“Like hell am I going to let you do that! Go, Tepig!” said White, sending Tepig out of its Pokeball.
“Oshawott, help out White!” said Bianca, sending out Oshawott.
“You think you can defeat us with weak Pokemon like that?” asked Brad
“This will be over quick. Seviper, use Poison Fang on Tepig!” commanded Angie. Seviper bared its fangs, rushing towards Tepig.
“Tepig, quick, dodge it!” cried White.
“You're not going anywhere! Magnezone, Thunder Wave!” commanded Brad. Magnezone shot a tiny bolt of electicity on Tepig, which paralyzed her, preventing her from moving.
“Oh no, Tepig!” cried White. Seviper continued slithering towards Tepig.
“Oshawott, stop Seviper with Water Gun!” commanded Bianca. Oshawott sprayed a gush of water out of its mouth at Seviper. It wasn't very powerful, but it was enough to make Seviper flinch, cancelling its attack.
“You little brat! You're gonna pay for that! Seviper, once more, use Poison Fang on Tepig while she can't move!” commanded Angie
“Magnezone, take out Oshawott with Thunderbolt!” commanded Brad. Magnezone shot a giant bolt of electricity out of its attena down on Oshawott, which instantly defeated it.
“Oh dear...Oshawott, return!” said Bianca, returning her Pokemon to its Pokeball.
“Tepig, use Ember on Seviper!” White cried, as Seviper continued slithering towards Tepig.
“Seviper, dodge it then finish this!” commanded Angie. Seviper dodged to the side, avoiding Tepigs attack, then struck its fangs into Tepigs back, injecting its venom into her. Tepig screamed in pain as she slowly passed out.
“Damn....Tepig, return!” said White, returning her Pokemon.
“Stupid kids! You really thought you could beat the top ranked Grunts of Team Plasma?” asked Brad.
“Now that you're out of the way, we'll just take this Munna with us, along with your Pokemon!” said Angie, as she grabbed Munna.
Suddenly, there was a flash of bright light, and when it faded away, Ghetsis was there. There was something about him that looked somewhat like an illusion.
“What the hell do you two think you are doing, sitting around here goofing off?” he asked.
“S-sage Ghetsis?” stuttered Angie. She looked like she was just about to wet herself. Then, a second Ghetsis appeared.
“We, Team Plasma shall separate Pokemon from foolish people!” said the second Ghetsis. Then, both Ghetsis disappeared and one more appeared.
“If you two cannot fulfill your duties then...” he said.
“W-we're sorry Sage Ghetsis!” the both said at once, then ran away as fast as they could. They were clearly confused, and scared out of their minds.
Then, Ghetsis disappeared, and a Musharna floated out from the grass, over to Munna. The two Pokemon hugged.
“Oh, that's so cute!” said Bianca.
“That Ghetsis guy wasn't really there, right? It was somewhat like a dream.” said White.
“Or a nightmare for those Team Plasma guys.” said Bianca with a giggle.
“That Musharna must have used its dream mist to create the illusions to protect Munna.” said White, as she and Bianca left the dream yard.
After having been beat by the mysterious trainer, and having his skateboard been stolen, N and his sisters arrived at Nacrene City, and Zorua had regained consciousness. The trio and their Pokemon sat on a bench, eating their lunch. Zorua, however, seemed to have no appetite.
“N, I failed you again. If I wasn't so weak, I would've won and you wouldn't have lost your skateboard. It's all my fault N.” said Zorua, shutting is eyes tight, trying to prevent the tears from running down his face.
“It's not your fault, Zorua. She would've beat Snivy, Ralts, or Gothita too.” N said, looking down at Zorua.
“Then I guess we're all weak!” shouted Zorua, knocking his bowl over, his food spilling everywhere. “Why are we sitting around here doing nothing? We need to get stronger! What if that girl where to show up right now and steal something else? We'd be completely defeneless!” Zorua cried.
“That's enough, Zorua! I don't want to hear another word about you or anyone else being weak!” N shouted, slamming his fist down on the table.
“N...Zorua has a point.” said Anthea, placing her hand on N's shoulder. “If we don't train the Pokemon at all, they won't grow stronger, and then we won't be able to beat stronger opponents.” she said.
N gritted his teeth. “Don't tell me you're going to agree with this?” he asked, looking at Concordia.
“Well, N, we could use some new battle strategies. The strategy we used against the Striaton Gym Leaders only worked because it was a triple battle. This time we won't be able to battle together.” she said, placing her hand on his other shoulder.
N stood, looking frustrated. “Fine, you guys do whatever you want.” he said, walking away. Snivy followed him and crawled on top of his hat.
“N? Where are you going?” asked Concordia.
“I'm just going for a walk. I won't go far. Zorua, stay with them if you want to train.” he said, as he walked out of view.
“Is N mad at me?” Zorua asked.
“Don't be silly, of course he isn't. He just thinks that if you train, you'll get hurt. He can't stand the sight of you being hurt.” said Anthea.
“If I have to get hurt in order to get stronger, then so be it!” said Zorua, boldly.
Anthea smiled. “Right! Let's get started then!” she said.
“Hold up, how exactly do you plan on training the Pokemon?” asked Concordia.
“Easy! We'll just keep battling until we see some progress!” said Anthea.
“That won't work. First, we need to get a new strategy, and teach the Pokemon some new moves. Blindly increasing their strength isn't going to take us far.” said Concordia.
“And why do you get to choose how we do everything?” said Anthea, hands on her hips.
“Because I'm the oldest, and clearly the smartest. You didn't even have a plan.” said Concordia.
“Your strategies are useless if we don't have strength to back it up!” exclaimed Anthea.
Concordia sighed. “Pure strength is useless without a strategy to back it up.” she said.
“You're so stubborn, this is going nowhere! Why don't we just have a battle, and the winner decides how we train the Pokemon?” asked Anthea.
“You've got some nerve calling me stubborn. You are right that this is going nowhere, though. I suppose the only way to settle this is through battle.” said Concordia with a sigh.
“Hey! What about me?” asked Zorua, getting annoyed.
“Don't worry Zorua, I'm gonna beat her, then I'll train you to be really strong! For now, just watch and learn okay?” said Anthea.
While they battled, N continued his walk down Route 3, and while he walked, White ran right into him.
“Oops! Sorry, didn't see you there!” she said, then looked up and noticed it was N. “N? What are you doing here?”
“I decided to go for a walk. You seemed to be in a hurry. Is something wrong?” he asked
“I need to get to the nearest Pokemon Center as soon as possible. The one in Striaton City was closed and won't be open for another hour.” she said, panting.
“But why are you in such a hurry?” N asked.
“It's Tepig, look!” she said, sending Tepig out of her Pokeball. The Pokemons eyes were closed, she was shivering, and the color of her body changed to a light purple.
N gasped. “What happened to her?” he asked, placing his hand on Tepigs forehead.
“She's poisoned. We were attacked by Team Plasma, and their Seviper used Poison Fang on her.” said White.
“Team Plasma did this?” N asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, they're nothing more than a bunch of no good, Pokemon robbing hypocrites!” exclaimed White.
N couldn't believe what he was hearing. He took two bottles of medicine out of his pocket.
“I think I can help.” he said, as he sprayed some of the first medicine on Tepig. Tepigs skin slowly returned to normal, then she stopped shivering.
“It's Antidote. It cures poison.” he said. “Now we need to restore her stamina.” N said, as he slowly poured some of the second bottle of medicine in Tepigs mouth. After swallowing it, Tepig opened her eyes, then sprang up. She was fully recovered.
“Wow, she's all better! Thank you N!” cried White happily.
N smiled and tipped his hat down over his eyes. “You're welcome. When we got to Nacrene City, Concordia decided it would be smart if we purchased some medicines.” he said.
“Arceus bless her soul.” said White.
“Well, I guess I should head back to Nacrene City, before my sisters call out a search party.” he said with a laugh.
White laughed too. She didn't know N had a sense of humor. “Since you've already been to Nacrene City, I'm guessing you already won the Basic Badge?” she asked.
“No, we haven't challenged the gym yet.” N said.
“Since we're both here, and we're both going to challenge the gym, how about a battle?” White asked.
N remembered his sisters telling him how they needed to prepare for their future battles, back in Nacrene City. He decided battling White would be a good way to prepare.
“If it's a battle you desire, it's a battle you just got.” said N, as Snivy hopped off his head and on to the ground.
“Alright, Tepig let's start things off with Ember!” commanded White. Tepig blew sparks of fire out of her nose towards Snivy.
“Snivy, dodge and use Attract!” commanded N. Snivy swiftly dodged Tepigs attack, then blew several hearts towards Tepig, all which hit, causing Tepigs eyes to grow into two big hearts, and she stopped battling.
“Shit! Not that move again! Tepig, snap out of it and use Flame Charge!” cried White, but it was no use.
“Now, Snivy, use Growth while she can't attack you!” commanded N. Snivys body suddenly glowed a bright yellow, then returned to normal. Snivy had raised his attack power.
“They didn't attack! Come on Tepig, snap out of it and use Flame Charge!” White cried again, but once again, Tepig did nothing.
“Snivy, now, use Vine Whip!” shouted N. Snivy created two long whips made of vines, then charged towards Tepig with them.
“Tepig, come on, snap out of it and use Flame Charge!”
Tepig shook her head, coming to her sense, then her body became engulfed in flames, as she charged towards Snivy at full speed. Both Pokemon landed their attacks on each other at the same time, which caused a huge impact that knocked them both back. Snivy lay on the ground, unable to proceed battling, and Tepig also lay on the ground, but manged to get back on her feet, barely.
“Yes! We won Tepig!” said White, picking her Pokemon up and spinning around.
“Is it impossible for me to win while being concerned about my friends?” N thought to himself, as he picked Snivy up.
“I'll head back to Nacrene City now.” N said.
“We're both going to Nacrene City, and here we both are, so how about we go together?” White asked.
N blinked in surprise. “You can tag along if you want.” he said. “By the way, do you remember what the Team Plasma members that hurt Tepig looked like?
“Hmm, let's see....they both had orange hair, and blue eyes, and....a horrible sense of fashion, just like every Team Plasma member! Why do you ask?” she asked.
“I want to talk to them about it.” N said.
White laughed. “Yeah, 'cause those guys are totally gonna listen to you of all people.” she said.
“Angie and Brad did that to Tepig? They couldn't have....why would such honorable members of Team Plasma do that?” N thought to himself.
To be continued....
