Andyman's fanfic: Of Beauty and Might (PG-13) | Page 6

Friday, June 22, 2007 8:46 P.M.
Small Town, Manalon

BOOM!
Still visible in the summer light, the windows of the laboratory blew open and smoke started coming out of it.
“Right when I get back, he has to blow up his lab again,” Amanda said, shaking her head and facepalming.
“What?” T.J. asked.
“My foster father is a crazy scientist who mixes random potions too much.”
“AAH! I’m on fire, fire!” Professor Maple yelled, running out of the lab. His lab coat was burning with purple fire. His remaining hair was half-burned.
Marissa giggled; Chaz facepalmed; T.J. shook his head; Dan was looking through his Poke Balls wondering what to do.
“Muddy,” Amanda called.
“Mudkip!” Muddy jumped out of his Poke Ball on his own. The professor was running aimlessly in circles, forgetting how to stop, drop, and roll.
“Water Gun,” Amanda cursed. “But be gentle.”
Muddy shot a gentle stream of water from his mouth at the professor. It didn’t do anything but force Maple to duck, still aflame.
“Luxray, roll him in the dirt!” Dan called, throwing his Poke Ball. The Professor saw Luxray and, thinking it was wild, curled up into a ball, scared. Luxray went over and used its paws to roll the professor. The flames went out; Luxray got off and the professor stood up. His chemical-covered lab coat was in tatters.
“Aha! So that is it! I have made a new discovery!” Maple declared vehemently.
“What?” Amanda replied.
Maple jerked suddenly. “Amanda!” he ran over to her.
“No way am I hugging you when your lab coat is covered in that.”
“Oh, sorry…” Maple looked disappointed. “I still have not found an antidote for Stunky smell!”
“You shouldn’t bother natural phenomena,” Amanda replied.
The professor took a moment to think but brushed it off. “Come inside! All of you! Wait… do I know you three?”
“I was here last time,” Chaz replied, folding his arms. “You can call me Chaz.” He did not give his thumbs-up gesture.
“I’m T.J., Amanda may have told you about me,” T.J. added.
“He’s been in contests with us,” Amanda said.
“I need to go to one of those,” Dan added.
“I’m Marissa,” Marissa spat. Some saliva came out of her mouth.
“Marissa, show the man some respect,” Dan forced upon her.
“Shut up.”
“He’s not kintsugi,” Chaz replied.
“Whatever.”
Maple looked confused as he led the gang in. The lab was a total mess, but nothing was on fire. Broken glass vials were all over the place, a puddle of orange liquid was on the floor, the video phone had a dent in it, and the steel table was black with soot.
“A royal mess,” Marissa commented. “Do not expect me to clean this up for you, old man.”
“Yes, yes, this time I have extra hands to help me clean!” Maple replied.
“Want me to call a maid service?”
“No, no, we do it.”
“I’m beat…” T.J. said. “Can it wait until tomorrow?”
“I assume the liquid can’t,” Amanda replied. “Let’s mop that up. We can do the rest of it tomorrow.”
“Right… right,” Maple stated. “Only problem is that my mop caught on fire yesterday.”
Marissa groaned, looking like a frog. “You have got to be kidding me. You lived with this nut?” she asked Amanda.
“Yeah, I learned a lot from him,” Amanda replied. Marissa just stared blankly.

“Swell,” Swellow said, dropping the mop. Amanda picked it up.
“Thanks, Swellow,” Amanda stated.
Swellow nodded and headed back towards Mica. Amanda took the mop back into the lab. Professor Maple was snoozing on the lab-floor couch; the others were upstairs. Dan had already gone to his house.
Amanda didn’t complain as she mopped the orange goop up; she had Muddy wash off the mop outside afterward before storing it in the bucket in the closet. She went upstairs. In the living area just by the stairs, Chaz, T.J., and Marissa were playing cards. Marissa didn’t seem to be taking it very seriously.
“Whatcha playing?” Amanda asked.
“Egyptian Rat Race,” Chaz replied.
“Can I join?”
“Sure. Marissa has yet to slap, though.”
“Shut up,” Marissa replied.
“What’s with you?” Amanda pressed Marissa.
“I’m just thinking.”
“About what?”
“Nothing, let’s play.”

Saturday, June 23, 2007 8:12 A.M.
Professor Maple’s Laboratory, Small Town, Manalon

BOOM!
“Not again,” Amanda cursed, having just finished dressing.
“What… what was that?” Marissa asked, outstretching her arms from the sleeping bag on the floor. She had been half-asleep.
“He needs to stop blowing stuff up, especially when he needs to clean the lab…”
“He’s a total nutjob.”
Amanda put her hat on backwards and went downstairs. Chaz had beaten her there. T.J. was still on the living room floor, having been woken up by the explosion.
“What’s with you?” Amanda asked Maple. “You’re blowing stuff up more than usual.”
“I don’t have you helping anymore!” Maple panicked.
“I only helped preventing you from burning down the lab.”
“Yes, yes,” Maple replied. “Thank you, thank you.”
Chaz rolled his eyes. “Look, gramps, you need to take care of yourself. Stop mixing what shouldn’t be mixed.”
Maple seemed to ignore it, lost in thought. “Aha! That might work!”
“He can’t be stopped when he’s like this…” Amanda shook her head.
“You going to train?” Chaz asked. “I can help clean the mess up…”
“That would be appreciated, thank you. I’ll be outside. I have a campsite ten minutes up the road, I’ll probably be there. Shouldn’t be hard to find.”
“Okay.”
Amanda went outside and began walking towards the campsite. Dan was out on his front porch. “Amanda!” he called.
“Hey Dan,” Amanda replied.
“You’re going to train?”
“Yeah, I need to beat that Scizor…”
‘That thing gave me a lot of problems, too,” Dan replied. “I was lucky to have Charmeleon.”
“So was kintsugi. You should have seen her Mystic Arte.”
“Hyper Shock Bite isn’t all that great against a Scizor… but I took out Yanmega with it. Anyway, you want a practice battle?”
“Sure.”

Amanda and Dan took places on either side of the road in front of Dan’s house. Nobody used it, so it was an appropriate battlefield.
“Absol, you’re on!” Dan yelled.
“Let’s do this, Staravia!” Amanda replied.
The white-furred beast and the starling appeared, both ready to battle.
“Absol, Night Slash!” Dan yelled.
“Staravia, Aerial Ace to dodge and attack!” Amanda replied.
Staravia swooped down; Absol slashed the ground, barely missing the bird. Staravia went vertical and its wings shone; Staravia turned down and rammed into Absol at high speed, causing massive damage. Absol fell over onto its side, bruised, but it got back up pretty quickly.
“Absol, Shadow Ball!” Dan yelled.
“Steel Wing!” Amanda replied.
Absol’s blade began charging a Shadow Ball, which Staravia wasn’t afraid of. Staravia’s wings glowed with silver light as it rammed into Absol’s face just as it launched the Shadow Ball. The Shadow Ball exploded on impact and turned up the dust on the ground. Both Pokémon were engulfed in the explosion.
The dust settled quickly; Staravia streamed out of the cloud, trailing some dust like a jet plane. Absol wasn’t as lucky, as its face was implanted in the ground. It looked up to show a huge bruise caused by Steel Wing.
Dan looked uneasy. “Absol, return!” he yelled. Absol went back into its Poke Ball. “Luxray, let’s go!”
His big, black tank appeared.
“How many Pokémon are we doing?” Amanda asked. “Three or four?”
“Let’s go four,” Dan replied. “Luxray, use Spark on Staravia!” he yelled.
“Dodge it!” Amanda replied. “Steel Wing its backside!”
“Give it the shock of its life!”
Staravia swooped up to dodge Luxray’s electrically-charged tackle, then went down to use Steel Wing. Luxray charged its entire body and sent shivers through Staravia, amplified by Staravia’s own Steel Wing.
“Finish it! Hyper Shock Bite!” Dan yelled.
“Get the hell out of there!” Amanda panicked. Staravia couldn’t, as it was recovering from the shocking revelation. Luxray used Spark to knock Staravia up, then pounced on it to take a Thunder Fang out of its abdomen. Luxray walked off of Staravia, who was in a heap on the ground.
“Dang it,” Amanda cursed. “Return…” Staravia went back into its Poke Ball. “I was careless. That may be why I lost to that Scizor…”
“That’s unlike you,” Dan replied.
“Eevee, let’s go!”
Amanda’s Eevee jumped out and growled into the air, only to start shivering at the sight of Dan’s Luxray.
Intimidate… Amanda thought. Eevee’s scared.
“What’s the matter?” Dan taunted.
“Eevee, Shadow Ball!” Amanda replied, knowing Dan wanted her to make the first move.
“Eat it,” Dan said.
“Shoot little ones all over its legs!”
Luxray swallowed the first Shadow Ball whole, gulping its throat. It looked a bit uneasy, but Eevee kept firing Shadow Bullets at Luxray’s legs. Luxray was a bit ill and couldn’t move immediately, getting slightly impacted by the bullets. They hardly caused any damage, but made Luxray a bit uncomfortable.
“Thunder Fang!” Dan yelled.
“Bite the same leg!” Amanda shouted.
Luxray charged towards Eevee; Eevee slid at Luxray. Eevee slid by as Luxray looked down and Eevee took a bite out of Luxray’s leg. Luxray yelped but didn’t jerk its leg. It turned down at Eevee and launched its mouth, but Eevee jumped off of Luxray’s leg and rolled away, only to have its tail get a taste of Thunder Fang. Eevee yelped in pain as jolts flew through its body.
“Turn around and look cute!” Amanda yelled. Dan looked confused, then started laughing.
Eevee’s eyes watered. It was in pain but it looked at Luxray cutely. Luxray felt moved and released its grip.
“What…?” Dan asked. “Bite it again!”
“Under!” Amanda replied
Eevee slid underneath Luxray, who missed its target by half an inch. Luxray looked into its underside and Eevee was there, standing still.
“Shadow Ball where it really hurts!” Amanda yelled. How the heck was I supposed to say that?
Eevee launched a Shadow Ball at Luxray’s underside as Luxray started to walk, trying not to hurt Eevee.
“You ARE supposed to hurt it!” Dan demanded. “Are you attracted to it or something?” His eyes began blinking fast. “You resemble me a lot…”
“Eevee got your tongue?” Amanda taunted.
Dan blushed as Luxray’s underside got pelted with a Shadow Ball, courtesy of Eevee. Luxray seemed a bit confused. It turned around and growled at Eevee, who began looking incredibly nervous.
“Feed it another Shadow Ball!” Amanda yelled. I wish Eevee had more ranged attacks…
“Crunch!” Dan yelled.
Eevee, too scared to charge up a big one, launched a weak Shadow Ball at Luxray, which did nothing as Luxray took a chomp out of Eevee’s tail. Eevee squealed loudly, shivering in mid-air like it had just been electrocuted.
Luxray let go and Eevee fell on the ground in a heap. Eevee tried to get up with all of its might, but couldn’t. It collapsed in a heap, unable to continue.
“Darn,” Amanda cursed. “Return…”
“You’re going to need to teach that thing some new moves,” Dan replied as Eevee went back into its Poke Ball. “Or evolve it.”
“But it’s so cute,” Amanda pouted. Her demeanor quickly changed. “Okay, we’ll see.”
Luxray charged itself, yellow light emitting from its head and tail.
Amanda produced a Poke Ball. “Chikorita, let’s go!”
“Chiko!” Chikorita appeared, looking back at Amanda. She didn’t see Muddy and looked sort of bummed.
“What the heck…?” Dan was confused.
“I don’t even know,” Amanda replied. “Chikorita, Razor Leaf!” she yelled.
“Dodge it and take a bite!” Dan replied as Chikorita started shooting leaves at Luxray. Luxray dodged and ran at Chikorita.
“Sweet Poison!” Amanda yelled.
“What?”
Chikorita mixed Sweet Scent and Poisonpowder in midair, creating a magenta-colored powder mixture to shroud herself. Luxray entered the fray and started looking sick, stopping in its tracks.
“Body Slam it!” Amanda yelled.
“Get out of there?” Dan was panicking.
Luxray didn’t move and began coughing; Chikorita aimed for Luxray’s leg in the weakest-looking point: Eevee’s bite mark.
“Chiko!”
WHAM!
Chikorita slammed into Luxray’s leg, crippling it. Luxray fell face-first onto the ground, still coughing up the drug surrounding it.
“Finish it! Razor Leaf!” Amanda instructed.
“Get out of there?” Dan was panicking. He grabbed his Poke Ball, but it was too late – Luxray’s face had been implanted with Razor Leaf, and it wasn’t getting up.
“Chiko,” Chikorita stated.
“Damn it…” Dan cursed. “Luxray, return.” Luxray disappeared.
“You’re still ahead of me right now,” Amanda replied.
“Charmeleon, you’re on!” Dan threw his next Poke Ball. His Charmeleon appeared, the spitting image of kintsugi’s except for its color.
“Okay, Chikorita, get back here.”
“Chiko!” Chikorita doubled back to Amanda. “Chiko, chiko!” she cried.
“Muddy, you’re on!” Amanda threw her next Poke Ball.
“That’s not fair,” Dan complained, seeing the cute little Mudkip appear, landing on all fours. “Type advantage.”
“CHIKO!” Chikorita called out to Muddy, her eyes watery.
“Mud,” Muddy seemed focused on the battle, a glimmer in his eyes.
“CHIKO!” Chikorita was fawning over Muddy’s demeanor.
Dan looked confused.
“Don’t ask,” Amanda pushed it off.
“…don’t tell,” Dan replied, nervously.

Hoothoot waltzed into the lab, having been scared off by the explosion.
“Ah, Hootie,” Maple said. “A hand, please?”
Hoothoot tilted its head towards Maple curiously.
Beautifly came in behind Hoothoot, also confused.
“You need to stop running out on me,” Maple instructed.
“You need to stop blowing your pants up,” Marissa insulted.
“Shut up,” Chaz replied.
“You’re not kintsugi.”
“I’m just filling in.”
Marissa looked unhappy; they went back to cleaning the lab.

“Muddy, Water Gun!” Amanda pointed at Charmeleon.
“Flamethrower to match!” Dan yelled in reply.
Muddy launched a Water Gun at Charmeleon, which was overtaken by Charmeleon’s Flamethrower, producing steam. The Flamethrower faded out as it hit the Water Gun.
“Turn it into Ice Beam!” Amanda yelled.
“CHIKO!” Chikorita cheered.
Muddy turned it into an Ice Beam, which melted as it hit Charmeleon’s Flamethrower. Water began to fall from the Flamethrower. Charmeleon got scared and let go for a bit; Muddy got tired and stopped its Ice Beam. Both were already tired, having pumped their souls into their attacks.
“Charmeleon, Slash…” Dan asked, unsure of what Charmeleon could do.
“Wait for it to get near, then Water Gun,” Amanda instructed to Muddy.
Charmeleon waltzed over to Muddy at normal speed, only to have Muddy blast its belly with a high-powered Water Gun.
“MUD!” Muddy taunted.
“Char…” Charmeleon growled as it slid its claw into the dirt, stopping it from being blown back farther. Muddy had already propelled it ten feet back.
Charmeleon glared at Muddy.
“CHIKO!” Chikorita yelled at Muddy.
“Do it,” Amanda added.
“Mud!” Muddy called, spitting mud at Charmeleon’s face. Charmeleon motioned to wipe it off.
“Mudkip!” Muddy yelled.
Suddenly, Muddy’s tail fin glowed turquoise and a five-foot wide whirlpool appeared from it. Muddy ran over to Charmeleon and engulfed it in the whirlpool; Charmeleon wiped its face but was soon swirling into Muddy.
“Kick it?” Dan panicked.
“Whirlpool!” Amanda smiled.
Charmeleon’s legs were kicking as water from the whirlpool began dropping onto the ground. The mass of it hit the ground and caused a splash around Muddy, damaging Charmeleon’s tail flame, which nearly went out. It flickered and re-lit, but Charmeleon had taken plenty damage and was on its side, the water around it turning to steam.
“That’s some Mudkip…” Dan was in awe. “After last time…” He was speechless.
“He’s cute, too,” Amanda replied.
“Mud,” Muddy blushed.
“Chiko!” Chikorita called to Muddy and started running towards him.
“Mud?”
“Chikori!”
“Mud,” Muddy groaned.
“Chiko…” Chikorita looked sad.
“Kip.”
“Chiko!” Chikorita perked up.
What the heck are they talking about? Amanda wondered. By looking at Dan’s expression, she could tell that he was thinking the same thing. He recalled Charmeleon.
“Dratini, Absol, let’s go!” he threw two Poke Balls and both of his Pokémon appeared.
“Chiko?” Chikorita looked over.
“Mudkip?” Muddy did too.
“Double battle now?” Amanda challenged.
“You bet!” Dan replied. “Absol, Shadow Ball! Dratini, Twister!”
“Get out of the way – go in opposite directions!” Amanda ordered.
Chikorita and Muddy nodded at each other and crossed paths; Muddy heading in front of Chikorita to the left and Chikorita going behind Muddy and to the right. Dratini whipped up a Twister as Absol charged a Shadow Ball with the blade on its head.
“Shadow Twister?” Amanda joked.
Dan just smiled. Absol fired the Shadow Ball at the Twister.
“Use Double-Cross on Dratini!” Amanda yelled suddenly, surprising Dan.
“Quick change of emotion?”
The Twister built up and went towards Amanda’s right – at Chikorita, who rammed towards Dratini with a Body Slam; Muddy hit from the other side with a Take Down, surrounding Dratini and causing it to lose control of the Twister. The Twister took a sharp turn towards Absol, which Chikorita had cut in front of. Absol jumped over to Dratini, who was still sandwiched between Muddy and Chikorita.
“Twister yourself!” Dan ordered.
“Muddy, back up and use Ice Beam! Chikorita, behind you!” Amanda replied. Absol missed pouncing on Chikorita by half an inch, as she had moved out of the way. The blade on Absol’s head hit Dratini, who had just been able to move.
“Mudkip,” Muddy cried, firing an Ice Beam at Dratini, who didn’t see it coming since it was still looking lividly at Absol. The Ice Beam propelled Dratini into Absol, nearly impaling it on Absol’s head spear.
The Shadow Twister curved over towards the fray.
“Muddy, burrow underground!” Amanda called. “Chikorita, get out of there!”
Dratini got its skin off of Absol and slithered out of the way, following Chikorita. Muddy began burrowing underground, using its Water Gun for extra digging. Absol jumped over towards Muddy, not hitting anything but landing on top of the hole.
“Ice Beam straight up!” Amanda yelled.
“Kip,” Muddy cried, turning around and hitting Absol’s underside. The Shadow Twister had dispersed; Absol was sent flying straight into the air, being encased in ice as it traveled. Muddy went back to burrowing.
“Dratini, Thunderbolt!” Dan called.
CRASH!
Absol hit the ground five feet from the hole, the ice shattering everywhere.
Dratini charged up electricity for Chikorita.
“Chikorita, use Sweet Scent!” Amanda yelled.
Muddy popped out of the ground on the other side of Absol. Chikorita began scattering Sweet Scent. Absol wasn’t moving; Dan recalled it without a word.
“Ice Beam, Muddy!” Amanda yelled.
Dratini shocked Chikorita, who took very little damage. Muddy, his head still the only part of his body above ground, fired an Ice Beam at Dratini, who jumped out of the way. The Ice Beam accidentally hit Chikorita instead.
“Crap…” Amanda cursed.
“CHIKO!” Chikorita was livid. She stormed over to Muddy.
“Mudkip,” Muddy motioned at Dratini.
“Chiko?”
“Dratini, wrap the green one!” Dan yelled.
“Sweet Scent!” Amanda replied. “Muddy, Ice Beam!”
Dratini wrapped Chikorita, only to loosen its grip when she scattered Sweet Scent everywhere. Muddy hit Dratini in the back of the head with a solid ray of ice, causing Dratini to have a headache. Chikorita wiggled her way out and went over to Muddy.
“CHIKO!” Chikorita was angry.
“Mudkip. Mudkip mud,” Muddy replied, moping.
“Chiko…?” Chikorita asked.
“Kip.” Muddy was apologizing.
“Chiko…” Chikorita was forgiving.
Dratini was dead.
“You win this time…” Dan cursed, recalling Dratini.
“Hey, it was for training,” Amanda replied. “And you let me win.”
Dan swallowed his gut.
“Thanks for the confidence booster.”
“Uh, you’re welcome,” Dan was blushing.
Chikorita and Muddy were cuddling. Muddy looked nervous, blushing.
“Those two look happy…” Amanda said, going over to Dan.
“Young love?” Dan asked. “Like us?”
“No. You wish.”
Dan swallowed some saliva, not saying anything.

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