Disclaimer: Pokémon does not belong to me it belongs to the geniuses at Nintendo.
Okay, so I lied, the return of our favorite trio will be set for chapter 22…maybe…possibly
And also, Happy early Christmas or whatever winter holiday you celebrate.
Kim brushed her light brown bangs out of her eyes, tilting the cowboy hat back from her forehead, she reached down a hand and scratched at the base of her pokemon, Old Lu's head horns. He heaved a contented sigh. A light breeze blew around her, stirring the grass and causing the leaves in the trees to rustle. She could hear the occasional hoof stamp and whinny from her family's barn to her right, where all of the prize Rapidash were stabled at night. Her own Rapidash, Brush, was turned loose in a paddock not far from the porch she stood on, if Kim were to walk to the right end and lean over the railing she would be able to see her pokemon's bright flames as the Rapidash dozed peacefully under the willow tree bordering one end.
Kim cast an eye on the dark sky. It was the night of the new moon so only the stars were visible. She yawned, placing her hands on her hips and cracking her back. When she opened her eyes she squinted and frowned, from where she stood on her porch she could see the dozens of flickering lights that belonged to her family's breeding ponyta herd, put up for the night in one of the lower pastures. But the orange and yellow flames were not staying in one general area, as they would if the herd was resting, they were moving erratically around and some were clumping near the far edge of the pasture. Normally Kim would assume that a wild pokemon had startled the herd, as had often happened, but the herd was not calming down and the edge of the pasture that the ponyta were bunching at, was bordered by the trees and a well hidden dirt road. Kim's eyes narrowed as she caught a faint shout and the clang of metal on metal. At her feet, Old Lu was shifting from paw to paw angrily, making threatening growls in the back of his throat. Hustlers then, Kim concluded, there were no steel pokemon in the area and Lu would have gone tearing down there, to scare off any intruding pokes, not wait here for her command.
Kim clenched a fist as she considered her next course of action. With her mother, father and older brother gone to a breeding contest in the next town over, only she and her little brother were left behind to deal with this problem. And she was not letting a bunch of lazy-ass hustlers steal the pokemon in her family's care, not on her watch! Kim stomped over to the door leading inside the house and wrenched it open.
"Samuel!" She called into the house, taking care that while her voice was loud it would not be heard by the hustlers. "Samuel Ashby, get over here right now!" A boy ten to twelve years of age jogged into the living room and stopped dead at the sight of his sister's face. "There're hustlers down in the pasture, call Officer Jenny and tell 'er to get out here as fast as she can, then call Dad and let him know what's happenin'. Understood?" Samuel resembled a bobble-head as he nodded quickly. "Good. I'm gonna go slow 'em down some, you stay here and man the phones!" She shouted as she let the door swing close, already rushing across the porch. Samuel leapt for the phone and hastily dialed the police number as the door banged shut.
"Get Devious, Lu!" Kim hissed as she jumped off the porch, the black pokemon immediately followed after her, powerful legs propelling him in front of her and as she began running down the dirt path to the distant pasture, he cut across, vanishing around the barn. Kim placed two fingers in her mouth and gave a shrill whistle. From behind her came the sound of steady hoof beats as Brush answered the call, easily jumping the paddock fence and cantering level with Kim. Bareback mounts were annoying, especially when both parties were on the move but Kim managed to scramble aboard however ungracefully and the two were off. From around the barn came Old Lu's daughter, Devious and Old Lu himself, flat out running, paws stretching out, they quickly fell in alongside Brush, panting happily at the chance of a battle.
The lead hustler grinned, snapping out another set of orders to his well trained Growlithe. He and his partner had trained four of the puppy pokemon to be excellent herders. Growlithe worked as a team, were used to herding larger animals and, most importantly, were fire types. The open flames of the ponyta were not a deterrent to the pokemon. A few well placed roar attacks had the herd in chaos, and the Growlithe were easily directing the skittish creatures, with bites and leers, into the large trailer parked in the cover of the trees.
Really this couldn't be any easier. With the owners and eldest son out for the weekend at a competition, the time was ripe for a bit of hustling. Ashby Rapidash were in high demand because of their superior speed and the fact that back in the day, Grandfather Ashby had bred the move, flamewheel, into the line. Unfortunately for him and his buddy, the real prize, the Rapidash, were kept up close to the house. And while the two brats of the family wouldn't be any real trouble, it would be quite easy for them to call the authorities. Luckily, the breeding ponyta were kept further away from the house. And even though the ponyta were not worth as much as their fully evolved forms, they would still turn a tidy profit on the black market. At this point, even if the kids called the police, the hustlers could still make off with more than half the herd.
"Another roar, boy." He casually ordered. "Let's wrap this up." The bright orange pokemon opened his mouth to let out another roar, when a huge black and silver blur knocked into him, sending the Growlithe flying. The downed Growlithe struggled to his feet, snarling at the new threat, a larger horned pokemon, which was snarling back. The Hustler frowned. But had no time to react as a large flaming Rapidash leapt the fence into the pen, another of the black and silver hounds at its heels.
"Devious! Thunder fang!" The first pokemon leapt at his Growlithe again, this time with sparks of electricity leaking from its jaws. "Old Lu, faint attack!" Old Lu, dashed at the second Growlithe, dodging nimbly from side to side, making it impossible for his intended target to estimate where his attack would come from. The girl riding on the Rapidash's back dropped off quickly. "Stomp Brush!" The equine raised herself up on her hind legs, and then shot toward the third Growlithe with the speed of a striking snake. The lead hustler was a bit quicker on the up-take then his partner.
"Dodge Mesh! Caron use take down!" The third Growlithe, alerted by the trainer, threw herself to the side, narrowly missing the diamond-hard hooves that hit the earth, right where she had been standing. The force was strong enough that if Brush had hit the Growlithe, she would have broken the pokemon's spine. The fourth Growlithe charged at Old Lu, slamming into the attacking duel type before he could complete his faint attack. The force of Caron's take down attack knocked himself back as well, but saved the second Growlithe from serious harm. However, Devious's thunder fang hit hard and the Growlithe, already weak from the first attack, was knocked unconscious.
"Give it up little girl." The second hustler snarled, as the Growlithe was returned. He pulled a greatball off of his belt, his partner mimicking his movement, and cracking it open in the next moment. "You don't have the fire power to beat us." Kim smirked grimly; fully aware that the only chance she had against three Growlithe and two unknowns was the chance to slow them down until Officer Jenny arrived.
"Lucky me then. Fire power's all I got! Brush agility flame wheel! Old Lu and Devious, show 'em how we deal with hustlers!" Brush charged toward the first flash of red, her speed and flames turning her into an arrow of fire. The red energies solidified into an electabuzz and a Pidgeot. The Pidgeot lifted off into the sky immediately, while the unfortunate electabuzz took the full hit of Brush's flame-wheel. Devious and Old Lu darted at the remaining Growlithe, jaws snapping and salvia flying through the air as two different canine species collided.
"Electabuzz thunder punch!" Brush managed to escape the worst of the damage by ducking quickly to the side, cantering off in a wide arc to come back with another flame-wheel. Kim spared a quick second to check on Old Lu and Devious. The five canine Pokémon were well-engaged. The three Growlithe, trying to use numbers and herding techniques to corner the two attacking Pokémon, while Old Lu and Devious were thwarting their attempts, trying to crush the Growlithe with superior size and fighting ability. The battle was heated, with flames flickering from the corners of snapping jaws and sparks jumping as blunt claws struck bone horns. Kim snapped her attention back to the main fight as Brush let out a shriek.
"Brush!" The electabuzz had gotten another painful flame wheel, but as Brush had been circling back to attack again, the Pidgeot had dropped from the sky and scored a direct sky attack. Raking its claws deeply into Brush's back. Brush had shrieked and flared her body flames brighter on instinct. Burning the Pidgeot's talons and forcing it to let go. "Brush calm down! You need to pace yourself or you won't last!" Kim called out desperately but the rapidash paid no heed, screaming in fury as her flames grew brighter. The head hustler laughed.
"Like you had a chance, you're out numbered." He said smugly, folding his arms across his chest. The hustler's statement was further accented by a terrible shriek. Kim whipped around, in the corner; two of the Growlithe had managed to break through Old Lu's defenses and had dragged him to the ground. Devious was injured and penned back by the third Growlithe, she howled in rage. White teeth flashed while growls and angry snarls rippled through the air. As the two species continued to clash and Old Lu tried desperately to fight off his attackers.
"Lu!" Kim shouted, she started to run toward the tangle of black and orange fur but a scream from Brush froze her in her tracks. The electabuzz had sent out a strong thunderbolt and with the fiery Pokémon dazed from the attack, the Pidgeot had followed through and landed a powerful wing attack. Brush was now reeling from the hits and her flames were fading down. Kim didn't know what to do. Her Pokémon were out-numbered and she couldn't split her attention any further. If she tried to help Old Lu, Brush would be seriously hurt, but if she continued to coach Brush, Old Lu might not pull through. She was stuck and she knew it, worse they knew it too, if the annoying laughs coming from the hustlers were any indication. Kim clenched her hands into fists, there had to be something she could do, some angle she hadn't found yet, but she just couldn't think of one.
"Alright Girlie, it's been fun playing with you, but now we have to go." The second hustler laughed, snapping his fingers. "Let's finish this." Before he could utter another command the shrill sound of a whistle cut through the air.
"Arcanine, extreme speed! Growlithe use crunch and takedowns!" A large orange and black striped blur flew over the fence and slammed into the yellow electabuzz, sending it flying, resolving into a majestic looking Arcanine. Three Growlithe dashed under the fence rails and joined the fray, one raced to help Devious, while two leapt to defend Old Lu. The last Growlithe sat next to its trainer's feet and began tracking the flying Pidgeot with its eyes. "Attention criminals! This is Officer Jenny. You are both under arrest, please return your Pokémon and get on the ground!"
The lead hustler snarled, just what they needed. Mere minutes from closing the deal and making off with the prize and freakin' officer Jenny had to go and crash their party. He mentally weighed the options up in his head: Pidgeot was perfectly fine and able to battle, the Growlithe…not so much and his partner's electabuzz had just about had it as well. Time to cut his losses and run with what he had, which at this point boiled down to his Pidgeot and the one fainted Growlithe. But faced with prison time, making off with less pokemon then he had come in with wasn't too bad an outcome. He snapped out orders to his remaining Growlithe to keep the new comers as busy as possible, making eye contact and nodding to his partner, he prepared to order Pidgeot to get them both to safety as the electabuzz sluggishly engaged the Arcanine in battle.
Unfortunately for him, Officer Jenny was well aware of his plans to run, and she wasn't about to let him get away. Hustlers could not and would not be tolerated and she was determined to make an example of them. She followed the arching decent of the leader's Pidgeot, waiting for the right moment to strike. Finally the Pidgeot placed itself perfectly in line for a crippling assault.
"Now Growlithe!" Officer Jenny shouted. The Growlithe that had remained by her feet had also been tracking the Pidgeot and at the Officer's command, let loose an incredibly strong fire blast. The burning star shape flashed across the night sky and hit the Pidgeot, who had no room to maneuver, directly in the side. The attack scorched the giant bird's right wing and side, causing it to plow into the ground, where it weakly tried to struggle to its feet. But even after settling weakly on it talons, the Pidgeot was clearly unable to take to the sky, with severe burns all along its wing and side. The hustlers' air escape route disabled, they tried to make a mad dash to the truck, but were stopped as the heavy body of the electabuzz was thrown at their feet, the large and fierce looking Arcanine, backed by at least two police Growlithe, blocked their way.
As the blue and red flashing lights of squad cars filled the night sky, the two hustlers were forced to their knees, hands cuffed behind their heads and roughly forced into the back of the cars. Their pokemon had been recalled to their respective pokeballs, and were slated to be evaluated and retrained or released depending on the results. Kim grimly sprayed her three fighters with some of the hyper potions her family kept an ample supply of on hand. All three thoroughly exhausted by their battles. Brush's head had been hanging so close to the ground, her nose was brushing the green stalks of grass that hadn't been burnt to cinders in the fight, Old Lu was sporting several deep bite and scratch marks and Devious was clearly favoring her front leg, refusing to walk on it at all. Kim sighed, all three pokemon would need to spend some time in the pokemon center, but first the herd of ponyta had to be secured and checked over for injuries as well. The hyper potions would be able to tide her three pokemon over until she could rush them to Nurse Joy.
Speaking of, Officer Jenny had radioed the good Nurse in as soon as the battle had halted and the red-head had driven over in the pokemon center's ambulance with two of the staff chansey to help sort through the herd and see to the wounded battlers, so Kim's pokemon wouldn't have long to wait at all until their wounds were seen to. In fact she had only a twenty minute wait until she handed her pokeballs over to a chansey nurse and could get started sorting through the still spooked herd.
Samuel had hurried down to the paddock once he had seen the police cars and had already gotten to work counting heads in the trailer, to make sure there were not any escaped ponyta wandering the fields. He had brought his own herding pokemon, Rufus and Charlie, with. So the process went smoother then Kim had anticipated, being that Rufus and Charlie were still young and un-evolved, but both proved to be more than capable of herding the still slightly spooked ponyta out of the trailer and separating the ones that had injuries from those still healthy.
Before long everything was back in its place, the herd had been moved to a pasture closer to the house for the night, the rapidash in the barn had been counted and checked on, Kim's pokemon had been returned to her, with orders to keep Devious out of battles and work for at least a month, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy had bidden them both goodnight, with promises to check back in, for nurse Joy, in the morning and for Officer Jenny, periodically throughout the night and Officer Jenny had also left three of the station's Growlithe behind as extra protection. Kim and Samuel had called and reassured their parents and brother of the situation, but their father and mother were already headed back, to arrive in the morning, leaving their brother behind to finish the showing and get home as quickly as possible.
Kim breathed a sigh of relief as she finally hung up the phone. Her family had dealt with hustlers and poachers many times before, but this was the first time that Kim had had to face them all on her own. Usually she was backing up her big brother or father or mother, or was up at the house dialing the police number. This time she had been right in the middle of the fight, on her own. She knew she had done well, as well as she could have done under the circumstances, but she still had lots of practice ahead of her. She couldn't afford to be overwhelmed like that again. She had been put in a position where she had to choose between her pokemon and she had almost frozen trying to think of something instead of reacting. She would need a plan for the next time something like this happened.
"'Ey Kim?" She was snapped out of her thoughts by her brother's questioning voice.
"Aye?" Samuel was standing in the kitchen doorway, shyly gripping the doorframe with his hands, Rufus and Charlie leaning against his legs, looking equally as timid as their master.
"I can't sleep, can we watch movies instead?" Kim walked over to him, picking him up under his arms and rubbing her nose against his.
"Course we can squirt." She said, setting him on the ground and rubbing his head. "Ya did good tonight." Samuel grinned wide.
"Ya did good too big sis."
Author's Notes:
-Who's that Pokemon: Happy is a butterfree.
-Kim is one of the first characters I came up with, she actually belongs to a full real plot driven story…that may or may not show up. So enjoy her.