The Dave
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A Viper in the Hole, Chapter 8, part 2
🕑 Added 2024-10-20 08:17:42 +0000 UTC“Get spooky and follow up with Poison Sting.” Ran orders, ignoring Tommy’s order for Paras to produce Stun Spore, trusting in Spinarak to handle that threat without further instruction.
His trust isn’t misplaced, as while Paras starts shaking and throwing paralytic spores into the air, Spinarak seems to triple in size within moments before seemingly crossing the gap to Paras in a single leap, her shadow stretching out underneath her as she goes. The other bug-type recoils in fright, ironically producing an extra large cloud of spores in the process, as the illusory Spinarak crashes down upon it, an explosion of ghostly energy eating away at its vitality as Night Shade connects.
“What was that?!” Tommy shouts in surprise, distracted by the visual spectacle and forgetting to give any orders to his beleaguered pokémon, only for the second part of Spinarak’s practiced combination to go into effect, as she disappears into her own stretching shadow.
“Where’d it-” Is as far as Tommy gets, before Spinarak reappears out of the shadows just in front of Paras, bowling over the other pokémon with a surprising attack before turning on the spot and firing off a barrage of Poison Sting at close range into Paras, which is still struggling futilely on its back as it tries to recover from Spinarak’s merciless assault.
The super-effective attack clearly hurts Paras badly, but it manages to turn back onto its legs, as Tommy finally manages to overcome his surprise and give out a new order, Paras’ earlier Stun Spore useless as it wafts down the field and slowly starts to disperse.
“Fury Cutter! Show them your strength!” Tommy orders enthusiastically, Paras dashing forwards the few feet currently separating both battling pokémon as fast as it can.
“Infestation.” Ran counters far more calmly, trusting in Spinarak’s ability to weather the resisted attack well enough to deliver a super-effective one of her own.
Paras starts furiously hacking away at Spinarak, its clawed forelegs cutting and stabbing at Spinarak, only to largely skate off of Spinarak’s hard exoskeleton ineffectually. For her part, Spinarak’s red mandibles glow with ominous mossy green bug-energy for a moment as she braves Paras’ attack to get close enough to bite down on the other pokémon’s body, her mandibles finding purchase just behind Paras’ eyes.
As the hostile energy is injected into Paras’ form, its body is wracked by violent spasms, which are finally enough to throw Spinarak back a few feet. Knowing that Infestation will continue to wreak havoc on Paras’ system, Ran orders the use of String Shot to slow Paras down and ensure that it won’t be able to muster a sudden comeback, but Tommy has clearly seen enough.
“Come back, Paras.” He orders, raising a pokéball to recall his first battler, before turning to mutter a few soft words of encouragement to its ball once it’s been returned.
Spinarak scuttles back to her side of the field, as Ran looks her over closely for a moment. On closer inspection, Fury Cutter did do some damage after all, but Spinarak is clearly raring to keep going and considering how easily she handled Paras, Ran is more than willing to let her.
“Here’s a surprise for you! It’s showtime Ledian!” Tommy announces, throwing out his recently evolved starter.
Ran doesn’t hide his evident surprise, looking towards Tommy for an explanation, as when the circuit started, he’d still had a Ledyba. Tommy is happy to oblige, the once hot-tempered boy beaming with pride.
“Bugsy’s a real specialist with bug-types! He pointed out some stuff for us to work on after my battle interview and within two weeks, bam! Ledian is in the house!”
“Congrats,” Ran says sincerely, ignoring the irksome detail that Tommy’s starter has evolved before his own, “Working here is clearly agreeing with you. But our battle isn’t over yet! Spinarak, String Shot!”
Immediately, Spinarak fires off a string of sticky stuff right at the hovering Ledian, but the evolved pokémon shows off its great speed by easily dodging to the side even as Tommy barks out an order of his own, “Mach Punch!”
“Poison Sting straight ahead, take it!” Ran counters immediately, trusting in Spinarak’s type-advantage to weather the far faster pokémon’s attack and hoping that its straight charge might let Spinarak land a hit of her own.
Ran’s wish partially comes true, as Spinarak starts firing Poison Sting before Ledian fully closes the distance, a few purple darts landing on the lower half of the other bug-type’s body. The speed disparity is big however, as Spinarak manages only a glancing hit before Ledian is blowing past her, the two fists on its left side slamming into Spinarak’s side as it buzzes by.
“Scary Face!” Ran orders next, hoping to slow Ledian down enough to give Spinarak a more even playing field.
“Reflect.” Tommy replies confidently, momentum clearly shifting as he allows Spinarak’s attack to proceed unhindered, trusting that the speed gap won’t be closed with a single status attack. Ran hisses agitatedly as the shimmering pinkish energy of Reflect forms around Ledian before winking out of sight.
“Shootout, Ledian! Swift and strafe!” Tommy continues, leaving Ran with few options, though he’s not willing to give up that easily.
“Shadow Sneak!” He orders hurriedly, watching worriedly as Spinarak is bombarded by Swift after Swift. Not resistant to the normal-type attack, she’s visibly being whittled down, but her expanding shadow affords Ran some hope at least.
Tommy is content to wait quietly as Ledian strafes around the field, staying away from Spinarak’s expanding shadow with some effort, the gap shrinking slowly and putting Ledian on a clear timer. It does its best to put Spinarak down, the stationary bug-type visibly struggling to remain standing as she pours all of her energy into a last ditch surge of energy into her attack.
Spinarak’s shadow suddenly bursts forwards, the slowly shrinking gap towards the still dodging Ledian disappearing in the blink of an eye. Spinarak sinks into her own shadow instantly, as Tommy hurriedly orders Ledian to get higher up in the air. Instantly, Ledian’s strafing flight turns into a steep ascent. Without Spinarak’s earlier Scary Face, it probably would’ve been enough, but as the flying bug-type starts climbing, a green blur shoots out of the shadows underneath it and latches onto its body as Shadow Sneak makes contact.
“Poison Sting!” Ran orders instantly, even as Tommy calls for Mach Punch, looking to knock Spinarak off of Ledian and send her crashing to the ground.
With the element of surprise on her side, Spinarak manages to get in a full second of Poison Sting at close range, every tiny dart of poison-energy digging into Ledian’s form, the red-and-cream colored pokémon shivering under the effects of the barrage, even diminished by Reflect’s defensive properties as it is. Then it starts hammering away at Spinarak with Mach Punch after Mach Punch.
Spinarak gives a heroic effort, managing to cling on for a few more seconds during which both attacks continue unabated, but finally, a double right hook from Ledian is enough to knock Ran’s pokémon free, sending her falling some fifteen feet to the ground. Before she can impact, Ran is already returning her, Josie calling out his pokémon’s withdrawal obligingly.
As Ran thanks Spinarak, his eyes shift to Ledian, who slowly floats back down to hover just a foot or so above the ground. Its flight seems a lot less stable than it did earlier and there’s a faint purple tinge to its cream belly, a clear sign of poisoning. Confident about the outcome of the battle, Ran sends out Ekans.
“Alright, time for some payback Ledian! Come on, punch through!” Tommy encourages his starter, Ledian’s eyes sharpening in recognition as it spots the pokémon that defeated it in its first trainer battle three years ago.
“Spinarak weakened it. Glare, then ready Acid and wait for your moment.” Ran orders calmly, trusting Ekans to bring home the victory.
“Supersonic!” Tommy orders, catching Ran by surprise with the relatively inconsequential attack. Although a hindrance, the best way to counteract it is to simply do nothing and let its effects fade. Assuming Ekans gets Glare off, Ran is more than happy to wait and do nothing and let Spinarak’s poison continue to do their work for them.
Ekans’ eyes glow ominously as he glares at Ledian, whose wings start vibrating at such a speed that they no longer produce an audible sound to human ears, instead entering a supersonic frequency. The attack connects after a few seconds, as Ekans slackens and coils up in place tightly, as he does his best to work through the bothersome effect as soon as possible. Unfortunately, it does leave him defenseless for now.
“Swift! Hammer it down!” Tommy cheers enthusiastically, Ledian zooming forwards as it starts firing off Swift after Swift at close range, buzzing around Ekans like the pesky bug-type it is.
“Hold!” Ran orders confidently and succinctly, trusting in Ekans to weather the attack for now and only strike when he’s gotten past the worst of Supersonic’s effect.
It’s an unpleasant visual to see his pokémon curled up defensively and absorb attack after attack, especially as Ledian’s Swift starts inflicting visible damage, scuffing and bruising Ekans’ purple hide, but Ran trusts his starter. He’s right to do so, as finally, paralysis locks up Ledian’s limbs for a few crucial moments. The bug-type goes tumbling into the dirt, its body now wracked by Spinarak’s poison and the lingering effects from Ekans’ glare.
Ekans rears up instantly, the upper fourth of his body bulging obscenely for a moment as the Acid he’s clearly been building up for a while waits to be unleashed. Like an ancient onager, his whole upper body swings forwards in a single rigid move, before his maw opens. A huge purple blob of Acid goes flying right at the downed Ledian, which is still struggling to crawl back upright.
Its attempt at a dodge never even gets the chance to take form, as it disappears under the purple attack, its entire body obscured by biting purple acid for long seconds. When no movement is forthcoming, Josie calls out, “It’s your call Tommy, but I think Ledian’s done, if it doesn’t move in the next five seconds, I’m calling it!”
“No need,” Tommy sighs dejectedly, as he recalls Ledian without further urging, “Even if he’s still conscious, we concede.”
“Good fight,” Ran says, returning Ekans before striding into the field, taking care to avoid the large patches of purple left behind by his pokémon’s efforts, “That was closer than I was expecting.”
Tommy waves the compliment away easily, “I’ve got a long way to go. Shouldn't have panicked like that when you pulled out the Ghost-type attacks. That’s what those were, right?”
Ran nods agreeably, leaving Tommy to chuckle wryly, “Yeah, I should’ve remembered the Ariados-line learns those. It’s a sign that it’s getting close to evolution though, isn’t it?”
“I’d like to think so, but… I don’t know for sure,” Ran admits after a moment’s hesitation, before looking towards Josie, whose stomach rumbles audibly at that moment, “We can talk about this over lunch though, do we need to clean any of this up?”
“Nah,” Tommy waves him off once more, “Cleaning staff is probably waiting to get at the field anyways. They usually do it right after Bugsy breaks for lunch, so we just delayed them by a bit. Now come on, we’ll go get burgers, if you’re both alright with that?”
Ran and Josie agree easily enough, the three of them sharing observations on the fight as they make the short walk to the only fast food restaurant in town and place their orders. Soon enough, they’re sitting down to dig into their thoroughly unhealthy but oh so tasty meals.
“So what were you saying about Spinarak evolving soon?” Ran asks curiously, returning to Tommy’s earlier comment, “I’ve researched the moves she can learn and the Ariados-line in general extensively on my pokégear, but I didn’t really find anything on clear signs to indicate upcoming evolution. There honestly wasn’t all that much to find on her species in general.”
“No you wouldn’t, I guess, it’s hardly a very popular line that’s had a lot of research poured into it,” Tommy denies, “But Bugsy’s got me reading up on all of the bug-types now that I’m working for him, including some manuals he’s written himself. He’s evolved a handful of Spinarak into Ariados at this point and it was one of his notes that they’d all learned to use Ghost-type attacks not that long before. He even added a note that he thought that they might not be Bug-Poison at all at one point, but I checked up on that with him and then he just handed me a twenty page paper he’s sent off for peer-review in which he conclusively proves that they are in fact Bug-Poison and can’t be used as an argument for triple type theory. Or that was the main take anyways, I think. I only read the first page or so of that one.”
Tommy shrugs guiltily at Ran’s amused look, taking a large bite of his burger to keep his mouth busy, but it’s Josie who carries on the conversation, “So what’s your job like, anyways? Just from hearing this, it’s already sounding like a lot more reading than I assumed Gym Trainers got up to.”
“Don’t know about that,” He clarifies after a large swallow, “From what Bugsy’s said we’re not exactly a typical Gym at the moment. But yeah, due to the lack of suitable applicants that are willing to work with exclusively Bug-types, in their capacity as staff at least, he’s been giving me a crash course to try and get me up to a level where I’m good enough to offer the mid-range badge trainers a proper challenge as well. Not with my own team, obviously, I’ve only just added Paras and he’s not at that level yet at all, but with Gym loaners. I figured I could hold my own at that level if the loaners were strong enough, but I’ve gotten to watch a few matches since and it’s about a lot more than just how strong your pokémon are. My reflexes and my strategies aren’t at that level yet.”
Ran and Josie listen along politely as Tommy continues to explain his job, the other boy clearly happy enough to talk about the subject.
“So right now I’m not getting all that many battles in the Gym, because our Gym Trainer Challenge isn’t drawing much interest yet. Because of that, on top of my normal duties like helping take care of the Gym’s stable and training my own team, Bugsy’s mostly had me studying Bug-types and general battle strategies. Oh and he’s got me planning for my next two additions as well. I’m supposed to catch them one right after the other, because Bugsy wants me to see if them each having an equal rival to compete with will stimulate their growth, like it tends to do with trainers.” Tommy finishes explaining, before directing his attention towards Ran and asking for a proper update on just what he’s been up to, before he takes a large slurp of his soda.
Ran dutifully gives Tommy a cliff notes version of his own adventures, only omitting the details of his fight with Spencer. Tommy listens obediently, only interrupting when Ran mentions Golbat’s evolution, to thank him for not just using the flying-type as his first pokémon in their own battle.
By the time they say their goodbyes, Tommy returning to the Gym for the rest of his workday whilst Ran and Josie stop by the pokécenter to check Spinarak in before heading out towards Ilex Forest for some training, Ran surprisedly realizes that this version of Tommy is one he could actually be friends with. Where the other boy used to be a bull-headed meathead who took out his own frustrations and insecurities on any target he could find, a steady job working with pokémon and measurable growth has leveled him out and made him pretty likable.
By evening however, Ran’s good mood and friendly estimation of Tommy take a nosedive, when his pokégear buzzes with an incoming message. The sender’s been saved amongst his contacts since their school days, though he never really exchanged any messages with him other than the initial obligatory ones when they first became classmates. Not until after his win against Falkner at least.
Bugsy’s name is bold on his screen once more, as he calls a temporary halt to Ekans’ attempts to learn Scary Face by building on Glare, whilst Golbat returns from his impromptu obstacle course amongst the trees. Reluctantly, with the sounds of Josie’s fire-types training in the distance, Ran opens Bugsy’s message.
Bugsy: Hello Ran. I’m checking in with you because Tommy mentioned that you’re back in town already and we’ve got your challenge booked for next week. I’d have preferred a message to confirm as much, but I’m happy you’ve made this decision. Based on the data on your trainer profile and my conversation with Falkner, I just wanted to double check that you’re going for poison as your specialty?
Bugsy: If you’re open to shifting to bug-types, please do let me know, as Tommy was very impressed by that Spinarak of yours! I hope to see it for myself when we battle next week. Good luck with your preparations and I’m looking forward to your challenge next week.
Just as Ran finishes reading Bugsy’s message, his pokégear vibrates once more as a new message pops up under the first one.
Bugsy: Oh and I do expect a reply this time.
Ekans’ worried hiss finally makes Ran aware of just how badly he’s clenching his own jaw. With a deliberate effort, he relaxes the tightened muscles, even as his eyes rapidly fly over the screen once more.
What does this mean? What is Bugsy’s game here? Asking about his specialty and acting as if he’d support Ran if he were to change to focusing on bug-types? Just how deeply has Bugsy looked into him?
Ran seethes quietly, whilst only Ekans’ earlier worry keeps him from grinding his teeth once more. His thoughts go at a thousand miles a minute but keep going in the same circles fruitlessly even so. He moves to start typing a response three different times, only to think better of it before he can even hit the first key and withdraw his hand once more.
Finally, after entirely too much time spent thinking, his answer is ultimately brief and to the point.
Ran: I’m sticking with poison-types. See you next week.
Comments
The Dave
From Ran's POV, Bugsy is a known entity (even if that isn't actually justified, it's how Ran thinks). From Bugsy's POV, Ran is a nearly unknown quantity. Dude's out of his depth, but there IS a method behind his 'madness'.
Wiggy
The fuck Bugsy? Asking him to just dip on his starter like that is pretty fucked. Like, at this point I almost think he's deliberately trying to rile him up.
TempestK
The worst part is that it honestly seems 100% unintentional on Bugsy's part. Really looking forward to seeing what the offered prize is too. And kind of hoping that at some point Ran can talk to his dad about what happened with Spencer. He seriously needs to unload that on someone that knows him. I'm also wondering how much of Ran's assessment of Tommy was from him picking up Spencer's viewpoint... The fact that Tommy was self-aware enough to realize that as he was he wasn't going to be able to make it as a traveling trainer says he's got better capabilities to judge his situation than Ran *or* Spencer did.
TempestK
Also, Ran not replying at all to his messages was just rude.
TempestK
From an outside perspective, it's not actually that bad. It's heavily implied that the "semi-threat" would have come from any Johto gym leader, and that he's having to look out for the reputation of not just the gym, but the town as a whole. Also the asking about the specialty is more of a compliment than anything, noting that with how Ran handled Spinarak and has been able to bring out her strengths even without knowing more about her evolutionary requirements means he's got a very good grasp on how to train his mon, and Bugsy wanted to have another hometown trainer to help him bolster up their reputation. Also, checking about the specialty may have also been locking in the reward that Bugsy had promised (I'm still thinking that it's a Skorupi, since Drapion is a hard counter for Psychic types that is a staple for poison teams, at least until Alolan Grimer/Muk came into the picture).
DiscoT
Really not liking Bugsy. First the semi threat and now he's just being so nosy and antagonistic. He got what he wanted but it doesn't seem to be enough for him.
Mrsean22
Great battle between Tommy and Ran. Bugsy sure knows how to get under Rans skin huh?
MaliMi
I think it would be interesting if he returned to the bellsprout tower at some point in the journey. His character is growing well.
