Chapter Two: Man of the Forest
Fenikkusu stared at Cilan, his expression unreadable. He slowly shifted his gaze from Cilan to the injured pokemon standing beside him. Maractus narrowed its eyes at Cilan, an expression of what appeared to be contempt on its face.
Fenikkusu considered what Cilan had said. His gaze drifted from Maractus to Cilan before he at last asked, "And if I don't?"
"Then I'll take it by force," said Cilan. He reached into his apron to withdraw one of his three pokeballs. Maractus cried out in anger and shot a flurry of needles at Cilan. Cilan's eyes widened. Just before he the needles impacted, turning him into a human pincushion, he blocked with a serving tray strapped to his back. Fenikkusu blinked, surprised at this man's speed.
"You really shouldn't have done that!" said Cilan, his green eyes now aflame. He pulled out the pokeball and tossed it towards his three adversaries. "Lillipup! Be a good little boy and beat some sense into these three!"
The pokeball opened and a burst of white light shot out. The light struck the ground and quivered before gathering into a glowing orb. The orb changed shape and color before at last taking the form of a small brown dog. The pokemon bared its teeth as it stared down its opponents.
Maractus raised its arms, prepared to attack Cilan's pokemon, but Fenikkusu stopped it. "You're injured, leave this to Patrat and me," he said.
Maractus considered what Fenikkusu said before nodding. Cilan chuckled to himself before giving his first command. "Lillipup, use tackle!" he shouted.
Lillipup pushed off the ground with its paws and lunged at Patrat. Fenikkusu commanded his friend to dodge before telling him to attack with bite. Lillipup tried to avoid the attack but he soon found himself caught in Patrat's iron grip.
"Hang in there Lillipup!" said Cilan as his pokemon cried out in pain. Lillipup struggled to break free before biting Patrat in retaliation. The two pokemon rolled around on the ground clawing and biting one another until Patrat finally kicked Lillipup off. "Lillipup!" exclaimed Cilan as his pokemon slammed into a tree. "Enough of this! Shadow ball!" said Cilan. Lillipup opened its mouth and fired a burst of crackling purple energy.
"Shadow ball doesn't affect normal types," said Fenikkusu to himself in confusion. "Why would he use that?" Patrat didn't attempt to dodge and took the brunt of the attack. Though knocked slightly off balance Patrat emerged uninjured. Patrat prepared to attack Lillipup once more but his adversary was too quick. Fenikkusu watched in horror as Lillipup crashed headlong into Patrat, sending both of them flying into a nearby rock with Patrat taking the brunt of the hit.
Cilan at last responded to Fenikkusu's statement by saying, "While that is true, it makes a great distraction."
Fenikkusu stared at his injured friend, his thoughts racing. His voice trembled, barely above a whisper, as he said, "Patrat, why aren't you getting up?" Cilan, Fenikkusu, Maractus, and Lillipup stared at Patrat, waiting to see if he stood up. After several tense moments Patrat's legs twitched. Fenikkusu felt a rush of relief as his friend stood up, though he was somewhat wobbly.
"Well, it seems this pokemon is tougher than I thought," said Cilan. He reached into his apron and withdrew the other pokeball. "Pansage! Help Lillipup teach this meddlesome kid a lesson!"
Cilan tossed the ball which opened, releasing another burst of white light. The light shimmered for several seconds before taking the form of a monkey with green and tan fur. Cilan's Pansage didn't waste any time. It immediately attacked Patrat with a flurry of claw swipes. Patrat tried to stand up to the barrage but he soon succumbed. Pansage effortlessly lifted Patrat and tossed him aside like a rag doll.
Fenikkusu cried out, "Patrat!" as he raced towards his fallen friend. Fenikkusu propped up his friend and tried to wake him up but quickly noticed that he Pansage and Lillipup were preparing to attack him. "Patrat," he whispered. "Remember all those times you hid from me in the high grass when we were playing pokemon battle as kids? It was almost impossible to find you until it was too late, remember?" he asked.
Patrat, though dazed, understood what his friend said enough to nod.
"Good," he said. Cilan decided he'd given them enough time. He ordered his pokemon to attack. "Patrat, dive into the tall grass!"
Fenikkusu got to his feet and ran to the side while his friend turned and ran from his pursuers. Patrat pushed among the tufts of grass and disappeared along with Cilan's pokemon. The sounds of a battle erupted with all three of the combatants crying out as they struck one another.
"Very clever," said Cilan, his voice still the same unemotional tone. "Lillipup! Pansage! When you get the chance put that irksome creature out of commission with reversal and rock smash!"
"No!" shouted Fenikkusu. Though he only participated in a formal battle a few times his father had drilled the type matchups into his head almost since birth. And one of the first things he learned was that normal types would go down almost instantly from a fighting type move.
"What's the matter?" asked Cilan. "Afraid your poor Patrat can't take much more of this? You seem to have a good knowledge of pokemon. Who taught you?"
Fenikkusu debated whether to answer. At last he said, "My parents. My mother worked as a gym leader in the Hoenn region and my father was national champion of Japan."
"National champ of Japan?" asked Cilan. "Let's see that's the Indigo Plateau, Orange League, Ever Grande, and all the rest. Quite an impressive resume. It certainly explains how you could have considered the strategy with the grass under such a high stress situation. However you overlooked one tiny detail. The hair around my Lillipup's face makes for a very good radar system."
Fenikkusu's eyes widened as he heard the cry of his friend. He turned and saw Patrat fly into the air and land at his feet. Patrat tried to stand up but quickly fell to the ground and fainted. Fenikkusu's head spun. He looked from his friend, to the two pokemon waiting to attack him, to Cilan, and finally to Maractus. At last he said, "Come on Maractus! Let's get out of here!" He grabbed Patrat and Maractus and raced to Nuvema Town as fast as he could.
Cilan cried out in anger. "You come back here!" He stared after Fenikkusu for several seconds before saying, "You two go after them!" Cilan's pokemon obeyed and chased after Fenikkusu. He stood in the clearing for several minutes before pulling out a cell phone and making a call. "You there? Good. You know that village the boss told us to stake out?"
There was a pause before a voice said, "Yeah, what of it?"
"Torch it," said Cilan. He put away the phone and ran to help his pokemon stop Fenikkusu.
