Chapter 14: You Ain't Nothing But A Houndour! Part 1
Congrats to Yuki-Judai123 for giving the correct answer first!
Sunday, April 3rd 3:53 am
After a slightly hopeful day of training, I managed to collapse into bed around ten o clock. Bugsy had been surprising helpful, giving Mallory and I tons of advice on how to do training with Bug-types. During a practice battle against Fleur and Mal, Zorro actually obeyed a command, but we never ended the battle since he eventually stalked off to go do something else.
Bugsy was convinced that Zorro was a one of a kind Bug-type, whereas I was convinced that all bug catchers were the same. Still, things were looking up a bit, and I was able to achieve a peaceful sleep, with the prospect of further training the next day. Unfortunately, sleep was only present for about four hours before I felt myself jerk awake to shouts and the endless howls of the gang of annoying Houndour.
"Shut up!" My eyes adjusted to the darkness enough to make out Mallory's form. She was standing in front of the open window, lit up by the moon's shining light. She appeared to be throwing something out the window as the howling went on. "I said, shut up! I'm trying to sleep!"
Wishing to burst into tears from the lack of sleep, I drowsily managed to slip out of bed. I managed to navigate the light switch in the dark, though I nearly tripped over Spykes, who had fallen out of the bed in his sleeping, curled up state. With the light illuminating the room all the way, I stepped over my awakening Cyndaquil, and joined Mallory at the window. She wasn't the only one shouting at the racket, it seemed.
Tsu was occasionally shooting Water Gun out the window, and from the wet puddles I could see from the window, he had close to no effort in hitting the Houndour. Levina was yelling along with Mallory, plus tons of other Pokémon Center tenants were complaining. I could've sworn that I could hear both Arnold and Sam hollering as well.
What really worried me was the fact that I had actually been sleeping through it all. Back home I've always been a heavy sleeper, but gosh! Nearly sleeping through all the racket would be the equivalent to staying asleep through a hurricane.
"Oh, great!" Mallory finally acknowledged my presence with an irritated roll of her eyes. She looked cranky, with her eyes wide open a little too unnaturally, and her green hair was sticking up like straw. For a brief amount of time she turned to face me. "If you're really awake that means we're really making a commotion. I can't believe that this town doesn't have a police station or something." She shrugged, and began to shove pebbles into my fists. "Well, if you're up you might as well help."
"What?" I cried, nearly dropping a rock. I managed to catch it in time, with my tired eyes still on Mallory. "Seriously? Can't we just get some earplugs?"
Mallory responded to this by stomping her bare feet on the wooden floor in the style of a spoiled six year old. "No! I've had enough of this, and so has everyone else, Gwen! We have to take matters into our own hands since apparently the town is about to." She looked as if she were about to say more, but she was quickly interrupted by two piercing howls in the air. "I said, shut up!" Mallory stuck her head out the window, and by the sounds of it she was slowly losing her voice. It was sounding more strained and in need of rest by the minute.
The window was just wide enough for two more people to look out at the same angle as Mal, so I did the same in order to get sight of the noise makers. The dozen of Houndour were situated all throughout Azalea Town, and five of them were perched right outside the Pokémon Center. Through the dim light of the oncoming dawn, I recognized the white chest one amongst the five, along with the speckled one and the largest Houndour of them all. Sam had guessed earlier that that particularly big one was the leader, and that guess was proven to be correct when we saw the same Houndour barking orders, literally.
White chest Houndour and leader Houndour began another round of howls the still pristine white moon, which resulted with more yells and ignored commands. Tsu reacted by hurling another Water Gun out the window, but it was deflected by an odd illuminated shield that surrounded the five main Houndour.
Looking closer, I saw that the protective shield was being projected by one of the two unrecognizable Houndour. I noticed that the two unknowns were abnormally colored; one had a red streak on their back while the other had a blue streak. The shield disappeared, but I felt unsure about it. Could Houndour actually learn moves like Protect?
Sunday, April 3rd 1:24 pm
We all managed to endure the Houndour howls, but the five of us weren't the only ones who insisted on sleeping in. After a hectic, extremely late lunch, Arnold and Mark announced that they were prepared to leave.
"Where are the two of you headed next?" I asked, picking at the crust of my turkey sandwich. "Goldenrod City?"
Mark was the one to reply. "No, not yet, anyway. There's a town called Sunnyvale, located in the middle of Ilex Forest where a Pokémon contest is supposed to be held on Wednesday. I'm after my second ribbon for now, so wish me luck!" He turned his gaze on Mallory, who had been listening to his sentences with interest. "Mal, there will also be a second contest held in the same town next Sunday. They're trying to get rookie coordinators to come in, so I'd suggest that the three of you get there as soon as possible."
"Oh, we sure will!" Mallory exclaimed with ecstatic joy, her fists clenched.
We saw the two Orange Island natives off, a little sad. I mean, it had been pretty cool having experienced trainers around, especially since I learned some pretty neat things from them both. Contests weren't just for stuck up people, and I was curious to see just how they worked.
Wednesday, April 6th 11:06 am
On Tuesday, Mallory and I held one more practice battle with Fleur up against Zorro. The results of this one still ended in a draw and Zorro only obeyed me twice. However, he didn't just stand around stubbornly like he always had in the past. He put effort into battling, and that made me feel more like the accomplished and confident trainer that I was setting out to be.
The next day we headed to the gym for Sam's rematch battle. It was evident just how excited he was, especially since he wasn't afraid to show it. He kept speeding up on our walk to the gym, jogging and running most of the time. He kept both Yoko and Delano out of their Pokéballs in order to get them energized for the upcoming match.
Sam headed in before us while I did my best to drag Mallory in. She was still extremely hesitant about the Bug-types, and she nearly kicked me out of fear when I attempted to lead her in. In the end, all it took was a little help from Zorro to get her cheerleading butt inside the gym and under the shade of one the tall, smooth barked trees.
"You are so going to pay, Gwendolyn." Mallory mumbled, leaning close to me so that only my ears heard. She cringed when a Weedle crawled past us, and I patted her shoulder sympathetically. She was extremely silent as Bugsy and Sam prepared for the gym battle, but she eventually spoke as they sent out their Pokémon for the first round. "Why can't he use that Butterfree that you mentioned?"
She was referring to the familiar blue, Bug-type that Bugsy had sent out in response to Sam's Gastly. I took in this opposing Pokémon, and felt fear tighten my stomach into a knot. Unlike Mallory, I wasn't afraid of defenseless Weedle and adorable Wurmple. But like Mallory, I absolutely hated Heracross, and that's exactly what Sam would have to face off against.
"Now then, fellow midget challenger," Bugsy began in his usual nasally voice. "You have the first command, as usual. After all, my Heracross won't be unfair to your Ghost-type."He smirked slightly, and placed his hands on his hips as Sam became thoughtful.
I prayed that he would hurry up and get the thing knocked out as quickly as possible, but of course, prayers don't work as quickly as one would hope.
"Delano, do exactly what we've been doing." This confused me, but it didn't seem to confuse the Gastly who chuckled and nodded his eerie floating ball of a body. His purple existence faded away into an invisible state, just like the first gym battle. Sam looked pleased, plus the smirk stamped on his face made me wonder just how tough he could get in battle.
"Keep an eye open, Heracross." Bugsy calmly instructed, his eyes inspecting every inch of the battlefield from afar. "Watch your back, and attack when the Gastly is spotted, okay?" His Heracross responded with a quick nod before becoming extremely serious. This made me want to cower like Mallory, but I kept my cool.
Sam watched with visible glee on his face as both Heracross and Bugsy became confused. For a full two minutes, Delano didn't make a single appearance, and the opponents weren't the only confused ones. However, before three minutes were able to pass, Sam called out a command to his still invisible Pokémon.
"Show off that big tongue of yours, Delano. How about it?"
I still didn't get what was happening, and neither did Bugsy until too late. While Heracross made irritated buzzing sounds, his back was without defense, and that was in a giant, pink wet thing appeared out of nowhere to slide itself right up Heracross' back. With droning sounds, Heracross stumbled with the familiar static of paralysis zigging all over his blue body.
Delano himself appeared as the pink thing retreated into his mouth. I shivered a bit from disgust when I realized that it had been his tongue, and I could feel Mallory digging her fingernails into my arm with fear. She must've had an image of licking a Bug-type or something, but I wasn't about toask something as awkward as that.
"Heracross!" Bugsy cried with concern as his Heracross slowly performed a move with his stiff wings flapping. I recognized it to be Aerial Ace, but the move didn't do too much to Delano in Heracross's slow state. Delano's slightly corporeal form did flicker for a few brief seconds, but it stayed solid looking.
The still pleased and proud Sam was beaming with pride. "This is a tribute to short people everywhere!" He threw his fist in the air in a way that just had to be for comic effect, but it made me want to punch more than laugh. "Delano, one Shadow Ball, if you will!"
"Gas! Gastly!" With one of his maniacal chuckles, he opened his mouth wide. This time around, his tongue didn't loll out. Instead, one orb of dark, confounding energy zipped out and rammed into Heracross's side, throwing the Bug-type to the ground with a whip up of dust. Despite the harsh result, Heracross was still conscious, and struggling to get to his feet.
It might have sounded a little mean, but I was secretly hoping that Heracross had fainted. I didn't wish harm on him, but he was extremely creepy. And the sooner he was gone, then the sooner I could exhale and pry Mallory's trembling hand off my arm.
I kept my eyes on the battle, and my eyes narrowed with confusion at Heracross's struggle on the ground. He wasn't really trying to get up, and a big guy like him should've been able to do something along those lines. Instead, he was rolling around in the dirt ridden grass, confusing me further. It finally hit me what he was doing when he managed to jump to his feet without effort.
"Cross!" Heracross confidently buzzed, no longer under the spell of paralysis. The dirt had somehow cleared away the effects, and now the Bug-type was free to rid the field of pesky ghosts. With his wings flapping, Heracross charged towards Delano, and quick as light, he rammed the Ghost-type with Aerial Ace. It didn't knock him to the ground, but it had effects of its own on Delano.
"Gas?" Delano's form flickered severaly, and whiffs of smoke wavered out of him. Without warning, he slowly floated to rest on the grass where he appeared small in his fainted state. "Gastly…"
Sam still seemed pleased as he returned Delano to his Pokeball. "Delano, awesome job! We'll win this time for sure." He replaced the Pokeball in his hand with Yoko's, and the Doduo was out on the field in seconds. "Yoko, let's begin with a nice darting effect. Put pressure on the beak, please."
Yoko bobbed his twin heads in a nod. In the blink of an eye, he dashed off in Heracross's direction with his beaks powering themselves up for any possible need to attack. Heracross flapped his blue wings and whizzed into the air, hovering several feet above Yoko. While the Fighting/ Bug dual type did this, Yoko dashed around in circles, one head keeping its eyes on Heracross while the other stayed alert and ready to use any move given.
Bugsy was tapping one foot against the grass with a thoughtful expression molded into his childlike face. He tapped the side of his forehead with his fingers a few times, as if he were trying to give off an impression of someone who's deep in thought. Finally, he called out to Heracross. "Okay, Heracross, show your might! Swoop down now, and show off those awesome fists of yours!"
Heracross obeyed, with his yellow eye practically glowing with the prospect of attacking. "Hera! Cross, heracross!" He circled around flying, zipping in Yoko's direction with his fists outstretched and glowing red. "Cross!" He rammed at one of Yoko's heads with a single fist, and managed to collide against it.
"Do!" Yoko managed to pull the injured head out of Heracross's reach, while the other head instantly attacked Heracross with Peck. He then powered up a Fury attack, but he was only able to attack with half of it before Heracross used Brick Break. Yoko staggered a few times, but he wasn't all too hurt from the move. He was stable enough to perform the fast move of Quick Attack, right before Heracross could use Brick Break. "Doduo!"
The attack sent Heracross out of the air and hurling across the battlefield. I gripped Mallory's hand tightly, still scared of Heracross and wondering if he was still conscious. There was dust surrounding him, and once it cleared his buggy blue body could be seen lying the ground. It was obvious that he was in no state to continue battling at all.
A little hesitantly, Bugsy returned Heracross, thanking the Bug-type kindly. "My mighty dual type…" His voice broke off before he finally tossed the next Bug-type out. "Well, fellow midget, you're nearly out of the woods, but not quite yet. Ledyba, stand tough!"
"Ledy…" His aggressive Ledyba appeared on the field, barely two inches in the air. Her white dot-like feet grazed the grass as she narrowed her eyes at Yoko. It was like she was trying to convince him that she was going down fighting, or wasn't going down at all. Whichever it was, I felt my stomach calm itself, especially now that Heracross was out of the picture.
Beside me, Mallory had calmed down after Heracross's defeat, and had even released Fleur from her Pokeball so that the Bug-type could watch the battle as well. I already had Spykes out, but I also released Zorro. It would be good for him to pick up tips or something from observation. Of course, that would only be if he could take advice without trying to kill the messenger.
"Yoko, run and use Peck." Sam said in a calm and serious voice, as if he knew just how easy the battle would be.
Yoko obeyed, and managed to jab Ledyba twice. Ledyba retaliated by powering up one of her fists, which she used to use Comet Punch. Yoko was sent flying back to Sam's side of the field, but he hopped to his feet, strong enough to continue. Ledyba flew up into the air and flew straight towards Yoko with yet another Comet Punch, but the Doduo was ready with a decent Fury Attack.
His twin beaks dug into Ledyba, and sent her into the ground, where grass and dirt were stirred up. Ledyba groaned once before finally fainting. On auto pilot, both Mallory and I jumped to our feet to applaud Sam. One of us had finally managed to beat Bugsy, and it felt pretty nice! I watched as Bugsy willingly returned Ledyba to her Pokeball and hurried over to Sam to hand over the Hive badge.
"Congrats, Samuel Wilson," Bugsy congratulated while Mallory and I hurried over. "As Azalea Town gym leader, I'm pleased to hand over the Hive badge. Good use of midget pride, my friend. Show off this badge with similar attitude, and never forget this. Tall ain't all!" After dropping badge into Sam's awaiting hands, Bugsy turned to look at me. "I'm anticipating a decent battle tomorrow, Gwen. Should I also be expecting some pride from your direction as well?"
Wednesday, April 6th 2:13 pm
The rest of the day was spent in the Pokémon Center lounge. All three of us sat around watching TV, out of boredom and out of curiosity. Mark and his Plusle were currently on the television, facing off against a kid and their Vileplume in the Sunnyvale Pokémon contest. Despite there not being much of an advantage, Plusle was hanging on well in battle. It actually looked as if Mark was close to winning.
"Sleep powder, Vileplume!" The opposing trainer called out to his Grass-type who was currently towering over Plusle. Vileplume circled Plusle once before releasing some odd tiny green spores from the top of his reddish head.
Mark was calm and assertive in response. "Deflect it with Discharge!"
"Plus," Plusle hopped into the air, and let out a huge current of electricity which dissolved the Sleep Powder spores quickly into tiny glitters of dust. From what I could see, the move didn't harm Vileplume in any way, yet the move did lower the opponent's health points.
Sam commented before I could. "These contests have such weird rules. Apparently, the whole format just has to do with showing off your Pokémon's prettiness or something. Seems like a waste of time, but I guess it has to do with how you look at it. But even the battle round is all about looking pretty. Then again, maybe one could look at it differently. Perhaps the whole point of it is to show off the move powers, but it just seems pretty showy. Unless of course_"
"Shut up!" Mallory and I hissed in unison, our eyes staying on the TV screen. Both Fleur and Levina were also gazing at the television with interested expressions, which got me thinking a bit. Would it hurt to sign up for a Pokémon contest, just for once?
Thursday, April 7th 10:07 am
Azalea Town might have been overpopulated with Slowpoke yesterday, but it was absolutely crawling with cops the next. This was a huge shock to me as I departed the Pokémon Center, ready to refresh my Pokémon with some more training before the scheduled gym rematch. But, apparently Officer Jenny, armed with squad cars filled to the brim with police officers, was authorized to keep everyone inside for the entire day.
Sam paced around in the Pokémon Center lounge room, his gray eyes staring down at the tile flooring. It was absolutely crowded like crazy with different trainers from all over. A good deal of the kids were comparing Pokémon and gym badges, and showing off to friends. Mallory and I kept ourselves seated, awaiting for any explanation from the police.
Nurse Joy kept looking outside the Pokémon Center, but we all had to wait an hour before Officer Jenny finally entered, flanked by an Arcanine, some old guy, and two fellow officers.
"Oh, my gosh!" Mallory half whispered beside me, her eyes wide and shining as she took the Aracanine's dazzling form in. "He's so gorgeous! I wish I had a Growlithe right about now…"
I rolled my eye at her. Only Mallory would state something like that when we're all so busy trying to figure out other things. In the very middle of the room, Officer Jenny took a stand and cleared her throat, earning the attention of everyone in the room. Everything was silent and still as we waited patiently for her to finally speak and explain.
"All right, listen, everyone," She didn't have to tell us twice. "This town is currently under quarantine, and will probably remain that way until tomorrow. Right at this moment, everyone is this room is a suspect, and we can't afford to have any of you leave."
"You're not making much sense, lady!" One trainer at the back of the room called, earning a few snickers.
Officer Jenny's crimson eyes narrowed in to a serious, business-like way. "Then let me clarify it for you. We just received word from this man right here," she gestured to the old guy with thinning gray hair, who was muttering words under his breath. "That Team Rocket was meddling with the Slowpoke in the Slowpoke Well."
The reaction she received from the room must've been unexpected, because she and her officers looked surprised when the rest of us exchanged confused looks. A couple of kids whispered to each other, but there were no gasps of surprise or shock. Just…confusion and curiosity.
Really, I was just trying to figure out one thing. Who was Team Rocket? I raised my hand high, and Officer Jenny nodded in my direction. I felt a little on the nervous side, since everyone had their eyes on me, but I stayed where I was seated, and voice my question. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, who's Team Rocket?"
Gasps of surprise came, but only from Officer Jenny. "You seriously don't know." I felt even more nervous when she looked me right in the eye, as if I was the one responsible. "None of you know?" There were whispered no's and several shaking heads. "Well, Team Rocket is, er, was a crime organization several years ago. They were short lived, really. Plus, the threat that they posed really just involved stolen Pokémon." There were a couple of more snickers that could be heard throughout the room. "However," The sharp use of the word silenced us all. "There were several members of this team who were much more threatening, and they were the ones who wreaked actual havoc."
"Like what?" Sam called out to her.
"Well, they disrupted the homes of legendary Pokémon, causing sightings and disasters in Kanto and various other regions. Over the course of Team Rocket's active five years, we managed to arrest every member, except for their boss, whom to this day is quite the mystery. Moving on, most members have been released due to good behavior, but there are some who have escaped. There are four current members who have that status, and they were four of the best." Officer Jenny took a deep breath and signaled to one of the officers behind her.
The officer, a guy with a dark moustache, handed Officer Jenny two pieces of paper, which she held up for all to see. The papers were large, plus the print was readable for everyone, including the giant photos. From what I could see, it was a regular Wanted poster, and the four escaped members were two men and women.
The first man was a muscular guy with spiky light blond hair and a cold smirk. He was facing the camera, with his thick arms crossed in front of him. In the next photo was the second guy whose hair was long and silvery. His expression was pretty emotionless.
Next up was a woman, whose cold smile sent a shiver down my spine. She had a slim figure, and short, icy blue hair with ends that flipped up. Last of all, was a blonde haired woman, who looked like the type who spent all of her time in front of a mirror. All four members had one thing in common; they didn't seem to really care that they were being carted off to prison. How could someone be that confident in their abilities?
"The men were partners, and escaped close to a month ago. They go by the names of Attila and Hun, and after some research we discovered that those are the real names." Officer Jenny made a face as she said this, but she managed to continue. "The women are sisters, but were also partners in crime during Team Rocket's reign. The two of them go by Annie and Oakley, and both escaped three weeks ago."
"If the two bums with weird names have been missing for a month, why are we just now hearing this?" A kid near the front asked.
Officer Jenny shrugged. "The prison they were being kept in was located in the Tyho region, which is located even farther away than Unova. Not only were the officers there being secretive, but they also just recently told us more than two weeks ago. We've gotten leads, and I'm sure that most of you heard about the explosion in Union Cave. Both Annie and Oakley were spotted seconds before, and at the moment they are thought to be nearby. Furthermore, a citizen of this town, Kurt, discovered several members of TR in Slowpoke Well."
"It's true!" The old guy interrupted Officer Jenny, and began spouting out audible words. "I saw darn Team Rocket with my own eyes!" He was waving his hands in the air like crazy. "This trainer defeated them, really! He's over there!" He pointed his finger towards the rest of us trainers, and that was the cue to turn and look. A dark haired boy stood, leaning against the wall, looking surprised by the attention. "There he is! He saved the Slowpoke!"
"Sir, please calm down." Officer Jenny gently pushed him back, and turned to gaze at the boy. "You there, is this true?"
To me, the boy looked familiar, and a glance at Mallory told me that she was thinking the same thing. He wore a yellow and black cap over his blue-black hair, and he was dressed in a red sweater and black capris. He nodded his head in response, still surprised. "Yes, me and Crocanaw defeated them. The remake's battles are so much better than the original's too. And, defeating them was pretty easy. Man, and this storyline is so much better than the other one." He gazed at all of us in a way that freaked me out. "Plus, these graphics rock."
What the heck? I looked back at Officer Jenny, curious to see her reaction to the boy's weird gabble of words. "Um, okay…" She looked back at Kurt, looking deeply irritated and tired. Seeing her made me thank myself for crossing police officer off of my list of careers back when I was a kid. "Kurt, uh, did this boy appear to be stable when you first met in the well?"
Kurt's face turned tomato red, and the old guy looked offended. "He just saved the Slowpoke, woman! You oughta be thankin him!"
I watched Officer Jenny sigh deeply and turned back to us. I was pretty amused. I mean, we had an old guy, a boy who spoke as if he were playing a revamped video game, and on top of all that, she had to explain a ton of stuff to us. Was it funny to watch her be irritated? Kind of.
"Anyway, we combed Slowpoke Well, but we were unable to capture anyone. However, we found evidence that these people were apparently about to hack the tails of Slowpoke off." Officer Jenny's expression turned from tired to uneasy. "We believe that they planned on either eating their tails or selling them as food."
This time, her comment caused a ruckus of gasps. The very thought made my stomach churn. I wasn't the squeamish type, but thinking about eating Pokémon seemed barbaric. At least two hundred years ago, humans did eat Pokémon, and ones like Farfetch'd were hunted nearly into extinction. But, people stopped because artificial meat was discovered in certain kinds of root vegetable.
So, yes, thinking about eating a Seedot or Pidgey was kind of creepy.
When the gasps died down, Officer Jenny finished her talking, with a relieved look on her face. She must've really wanted to get it all over with. "The point is everyone must show us their ID in order to leave, understand?" Everyone nodded in complete synchronization. "All right, any questions?"
The weird kid from before was the only one to raise his hand. "Um, yeah. Can you tell me how I can save my game?"
Thursday, April 7th 11:34 am
It took close to an hour for everyone's Pokédexes to be checked. Our trainer IDs were programmed into them and nearly everything about each of us was printed on it. Our accomplishments, school records, and much more was programmed on there, and I suppose that all of the scrolling around in search of any criminal charges was what took up time. But, nearly all of the trainers were ten year olds, with a couple of thirteen and twelve year olds. How possible could it be that some of us were Team Racket members?
"It's Team Rocket, Gwen." Sam corrected me as we retrieved our Pokédexes from one of the officers. "They're not a band, so racket is out of the question." He grinned as if his statement was clever. I returned it with a glare and a quick face palm.
"Whatever." I muttered as we returned to our seats. My stomach growled with hunger, and I groaned loudly. I was starving, but Nurse Joy was busy speaking to Officer Jenny about the criminal people or something. Her Chansey was currently cooking with the assistance of volunteers, but the whiff of cooking food was torturing me cruelly. I felt lazy on top of that, and said so to Sam as Mallory joined us.
"How are you supposed to keep control of Zorro and battle Bugsy in that kind of state?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "Of course, that's only if we can battle Bugsy today. For all we know they're probably going to deny us access into his gym or something."
I sighed, and slouched even more severely on the couch. "Hope not."
Mallory was glancing at the weird kid from earlier as he was given his Pokédex. "That kid's from New Bark Town. His name is Ethan or something, and he used to be in my gymnastics class."
"Did he spout out weird crap then, too?" Sam wanted to know.
"No, Samuel. He was just as normal as you, but he left class a week before we left home. After he hit his head on the balance beam, his parents threatened to sue." Mallory shrugged her shoulders and tore her eyes away from weirdo boy, Ethan. "Anyway, maybe he had a concussion or something."
"Very doubtful, Mal," Sam was now gazing at the front doors of the Pokémon Center in a longing way. "Anyway, forget about Evan. Let's focus on being the first out of here."
I nodded with him in agreement, and prepared myself to make a run for it. However, many people made a run for the front windows of the Pokémon Center, but not to exit or anything. Sam, Mallory, and I joined them as several howls and yells crowded into the air.
Thursday, April 7th 11:43 am
With faces crammed against the glassy, see through windows, every trainer in the Pokémon Center peered out at Azalea Town. I shoved some kid with my elbow as I struggled to look over the heads of a particularly tall guy. Sam was fighting to get in front of the crowd with no results. Mallory, however, managed to snag a spot in a cramped corner, and was quick to drag us to it.
"Look!" She cried, practically shoving her hand in my sight. My hazel eyes followed her pointing finger to the outside, where the usual pack of Houndour was acting crazier than usual. From what I could see, they were launching Ember attacks all over the place, and chasing citizens into their homes. "Have they lost their minds?"
I was confused, and became even more so when the trainers in front pushed their ways out the Pokémon Center doors. From where I stood, I watched these trainers began to assist residents of Azalea Town get home while a few defended themselves against the Houndour. I had been wrong to think that there were only a dozen, because now there had to be at least two!
"Hey, stay inside!" I turned my head and saw Officer Jenny trying to desperately take control of the situation, but to no avail. I felt bad for her, but what was I supposed to do? Get a whistle and start calling drills? Soon enough, more kids pushed their ways out to join the action, and the three of us joined them.
Outside, Sam was quick to dart off to defend a woman and her kids from two snarling Houndour. I was proud to see him help her in that brave way with Fisher and Yoko, who fought marvelously. Mallory and I stayed close together as we tried to stay out of the way.
The other officers in Azalea Town were opening the backs of the gray trucks that they had arrived in, and I had a feeling that they planned on loading it to the top with the crazed Houndour. Good, I thought to myself as I released Levina from her Pokeball. At least someone is going to get these Pokémon taken care of, right?
"Tsu, Water Gun!" Mallory's joyful dancing Totodile sent one Houndour flying in the direction of the trucks. I grinned at her, and she returned it before we had our Pokémon release a double performance of Water Gun and Swift on the other snarling Fire/Dark-types.
After we managed to send one more Houndour over to the trucks, I caught sight of our friend, the white chest Houndour. The moment he saw us everything else seemed to fade into the background. His onyx eyes narrowed and his lips curled up as he snarled and lunged in our direction.
I had been so busy standing, frozen with shock, that Levina had to literally jump in front of me to deflect the Houndour's Bite attack. She knocked him back with a single Low Kick to the jaw, but he was still quick to leap back onto his feet.
"Thanks, Lev." I told her quickly, before pulling her out of the way of an Ember. I nearly stumbled over a pair of jagged stones, but I managed to drag Levina close to Tsu and Mallory. There was no way that I was dealing with our enemy alone. Houndour prepared himself to spring and emitted a low growl, which Levina returned with a smirk. Tsu on the other hand gave a joyful, "Dile!"
Like me, it seemed that white chest Houndour didn't plan on fighting us alone either. His growl seemed to gain the attention of the leader Houndour and the white speckled one. All three took stands and growled with their teeth showing.
"Why are they being so aggressive all of a sudden?" I asked Mallory, eying the teeth. "I mean, I'm used to the growling, but not the charging and attacking. And where the heck is Bugsy?"
"Right here!" It was almost as if he had been waiting for me to inquire about him, because the midget gym leader charged from right behind a tall, chestnut tree in the middle of the town, armed with his Heracross and Scyther, Archie. "Heracross, get the big one with Brick Break! Archie, get the spotted one with good, ol False Swipe!"
His bug-types obeyed, but only the spotted one was knocked unconscious from False Swipe. The leader Houndour on the other hand, dodged the attack, and fired Ember. Heracross dodged, and used Brick Break again. This time, leader Houndour was hit, but instead of falling to the ground, his black body began to shine with a bright light. I had only seen evolution occur a couple of times in my life, but I knew for a fact that it was happening again.
When the glowing faded, a lean, muscular black Pokémon with tall legs and a strong back stood in Houndour's place. Houndoom looked so cool I nearly clapped my hands in a sort of applause, but I managed to remind myself something. We would be the ones to battle it.
Now, for the trivia.
Q: Which one of these Pokémon evolves into Seviper?
Choices: Sableye, Suicune, Arbok
I'm very curious to see how many people will manage to find that out, since it's pretty difficult ;) Unlike most previous chapters, the title for this one was actually a little clever, at least to me. And hopefully, now, the action should be rolling smoothly.
As always, leave a review. Otherwise, au revoir, readers!