The longer the battle lasts the more force we'll have to use!
Georgy Zhukov
Vasily gave a curt nod as professor Elm approached, noticing that for once his aide wasn't nearby taking notes. In fact, this was the first time that Vasily had seen the professor out of the laboratory without any of his research equipment. He appeared to have rushed out of his lab in a hurry, because he was hastily donning his lab coat as he approached.
"Good morning" Vasily said. Everything he wore seemed to have come from a thrift store, yet it somehow seemed to match, in a shabby kind of way. It almost seemed like a soldier uniform at one point, but with a lot more faded colors, and less crispness.
"Vasily, you haven't happened to have seen my daughter lately, would you?" Elm asked.
"Sorry professor, I haven't seen anyone but you and Haya, and he disappeared an hour ago." He said.
"Haya? Do I really want to know?"
"It is what I am calling the damn hoothoot who is stealing my hat." Vasily replied.
"Alright then," Professor Elm said, clearly wanting to get away before Vasily started ranting, "I think you should talk to my aide about that problem. In the meantime, please try to keep an eye out for my daughter. She can get a little bit distracted, and I'm worried she might forget to come home, or get lost. Again."
And with that, the professor ran off into the woods near the town, to whatever it was he usually did. Vasily only knew that he was some kind of pokémon professor, one of many in the world, but he never did have a clear idea of what they actually did. They never seemed to leave their labs, and liked to send other people to gather data for them. But Professor Elm was a nice person, if a little scatter-brained, seeing as he let Vasily stay at his house when it turned out that his mother had to go back to Zima, for reasons beyond her control.
Vasily decided to follow the professor's advice, and see if his aide had any useful advice. Doubtful, seeing as he was usually just as buried into his work as Elm was, but he was a great deal more organized than Elm was, so maybe he could help with his hoothoot problem.
The lab was only a few minutes away from where he was standing, near the border of the town and route twenty-nine, and nothing of note happened. He approached the red double-doors, and was about to open them, when suddenly the door swung out and smacked him in the face, throwing him to the ground.
"Professor! I just got a message from Mr. Pokémon!" screamed the aide from the doorway. "You have to—Whoa! Sorry Vasily, I didn't expect anyone to be outside."
"I am fine," Vasily replied, woozily getting back up on his feet. "It is only a nosebleed, nothing permanent. What is so important, and who is Mr. Pokémon?"
"He's a pokémon researcher just like Elm," said the aide, in a matter-of-fact tone.
"That is fascinating, but it is still not answering my question."
"Sorry, I was caught up in the moment. He sent our laboratory a message stating that he made an exciting new discovery, and wants Elm to see it right away! You wouldn't happen to know where Elm is, do you?"
"No, all I know is that he went into the woods, and was going there in a hurry." Vasily said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Damn, we'll never find him now," the aide said. "Now what'll we do, it's not like I can leave the lab unmanned…"
"I do not know, I am just wanting help in catching the hoothoot who is stealing my hat. You would not happen to have anything I could use"
The aide stared at Vasily for a second, with the same expression he used for when he was studying the many books that lay around the laboratory. What this actually meant, Vasily couldn't actually explain, but he had a feeling that he wasn't going to like what was about to happen.
"You can be the one to meet up with Mr. Pokémon!" the aide cried out.
"B-b-but I am just wanting help in tracking evil hoothoot…" Vasily managed to stammer out.
"You can still do that, only now you can help us on the way to Mr. Pokémon's house. I'll even give you a poke ball so you can catch that hoothoot! It's not too far away, but with Professor Elm gone to do whatever he's doing, and myself continuing his experiments, you're the only one who's available." The aide said.
"There is no way out of this, is there?" said Vasily.
"If it helps your decision, I can supply you with one of the pokémon we have here. I'm sure Elm would do the same if he were here. Besides, think of this as an excuse to stay in Johto longer. They can't send you back if you're working for us. I'll get the paperwork done, and you'll get the… whatever Mr. Pokémon is giving us." The aide rushed inside the lab, only to re-emerge seconds later with two poké balls.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Vasily asked. "I could find Lyra, and have her do it…"
"Nonsense! You're the perfect man for the job. I have the utmost confidence in you," the aide said while simultaneously shoving the poké balls into Vasily's hands. "Just head down route twenty-nine, then north up route thirty once you reach Cherrygrove City, you can't miss his house," the aide said.
The aide rushed back inside and slammed the door, leaving a very stunned Vasily outside. He wondered what his father would do in this situation. An image of a burly man dressed up in special forces camouflage, shooting at random passing pokémon, while rushing to Cherrygrove City flashed through his mind. While entertaining, Vasily knew that was an impractical plan. For starters, he didn't know where to get an assault rifle, ever since his mother had gone back to Zima. He decided to just do as the aide said, and see what came of it.
Right as he got to the edge of the town, however, he spotted it. Haya, the demon bird, who had dared to steal his family heirloom right off of his head, was standing right in front of him, oblivious to Vasily's sudden appearance. It was standing right on top of his peaked hat, desecrating it with its tainted claws. Vasily studied it for what seemed like forever, trying to figure out the best plan of attack. He had left his knife in Professor Elm's house, so he would need to improvise.
He immediately dropped the heavier poké ball, assuming it to be the one that was filled with something. His guess was rewarded with a flash of light, and what looked like a shrew-like creature with spiky flames on its back appeared. Vasily motioned it to stay still, and began to creep towards the evil hoothoot with the empty poké ball in the other hand. The hoothoot was still oblivious to his approach, allowing Vasily to get within arm's reach of it before it turned around.
Right when it did, Vasily gave a mighty roar, and grabbed the bird by the wing with his free hand. The pokémon screeched and attempted to claw his eyes out, missing only by inches. Vasily smashed the poké ball into the hoothoot's face, but the hoothoot kept struggling, and began to viciously scratch his arm. He lost his grip on the pokémon, giving it all the opportunity it needed to get on him and start mauling it with its sharp claws. Blood began to obscure his vision, as he began to smash the poké ball into its face again and again in desperation. He knocked the pokémon off of him, and it began to growl menacingly at him. Vasily grabbed the poké ball with both hands, and with a surge of strength, pried it open.
He rushed the hoothoot again, and began to slam it with the now open poké ball. He managed to stun the hoothoot, and shoved part of its head into the poké ball. A flash of red light erupted from the poké ball, and the hoothoot was nowhere to be seen, while the ball had reclosed itself. Vasily jumped on the ball, hoping to keep the demon bird from escaping. The poké ball moved back and forth, with an obvious effort from the thing inside to break free. Suddenly, a loud click was heard, and the ball stopped moving.
Vasily warily looked at the ball for a few minutes, until he decided it was safe to pick up again. Right when he did so, the professor's aide rushed out of the lab, yelling something that was probably not important.
"Vasily! Wait! I forgot to tell you how t—Why are you covered in blood?"
"I was fighting the demon Haya for dominion of my hat," Vasily replied.
"But you're supposed to use your pokémon to do the battling for you, and then throw the ball! That's why we gave you a pokémon in the first place!" exclaimed the aide.
"A leader who does not fight does not deserve his companion's loyalty," said Vasily, picking up his hat and placing it firmly on his head. "Besides, Haya was a menace who deserved worse."
The aide looked at him with an incredulous expression. At a seeming loss for words, he just kept staring at Vasily until he began to feel uncomfortable.
"If it makes you feel better, the demon is mostly safe, and will not be getting out anytime soon," said Vasily. "Now what were you going to say earlier, before you got distracted by all the blood?"
"I was going to tell you how to use that poké ball, but I think you figured it out on your own. Just in the future, please use your pokémon in the fight, and don't do whatever it was to get them into the ball. Beating on them beforehand with the ball is never necessary. Ever. If you need me, I'll be in the lab, trying not to think of the horror I might have accidentally unleashed," the aide said, and he slowly began to walk back towards the lab.
"Have fun sir!" Vasily said, waving at the aide. Turning to the pokémon that had come out of the poké ball earlier, he said "Now, what are we going to call you? I can not exactly say shrew-like-fire-thing. How do you like the sound of Zhukov?"
The pokémon tilted its head to the side, and said "Cyndaquil." What this actually meant, Vasily didn't know, but he assumed that was as close to an affirmative he would get from it.
"Great, Zhukov it is! Come on; let's see what this 'Mr. Pokémon' is so desperate to show off." He said, and began walking down route twenty-nine, hoping that the cuts would seal up soon.