"Plainly Tested," written by Freedom Fighter Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of the characters associated with the show. All names and likenesses are copyrighted by Nintendo, 4Kids Entertainment, and anyone else who had a hand in creating the show. ====== Chapter 4 (08.06.02) After spending a minute or two bringing Samantha up to speed on what her duties as a referee are, Whitney returns to her side of the field as an even more impatient Ekke awaits the signal to begin. "I've got it now!" Samantha exclaims, as she resumes her explanation of the rules. "I was going to say that no items can be used, recalled Pokémon count against you, and there's no time limit. The first trainer to lose three rounds loses the match!" "I'm sorry 'bout the delay," Whitney shouts, "but anything that delays a loss for you is very beneficial, if I do say so myself." "Sandshrewbee and I will beat you this time!" Ekke yells, anxious to get the battle started. As Robert Lattimore, the reporter from the Goldenrod Gazette, looks on, Samantha raises both flags in the air, holds them there for a few seconds, and then in a quick motion, drops them down. "Let the battle begin!" "Heracross!" "Nidorina!" Ekke and Whitney throw a Pokéball each onto the battlefield, revealing Heracross and Nidorina, respectively. "Heracross, tackle attack!" Heracross charges towards Nidorina, who awaits a command from her trainer. "Nidorina, dodge it!" Whitney's Nidorina jumps aside just in time, as Heracross misses by inches. "Now, tackle that Heracross from behind!" Nidorina goes on the offensive, ramming Heracross in the back just as the bug Pokémon comes to a stop after missing his intended target. The hit knocks Heracross slightly off-balance, but he manages to keep on his feet. "Heracross! Fury attack!" Heracross charges for Nidorina again, this time with fists flying straight at her. Six consecutive alternating left and right jabs later, Heracross knocks Nidorina about thirty feet away. But Nidorina gets back up, ready for more. "Try another tackle attack, Nidorina!" As Nidorina runs towards Heracross, Ekke begins to boast loudly. "I should warn you, my Heracross reached Level 27 while I was battling one of your trainers this morning." "A Level 27 Heracross? That means..." As Whitney tries to remember the significance of the level of Ekke's Heracross, Nidorina leaps into the air and dives right at Heracross. At that moment, Heracross begins to glow pink. "That's it!" Whitney shouts, the answer coming to mind. "Your Heracross knows counter attack!" And just as Whitney states that, Nidorina is blown backwards, hitting the ground hard. "Nidorina!" "Round one goes to me, as per usual!" Samantha raises the green flag, confirming that very statement. Whitney quickly recalls Nidorina and without hesitation, throws out Clefairy's Pokéball. "Clefairy, let's hop to it!" Whitney's Clefairy appears on the field, rejoicing happily as she lands in front of Ekke's Heracross. "Metronome!" Ekke watches, as Whitney calls for the metronome, as expected. Raising one finger on each hand, Clefairy begins waving the fingers back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Ekke and Heracross are prepared for anything. Suddenly, Clefairy's fingers stop moving. The blue glow around Clefairy disappears as she opens her mouth to reveal a giant fireball. Whitney pumps her fist in excitement, recognizing the attack. "All right! Clefairy, fire blast!" Clefairy launches the giant fireball, which hits Heracross right in the center of the chest. The hard hit sends Heracross down to the ground, knocked out almost instantly. "Round two goes to Clefairy and Whitney!" Samantha cheers, raising the red flag into the air. "Lucky shot," Ekke mumbles as he recalls Heracross. "But your Clefairy won't be able to stand up to my Flaaffy!" Ekke throws out a Pokéball, releasing from it a pink sheep, partially covered with wool. "You may have a Flaaffy, but Clefairy will slap you silly before you can charge up! Clefairy, double slap!" Clefairy hops over to Flaaffy, with her paw raised and ready to slap the wool out of Flaffy. But... "Not so fast! Flaaffy, cotton spore!" Flaaffy tears off a small piece of wool from his body and chucks it at the approaching Clefairy. It hits head on, slowing down Clefairy just enough for Flaaffy to dodge the oncoming double slap. "A cotton spore attack? It decreases an opponent's speed drastically!" "Correct! You may know a lot of my Pokémon's attacks, but you're still powerless to stop them!" In the stands, Mr. Lattimore takes some more notes... not that Whitney's paying any attention to him right now. "We'll see about that! Clefairy, encore!" Clefairy breaks free of the wool and claps her hands twice, signifying the activation of the 'encore' attack. "Your Flaaffy will be able to use only cotton spore for the next few turns!" "What good will that do? My cotton spore will keep reducing your Clefairy's speed until it is too slow to dodge even the simplest of attacks!" Ekke then glances at his Flaaffy. He then smiles as he discovers, to Whitney's dismay, that the attack missed. It's clearly evident as Flaaffy begins to charge up for an electrical attack. "So much for your plan! Flaaffy, thundershock!" Flaaffy thundershocks Clefairy, knocking her out of the match. "Clefairy!" gasps Whitney as she runs over to check on her. She picks Clefairy up with her arms, and smiles at her as she pulls out her Pokéball. "Good try today, Clefairy!" Whitney then recalls Clefairy to her Pokéball as Samantha raises the green flag once again. "Flaaffy wins this round! It's two-to-one, in favor of the challenger!" As Whitney pulls out another Pokéball, she notices that Ekke is smiling happily on the other end of the field. "You might as well hand over that Plain Badge! I've gotta you this time, Whitney!" But instead of being intimidated, Whitney giggles as she extends her arm and holds the Pokéball out in front of her. "You couldn't even beat me the last three times even with your Heracross still up and kicking. What makes you think you can win this match with Heracross already out?" "I still have Sandshrewbee with me! We won't accept another loss! Bring out that Miltank so we can beat it!" Whitney releases her grip on the Pokéball, letting it fall to the ground. "If that's your wish... let's go, Miltank!" Miltank materializes onto the field, ready for a battle. "We've got a tough Flaaffy on our hands Milty, but it shouldn't be too much trouble!" "Mil mil!" "We'll see about that! Flaaffy, thunderwave!" Flaaffy fires off a thunderwave attack, which hits Milty and paralyzes her. "Milty!" Whitney cries out. "Now, follow it up with a thundershock!" This time, a stronger bolt of electricity leaps out of Flaaffy's wool and hits Miltank straight on the head. Milty falls to her knees, but the cow Pokémon grits her teeth as she tries to keep from fainting. "Hang in there until the thunderwave wears off!" "It won't wear off today! Flaaffy, one more thundershock for the road!" Flaaffy charges up one more time and then fires, striking the now defenseless Miltank in the stomach. Milty moos in pain as the electricity courses through her body before finally losing consciousness and fainting. ====== After Whitney has Samantha run her Pokémon down to the gym's personal rejuvenator, she reaches into her pocket and hands over a Plain Badge to Ekke and Sandshrewbee. "You didn't put up as much of a fight as you usually do," Ekke told Whitney. "You think I let you win? I was fighting with everything I had today!" "You've been distracted by the whole 'disappearing gyms' mystery, I bet!" "So? At least now you'll finally be glad to have one gym disappear from sight." "That's true... I beat you, so I guess I'm heading on to the next gym in Ecruteak." "I'd better give Morty a call," she chuckles, "He's gotta make sure to have enough food in there to last a month!" "Go ahead and laugh, but I won't take as long to beat Morty as I did you." "So I guess this means that I'm a better gym leader than you thought?" "Don't press your luck. Without your Miltank, you'd be a pushover." Of course, that outraged Whitney. "Oh yeah? Then let's have a rematch, right here and now!" "Why? I finally got what I wanted. I'm outta here!" Ekke and Sandshrewbee then head out of the room and out of the gym. At the exact same time, Bridget and Samantha enter. Samantha has Whitney's Pokéballs cradled in her arms. "He finally did it?" Bridget asks. "Good riddance!" Whitney replies. "He was such a pest!" Samantha hands Whitney's Pokéballs to her one at a time. "Should I get the next challenger?" Samantha asks her boss. "Go ahead." Samantha heads out as Whitney pockets her Pokéballs. Whitney then turns to Bridget to ask about the meeting. "So, what's up?" "The Elite Four's decided to step up security at all of the Johto gyms and at important landmarks. The force will be a combination of Pokémon League officials, as well as each city's local police force." "When?" "Immediately. Oh, they've also put all of the other league's gyms on alert, just in case." "That's good. Maybe we can finally stop this guy and have things return to normal. By the way, how's Clair?" "She's fine. I think she's just surprised that even she couldn't stop him." "That worries me a lot, Bridget. If Clair can't beat this guy, then who can?" The two women stand silent for a second, trying to come up with an answer. Unable to do so, Bridget decides to move on. "Oh, before I forget, Falkner wanted to talk to you. He wanted to get some advice about romance." "Seriously?" "There's this girl he's had his eye on, but he doesn't know how to approach her. At the same time, he's trying to keep away all of the fangirls that want to date him. He knows that you're an expert at keeping unsuitable bachelors at bay, so he wants you to teach him to do the same. At least until he gets the courage to ask out this girl of his." "Interesting." Hearing a third voice, Whitney and Bridget turn to see that Mr. Lattimore is still in the room. Whitney slaps herself on the forehead. "Shoot! I forgot that the reporter was still in here!" Mr. Lattimore walks up to the two ladies with a smile on his face. "I've got enough to write up my report. I can see the headline already: 'Whitney teaches fellow gym leader about love... personally! Request allows eleven-time loser to finally beat her!' The Goldenrod Gazette will sell out for sure tomorrow!" "That's so untrue!" Bridget balks. "You're making it sound as if it's a sexual favor!" "Sex sells, my dear. That's how you sell papers in this business. Why don't you try showing yourselves off once in awhile? I'm sure that would make you two even more popular." "Get out!" Bridget yells angrily, pointing to the door. "And if we ever see your face in this gym again, I'll call Officer Jenny to put you behind bars for trespassing!" "I know when I'm not wanted! Good day!" Mr. Lattimore then walks out of the gym, shoving Samantha out of the way as he heads out the door. She glares at the reporter before leading the next challenger, another young boy, into the room. "Whitney, why didn't you stand up to him?" "Bridget, who honestly believes tabloids these days? I don't. In fact, I really don't care if that article does get printed. We know the truth, and so does Falkner. That's all that matters." "How do you manage to let none of these rumors get to you? I'd go crazy if I heard just one about me, let alone the two dozen or so about you every week!" "I just don't let any of it get to me. As a female in a male-dominated profession, I can't let something as silly as a rumor consume me. You know as well as I do that there are guys out there who'd do anything to find a flaw in me. Anything that says I'm not perfect for this job. The moment they find something, they'll be on me like maple syrup on a strawberry pancake! "That's why I try to keep all of my worrying to a minimum. I'm not willing to give any of them the satisfaction of seeing me fail. Besides, if I focused on dispelling all of the rumors about me, how would I be able to concentrate when it comes to Pokémon battles?" "Speaking of Pokémon battles..." Samantha interrupts, "little Leon here is your next challenger." Bridget takes the flags from Samantha before leading Leon to his position on the opposite side of the field. As she does, Samantha apologizes for causing Whitney to lose her match. "I'm sorry about earlier. I was just so nervous and all." "It's okay. It's not all your fault. I wasn't giving it everything I had. The whole 'disappearing gyms' ordeal is bothering me a lot today." "But didn't you just say you try to keep your worrying to a minimum?" "Well, that doesn't include things that happen in real life! Aren't you the least bit worried that our gym could be the next to fall?" Samantha gulps in fear. "Now that I think about it..." "Think about it outside. I've got another trainer who wants to win a PB off of me." "Are you sure you can do this? You won't be able to concentrate!" "I think I'm fine now. This guy looks like a beginner anyway. I don't think he'll beat me on the first try." Samantha then heads back to the front desk. Whitney turns around and takes her position for another battle. "Let's see what you've got!" End Chapter 4 Gee, ended up spending the whole chapter on that one battle. Oh well... Security tightens across the Johto League, as the attacks seem to cease. But three gyms are still missing, and their staffs are all without their Pokémon! Meanwhile, Whitney's about to encounter another unexpected problem... The fifth chapter appears next Monday! See ya then!