Up becomes Down [Catch - Complete]

[Kouji Sakuraba]

continuation of Topsy-Turvy

260

Kouji was secretly relieved—primarily because after he’d caught the two Darumaka, his Krokorok was still good to go for another training session or two. He was on the lookout for a particular ‘mon, because there were some requests he saw on the Unova Wanted ads, and he wanted to reduce the load of that if at all possible. After all, I’m always at the Ranch… getting out and about would be ideal for this kind of sanity… he thought to himself as he then proceeded through the Desert Resort; quite surprised when he came to an area where the sand wasn’t blowing quite as powerfully. Secretly relieved that at least visibility at this point was much more manageable than it was earlier, he then began to look around this… brighter area, in hopes of stumbling across the one that he needed; because he’d read something about erasing memories, and wanted to know more about the process—therefore he was looking for the specific one that had the ability to do that.

“The only problem is… how am I supposed to find it in this weather?” he muttered to himself, sighing as he began shaking sand out of his hair. There was a lot of grit flying around, and he could feel some of the sand stuck on his scalp. He then gave it an irritated scratch, before keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any unusual source of noise—who knew what would cross his path in this crazy attempt at looking for that particular ‘mon that he wanted!

✉

Still searching!

CODED BY SYLVIE

[Nigenteki Reikon]

FOR THE HORDE!
9 WILD ALIENS APPEARED!
You Choose:

POKEMON Beheeyem GENDER You Choose ABILITY Telepathy or Synchronize

○ 4 MOVES ○ FROM START ○ TO ○ LEVEL 30

POKEMON Elgyem GENDER You Choose! ABILITY Telepathy or Synchronize 4 MOVES Start - LVL 50

[Kouji Sakuraba]

catchin' the whole horde

3,102

He was secretly hoping to be able to at least find one of the Elgyem line; but he then felt all the hairs on his nape stand up as if in an orchestrated manner—what was coming his way?! The only times he knew that he’d feel such terror assaulting his was when that random occurrence of him seeing someone else’s point of view would strike him; but this was a different case. “Ugh… what the hell?” he groaned, trying to squint through the thinning grit; and then hearing the most bizarre noise he’d ever come across. It was like something that came straight out of a science-fiction movie, but as he looked towards Hiekka’s direction, he was surprised to see that the Krokorok was unfazed; why was it affecting him so while it didn’t seem to affect his Pokémon at all? “Oh crap, I think this is the sound they make that…urgh…AGH!” he yelped, holding his head, trying to shake off the pain before reaching down his pocket and sending out two more ‘mons that could help; and the throbbing that was building up in the back of his head subsided somewhat as Alexander and Elizabeth, his two most-trusted and long-time companions, made their appearance.

“Man, I’ve never been so happy to see you,” he began towards the two—the Misdreavus approached him and was looking at him with what she thought was a concerned look on its face; while the Duskull looked forward in the same direction that the Krokorok was glaring at—and it saw that there really was something approaching—a large, hulking shadow. “Duskull, duskull!” he heard Alex point out with one of its stubby limbs; before the incoming shadow then revealed itself to be, quite literally, “aliens from outer space!” There were three Beheeyems; accompanied by six of their underling Elgyem; and he then realized what was causing the source of the high-pitched noise—it was their approach! “Ugh, I thought I was going to…see things again,” he groaned; secretly thankful that the presence of the two Ghost-types had somewhat reduced the after-effects of the high-pitched noise that the horde was making. “Well, apparently the market is very hot for these suckers… let’s get to business.”

At the same time he’d prepared his team of three, the Beheeyem-Elghyem horde had decided to split off into three separate parties; with one Beheeyem leading a pair of Elgyem. With a communal high-pitched beeping noise, the three “parties” then spread out, in an attempt to lay waste to everything they could set their eyes on. “Oh crap…” he said, still holding his head as he noticed the aliens working in an efficient unit-like formation, “…don’t tell me these guys are responsible for the shell-shocked travelers and explorers who end back up in Castelia with no recollection of what had happened out here at the Desert Resort?!” he exclaimed, digging out his phone and then checking one particular message that had a very disturbing headline that had made the Castelia Daily sometime ago. “Oh god. Time to end the cycle then,” he said with a dark mutter, clutching his head with his free hand before issuing the first set of orders—he knew he’d have to take them down and out quickly before the pain that built up I his head would make him pass out! “Alex, Beth. Be careful out there. Hiekka, here’s what we need to do…”

After a few minutes of muttering, the three then decided to stick together, in an attempt to take out one “party” at a time; because the way they were set up; they were going to send each spread-out party homing in on one Pokémon at a time. “Okay, Hiekka. First things first. Shake up the area with an Earthquake, will you? Then Alex, Beth, use your Confuse Ray on the first incoming party! We need to get them all; a lot of people will pay handsomely for these guys! Go!” he shouted, pointing forward; and the Krokorok then watching as it raised a foot up and roaring, before bringing it down in a powerful stomping gesture. The resulting Earthquake that ripped through the area was fierce; sand was blown everywhere and had caused a miniature sand-spout to erupt, swirling wildly and then headed towards the incoming “first attack party” which was caught by surprise—they never saw the two sudden bright flashes of light coming through the swirling grit. “Alex! Your turn! Go Shadow Sneak them and try to hit the Beheeyem as hard as you can, then retaliate with Payback if in case they decide to hit you! Beth, provide covering fire with Shadow Ball and Power Gem!”

The Duskull complied and sunk into its own shadow which then snaked forward towards the incoming Elgyem attack party; which then tried to launch its own onslaught of attacks—he recognized Psychic due to the massive blob of energy made visual; along with an attempt at a Zen Headbutt attack—but the attacks merely missed the snaking shadow; before a sudden incoming blob of spectral energy cut off the Elgyem that was attempting aforementioned Zen Headbutt! The other Elgyem then flung the Psychic attack towards the Krokorok; but it took the attack in stride, shaking it off before raising its other foot again—and waiting for the signal. The moment the Duskull appeared and launched the surprise Shadow Sneak attack towards the Beheeyem leader, Kouji shouted, “Now, Hie! Do a double-Earthquake! Stamp down as hard as you can!” and the bipedal alligator complied, first bringing down the raised right foot; and another powerful Earthquake shook the area—almost causing Kouji to lose his own balance as well; before it reached up its opposite foot and released another Earthquake a few seconds after the first. Kouji had to steel his legs in order to prevent himself from falling over backwards—and then the Beheeyem unleashed a shrieking noise that made him clamp his hands over his ears!

Ugh, loud noise… that hurts… he thought; but watched as instead of hitting the Duskull that had snuck up behind it, it instead ended up hitting the entire party—what attack had taken place and had caused them to break their ranks? He could only wonder as the Duskull the unleashed its Payback attack, ramming its own small body into the Beheeyem that was apparently confused and now seemingly issuing orders on the two Elgyem that had turned on each other! The Confuse Ray was a success—however one of the Elgyem still had its sense of sanity and then quickly clobbered the Duskull that had managed to sneak behind their lines! Haring his Duskull cry out of shock, he wondered why they were being pummeled even though he knew that Psychic-type attacks weren’t supposed to work as well on the other two cohorts, he then sent his Krokorok forward and then pointed, “Help them out, use Dig on the Beheeyem before things get ugly!” he shouted as a time-delayed Power Gem shot from his Misdreavus’ direction; hitting the only non-Confused Elgyem that was attempting to charge forward and cause havoc!

The Krokorok nodded and then dove into the sand, taking to it like a fish would take to water, and he watched as his Duskull and Misdreavus continued to be hammered with the Psychic-type attacks that were flying from the horde—because he had no idea how long they would stay Confused! “Alex! Use Payback again! Beth, covering fire with more Shadow Ball and do what you did with that Power Gem earlier!” he continued, watching as the incoming Elgyem then attempted to aim a Headbutt attack at the two Ghost-types… and watched as it merely passed through them! This alien bunch were smart, however—and they then began unleashing wave after wave of attacks; although he didn’t know what they were, he could feel the very air vibrating with each attack that reverberated through the place. Just as the Krokorok came up from the ground with the Dig attack; the Beheeyem then flailed its limb at it; striking it with Miracle Eye just as it had gotten clobbered with the Ground-type attack. The Krokorok then backed off; but was surprised when another Psychic attack pummeled it; and instead of taking the damage in stride… it had actually taken damage from it!

The gathering of three seemed pleased at the sudden turn of events; and then turned all of their attention towards the Krokorok; with the Beheeyem flailing its limbs right at the thing. “Crap, that’s not looking too good,” he muttered to himself as he watched his Krokorok being pushed back by the various Psychic-type attacks; and with each passing the Beheeyem would seemingly wave its arm at it; which was actually its way of applying the Miracle Eye on the bipedal reptile that was trying to find a way to knock out the three with a single Earthquake attack, but finding no opening to do so. “Alex! Beth! Shift priority! Covering fire for Hie! He’s getting pummeled!” he shouted, alarmed that his own assistant was going down under a hail of Psychic-type attacks! The two Ghost-types then changed direction and then floated over to where the Krokorok was being forced back; and he continued, “Shadow Ball, Shadow Sneak, Power Gem, Payback! Help him find an opening! Hiekka, if you can hear me, let loose with an Earthquake attack once they’ve managed to cover you!” he shouted at the struggling bipedal as it was slowly being worn down under a hailstorm of blows. The Duskull then nodded and vanished into its own shadow while the Misdreavus prepared a ball of spectral energy and then let it loose towards the advancing Elgyem; which then took the attack full-on in the face. At the same time, the Duskull appeared behind the Beheeyem and then smacked its entire body weight into the leader, distracting it from its waving of its limbs—and that offered the Krokorok a chance! Raising its foot, it then stamped down as hard as it could manage—and an Earthquake shook the area; while at the same time a beam of energy coming from the Misdreavus shot forward; the Duskull appeared on the opposite side of the other Elgyem and then unleashed a Payback attack—because it had gotten damaged due to a Psychic attack hitting it instead of the Krokorok.

Once the shaking and quaking was over—there were three very tired aliens, looking annoyed and worse for wear; “Hiekka! One more Earthquake attack! Go!” he shouted, and the Krokorok then jumped up before stamping down both feet—it was pissed off at being picked on by the point party; and a very powerful tremor ripped through the area a few seconds after it had stamped down on the sand; causing Kouji to flail around wildly in an attempt to keep his balance. Once the tremors had subsided—there were three passed out aliens in front of them—however, the other six had decided to join forces and were now coming in for a combined attack! The aliens had apparently relayed the information to use this certain attack on the Krokorok to keep it locked in place; and the Beheeyems then did so, pointing their hands at the bipedal reptile; and it then felt a weird, sick ripple pass through its body—before the Pychic-type attacks started coming in full force.

“Ah crap, these guys are serious. Beth! Go with Alex when he Shadow Sneaks, then fire off as many Shadow Balls as you can at the Beheeyems, they’re the ones causing all the trouble! Once they’re distracted enough, Alex, use Payback if the Beheeyems attack! Hie… Hiekka, hang in there, wait for them to give you the opening you need!” he shouted, and watched as the Duskull then picked up the Misdreavus before the two sunk into the Duskull’s shadow, snaking across the sand towards the struggling Krokorok; which was being whittled and worn down. “Hie, Scary Face and then Foul Play! Wait until they attack, then use Earthquake!” he continued, hoping that his Krokorok could hold out under the onslaught of the incoming Psychic-type attacks. Hearing its orders, the Krokorok then scrunched up its face into the scariest way it could manage; before holding its ground and then seeing a huge chunk of materialized energy head its way—it took the attack full in the face; and then unleashed its Foul Play attack; pushing the entire horde backwards by a few “paces”! Just as the horde had been pushed back, the Duskull appeared from behind—carrying the Misdreavus which already had the Shadow Ball attack at the ready quickly releasing it at the unsuspecting Beheeyem!

Wave after wave of spectral energy emanated from the Misdreavus—even if she wasn’t as affected as the Krokorok was, she was getting tired—and the Duskull had thrown its entire weight into the Shadow Sneak attack before the Beheeyems could even react. One of the remaining two was caught off-guard by a combination of aforementioned Shadow Sneak and Shadow Ball—and was about to retaliate with another attack when a combined Payback and another Shadow Ball attack came crashing its way; knocking it out of formation and off to one side; shocked due to the surprise attack! “Beth! Keep on firing Shadow Ball as much as you can! Keep going, keep going! We’ve knocked out one of their leaders! Alex! Help out again with Shadow Sneak and Payback combo, take Beth with you to provide ‘sniper fire’!” he continued; feeling the adrenaline rush snaking through him—the first time in a long while it had happened. He saw another opening, before shouting, “Hiekka! Two Earthquake stomps, now!” he continued, crossing his fingers and then watching as his Krokorok took a short jump into the air and then brought down both his feet in a crashing gesture; triggering the first Earthquake attack. The Duskull was now slipping through the shadows again with the Misdreavus in its grip; and then the two appeared once more, but this time opposite the other Beheeyem—letting the Misdreavus launch off its shadow Ball and smacking it right in the face; to be followed up with the Duskull’s Shadow Sneak attack itself! the Beheeyem attempted to retaliate with another Psychic-type attack—however it was cut short as another Shadow Ball hit it full in the face; along with the Payback attack that sent it reeling, toppling off to another side as well!

Now that the four Elgyem were without a leader, chaos then befell the little party; and the Krokorok then took this chance to stomp down again and unleash its second Earthquake attack; because it had let the “dynamic duo” attack first and waited for them to get out of range in order to avoid getting hit with flying alien—and the six Elgyem then bumped and crashed into each other—and then that was where they released an unearthly-sounding screech,; one that rattled Kouji to his very core. The sound was too much; because at that moment he’d dropped to his knees and covered his ears, trying to blot out the sound—and at the same time something chose to manifest; it was his power of “foresight”! he then shook his head, trying to fight off the incoming headache, but it was too much and that led him to close his eyes—and then to see something that even he couldn’t explain.

There were people in suits, running around, and he could also hear whispered conversation; running around, before shrieking and shouts of surprise as rubble began falling down from wherever he was located. He then tried to look up, and saw that he was in an enclosed space… but what kind of space it was remained to be seen because at that moment another loud shaking tremor brought the entire area collapsing even further… and that was what roused him back into the present; and he’d fallen over onto the sand and was shaking so much—what the hell did he just see this time?!

“Shit,” was all he had time for as he pulled himself up and off from his fallen position—he knew that three Beheeyem and two Elgyem had fallen; so there were four more Elgyem to deal with, and they were in a state of general panic. They were trying in vain to synchronize and fire off a certain attack that would damage fellows of their same type around them, but it ended up backfiring and hitting themselves instead; and he saw that the Duskull was now laying into them with one of its attacks; while the Misdreavus was still firing off its spectral blobs of energy. He then saw that his Krokorok had wandered over to them and was looking at Kouji, a very worried—or what it assumed was worried—look on its face. “Nah, I’m fine, Hiekka… thanks for coming over… go over there and help them with two more Earthquake attacks, okay?” he said, pointing forward and the Krokorok rushed forward, finally relieved that there would be no more attacks hitting him.

“Alex! Beth! Keep it up, give Hie an opening! Do your Earthquake once you see some wiggle room!” he continued; and his voice was starting to sound tired and cracked; and even his own ‘mons were looking a bit on the tired side as well—his Misdreavus was in danger of tipping over; while the Duskull was floating much closer to the ground than it wanted to. As the two then unleashed what they hoped would be their final attacks, the Krokorok then let off two more consecutive Earthquakes through the area, stamping down with its left and right foot in succession. The four remaining Elgyem then toppled over after the second Earthquake—and the combined efforts of all of the attacks of the two Ghost-types—and now Kouji was left with a mess of nine passed-out aliens; and he knew what to do after this.

He then pulled himself forward as cautiously as he could manage without toppling over, and then plucked out three Ultra Balls and six Pokeballs—all of his current horde minus the Dive Balls that he had with him—and then tossed them at the smoking bodies of the fallen alien life-forms; watching as each capsule absorbed its respective occupant. Seven to sell, one to own, the other to hang on to until someone wants them… he thought with a weary look on his face as he waited for nine separate Pokeballs to click, signifying that the capture attempts were all successful…

✉

Catching three Beheeyem + six Elgyem + evolution attemps on Duskull, Misdreavus and Krokorok!

CODED BY SYLVIE

[Yumi Tasukai]

. . . !
Congratulations, POKEMANS was caught!
6 Pokeballs and 3 ultra balls have been removed from your inventory!

[Lyro]

Evolution Confirmed!
KROKOROK: One Final Evo deducted from your inventory

Evolution Confirmed!
MISDREAVUS: One Item Induced Evo and One Dusk Stone deducted from your inventory

Evolution Confirmed!
DUSKULL: One Initial Evo deducted from your inventory

[Kouji Sakuraba]

and done!

419

After hearing nine clicks that signified that he’d caught the entire alien horde, Kouji then felt himself collapse on the sand in a heap, finally releasing the breath he’d been holding in all this time! “God. At least the ‘Desert Threat’ should be over… for now,” he said, pulling himself up, then walking over and scooping up all nine of the Pokeballs—and Ultra Balls—that he’d tossed. He knew that seven of them were definitely going to be sold; while the other two (one at least was permanently his) would be under his care, at least for a little while. “Glad that’s over…” he trailed off, looking towards his party—but wait a second, what the heck was going on?! He saw that Alexander, Elizabeth and Hiekka were looking at him with this very pleased look on their faces; before a sudden lights show erupted from all three of them! “Wh-WHOA!” he shouted, quickly shielding his eyes against the sudden lights show that suddenly blinded his field of vision.

This… this must be the “evolution” that they spoke of! He thought to himself, trying his best to squint through the glaring light that had burst forth from the three—and just a few moments later, it ended; revealing that his little partners were little no longer; for one thing Hiekka had gotten taller; but Kouji still had at least one whole foot of height ahead of him! The other unusual thing he’d noticed was that Beth, his Misdreavus had now changed form and now looked more… magical than the last time. The shocking change came from Alexander though—he was no longer floating; he was walking! The single burning light that used to be his eye was now solid and perched right in the middle, and he could only crack a huge grin at the three. “Look at you guys, all grown up! I’m so proud of you all,” he said with a grin, watching as the three then headed his way and he gave them all affectionate pats on the head. “I… I may be able to challenge a Gym or two soon; just give me enough time to get you guys all trained up. For now, let’s go home…”

With that, he plucked out their Pokeballs and recalled them; before getting down and out of the Desert Resort and back to Castelia; where he could get all the sand out of his clothes; and go for a hot shower and post the “aliens” up for sale!

✉

Fin.

CODED BY SYLVIE