On the other side of town, a new comer stepped in. He was currently communicating with someone on his poke gear. "Did you reach Sinnoh safely Darno?" a mysterious voice inquired.
"Yup, the boat ride from Johto to Sinnoh was a long one" Darno nodded. In the shadows, two men wearing green outfits and dark blue helmets were eavesdropping on the conversation.
"Did you hear that? That kid's from Johto!" One man whispered to the other.
"Yeah, that means he has rare Pokemon, let's go steal them…" the other planned. They stepped out, which did not go unnoticed by Darno.
"You two look awfully suspicious with those tacky uniforms that you're wearing" Darno greeted them in his own way. "Ah, maybe you're a subgroup of Team Rocket?"
"Psh, Team Rocket can't compare to the Rare Ones" One man snorted
"If you're done with your pointless commentary on our appearance, we challenge you to battle, we win and we take your pokemon!" The second man laid out, his black hair blowing in the breeze.
"Well then, I think we all know who's the more intelligent one in this duo" Darno muttered out while pulling out a pokeball from his pocket. I'm kinda surprised they didn't bother to do a sneak attack on me; I was clearly distracted at that time. Oh well, looks like Ivysaur's going to get some more experience
Stephi had heard an argument around the corner and decided to check it out; as she turned she spotted the current situation. Those two guys in the tacky green suits are ganging up on that other guy! I should help him, winning a battle is just what I need to motivate myself! Buneary looked up to Stephi with a confused look on her face, possibly doubting whatever she was going to do next. "Buneary, let's go!" Stephi told her, and ran over to Darno's side.
Darno faced her and gave her a questioning look, Stephi froze at this notion. Oh how could I forget the possibility of getting him rejecting my help! I'll just have to force myself on him to help Stephi's paranoia began to grow. In a nervous loud voice she bgean "Two verses one isn't fair, so I will battle with you" she hoped this was a good enough excuse to aid him.
"Oh don't worry about that, I can just use two pokemon like in double battles" he casually explained. "I'm in no real danger" he added with a knowing yet idiotic smile on his face.
He saw right through me! Stephi's mouth gaped in shock; she still wished to help though.
"How dare you downplay us?" The two men shouted collectively
"I'm still helping!" Stephi stubbornly decided, her face was heating up, she despised looking desperate in front of others. Darno noted her determination; it was the kind that inexperienced trainers usually held.
"Whatever floats your boat, these guys are harmless anyway, now you seem to be a rookie so I'll do most of the work here" Stephi nodded at his instructions, this guy seemed like an expert. Unbeknownst to her, he was quite annoyed as well, judging by his tone.
"Come on out Ivysaur!" Darno threw his pokeball and then turned to Stephi. "Quick send out a pokemon"
"Right, first of all, Buneary return" Stephi took out her pokeball, Buneary had a dejected look on her face before being enclosed in a red light.
That Buneary is very attached to her trainer; I hope she pays lots of attention to it. Darno observed Buneary's actions
"Go Spoink!" Stephi called out. Spoink was her family's pokepet for the past year, she decided on bringing him along for the journey. The two men called out Golbat and Raticate.
"Golbat use wing attack!"
"Raticate! Hyper fang!"
"Dodge the wing attack and use vine whip Ivysaur!" Ivysaur did as was told and successfully landed an attack on Golbat. Spoink wasn't so lucky however; hyper fang hit the pokemon and left a large bruise on it.
"Spoink!" Stephi yelled out in worry for his well being. What a fast Raticate…
"If you really want to help, call out attacks please! And fast!" Darno instructed. "Just follow my lead, Ivysaur use razor leaf!"
Ah, I think he wants me to combine his attacks with his Stephi smiled at the brilliance of this idea, not to mention she had seen many times in anime.
"Spoink, use psychic to power up that razor leaf!" Spoink did do and the attack hit Golbat, which fainted.
That wasn't exactly what I had in mind, we got lucky with that attack, what does she think this is, an anime? Darno focused his attention once more on the battle
"Raticate use quick attack!"
"Ivysaur dodge!" Darno called out. Spoink as a result, got hit again. Spoink had dangerously low HP. Stephi could imagine the video game music playing in Pokemon Black and White.
"Start telling your Pokemon to dodge" Darno politely advised.
I'm doing my best here mister Stephi was getting slightly put off with his advice. To her he seemed snobby and she disliked being called out on mistakes.
"I'll finish the battle now if you don't mind, Ivysaur use leafstorm and then headbutt!" Raticate was trapped in a vortex of leaves, when the leaves cleared out Ivysaur finished its opponent with a headbutt. The two men returned their pokemon and retreated. "See, I was never in danger in the first place!' Darno said in triumph
Stephi's previous annoyance faded and she simply stared back at him in amazement.
"Hey, do you know where I could find a map of Sinnoh?" Darno inquired breaking the silence.
"Oh? You're not from Sinnoh?" Gears in Stephi's head were churning.
"On the contrary, I'm from Johto" Darno replied
"Ah, my brother went there last year…." Stephi trailed off. She was forming a plan in her head. Excellent she thought with a somewhat evil voice in her opinion that she could never pull off in real life. Darno raised an eyebrow at her sudden change in behavior while petting Ivysaur.
