Disclaimer - I do NOT own Pokemon in any way. The only thing belonging to me are the original characters/OCs

Chapter 2

Drapion's tail started to glow with a silver light."I'll be a gentleman and make it quick." the cue ball taunted. Prairie just returned his look with her own look of disgust. His Drapion jumped forward and swung its glowing tail at the Bidoof. "Iron Tail!" yelled the cue ball. It was a pretty famous move because of its power, and many tailed Pokémon would often have it in tow, thought Prairie. She's read about it, and she knew it had a good flaw. It wasn't very prone to hitting. Bibidy easily jumped over the tail as it passed. "Bibidy, Tackle!" yelled Prairie to her Pokémon. It did some damage, but not even close to faulting the Drapion. The cue ball was still wearing the smirk on his face, and it was causing Prairie to boil inside.

Skuntank reached Swellow with a Slash, causing some good damage, making Sandy anxious. She couldn't bear to see her Swell get badly hurt. But she knew had to get a grip on the battle if she didn't want it to happen. "Swell, Wing Attack!" Swell dodged another attack, and went in for its attack. But the skunk proved to be too great an opponent. It easily dodged, then smeared Swell with a powerful dose of Sludge Bomb, causing it to fall to the ground and faint. Sandy came to her Pokémon's side, worried for its safety.

Seeing her Bidoof's teammate faint, Prairie got angry. "Bibidy! Hyper Fang!" she exclaimed. Bibidy dodged Drapion's claws with agility. Going below it, the Bidoof jumped into the air and bit its opponent in the back. At first it seemed like Drapion was stopped in its tracks, but suddenly it struck out at Bibidy with its tail. The small, agile Pokémon jumped away to gain distance, but Drapion can be quick. Before the Bidoof can even land on the ground, Drapion struck again with Cross Poison, sending the mouse Pokémon slamming into a tree trunk, ending their fight.

"No… Bibidy!" thought Prairie, running towards her Pokémon with concern. The Bidoof was groaning in pain, unable to move anymore. "I don't get to be the main man for nothing, you know!" the cue ball remarked, pulling back his Pokémon into their Pokeballs. "…Fine! You win! Now take your prize money and leave." said Elaine, taking out some Pokedollars from her pocket and throwing them on to the ground without even looking. The cue ball motioned for his lackeys to move. They picked up the Pokedollars and handed them to their chief. The Cue ball decided it wasn't enough. "You posh girls should have more… hand them over." he said. Sandy, now keeping Swell safe inside her Pokeball, walked over to Prairie and her Bidoof. "Unless you take your money in Pokeball form, you can go." Sandy showed him her bundle of Pokeballs. "Maybe I'll go… but what about you two?" grinned the cue ball a sinister grin, pointing towards something behind them. They turned around. Two bikers were standing behind them. "You can give us your money as 'fees' for using this road… Or we can take them by force. Better think quickly, the sun's about to go down."

"Err… chief…" whispered one of the bikers, looking over his shoulder. Grass crunched beneath a pair of shoes. The cue ball can see a figure walking in the darkness. The figure stepped out into the dim light of the setting sun.

"An… overcoat…" thought Prairie, gazing at the boy she'd run into earlier. "You better get the heck out of here kid, if you know what's good for you." threatened the cue ball. The boy remained silent. His hand reached into his coat, something Prairie and Sandy had seen him do before. Only this time, what he took out was a Pokeball. "Oh… Well this is dandy. More cash." the cue ball chuckled, taking out his own Pokeball. The two bikers got out of the way of the battle. "Go, K-Tank!" he released the skunk Pokémon. The boy threw the Pokeball into the air. Out came a petite gray Pokémon with a single small spike on its back. It had small, stubby legs and a large, round head full of holes. Two big blue eyes peered out from two of the holes. Sandy found it cute. Prairie was trying to find out what it is. The bikers laughed at it. Their leader laughed as well, noticeably harder.

"What is this? Kindergarten championship?" the cue ball laughed. "That wee baby of a Pokémon of yours is only good for cute contests, kid!"

Prairie kept on thinking. She'd seen the small Pokémon somewhere in a book before. It was from Hoenn, she thinks. She finally got it. It was an Aron.

"An Aron." she said. "Aron?" asked Sandy.

"It's a Steel type, and its power really doesn't match its size." Prairie continued, knowing what it could do with a full charge.

The Aron turned to look at the boy. The boy gave a set of signals of some sort with his fingers. The Aron nodded. "Hey kid! Didn't you teach it to focus in battle?" yelled the cue ball. The Skuntank charged at the Aron. Aron charged at the Skuntank. When the two was about to hit each other, the Aron lowered its head. Skuntank kept on going, and right before it could slam into the small Pokémon, the Aron raised its large head and head butted the Skuntank right in the cranium. The skunk gave out a loud cry and jumped back. It was infuriated. Prairie could see the smirk on the cue ball's face disappear. She smiled.

"What the… It could hurt my K-Tank that badly? Go, Ion!" yelled the cue ball, sending out his Drapion.

"That's not fair!" Prairie yelled, realizing what the large man had done.

"No time for regrets, kid!"

The boy didn't respond. His calm demeanor didn't change. He had given the layout of the battle and his orders to his Aron, Gran, and he need not do anything else. Gran was the latest addition to his team, and that very same Pokémon taught him that size does not matter. "It would help if he was more

"You're… not worried one bit? I might just actually kill that little thing of yours!"

"…"

"Grr… No mute kid is gonna beat me! Get that thing!"he gritted his teeth. What was this? Was he actually scared of this kid? He was too calm, too collected. He's looking at me as if I'm no more than a preschooler, the cue ball thought. "And that silence, that goddamn silence!" he raged on inside his mind. Skuntank and Drapion charged towards the boy's Aron on their master's order. Gran didn't bother moving. He believed in his master. Skuntank filled its throat with sludge while Drapion readied its claws.

Cross Poison!

Sludge Bomb!

The two attacks hit the Aron simultaneously. The sludge created a poisonous puddle on the ground. With Gran right in the middle of it. Everyone anticipated the cue ball to laugh again, but instead he looked on with an agape mouth. The small Steel Pokémon walked out of the puddle just like that, and shook off the extra sludge that was stuck to its small spike.

"It… I don't think it got hurt at all!" remarked Prairie.

Seeing that the two Pokémon were done, Gran charged towards his first target – Skuntank. Still surprised, K-tank wasn't able to react until Gran smashed heads with it, sending it staggering and falling onto its side. The Drapion lashed out with its claws at the Aron, but it wasn't nearly as effective as what the Steel Pokémon was about to do at the Poison Pokémon. Scratching one of its stubby forelegs into the ground, Gran slapped some mud straight into the Drapion's eyes, making it flip out.

"Drapppiiiiiii!" cried the Drapion, unable to see clearly.

"Did it just use Mud-Slap? Not good…" the cue ball pulled back his skunk Pokémon.

The Aron ran in circles around it. Drapion lashed out again; it missed. Aron kept on using Mud-Slap, and Drapion kept missing, rinse and repeat, until finally, the Drapion fell on its back, its eyes in a swirling pattern. The cue ball pulled back his Pokémon. He wasn't as large and tough now. His shoulders were brought low and his face was in disbelief. His pride had been crushed, he thought.

"How dare that twerp do that to our chief!" yelled one of the bikers. "Let's get him!" yelled another.

Before they can move, the cue ball raised his hand to stop them. His eyes were fixed forward on the light coming out of the boy's Pokeball. The boy had already released another Pokémon of his; a large, purple Pokémon with holes around its body. Its mouth was so huge one of the bikers was scared it might just eat his bike.

"Well done, kid. I admit my defeat. Don't worry about my boys here; pull back your Pokémon."

"…" with both hands holding a Pokeball the boy withdrew his two Pokémon.

"I see… You're one weird kid." he turned to the girls. "Have your money back. You can thank him." he placed the notes on the ground. They just looked at him with bitter faces.

"Look out, I might just get it back. Because this isn't over. I'll take you on another day, and for that I'll need your name. " he said, pointing at the boy. The boy didn't respond. He nodded to his two Pokémon with a faint smile, then kept them safe in his coat. He walked over to the cue ball slowly. The bikers started to move closer in case he was going to do something. He took out a notepad from his coat. He unattached a pen at the side, and wrote something.

*Gichi gichi* He showed the notepad to the cue ball.

The cue ball was puzzled for a bit, but then grinned when he read the name on the notepad. "I see. Better start training, Darren. My name is Perez. And I'll make sure my Pokémon has more sting the second time we battle." he said, turning around and walking away, through his group of bikers. The boy smiled. The bikers kept looking at their boss, then at the kid, then back at their boss, all the while sweat dripping from their foreheads.

"What the heck are you losers waiting for? Time to get out of here on the double!" he yelled, smiling to the girls, grinning, as if saying 'see that, the cue ball just kept his word'. The bikers followed their leader and got on their machines. They rode into the falling night.

Her Bidoof was all fine. The berry she carried just in case had taken effect. She pulled it back into its safe Pokeball, heaving a sigh of relief. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She squinted to look at the boy that just helped her and Sandy out of a bad mess. He was amazing, she thought.

The boy threw another Pokeball, and suddenly the two girls could see their faces again. Beside the boy's feet was a slim weasel-like Pokémon with flames coming out of its back. It hid behind its master's leg, looking at the two girls, its nose sniffing, as if checking on them. The boy walked towards the two, his Pokémon following closely, and held out his two hands. They took his hands. He pulled them up.

"Thank you, Darren. For a lot of things." said Prairie. She finally managed to thank him, she thought. And how he deserved it. "Can you…uh… take us home?" she pointed her thumb at the light of houses somewhere in the distance. Darren nodded. "Great battle by the way." spoke Sandy, her eyes glinting with a hint of admiration. They started their walk in the darkness of night, guided by Darren's little Quilava. A lot happened, but Prairie just wanted to call it a day. She knew it herself, though, that when tomorrow comes she's meeting Darren again.