operated the touch screen located on the right hand side of the machine, and after a few presses of her fingers, the machine covered the pokeball in a faint white light for a few seconds before sounding a ‘ding’. The nurse picked up the pokeball and handed it back to Smash. “Your pokemon should be fully healed…” she said as she smiled and bowed, “We hope to see you again.”
Smash couldn’t help but look a little shocked at what the nurse said, ‘hope to see you again?’, was she implying that she wanted to see his pokemon hurt? He shook off the notion as she seemed too innocent to wish that on anyone and figured it was part of her polite nature.
“Come on out Houquan.” Smash said as he opened his pokeball, a red light appeared and began forming into the shape of his companion, Monferno. When the chimp was completely materialized, it jumped on the spot to check itself for injuries before smiling and raising its right arm in pride of its total victory. Smash walked up to the chimp, kneeled on his knee and placed his hand on its head, showing it how proud he was. Monferno grinned.
“A Monferno? What did you call it?” Mags asked as he approached Smash and his chimp.
“You mean Houquan?”
“Yeah… that’s a strange name”
“Houquan is Kung Fu of the Monkey, but literally means ‘Monkey Fist’. I thought it was appropriate, seeing as though it is a fighting monkey.” Smash looked at Houquan and had a thought. “Want to meet the rest of the team?”
“Sure, I’ll take mine out too” Mags said, happy to have his pokemon socialize with Smash’s and he reached for his pokeballs on his belt.
“Please refrain from letting your pokemon out of their balls in this area” the butler stated, his unmoving posture against the corridor wall making him seem like a talking statue. “Next please.”
The other eight trainers looked at Mags and Smash, overhearing the fact that Smash’s Monferno defeated the first Elite Four member single handedly, and from Mags’ casual tone, they assumed he did the same. Eventually, another trainer stepped forward to accept the challenge.
Smash returned his Monferno to its pokeball, as he sat down with Mags and they socialized with each other, waiting for the rest of the trainers to either fail or succeed so they could move on to the next round.
After an hour of waiting, the top ten trainers had been reduced to seven, with three of the trainers losing to the might of Aaron and his bug pokemon.
Ten minutes after all the top ten trainers battled Aaron, the butler began to speak again. “Aaron of the Elite Four has been bested by only seven of you, and I will now ask the other three trainers to exit via the red doors.”

***************

Eve had been sitting down on a chair, bored out of her mind, her Eevee sleeping on her lap comfortably. She waited patiently for Smash to walk out of the big red doors, but hoped he walked out victorious rather than shallow in defeat. She was getting sore, all the sitting wasn’t allowing the blood to flow through her legs properly, and she was more accustom to constantly being on her feet due to the constant travelling she did with Smash.
Suddenly the big red doors began to creak open, and this immediately gained Eve’s attention, as well as the attention of many other trainers. She stood up from her seat, picking up her Eevee and placing it on her shoulder, where the half asleep pokemon retreated to the fluffy hood of Eve’s jacket to curl up and fall back into its peaceful slumber.
Eve’s gaze was eagerly on the red door and any movement coming from it, but due to her stature being shorter than most males, she was having trouble seeing past all the standing men who were also attentively staring at the door. She climbed up to stand on her chair, giving her a better view over the crowd.
The red doors slowly opened, and from the room emerged three trainers, their defeated expressions disguised by fake smiles in order to keep remnants of their pride. Their loss didn’t matter to the crowd, as they applauded the trainers for even making it that far into the competition, for some of them had battled and lost to those three trainers and even those who hadn’t were in attendance to the matches.
Eve’s attention was elsewhere, eagerly scanning the doors for Smash’s figure, and after a few seconds, she noticed him. She could hardly see him through the crowd and the three defeated trainers, but she could just make out his figure sitting down on a longue, happily chatting away to somebody she couldn’t quite make out. Eve then smiled with relief that her friend hadn’t lost yet, and she waved franticly, trying to gain his attention.

***************

Smash couldn’t help but turn his attention away from his new friend, to look at the large crowd that had been waiting the results of the Elite Four matchups. He smiled as they cheered for the three trainers that didn’t quite make it, happy that those trainers didn’t have to feel so bad for losing.
Above the crowd he noticed a small figure, a female figure, waving frantically, and somehow he knew who it was. He stood up and waved back before giving her a thumbs up, trying to let her know he was doing fine.
“Who are you waving to?” Mags asked.
“Oh there’s a girl I travel with, she’s waiting for me so I’m trying to let her know I’m alright.” Smash replied, drawing a curious expression from his new friend, and he could guess what he was thinking. “She’s just a friend…” he paused for a moment, “a cute friend… but just a friend.”
Mags stood up, trying to see this cute friend of Smash’s, but he could barely make out her appearance through the crowd.

***************

Eve saw Smash’s thumbs up, and smiled. She knew he would be just fine. She then noticed him say something to the other guy he was with, and then Smash’s new friend stood up too and began to look in her direction. She could barely see him, but he looked a lot like the Pidgeotto trainer that won his battle with impressive fashion in one of the final matches.
The doors began to creak as they started to close, and she waved once more before hopping off of her seat, waking the Eevee up as it hopped into the air for a moment. Eve sat down again and began waiting once more. Her fluffly pet climbed onto her shoulder and gently brushed up against her face, showing affection, and getting scratched under the chin in response. The Eevee closed its eyes as it enjoyed the affection of its trainer.
Meanwhile, peering out from behind the entrance of the lobby was a man, wearing a strange spacesuit looking outfit and unusual light blue hair that is cut short and rounded. Scanning the room seemingly searching for something, the mysterious man grinned as he found his intended target, looking directly at Vela.