Pokemon: Kanto Elite

Secrets for the Underdogs

A silver stripe for his jacket arrived in his room, slipped under the door while he dressed. Normally trainers would be sleeping when the sun touched the horizon. For some of them, the sun took the form of a bully, taunting them to try harder and be better trainers. Red became one of them, taking full advantage of field access, hard won by getting high scores on the tests. It had taken him two retakes to get it, but without even looking at a reference book. Even Professor Blaine looked impressed at how short it took little Red to accomplish that.

Yet here he was, running another lap around the track, followed by other trainers dragging their fatigued companions around. Some Pokemon were permitted out of their pokeballs, provided they came with the proper paperwork and they were also small enough to be portable.

He saw Ray fly across the track, his Pikachu gleefully farther ahead. Both of the trainers knew that to be good trainers, they need to be self-disciplined and work themselves. Red always admired the pokemon more than the trainers, but now he understood more about the game,

despite the fact that it had only been two months.

His boyish face had narrowed with determination,  tanned by hours in the Kanto sun training a fat slob of a Pokemon.

He took every battle he could, even though he couldn't achieve the same success as before. Others had trained more than he expected. Snorlax would beat the first pokemon, but since it gave everything in that first battle it would be too weak for the next one.

So he did what he knew best; move more, strike harder, build more strength so when Snorlax would attack with full force, it would be used up on both Pokemon.

Yet Snorlax obeyed, out of a loyal respect for the little boy. It saw a fire in his eyes like nothing before, especially the trainer before him. While it loved being fed and cared for, it also loved to make its trainer happy. If winning would make Snorlax's trainer happy, then so be it.

Red never knew how much of Snorlax's body comprised of fat; only the top layer of its massive stomach. A typical Snorlax carries around eight hundred pounds of muscle, according to the research he did about his own pokemon during breakfast. To move that much, understandably, would require that much food, so he offered to help the kitchen with its edible waste problem by allowing Snorlax to gorge on the leftovers of the rest of the trainers. The kitchen Staff couldn't be more grateful that a trainer was willing to help. Even Professor Blaine was impressed.

Yet when it wasn't enough, Red learned that it functioned at an optimal level if only slightly satisfied. Only then would Red call back Snorlax into a pokeball and race back to the battlefield, calling on any trainer to take him on.

That had only been accomplished when another trainer spotted and challenged him while Snorlax had been eating. The girl had been looking for an easy target to bring up her numbers, while Red had only been feeding his Snorlax. This time, he had to obey, despite Snorlax barely eating his fill.

She sent out her Pokemon, a sludgy mess with two bright eyes and a putrid smell.

Yet she forgot that she was dealing with a trainer with absolutely nothing to lose.

"Let's take her down, Snorlax."

As epic as it sounded in his head, he still had to deal with a sleeping pokemon every time he opened the pokeball.

It didn't excite him when the battle started anymore. Now he wanted to win.

"Muk! Slam down that Snorlax!"

Immediately the sentient sludge lunged forward, slamming into Snorlax's round belly. It barely felt a thing, yet its rumbling stomach kept it awake, so it lay there uncomfortably.

Yet now the Muk landed close enough.

"DOUBLE-EDGE! NOW!"

A claw swiped down on the Muk, sending a part of it flying away from the battle. Horrifyingly, it got up and, with its single eye, returned to the massive smelly blob.

"SLUDGE it 'til next Tuesday!"

Muk opened its mouth and sprayed onto the uncomfortable Snorlax as it sat up, irritated.

Good, Snorlax. Get up on your own. Let's do this!

"Okay, now..."

Take Down?  Maybe. Let's try it.

"TAKE DOWN!"

"TRY TO DODGE IT!"

The Snorlax tensed up and lunged at Muk, clearing the ground before slamming down on top of it. The ground shook as the dust cleared, revealing a recovering Snorlax...

and a Muk to the side.

How on GEMINI did it dodge that?!

"Finish this, Muk! Send him flying with a Fire Blast!"

No!

No!

Snorlax, we don't just give our all into just one Take Down, right?!

"Roll into a dive!"

As the flames reached Snorlax, it had already slipped away. Turns out the training had worked!... At least for now.

Yet, he had learned that, despite having a 4-move set, he could exchange out moves with others, as long as he uses only four in the match. While he had used Amnesia, Double-Edge, Take Down, and Rest, there were others he could use. More that he never thought a Snorlax could know.

Now, he could finally get even again.

"Snorlax, EARTHQUAKE!!"

He could see the shock on the trainer's face as the underdog sent the ground shaking and a Muk to faint in a critical victory.

But it wasn't over yet.

"Nice one, kid! You think that's it? Then go for it, Wartortle!"

Out of her ball popped a medium-sized turtle with deep blue skin.

Red took a slow breath.

"You ready, Snorlax?"

The Pokemon shifted its weight to look at its trainer and nod.

The battle wasn't over yet.