Episode 109:
Trevor's Thunder

Last time…

While on board the ferry to the Yellow Island, Sara and Trinity got into a very heated battle. Using her golden butterfree, Aura, Sara actually beat the invincible Trinity. Afterwards, Trinity decided to give them both a break and agreed to journey together as they continue their quest for the Spectral League Championship! And this… is where the adventure continues…

«« INTRO »»

As the clouds part, the camera flies over a vast green landscape, lined with numerous flowers and small trees and pokémon running around. Finally, the camera zooms past Icy, Sara, and Trinity as it soars into the sky.

Scenes change as we see each of the Spectral League gym leaders in dramatic poses with their pokémon and their respective island in the background. As we reach the final leader, the world begins to change into lines and becomes the Virtual Plane.

A slightly more foreboding music plays as shadows of a small winged pokémon, a duck-shaped red-bluish pokémon, a young boy, and an older man with a staff pass by. A tear drops from the boy’s face as he drops a small locket, causing the scene to switch again.

The ripples of the tear drops fade into a scene of Icy and his friends having a picnic and a few shots of battles with other trainers and a short spar with Gamma and Eamudo. Finally, the camera zooms out to show a large portion of the world, but with an ominous figure looming behind it.

«« END INTRO »»

“Ahhh, what a great lunch,” Icy proclaimed. Sara asked him to calm down a little.

“C’mon Icy, it’s not like we haven’t eaten in weeks…” she said. “However, I guess you’re right, this was pretty good. And free ^_^.”

“FREE!!!”

A mankey waiter walked up the table slipping a small piece of paper before walking off.

“AGHHHHH!!! A bill… I thought this was free…” Icy sulked as he left a few pokébucks as payment and tip and the group hurried back to the main foyer of the pokécenter.

“Ah, Icy, you and your friends’ pokémon are all healed,” said Nurse Joy when she saw them all enter.

“Ah, thank you Nurse Joy.” Everyone retrieved their pokémon and the trio left the pokécenter, making their way to the gym.

“So, Trinity, this trainer is pretty tough you say?”

“From what I’ve heard. He’s got some nasty electric-type pokémon; I just hope I can hold out. You know, it’s a full six on six battle. You get to rest after three pokémon are defeated, yours or his, but still, it’s gonna be a hard fight.”

“Who should go first?”

“Well, the thing is, you can’t watch the battle… It doesn’t matter who’s first. Trainers swear not to tell anything about the gym battles here. The idea of the Spectral League, is to train trainers, to be ready for anything! That’s why I entered this.”

“I see.” Icy thought to himself. He had come to the Spectral Islands for a challenge, but he never dreamed it would be this great. Somehow, he would have to make it. “I, I want to become a real master trainer… Not by winning a silly, meaningless title…” tears came to his eyes recalling the very painful memory of Buttercup’s final sacrifice to him. “Even though I was given a second chance… it’s so meaningless…”

“What… is he talking about?” Trinity asked Sara.

“Icy, according to the Indigo League, is a Master Trainer. But… in order to defeat Lance in the final round, he entrusted Buttercup, his most favorite and truest friend of all, with giving her last best effort, even though she was injured.”

“What! Why would anyone do that? Even to win!”

“That’s not all… Buttercup… wanted to do it… But Icy still… and will always blame himself for what happened…”

{flashback}

“BUTTERCUP!!!!! H-Y-P-E-R B-E-A-M !!!!!” Buttercup’s wings glowed a bright white, so bright, it blinded the entire stadium. And for a moment, time seemed to stand still. “FIRE!!!!!” When the dust had cleared, Dragonite had fallen… but Buttercup was not afloat either. She rest motionless in Icy’s trembling hands.

“You may not believe you have earned this, but you are a master trainer. Congratulations,” said Lance handing Icy the master badge. Sara accepted it in his favor, for Icy was set on something much more important…

{end flashback}

“Buttercup… used her life-force to summon the power to defeat Dragonite in that attack. And by doing so, she made the ultimate sacrifice for Icy, but, neither Icy nor I ever thought she would do something so rash… It… seemed like it would have been alright at the time…”

“I… I guess I understand. That must have been tough… but… what do you mean, second chance. You’re not saying?”

“Yes… Amazingly, when we laid Buttercup to rest, pokémon from all over the forest gathered one night and restored her life. Somehow, she remembered Icy, but he’s still never been the same since. He’ll never forgive himself any pain he allows be caused to any of his pokémon…”

“But, being a trainer, means putting your friends at risk like that, not to the point of death, but, even minor injuries can’t always be avoided.”

“None of Buttercup’s suffering were minor injuries…” Icy said coldly. “You go on Trinity… I think I better take a moment alone, ok…”

“Icy…,” Sara said sadly… “Please, forgive me, I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright Sara…”

“Alright, but you are fighting Trevor after I crush him. I won’t let you lose your real dream Icy. You’ll become a true master trainer, and overcome the fear of losing your friends, because it’s not gonna happen.”

“Trinity, thank you.” Icy said. He and Sara sat down together on a bench while Trinity went on ahead.

‘Geez… There’s a lot more to him than I thought… I guess we all can’t be so lucky to have a second chance with loved ones…,’ A flash came across Trinity’s mind’s eye. It wasn’t the first, nor the last time… An image, she had dealt with… even since long ago… when it happened… ‘They’d still be proud of me… and you, brother…’ She snapped together a locket and placed it back into her pocket.

[[[ SCENE SWITCH ]]]

“Hmmmmm, well well well, what do I see… A couple of no good trainers playing around… Be on guard kiddies, because I’m not gonna miss this time, hahahahaha,” said a shady voice from the shadows…

Trinity knocked on the doors of the Thunder Gym. They opened slowly, creaking to add to the effect. “Hello?”

“Ah, a little lady is my next opponent. How wonderful,” said a suave voice from the shadows.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s fine, please, welcome…” The lights illuminated the once dim room revealing the large pokémon gym. “I, am Trevor, Yellow Island’s Gym Leader, master of Electric-Type Pokémon. If you can best me, the Amber Lighting Badge is yours. But, I shall give you fair warning, there are few trainers who have even heard of the gym leader who follows me. I shall not be easy on you even if you are such an elegant lady.”

Trinity frowned. “What! You guys are so typical. I came here to win that badge, not go out on a date! But if you wanna dance, then let’s dance! Spill the rules!”

“Tsk tsk, very well then. It’s a 6-on-6 match. After 3, we get a break. Also, this field is made to enhance electric attacks. It is up to you to find some way if any, of exploiting this to your advantage, if at all possible. But I warn you, do not waste time, I shall give you a fighting chance, but I will not let up, nor shall my pokémon. I expect no less from you either. Give it your all, or this badge will never be yours. Understand.”

“Ha, I thought you were gonna make it impossible. But if these are the terms, then that Amber Badge is as good as mine.”

“We shall see about that…” Trevor reached for a pokéball.

[Scene: Trevor pokéball entrance scene]

Trevor snagged a small pokéball from his waist and brought his arm behind himself. Grinning, he clicked it once to expand the ball. “Let’s go! PIKACHU!!!” he shouted bringing his arm forward and stepping into the throw towards the field.

“Sneasel, go!” Trinity tossed Sneasel’s pokéball into play releasing the ice cat. It landed gracefully then bared its claws at the pikachu. “Let’s do this! Ice punch.” Sneasel’s claws became freezing claw as she ran towards pikachu.

“Hmmhmm, use that agility pikachu, dodge the attacks.” Pikachu was able to stay one step ahead of Sneasel, but not for very long. Sneasel was so well trained, not to mention agile, and she was finally able to connect with pikachu. The next slash put the yellow rodent on permanent ice. “Oh. You really got some skill there girl. I must hand it to you. Pikachu, return.”

Trinity meanwhile remained calm and alert. “Nice work Sneasel, now stay sharp, this is far from over.” Sneasel nodded and meditated while Trevor selected his second pokémon.

“Go Elekid!” Both Sneasel and Trinity stood still, unbelieving that a gym leader would actually use a baby pokémon in a match. “Elekid, thunderbolt!” Elekid’s reflexes were razor sharp, and it responded quickly. But Sneasel was still faster, however narrowly missing the lightning strike.

“Ok, so it’s no joke, be careful Sneasel. Let’s shut this tiny electric plug down before it gets any more ideas.” Sneasel nodded again and raced towards Elekid. Elekid used its thunderbolt attack again, but there was nothing in front of it to hit anymore. Elekid fell soon after when two deep swipes from Sneasel’s razor claw attacks sliced past him. Once again, Trevor recalled his pokémon.

“Hmm… So you can handle small electric pokémon. Now let’s see you take on their evolved forms. Oh yea, I forgot to mention this. This round is two pokémon verses two pokémon. You may recall Sneasel as well if you wish, but you are allowed to call one addition pokémon.”

“Two on two, I’ve never heard of that. But ok, teamwork will win this battle.” Trinity decided to recall Sneasel for the time-being and selected two other pokéballs. Raising them both, she tossed them at the same time into the field. “Cyndaquil, Larvitar, you’re on!”

“Oh yea, you cannot replace more than one pokémon during this round. Thus, if I defeat one of yours, you may replace it, but afterwards, you cannot select any others. I however, cannot replace any pokémon until you defeat both of my next two. Here we go! Raichu, Electabuz, I choose you both!” The evolved pokémon took the field. Facing them were Trinity’s two pokémon. Raichu and Electabuz looked ready to do some serious damage.

“Ok you two, we gotta work together to win this round. Concentrate on the Electabuz, we’ll take him out first,” Trinity said to her pokémon, not letting Trevor hear her commands. “Go!” Cyndaquil came charged after Raichu shooting small flames at its tail which angered Raichu greatly. Electabuz gave chase to help his teammate. In all he confusion, Larvitar was now in the clear and figured out a place to cut Trevor’s pokémon off.

“Hmmm, nice plan. Raichu, Electabuz, stop chasing Cyndaquil, you’re running into a trap.” Raichu stopped. It knew exactly how to fix the situation. Clinching its fists, it released its strongest thundershock attack, hitting everything within a good radius around it, including Electabuz, who was unharmed by the attack however. Larvitar got thrown back by the thundershock, giving away his position. Raichu concentrated his attack on Larvitar as Cyndaquil made a daring dive to try to prevent Raichu from hitting his friend. Electabuz gave Cyndaquil a sharp electric punch in the stomach knocking the wind out of the smaller pokémon while Raichu nailed Larvitar with is thunderbolt.

“Crap! Cyndaquil!!! Larvitar!!!” Trinity called out as the two pokémon fell to the ground. “No way. Get up, get up!” Trinity still had all six of her pokémon to use, but now two might be eliminated in a single attack. Finally, Cyndaquil started to stand up, followed by Larvitar.

“They got guts, but that’s not gonna help them win. Ok Raichu, Electabuz, Alpha attack pattern.” Trevor had taught his pokémon to work together and follow specific attack patterns while not letting his opponent know exactly what the move would be. In this case, both pokémon focused their attacks on just one target. Raichu used a direct thunderbolt attack on Cyndaquil along with Electabuz adding his power to it. Cyndaquil was wiped out in seconds but Larvitar had taken a new position and was ready to avenge his friend.

“Cyndaquil!!! Aghh, Larvitar, that’s it, do it!” Larvitar had charged up its hyper beam attack and was able to take out both Raichu and Electabuz with a single hit.

“Wow. Such power. Your pokémon are very well trained miss Trinity. I’m impressed, however, you’ve still got two more of mine to best before that badge is yours. Do you still think you can make it?”

“I’m not about to quit,” Trinity said putting away Cyndaquil’s pokéball.

“The last two rounds are one-on-one again. Let’s get to it! Go Mareep!” The sheep pokémon appeared on the field.

“Another weak pokémon,” Trinity thought. “Larvitar return. I choose Phanpy.” The small elephant pokémon appeared. “Heh, take this!”

[MUSIC: Trinity’s TM add-in]

Trinity reached into her pocket pulling out a small chip labeled ‘TM’. “TM26, ADD IN! Attack power, EARTHQUAKE!” Trinity placed the chip onto her pokédex which sent the attack data to Phanpy.

Phanpy raised his front legs then smashed then into the ground hard causing the whole building to shake. The attack caused Mareep to lose its balance and it was hit by various pieces of earth shooting up from the floor. Phanpy charged in with its take down attack to finish Mareep off.

“Mareep return, go Denryou!” The fully evolved form of Mareep appeared, towering over the small elephant. “This is where it ends. Denryou, thunder attack!” Even though Phanpy was a ground type pokémon, it was no match for the awesome power of Denryou’s thunder attack and ended up fainting from the one hit.

“Good work buddy, you deserve a rest. But I’m not through with you yet,” Trinity said pointing at Denryou and Trevor.

“That’s good. Show me all you got Trinity.”

“Sneasel, finish this!” Trinity’s star pokémon, Sneasel, the ice cat, appeared again. Immediately, it flew towards Denryou at lightning speed. Dashing back and forth around Denryou, Sneasel used its fury swipes attack to slowly weaken the sheep dragon pokémon.

“You have to fight back Denryou, concentrate on that cat and shut it down.” Denryou tried hard to keep focused, but Sneasel’s moves were so quick, Denryou got confused just trying to keep track and in the end, knocked itself out. “Noooo. Ugh… Denryou, return.”

Trinity smiled for a second, pleased with herself and Sneasel’s excellent performance.

“The winner, the challenger, Trinity! Congratulations.”

“Great work young one. For defeating my pokémon in battle, I hereby award you with Yellow Amber Badge as proof of your victory. You did really well today, you just might go all the way to the top with that fighting spirit. I wish you the best of luck on your journey.” Trevor handed over the badge.

“Thank you.” Sneasel hopped onto Trinity’s shoulder as her walked out of the gym.

Icy and Sara were sitting in the pokécenter watching the latest news on Janus’ heroic efforts to wipe out the remnants of Team Rocket.

“You know, I think all of this fame is gonna go to his head some day,” Icy said.

“You mean like you?” Sara replied jokingly.

“Yeah, hey, wait a minute, that’s not fair,” Icy said, flustered. Sara just giggled then looked up seeing Trinity enter the pokécenter.

“Hey look, Trinity’s back. I wonder how she did.”

“I’m sure she won,” Icy said.

Trinity spotted the two and walked over to the table they were at.

“So?” Sara asked.

“Piece of cake. Even Icy here could beat him.”

Icy pouted. “I must have a ‘Pick on me’ sign on me somewhere.” Trinity and Sara both laughed.

“Honestly, you shouldn’t have too much trouble, but, I can’t tell you anything more than that. Remember the rules of this league forbid giving other trainers any information about the gym matches.”

“I understand. Don’t worry, me and my pokémon are gonna do our best!” Icy and Sara finished up and they all walked back to the gym.

Since Trinity had already won, she was allowed to spectate, and since Sara wasn’t in the league, she too was permitted to watch. That left only Icy to do battle with the gym leader, Trevor. As the group walked in, a younger kid was on his way out, but in lower spirits.

“It’s hard to lose for anyone,” Trinity said.

“Well, I’m not coming here to lose,” Icy said in reply. Sara smiled and gave him a hug.

“Good luck Icy. Do you best!” She and Trinity went to the stands with some other spectators and Icy entered the gym field.

“I am Icy from Saffron City and Gym Leader of the Viridian Forest Bug Gym. I wish to challenge you for the Yellow Amber Badge.”

“Excellent, another strong trainer to battle today. I, Trevor, leader of the Yellow Gym accept your challenge. It shall be a six-on-six match. The rules are the same as usual so whenever you are ready, we can begin. I’ll be starting off with Pikachu!” Trevor’s pikachu appeared on the field bringing an odd sensation over Icy.

Icy shook his head a second, clearing his mind. “Rrr… Ok, let’s do this.”

[ICY Pokéball entrance theme]

Icy selected his pokéball and used his telekinesis to float the ball in front of him. Closing his eyes, he began saying, “Ready to fight… Come in sight…” His eyes opened as the ball spun forward and opened. “Icy calls!!!” The pokéball shot out its red beam onto the field. “HOCUS!!!!!” The beam materialized into Icy’s kadabra, Hocus.

“Alright Hocus, let’s get to it, use confusion.”

“Right away,” Hocus said as the symbol above his head glowed.

Pikachu started feeling a bit dizzy and would up electrocuting itself, ending the round.

Sara cheered happily while Trinity silently looked on. “Using a high level psychic type is rather low… But, perhaps he’ll learn soon enough…”

Sara stopped and looked at Trinity. “Huh, did you say something?”

“Me. No, nothing. Let’s see what he uses next.”

Trevor recalled Pikachu and sent out Elekid. And once again, Hocus used its confusion attack to bring another round to a quick finish.

“Great job Hocus, but don’t get overconfident, I have a feeling this battle has only just begun.”

“You couldn’t be more correct Icy. This next round is two-on-two. You may select two new pokémon, or call one additional pokémon now. However, you may not replace more than one during this round. I cannot replace any of my own pokémon. Are you ready?”

Icy was busy thinking about the situation. “Yes.”

“Very well, as the gym leader, I will select mine first. Raichu, Electabuz, GO!”

Icy suddenly lost his train of though. Seeing the Raichu reminded him of so many irritating memories. He was gritting his teeth when Hocus spoke telepathically to him.

“Master, calm yourself, focus on our battle. I am still able to battle, but I need a partner, and your dedicated concentration if we are to win this.”

Icy nodded and apologized. “You’re right,” he said telepathically. “Ok then, Hocus will remain out, and I will call as my second pokémon, Cyber!”

As the pokéball shot out the beam, red and blue lines began to form and connect until they created the outline of a duck shaped pokémon. The boxed in lines took on color and Cyber was fully materialized.

“A porygon? Aren’t those net pokémon?” Trevor said.

Icy realized using his porygon might be risky, but even though wait Nurse Joy had mentioned earlier troubled him, Cyber was a critical member of Icy’s team, and he needed him for this fight.

“Cyber, Hocus, work together and combine attacks. Focus your energy on shutting one out from the other. Don’t allow them to group up on you and we’ll win this round.” Icy of course gave his command telepathically, and Hocus emitted them to Cyber.

“Raichu, Electabuz, get ready, attack as soon as you get your chance.” Raichu began to try drawing Hocus’ attention while Electabuz attempted to sneak away. Hocus however concentrated on the entire battle field and stood still while Cyber used its double team attack to form a ring of porygons around Hocus.

“That’s it, confuse them then strike.” Hocus channeled its confusion attack through Cyber. Cyber released the attack from all angles but didn’t hit either opponent. Instead, it used the confusion energy to warp the field, and each angle the beam was sent, distorted the view at that point.

Electabuz, who had been trying to sneak up on them both, lunged forward at Hocus but found only a rock face. “What are you doing Electabuz, the enemy isn’t even near there.” Trevor hadn’t a clue what Hocus and Cyber had pulled off, and actually, Icy was even impressed by their combined efforts. But the illusion was fading fast.

“That’s good, now’s our chance to take out Raichu while Electabuz is wondering where you two are. Focus your illusions around just Raichu so it can’t escape then attack.”

Cyber’s illusions circled around Raichu who attempted to thundershock each of the porygons but by the time it had narrowed it down to the true pokémon, Hocus nailed him with a very strong psybeam. Raichu fell to the ground fainted.

“No way, c’mon Electabuz, I’m counting on you. Get it together here.”

Electabuz was still confused and Cyber stopped his illusions and finished Electabuz off with a tri-beam attack.

“Yes!” Icy cheered along with Sara too. Even Trinity was impressed, although no one could really see the impressive mesh of illusions Cyber and Hocus had spent nearly all their energy to create. Icy was forced to return them both so they could rest.

“I don’t know what you did to them, but seeing you are a psychic, you could have done anything. Your pokémon are great at working as a team, but now we will have two more one-on-one rounds to determine the outcome. For my next pokémon, I choose, Mareep!”

“Icy calls Leafy!” Icy released his Gloom, Leafy, from her pokéball. “Leafy, charge it up.”

“Ha, you won’t get away with that. Mareep, throw off its concentration.” Mareep began charging towards Leafy as she took in sunlight. But just as Mareep went to tackle Leafy…

“Switch up, stun spore attack NOW!!!” Leafy had been planning to lure Mareep close all this time, and now that Mareep was within only a few feet of her, the stun spore attack was super effective. Leafy leapt back, continued to charge its solarbeam, and fired.

“Unbelievable. I’ve never seen a trainer consider so many situations like that, and have their pokémon ready for then as well. This final round shall be most interesting.” Trevor returned Mareep and sent out Denryou. “Denryou, thunder!” Leafy absorbed most of the attack but had taken a large amount of damage. Another attack like that, and she’d be finished.

“That’s enough Leafy, return.” Icy selected a pokéball he hadn’t used in quite a while. One of his original red and white pokéballs stood out from the shiny light green and jade colored pokéballs. He tapped it, expanding the ball and prepared to release it. “Ready to fight, come in sight! Icy calls!!! TRIKING!!!” One of the original pokémon Icy had captured was Triking, the Dugtrio King! Now, Triking was Icy’s chance to win the gym badge. “Triking, dig!”

“Denryou, oh no.” Denryou was busy searching for where the dugtrio would emerge, but traveling at the speed of light, Triking easily nailed Denryou with its dig attack, and the match was decided.

“The winner, the challenger from Saffron City, ICY!” Sara was jumping and cheering and ran onto the field to hug Icy.

“Alright!!! You did it!”

Icy was very happy as well and all of his pokémon gather around him to celebrate the victory as Trevor approached.

“You have fought excellently Icy. Your abilities to consider all directions of attack in a match will make you a great trainer. For defeating me, I present to you the Yellow Amber Badge as proof of your victory. Good luck in the battles to come.”

“Thank you Trevor.” Icy smiled and accepted the badge. “Alright, you got two now!” Everyone was cheering and happy as they left the gym building.

“You know, those psychic attacks aren’t gonna protect you all the time,” Trinity said.

“I know, but when they are useful, I use them. Don’t worry.” Icy was too happy to be bother by Trinity’s remarks now. They all walked down the main road back to the pokécenter.

Meanwhile, unbeknown to our heroes, a dark figure watched the group as they walked. His eyes narrowed as he drew his cloak. The pokémon standing beside him snarled as they plotted their next evil deed.

«« ENDING »»

Light harp-like music plays showing each of the main characters with their pokémon asleep. Finally, we see just an outline of a young boy, asleep with a winged pokémon and a strange pokémon beside them.