This is a (hopefully) much better revised version of chapter 1. Please enjoy and leave comments.
Trust
Chapter One
Thunderclouds gathered in the sky. If, and that was a big if, Tabitha was lucky, she would make it to the Pokémon center without getting drenched. Tabitha had been having poor luck as of late, due to the fact that she pissed of an Absol by throwing a baseball instead of a pokéball. It had been stalking her ever since, cursing her with its notoriously bad luck.
Though the sky looked intimidating, it had not yet begun to thunder or rain. For once since the incident ten days ago, Tabitha had hope. Maybe the Absol left and that was why it hadn't started raining yet.
"Hey!"
Tabitha glanced over her shoulder with a pained expression. She was so close! Just a few more miles…
A boy was running up to her, his face red and angry. "I've been yelling at you for fucking ever!"
Tabitha eyed him warily, and grabbed a pokéball from her waist. She didn't like people who brazenly cussed on the first meeting.
"Can I help you?" she asked cautiously.
"Battle…" he wheezed. Now that he was standing next to her, Tabitha could smell the cigarette smoke reeking off his body. He was wearing torn jeans, which was the latest fashion and not out of the norm, and a plain dark green shirt. His entire outfit was covered in stains, and underneath the scent of smoke, Tabitha was disgusted to discover that the putrid odor of smoke smelled better than his body.
His shaggy light brown hair seemed greasy from lack of bathing. He appeared to be in his early twenties, like Tabitha. His boyish hair made him seem young, which is why she thought he was a boy but his five o'clock shadow indicated otherwise.
"No, I can't. I have to get to the Pokémon Center before the storm starts."
"You…can't…refuse," he said between breaths. Tabitha looked at the sky. The storm looked like it was starting to go away. And the guy was right; she couldn't refuse the battle without legitimate reason.
"I accept your challenge on the condition that it is a one-on-one battle," Tabitha said. She was itching for a good battle, anyway. She wasn't a Trainer in the sense that she challenged the gym leaders, but she did have a Pokémon partner and they participated in a few battles for fun.
He finally caught his breath and straightened, a smirk on his face. "That's fine by me."
She could see that his teeth were stained yellow through his smirk. She eyed him up and down again, the hairs on the back of her neck rising slightly. By the incoming inclement weather or the distasteful Trainer in front of her, she did not know. She was aware of how much taller he was than her, and she noticed some definition of muscle on his arms. She wanted to keep this brief.
"My name's Tabitha," she said finally. "What will we use for the ante?"
"My name's Kyle," he replied as he took a pack of cigarettes from his pocked and lit one. "And I don't care." He said as he took his place opposite her.
"Fine, we'll use the standard of ten dollars. Is that okay?" Tabitha's fingers twitched on the pokéball.
He took a long drag from the cigarette. "Sure, sure, let's just get this started already!" the smoke came out of his mouth as he spoke.
Tabitha gave him an annoyed look, and he grinned sheepishly at her. "I'm sorry," he said, not really sounding sorry at all, "I'm training this Pokémon I got in a trade, and I'm eager to put him in battle again. This will be our third battle today."
She was more annoyed at his smoking than his hasty attitude. She was also alarmed that he was pushing his Pokémon so hard. "Shouldn't you let him rest? There's a Pokémon center not far from here, I'd be happy to wait until your Pokémon is up for battle." Tabitha suggested.
"No. It's part of our training. If he can't last the whole day then it's obvious it was a waste of a trade."
Tabitha glared at him. "You're disgusting."
Kyle leered, "And you're fat. Hurry up, Slowpoke."
She shrugged off his jab about her weight. She'd heard it before, but she was comfortable with her weight and comments about it no longer bothered her. She was 20, not 12, and she didn't care what people said about her appearance anymore.
"Ladies first, huh? I choose Lulu!" she said as she threw her pokéball. A bright flash of light popped out and formed into an electric quadruped. "Luxio!" it cried.
Kyle roared with laughter, actually slapping his knee. "Lulu!? What a stupid name!"
Tabitha and Lulu the Luxio ignored him. "Hurry up!" she mimicked in a nasally voice, her hands on her hips. While she didn't care if she was made fun of, she didn't like it when it happened to others, especially her precious Lulu.
Kyle deadpanned, threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped on it a little harder than necessary. He threw his pokéball and snarled, "Go, Lucario!"
"Keep your guard up, Lulu! We've not battled a Lucario before."
"Luxio!" Lulu replied and steadied his paws.
The pre-mentioned Lucario appeared out of his pokéball. His body was scratched and covered in grime. He was in a fighting stance, but his posture was uneven. Tabitha looked at his feet. One of his legs had dried blood, and she could see a long cut on his thigh.
"We can't battle." She said, and both the Lucario and Kyle looked at her. "I cannot battle that Lucario. Look at him! He's worn to the bone and he's got a gash on his leg. He's unacceptable for battle."
The Lucario's eyes narrowed. He began running forward to strike Luxio.
"Lulu, move out of the way!" The Luxio jumped backward and growled menacingly.
"See? It's fine. Who cares, anyway, it's not your Pokémon," Kyle snapped.
"Lucario, Close Combat!"
"Charge, Lulu!"
Lulu glowed a dull yellow as it gathered energy into its body. The Lucario disappeared and reappeared in front of Lulu with a barrage of physical attacks. Lulu's body flew through the air and landed near Tabitha.
"Lulu!" she cried, her voice full of worry. "Lux…" Lulu replied, standing up and glaring at the Lucario. "Lux, Lux!" Lulu said to Tabitha. A look of understanding appeared on her face.
"Okay then, Lulu!" She turned to look back at her opponents. The Lucario was staring at her. Its red eyes narrowed at her, the communication between the human and its pet seemed to agitate it.
"Lucario use Force Palm!" Lucario gathered energy into its palms. It ran over to Lulu, but it suddenly stopped. "What the…?" Kyle muttered.
The wound on Lucario's leg re-opened and began bleeding freely. Lucario gasped and went down on one knee.
"Get up!" Kyle screamed. "Get up and fight, you bastard!"
Tabitha stared at him. "You can't be serious."
Kyle's eyes snapped over to hers. There was nothing but malice in his eyes.
"You must forfeit. You can't expect to keep battling with a Lucario injured so badly."
Kyle's body stance was aggressive and challenging as he spoke."I'll do as I damn well please, Tabby. This Lucario is mine, I paid a fair amount of cash for it, and I'll treat like the worthless piece of shit it is and you won't have a say in it."
Tabitha bristled with anger. "My name is Tabitha, not Tabby. And I do have a say. I could report you to Officer Jenny for Pokémon neglect, abuse, and cruelty."
Kyle leered at her. Suddenly his posture seemed less threatening. "Tell you what," he said in a silky voice. "Let's raise the ante."
Tabitha looked baffled, "Excuse me?"
"Your Luxio looks pretty powerful. If I win, I get your Luxio. And if I lose," he said hastily at her outraged expression, "you get the Lucario."
"I don't agree to those terms. It's illegal, for one. And I am not going to bet my Lulu. That's disgusting."
Kyle's face distorted. "Force Palm!" he snarled.
The Lucario rose, its legs shaking. Tabitha watched it sadly. "Let's get this over with. I will only need one move, anyway."
"What?" Kyle said in disbelief. "Bullshit."
"I shit you not. Lulu stored energy from Charge, remember?"
"That's not enough to beat Lucario!"
Tabitha regarded him coolly, "Perhaps not, but your Lucario is male. And with Rivalry as Lulu's special ability…"
"Its attack power is upped…" Kyle finished quietly. He glared at them, "But that's still going to work if we hit you first! Now, Lucario! Force Palm!"
Lucario ran at Lulu, its footsteps uneven, but steady. Lulu didn't move. Finally, as Lucario was about to strike, Lulu rolled over and bit Lucario's arm, holding it effectively in place.
"Now, Lulu! Thunder Fang!" Blue electricity popped and cackled as it raced over Luxio's fur and converged in his mouth.
"Get out of there, Lucario!" Lucario punched Luxio on the head repeatedly, but it only caused Lulu's teeth to dig deeper into its skin.
"God damn you, you worthless piece of shit!" Kyle shrieked.
"Release!" The blue electricity exploded around Luxio's mouth. Lucario gasped, grunted and then fainted. Lulu let go of Lucario and pranced over to his mistress. "Lulu," Tabitha gushed, caressing his mane."You did excellently. I'm so proud of you!"
Lulu glowed under her gentle touch, "Lux Luxio!"
Kyle stomped over to her and thrust the money in her hand. He glared wordlessly at his Lucario, who was beginning to revive.
The Trainer went over to his Lucario and glared down at it. Lucario flinched under his glare and tried to stand. Kyle's face turned red and he pursed his lips. Then his leg swung back and he kicked Lucario as hard as he could. Lucario's body flew and rolled and skidded. It finally rested at Tabitha's feet.
Kyle stormed over, but Lulu jumped in front of Lucario and his mistress and growled. Lucario looked over at the Luxio, and then up at Tabitha. Tabitha's hands were clenched and her whole body was shaking.
"You will not take one more step," she said in a low, angry voice.
Kyle scoffed, "I'll do as I please, nosy bitch. I gave you your money. Get outta here, and leave us alone."
Tabitha glowered at him, "Why, so you can beat Lucario? No way in hell. I'm taking Lucario to a Pokémon Center, and then I'm reporting you to Officer Jenny. You will never train Pokémon ever again."
"You can't do that!"
Lucario looked up at her in disbelief. She was shaking, from anger and fear but she stood firmly in front of Lucario, arms out protectively.
"I can and I will. You can't stop me."
Kyle stepped forward, "Why you-"
Lulu snarled and its fur sparked with the familiar blue of an electric attack. Kyle stopped and glared at Lulu. "This isn't over! I'll get you and your stupid Lulu, and then," he sneered at Lucario, "I'll come after you."
He sprinted away, cursing her and screaming swear words and threats.
"Go ahead, Lulu," Tabitha said quietly, nodding at her Luxio.
"Lux!" Lulu ran after the retreating Trainer. Tabitha and Lucario could no longer see the two, but they heard Kyle's screams of pain and Luxio's wild laughter a few moments later.
The sky rumbled, and the sun disappeared. "It's gonna rain after all," she said aloud in a tired voice.
She turned around to Lucario. She bent over slowly, and reached out. Lucario flinched and growled.
Tabitha's brow furrowed, "Do you really think I'm gonna do something to you? Do you think I fended that sleaze ball off to beat you myself? Do you honestly think that?"
She didn't give Lucario time to process her words. She turned around and held her arms out behind her back, "Get on."
~End Chapter One
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