Chapter 4: "Steph's Rival"
Steph walked the rest of the way eyeing her Kipat's Poké Ball. She was proud of her newly caught Pokémon, but couldn´t help feeling a little bit down that it was all a fluke. Yet a small mistake like that would not stop her; the next Pokémon she would capture will be because she weakened it first; that is what she told herself. This time she was walking alone. She had decided to return Deezle to his Poké Ball so that he could rest after having had that tough battle versus Theresa.
As Steph walked further, she took out her Pokédex and looked at Kipat's information;
"KIPAT, THE JUMP MOUSE POKEMON; KIPAT HAVE POWERFUL LEGS THAT ALLOW THEM TO COVER GREAT DISTANCES. THEY USE THEIR LEGS TO EITHER ESCAPE OR DELIVER POWERFUL KICKS."
"That is good to know. I hardly know anything about this Kipat." she talked to herself as she entered the town of Bluedrop.
The moment she passed the first building she saw two Pokémon, hitting each other and bashing their bodies' one against the other. One of the Pokémon was a Pityke, the other she had never seen before. It was another bird-like Pokémon, it had four small tail feathers and its wings moved so fast one could hardly see it.
"HUMMY, THE HUM BIRD POKEMON; IT BEATS ITS WINGS SO HARD THAT SMALL HUMMING NOISES CAN BE HEARD FROM THE VIBRATIONS IT CREATES"
The Pokédex answered her question of the mystery of the new Pokémon.
What surprised her next was the trainer commanding the Hummy. It was Terry.
"Now, Hummy, use Sonicboom!" Hummy reacted to Terry's command by sending a white shockwave from its wings.
The blast hit Pityke hard and sent it plummeting to the ground.
"No, Pityke!" the other trainer yelled out.
"This battle is over! The winner is Hummy! The victory goes to Terry!" another boy yelled out, it seemed that he was acting as judge.
Steph ran over to Terry to congratulate him on his victory. He had just finished shaking the other trainers hand when he saw Steph.
"Hey, Steph!" Terry waved at her.
"How are you doing, Terry?" Steph breathed a little after having run that small distance. "I see that you´ve captured a new Pokémon." she eyed Hummy who was flying by.
"Yeah, I've actually captured three Pokémon. That makes four total Pokémon in my team." he replied while returning Hummy to its Poké Ball.
Steph felt a little inexperienced, since she only captured one and it was by accident. She also remembered that Terry used to be Professor Palmer's assistant, so he had much more experience. This helped cheer her up a bit.
"Can you give me a sec, Steph?" he turned around and threw Hummy's ball out. The ball opened and let out a blue light, instead of the usual white, and Hummy flew out into the horizon.
"What did you just do?" this was all new to Steph.
"I released Hummy. I am no longer its trainer." he seemed a little disappointed at what he had just done. Steph could not believe it.
"Why did you do that!" Steph was overwhelmed "Didn´t you like Hummy?"
"Yes, I did. It was really strong and nice. But it didn't like to battle." His voice was heavy, "You came too late, but when my battle against that Pityke started, Hummy didn´t even move, it froze up. I had to yell at it for it to do anything. I don't like forcing Pokémon to do what they don't want to. My goal is to be a great Pokémon trainer, and I am going to need Pokémon that can battle. I don't actually care if their strong, as long as they have a will to battle. I just didn't want to hurt Hummy. It´ll be alright without me." a smile started to form on Terry's face. This act brought new respect to Steph towards Terry.
Later at the Pokémon Center, Steph had just left her two Pokémon with the nurse and sat down at a nearby table with Terry.
"So, Steph, how many Pokémon have you managed to capture?" Terry asked, relaxing on the comfortable bench.
"Well, I've only captured one" she said nervously.
"Really? Which one?" Terry said excitedly.
"I caught a Kipat." Steph said proudly, but her pride slowly faded away as she remembered how she caught it, "It was actually a fluke. My Poké Ball fell and Kipat touched it by accident."
"Don't be so glum. There is no correct way to catch Pokémon; and this makes your capture more unique." Terry said with a cheerful smile. "So what gender is it?"
"I actually don't know. I caught it a couple of hours ago and I haven't even let it out of its Poké Ball yet."
"Oh, ok. Well why don't you dedicate tomorrow to getting to know Kipat better?" Terry suggested.
"Yeah; I had that planned as well." Steph confirmed, "I also want to test its battling skills."
"Then allow me to be Kipat's first opponent." Terry said, challenging Steph with his eyes as well. "I also want to test a new Pokémon of mine."
Steph did not expect a challenge, but she quickly got excited; especially after remembering her battle against Theresa.
"I accept!" she got up and shot a glance at Terry, "There never was a clear winner in our last battle."
"Got it! Your Kipat against my new Pokémon." Terry stood and left the table. "Let's meet at the battlefield, behind the Pokémon Center, at midday."
Steph nodded.
Just as Terry left, she started to wonder what Pokémon Terry was going to use.
She had trouble sleeping that night. Steph had battled before and she had won, but this all seemed different. She knew nothing of her new Pokémon and was starting to worry about Terry's new Pokémon. A couple of hours before the sun rose; Steph stepped outside the Pokémon center and called out her Deezle.
"Listen, Deezle, I want to get to know Kipat better, but I'm going to need your help." Steph whispered to the Pokémon, she assumed Deezle was still sleepy. The rain Pokémon nodded slightly trying to open its eyes a little better.
"Kipat, you're up!" she threw the Poké ball and her Kipat came out. It was the first time she had seen it, since its capture.
She slowly approached the Pokémon, her Deezle at her side.
"Hello there, Kipat." She waved at her Pokémon and kneeled in front of it. "I'm Steph, your new trainer, and this is Deezle, my first Pokémon and a good friend of mine." She was a bit nervous, but managed to keep a cool smile throughout the whole introduction.
"Kip?" her Kipat simply stared at her, as though it had no idea what she just said.
"Ummm?" Steph puzzled around in her mind. She stared at her Deezle. "Could you help me out here, Deezle?" The water-type accepted with a nod.
Deezle approached Kipat and the two Pokémon started to chat amongst them. Steph took out her Pokédex and looked up the information on her new Pokémon.
"KIPAT'S KNOWN MOVES ARE: TACKLE, TAIL WHIP AND QUICK ATTACK."
A few minutes later, and both Pokémon finished talking.
"Well I guess everything's explained, right?" Steph asked both Pokémon. The two Pokémon nodded happily in agreement. "Are you ready to battle, Kipat?" Steph eyed the jump mouse Pokémon. The Pokémon began to jump and kick the air with excitement. "Alright; let's start practicing!"
After a few hours of practice with her new Kipat; Steph took a nice rest on the grass with her Deezle and Kipat by her side. She had lunch next and went to the battleground, located behind the Pokémon Center. Terry was waiting for her, as well as a small crowd. After yesterday; Terry must have attracted a lot of attention with his battling skills. Another boy stood beside Terry and went to introduce himself to Steph.
"Hello, my name is Jean." He took Steph's hand and shook it slightly. "Terry asked me to be the judge for your battle today. I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not; it doesn't matter who the judge is. Terry is going down, anyway!" she gave a small smirk towards Terry.
"Aren't we excited, huh?" Terry stepped forward. "Why don't we get started then?"
Both trainers took their places at opposite ends of the battlefield, both holding their respective Poké balls.
"Kipat, you're up!" Steph was the first to let her Pokémon out.
"Kiiiiiipat!" the Pokémon yelled out, completely psyched for its battle.
"Alright; Antly, you're the one!" he threw the Poké ball, and out came the small ant Pokémon, which Steph was all too familiar with.
"So, my opponent is an Antly, huh?" she eyed the Pokémon well. "I can handle that."
"The battle between Terry, of Ochreset City, and Steph, of Greenrod Town will now begin!" Jean yelled out and threw his hands to the air.
"Kipat, use Quick Attack!" the small Pokémon reacted to Steph's call and bounced off the floor and straight to Terry's Antly, its speed was quite amazing. The ant Pokémon took the hit, but managed to stay strong and on its feet.
"Good. Nice attack." Terry carefully watched Kipat's movements. "Antly, show them a real attack! Use Sand Attack!" His Antly began to dig its arms into the ground and throw sand at Kipat. The sand covered most of Kipat's body and it couldn't help shield its eyes. "Do it, Antly!" Steph heard Terry yell out.
When the sand stopped brewing, Steph noticed something weird. Antly was gone.
"What happened? Where's Antly?" she searched the whole battlefield. What she found was a hole on the ground. "A hole? Could it be?" She could only imagine where Antly was.
"Strike now!" Terry yelled out. His Antly sprung from under the ground and hit Kipat under the chin. Kipat stumbled back and fell on its rear.
"So it was hiding under the ground?" Steph stroked her chin slightly. "Kipat, use Tackle! Full power!" Her Kipat sprang towards Antly, quickly and with its head lowered.
"Avoid it! Use Dig, again!" Terry's Antly dug a hole quickly and burrowed underground. Kipat came short of hitting Antly, before the ant Pokémon hid itself.
"Darn it!" Steph was running out of ideas and she was starting to stress out.
"Strike now!" Terry commanded and his Antly sprung up. Steph's Kipat reacted quickly and sprang up to the air, avoiding Antly's strike.
"Good job, Kipat!" Steph was very proud at what her Pokémon did.
"Hmph." A smile started to form on Terry's face. "Antly, use Pound where Kipat lands." His Antly aimed well and smacked Kipat on the stomach, just before the jump mouse Pokémon's feet touched the ground.
Kipat fell back, it did not move…
