And her tail hit Vinnie hard, taking the wind out of him completely. For a split second his vision was stabbed with bright black bursts as pain shot across his whole body, suffocating, paralyzing, nauseating. He went limp, flying backwards several feet in the air.

The Venusaur landed in a heap, crashing against unkind concrete like a ragdoll. Vinnie lay there, unmoving for what seemed like ages before, weakly, he gave a small groan and rolled his head to the side. The way his fingers twitched and his knees dragged themselves, it looked like he was trying to curl up to protect his aching, vulnerable torso - with little success. His body had stopped listening to him.

It only took one hit, but Vinnie was out of the fight - though his grip was so tight on his oar that not even death could pry it out.