Summer Reef [Pokemon Fanfiction]

Chapter 4 - Battle with Burgh

Point of View: Trainer

Burgh walked calmly over to his part of the ring and brought out a few Poke Balls from his belt. "Hmm... do I want this one, or maybe this one?" I gulped. Pikachu was my only Pokemon. When I walked over to my part of the ring with Pikachu and he noticed that I only had one Pokemon, he nodded. "Well then, we'll do a one-on-one, if that's okay with you?" I nodded nervously. He seemed so cool and collected, but I was freaking out on the inside. Pikachu was nervous, too. The referee started the battle quickly, probably eager to see how this would turn out.

At the blowing of the whistle, Burgh shouted: "Go, Leavanny!" That was his signature Pokemon, and it was pretty strong. Pikachu was already out of his Poke Ball, so I yelled:

"Get ready, Pikachu!" Burgh immediately commanded a Razor Leaf, and sharp, green blades flew towards Pikachu. I shouted: "Pikachu, dodge and run against the attack! Then, go for a Tackle!" He jumped and ducked around flying leaves while the audience gasped and cheered. Then, when he was in close range, he hit hard with a Tackle, knocking Leavanny to the ground.

But that was just the beginning. Leavanny quickly got back up and went for a Bug Bite so quickly that Pikachu couldn't dodge, and the force knocked him to the ground. The crowd gasped. They were (figuratively) at the edge of their seats. If we won, this would be a major underdog moment. Both Pokemon were cut and scraped.

To my surprise, Burgh signaled a "time-out" to the referee. The referee glanced down at his watch, then yelled in a rough voice: "Alright, everybody! A 5-minute time out has been called! This battle will resume shortly." I was nervous; what could he possibly have up his sleeve now? While looking cautiously over at me, he muttered something to Leavanny, who nodded. Then, he walked over to me. A suspicious smile appeared on his face.

"You're not a half-bad battler." He held out his hand, and I shook it. I knew something was fishy. "If you didn't know already, I'm Burgh, this city's gym leader. If you want to visit sometime, it's only a few streets over. Anyway, I was thinking of ways to, oh, how to I say it, spruce things up! You know, make this battle a crowd pleaser." I nodded, even though I didn't know where he was going with this. "And look at all this greenery, all this potential battle space! Let's have a battle where we can use... the entire park!"

I was shocked. I had never heard of a battle like that, let alone ever battled in one. Without even waiting for a reply, Burgh ran off to notify the referee, who was entertaining the crowd with various whistle tricks. They talked for a while, then the referee nodded. Turning back to the crowd, he shouted: "Alright, folks! Today, we are changing the rules of this battle. It is no longer Standard Guidelines. At Burgh's request, I am changing the rules to Nature Battle. In a Nature Battle, the battle space is virtually unlimited. Today, the battle space is... the entire park!!!" Many cheers and other exclamatory devices erupted from the crowd. Pikachu turned towards me nervously. He was still inside the battle area. I motioned for him to come to me, and he ran over.

"Pika, pika..." He had understood the referee. We both knew that we were going to lose, hard. Leavanny was a freakin' Bug-type, this is what they were made for! I was surprised that the referee agreed; it was giving Burgh a huge advantage. Despite all this, I tried to give Pikachu some positive advice.

"Even though they're a Bug-type, you're a fast, little Electric-type." It said in the Pokedex that he was a mouse, but I had never seen one. Apparently, it was some sort of "traditional" animal, which don't exist in harmony with Pokemon. That means that if you wanted to find a traditional animal, you would have to travel miles and miles to a traditional region, like Chicago. (That's the only traditional region that I've heard of.) They were mysterious, but I didn't really question their existence. It didn't affect me in any way.