The grunts in the Windworks were disposed of quickly, though one did manage to knock out Dazzle and force me to and back from Floaroma again to heal her. Barry had clearly been training, too; his team now consisted of a level 18 Grotle, level 16 Staravia, and level 14 Buizel, all males.
However, when it came down to who battled Mars, Barry unintentionally left it to me for one reason. His whole team had been poisoned by one of the previous grunts, and he needed to run for the Pokecenter to heal them. He also didn't really know there was a Galactic Commander to be battled, so he took off like a bullet from a gun, as always.
I made my way to the back of the Works, and just as I was about to call her for a battle, I got a very mean-spirited idea. I've read one of the books of the Diamond-Pearl manga that followed Hareta, and it was the one where I learned that he confused Mars' name to be Mabs. It annoyed the bajeezus out of her there, so why couldn't I use that now?
Dazzle whined on my back, a little worried about my sudden pause. I snapped out of my evil mindset and started up to the red-haired admin. "Mars?" I questioned, keeping a tone of mild respect.
"Oh, hello there, little Rattata. It's you who's been making a mess out of our operations here, isn't it?" Mars replied, her voice sweet as poison.
"Yep, me and my bud. But thing is, we really don't want you people here causing trouble. You're scaring the local residents and Pokemon, so I'd appreciate it if you and your troops here would buzz off." I replied, and both Credere and Kira snarled beside me as if to enforce my point. Dazzle just kept clinging to my back, watching the scene unfold.
Mars smiled coyly. "How about we make a deal, little Rattata? Say we battle. If I win, you and your friend leave. If you win, Team Galactic will leave."
"Deal," I said instantly, rolling my shoulders. Dazzle took this as a sign to get off – which it was – and hopped down in front of me, poised for more fighting. Mars sent out a Zubat, which was finished in a matter of three turns with Water Gun (somehow Dazzle could pull water from even linoleum). Mars scowled at me, reballing it and sending out her signature Pokemon – Purugly.
I waved Dazzle back, not wanting to risk her getting hurt. "Okay, Credere, please don't hate me now," I said, and he lazily sauntered forward.
The next few rounds consisted of disobedience, the occasional Headbutt, and several hardly effective Scratch and Faint Attack moves from the Purugly. At one point Credere decided to use Take Down, which shoved his HP bar down into the red area, which provoked me into wasting my only Super Potion. After that, though, he KO'd the Purugly.
Mars, in short, did NOT look very happy. "Very well, then. We did have a deal," she grumbled. Two seconds later my vision was totally obscured by some sort of smoke bomb, and when it cleared all the Galactic grunts were gone.
A man emerged, coughing, from the dissipating smoke. I approached him quickly, a little concerned. "Did they work you too hard?"
"Not too bad..." he answered, straightening back up. "Thanks for driving them off, though." Suddenly I heard not one, but two sets of running feet behind me. I wasn't sure which way to jump, so I just cringed on the spot. Barry and the little girl came bolting up, and the girl immediately tackled her father. "DADDY!"
Barry glanced around anxiously, searching for the Galactic grunts. "Where'd they go? Didja see them, Hannah?"
"Yeah...while you were out healing your team, I sorta took on the last of them. I would have waited for you, but we'd kinda ticked them off and I didn't want to risk anything."
Barry looked a little pouty about this, but the expression quickly faded. "True. We got rid of them and the girl got her dad back, and that's what counts."
"That just won you a fist-bump, dude," I said, holding up my fist. He tapped his own to it, and I glanced to the father and daughter. The girl was giggling and making comments about her stinky daddy, and I just smiled, watching them.
To be brutally honest to myself and anyone reading this, I'm always kinda touchy about father-daughter stuff when it gets this emotional. I was an illegitimate birth, and my dad ditched my mom as soon as he found out she was pregnant. I see him once every three or five years, and I have a great stepdad, but sometimes I wish my biological dad had stayed around.
"Well, since things look cleared up here, I'm going to Eterna City to get the next badge," Barry announced. "Five seconds till I dash! Five! Four! ThreetwooneZERO!" He was off again, leaving me standing there stupidly with a Buizel on my back and a Luxio and Cranidos standing at my sides.
After another minute, I left myself and checked the stats of my Pokemon. Dazzle was at level 11 already, and at some point had forgotten Growl and replaced it with Pursuit. Credere was level 16, and Kira was still at level 17.
I decided to level-grind with the other two until they reached level 17 as well, which blew the rest of my day on Route 205. I found an X Attack, Antidote (thank you God!), pokeball, and Repel, along with an Oran and Pecha Berry. Dazzle forgot Water Sport and learned Swift as well. After they all hit level 17, I headed back to Floaroma and restocked my stuff; the final result was one of all the status healers (except there were five Antidotes), five Potions, five Super Potions, and ten pokeballs.
It was still only about six by that time, which left me with plenty of free time. I spent a lot of it typing up most of the chapters you've read so far. The rest I spent trying to find Lucas so I could have a rematch with him.
I know this is a painfully short chapter, but there's nothing else interesting to say. And just so you people out there know, if there's anything you want me to check for you people while I'm out here, just drop the question or request in the review thingamajigger. I mean, why not make the most of the situation?
Okay, I'll shut up for real and hopefully have something interesting happen in the next chapter. Hannah, out.