Chapter 14
Exercise
"Did you see that?"
"Mommy, what is that?"
"Quick dude, take a picture."
"What the…?
"That's pretty cool."
"Did he have a tail?"
The comments followed him through town all the way to the Pokémon Center. Felix tried to ignore them the best to the best of his abilities and keep his head held up high. Yet it still stung. Although he managed to keep his face straight, his tail betrayed his feelings. Entering the PokéCenter was even worse. Everyone fell silent and turned around to stare at Felix as he walked up to Nurse Joy.
"Hello, how may I help you today.", the nurse said in her usual cheery manner. She tried hard not to stare at Felix, but he could see her eyes flick to his tail and his ears.
"Could you check up on my Pokémon, please? I would also like to have a room."
Nurse Joy smiled her trademark smile as she accepted Felix's Pokéballs and gave him a room key in exchange.
"By the way, is your name Felix by any chance?" the nurse asked him out of the blue.
"Um… yes. Why, is something wrong?" Felix asked wearily.
Nurse Joy gave him a huge smile. "No, don't worry nothing is wrong at all. You have been paged by the Saffron City PokéCenter. Someone there wants to talk to you."
"Alright, thank you."
"Anytime." The nurse said with another of her smiles.
The number for the Saffron City PokéCenter was quickly found and punched in. A Nurse Joy, identical to the one he had just talked to, popped up on the screen.
"Saffron City PokéCenter, how may I help you today?"
"Hello, my name is Felix. I heard you were paging me."
"Ah yes, a young girl named Gaby is looking for you. Let me get her." The nurse walked off screen. It took several minutes until a rather excited Gaby took her place.
"Oh my Mew, Felix. Where are you? I thought you were dead. That explosion was huge. But I after I teleported back and asked Daniel and Jason, who we ,by the way, beat considering their Pokémon were unable to battle after blowing themselves up, said that you teleported away as well. Why didn't you come back? Was Byte hurt? Were you hurt in that matter? Why aren't you answering me?"
"If you would take a breath once in a while, I could answer some of your questions." Felix laughed. It was good to know Gaby was alright. And so, he started to recount his adventure. He conveniently left out any parts about his tail.
"So, you are in Lavender Town now?"
"Yeah, I am at the PokéCenter."
"Wow, you really got off course then. Be that as it may. As soon as Abra rests up I'll be there. Don't move."
"Well, there may be one thing I may need to tell you…" Felix begun.
"Tell me later, I need to go now." And Gaby hung up. Felix looked at the screen in despair before sighing. Oh well, I can tell her later.
Felix was not quite sure how to spend his time until Gaby showed up. He would have challenged the Gym, but there was no Gym in the town. He also disliked the idea of sightseeing as he didn't want to attract more muttering. Not wanting to be cooped up in a room all day, he decided to move to the computers. Sitting in front of a monitor allowed him to ignore the stares he was getting. He browsed randomly. One interesting thing he found was that a doctor in Viridian City was arrested for selling patient information to an unknown source. Felix wondered for a minute whether if it was his doctor, but decided that he would rather not know. Somehow ending up at his emails he found he had two. One from Gaby asking where he was and one from his dad, asking him again to call him. Bowing to the inevitable he stood up to go back to the phones. A lot of heads which were looking at him turned away at his sudden movement. A few continued to stare shamelessly. Getting irritated again his tail start to sway causing the starring heads to follow its movement.
Pushing the stares out of his mind he tried to decide on to how to explain his physical change to his dad. He was pretty sure that he wasn't going to take it well. With a feeling of dread he dialed the phone number.
"Hello…"
"Hello Dad…"
"… you have reached the Ferell residence. Unfortunately we are unable to answer the phone at the moment. Please leave a message and your contact information after the beep… BEEEP!"
Felix exhaled in relief. Of course his dad wouldn't be at home.
"Hey Dad, just checking in. Unfortunately I missed you, so I will try later again." Hanging up, he heard Nurse Joy call out his name and he went to collect his Pokémon.
Felix soon sat on a bench behind the PokèCenter. The Center's battlefield was located here but it rarely got any use, if its pristine look is any indicator. Felix liked it for that reason. Little use equaled an equally low amount of people and stares. So he just sat on a bench, closed his eyes and let the sun hit his body. His tail was wrapped around him giving him the feeling that someone was holding him. His moment of bliss and quite was interrupted when a shadow blocked the sun. Opening them he saw a boy around his age stand in front of him.
"Excuse me, do you mind me asking you a question?"
Felix had expected this so he answered in a dull tone. "Yes, that tail is real."
The other boy flinched. "I wasn't going to ask about that, but it is pretty rad, by the way."
"Then what is it?" Felix asked, leaning forward.
"Well, I heard of this different way to battle and I wanted to try it out for a long time, but I cannot find it someone who wants to join."
"What you mean with different?" Felix asked, warming up to the conversation.
The boy began talking quickly. "Well it is called Roulette. Both trainers agree on type of battle. The twist is that you cannot choose which Pokémon you use, the opposing trainer choses them randomly."
"So you choose which Pokéball I throw." Felix asked for confirmation.
"That's pretty much it. I see you have three Pokéballs on your belt, so let's have a best of three battle. "
"I am not sure. One of my Pokémon isn't really battle ready."
"Oh, come on. You never know until you try." The boy almost begged.
So Felix agreed. The probability of him being blown to pieces this time was rather low.
The two trainers faced each other on the field.
"Before we start, what's your name?" The boy shouted across the field.
"Felix, you?"
"Leonardo, but everyone calls me Leo."
"Alright Leo, which one?" Felix asked holding out his three Pokéballs.
"Take the Hyperball and what about mine?" Leo responded.
"The middle one." To himself he murmured, "Of course he would chose that one."
Throwing the Hyperball Slowpoke materialized on the field. On the other side a bug Pokémon appeared. Quickly Felix pulled out his Pokédex and saw that Leo was mirroring him.
Ledian, the Five Star Pokémon
It is said that in lands with clean air, where the stars fill the sky, there live Ledian in countless numbers. There is a good reason for this - the Pokémon uses the light of the stars as its energy. In the daytime when it gets warm, it curls up inside a big leaf and drifts off into a deep slumber.
"Alright then, Slowpoke, use Confusion!" Felix called out. Slowpoke just stood there.
Leo looked at Slowpoke, before raising his eyes to Felix. "Is this the Pokémon that isn't quite ready yet?"
Felix just nodded.
"Sorry about this then. Bugsy, use Comet Punch." The Ledian shot forward and started pummeling Slowpoke with a flurry of blows. Slowpoke however didn't seem to notice the blows. The skin didn't even seem to move. After it finished its attack the Ledian flew back in front of her trainer.
"That didn't seem to do much." Leo commented dryly. "Well, if you first don't succeed. Bugsy, use Acrobatics." The Ledian disappeared in a blur of turns, twists and punches. Once it was done, it returned to a ready stance. Slowpoke seemed once again unharmed.
"Slowpoke, please do anything. Just saying something would be fine." Felix tried to plead with his Pokémon.
"Bugsy, use Comet Punch until the Slowpoke finally notices."
Ledian descended onto Slowpoke once again. Felix waited a couple of seconds hoping that Slowpoke would react in anyway, but he didn't. So wanting to end the battle he pulled out Slowpokes Hyperball. Slowpoke cried out in that very instance. A blue light surrounded both Slowpoke and the Ledian which was now frozen in midair. With a loud cry the Ledian was catapulted off the field and into a nearby alley. They heard a loud crash as she apparently hit something. Both Leo and Felix stood there heartbeat in shock before running after the poor bug Pokémon.
"Bugsy, where are you? Bugsy?" Leo shouted into the alley. The answer was barely audible and a little fist was raised from underneath a pile of trash cans and their contents. Felix helped Leo clear the debris. Luckily the Ledian didn't seem badly injured. Leo thanked her for her effort, before recalling her.
"I am sorry about that Leo that was rather… unexpected."
"Yeah, I don't blame you. I never would have seen that coming as well."
The two young trainers returned to the battle field to find Slowpoke passed out. The bruises of the beating he had just endured clearly visible. Sighing, Felix also recalled his Pokémon.
"So do you want to call it a tie?" Felix asked.
"Na, you clearly knocked out Bugsy first. It's your round." Leo conceded. "How about we keep on battling? Which ball do you want?"
"I'll take the left one."
"Alright, left sounds good for me as well."
The Trainers reassumed their positions and threw their respective Pokéballs. Sara appeared before Felix and on the other side a Pokémon he did not recognize. Again both trainers consulted their Pokédex before battling.
Absol, the Disaster Pokémon
Every time Absol appears before people, it is followed by a disaster such as an earthquake or a tidal wave. As a result, it came to be known as the disaster Pokémon. It lives in a harsh, rugged mountain environment. This Pokémon very rarely ventures down from the mountains. Its life span is over a hundred years.
"Yeah! Battling time!" Sara cheered on the field.
Felix couldn't help but smile. "It has been a while. Let's make it a good one."
"Soly, let's do this!" Leo asked his Pokémon from the other side of the field.
Both Pokémon stared, seizing each other up. Felix finally decided to take the first move.
"Start with a Tackle."
Sara lowered her head and started charging towards the Absol.
"Sucker Punch"
Absol waited until Sara was about to hit him, he then took a step aside at the last moment tripping Sara with a single claw. While Sara exclaimed in surprise, Absol took a vicious swipe at her with his horn, pounding her into the ground.
Wincing at the hit Sara just had to take, Felix decided to change strategies.
"Sara, hit him with a Leech Seed while he's close."
"Quick, use Taunt."
Sara reacted surprisingly quickly to Felix's order. But not fast enough. Absol already started quietly talking to her. Sara halted in her attack preparations to listen. Felix was curious what Absol was say to Sara, at the same time he was glad he couldn't hear him.
"What did you just call me?" Sara suddenly shouted at the Absol and before he could react she tackled him. Sara gave Absol no time to recover from the blow before she hit him again.
"At least try for an Absorb" Felix called out.
Apparently Sara had heard him as she immediately fired a red beam at Absol. Still dazed from the double tackle he couldn't dodge in time. The beam send Absol flying.
"How do you like me now? How is that smart mouth of yours working out for you?" Sara yelled with a satisfied smirk at the downed Absol.
"Soly, are you alright?" Leo asked his Pokémon.
With a little struggle Absol managed to get on his feet again.
"Yeah, I knew you wouldn't let me down. Now it's our turn to shine. Use Slash."
Darting forward the Absol used its horn to slash the still smirking Pokémon. The smirk never leaving Sara's face she slumped forward.
"Nice round Felix, but this time it looks like I won." Leo called out. "I kind of feel sorry for your Shroomish, it never had a chance against my starter."
Felix looked sadly at Sara, she had put up such a nice fight. He was going to recall her, but stopped when he saw her moving. Leo saw it as well and he focused on the battlefield once more.
"No…", Sara said struggling to her feet. "I will not lose to the likes of you."
A brilliant white light engulfed Sara blinding both Leo and Felix. Through the light Felix could see Sara's outline grow. As suddenly as the light came it disappeared again, revealing a Breloom.
"I will destroy you!"Sara shouted at the Absol, as she now reeled one of her claws back.
"Sucker Punch" Leo ordered calmly.
Once again Absol darted forward. This time the horn hit Sara in her stomach effectively robbing her of any breath she had. A couple of heart beats both Pokémon stood absolutely still before Sara keeled over. This time she did not get up.
Felix was now even more depressed. Sara had put in all that effort, even evolved and still didn't manage to win. Sighing, he recalled her and held up his last Pokéball.
"Are you ready?"
Leo nodded holding up a Pokéball of his own. "Sure I am. Don't get too worked up over the last battle. You win some, you lose some."
Nodding once he threw the Pokéball. "Go, Byte!"
Leo mimicked his move. "Go, Bob!"
Byte materialized at the same time a Golbat appeared on the field. Byte immediately ran through his pre-battle mantra.
"Initiating battle protocol. Analyzing opponent for possible weakness."
Felix on the other hand was taken aback by the Golbat's nickname. "Why Bob?" he asked no one in particular. Leo gave him a funny look. "Why, not? Is something wrong with the name Bob?"
"No, I just didn't expect it…"
Leo shrugged at this. "How about we get this show on the road? Bob use Supersonic!"
A high pitched sound echoed over the battlefield. Felix clamped his hands over his ears in hopes to block out the sound with little success. Looking up he saw that Byte wasn't fairing so well either.
"Byte, try to block it out!" he shouted hoping that Byte would hear him.
"Changing auditory filters", and with that Byte was fine. Golbat soon stopped its attack noticing that it had no affect what so ever on his opponent.
"That's a pretty sweet move you have there. Never battled a Porygon before. This could be rather interesting." Leo complimented Felix. "By the way, are you alright? You seemed quite affected by the Supersonic."
"How one could be not affected by that horrible noise." Felix shot back, removing his hands from his ears.
"I don't find it too bad." Leo answered with a shrug.
Felix gapped at him. He was going to say something but shook his head. "Let's continue. Byte use Psybeam."
A colorful beam shoot out of Byte's beak hitting the Golbat in he's right wing. Not being able to stay airborne anymore it landed and held the injured wing close.
"Use Confuse Ray!" Leo shouted.
A purple ball formed in Golbat's mouth, which shot directly at Byte, leaving him no chance to dodge. Byte began moving in circles beeping and booping non sense Felix was unable to decipher.
"Byte, snap out of it!" Felix called out to his starter to no prevail.
"Heal up, Bob. Leech Life." Leo ordered.
With Byte being confused Golbat could simply walk up and bite him. As a result of being bitten Byte began shooting a colorful at random and was even able to graze Golbat's other wing. It did absolutely nothing what led Felix to believe that it was a Signal Beam.
"Byte, you really need to get a hold of yourself." Felix pleaded. Yet still Byte was moving and saying random things while Golbat was slowly draining away his life.
In an act of desperation Felix decided to try something. "Byte, reboot!"
Bytes froze for a second and then to the surprise of everyone seem to explode into very small pieces. Golbat slowly went back to his trainer, confused at what was happening. In front of Felix Byte seem to slowly materialize from bottom upward. As soon as his body was rebuilt he beeped a couple of times before announcing.
"Reboot complete. Resuming battle protocol. Structural recovery complete."
"Wow… I didn't know you could use that. Quick it him with your Psybeam."
The colorful psychic attack once again shot out of Byte's beak. This time it hit the Golbat right in the mouth. Not standing a single chance Golbat fell over.
"That was really some move you pulled off. " Leo said, still in awe of what had just transpired. "You can tell me about it later. Right now I need to find Nurse Joy. Good battle."
Leo recalled his Golbat and rushed into the PokéCenter and giving Felix a last wave.
"Good battle." Felix said quietly to the now empty battlefield. Finding the idea of bringing his injured Pokémon to Nurse Joy appealing he made to recall Byte only to find him right in front of him. Byte had a serious look on his face Felix had never seen before. Sitting down in the dust he asked his trusted starter:" What's wrong?"
"I have a request to make." Byte said in a serious tone.
"What is it?" Felix asked, worried.
"Please do never ask me to reboot again. It was the worst experience I ever had, it… it…" Byte began tearing up and Felix reached out and pulled him into an embrace.
"Shhh… it's ok… it's ok…I am sorry I order you to do that. I didn't know. I promise I will never ask you do it again." The Trainer held the Pokémon in his arms trying to comfort him. Felix was saying soothing words and rocking Byte slightly. After a while it seemed that he had calmed down again, so Felix decided to cheer him up a bit. "It seems you also learned a new move."
Byte broke away in order to look at Felix.
"Over the course of our travels enough data has been collected to program various new executable. The newest ones being an high energy attack and structural recovery."
"Wait, what do you mean by structural recovery?" Felix was relieved that Byte was talking all technical again.
"Structural recovery means the rebuilding of damaged crystalline structures in order to prolonged endurance."
"So, what's that in my language… is it Recover?"
"Sturctural recovery executable saved under Recover."
"And while you were confused you shot a Signal Beam."
"New high energy attack saved under Signal Beam."
"Alright then, let's get inside. Your comrades do need the magical attention of Nurse Joy."
The duo walked back into the PokéCenter in search for Nurse Joy. A "Mister Snuffles!" , was Felix's only warning before he was glomped by a pink blur.
"Thank Mew you are alright. I was worried about you."
Felix hugged back "Hey Gaby, nice to know you're alright as well."
"Um… Felix… why is there a tail coming out of your butt?"
Felix's heart skipped a beat. "Well… about that…"
Dr. Martin was examining various armature pictures and even a tabloid article. This boy was getting more interesting by the day. Pushing his glassed up his nose, he pressed a button on his intercom.
"Ms. Hawkins, please inform our staff that there is a new person of interest. Folder number 004676"
"Right away, Dr. Martin." Came the immediately response.
Nodding once he picked up the tabloid and began to read the horrible written article.
It took a while but it is done. I must admit writing battles is not my strong point at all. Be that as it may, the show must go on. I am aware that you all probably hate me because of the ending, please do not kill me. I will try to update as quickly as possible.I also started editing the earlier chapters. No big changes have been made just cleaning up some mistakes.
As always I want to thank everyone who left a review and welcome the new readers.
BYoshi1993: Sorry to disappoint you both with my characters and the length of my chapter. I really do try to do my best.
Zerones: I do not plan the length of the chapters. When I started the story I tried to make them at least 2k+ long. The chapter's however have grown, so it is quite probable that they will continue to get longer.
That's all from me.
benthefirst, signing out.
Boom Boom Pow Away!