Man, I got a four-day weekend, suckas!!!
That's why, unlike last week, I can afford to update on this Saturday morning. So, with all the free time I have, I'm guessing I'll be done with the next chapter on Friday- Which means faster entertainment!! For you guys at least- I'm just happy that you guys can enjoy this story.
To the Triumvirate of Rei- I thing we need a team switch, since you gave me an overpowered set of Pokemon... Oh well.
To the reviewer only known as yomaster- No, you can't do that. I already have the basic story structure in mind, so no proposed relationships- And I couldn't actually understand that OC profile of yours... I might introduce him anyway, but what the heck, everything is prototype right now. Sorry...
Without further delay, Happy Reading!!
The man stopped, out of breath from the combination of both running and calling Luxray's name; a few seconds later said Gleam Eyes Pokemon proceeded to bound out of the groves of trees and tackle him to the ground, licking his face in wild enthusiasm.
He let it go on for a second before he had a move to get up; as he shoved himself to his feet the Gleam Eyes Pokemon quickly jumped back attentively.
"What was that that passed us?" he asked his Pokemon, and immediately Luxray turned, jabbing his head in the direction from where he'd just ambushed his master.
"Is it human?"
Luxray nodded.
The man blinked in disbelief- Bu he trusted his Pokemon, and he'd known and seen stranger things than this. So, he nodded, and began to run anew towards the disturbance that Luxray had indicated, said Pokemon now running besides him…
Alex was bored.
Six hours and twenty-five minutes and counting since the shipment had been supposed to arrive this morning at the earliest- And that stupid shipment had still not arrived.
It was due by the end of today- But Alessandra Cesarini was not known for her patience. Well, she wasn't exactly well known at all, but to those close to her, especially Francesco, it was the number one thing you should know.
Ziri still didn't know, but he'd seen no reason to invoke this particular facet of her personality before, obviously…
She had it with waiting, and so she jumped off the bunk bed in the room that everyone had shared previously and smacked her Pokegear open.
"There had better be a good reason why they're late," she growled through gritted teeth, as she hit Professor Oak's number and immediately dropped her ticked-off demeanor in anticipation of talking to the most famous of all Pokemon Professors.
In her dreams.
Three soundings of the dial tone later, she got a brusque "Hello?"
Definitely not Professor Oak.
"Um, is Professor Oak there-?"
"No it is not. Are you another one of those crazy nerds wanting to get his autograph? The answer is no, he's a busy man, and he does not have time for you to be drooling over what he's done and possibly ruining the stuff that's he's working on now-"
Alex almost lost it right then and there, but she managed to control herself. "I'm just asking about a shipment of equipment made to Violet City destined to arrive today. Are you going to be kind enough to at least explain what happened to it and when it'll arrive?"
She was surprised to hear the grudging tone of "Yeah, wait, lemme check…"
Ten seconds later, he came back, his voice gruff once more: "It got delayed slightly… It's not coming until at least six in the afternoon. One of our tech people that's going is busy on it while it's coming to where you are… Wait a sec, who are you again-?"
"My name's Alex Cesarini… Anyway, bye!"
And with that, before he could assault her over the phone with his unpleasant demeanor again, she hung up.
At that point in time, Hannah was just coming back to the Pokemon Center, dazed; she immediately saw the entire gang, minus Ziri but plus a new girl, in the waiting area.
"What happened?" she asked, walking towards them after submitting her own Pokemon to the care unit. Flora was rather depressed over not stopping the mystery teen or at least getting a piece of him to keep, but she had the feeling that they'd see him again eventually…
Urya looked up, looking thoroughly miserable. "Ziri's left."
Hannah blinked. "Wait… You're telling me… He…"
Then it hit her. She stalked over, grabbed Urya's shoulders, and propped him upright roughly, to the (1) surprise of all, and, (2) terror of Urya as he quivered beneath her furious gaze.
"What did you happen to do to drive him off?" she asked in a deathly calm tone.
"Um," Urya mumbled, "Uh… Nothing…"
"Then why are you looking so guilty?" she asked suspiciously.
"Because I don't have anyone else to annoy anymore-!" he pouted.
Hannah didn't waste any more of her breath and knocked him out cold instantly with a slap that she usually reserved for Ziri… But was more than enough to send Urya blubbering into unconsciousness.
Ragnarok looked torn between avenging his master and rolling on the floor laughing, or however Beldums laugh.
"Okay," she said, her voice once again deathly calm, "can someone explain to me, without having some stupid agenda behind it, why he left? And why are all of you looking like that?"
Meaning rather depressed, but in the new girl's case she looked like she wanted to kill somebody.
Hannah had a nasty feeling of who that might be, but she held her tongue and waited.
Gale broke the silence. "This… Person, I guess," he began, indication the new travel companion they had, "picked a fight with Ziri. Somehow, his Cyndaquil had its side slashed open by something, but then it evolved in the middle of the battle-" she started in surprise, but kept listening "So then he somehow managed to finish her off."
"But?" she pressed on. "Why would he ditch because he won? He's not like one of those "I'm holier than thou" people-"
As a side note, she hated that kind. Anyway…
"That wound I was talking about… It's infected. I don't know where he is now, but he ran south, with that crazy speed of his…"
The events above happened roughly an hour and a half after Ziri had the run in with Team Rocket- And him.
In the "meanwhile"…
Ziri, having realized that while one evil (To him) had inexplicably run off, the other evil was now staring him down greedily, despite their weakly-twitching Pokemon.
"Um, what?" he said meekly.
"Will you just cut the crap and hand over the damn Quilava?" the one on the far right cut in gruffly, and the other three vigorously nodded their agreement.
It should be noted- And Ziri did note this- That they left themselves open for the annoying verbal comeback that this particular teenager had perfected all thoseyears ago as the premier annoyance tactic of New Bark Town.
"Don't wanna."
The evil grins dropped to be replaced by exasperation. "Oh come on," the one who had previously not yet spoken (Save ordering out his Machop) said, "Will you say something more original-?"
"Don't wanna."
"Okay, you're really ticking us off, man," the one on the far left snarled, who Ziri now noticed was very heavyset. "You want to mess with us-?"
"Don't wanna."
Despite, after logically deciphering the route of the conversation, Ziri having said that he did not want trouble, they went berserk. Returning their original Pokemon to their Pokeballs, the four took out a new set and threw them furiously skywards.
After Ziri had shielded his eyes from the flashes of white, he looked up…
To see (1) a rather interesting capsule-like… thing sticking out of the ground with an obvious nose, (2) another of those Machops, (3) a bat-like Pokemon with no eyes, and (4) another Ekans.
Quickly whipping out his Pokedex, he was greeted with the chime of "Diglett, the Mole Pokemon. No one has ever seen the feet of these curious Pokemon, who have amazing speed behind their small bodies. When they go through a field, the pits that they leave behind are perfectly tilled for growing crops."
Then, when he turned it to the freaky-looking bat: "Zubat, the Bat Pokemon. Zubat are blind; they navigate with ultrasonic waves. They, when threatened, absorb the energy of the opponent through their razor-sharp fangs."
Not good, Ziri thought.
"Well?" the blond one said impatiently. "Ready to face Team Rocket's Beta Squad-?"
The words left his mouth before he realized it.
"Why are you guys called the Beta Squad instead of the Alpha Squad? I mean, doesn't that mean you guys are secondhand?"
They stared at him, uncomprehendingly, before they realized that they had been degraded in his eyes.
Bad move.
They all gave simultaneous howls of rage and yelled their orders.
"Diglett, Mud-Slap!"
"Machop, Karate Chop!"
"Zubat, Leech Life!"
"Ekans, Acid!"
A burst of mud, a glob of yellow goo; both flew at Ziri and Aipom, who simultaneously yelped, and jumped out of the way in opposite directions.
A second later, both looked up, and wished they hadn't.
Aipom was being assaulted by the Zubat, who seemed quite addicted to sucking her blood; Ziri was being charged at by the Machop.
Again, he dived to the side, while Aipom jumped over her attacker; by then, however, the two staying at the back had moved up, as per orders-
"Ekans, Bite!"
"Diglett, another Mud-Slap!"
Although Ziri succeeded in hopping away from the outstretched jaws of the Snake Pokemon, Aipom was not so lucky, getting a face full of mud. Squealing with outrage, she hopped around, inadvertently dodging the repeated attempts of Zubat at close its jaws around her.
Quickly, Ziri, while dodging both a Karate Chop and a Bite (The Bite actually secured itself around the Machop's leg, causing an immediate bout of bickering and mass pain as Ekans refused to let go and the Superpower Pokemon resorted to bashing it with Karate Chops), yelled "Swift!"
He figured that, if Aipom was currently blinded, then an attack that couldn't miss even if you had an "eye problem" wouldn't miss anyway…
Well, duh- Even though the stars would have flown off a foot off to the left, they automatically snapped towards the Diglett, who let out a large squeal as it was struck.
Dead on the nose.
Ziri had the feeling that Aipom had an interesting talent for hitting Pokemon where it hurt, but he wasn't complaining- The Diglett's head dropped forward, and the trainer was left jumping up and down in rage.
At that moment the Zubat secured its jaws around Aipom's arm.
Although she screeched and began thrashing around, Aipom couldn't get it off; Ziri, noticing that the Machop and Ekans at the behest of the their owners were beginning to turn their heads to him, yelled "Aipom, one more Swift!" before he dived to the side.
I need another Pokemon out, he thought desperately.
Right now, Quilava was out of the question.
That left…
He took a deep breath, and as the Snake Pokemon dived at him, he threw Togepi's Pokemon dead between its eyes. In addition to sending it crashing to the ground, eyes going in circles…
Togepi popped out, chirping cheerfully.
Everyone besides Ziri, Aipom, the Zubat and the currently dizzy-from-impact Ekans stared at the Spike Ball Pokemon before they burst out laughing.
But in their laughter, Ziri took the opportunity to mouth the word Metronome.
Immediately Togepi waved its stubby arms- And instantly all the laughter stopped to watch in fascination at the waggling, glowing fingertips…
And then the glow stopped, and Togepi was left there, glowing innocently.
Ziri groaned, and began backing away.
Suddenly, the Spike Ball Pokemon's aura faded, and Togepi began jumping around for no good reason. The laughing resumed, as Ziri watched helplessly.
It wasn't even jumping on the things just to help!
He swore under his breath, before he consulted his Pokedex quickly.
"Splash, a normal-type in which the user helpless thrashes around for no good reason."
He swore louder this time, before he noticed the Machop walking over, and for what appeared to be amusement kicked it lightly.
Togepi immediately popped up, loudly chirping in what sounded like indignation… But he wasn't sure.
Well, it was actually true, and this is what Togepi said.
"What was that for, you gigantic queer-looking bully-!!"
The Machop stared at Togepi, uncomprehendingly. "Um… I'm gigantic…?"
"Yes! Fine, time to get really, really serious!"
With that, the Spike Ball Pokemon scrunched up its face, an odd aura glowing around it.
Everyone stopped laughing to observe what the heck was going on; even the Zubat, still having not drunk its fill of blood from Aipom despite having been hit by the Swift (In a place where it didn't hurt too much), let go to watch in fascination.
The odd aura was not as solid as, say, Totodile's Torrent- But it was there, an odd light purple.
Ziri remembered his fight with Zailia- That same color was present around that Absol's blade whenever she ordered something called "Psycho Cut"…
At that moment, the Machop suddenly yelped in pain and looked like it would thrash around in pain…
If there wasn't something invisible holding it back. Which anyone with a brain could realize that it was Togepi doing it.
And then the Superpower Pokemon dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Slowly, Ziri looked at his Pokedex once more.
"Extrasensory, a psychic-type move that involves the user generating an invisible force to assault the enemy."
Ziri now remembered how psychic attacks were strong against, of all things, fighting-types…
And weren't Machops called Superpower Pokemon, dead ringer for combative Pokemon?
Ziri took a deep breath, and yelled "Togepi, another Extrasensory!"
The Team Rocket members could do nothing but yell in disbelief as first the Zubat screeched in pain and dropped to the ground, and then the then-struggling Ekans became an unconscious Ekans in the short span of five seconds.
Aipom, woozy from blood loss via Leech Life, looked up, to find all four of the Pokemon that they had been sent out against them downed, all unconscious and their owners stuck in a state of perpetual disbelief.
However, the blond one (Ziri now figured out him to be some sort of leader figure) now sneered. "Think you've won?"
Immediately, the other three whipped out a new Pokeball for themselves- But he instantly said "I'll deal with him."
Although they looked sullen at this, the three backed down, and he pulled out his own.
"Hope you like the smell," he said smugly, and threw it, to reveal…
A thing with a massive tail that drooped over its back and part of its face, colored purple and white- No, the white mainly belonged to a large stripe along the tail. It's face consisted of a pair of large cheeks and
Ziri blinked at it, and it blinked back.
"What the hell is that?"
His question was instantly answered by his Pokedex instantly speaking: "Skuntank, the Skunk Pokemon. Skuntank spray a foul-smelling liquid from their tails to attack, from up to a hundred and fifty feet away. In addition to the misfortune of the victim, the stench will worsen the longer the stench is allowed to fester."
Ziri winced. "Geez, could you have gotten something with more finesse?"
The guysnorted in derision. "You think we care what a kid like you think?"
"Uh, yes?"
His eyes narrowed. "Oh, you're going to pay for that, you little-"
"Don't wanna."
At this point, he exploded. "Skuntank, use Flamethrower!"
Ziri wasn't going to argue with just how the hell the thing knew a fire-type attack like that; rather, with the memory of what Togepi had (Ironically) picked with Metronome just yesterday, he shouted "Get behind the rock!"
He was talking about a rock only a few feet to the Spike Ball Pokemon's left- Togepi took the cue, and dived for it, just barely avoiding being roasted alive with the flames- To be sure, the smelly flames, being launched from the tail, but…
Noting that Togepi was shielded for now, he decided to do the coup de grace now; he called "Use Extrasensory!"
Nothing, save for the Spike Ball Pokemon getting a look of strenuous concentration on his face, happened.
Skuntank looked slightly confused, since he was feeling some kind of force lightly nudging him; his owner now threw back his head and laughed mockingly. "You really don't realize what dark-types are to psychic-types, do you?"
"Don't wanna."
He didn't even hesitate this time. "Night Slash!"
The rock which Togepi was hiding behind was ripped apart by the attack that was all too horribly familiar to Ziri- Now trying to figure out why Extrasensory, for all its power, had failed as well as now attempting to get Togepi to run…
"Quick, Metronome!"
In the middle of rolling around in its attempts to dodge Skuntank's outstretched claws, the fingers began waggling around, which produced…
Suddenly, Togepi rapidly flapped its wings, a new look on concentration on its face as it, to the disbelief of all, began actually flying up, up and away.
Ziri watched, openmouthed, remembering the formula for flight that he'd learned in physics.
Lift is proportional to area available for thrust.
Weight drags down the object.
Drag is the sum of air resistance to the general shape of the object.
The last time he checked, Togepi couldn't rise up, up and away on pure arm-flapping power…
And the shape- Ziri wanted to scream at the physical impossibility of a freakin' half hatched flying egg.
Then what was going up, up, up, and going higher up?
Oh well; what comes up must come down.
Three seconds later, Togepi fell from the sky and conked the Skunk Pokemon dead on the head.
Everyone's mouth dropped open at the sight of the much larger Pokemon staggering from the impact of a flying egg- Ziri barely had any feeling in his body to pull out his Pokedex again, but he managed. Barely.
"Fly, a flying-type move that involves the user accelerating upwards before the user dives and strikes the foe. This can be used as a form of aerial transport."
Oh.
"Skuntank, use Flamethrower again!"
Ziri looked up- Just in time to see Togepi almost roasted alive by the stream of flames. Though he called out a Metronome…
"Don't you dare stop!"
Although Ziri was first inclined to yell at mister blondy for yelling at his Pokemon, he realized with much trepidation that the Skunk Pokemon was a willing collaborator and kept up the Flamethrower, breaking the Spike Ball Pokemon's concentration. Togepi kept running- But everyone could see the Spike Ball's stamina running low, judging from its pained expression…
I have to stop that thing, he thought desperately.
Therefore, he yelled "Charm!"
Togepi, having taken refugee behind a rock, let loose a burst of hearts, that, although Ziri winced at it, immediately put a dazed expression on the Skuntank's face upon loud, poppy and thoroughly pink-ish impact.
Relieved, but knowing that now his offense was limited to a wild card move, he played it once more.
"Let's use another Metronome!"
This time…
Togepi dived forward in a sudden burst of speed that Ziri knew had to be hurting to Togepi as well; sure, the Skunk Pokemon was sent flipping over, but it popped up, significantly more angry than before- And its prey was still sitting upright, quite dazed.
Unbidden, his Pokedex began: "Take Down, a-"
Ziri snapped the lid shut.
He had no use of it now, having seen Urya use it far too many times, and shut his own eyes as Togepi, still dazed, now fell victim to a vengeful Night Slash.
Two of my Pokemon downed today because of one stupid move, Ziri thought miserably to himself.
Could it get any worse?
Not really.
For the last five minutes or so, the man and his Luxray had observed Ziri fending off four Team Rocket grunts at a time- Even if they did happen to have a squad name.
The man was especially surprised in just how he seemed to control his Pokemon- It was that he took priority of his Pokemon's safety over just how much damage that he could inflict.
Over the eight years that he had been alone, travelling alone with only his Pokemon by his side, he had never seen such a trainer devoted to the safety of his Pokemon- And this was the boy who had the speed to knock both him and Luxray over in his wake?
But now, the man saw, with an affirming growl from Luxray, Ziri's desperate attempts to dodge a Skuntank's attacks. To be sure, they were inaccurate- But as they always said, if you keep firing bad shots one of them will hit. Eventually.
As the blond gloated over this victory, which technically wasn't one since he was superior to Ziri in experience and power anyway, the man slipped on the mask and the coat.
He was going to intervene, despite deep in his heart believing that to dodge an attack at all costs was not always the best way. If you can brave through an attack and faint your opponent, but instead dodge it and extend your time of torture for another ten minutes, then wouldn't the former be better?
But was going to rescue Ziri anyway, though he in reality didn't know his name.
Because with Team Rocket, any side was better than theirs.
He stepped out, just as they, attempting to make it even worse for Ziri the three that had stood back and watched sent forth their own Pokemon as he quickly recalled Togepi.
Now, Ziri was about to completely give up and just run for it on pure leg power, with Aipom having scampered in fright in front of the armada of Pokemon she was about to face.
At the very least she was hanging from his neck in a semi-chokehold with her tail- But he wasn't letting that aspect show…
And that was when he stepped out from behind a bush.
Ziri had never seen him before, but he could tell that in some way the Team Rocket members had, judging from the suddenly-terrified expressions on their faces. The four Pokemon they had out- A Spearow, the Skuntank, a rather interesting dog-like Pokemon with gray and black fur, and finally a Pokemon which Ziri recognized as a Koffing, judging from the mark on its front, being a crossbones and all- looked at them with confusion- And immediately got their own version of the picture when they saw Luxray. If an ability called Intimidation was any consideration…
To the humans on Team Rocket's side, it was partly the Luxray that made them instantly cower, but it was more the man than the Pokemon.
With their Pokemon it was just the Pokemon. Pretty ironic that each species present was frightened of itself…
Ziri shrank into the background as the man spoke, with an obvious smug tone behind the voice: "Well, well, what do we have here…?"
The blond guy, obviously the leader, opened his mouth immediately. "Do you think it's your business to mess with every Team Rocket operation-?"
"Oh, I didn't know that this was an operation," he cooed in a very mocking tone, "All I saw was you four attempting to extort the kid-"
Normally, Ziri would give a very snide comment about how calling him a kid was the rough equivalent of declaring himself an old geezer, but in this case he managed to hold his tongue. Barely.
"This kid got himself in trouble with us," the blond said angrily, "so stay out of our way, goddammit-"
"Everyone gets in your way, the last time I took liberty with my wanderings..." the man said snidely.
At this point, the heavyset guy broke in. "Actions speak louder than words, Koslov."
Immediately, the one with the two Machops and the Poochyena whacked him on the back of the head. "Why do you have to bust out the proverbs now!?"
"It's instinct, dang it-!"
Mr. Koslov, or whoever he might be, sighed and withdrew from within his cloak another Pokeball, and at that sight the argument instantly ground to a halt.
"If you guys want to let loose four Pokemon on me," he said loftily, "Then I believe it's fair that I get at least one more…"
All of them instantly turned pale.
"No!" they yelled simultaneously.
"Spearow, Aerial Ace!"
"Skuntank, Flamethrower!"
"Poochyena, use Bite!"
"Koffing, hit them with Smog!"
Sure, the blindingly fast attack struck Luxray's side; but being an electric-type meant an obvious resistance to the flying-type move. The Flamethrower and Smog, Luxray simply jumped over, and when the outstretched jaws of the Bite Pokemon began to close in-
"Luxray, Superpower!"
In that instant, the Gleam Eyes Pokemon became bathed in an orange light, concentrated around his forelimbs; with that, one swipe of them sent the Poochyena flying away, already unconscious from the super effective attack. The Spearow turned around…
Only to have the same, but slightly worse treatment as it crashed into a tree and slid down, twitching weakly.
The man smirked, hidden behind his mask and coat, as he threw the Pokeball that he had had in his hand the entire time: "Scizor, fight on!"
The Pincer Pokemon appeared, hissing and brandishing its previously mentioned pincers. The marks on them, Ziri noticed, happened to be shaped like eyes- And instantly the two Pokemon that were left froze up as well.
Ziri mentally groaned.
Double Intimidation. A classic tactic he often faced, but that was with humans, unlike now.
In the meantime, Koslov ordered Scizor: "Finish them all off! Giga Impact!"
Ziri knew what Giga meant- It was the prefix for one billion, from what he knew as a side face in his precalculus class.
However, he had no idea what it meant here- But then he did, judging from the gold-colored barrier that suddenly formed around the charging Pincer Pokemon.
"Koffing, Selfdestruct!" the owner yelled in obvious desperation.
The Poison Gas Pokemon looked to be trying to breath in as much as possible as it began to glow- Just as Scizor was upon it, it suddenly, as the name of the move suggested, exploded.
The shock wave sent Ziri tumbling and violently cursing as he attempted stop himself- Not that Aipom was helping, since she was busy chattering in panic and grabbing his neck in a fresh chokehold.
The man mostly unruffled, save for behind forced to hunker down; when he looked up, he saw Scizor stagger to its feet from where it had been blasted through three trees, hissing in anger.
However, as for the Selfdestruct, the barrier that had formed between it and the Koffing had given it a layer of protection- Now all that was left was the Skuntank.
Well, no there wasn't.
At that moment, it became painfully obvious that not only had Koffing hit Scizor (Luxray was too far back, but had been buffeted with the shockwave), but also the explosion had smashed dead into Skuntank, only a few feet away.
Well, if the blackened for that covered one side of the Skunk Pokemon was any indicator…
It then proceeded to let out a sooty breath and topple over, joining Koffing on the ground where its eyes were revolving with circles and covered with blackened patches.
Ziri was bewildered- The trainer had ordered a kamikaze attack that even hit an ally?
Scizor looked visibly disappointed that it hadn't truly gotten to beat up anything- But then it remembered that there were still humans around.
Not that he could, because at that moment…
"Remember that Jonathan Almers of the Beta Squad will get you two!!" came the howl from the blond as he sent out what Ziri recognized as an Abra.
"Teleport us all out of here!"
The man only sighed as the fox-like Psi Pokemon was bathed in a light-purple aura- And proceeded to disappear, along with all the Pokemon and people belonging to Team Rocket.
"Oh, if only they were less intelligent and only ran away, then I'd no longer have to deal with them…"
Ziri picked himself off the ground, slightly scared of what would happen if he did.
He immediately regretted it, as Luxray turned and instantly gave him a death glare, having obviously not forgotten about the "overgrown lightning rod" comment from only minutes earlier, despite the confrontation only seconds before.
Instantly, as if there was a psychic bond between Pokemon and trainer, the man- Koslov- snapped his attention to Ziri.
"You must be the runner, aren't you…?"
The teen blinked, before he remembered that some thirty minutes ago, when he had a burst of blur-running right before he collapsed into the grass, that he'd run between two indistinct figures.
He hadn't looked back- In fact, the last time he looked back when he ran (Not blur-ran) had gotten his rib fractured. And with the kind of speed he had used, that kind of fracture becomes not just a break but ten breaks.
"Uh, yeah," he said with all the innocence that he could muster, "is something wrong?"
"Not really."
A short silence, which Ziri broke a few seconds later with the question, "And why the heck did you help me?"
"It's Team Rocket," the man said simply.
"Duh," Ziri said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, "anyone can see that- Literally. What else?"
"They're criminals."
"Moving on besides the fact that they wear black, they're evil, they're dumb, and they're criminals, what else?"
The man now surprised that he had asked such a penetrating question, but quickly pulled together a response. "They're guilty of an infinite number of crimes against Pokemon, and they all deserve to die."
Ziri had met his share of fanatics at school- Mainly Norman and his gang attempting to crush the life out of him at every opportunity. However, what disturbed him more was right before the last clause of the sentence.
Why had he only mentioned Pokemon, not people as well? Team Rocket didn't just inflict damage on one species…
He decided to pretend that he had not notice this curious bit of words, and simply nodded. "Uh, that's all fine…"
"So then" Koslov said in a new business-like tone, "What were they after you for?"
"Uh, mostly my mistake," Ziri said sheepishly. "I left my Quilava out here, and then they stumbled on it and were talking about stealing it, so then I returned him and pissed them off to hell…"
His voice trailed off, and his counterpart instantly got the gist of what had happened after that.
"Oh, and by the way, what's your name and who exactly are you? I've never heard of Team Rocket being actually scared of anyone at first sight…"
The man considered curtly saying no to this question- But what was the harm? As long as he didn't show his face…
"My name," he said, "is Demetri Koslov, and I'm what you can call a vigilante."
Obviously, if you want to kill the people the police want to catch, Ziri thought, but he once again held his tongue.
"I've told you mine," the man- No, Demetri- said calmly, "Now you tell me yours."
Ziri didn't miss a beat.
"The name's Zirienji Axlhedron, but I prefer Ziri."
Then he blinked, realizing that Demetri had already began walking again.
"Wait a sec, geez!"
He quickly caught up, much to Luxray's displeasure, and Demetri looked at him in mild irritation. "What?" came the annoyed response.
"Where the heck are you going?" Ziri grumbled. Then, he remembered that place in Violet City that looked as if a bomb had gone off there.
"Oh, and did you cause that disaster site back in Violet City?"
Demetri gave him a hard look, secretly tensing inside. "What of it?"
"Why did you blow it up, if you did?"
For a second or two he simply walked, forcing Ziri to walk in front of him and face him. "Seriously, you think I'll rat you out or something, geez…"
Demetri made the decision.
"Just to get you to shut it, it was a Team Rocket hideout that I destroyed."
In one sentence, he told Ziri three things.
One: This guy was hardcore.
Two: This guy was very loose in keeping what he did a secret.
Three: He seriously hated talking with people.
This isn't going to end well…
Back at the Pokemon Center, an hour later. Disparagingly said, "meanwhile…"
Hannah remembered the speed that had gotten him into trouble with Alex all the way back in Cherrygrove City.
It's convenient- But it's trouble.
She didn't know yet how true that mental statement was and just how much the possessor would have enthusiastically agreed at the very moment.
"So, anyway," she said loudly, "Do we have to wait until tomorrow to go?"
"Well, yeah," Gale sighed, "You obviously have to get your Pokemon healed, this chick has to get hers-"
"There's only one," came the snarl, and their attention was instantly diverted to her.
She lifted her head off the table, knowing full well that they all had their ears and eyes trained on her, and said loudly "I think the moment Shadow's healed, I'm going to have a little rematch with that bastard…"
If Ziri had been listening to them now, he would have, simply put, gone berserk and thrashed her within an inch of her life, for that was the very same insult that had put him into a similar enraged state in his hometown. Some hometown New Bark Town was to him now, since he'd vowed to never come back...
"I don't think you'll be able to catch up with him." Hannah immediately retorted- She did not like this obviously holier-than-thou attitude that she seemed to be extruding, though it was mostly from the rage that she felt.
"Says who?" Zailia said loftily. "You think that just because I'm a girl, I can't run as fast as a boy-?"
"It's not that," Alex broke in, having sat with them since Gale, Urya, and Zailia had come in and listened to what had happened, "It's just that… This… Uh, boy you're talking about can run fast enough to make this crazy shockwave behind him. How're you going to catch up to him at that speed? I mean, I think you've seen it for yourself, I guess…"
She was at a loss of words to respond to that meekly-put fact, when they all heard a howl. A very chilling, and to Gale, far too familiar howl, though it had been days…
Gale did not like the sound of that howl, simply put.
"Oh crap," he muttered, and he dashed out, a very confused and freshly-woken-up following Urya behind, asking "What's going on-?"
None of the people inside liked it either- Especially Alex, who felt a tingle of familiarity, despite not exactly hearing that howl. It was just a sense- And unfortunately it was correct.
Outside, they found a mob of people screaming, and a large number of policemen- And police women, to note one Officer Jenny- all with an assortment of Pokemon against one, very angry-looking…
With a sinking feeling, both Gale and Alex realized what they were seeing in the light of the three o'clock sun of the afternoon.
It was a Houndoom. Not just any Houndoom. It was the same Houndoom that had been escaped from, time and time again, but Ziri and co. And now, there was nowhere save inside the Pokemon Center to run to, and no Metronome-wielding Togepi to get them out of there.
One police officer, a rather brazen one, called "Furret, Iron Tail!"
Zailia, to whom the gang still did not know the name to, muttered under her breath "Idiot…"
The reason?
The Long Tail Pokemon bounded forward, tail glowing, when the Houndoom simply opened his mouth and spat out a spray of flames in what everyone recognized as an Ember attack- And what the Furret got the worst of. As it the glow of the tail faded via broken concentration, the Houndoom gleefully bounded forward- And did what Zailia recognized as a Fire Fang, judging from the sudden spurt of flames from the exposed teeth.
The Furret dropped to the ground limp from both force that the jaws had clamped down upon it and from the burn that had formed- The Darkness Pokemon then looked around, eager for another challenger.
"Uh oh," Gale muttered, then made his decision.
He stepped forward, and threw up Houndour's Pokeball.
"Houndour, I choose you!"
The Dark Pokemon appeared, snarling at his evolved counterpart; said counterpart drew back in surprise, before he then walked forward, an evil gleam in its eye.
"I finally get my revenge," it growled softly. "After that fiasco in the forest, I tracked you all the way here…"
"Says who?" Houndour challenged. "We beat you once, and we can do it again!"
It's eyes narrowed, before it continued. "Now, where's that other pipsqueak that caused me so much trouble…?"
"He left because you were beneath him, fool!"
That remark Houndour had made up, but it had the desired effect: The Houndoom immediately bounded forward in a vengeful howl, its mouth flaming in preparation to perform a Fire Fang-
Gale knew that more than likely that this Houndoom had Flash Fire as its ability as well- But he simply decided to yell, instead of dodging, "Bite!"
Although the crowd that had gathered gasped…
The flames that should have scorched Houndour simply wrapped themselves around him, though the fangs produced some mild discomfort- In the meantime, the Dark Pokemon took liberty of his position and, dangling from the jaws of his evolved form, clamped his jaws around its leg.
The Houndoom, in its surprise from both the fact that this thing was fighting back and the fact that it actually hurt, flinched, dropping its pre-evolved form in the process. Houndour fell right underneath it, which Gale instantly saw the opening for-
"Use Roar!"
Before the Dark Pokemon could react, the other, smaller one beneath it let loose a massive burst of sound that sent it flying- Right up, until it went down, only to crash into the ground in a plume of dust.
Not that it would stay down, from Alex's experience- And she was right.
It got up, significantly battered- And significantly angered.
"Crud," Alex groaned, "This thing has a temper…"
"Thank you, Miss Obvious," Zailia said offhandedly as she continued to observe quite calmly.
And that's that- If anyone thinks their OC is being misrepresented, then give me a shout, with the gigantic review button on the bottom of the page, people!
On the subject of reviews- Remember to do just that! Please!! With a free laptop for doing so!!!