Chapter 10
The Intro Tactics
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"…I see…uh, my next question," Miles stuttered adjusting his headband. "Is what's up with the sack? I assume its something important to both Team Atmos and you…"
"What makes you think that it's important to me?" Cruz asked turning to the sack, pushing up his glasses slightly.
"You seemed adamant on the subject with Team Atmos," Miles retorted crossing his arms.
"Did I?" Cruz questioned turning towards Lee and Absol having an argument. "…Well, why don't you open the sack, and see for yourself?"
"…I've got a feeling that if I do, I'm going to regret it," Miles sighed shaking his head. "And I've already regret Lee…"
"-Hey!-" Lee barked turning away from his argument with Absol.
"I still stand by my statement," Miles sighed turning back to Cruz.
"…then I guess you'll have that question plaguing your mind for a long time," Cruz chuckled turning towards Lee and Absol, a devious smirk appearing on his face. "…wouldn't you agree Lee?"
"You wouldn't dare," Miles stated glaring daggers at the mischievous Riolu.
"-Yeah! The overcoat man is right!-" Lee announced with flames in his eyes before he leapt towards the sack.
"Lee! Wait!" Miles shouted throwing his hand up. "If you have any shred of respect for me as your trainer, you will not open that sack!"
"-…-" Lee stood next to the top of the sack, turning to the sack and then Miles a few times. "-…I'm just a mischievous little pup!-"
"NO!"
"Return Lee!"
"-What?!-" Lee shouted before the small red laser pulled the Riolu back into the pokeball that Miles held in his hand.
"Man…I would like to shake the hand of the guy who made these things," Miles sighed miniaturizing the ball.
"That was quick thinking, kid," Cruz stated crossing his arms as Absol sighed loudly.
"-…sometimes I wish I could do that to Cruz…-" Absol moaned before curling up next to the bed.
"Hey!" Cruz shouted narrowing his eyes at Absol.
"-I still stand by my statement…-" Absol yawned turning away from Cruz.
"…anyway, I think this pokeball is defective," Miles sighed snapping the ball on the back of his belt. "Riolu…er, I mean, Lee, keeps getting out."
"Eh, don't know how to help ya," Cruz replied adjusting his hat. "So, now what are you planning on doing?"
That was something Miles had to take a few seconds to consider. Taking the situation that just occurred, along with the fact that Val and Kurai could walk into the room at any second to see Cruz sitting in the room, Miles shook his head before answering. "Well, someone suggested that I should try the gym league challenge…"
"Suggested? You mean that you didn't want to do it in the first place?" Cruz asked raising an eyebrow at Miles.
"Heck no!" Miles answered immediately, snapping his arms into an 'X' shape over his chest. "I was even forced to be a trainer…although…looking back; I think was actually tricked…"
"…huh…that's new…" Cruz muttered. "I've heard of a few trainers being forced to continue a tradition for a family line of trainers…but being tricked…"
"...don't rub it in," Miles sighed rubbing his eyes.
"Hey, don't worry, kid," Cruz laughed standing up, patting his chest with his right hand. "You've got Cruz Wolfgang here to help you out!"
"-…I'd run if I were you kid,-" Absol chuckled shaking his head.
"Quiet you," Cruz snapped towards Absol who just turned his head to sleep again. "As an experienced trainer, it's only natural that I give rookie trainers some pointers!"
"…I think I'm going to listen to Absol on this," Miles stated slowly inching towards the door.
"Nonsense!" Cruz shouted throwing his arm around Miles's neck. "I'll help you young man!"
"Oh, Groudon no!" Miles shouted until a flash of light erupted from his belt, forming into Lee (who was currently adjusting his scarf). "Great, more trouble…"
"Absol, keep an eye on things will ya?" Cruz replied opening the door, all the while keeping his death hold on Miles's neck.
"-As you wish sir…-" Absol yawned back, cracking his neck slightly.
"Lee…please try to not to open the sack…" Miles chocked before the door was closed behind him.
A few seconds passed as Lee watched the door. "-Okay! Now they're gone!-" Lee announced jumping next to the sack. "-Let's have a look in that sack!-"
SMACK!
Before Lee could even get his paws onto the rope that kept the sack closed, Absol had jumped from his relaxed state and slammed his thin (yet powerful tail) into Lee's stomach, sending the small fighting pokemon to the ground.
And jumping onto his hind paws, Lee glared daggers at the disaster pokemon. "-Hey! What in the world is up with you?!-"
Shaking his head at the young pokemon, Absol slowly lowered his body till he was lying in front of the sack. "-Your trainer asked only that you didn't open the sack…you should respect that one request.-"
"-Humph!-" Lee scoffed to the side crossing his arms. "-Why are you so die hard about that? Its not like Miles is your trainer, and Mr. Coat didn't tell you to guard the bag.-"
"-…true, but, still, you have to follow your trainer's requests, even if they seem absurd,-" Absol answered bluntly closing his eyes. "-And unfortunately, your trainer's request wasn't absurd at all. I'm just making sure that you honor that promise-"
"-Huh?-" The confused Riolu stated, many question marks appearing over his head. "-That still doesn't mean that you…-"
"-…how old are you?-" Absol interrupted quite bluntly.
"-What?-" Lee asked.
"-Answer the question,-" Absol stated, narrowing his red eyes at the small Riolu. "-How old are you?-"
Scratching the side of his head, Lee stuttered at his answer. "-Uh…well, three…four days, I think?-"
"-Hmm…I see…-" Absol chuckled shaking his head. "-It's rather interesting that a pokemon that young can acquire so much information…and yet you seemed to have gotten quite vulgar so soon…-"
Puffing his chest out, Lee pointed his paw towards Absol. "-Oh yeah! You wanna say that again?-"
"-Why waste my breath?-" Absol chuckled shaking his head. "-You're too stubborn, and more than likely you'll become a crutch to your trainer at one time or another…-"
"-That does it!-" Lee shouted jumping into the air, lifting his glowing paw up ready to slam it into Absol's face. "-You need to shut up!-"
As Lee threw his palm towards Absol, the disaster pokemon kept his eye at the fighting pokemon…
…only to have Absol's glowing Iron Tail block the Force Palm attack. "-W-What the?!-"
"-…you're a few years short of beating me kid,-" Absol sighed snapping his tail forward to send Lee flying backwards into the wall with a loud slam. "-…I think I may have over done it…-"
"-…ow…-" Lee moaned slowly peeling himself off of the wall.
"-My bad,-" Absol chuckled with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head. "-Ahem… anyway, I hope you learned your lesson…-"
"-…what lesson would that be again?-" Lee groaned rubbing his sore little black nose.
"-Respect your trainer's wishes,-" Absol answered not noticing that the sack began to move slightly.
"-And that got me Iron Tailed all the way across the room?-" Lee asked crawling on the bed next to Absol.
"-The harshest lessons must be slammed into us sometimes…-" Absol stated lowering his head.
"-…um, Absol…-" The Riolu stated not looking at Absol, but rather the sack.
"-Yeah rookie?-" Absol asked.
"-…should a sack move around?-" Lee questioned getting Absol to turn around to see the sack struggling unusually.
"-Uh…not to my knowledge…-" Absol stated nudging the sack with his tail.
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Time: 11:47 a.m.
Location: Burgundy Town,
Restaurant District
"…and I'll have the club sandwich, hold the mayo, with extra tomato," Cruz stated handing the waitress the menu.
"You got it sir!" The waitress replied before walking away.
"…ya know, you could've told me that we were going to lunch," Miles growled, narrowing his eyes at Cruz.
"It was hard to tell you when you wouldn't listen," Cruz replied rubbing his chin slightly. "…but now then, I think its time we got serious here."
"I'm afraid to ask about what…" Miles sighed slapping his forehead. "…And I think I already know what you're going to talk about…"
"Alright, then why don't you tell me what I'm going to talk about then," Cruz suggested lifting his coffee up to his lips.
"You're planning on telling me to take the league challenge," Miles stated, almost making Cruz spit out his coffee. "And you'd probably go into an explanation about how I'd do it…"
"…well, for someone tricked into being a trainer, you've got a fair amount of information," Cruz coughed a few times before placing his coffee onto the table. "But, you're only half right."
"…great, just what I need," Miles groaned nursing his orange soda. "Another stipulation…"
"Now, from what I saw from your battle about an hour ago," Cruz stated crossing his arms over his chest. "…you're not all that great."
"…thanks for the vote of confidence," Miles muttered with a dark aura appearing over his head.
"…let me finish kid," Cruz coughed with a large droplet of sweat rolling down the side of his head. "You may not be great…but I was at the same level you were once…I may not know how you got forced or tricked to be a trainer, but a famous poker player once said that it's not the cards your dealt…"
"…it's how you use them."
"Yeah, I heard that line a few times from my brother," Miles admitted before finishing his orange soda with one final gulp. "But…still, how does that apply to me?"
Slamming his hands onto the table, Cruz made Miles (and pretty much anyone sitting near them) jump up slightly. "Sorry, but I know you got a raw deal on this trip of yours…heck, I'm probably betting that you don't care at all if you succeed on this little venture of yours."
"But, like I said, you've got to deal with it. I'm in no position to tell you what to do with your journey, but if you get onto the gym league challenge, then you can make a name for yourself. Who knows, you might even be the one who beats the champion."
"May I ask why you even care about what I do?" Miles asked, regretting that he finished his orange soda so soon.
"…do I need a reason to help someone?" Cruz retorted placing his elbows on the table.
"…yeah, that really clears things up," Miles muttered rolling his eyes. "Maybe I should just quit while I'm ahead…"
"Regardless, kid," Cruz said taking his glasses off to wipe them on his overcoat's sleeve. "You're a trainer…you've got two pokemon, and I'm willing to bet by now that you've got a couple of friends who are also trainers…"
Miles's mind flashed, thinking of Valerie and Kurai…that's when another thought crossed his mind. 'Hey…what would happen if Kurai and Val returned to the room while Lee, Absol and that sack are in there?'
"…what would they think if you just quit?" Cruz continued breaking Miles's train of thought.
Although he didn't know them that well, Miles did like to think Val and Kurai as friends. They were the first people he met around his age when he got to Serene Town, granted he did get a head injury in the process, but that was beside the point.
Then there was the two pokemon Miles had, sure one was a pain in the neck, and the other was shy, but…but maybe, there could be a chance that they could get along…
"…I don't know…" Miles muttered lowering his head to the side.
"Well then, now you've got to ask yourself…" Cruz stated pushing his glasses to cover his face with his hand. "…when is the food getting here?"
"Wait, what?!" Miles yelped with a bead of sweat appearing on the side of his head.
"…Yeah, I'm getting hungry," Cruz admitted rubbing his stomach. "I mean we ordered a while ago and we're still waiting."
"I thought you were going to say something inspiring!" Miles snapped slamming his fist onto the table.
"What? Oh no," Cruz chuckled waving his hands up. "I'm just hungry, haven't you been listening at all?"
"What?! I thought that you were talking about what my friends and pokemon would think if I were to quit?" Miles questioned raising an eyebrow.
"…which conversation were you listening to?" Cruz chuckled blinking a few times. "I was talking about if I should've ordered the pizza instead of the club sandwich."
"Latios, what have I done to deserve this?" Miles moaned slamming his head directly into the table with a loud bang.
"Heh, you starting to regret your order now too, kid?" Cruz asked crossing his arms.
"…no, I'm regretting getting out of bed this morning," Miles sighed.
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Time: 12:01 p.m.
Location: Tempest Forest,
Temp Town Entrance
"Oh man, oh man, oh man!" Ikki shouted plopping the still knocked out Maxwell to the ground. "We're dead! Not only did we fail to get that package away, but Admin Maxwell got defeated and knocked out! We're so dead!"
"Shut up! You don't need to say that common knowledge!" Lena roared throwing Maxwell's cane into the ground. "I was there!"
"I'm just making sure we're all on the same page," Ikki replied falling down to the ground with a sigh.
"The same page?" Lena questioned with a large blood vessel appearing on her neck. "There's only one page, and you know what's on it? We suck!"
"Hey, I'm just trying to keep everyone updated," Ikki countered crossing his arms.
"Everyone? There were only five people at the scene!" Lena growled with her eyebrow twitching. "Two of them are the guys who beat us, we were there, and Admin Maxwell is unconscious cause of it!"
"Yeah, now everyone's up to speed," Ikki chuckled rubbing the side of his head. "But…now what do we do?"
"What do you think?" Lena spat out narrowing her eyes at Ikki. "We're going to go back the moment Admin Maxwell wakes up! And we're going to take down that coat wearing freak and that little punk!"
"…enough you two fools!"
Both Lena and Ikki were frozen thanks to the cold voice, but slowly, the two turned their head to see Maxwell sitting up rubbing his bruised face. "…we were defeated soundly and we were forced to keep out half of the bargain…"
"But sir! We're not supposed to hold our end of the deal!" Lena growled crossing her arms. "We're Team Atmos and…"
"That doesn't matter!" Maxwell shouted jumping to his feet, scarring the two Atmos Grunts. "Unlike the shameful Venomous Fang Order, we've got honor to uphold…"
"Sir! Are you actually saying that we're giving up?" Ikki gasped taking a step back.
"…of course not you twit," Maxwell growled snatching up his cane from the ground. "For the moment we'll retreat…but remember what Mr. Coat told us…his promise did not dictate that we would give up our mission, we'll just hide in the shadows for a while…"
"Yeah! Now that's what we're talking about!" Lena and Ikki shouted into the air at the same time.
"…or rather, you two will…" Maxwell finished crossing his arm over his stomach, all the while rubbing his bruised face.
"WHAT?!" Ikki and Lena yelped at the same time, both with widened eyes.
"…I've got a vacation to get back to," Maxwell sighed combing his hair back with his hand.
"But sir!" Ikki shouted before the cane was pointed towards him. "Urk!"
"This decision is final," Maxwell muttered, still feeling some of the pain of the powerful punch that Cruz had delivered a couple hours ago. "…now if you excuse me, I need to find me a cold compress."
"…But sir!" Ikki yelped, only to get slammed in the head by the end of Maxwell's cane. "OOF!"
"…shut up," Maxwell growled turning his head around to glare at the two with his dark gray eyes, open for the second time this day. "…lets remember that you two were the first to fail, you lost the package in the first place! You're lucky I don't destroy the two of you right now!"
"Uh…y-yes sir…" Lena muttered saluting meekly as Maxwell began to walk away.
"Should you two need help, feel free to call the main base," Maxwell continued to walk past the two. "I'll see if I can get an agent to get out here to help you…"
Staggering away, Maxwell waved his hand back to the two surprised grunts. "…later…"
Lena groaned slapping her head. "…great, we're alone again…"
"Great," Ikki growled sitting up, rubbing the newest bruise that had appeared on his head. "I'm stuck with a homicidal girl who just keeps on giving me brain damage… I can't do math anymore…"
POW!
"OW! Now I forgot pop culture references!"
"Great more of this," Lena growled shaking her head, this was going to be one big headache until this job got done.
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Time: 12: 13 p.m.
Location: Burgundy Town,
PKM Center,
Outside Trainer RM 7
"Ah! Now that's what I call a lunch!" Cruz sighed adjusting his glasses slightly as he followed Miles through the halls towards the trainer room where Lee and Absol were hopefully waiting for them.
"…yeah, but normally when you invite someone to lunch," Miles growled slapping his forehead. "You pay for their meal!"
"You've got good money," Cruz countered wagging his finger at Miles. "Sides, this is the real world kiddo."
'Did I just get demoted from kid to kiddo?' Miles thought raising an eyebrow as he slowly wrapped his hand around the door's handle. Slowly, Miles began to turn the handle until…
BAM!
"URGH!" Miles yelped as Lee was thrown directly into his face, sending the forced trainer into the wall across from the door.
"-…my head…-" Lee moaned as he and Miles fell to the ground.
"Hmm…what's going on here?" Cruz asked not stepping in front of the doorway to turn towards Miles.
"-About time you got back sir,-" Absol stated trotting out of the room shaking his tail slightly at seeing Lee knocked out. "-…dang, not a bad throw…-"
"WHAT THE HELL!?"
"…Absol, what happened?" Cruz asked crouching down to be eye level with the disaster pokemon.
"-I assume that you remember that your young friend told that pup to not open the sack?-" Absol asked back as Cruz nodded back. "-Well…you see…the sack was moving, so that little runt opened it and well…-"
"Where the hell am I?"
With a dazed Riolu next to him, Miles slowly stood up, shaking his pounding head. When he looked back into the room, his eyes widened slightly. "Hey! You're that con girl from this morning!"
Indeed it was the same girl a couple of hours ago from the card stand, albeit she had a nasty scowl aimed at Miles and Lee. "And you're that jerk that took my money!"
"But I won that fairly!" Miles retorted before Lee leapt to Miles's shoulder.
"-I was the one who won!-" Lee growled, throwing his paw into the air at the girl. "-And you thank someone for helping ya by throwing them!?-"
"Oh my, there was a person in that sack?" Cruz gasped walking next to Miles, his gloved hands clapped on his face to express his surprise. "I am shocked!"
Lowering his head, Absol sighed loudly while a large droplet of sweat rolled down the side of his head. "-…way to be subtle sir…-"
"What the? Someone even freakier than the people who put me in that sack!" The Con Girl shouted pointing towards Cruz.
"Well, I agree with you on that," Miles stated while Lee nodded in agreement.
With a slight laugh, Cruz struck a pose with his right arm behind his head with his left hand at his waist. "You're both just jealous cause I've got style."
"-Sir, your style been out of style for three years,-" Absol pointed out making Cruz lower his head, allowing his arms to dangle slightly.
"…no one asked you Absol," Cruz moaned with a dark cloud appearing over his head.
A few minutes later, inside the trainer room Cruz was standing in between the two bunk beds, Absol standing behind him. Miles and Lee were sitting on the bunk bed across from the con girl…
…the tension in the room could literally choke you…
"…Let's start off simple!" Cruz announced lifting his hand up into the air to get Miles, Lee, Absol and the con girl to look at him. "Introductions! First, according to the tag on my coat, I'm Cruz!"
"Wait…couldn't that be the brand name of the coat?" Miles asked blinking a few times that Cruz could be named after an overcoat.
"…and this is Absol," Cruz continued, Miles's question flying over his head as he knelt down to rub the back of Absol's head. "He may seem like a cool customer and that he's too good to be with me…but deep down, that's just an act."
"-I can talk too ya know…-" Absol sighed out with a large sweatdrop rolling down the side of his head.
"And this little squirt," Cruz stated gesturing towards Miles (who was muttering something about getting called a squirt). "Is…uh, what was your name again squirt?"
"Geez, now I know you don't know my name," Miles sighed slapping his forehead. "It Miles Sabers…"
"-And I'm Lee! The lean, mean, blue fighting machine!-" The perky Riolu barked loud with his tail wagging wildly.
"…humph…" The con girl scoffed to the side with her arms crossed. "…fine…then I guess my name's Kris Durain…"
Adjusting his hat to cover his eyes, Cruz coughed slightly with his hand in front of his mouth. "I-I see…well then, from what I gathered from the kid over here…"
"Hey! I just told you my name!" Miles protested.
"…you were working a con as it were," Cruz continued, unfazed by Miles last statement. "Why?"
"Humph, I was just trying to get some money to head to Domon City," Kris replied laying back onto the bed with her hands behind her head.
"Domon City?" Miles asked turning towards Cruz with a raised eyebrow.
"A very large and populated city on the opposite side of the region," Cruz explained crossing his arms with his head lowered slightly. "Known for its supreme contest hall and technology corporations…but why were you taken by those weird guys from Team Atmos?"
"How should I know that?" Kris retorted kicking her feet. "All I know is that I was at the annual technology fair and the next thing I know, I'm stuck in a box here."
"I can probably piece together what happened next," Cruz interrupted rubbing his chin. More than likely, Kris probably had wandered around Burgundy Town for a while and decided to raise money with her scam to get to Domon City.
"Wait, why didn't you go to the police?" Miles asked.
"And tell them what? That I just suddenly woke up in Burgundy Town?" Kris stated turning her head slightly to hide the blush. "That and the fact I've kinda got a small rep with the police, so yeah…"
"…great, now we've got a criminal in the room…" Miles sighed loudly before looking down at Lee. "Oh, I take that back…we've got two in the room!"
"-Are you still harping on that?-" Lee asked scoffing towards the side. "-It was a long time ago…-"
"It was two days ago!" Miles shouted back at Lee.
"Ahem!" Cruz coughed loudly once more, stopping Miles and Lee from starting the fight. "Anyway…we've got to do something about these problems that we've got…and I've got the perfect solution for this!"
"And what would that have to be?" Kris asked sitting back up, crossing her arms.
"Well," Cruz chuckled rubbing his chin with a devious smirk on his face. "First, we've got squirt's problem here, he doesn't know what to do. Secondly, we've got to get Miss Durain back to Domon City…"
"Hey, how do you remember her name and not mine?" Miles asked.
Allowing his hat to shadow over his eyes, Cruz began to chuckle slightly. "…and since I've got to go back to work tomorrow…"
"Should I just stop talking to him?" Miles sighed slapping his forehead.
"-It'll spare you a headache…-" Absol suggested lowering his head onto his paws. "-Trust me…-"
"…so I think that you two should travel together!" Cruz finished with a large white flash of light reflecting off of the glass of his glasses.
"…wait, say what?" Miles and Kris shouted at the same time.
"I know what you're thinking," Cruz chuckled lifting his hands up in a defensive manner. "Cruz, how do you expect us to travel with complete strangers? Not to worry! You've got tonight to get to know each other!"
"But why you may ask? Simple! Its always a good idea to travel with another, the squirt will escort Miss Durain to Domon City, and in return, Miss Durain will make sure that the squirt will take the league challenge. It's a win-win situation!"
"…is this guy stupid?" Kris asked turning towards Miles.
"…I'm starting to think so…" Miles replied.
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Lee: -This is awesome! Someone besides Miles to talk to!-
Miles: What about…
Lee: -Oh! Right! Thanks for the reminder Miles!-
Miles: Anyway, this is quite insane…I can't believe I'm now being forced to not only escort this girl, but also taking this challenge!
Lee: -Heh, I love watching your life…its funny!-
Miles: I'll get you back sometime…
With a new ally, Miles gets another annoyance, but will he be able to pull together before his first official gym battle? Find out next time in – Chapter 11: Flag the Opening Battle
Miles: What does that title even mean?