Chapter 8: A Pokémon Battle!
Dan
Sigh, what's taking them so long? I was pacing around the cave, waiting for John and the others to get back so we could 'negotiate' with the bullies. They were running late, and though I knew that they'd have some problems, I couldn't help but be impatient! I just want to get this over with! As the leader, I'm going to be doing most of the talking, meaning that it'll be my fault if we come to bad terms, and I'm not sure whether or not I can trust them! Not to mention, I thought as I looked around the cave, We have three young kids here, so I'm going to have cut back on the (empty) threats! Ok, calm down Dan, deep breath, and start thinking of a way to-
"WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO LEAVE ME ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER?!" Ok, forget that idea. Adam was back, and was looking a little mad. Ok, really mad. Alright, so mad his fried feathers were steaming. No, really. Anyway, we had an angry bird (or, maybe, a 'riled up robin!') on our hands- er- paws, and all we had to handle him was four mice (three of them electric types), an amphibious fish, and a...er...flying thingy (What in the world are Togetic supposed to be anyway?). IQ test: which side had an advantage? (Starts humming Jeapordy)
Anyways, after a breif argument ("He did it." "No, She did it!" "No you!" "No, you" "No-" ... I think you get the idea) and a little persuading ("You want us to zap you again?!"), we managed to get Adam calmed down. Well, as calm as you can get an extra crispy, slightly paralyzed, and short tempered bird Pokémon anyway. "So... Where is everybody?" "Did the twins zap your brain too? We told you this morning: they're off to get the bullies." "I know that, but why aren't they here yet?" "I was just about to think of that when you came rushing in, out of breath, with a look on your face that could-"
That's when Meg decided to show up, rushing in, out of breath, with a look on her face that could- "Dan!" She gasped, interrupting my description yet again. "(huff), hurry, (pant) Jess is, (hack)" "Meg, calm down. It'll only take longer to get the message out if you do it while out of breath." "Yea. Calm down, catch your breath, and then tell us." "Huff, huff, we all need to get to the thicket, huff." "What?! Is John in trouble?!" ("No surprises there." "ADAM!" "Sorry.") "No, huff, Jess is having a Pokémon battle!" ... Everyone, even Tom: "SAY WHAT?!"
Jess
Well, Jess, you did it again. Getting yourself in trouble because of your pride. Not only have you decided to take on two bullies single handedly, but you also don't have any experience whatsoever with battling, Pokémon or otherwise! I was in deep trouble, no doubt about it. The problem was that Greg was a fully evolved Pokémon, and besides that, he doesn't have to make a lot of adjustments since Gengar is pretty similar in build to a human. The only attack I knew was scratch, which was weak against Mitch (Turns out battling's more complicated than type advantage. Skin toughness also matters, especially super tough snake skin) and good and useless against Greg, who, though he didn't know any moves, was more than capable of picking me up, and bashing me against something hard. The only advantage I had was that Mitch had no idea how to move as a snake, so all I had to do was avoid him. I'd managed to dodge Greg so far for the most part, but do you have any idea how tough it is to jump around with 3 talons with one in the behind them instead of 5 toes and a pair of feet? Not only is your center of gravity thrown out the window, it's almost impossible to shift your weight from one talon to the other. Walking was kind of easy to learn, running was rather tricky, but dodging? To this day I still have no idea how I managed to keep it up for so long.
"Hold still so I can crush you!" "Yea, like I'm going to do that?" Oh, and not only did I have to deal with the bullies, I had to deal with my pain in the neck of a teammate. "Come on, Jess, get him! He doesn't have any guts!" "John, I don't need a cheerleader right now, so could you please ZIP IT!!" I dodged another grab. Think, Jess, think! You aren't going to accomplish anything if you just keep on dodging! Ok, what do you have that he doesn't? I have a little more experience with being a Pokémon, and I actually know a few things about Pokémon, so how do I use that to my advant- ah! My luck ran out, and I was dangling by a talon from Greg's shadowy hand, which felt like cold oil against my talon (which surprised me that I could feel anything under those scales). "What ya gonna do now chicky?" "I, I-" "That's what I thought, you're a chicken!" Now that was the last straw. He can call me soft, cuddly, even a teddy, but calling me a coward?! I got so mad, I could feel the flames in my fire sac flare up with double the intensity they had been previously (which is impossible to describe unless you've ever had fire in your gut before, and I really hope you haven't), and led me to do something I never thought I'd do: "Oh yeah?! You know all about being a chicken! Like you were with your girlfriend!
Maybe I should back up and explain. You see, four years ago a girl and her family decided to stay in our sad excuse of a town for the summer, and Greg, being the same age as her, found her kind of, attractive. He started slipping chocolate in her mailbox, leaving mushy love-letters at her door step, singing to her in the night while hiding in the shadows, the works. By the time she only had a week left to stay, she got the impression someone was determined to love her, and put an ad in the newspaper telling her lover to meet her outside of town. Greg was so worried and excited, he asked US to help him pull his act together! Why did we agree? If Greg was busy with his girlfriend, there'd be one less bully in our neighborhood. In the end, we gave him lots of prep talk, words of advice, and an escort in case he needed one. Of course, I volunteered to be the escort.
Greg arrived at the meeting place about 40 minutes early, paced the whole time with me hiding in the shadows. And when the girl in question finally showed up, she made eye contact with and he ran right out of there without so much as a simple "I love you." The girl was shocked, so I showed myself and told her everything. She understood, but she wanted a brave man to sweep her off her feet, not a coward. She left our town without hearing from Greg again. Unsurprisingly, Greg spent the next week wreaking more havoc then ever before. That's also when he developed his grudge for me, despite the fact that he had asked me two-billion times to explain if he couldn't tell her what he thought of her himself. Well, there's a bully for you, always blaming others. So, with that story in mind, my taunt, which I had promised myself not to use as long as I lived, was a hit below the belt. Right below the belt.
That froze him up good, I tell you, real good. And that's when it happened: I fell right through his hand. That's when it hit me, and not just the ground (that's sounds like a joke John would come up with): ghost Pokémon become intangible instinctively if they're spooked or frightened (which is kinda ironic when you think about it). Guess my insult really shook him up. Being the quick-witted person- er- Pokémon that I was, I took immediate action once Greg was open, and thinking quickly, jumped around him and clamped my beak down on that stub of a tail of his. "Yah! Get off!" Greg tried to reach me, but found that his arms were too short to reach behind him. How sad. But I knew I couldn't hold on for long, not only was he trying to toss me off, but his tail tasted horrible! Ugh, I still lose my appetite thinking about it. But then again, I didn't need to. All I needed to do was take a deep breath, and Greg would be in a world of pain. Easier said than done while being thrown around, but I did it, and breathed out, bringing a flame (by far the biggest one I've made so far) with it, setting his tail on fire! With a satisfied smirk, I let go of his now-burning appendage.
"AAEEII!!" Greg started running around, trying in vain, to put out the fire on his tail. Lesson to learn here, don't forget what you learned in preschool: Stop, drop, and roll. Not that John or I offered that advice; we were too busy enjoying ourselves as he ran around like an idiot. Eventually, the damage from the fire was too much for him, and he collapsed to the ground, putting out the fire (which is ironic because he fainted BEFORE he could put it out). "Greg is unable to battle. Jess has won half the match!" John called like a ref. Revenge had been served. Then I turned to Mitch. "Your turn." Then I noticed something. Mitch hadn't been sitting back and watching, he'd been trying to move, and now he could. It was uneven and jerky, but he could move. Bad news for me; he was right behind me, jaws open! "Yah!" I quickly jumped back, just as his jaws snapped shut. "Stand still, I'm starvin'!" "Yeah right!" And it was back to the dodging, but I wasn't happy. The flame trick isn't going to work here. What do I do now? Should I- OOFFF!! Mitch caught me with the side of his head, knocking me off my feet- er- talons, and leaving me vulnerable.
"Uh Oh!" "I've waited a long time for this!" And Mitch zoomed in for the strike, but right at that moment I felt something, a burning, overwhelming wave of energy coursing through my body; and before I realized what I was doing, I opened my beak, and a burst of flames shot out, beating Mitch back, and dealing some serious damage! All Mitch could do was gasp as his head fell to the ground, scorched and smoking. "What...did...she...just..." And with that, he collapsed. I just sat there on my feathery behind, staring at Mitch's burnt hide. Then it clicked: I just did Ember! And I also just beat up the guys we were supposed to escort back home! Who ho. "Mitch is unable to battle, Jess-" "John." "Yeah?" "Please be quiet." "Sure Jess." I was using my 'scary calm' tone, which he knew meant that I'm not mad, but that I could explode at any second. "Sigh, now what? How are we supposed to get these two to the cave before night fall now?" I wondered. "With a little help, of course." That's when I noticed that everyone else, including a Plusle and Minun, obviously the twins, were standing right there, on the other side of the clearing. "Dan." "Yeah Jess?" "How long have you guys been standing there?" "We came in when you were dodging Greg's grip. Might I say that was an impressive performance?" "Thanks." Then the exhaustion, which I had been too shocked to notice before, caught up with me, as I fell to ground, and fainted.
(Some time later...)
The first thing I noticed was the voices; dimly at first, but getting sharper by the second. "-- but -- rest -- after -- she's -- to be - ble to move!" "Ugh..." I moaned, but it was so soft I could barely here it. "Jess? Are you awake?" I slowly opened one eye, and blurrily saw Mike standing over me. "Uh...Mike...where...am I?" "Calm down Jess, you're in the cave. After you collapsed, the rest of us dragged you, Mitch, and Greg over here." "Uh-" "Hey, she's moving!" I pulled myself up from the blanket I was lying on, but didn't hop up onto my talons. "Bah, shoot!" Greg spat, though with a bit of fear in his voice. This, nor my exhaustion, could dampen my attitude though. "What Greg? You up for round two?" He paled at that. Well, sort of, more of a deep purple that was lighter than usual for him, but you get the idea. "That's right you two, you better be afraid!" John was hollering at them, but with a tone that suggested superiority. "Psss, Mike, what's John up to?" "He told them that we were powerful monsters who could destroy them." "Yea, but so are they. And they're not that stupid." "Yeah, but then John told them that they were a much weaker kind of monster than us." "Did they really buy it?" "Well, you did just wipe the floor with them." "Ah."
"So I'll ask nicely one more time, are you going to listen to us, help us out, and not cause any trouble?" "What if we say no?" "Jess comes over here and burns you two till you're a pile of ash." The younger kids were asleep, thank goodness, which also showed how late it was, and Dan was nowhere to be found. "Hump. I don't make promises to twerps like you." "In case you haven't noticed Greg, we're not exactly 'twerps' at the moment, so you'd better come up with a better insult, or just give up already." "Grr..." Mitch spoke up: "We'll lisen to ya, but you better not pull anything funny, got it?" "What are y-" Greg wispered, in a vain attempt to keep us from hearing him: "It's only till we know where we are, what we are, what we can do, and how we can get home. Once we find that out, we ditch 'em. Got it?" "Gotcha."
"Ok, here's the deal, you're sleeping outside, about a minute's walk from here going straight out of the cave, and before you whine, we've built a shelter for you there, which is why Dan isn't here right now. Now get going, and don't you dare come near this cave till sunup! Got it?" "Yeah. Sure." And with that, they left. I sighed. "Are we actually trusting them? I know the whole 'turned into Pokémon' thing is a big deal and all, but..." "Don't worry. After John's made-up story they'll think twice before causing any trouble."
"All the same, we should have a watch shift every night from now on." Dan was back, and doing what he did best: leading the team. "Ok, It's going to be me, John, Jess, Meg, Mike, and Adam. Two hour shifts each. That way, one of us can get a good night's sleep so we're not completely helpless in the morning. Who gets what shift will be chosen at random, just take your scarf/headband off to show your shift's already done for the night. Any questions?" "Yea-" "Adam, you're helping because you're old enough, and you don't want the bullies sneaking up on us any more than we do. Any other questions? I don't want to hear it John." John sighed in defeat. I spoke up. "Yea, who gets the first shift tonight?" "Let me guess, you want to volunteer." "Yes I do Mike. Not just because I want to, but it makes sense because I've just been sleeping for the last, what, 6 hours? I need less sleep then the rest of you." That was good enough for most of them, and everyone but Mike and Dan hit the hay right then and there. "Ok, why are you two still up?" "Nothing Jess. Just having a private conversation." "Ok." But I still couldn't shake the feeling that they were hiding something important from me...
Dan
"Alright Mike, this better be good." "Have I ever told you that I had something important to tell you and didn't?" "Well, there was that time with the shaved dog-" "BESIDES that one." "Nope can't say you did." "Ok, take a look at this." Mike parted the fur on the lower left part of his back, showing his star mark (that's what we called it when we were young, and we still do). "That's it? Your star mark?" "Exactly! ... You don't get it do you?" "Hm…. I'm not commenting on it, so probably NO!" "Sigh, Ok. You know that old theory about this being a virtual reality?" "Yeah?" "Well, if it was a virtual world, would it include birth marks and such? No." "Ah, now I get it. So... what's the theory now?" "Don't have one, but I can tell you something else, who or whatever did this, they were aiming for us." "Eh?" "If it's not a virtual reality, it can't be waves causing this, and our location on the globe prevents the energy from spreading all the way around the world." "Uh, I'm no scientist, but even I can-" "The energy it would take to do that would obliterate whatever released it, and turning the whole world into Pokémon really isn't my idea of a good sacrifice." "Ah. So you're telling me and not everyone else because..." "A fake possibility is better than no possibility for the younger kids, and I don't trust John, Adam, or the Michels to keep that knowledge secret." "Got it. So, what do we do now?" "You tell me, you're the leader!"
"Hm.… Ok, we'll keep it secret, but only till we have another possibility that makes sense, ok?" "Got it." Mike went to bed, but his words had me thinking. Why would anyone in the universe attack our puny town? If they wanted to avoid attention, it wouldn't be at our town. It's in the middle of nowhere, sure, but it's not completely invisible to the outside world, being in the USA. You want to do something without anyone noticing, aim for somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there's enough uncharted islands out there with civilization! WHY US?! Sigh... it's just one mystery after another. If they are aiming for us, then what's going to happen when everyone in town's been turned into a Pokémon? Guess the only way to find out is to wait until that happens. Man, are we in over our heads! Hm... maybe the scientists from the military base outside of town can shine a little light on the subject, when they get here...