Chapter 9: Park Rivalries
(2:00 PM)
"So, you beat the Striaton Gym and got the Trio Badge? Awesome!" I'm currently talking to White on the Xtransceiver from the currently crowded Pokémon Center. My Pokémon are also eating, as they kind of didn't get a proper meal earlier. White's chilling on Route 2, enjoying the scenery with Burnetta and her other three Pokémon, Peace the Pidove, Sly the Purrloin, and Rose the Audino. She had just caught Rose today, after finding her hiding in some bushes. She said it was her easiest catch so far, as Rose didn't put up much of a fight.
"Yeah, it is. I was down to just Tepig against Chili's Pansear, and he learned Flame Charge just in time to win the battle. It was amazing, White. I wish you could've seen it. So, is your sightseeing going well?" She munches on an energy bar. I can hear her Pokémon talking in the background, which is saying something because the background noise around here is kinda loud.
"Uh huh! But I'll be honest… I'm looking forward to arriving in Striaton City. The Routes get boring real quick once you've seen all their interesting features. Bianca tells me there are a lot of good clothing outlets over there. Did she drag you along with her, or what?" I snicker. My Pokémon look up at me for a second, but then return to their food.
"Yeah, right. I'd just drag her down. The moment we left the Gym, she went to go find some place to shop. Hey, have you spoken to Cheren at all today?" A curly tendril pokes White's cheek, and Rose edges herself onto the screen.
"Rose, I'm talking to my brother right now. Say hi, Rose!" The Audino smiles at me and waves, greeting me with its high, friendly voice.
"Okay, Rose. Go play with Burnetta. I've got to keep on talking to Black." Rose leaves.
"No, I haven't. Have you?"
"Nope. I wonder where he's at right now. According to Bianca, he already beat the Gym, so he may have already left Striaton City. Let me add him to the conversation." As I start tapping his number in, the Center doors open and he walks in, looking bored.
"Well, speak of the geek. He just walked in. Hold on. Cheren!" I call out to him. His bored expression disappears when he sees me, and he sits down across from me.
"Hey, Black. How are you doing?" I twist my wrist so that the camera on the Xtransceiver faces him.
"Oh, I'm fine. Here's White!"
"Hi, Cheren! What's up?" Cheren looks at one of the windows in the Center, which shows the entrance to the Gym.
"I just got back from the Trainers' School down the street. Other than the Gym, that's been the most interesting place I've been to in this city. I've been walking around all day, trying to find something else to satiate my boredom. There are a couple of good bookstores and a decent arcade, but I've already been to all of those places. I was just about to pick up some items and leave for Nacrene City when Black called me over here."
"You haven't even been there one day and you're already planning to leave, Cheren?" He adjusts his glasses and looks at White on the display screen.
"Well, I've done all I can here. Route 3 isn't that long - even accounting for a couple of trainer battles and wild Pokémon encounters, I should be in Nacrene City before 5:00 if I leave by 2:30. I'd stay the night in the Pokémon Center over there and challenge the Gym the next morning."
"It sounds like you want to be able to challenge the Unova League by the end of next week! I don't think it's going to happen that quickly, Cheren. I mean, Unova is so much more than just a hit-list of Gyms!"
"I told you I saw some bookstores and an arcade earlier, right?" He slightly narrows his eyes at her, his tone becoming a little more impatient.
"Yeah, but it seems like you're just tacking that on there to make it seem like you're actually stopping to relax and have some fun! Part of our journey involves fun, you know."
"I have fun, White. It's just not the kind that you're having." Well, wasn't that a chipper tone he just used right there. I think he's starting to lose his patience with her, so I turn the Xtransceiver screen towards me again.
"Alright, guys. Let's not start ragging on each other's way of doing things. White, I'm sure Cheren and his Pokémon are both just fine doing things their way. Cheren, I don't know what you do every hour of the day, but White still has a point – this journey isn't solely about battling people and winning Gym Badges. Anyways. My Xtransceiver's battery is going into the danger zone, so I need to charge it. White, you take care of yourself, alright? We'll talk later." She looks at the upper-left corner as if she could still see Cheren. She sighs and then pushes Rose's curly ear off of the screen.
"Yeah. I will. See you later, Black!" The Audino edges herself onto the display right as it cuts off, which makes me snicker. Cheren slouches, looking bored again.
"What was funny, Black?" I snicker again as put my elbows on the table.
"Just White's Audino, Rose. Apparently she likes to hog the camera."
"So White caught an Audino, huh? How many Pokémon is that for her?"
"Four. I've only got three, which I used to win the Trio Badge earlier today." Cheren breaks out into a huge smile and sits up straight. I know that look. He always gets that look before telling one of us about something that really excites him, whether it's Sharpedo Week on the Pokéscovery Channel or the next cutting-edge game for the 3DS or the Wii U.
"What?"
"You have the Trio Badge?"
"Uh, yeah. I just said that." He pushes his glasses closer to his face and then stands up, which gets the attention of my Pokémon, who are now done with their meal.
"Then let's have a battle. Right now. I want to see which of us is stronger." I look to my Pokémon, who are now eagerly talking to themselves about it.
"You guys up are raring to go, huh?" Farfetch'd salutes me, and then stands up straight with his stalk at the ready in his wing. Pansage slams his fists together and grunts, while Tepig oinks in approval.
"Alright, Cheren. It's on. Three-on-three single battle?" I pick up my bag and get up from the table, picking up the plates my Pokémon had and throwing them in the trash.
"That's the one. Come on! I know where the public battlefields are." My Pokémon and I follow him out of the Center and down the street towards a well-kept park towards the edge of town. It's pretty active, with people playing Frisbee with each other and/or Lillipup and Herdier. Bird Pokémon help guide kites flown by four-year-olds, and a fisherman is sitting by a small pond in the distance. It doesn't have very many trees, but rather hedges trimmed to look like Pokémon, like Pidove, Pikachu, Minccino, and even Reshiram and Zekrom. Towards the northwestern edge of town are the battlefields – six of 'em, three of which are currently in use by trainers that are all my age and that use Pokémon I've seen before.
"Wouldn't it be easier to put these things near the Pokémon Center? I mean, one of us is going to have a fully exhausted team at the end of the battle." I mutter as I put my bag down at one side of an open field. Yeah, it wasn't really that long of a walk, but why put the fields all the way over here?
"Pokémon battles can get a lot more intense than a few Vine Whips and Water Guns, Black. Ever seen what a Hyper Beam can do to a wall? Besides, the Center doesn't have enough battlefields behind it to accommodate all of those people." True.
"That's enough talk, Cheren. Are you ready for this?" I expand Pansage's Poké Ball. Cheren pushes his glasses up on his nose and then points at me dramatically.
"Absolutely! Patrat, go!"
"Pansage, let's do this!" The Patrat looks at Pansage with a calm expression. It looks like it's carefully studying him, to try and see how he fights.
"Pansage, Vine Whip!" Pansage jumps forward and releases his vines at the Patrat. Without Cheren even commanding it to, it dodges them, its eyes never leaving Pansage.
"Okay. Pansage, use Lick!" He runs towards the Patrat, which stands there as if it isn't about to get hit by a potentially paralyzing attack. Pansage sticks out his tongue, ready to smack it, when Cheren calls out,
"Detect!" Patrat's eyes glow white and it jumps sideways in a blur, much faster than its previous dodge.
"Now use Crunch!" The Patrat growls and then leaps on Pansage, biting the right side of his face. The two start rolling on the ground, with Pansage trying to pry the annoying thing off and the annoying thing insisting on keeping its teeth sunk into him.
"Don't let it faze you! Lick it, Pansage!" Pansage's tongue slaps Patrat in the face, which gets it to finally let go. It only looks disgusted rather than damaged by the attack, wiping saliva off of it. Its movement looks fine, too.
"You should know better than to use a Ghost-type move on a Normal-type, Black! Sand-Attack!"
"Dodge to the left and use Vine Whip to trip it up!" The Patrat starts kicking up dust with its paws, but Pansage is able to get away from the cloud and grabs Patrat's legs, pulling upwards to send it falling onto the ground.
"Now let's go for some Fury Swipes!" Pansage leaps in the air, ready to scratch up Patrat's face.
"Detect!" Patrat's eyes glow and it rolls forward before Pansage can hit it, standing up facing him by the time Pansage lands on the ground.
"Leer! Then Crunch!" Now Patrat's eyes glow red, which honestly creeps me out, seeing as their eyes are already weird enough as it is. Unfortunately, Pansage is caught in the Patrat's gaze, which freezes him to the spot he's standing. The Patrat takes advantage of this and leaps forward, chomping on Pansage's face again and sending them both hurtling into the ground from the Patrat's momentum. Last time this happened, Lick only served to gross out the Patrat without actually damaging it. Isn't there a better way to get it to let go?
"Pansage, use Vine Whip to slap Patrat!" Even while writhing in pain from Crunch, Pansage manages to release its vines and smack Patrat repeatedly, which results in a game of who-will-stop-their-attack-first. Cheren narrows his eyes and merely says,
"Don't let up! Keep on biting it in different places until it faints!" Patrat lets go of Pansage's face and clamps its mouth on his leg. The grass monkey looks back to me with a pained expression, even as it continues to hit Patrat with increasingly weak slaps. That annoying thing hasn't even looked like it's taken any real damage! What gives? I guess Cheren earned that badge as much as I did if I can't even make a mark on his first Pokémon.
"Forget Vine Whip! Use Lick!" Pansage retracts his vines and attempts to graze the Patrat with his tongue, but the thing recognizes the tactic from earlier and lets go, stepping back a couple of paces. If anything, Lick only keeps the Patrat from chomping on Pansage. Wait. That's it.
"Pansage, chase after Patrat with your tongue!" Even though he's tired, Pansage lets his tongue hang loose, and starts swinging it about as he runs for Patrat. Cheren's Pokémon squeaks and dodges Pansage's repeated attempts to hit it, even if everyone knows the blow wouldn't do any real damage. What a quirk! It's a trait Cheren himself has – he's a germophobe just like this Patrat. What am I supposed to do with that, though, if I can't call in any of my other Pokémon without switching out Pansage? Unless…
"Now use Vine Whip at the same time! Stay close to Patrat!" Pansage grins and releases his vines while coming at the Patrat with his tongue.
"Detect! Then Crunch! Let's finish it!" Patrat's eyes glow and it does the blurry jump away from Pansage, but it hesitates after it dodges, its large red eyes glued to Pansage's tongue. That hesitation allows Pansage to whip it across the face with both of his vines, which sends it whirling into the ground face-down.
"Now we've got them! Fury Swipes and Lick at the same time! Quick!" Once again, Pansage jumps into the air, ready to slash Patrat in the back. Cheren bites his lip and hastily shouts,
"No! Patrat, turn around and use Crunch! Come on!" The Patrat rolls over as Pansage lands on top of it, repeatedly slashing at its face while licking its belly. Patrat shudders and cringes for two seconds before screaming and biting one of Pansage's hands, which makes him slash even harder with the other hand. The noise continues like that for a few seconds until Pansage falls over beside Patrat, whose screaming sounds worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. Thankfully, it stops when it runs out of energy. Both Pokémon are out of commission.
"I see. Patrat, return!" Cheren recalls it. I really hope his next Pokémon isn't as clever as that one, but knowing Cheren, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I recall Pansage. He's either going to send out Oshawott or something else, so Tepig's probably not the best choice.
"Out you go, Farfetch'd! Time to battle!" The bird comes out and salutes me before turning to face Cheren, who smiles as he returns Patrat's Poké Ball to his belt. He retrieves the next one and sends out a Purrloin. The cat Pokémon licks itself and then gives a nasty stare to Farfetch'd, who caws angrily and points its stalk at it.
"Now we'll see how strong your rare Pokémon really is." Cheren says with a devious tone. I narrow my eyes at the Purrloin. Those Pokémon have been nothing but trouble for me, and if it's anything like Patrat, it'll be even worse. If Farfetch'd falls too early, Tepig will be stuck facing Oshawott, and that won't turn out well.
"Farfetch'd, Cut!" Farfetch'd grabs his stalk in his mouth and takes to the air, rushing at the Purrloin. The Purrloin nimbly leaps away from the swinging stalk, and then starts licking itself again, like it doesn't even consider Farfetch'd a threat.
"Use Torment!" The Purrloin turns to face Farfetch'd as he flies around, and its eyes glow purple. Farfetch'd makes eye contact with it and gets angry, shouting and diving at it.
"Go with it! Fury Attack, Farfetch'd!"
"Sand-Attack!" The Purrloin jumps as it sends a cloud of dust into Farfetch'd's eyes, which forces him to land a few feet away to shake it off.
"Fury Swipes!"
"Get in the air and use Air Cutter!" Cheren's Pokémon is fast, but it's noticeably slower than the one Team Plasma used. Its attack misses and Farfetch'd haphazardly flies around for few seconds before releasing air blades from his wings, which the Purrloin is surprisingly unable to anticipate. Air Cutter's a direct hit, and Purrloin's lying on the ground while Farfetch'd is still in the air, raring to go.
"Again!" I command, but Farfetch'd just glares at his opponent as it gets up, cool as a cucumber.
"Farfetch'd? Come on, use Air Cutter!" It's like he can't hear me or something. What's going on?
"Torment prevents a Pokémon from using the same move over and over again." Cheren calmly states. I flinch. Not quite as annoying as Patrat's dodge-and-bite strategy or its screaming, but still annoying.
"Okay… Cut!" Farfetch'd hears me this time and flies at the Purrloin, its stalk ready to deal some damage. The cat Pokémon just dodges it again, however, and watches Farfetch'd as he flies around again, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
"Assist! Focus on Farfetch'd!" Purrloin's mouth generates a ball of white light, and then a torrent of water comes rushing from it at Farfetch'd. A torrent of water? How in the world?
"Get out of its way! Use Air Cutter!" Purrloin is not a Water-type, according to the Pokédex. How did it suddenly use Water Gun, then? That's a move I'd expect Oshawott to use, not Purrloin. Farfetch'd manages to get out of the way of the attack, but looks about as shocked as I do from seeing a purple cat Pokémon he recognizes use Water Gun.
"Assist calls upon a random move from the Pokémon in my party." Cheren explains with a prideful smile. So this cat can use any of the other moves Cheren' s team has, in addition to forcing Farfetch'd to have to go in for close-range attacks since Air Cutter is the only long-range move he knows? Leave it to the smartest member of the Nuvema Town crew to use tactics like that. But smarts aren't the only thing that determines the outcome of a battle. I'll show him that what we've got can beat him and his team. If he wants to be the best, he'll have to go through me multiple times to do it!
A/N: For your reference, here's the current team of each of the four main characters, if you're wondering about levels/movesets:
Black
Tepig [M] – Lv. 15 – Flame Charge, Ember, Defense Curl, Tail Whip – Ability: Blaze – Nature: Bashful
Farfetch'd [M] – Lv. 14 – Air Cutter, Fury Attack, Peck, Cut – Ability: Inner Focus – Nature: Brave
Pansage [M] – Lv. 13 – Vine Whip, Lick, Fury Swipes, Leer – Ability: Gluttony – Nature: Rash
Cheren
Oshawott [M] – Lv. 17 – Water Gun, Razor Shell, Tackle, Focus Energy – Ability: Torrent – Nature: Mild
Patrat [M] – Lv. 16 – Detect, Crunch, Leer, Sand-Attack – Ability: Run Away – Nature: Careful
Purrloin [F] – Lv. 16 – Torment, Sand-Attack, Fury Swipes, Assist – Ability: Limber – Nature: Sassy
Bianca
Snivy [M] – Lv. 14 – Vine Whip, Leer, Tackle, Wrap – Ability: Overgrow – Nature: Adamant
Lillipup (Angel) [F] – Lv. 14 – Bite, Leer, Tackle, Odor Sleuth – Ability: Vital Spirit – Nature: Jolly
Munna [F] – Lv. 14 – Psybeam, Lucky Chant, Yawn, Defense Curl – Ability: Forewarn – Nature: Timid
Panpour [M] – Lv. 14 – Water Gun, Lick, Fury Swipes, Leer – Ability: Gluttony – Nature: Modest
White
Tepig (Burnetta) [F] – Lv. 14 – Ember, Tackle, Tail Whip, Defense Curl – Ability: Blaze – Nature: Naive
Pidove (Peace) [F] – Lv. 14 – Gust, Growl, Leer, Quick Attack – Ability: Big Pecks – Nature: Hardy
Purrloin (Sly) [M] – Lv. 13 – Fury Swipes, Growl, Assist, Sand-Attack – Ability: Unburden – Nature: Lonely
Audino (Rose) [F] – Lv. 11 – DoubleSlap, Refresh, Growl, Helping Hand – Ability: Regenerator – Nature: Gentle