This is a story about the Sinnoh Battle Frontier and the Frontier Brains. While Pokemon leaves them as jsut emotionless pixel characters, I hpe to add a bit of depth and background that Pokemon never gave some of these characters the chance to have. That being said, I present to you, the Pulse of the Frontier:
Chapter One: Dahlia: Roulette Goddess
Chapter Two: Darach: Castle Valet
Chapter Three: Argenta: Hall Matron
Chapter Four: Mars: Galactic Commander
Chapter One: Dahlia: Roulette Goddess
It was all up to the roll of the dice now. This was nothing new to her. She had based her life, her career, her Frontier Facility, on luck; on chance. Her life had been what she liked to call, the chance of a lifetime. But Dahlia’s favorite part about chances, or luck as some called it, was that it wouldn’t work on its own, for it to work, you have to take it. So as the die flew from her palm into the whirlpool shaped mechanism and down the winding tube, Dahlia followed them with her mind.
Even when the die had disappeared into a cube container at the base of the machine, Dahlia watched them, taking her chance. A large screen flashed to life and displayed two die, one blue and one yellow. A mechanized voice then came from the speakers.
“Chance has taken its toll. Dahlia’s first Pokemon shall be Dusknoir followed by Blaziken and then Togekiss. The challenger shall begin with Absol followed by Scizor and Gliscor. The battle style will be 1 vs. 1 and the best two out of three wins.”
Dahlia smirked. She had the advantage of type in rounds two and three. The challenger, a black haired boy about the age of fifteen groaned and mumbled something about having terrible luck. Don’t blame the die sweetie, She thought to herself, Chance is so much more than that.
The two battlers stepped out onto the playing wheel. Since Dahlia based her Battle Facility on a roulette casino, the playing field was shaped somewhat like the inside of a pinball machine. The other Frontier Brains called it strange and inappropriate, but she loved it. Dahlia chose the Poke-Ball with the letter ‘D’ engraved on it and after giving it a quick kiss, she threw it into the middle of the arena. In a burst of light, an ominous, ghastly creature appeared in the middle of the field. “Let’s show them what we’re made of Absol!” Shouted the challenger as he unleashed from his ball, a doglike Pokemon with a crescent shaped object around its neck. The creature screamed its battle cry and then put itself into a defensive stance.
Poor kid, Thought Dahlia, Has no idea who he’s dealing with. Then aloud she said, “The first move belongs to the challenger, and that’s you. Remember, let chance take its toll and victory is never far away!”
“Ya, whatever,” The boy scoffed, “Let’s hit em’ hard Absol, use Double Team and then follow it up with Dark Pulse!”
The being of Absol was suddenly multiplied and Dusknoir was instantly surrounded by many proxy Absols. Then, coming from all of them at once, a black wave swept over the reaper Pokemon and threw it to the floor. The boy sneered. Dahlia looked over the scene with a frown. In her mind, she calculated her chances, one real Pokemon and Nine phonies. So that’s a One out of Ten chance. Well, the odds have never been pretty before and that hasn’t stopped me. “Well,” She said with a laugh, “There’s no chance if one isn’t taken! Dusknoir; attack the one directly behind you with a Will-O-the-Wisp!”
Obediently, Dusknoir fired the tiny blue flaming particles at the Pokemon behind it. But the attack simply sailed through the illusion Pokemon. Another Dark Pulse attack came from the army of Absols. Once again, Dusknoir was struck and knocked to the floor, fighting for consciousness.
“How’s that whole chance thing working out for ya’?” The boy taunted, “Why don’t you just concede this round Dahlia? It’s obvious that you can’t beat us!”
“I wouldn’t dream of giving up,” She replied with a smirk, “I’m going to take my chances with Will-O-the-Wisp once more! And this time, aim for the one beside you!”
Summoning all of its strength, the Reaper Pokemon sent the flames flying once more toward one of the Absols. This time, it hit dead on and a live flame danced around Absols mane. The dark Pokemon shrieked in horror and threw itself roughly to the earth, extinguishing the flames. The challenger stood speechless before asking, “How on earth did you know which one was the real Absol?”
“If I had known sweetie, I would have hit it the first time,” She replied, “Let’s just call it a lucky guess. Now Dusknoir, let’s finish this battle with Shadow Ball!”
“Not so fast!” The boy snapped his face hot with anger, “Absol! Use Haze and it will miss you for sure!” At the same moment as the crackling ball of dark energy was released from Dusknoir’s body, the room was filled with a deep mist that blocked all sight. Even Absol’s silhouette was almost invisible in the midst of the haze. The ball streaked through the darkness, missing the target by a matter of yards. The boy let out a harsh chuckle. “I guess when it comes to aiming, two eyes are better than one.”
“We’ll see.”
Just then, a loud bopping noise was heard as the Shadow Ball attack collided with the pinball plunger and redirected towards Absol. The attack slammed full force into its target and threw the disaster Pokemon to the floor. When the haze had faded away, Absol was picked up unconscious. The boy blinked in astonished disbelief, “How? Never mind, bad matchup or not, Scizor, its time to show Dahlia that we play for keeps!”
“That’s the spirit! Remember, you don’t stand a chance unless you take one!” Dahlia said him with a wink, “Now it’s time to turn up the heat Blaziken! You know the routine!”
The blaze chicken Pokemon and the steel bug Pokemon circled each other around the arena. Determination burned in their eyes as they moved, each waiting for the other Pokemon to make the first move. Scizor didn’t have to wait long. Instead of charging toward its opponent, Blaziken made a dash for the other side of the stage. It was surrounded by a cloud of flames shaped like a large wheel. It collided with the left plunger and ricocheted back towards Scizor with tremendous speed. The bug Pokemon was faster though and it maneuvered itself out of the path of the oncoming Pokemon.
Blaziken wasn’t deterred. It merely threw itself against the opposite plunger and came back with multiplied speed. Still Scizor dodged, although Blaziken kept returning in its flaming armor even faster than before. As the blaze chicken Pokemon sailed toward Scizor for the seventh time, the targeted Pokemon held out an iron claw and caught Blaziken’s feather leg in a vice. Blaziken was thrown to the floor of the arena and was knocked out. Scizor’s trainer beamed with pride. “Fantastic job Scizor!” He said, returning the red Pokemon to its Poke-Ball, “What do you say Dahlia? Want to just hand me my Battle Pin and spare your final Pokemon the pain?”
“I said I wasn’t going to give up and I meant it!” She replied, a twinge of anger sprouting in her chest, “Togekiss and I will take our chances with you! Togekiss go! Let’s finish up our little game!”
“Go Gliscor! Bite its wing!” The challenger commanded to his Pokemon, “Show no mercy and don’t take any chances!”
The bat Pokemon made a dive for Togekiss but the jubilee Pokemon quickly evaded the attack and headed toward the floor of the pinball arena. Electricity engulfed Gliscor’s saber-sharp fangs as it zoomed through the air in hot pursuit. The two Pokemon wound aimlessly through the area, twisting and turning around the mesh of obstacles. Once, Gliscor collided head on with a plunger when Togekiss banked around a tight corner and it was thrown some distance away. “This is your chance Togekiss! Use Future Sight now!” Dahlia cried, “Then follow it up with Metronome!”
Togekiss’ eyes turned a bright shade of pink as it focused its thoughts and looked for a brief moment into the future. Then, as soon as it had come, the pinkish color vanished from its eyes and all returned to normal. The challenger scoffed, “Way to waste an attack! Gliscor, use thunder fang on that pest and win us our Battle Pin!”
Togekiss wiggled around in the air using its metronome attack, summoning a move at random. What resulted was a roost attack, healing it completely. Dahlia winced at the unhelpful attack, as Togekiss was already at its full health. Gliscor’s fangs dug into Togekiss’ fair hide and electricity suddenly coursed through the poor Pokemon’s body. Dahlia’s brow furrowed, “Don’t give in Togekiss! Use Metronome again!”
Togekiss summoned once again, an attack from random. Instantly, Gliscor was blasted head-on by a Water Spout attack. The jet of water sent Gliscor flying into the ceiling above, only to loop around and return to its ominous hovering position above Togekiss. “You think that you can taunt us with your puddles, Dahlia?” Sneered the challenger, “Finish it off with your Guillotine!”
Calling forth all of its strength, the bat Pokemon charged toward Togekiss, its claw gaping open as if it were itself a guillotine ready to chop its target in two. Dahlia tried to shut out what she knew was about to happen and Togekiss braced for impact. But it never came. A beam of light generated by Togekiss from the past struck Gliscor on the wing and sent it hurtling down, careening into the floor below. The crash that resulted shook the arena and Gliscor was returned to its Poke-ball unconscious.
The challenging trainer shook his head and then looked into Dahlia’s golden-yellow eyes with a sad smile. He brushed a lock of dark hair from in front of his eyes and crossed the arena to stand before her.
“You taught me something today Dahlia, and I will never forget it, I’ve gained something today worth much much more than a Battle Pin, thank you,” he said, “I hope to battle you again soon, and by that time, I hope to have become much stronger and perhaps…if I’m lucky…The result of our affair might be different.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and left the Facility. As the metal door slammed shut behind him, Dahlia placed a hand over her heart. She strolled down into the arena and after giving it a soft kiss, she returned Togekiss to its Poke-Ball. I’ve learned something too, She said to herself.
But her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Startled, Dahlia hurried up out of the arena and down the hallway to the far door. In the minute it took her to cross the large room, the caller rung the bell at the very least six more times. When she pulled open the metal door, a stocky man with a green jacket and blonde hair pushed his way inside. Dahlia recognized him immediately as her fellow Frontier Brain, Palmer. But the way he closed the door so quickly behind him, and the way he panted, as if he had been running very fast, which was not his style, unnerved her that something was unnatural about his calling. She was about to ask him what was wrong but he cut her off.
“There’s no time to explain!” He exclaimed, taking her by the hand, “We have to get to the Battle castle if there is to be any hope left for this world! Something terrible has happened! I’ll explain everything to you on the way, but for now you must hurry!”
Chapter One: Dahlia: Roulette Goddess
Chapter Two: Darach: Castle Valet
Chapter Three: Argenta: Hall Matron
Chapter Four: Mars: Galactic Commander
Chapter One: Dahlia: Roulette Goddess
It was all up to the roll of the dice now. This was nothing new to her. She had based her life, her career, her Frontier Facility, on luck; on chance. Her life had been what she liked to call, the chance of a lifetime. But Dahlia’s favorite part about chances, or luck as some called it, was that it wouldn’t work on its own, for it to work, you have to take it. So as the die flew from her palm into the whirlpool shaped mechanism and down the winding tube, Dahlia followed them with her mind.
Even when the die had disappeared into a cube container at the base of the machine, Dahlia watched them, taking her chance. A large screen flashed to life and displayed two die, one blue and one yellow. A mechanized voice then came from the speakers.
“Chance has taken its toll. Dahlia’s first Pokemon shall be Dusknoir followed by Blaziken and then Togekiss. The challenger shall begin with Absol followed by Scizor and Gliscor. The battle style will be 1 vs. 1 and the best two out of three wins.”
Dahlia smirked. She had the advantage of type in rounds two and three. The challenger, a black haired boy about the age of fifteen groaned and mumbled something about having terrible luck. Don’t blame the die sweetie, She thought to herself, Chance is so much more than that.
The two battlers stepped out onto the playing wheel. Since Dahlia based her Battle Facility on a roulette casino, the playing field was shaped somewhat like the inside of a pinball machine. The other Frontier Brains called it strange and inappropriate, but she loved it. Dahlia chose the Poke-Ball with the letter ‘D’ engraved on it and after giving it a quick kiss, she threw it into the middle of the arena. In a burst of light, an ominous, ghastly creature appeared in the middle of the field. “Let’s show them what we’re made of Absol!” Shouted the challenger as he unleashed from his ball, a doglike Pokemon with a crescent shaped object around its neck. The creature screamed its battle cry and then put itself into a defensive stance.
Poor kid, Thought Dahlia, Has no idea who he’s dealing with. Then aloud she said, “The first move belongs to the challenger, and that’s you. Remember, let chance take its toll and victory is never far away!”
“Ya, whatever,” The boy scoffed, “Let’s hit em’ hard Absol, use Double Team and then follow it up with Dark Pulse!”
The being of Absol was suddenly multiplied and Dusknoir was instantly surrounded by many proxy Absols. Then, coming from all of them at once, a black wave swept over the reaper Pokemon and threw it to the floor. The boy sneered. Dahlia looked over the scene with a frown. In her mind, she calculated her chances, one real Pokemon and Nine phonies. So that’s a One out of Ten chance. Well, the odds have never been pretty before and that hasn’t stopped me. “Well,” She said with a laugh, “There’s no chance if one isn’t taken! Dusknoir; attack the one directly behind you with a Will-O-the-Wisp!”
Obediently, Dusknoir fired the tiny blue flaming particles at the Pokemon behind it. But the attack simply sailed through the illusion Pokemon. Another Dark Pulse attack came from the army of Absols. Once again, Dusknoir was struck and knocked to the floor, fighting for consciousness.
“How’s that whole chance thing working out for ya’?” The boy taunted, “Why don’t you just concede this round Dahlia? It’s obvious that you can’t beat us!”
“I wouldn’t dream of giving up,” She replied with a smirk, “I’m going to take my chances with Will-O-the-Wisp once more! And this time, aim for the one beside you!”
Summoning all of its strength, the Reaper Pokemon sent the flames flying once more toward one of the Absols. This time, it hit dead on and a live flame danced around Absols mane. The dark Pokemon shrieked in horror and threw itself roughly to the earth, extinguishing the flames. The challenger stood speechless before asking, “How on earth did you know which one was the real Absol?”
“If I had known sweetie, I would have hit it the first time,” She replied, “Let’s just call it a lucky guess. Now Dusknoir, let’s finish this battle with Shadow Ball!”
“Not so fast!” The boy snapped his face hot with anger, “Absol! Use Haze and it will miss you for sure!” At the same moment as the crackling ball of dark energy was released from Dusknoir’s body, the room was filled with a deep mist that blocked all sight. Even Absol’s silhouette was almost invisible in the midst of the haze. The ball streaked through the darkness, missing the target by a matter of yards. The boy let out a harsh chuckle. “I guess when it comes to aiming, two eyes are better than one.”
“We’ll see.”
Just then, a loud bopping noise was heard as the Shadow Ball attack collided with the pinball plunger and redirected towards Absol. The attack slammed full force into its target and threw the disaster Pokemon to the floor. When the haze had faded away, Absol was picked up unconscious. The boy blinked in astonished disbelief, “How? Never mind, bad matchup or not, Scizor, its time to show Dahlia that we play for keeps!”
“That’s the spirit! Remember, you don’t stand a chance unless you take one!” Dahlia said him with a wink, “Now it’s time to turn up the heat Blaziken! You know the routine!”
The blaze chicken Pokemon and the steel bug Pokemon circled each other around the arena. Determination burned in their eyes as they moved, each waiting for the other Pokemon to make the first move. Scizor didn’t have to wait long. Instead of charging toward its opponent, Blaziken made a dash for the other side of the stage. It was surrounded by a cloud of flames shaped like a large wheel. It collided with the left plunger and ricocheted back towards Scizor with tremendous speed. The bug Pokemon was faster though and it maneuvered itself out of the path of the oncoming Pokemon.
Blaziken wasn’t deterred. It merely threw itself against the opposite plunger and came back with multiplied speed. Still Scizor dodged, although Blaziken kept returning in its flaming armor even faster than before. As the blaze chicken Pokemon sailed toward Scizor for the seventh time, the targeted Pokemon held out an iron claw and caught Blaziken’s feather leg in a vice. Blaziken was thrown to the floor of the arena and was knocked out. Scizor’s trainer beamed with pride. “Fantastic job Scizor!” He said, returning the red Pokemon to its Poke-Ball, “What do you say Dahlia? Want to just hand me my Battle Pin and spare your final Pokemon the pain?”
“I said I wasn’t going to give up and I meant it!” She replied, a twinge of anger sprouting in her chest, “Togekiss and I will take our chances with you! Togekiss go! Let’s finish up our little game!”
“Go Gliscor! Bite its wing!” The challenger commanded to his Pokemon, “Show no mercy and don’t take any chances!”
The bat Pokemon made a dive for Togekiss but the jubilee Pokemon quickly evaded the attack and headed toward the floor of the pinball arena. Electricity engulfed Gliscor’s saber-sharp fangs as it zoomed through the air in hot pursuit. The two Pokemon wound aimlessly through the area, twisting and turning around the mesh of obstacles. Once, Gliscor collided head on with a plunger when Togekiss banked around a tight corner and it was thrown some distance away. “This is your chance Togekiss! Use Future Sight now!” Dahlia cried, “Then follow it up with Metronome!”
Togekiss’ eyes turned a bright shade of pink as it focused its thoughts and looked for a brief moment into the future. Then, as soon as it had come, the pinkish color vanished from its eyes and all returned to normal. The challenger scoffed, “Way to waste an attack! Gliscor, use thunder fang on that pest and win us our Battle Pin!”
Togekiss wiggled around in the air using its metronome attack, summoning a move at random. What resulted was a roost attack, healing it completely. Dahlia winced at the unhelpful attack, as Togekiss was already at its full health. Gliscor’s fangs dug into Togekiss’ fair hide and electricity suddenly coursed through the poor Pokemon’s body. Dahlia’s brow furrowed, “Don’t give in Togekiss! Use Metronome again!”
Togekiss summoned once again, an attack from random. Instantly, Gliscor was blasted head-on by a Water Spout attack. The jet of water sent Gliscor flying into the ceiling above, only to loop around and return to its ominous hovering position above Togekiss. “You think that you can taunt us with your puddles, Dahlia?” Sneered the challenger, “Finish it off with your Guillotine!”
Calling forth all of its strength, the bat Pokemon charged toward Togekiss, its claw gaping open as if it were itself a guillotine ready to chop its target in two. Dahlia tried to shut out what she knew was about to happen and Togekiss braced for impact. But it never came. A beam of light generated by Togekiss from the past struck Gliscor on the wing and sent it hurtling down, careening into the floor below. The crash that resulted shook the arena and Gliscor was returned to its Poke-ball unconscious.
The challenging trainer shook his head and then looked into Dahlia’s golden-yellow eyes with a sad smile. He brushed a lock of dark hair from in front of his eyes and crossed the arena to stand before her.
“You taught me something today Dahlia, and I will never forget it, I’ve gained something today worth much much more than a Battle Pin, thank you,” he said, “I hope to battle you again soon, and by that time, I hope to have become much stronger and perhaps…if I’m lucky…The result of our affair might be different.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and left the Facility. As the metal door slammed shut behind him, Dahlia placed a hand over her heart. She strolled down into the arena and after giving it a soft kiss, she returned Togekiss to its Poke-Ball. I’ve learned something too, She said to herself.
But her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Startled, Dahlia hurried up out of the arena and down the hallway to the far door. In the minute it took her to cross the large room, the caller rung the bell at the very least six more times. When she pulled open the metal door, a stocky man with a green jacket and blonde hair pushed his way inside. Dahlia recognized him immediately as her fellow Frontier Brain, Palmer. But the way he closed the door so quickly behind him, and the way he panted, as if he had been running very fast, which was not his style, unnerved her that something was unnatural about his calling. She was about to ask him what was wrong but he cut her off.
“There’s no time to explain!” He exclaimed, taking her by the hand, “We have to get to the Battle castle if there is to be any hope left for this world! Something terrible has happened! I’ll explain everything to you on the way, but for now you must hurry!”
