"I challenge you!" Wolfy heard spoken calmly but with such confidence it was almost frightening. He and Loca both turned to see a tall man in a long, black coat standing on the path behind them. His long blue fringe cut across his face, obscuring one of his eyes. He wore jeans and a grey t-shirt under his jacket but Wolfy couldn't see any signs of a backpack or any travel items, the mystery trainer was obviously local.
They had only been walking for a couple hours but had finally escaped the clutches of the long grass and found a path headed to Naxren Town. Wolfy had been keeping his eyes out for a third Pokémon but had yet to see anything he wanted to train. Loca kept poking fun at him saying he was being picky and should just catch anything; she was impatient to battle him and try out her new Pokémon.
"Sure, why not," Wolfy replied setting down his bag at the edge of the dirt path, Gible instantly jumped down and stood next to him eagerly.
"Hey!" Loca said slapping his arm, "You're supposed to be finding a third Pokémon so you can battle me!"
"You only have two Pokémon?" the mystery trainer laughed loudly at him, "A fresh one huh? No matter, a battle's a battle!"
"My thoughts exactly!" Wolfy called back, there was something about this guy that he didn't like, he seemed too much of a brute to train Pokémon.
"Fine, two on two, first trainer to knock out both of the other's Pokémon wins!" he called as he stepped back to create enough space to battle in, "Go Pawniard!"
The trainer threw out his Pokéball and once the white light cleared there was a small Pokémon stood before them, it was just under two feet tall and only a little smaller than Gible. It was almost human shape except for its overly large head and the four blades that stuck out of its black torso. Its red and black head had another blade protruding from the centre whilst a single thinner blade stuck out from the end of its red arms instead of hands. Wolfy pulled out his Pokédex to find out what he was up against. Pawniard, the Sharp Blade Pokémon. Ignoring their injuries, groups of them stick the blades, which comprise their bodies, into larger enemies. If their blades dull they sharpen them on rocks by the river.
"Ok, it's a Steel and Dark type so you're up Gible!" Wolfy said turning to his partner whilst Loca moved to the edge of the path. Gible's Dig attack would be super effective against a steel type like Pawniard; he had to be careful to avoid the blades as much as possible however.
"I move first kid," the trainer called, "Pawniard, use Metal Claw!"
Instantly the Pawniard sprinted towards Gible, the blades on its arms began to glow white as it got closer. "Gible, Dig!" Wolfy called, he was impressed at how quickly Gible managed to dig through the ground, he could see why Gible was called the Land Shark Pokémon. Gible circled around Pawniard a few times before coming back up underneath it, knocking it tumbling through the air. Pawniard fell to the ground with a massive thump that shook the ground; it was a heavy Pokémon meaning they'd dealt it a lot of damage.
"Pawniard get up you weakling!" the trainer called to his Pokémon as it tried to regain its footing, "Now use Metal Claw again but don't miss or else!"
"Hey," Wolfy shouted to the trainer, "Your Pawniard is trying its best, take it easy!"
"Shut up kid!" the trainer yelled harshly, "Go, use Metal Claw again!"
Gible dug underground again to dodge without having to be told, this angered the trainer even further. Wolfy couldn't understand why he was pushing his Pokémon around like that; couldn't he see that Pawniard was trying its hardest?
Gible emerged behind Pawniard, poking its head above ground. "Gible use Dragon Rage!" The blue glow appeared again before the little dragon released all the energy at Pawniard. The ball rose and fell in an arc, impacting the ground before it reached Pawniard but it was still caught in the edges of the blast. Pawniard fell back unconscious.
"Damn you, you useless excuse for a Pokémon!" the mysterious challenger roared at his unconscious Pawniard before he returned it to its Pokéball.
"Chill out!" Wolfy called as he started to become angry at how the trainer treated his Pokémon with such disrespect, "If you would just-"
"Shut it!" he shouted interrupting Wolfy mid-sentence, "I will use my Pokémon how I see fit!"
"Wow, what an idiot," Loca said just loud enough for Wolfy to hear. Wolfy didn't smile, this man's behaviour was unacceptable, and where did he get off treating Pokémon like that?
"Go Riolu!" he yelled as his second Pokémon appeared in the flash of the Pokéball. Riolu was a short, blue and black Pokémon that seemed almost like a dog standing up. A black strip of fur ran from one floppy black ear to the other across its face, surrounding its kind eyes in a way that almost looked like a mask. Its blue tail was long and had a slight crook at the end. Wolfy pulled out his Pokédex to find out more about it. Riolu, the Emanation Pokémon. It uses the power of Aura, which changes with emotion, to communicate with other Pokémon. Its powerful arms and legs give it a strong fighting ability.
"Gible come back," Wolfy called, he didn't want to risk Gible against such a strong looking Pokémon, "Go Charmander!"
The black shadow from Charmander's Dusk ball cleared to reveal the orange lizard, as soon as he saw his opponent he flexed his muscles and his tail flame roared stronger in determination. As soon as Riolu saw the flames Wolfy felt a shock go through his body, an image appeared in his mind of a burning house. He felt trapped, surrounded by the flames with no escape. It was over as quick as it had started but it left Wolfy shocked, what was that?
"Are you ok Wolfy?" Loca asked looking at him concerned.
"Yeah I think so," Wolfy said taking a few steadying breaths, the image in his mind was gone but the fear was lingering. He didn't know where that image had come from but before he could think further the trainers voice broke through.
"Riolu stand and fight!" he roared as Riolu cowered back slightly, Charmander looked confused at the odd behaviour of both Pokémon and trainer, "Don't be a coward!"
Riolu turned to see the rage on its trainer's face and its fear got stronger. Another shock passed through Wolfy's every muscle, causing him to fall to one knee. Another image passed through his mind, a Flamethrower coming from the trainers Camerupt. Wolfy could feel the heat of the flames as they burned his skin, the fear of knowing he would have to be attacked like that over and over again.
"Stop!" Wolfy roared dispelling the memory; he knew now where it was coming from. The little Riolu was communicating with Wolfy through its aura, without meaning to show him, it had shown Wolfy the memories which caused it so much fear. "Why do you make Riolu get hit by Camerupt's flamethrower? Are you trying to toughen it up? It's just cruel!"
"Been spying on our training sessions have you?" the trainer asked angrily, "How I train my Pokémon is none of your business kid, stay out of it! Riolu use Force Palm on Charmander!"
Riolu looked back to Charmander and the image of the burning house passed through Wolfy's mind once more. The Riolu must have been trapped in a burning building when it was younger; it had a phobia of fire. The trainer couldn't see, or wouldn't see, that Riolu was too scared of Charmander's tail flame to move.
"I said attack!" the trainer yelled at Riolu, pulling his hand back as if to slap the Pokémon with the back of his hand. Wolfy couldn't think of anything, all he saw and all he felt was Riolu's fear. Before he knew what he was doing he tackled the trainer, knocking both of them from their feet. They rolled for a few feet before they came to a stop, Wolfy jumped to his feet and braced himself for the trainer's counter attack. Wolfy felt Riolu's confusion at his kindness, he'd been with the trainer for a long time and had never been shown such kindness from a human before.
"What do you think you're doing?!" the trainer roared angrier than ever, "I told you not to interfere with my Pokémon!" Charmander ran in front of his trainer, steadying himself so he was ready to defend him. In that moment Wolfy felt Riolu's comprehension that his trainer was a bad person, it was clear to him in the way Wolfy's Charmander protected him that they cared about each other greatly. Loca quickly stepped up to the side and a little behind Wolfy, Elliot in front of her growling at the brute.
"I won't let you hurt Riolu or any other Pokémon!" Wolfy yelled at him as he rose to his feet.
"Char-Char- Charmander-Char!" Charmander growled his agreement as Elliot yapped and growled too. Gible joined in the growling weakly but it sounded closer to a purr than a growl.
"It's not fair on the Pokémon to treat them like that," Loca called with a little waver in her voice, "Pokémon are our friends, we don't hurt our friends!"
Wolfy felt a flush of power run through him as Riolu heard their words and read their auras, he saw the truth; he didn't need to be bullied anymore. He had always assumed that that was how all humans treated Pokémon; he never thought that humans could be friends with Pokémon or that a human would risk themselves to protect him.
The trainer looked around at the five that stood before him, ready to fight if they had to. He was clearly annoyed at the fact he was outnumbered but managed to compose himself. "I was going to let the little runt go anyway, he's too weak to be of any use."
With that the trainer held out Riolu's Pokéball and held down the button on the front, after a few seconds a white light appeared around Riolu before dissipating in a shower of multi-coloured sparks. Riolu was free now. The trainer then turned around and stalked off trying to appear as though he had won anyway.
Once he was out of sight they all relaxed and turned to Riolu, Gible Jumped down from Wolfy's shoulders and sauntered up to Riolu. He grabbed his and started dancing around, Riolu stood there awkwardly not sure what to do. Elliot walked over and greeted Riolu with a few happy yaps before Gible released Riolu and started chasing Elliot again. Riolu watched the two playing obviously not knowing what to make of the strange actions of the two Pokémon. Charmander ran over to Riolu but stopped as soon as he saw Riolu was about to bolt, his whole body drooped as he realised Riolu was still afraid of his flame.
"Charmander thank you for your help, return," Wolfy said as a red beam shot out of the Dusk ball, engulfing Charmander in a red light before drawing him back into the ball. He then turned to Loca, "Thank you for backing me up, I really appreciate it."
"Anytime," she replied with a smile before the both turned back to Riolu who was still standing there awkwardly, "How did you know all that stuff about him being afraid of fire?"
"He told me," Wolfy said honestly, "Not on purpose, I don't think but somehow I saw some of his memories. He was trapped in a burning building once, he was scared and alone and the flames surrounded him. He thought he was going to die."
"Riolu's communicate through auras right?" Loca said crossing her arms in thought, "Maybe your aura is compatible with Riolu's or something and that's how you could see his memories?"
"Maybe," Wolfy said before dropping to one knee so he could speak to Riolu properly, "You don't have to be afraid, you're free now."
"Ri?" Riolu said and another image came to Wolfy's mind, the trainer about to slap him and Wolfy tackling the trainer.
"I couldn't let him hurt you," Wolfy replied feeling the question behind the picture, "No trainer should ever hurt their Pokémon. Anyway you don't have to be afraid of him, he can't hurt you anymore."
Riolu took a moment to comprehend what Wolfy said before his eyes became watery, soon tears dampened the black fur around his eyes and it hugged Wolfy's leg. Wolfy was shocked at the action, as the little Pokémon bawled against his jeans Wolfy felt Riolu's relief and gratitude and happiness all mix together. Wolfy smiled and hugged the Pokémon back, this made him cry harder. The little Pokémon had never been shown such kindness and was feeling overwhelmed, he couldn't help it.
Gible and Elliot continued to run around them chasing one and other, too caught up in their game to see what was going on between them. After a minute Loca finally spoke softly, "I think Riolu might want to go with you Wolfy."
Both Pokémon and human raised their heads to look at Loca, "What?" Wolfy asked dumbfounded, it had only just gained its freedom; surely it wouldn't want to be caught again?
"Think about it," she said as if it was obvious, "It's crying in your arms even though it must surely not trust humans, you can see its memories because your auras are similar, you just saved it from being beaten. Do you not think it might want to stay with you?"
Wolfy looked back to Riolu, through his tears he could see determination in his eyes, "Do you want to come with us?" Riolu eyed Charmander's Dusk ball wearily before looking in Wolfy's eyes and nodding. They both smiled at each other, Wolfy pulled out a Pokéball and offered it to Riolu. The Pokémon tapped the button with his paw and became engulfed in white light as the ball opened, drawing in the light. It only beeped once before the bong confirmed that Riolu was caught.
"Will you ever catch a Pokémon like a normal trainer?" Loca asked almost to herself before they both started walking north again. Naxren Gym was still waiting for their challenges, every step bringing them closer to finding Drake and entering the Lillen League.
