Ash was able to battle much better when he didn't know Danny was his true opponent, considering he was battling blind. Hawlucha seemed to enjoy the challenge though. Danny blocked the pokémon's high jump kicks and karate chops like a pro. He dodged the flying press and x-scissor with ease. Eventually Danny began to understand Hawlucha's style. It was flashy but strong although the pokémon rarely dodged, preferring to take a hit head-on. Ash was right. Danny could teach the pokémon a few defensive techniques.
"Alright! That's enough!" Danny shouted and took a definite step back out of the fight, sticky with sweat and panting slightly from the exertion. Ash scowled and pulled off his blindfold and blinked in shock to find that Slyveon wasn't even out of her pokéball. Serena waved at him from the side lines, blushing slightly.
"Good battle Ash. Hawlucha's strong. But very aggressive. A couple of defensive tactics thrown in will really help it in battle," Danny called breathlessly. Ash stepped out of the trainer's box.
"You… are you alright?" Ash asked nervously. He'd gone full out against, unknowingly, Danny. Danny smirked and nodded.
"Just great. Just need a breather. Haven't had a fight that intense for a while," Danny answered. Ash gulped guiltily. Danny glanced at the trainer. He straightened up and raised his arms up, placing his bare forearms in clear view.
"No breaks, hardly a bruise. I told you, I can take a hit," Danny assured the boy. Ash bit his lip and nodded, noticing that Danny was right. There wasn't even a hint of redness on the boy's arms from the fight.
"Alright, Hawlucha. How's your dodging?" Danny inquired. Hawlucha responded and grinned. He looked at Ash, having not understood the pokémon.
"Um, we could have a dodging session," Ash suggested. Danny nodded. Within moments Clemont had set up a throwing machine.
"The future is now thanks to science. I'd like to present my throw-o-matic. You simply place projectiles in here and use this lever to adjust the speed and quantity of the projectiles," Clemont explained.
"Science is so amazing!" Ash exclaimed in awe. Danny smirked having seen his share of inventions.
"I just hope it doesn't blow up in our faces," Bonnie muttered pessimistically, with a knowing frown.
Hawlucha stood in position and Clemont activated the machine. Small balls shot out of the machine and Hawlucha readily dodged them all, rather cockily in Danny's opinion. Gradually Clemont increased the speed and quantity of the projectiles and soon Hawlucha was out of its depth. It ended up being bowled over by two balls in quick succession hitting the pokémon in the face. Clemont instantly stopped the invention.
"Not nearly fast enough. Hawlucha should have lasted longer than that. Clemont turn it on and Hawlucha, watch how I dodge," Danny decided. Clemont complied and Danny hardly needed to move to dodge the first few balls. As the balls increased in speed and number, Danny eventually had to dodge by ducking down and side stepping, but he never lost his focus or seemed to be showing-off. The machine eventually ran out of projectiles.
Danny turned to Hawlucha.
"Don't get cocky. That's how you got beaten. Don't stop to celebrate a successful dodge when the next hit is coming," Danny scolded the pokémon. Hawlucha blinked and hung its head in apparent shame and nodded. Danny smirked at the pokémon.
"But if you fix that, you'll improve right away and if you made a note of how I dodged those balls, you should have picked up a couple of new techniques," Danny assured the pokémon. Hawlucha looked up and nodded happily and did a little shuffle that did look similar to one of the ways Danny had dodged the balls moments ago. Danny chuckled and nodded.
"But overall, Ash. Hawlucha is already a good fighter. Just need to work on that ego a bit. Flashy moves are fine as look as you don't act like a show-off so much that you forget you're in a fight," Danny concluded.
Clemont grinned at his invention.
"That's the first success I've had in a while," Clemont began proudly before the machine shuddered and smoke started to billow out of the vent on the side. Clemont's eyes widened and everyone scrambled away, Danny recognising the warning signs from experiences at home. The machine exploded, and Clemont, the only one near it, was covered in dust and soot. Danny smiled sympathetically.
"You jinxed it Clemont," Danny commented. Clemont sighed and gave a weak cough.
"Guess so. I wish I knew why my inventions explode!" Clemont exclaimed down-heartedly. Danny smiled and gave Clemont a shrug.
"Some questions have no answers," Danny offered as they set about cleaning up the mess they made of the battlefield with the scattered balls and machine parts.
They turned into bed an hour later, Nurse Joy providing them with a room with five beds. The next morning, Danny was the first up feeling the most rested he'd felt in a long time having gotten an entire night's sleep as opposed to a few hours. Danny decided to get up and explore the pokémon centre a bit. He didn't want to leave the building without letting his new friends know first and he had to wait until nightfall anyway from what he'd learned about the ghost pokémon festival.
Jessie, James and Meowth woke up early also, however this wasn't their choice. Skulker was back.
"Get up! If you want to catch that creature you prize you must rise earlier than it," Skulker called gruffly. The trio groggily sat up and turned to the ghost before scowling angrily.
"Look who it is. A double crosser," Meowth snarled. Skulker scowled at the pokémon.
"I did not double cross you. I never agreed to get that Pikachu for you. We agreed to use each other's talents to get closer. You three came up with the plan," Skulker reminded them. Team Rocket blinked in surprise before glancing at each other.
"However, I believe I have learned enough about those children to be able to create a situation where we all get what we want," Skulker added.
"Hold up. If you're going to work with us again, we'll need to be sure of getting something out of it. We heard that you're a ghost," Jessie interjected quickly. Skulker raised an eyebrow.
"And your point is?" Skulker prompted. Jessie grinned.
"Tonight there will be thousands of ghost pokémon in Pine Town. We want you to catch them for us, as payment for ruining our plan yesterday," Jessie explained. Skulker cocked his head.
"Would these ghost pokémon be important to the children?" Skulker inquired.
"Well, let us put it this way. If they see any pokémon being stolen, they butt in and ruin our plans," James answered bitterly. Skulker grinned.
"Then this idea of yours could provide the perfect bait," Skulker agreed.
So Skulker and the Team Rocket trio are up to no good again. Let me know what you guys think.
Until the next chapter.
