The Spectral League
Last time on Icy’s Quest:
“Me and Sara were called by Bill to stop by his lighthouse just one day before we’d leave for the Spectral Islands. When we got there, Mewtwo was with him, along with Janus. They had developed a new cure for me and Sara. To make a long story short, it worked! Now, we can be together as we were meant to be. I hope there are some nice beaches on the Spectral Islands too!
(Opening Theme Plays)
We find our heroes back in the Viridian Forest Gym where they are eagerly packing to go the Spectral Islands. Icy intends to compete in a relatively new league called The Spectral League. Hey, where are our heroes?
“Sara, have you seen my t-shirts?”
“I think we packed up most of our human clothes. They are probably still in the storage room.”
“Ok.” Icy heads into the storage area and brings out a large box labeled ‘Icy’s Clothes’. “Found em.” He dragged the box back to his room and packed some of his favorite Caterpie T-Shirts into a suitcase.
Sara packed some of her fav shirts too, along with a cite swimsuit, and some pretty dresses just in case. She wanted to fun as much fun there as she could. Especially since Icy would probably spend most the day training anyways.
Toby walked into the gym. “Hello. Anyone home?” He had come by day after day, but no one was home. Toby was the highest ranking trainer in the Bug Gym, and was pretty much the caretaker in Icy’s absence, which was frequent. He’d never met Icy as a Pikachu, and hopefully, he never would. Sara greeted him.
“Good morning Toby. I’m sorry we were gone so long. Why didn’t you just let yourself in?”
“Hi Miss Sara. Oh… Well, I kinda locked the keys inside… and then you guys never came back. So I’ve been checking each week. I love bug pokémon so I couldn’t just give up. Huh, are you leaving again!!!”
Icy came out to see who it was. “Yes Toby… I’m afraid you are in charge of my gym once again. I don’t mean to put a high responsibility on a kid but…”
“Say no more! WAHOO!!!” Toby seemed overjoyed.
“He’s taking it better than I thought,” Icy whispered to Sara.
“He’s excited to run a gym. I hope he doesn’t get too overwhelmed though.”
“So, when do you leave?”
“Uhh, in a few minutes. Oak sent Loki and a cab to pick us up and drive to Oak’s.”
“AWESOME!!! I won’t let you down Icy sir! This is SO COOL!!! I get to run the BUGGY GYM!!! I get to run the BUGGY GYM!!!” Toby ran around singing his little phrase.
“This is what happens when you don’t work enough kids… Always do what you love.”
“Or in Toby’s case, just never not do it… You go nuts.”
“NUTS??? HIMA-NUTS!!! Where’s that Hima-Nuts you captured?”
“Huh, how’d you know?”
“Well, while you were away, I found a Hima-Nuts and through it into the side window. I told it to unlock the door, but it just bathed in the sunlight. Then, the next week, it was gone. I figured either it ran off, or maybe I missed you guys, because the door looked used.”
“How observant. Well, I did capture the Hima-Nuts. Its name is Beady.”
“Lemme see.”
“Ok. Come in sight, BEADY!!!” Beady appeared on the grass.
Toby picked it up. “Hahaha, you’re so cool! Umm, Icy…”
“You may.”
“OH SWEET!!! Beady, you are mine now! Hear that!”
Beady smiled. It did remember Toby so it had no problems switching owners. Icy was happy too, since Beady didn’t really show any feeling towards Icy.
“Toby, please take good care of the gym. We should be back later in the year.”
“That long!”
“Icy is competing in a new league called the Spectral League. It’s held on the Spectral Islands. Oak told us that Nicky and Kelly are there now too. We want to meet up with them and Icy wants to win the league. So, we could be gone a while. Are you gonna be ok?”
“Miss Sara, leave everything to me! Oh. Can some of my bug-loving friends be Jr. Trainers at the gym? They are good.”
“Fine, go ahead. But please leave the place in the condition we left it.”
“I will. You and Sara have an awesome trip. I’ll make sure the Caterpie Flag waves high and proud Icy.” Toby ran back into the main gym happy as can be.
“That kid REALLY needs to switch to decaf.”
“You said it.”
With that, Icy and Sara walk outside where Loki is waiting in a car.
“Ditto Express at you service. Destinations to Oak Lab and… no other place, just Oak Lab. Get in if want left. Icy and Sara have all stuff?”
“Yes Loki. We’re ready to go.”
“Ok. Loki take Icy and Sara to Oak. Oak say he give Icy new pokédex for new discovered species. Oak say also have something for Sara I think.” Loki drove to Pallet Town with Icy, Sara, and Frosterpie.
“My grace, he’s on the move.”
“His current form will not be a problem to me anymore.”
“The cure restored his psychic powers as well.”
“They are nothing compared to mine. But now is not the time to try anything we can’t cover. Proceed with our original plans regardless of what he does. If he gets in the way, treat him as any other person on this planet.”
“As you wish my grace.”
Loki drove through Viridian City. As Icy and Sara peered out the cab’s window, they saw Team Rocket’s former headquarters. Sara leaned over to Icy and kissed his cheek softly. “At last…” Icy blushed, knowing what her short message meant. He held her hand and the cab continued through the city.
Finally, they arrived in Pallet Town. “Arrive at Oak Lab in 5 minute.”
“Thank you Loki,” Icy said.
Loki pulled up to the lab. “We here. Loki help Icy and Sara with bags.” Loki got out and took their bags. When he did grab the first bag, he fell to the ground. “Ouch. Bags heavy.”
“Sorry Loki.”
“No problem for Loki.” The little talking Ditto transformed into a cart. “Umm, you place bags on me. Pidgeyplane is waiting in the back. Oak have private Pidgey.”
“Thanks Loki.” Icy and Sara loaded their bags onto Loki. Loki sped off to the lab.
“Well, let’s go Icy.” Sara led Icy up the stairs to the lab. They rang the doorbell and Oak answered.
“Icy, Sara, I see Bill finally perfected his cure. It’s good to see you two back to normal.”
“Thank you professor. Umm, Loki said you had a newer version of the pokédex.”
“That’s correct Icy. Like Bill always is saying, there are many species of pokémon out there that we still do not know of. But, in the recent months, close to a hundred new pokémon have been discovered, and many are said to live on these Spectral Islands.”
“If they are so concentrated there, why weren’t they ever cataloged?” Sara said.
“Well, the Spectral Islands weren’t known for pokémon training until recently. Because of this, the people there really never made a big deal about the pokémon who lived there. But, now that they run a whole league, more trainers are coming there, and some have done the task of cataloging them. Even my nephew Gary and his friend Ash went there recently. I’m sure you know both of them. They are real legends.”
“Gary I bet, I dunno about Ash…,” Icy said coolly.
“You’d be surprised Icy. Ash has grown up quite a bit. He’s not the puzzling boy he was when he started. He’s grown to be an excellent first-class trainer.”
“Well, I could beat him I bet.” Icy smiled to himself.
Sara looked back at Icy. “Well, are we going to go?”
“Ah yes. You’re transport is waiting out back. It’ll take you both to the Prism Island. That’s the heart of the Spectral Islands chain. Kelly and Nicky are also there. I have called them and they should be waiting to meet you at the Pidgeyport.”
“That’s great. Thank you so much professor.” Icy and Sara took hands and walked out back to board the Pidgeot Plane. “Well Sara, this is it. Another awesome adventure for us.”
“Yeah. At least this time, it’s not something dangerous with Team Rocket chasing us around the globe.”
“Yeah.” They boarded the Pidgeot and took off.
Kelly walked with Mars and Venus tagging close behind. Nicky looked back to make sure she was still there. Nicky spent a good potion of the day staring at Kelly, but she never seemed to take notice of it. He turned around again and Kelly caught up to walking at his side.
“Nicky, when are Icy and Sara getting here?”
“Soon Kelly. Oak said they left over an hour ago. They should be here in only a few minutes.”
“Cool. Are you excited to see them again too?”
“Yes.”
Kelly giggled. “I wanna sit here and play with my Eevees ok.” Mars had crawled onto her and Venus played nicely by her leg.
Nicky laughed seeing the little girl be almost surrounded by Eevees. “Ok Kelly. You can play with your Eevees.” Kelly smiled and let Venus walk up her arm too.
“HAHAHAHAHA!!!” she laughed as they played. Nicky simply watched.
Meanwhile,
Trinity walked quietly down Main Street. “What a boring day… Huh?” She looked back. “This is getting to be boring too.” She turned around. “Whatever you are, STOP FOLLOWING ME!!!” she yelled. A few people stopped to look at her. She spun back around and continued walking. “Sooner I leave here the better.”
The spherical creature peeked out again. As it watched her walk away, little hearts bubbled up over it. It ran to the next bush to continue following her safely.
“We will be landing on Prism Island in 5 minutes. Please gather your belongings and prepare for arrival.”
Icy and Sara got their stuff together and waited for the Pidgeot to land. In only a few minutes, they were on the ground. They ran off into the terminal. Waiting for them at the end were two familiar faces.
“Kelly! Nicky!” they both shouted.
“Icy! Sara!” The two groups ran to each other. “We are both ok. Oh, awesome.” Nicky noticed the blue Caterpie staring at him. “Is that?”
“This is Frosterpie.”
“Too cool. So, you didn’t die after all. We were all worried you two had died saving us.
“It’ll take more than a crazy psychotic Mew to kill me.” Everyone laughed.
“Well, me and Kelly have been touring this island. You are gonna love the Spectral League. In fact, there’s a match being held later today. Actually, it’s a night battle. They have so many different rules in this league. I’m even thinking of entering, and Kelly is going to help the trainers by caring for their pokémon at the gyms.”
“Is there a gym on this island?”
“No. The Prism Island is the start and the finish of the league. Right now, there are practice battles going on. In order to enter the league, you must participate in at least 3 practice battles. You really should see one first though. C’mon, if you hurry, you might even be able to get into one tomorrow.”
“Ok, but let’s first drop our stuff off at the hotel. You guys made us reservations right?”
“Yes we did. You’re all set at the PokéResorts Hotel. We are staying there too. Oak was very generous.”
“Too cool.”
Trinity glanced at her watch. “Man… Another match I gotta fight. I don’t get it. I am the best, yet they all want to challenge me. They know they’ll lose. Let’s see.” Trinity pulled out her pokédex. Her version had some alterations done to it. It doubled as a personal organizer. See brought up the calendar program. “Today I get to fight some kid named… Frank. Frank? Grrr, sounds like another regular everyday trainer. He’s so dead. I can’t stand fighting these novices anymore.” The spherical creature continued following and hiding. “You are ALSO dead when I find you.”
Suddenly, Trinity had an idea. She ducked into an alley and walked. ‘It’ll probably follow me down here too,’ she thought. Sure enough, the strange creature followed and hid behind some trash barrels.
The creature looked out. Trinity was nowhere to be found. “Buh?” It looked again. While it searched, Trinity got ready to make her move.
“GOTCHA!!!” she yelled grabbing hold of the creature below. What happened next shocked Trinity. The creature felt like water and slipped right out of her hands. It looked back and ran for dear life leaving a trail of water puddles behind it. “Come back!”
Trinity chased it into a dead-end. “Ok you, just stand still, I’m not going to hurt you.” The creature looked back at her with big watery eyes. It let her walk slowly towards it. “That’s right. Don’t be scared. I’m not going to hurt you. Just stay right there.” The creature stayed its ground. It breathed quickly as she got closer. “What are you?”
=====
The creature started crying. “Baa baaa baaa baaaa buuuulll,” it cried.
“Bubbles? Is that it? You are a pokémon?”
The creature looked at her. Its eyes were tear-filled. She bent down to meet it at eye-level. It stepped back but found itself pressed against the wall. Admitting defeat it, laid perfectly still for her.
“Aww, I’m really sorry little guy. Hmm…” Trinity took out her pokédex and pointed it at the small pokémon.
A computerized female voice came on. “Searching for match… … …” The device crunched away for a few seconds. “Warning, pokémon does not match any known type. However, DNA spectral analysis indicates trace elements of multiple pokémon species. High probability that this specimen is the result of genetic testing.” She closed the pokédex.
“You are a created pokémon?”
The small pokémon nodded. It looked up at her and extended its tiny paws. She picked it up. It felt watery and it took her a few seconds to get used to holding it right. “So, you are called Bubbles I guess.” She brushed her hand across the grass on its head. Bubbles giggled and wagged its little tail. It looked like a cross between an Oddish, a Jigglypuff, and had the tail of a Poliwag. Trinity put it down. “Are you going to keep following me little guy?”
Bubbles nodded.
“Well then, you’ll have to travel in this.” She pulled out a small blue pokéball. Clicking the button, it expanded. She pointed it at Bubbles and in seconds the small water-like pokémon was transported into the ball. “Well, this is certainly a strange type of pokémon.” She looked at her watch. “Oh no! The match!” Trinity collected herself and ran towards the stadium.
“These are great seats Nicky,” Icy said. He and Sara sat together. Kelly was sitting next to Nicky, her Eevees sitting nicely on her lap. “So, who’s battling?”
“It says today’s match is Trinity vs. Frank. Trinity is one of the top new trainers. I’d like to see you battle her. I wanna take a shot too.”
“Really? I guess I’ll see today.”
Trinity ran into the stadium. “I’m here, I’m here,” she said panting. The official led her to the gate.
“And now ladies and gentlemen, today’s preliminary Spectral League match is between Trinity from Prism Island, and Frank of Red Island. This match will be conducted in the same manner as a regular league match only with 4 pokemon to each trainer. And now, let the game begin!” The crowd cheered as the trainers took their places. The battle field this time was a water pool with small floating ice formations.
Trinity sneered looking at her competitor. ‘Pushover…,’ she thought.
Frank looked at Trinity. ‘Great, I’m gonna show her she’s not the best.’
The judge stepped up to the center. “Send out your starting pokémon.” Trinity and Frank through their pokéballs at the same time.
“Chonchi GO!”
“Harisen GO!”
“Wow, those aren’t pokémon I’ve seen before.”
“Look ‘em up later Icy, you don’t wanna miss this.” Icy nodded and watched.
“Chonchi, supersonic attack!” Chonchi’s antennae vibrated producing a supersonic wave confusing Harisen.”
Frank watched worried. “What! Harisen, snap out of it! Grr, return. Once he recovers, I’ll send him back out. For now, I choose Dunsparce!” The flying dragonfly-like pokémon appeared above the water. “Double team attack. She wants to confuse me, let’s deal it back to her.” Dunsparce became multiple images and dove for Chonchi.
“Chonchi, get in the water quick!” Chonchi dove in just before the swarm of Dunsparces could hit him. “Flying are weak to electricity, so Chonchi, use spark attack the next time they dive-bomb.”
Frank motioned to Dunsparce to dive again. The swarm targeted the water Chonchi was floating in. Just as they were about to hit, Chonchi let out sparks into the water and electrocuted Dunsparce. “NOO!!! Aghh, return.”
“Good work Chonchi. Get back on land now.”
“Trinity has taken an early lead here as Dunsparce is defeated. What pokémon will Frank use next?”
Frank took Harisen’s pokéball back out. “The confusion should be gone by now, so I choose Harisen!”
“He already used that pokémon!” Icy said to Nicky.
“No, in this league, you may reuse any pokémon that hasn’t fainted. At least, challengers may. Gym leaders cannot return their pokémon.”
“Oh.”
“Chonchi, water gun attack!” Chonchi blasted Harisen with its water gun but the other water pokémon broke free.
“Harisen, fight back with your own water gun!” Harisen blasted a water gun at Chonchi, but Chonchi quickly avoided it. “Poison sting Harisen!” Harisen fired poison needles at Chonchi. This time, they hit.
“Oh no, Chonchi!” Chonchi moved slower now. It looked horrible. Finally, the little pokémon collapsed from the poisons. “My Chonchi! YOU ARE DEAD FRANK!!!” Trinity recalled Chonchi. “NO ONE HURTS CHONCHI!!!!!” She reached into her pocket and pulled out another pokéball. “Ok, Nyura, I call you to avenge Chonchi! GO!!!”
“An ice cat huh? Ok Harisen, let’s take this one out too! Dive under first.” Harisen dove under the water, out of Nyura’s sight.
“My kitty can fish too. Nyura, be alert.” Nyura waited patiently, staring at the water with anticipation. Suddenly, she noticed Harisen’s shadow. Her eyes narrowed and she quickly thrust her claws into the water. They scratched against something. Harisen slowly bubbled up to the surface. “Ha ha! Good work Nyura!”
Frank held out Harisen’s pokéball once again to return it for good.
“And with an awesome display of agility, Trinity’s Nyura gives her a 2-1 lead. And now, with two pokémon down, the field will now change.” Trinity’s Nyura leapt back to her trainer as the water field began to disappear. In its place, a grass field formed from the sides.
“This isn’t gonna be good for you Nyura. I will ask for your help if my others cannot finish this wimp off first.” Nyura smiled and purred to her master. She returned to her pokéball while Trinity decided which pokémon to select next. “Ok. Watakko, I select you for my next pokémon.”
“Watakko? Great, just great. You are in for it Trinity. I’m gonna be the first trainer to take you down! Mwahahaha!!!” Frank expanded a new pokéball in his hand and released a Charmander. “Fire beats grass any day. You’re toast!”
“Frank! I swear to Goddish, I will not let you win! Watakko, show that fire breathing pest that it shouldn’t judge a pokémon by its type. Let’s try, leech seed.” Watakko fired three seeds from its pollen spores. The seeds wrapped around the unsuspecting Charmander.
“Flamethrower quick Charmander!” Frank’s Charmander fired flames in different directions, but the leech seed had already begun draining its health. It slowly became exhausted and fainted. “No!!! Charmander… That’s not fair.”
“How so? I beat it fairly. You aren’t a good trainer if you couldn’t utilize your advantage. Now, let’s end this match.”
Frank recalled Charmander. He needed to find a pokémon that could defeat three of hers. “Ok Trinity, you aren’t winning without a fight.” Trinity sighed. “Get ready to work for that win. I choose you, Oddish!” Frank’s Oddish appeared in the grass, almost blending completely in.
“Too bad I gotta hurt such an adorable pokémon, but it’s fighting for the wrong side. Watakko, stun spore attack now!” Watakko flew into the air and released its spores over all the grass making sure it hit its target.
“Oddish no!!!”
“Finish it off. Tackle attack Watakko.” Watakko made a diving tackle at the paralyzed Oddish. It fainted after impact.
“Oddish…” Frank’s head sunk. “Ok… I admit defeat.” He recalled his Oddish and unhappily walked out of the stadium.
“And Trinity has won once again. Trinity is currently undefeated in practice rounds and we expect to see her go far in the Championships at the end of the season.”
Trinity recalled Watakko and made her way out of the stadium. Icy watched as she walked away. “Nicky, have you battled her?”
“Yeah right. I decided to battle some other trainers. I did win my 3 rounds already. You aren’t thinking of what I think you are.”
“I gotta see if I can beat her. C’mon, I’m a master trainer. That kid was a rookie. Plus, she looks like someone who needs a challenge.”
“She’ll rip you apart Icy.”
“How do you know? I might be able to defeat her.”
“Defeat who?” said a sharp voice. Icy turned around to see the girl who had just won the battle. “Are you challenging me mister?”
“Trinity?”
“That’s right. You wanna battle, I’ll give you a battle. I’ve just about had it with you snotty trainers thinking you can defeat me. C’mon, what makes you so special?”
“Uhh, well, I am a Indigo League Master.”
“Indigo League. Ha, baby league. Listen kiddo, this league is for pros, not children.”
“But, you are a child.”
“Hey, that’s it. Right now, I accept your challenge.”
Will Icy be able to defeat Trinity in battle? Find out next time Pokémon: Icy’s Quest.