Long Way to Fall

By: Rylek196

Chapter 11: Plasma Strikes Again

Hilbert sighed and sat down in the damp grass next to his now-evolved starter while his other Pokemon were engaging in mock battle about twenty feet away.

"What are we gonna do, Maru?" he said despondently. "We're running outta money after yesterday's battle, and if we lose again…" he sighed once more, at a loss for what to do.

It had been two days since Hilbert's first disastrous battle with Lenora. The boy had gone in thinking he was ready, and he paid dearly for that hubris. Though Lenora had two Pokemon for the fight, she only needed to use her first, a Herdier, Lillipup's evolved form, to sweep him. The loss resulted in him having to give up a good chunk of his earnings thus far, but motivated him to do better the next time. He had diligently grinded his Pokemon up to be at least almost on par with Lenora's the next day, and it was during this training that Maru and Logan had evolved.

Maru was now a Dewott, having evolved at level 17, and was now level 18. He had learned the move Razor Shell, a base 75 power Water-type attack that Hilbert used to replace Tackle, right after he evolved.

Dewott was a bipedal Pokemon that, like its previous evolution Oshawott, resembled an otter and was primarily light blue. It had whiskers on either side of its ovoid head that formed sideways V-shapes. It had small black ears, black fur on its three-fingered hands that almost resembled gloves in a way, and a tiny red nose. Around its waist was a dark blue, fringed piece of fur with two of the seashells attached to the thighs.

Meanwhile, Logan had evolved into Herdier only one level earlier at level 16, and one level before that, had learned the powerful Take Down, a 90 base power Normal-type move that made Tackle virtually obsolete. Unfortunately, it came with a drawback: recoil damage. For every time it connected, it did damage to Logan equal to one-fourth the damage he dealt to his opponent. Therefore, it was a move to use only in desperate situations, when the chips were really down.

Herdier was a canine Pokemon that looked far more mature and grown up than Lillipup. It was mostly covered in a coat of surprisingly firm dark blue fur, though its legs and were uncovered and the fur there was the colour of brown sugar. There was a scruffy bunch of fur on its face that was cream-coloured and formed a three-pointed crest.

As for Drilbur, he hadn't evolved, but was level 17, the same as Logan, and had learned Metal Claw at level 15, Hilbert overwriting the useless Mud-Slap with the far more powerful move.

With his new-and-improved Pokemon in tow, he went back to the Gym… only to meet the exact same result. He had gotten past Lenora's Herdier this time, but then… that Watchog. That damnable Watchog. Watchog was the evolution of the Pokemon Hilbert was sick of seeing by now, Patrat, and Lenora's particular one knew a move called Retaliate- his downfall in his last battle, and the new bane of his existence. As he had been told by Lenora, Retaliate was a 70 base power Normal-type move that doubled in power when used to avenge a fainted ally. This, combined with the Watchog knowing Hypnosis, a move that inflicted sleep, and Hilbert was at the aforementioned loss for what to do.

Making matters worse, Cheren actually had beaten Lenora on his first try, thanks to Retaliate somehow missing, giving Cheren more than enough right to brag, and brag he did. He had also mentioned something about a 'faint rumbling' he heard afterward, whereas Hilbert heard no such thing again going into the museum for his second fight.

"I don't know, Maru," Hilbert said to his starter, taking off his cap and running a hand through his hair. "I already used two of those three Chesto Berries last time, and if I use the last one for nothing, we're well and truly screwed. At least this cut on my face is healing nicely. Don't even need the band-aid on it anymore."

Currently, he was south of Nacrene, on the outskirts of a place called Pinwheel Forest, a 1729 acre (about seven square kilometres, or 4 miles) forest that separated Nacrene from the ocean to the south. He had heard from the chatter in the Pokemon Center that many Pokemon made their habitats in the wet, deforested field where he was, including several Fighting-types, but so far, he hadn't found any but Timburr, and unfortunately, as he recently learned, Timburr didn't evolve into its final form, Conkeldurr, unless it was traded with someone else. Hilbert didn't even begin to understand how that worked. Deeper in the woods lived plentiful Bug-types, but they wouldn't help him out any more than Timburr would against Lenora.

Hilbert was pulled out of his musings by the sound of Scrapper crying out. He looked up and saw Logan had the claws of the Drilbur's left arm clamped firmly between his teeth.

"Dammit," the boy muttered. He stood up, wiping dirt off the backside of his jeans, and returned his starter to its Poke Ball, walking over to his other team members. "Scrapper, we've been over this," he chastised his Pokemon. "If Logan does that, use Metal Claw with your other claw. It'll break Logan's hold on you. It's especially important because we know Lenora's Herdier has Bite." His mind briefly flashed back to when the Herdier used the move to knock Scrapper out the first time, losing him the match.

He returned his Pokemon to their Poke Balls, and began his walk back to Nacrene, when he heard it. A rhythmic, steady, thud, thud, thud from somewhere deeper in the forest. "What the..?" Hilbert said, turning around and heading in the direction of the noise. He entered the forest, going about twenty feet into the treeline, when he saw the source of the thudding, and with a quiet gasp of fear, ducked behind a tree.

The thudding was being caused by a Sawk, a powerful Fighting-type. It was hitting a tree with repeated, alternating punches, causing the tree to shake with each blow. Sawk was a humanoid Pokemon with blue skin and an oblong head. Though Hilbert couldn't see it from his hidden position, it had a black zigzag shape on its face that formed a left brow and nose of sorts. It wore a white karate gi, complete with black belt, and its hands and feet each had three digits.

His heart pounding, Hilbert quickly peeked around the tree and then retracted his head. Dammit, what do I do? he thought. I probably can't run without it noticing me, and I've heard the talk of how dangerous these things are. Then again… if I could catch it, Lenora's Badge is as good as mine…

Taking a deep breath, he took Maru's Poke Ball off his belt and expanded it, stepping out from behind the tree. "Maru, Water Gun!" he shouted, throwing out the Ball.

Before the Sawk could react, Maru had landed and sprayed a jet of water out of his mouth at the Karate Pokemon. The Sawk was knocked against the tree by the attack, but quickly got up and whirled around, fury blazing in its eyes. It ran towards Maru with frightening speed, forcing the Discipline Pokemon to fire another Water Gun while Hilbert took a Poke Ball out of his bag. Having sold three of the ones of the ones Juniper gave him on Route 1, this and a Great Ball were all he had.

He whipped his head up as he heard Matu cry out in panic. The Sawk was now on top of him, and spun around on its heel, lashing out with its legs to deliver a brutal Double Kick attack. The move caught Maru right on the side of the head, sending him flying a good ten feet away.

"Maru!" Hilbert cried out in concern. Oh, this was a really bad idea, he thought. He gulped as the Sawk stomped towards him, its fists clenched. Oh crap. With little choice, he threw the Poke Ball, voicing a silent prayer that this would work.

The Sawk's eyes just barely had time to widen in shock before it was sucked into the Ball in a flash of energy. His heart pounding, Hilbert cautiously edged closer to the Poke Ball, body turned in a diagonal orientation as it wiggled on the ground. One shake… two shakes… Suddenly and without warning, the ball burst open with enough force to turn it into shrapnel.

It was the position of Hilbert's body that saved his life. Had he been facing the Ball head-on, the metal shards would have embedded themselves in his chest and killed him instantly. As it was, only one piece hit him, slicing across his right arm, ripping through fabric and flesh alike, almost cutting the artery in his bicep. "Ah!" he cried out in pain and shock, his left hand instinctively grabbing his arm to cover the wound, blood immediately wetting his palm.

Worse, the Sawk was now freed, and very, very angry. It ran up to Hilbert and pushed him over, the boy crying out again as he hit the ground. He desperately tried to scoot backwards as the Sawk reared back one of its legs to deliver a skull-cracking kick to his lower jaw, when a blue blur slammed into the wild Pokemon from the side. It was Maru! The Dewott then followed up by pouncing on the Sawk, slashing at it with Razor Shell as Hilbert got to his feet.

Doing his best to fight the pain, Hilbert fished his lone Great Ball from his bag and tossed it at the Sawk. Once more, the Pokemon was sucked into the Ball (much to Maru's confusion) and it began to shake. Once… twice… three times… then with an audible click, the Sawk was caught.

"Agh… fuck!" Hilbert said through clenched teeth, gripping his injured arm tightly. "That could have gone fuckin' smoother."

Maru let out a concerned-sounding chattering noise, pointing to Hilbert's wound. "Yeah, I don't think the pack of bandages I have is gonna cut it for this either, bud," Hilbert said. "I'm gonna need medical attention. Problem is, we're a ways away from the damn Pokemon Center. Gotta try to get there, though." He returned his starter to his Poke Ball and picked up the Great Ball containing the newly-caught Sawk. I'll worry about nicknaming this guy and checking his moves and level later, right now I gotta book it!

By the time Hilbert made it to the point where the Pokemon Center was in view, the right sleeve of his jacket was soaked in blood, and his breathing was laboured. Every step felt like weights were attached to his ankles. His grip on consciousness was tenuous at best by the time he actually made it inside the structure's automatic sliding doors. The nurse on staff gasped in horror at seeing the injured boy stumble into the building, blood dripping onto the floor. She quickly called for a room in the hospital wing to be made ready, then ran out from behind the counter to assist Hilbert.

The boy nearly collapsed just as the nurse made it to him to support him. She was alarmed at how pale he looked. "What happened to you?" she asked.

"I'll… explain… later…" Hilbert managed to gasp out. "Just… get me… medical attention."

The sound of urgent footsteps alerted the nurse, and she turned her head towards the mezzanine stairways, seeing other Pokemon Center staff carrying a stretcher coming down the stairs. "Wish granted," she said as the two doctors took Hilbert from her and lifted him onto the stretcher, taking him up to the human hospital wing. The next two minutes were a blur for Hilbert as he was brought into a hospital room just before he finally succumbed to exhaustion and blood loss and passed out.

Several hours later, he awoke. Groaning, he rubbed his face with one hand, his senses slowly returning. Still groggy, he blinked several times, trying to sit up.

"Careful there," a voice to his left said. Hilbert looked in that direction, seeing it was the nurse from the downstairs counter.

"Wh...what happened?" he groaned.

"A lot, to put it simply," the nurse replied. "You lost a lot of blood, young man. We had to give you a transfusion after stitching that wound on your arm shut."

"Wha..?" Lifting his right arm, he saw that it had bandages wrapped around the bicep where his injury was. Underneath those were his stitched-shut wound. "Oh… Oh, fuck."

"That's… one way of putting it," the nurse said. "And I think you owe me an explanation. What happened out there to make you stumble in here with your arm covered in blood?"

"Trying… trying to catch a Sawk," Hilbert said. "It burst out of the first Poke Ball I threw with more force than I thought… Poke Ball exploded, a bit of shrapnel hit me in the arm."

"Then you're lucky to be alive," the nurse said. "I've seen the remains of those foolish enough to interrupt a Sawk or Throh's training session. Only one of them still had an intact skull. The other two… you don't want to know. Those Pokemon's base attack stats are through the roof."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Hilbert said. "So what now?"

"All things considered, you got off light with the risk you took," the nurse explained. "You should be fine in a few more days, and we'll let you out tomorrow. Just keep bandages on the stitched area, and keep it clean. Also be sure to change them every once in a while. Were you carrying any medical supplies with you when you got that injury?"

"Yeah, but I don't think a little pack of adhesive bandages would have helped with something this severe."

The nurse pursed her lips. "True. I'd highly recommend you buy some proper gauze from the store downstairs before you leave tomorrow, just in case. You don't know how many Trainers recklessly travel without any medical supplies at all, and it gets them killed. You're just of the lucky ones that survived that recklessness. I'll let you get some rest."

The nurse walked out of the room, and Hilbert closed his eyes, falling asleep.

The next day, Hilbert walked out of the Pokemon Center. Having showered and with deodorant applied under his arms, he felt clean and refreshed. His bloodstained jacket was slung over his shoulder. The Center staff had given him instructions on how to care for his wound, which meant changing the bandages often to avoid getting the injury infected, and to go to any Pokemon Center later on to have the stitches removed. A roll of gauze was now safely tucked away in his bag.

"Alright, first things first," he said to himself. "Buying a new jacket." Thankfully, Nacrene, being the trendy and fashionable place it was, had plenty of clothing shops, so he was easily able to find and purchase a replacement. Clothing was relatively cheap in Unova, unlike a region like Kalos, where the prices were borderline outrageous. The only difference between his old jacket and his new one was that the new one had a zip-on, detachable hood that was slightly bulkier, whereas the old one's was permanently attached. He threw his ruined jacket in the nearest trash can he could find.

After that was done, he walked towards the museum once more, this time determined to succeed. On the way there, he finally checked his new team member's stats, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head once he saw them in the Pokédex. H-holy crap, he thought. Base 125 attack!? 85 speed!? That's nuts! This thing's equivalent to a fully evolved Pokemon!

In terms of level, the Sawk was ready to go, being at level 14, but its moves were not that great, knowing Leer, Bide, Focus Energy, and the one that really interested Hilbert, the Fighting-type Double Kick. He plucked the Pokemon's Great Ball off his belt and held it up to his face. "I think I'll call you Sensei," he said. "Kinda fitting for the Karate Pokemon."

Reaching the museum, he gave Sensei the last Chesto Berry he had left. If this doesn't work, I'll be completely outta options, he thought, walking inside the building. He made a beeline for the Gym proper, solving the bookshelf-sliding puzzle in record time, and went down the hidden staircase to the battle arena.

The battle arena itself was an underground study, with Lenora's desk near the back of the room, and the health bar screen situated above it on the wall. Bookshelves lined the walls, but Hilbert knew that thick glass panels slammed down to protect the precious paper records whenever a Pokemon battle started.

Lenora, hearing the sound of descending footsteps, looked up. She was a tough woman in her early thirties with ebony skin and teal hair and wore a white, short-sleeved shirt with two red pockets on the chest, and teal jeans. A big beige apron, possibly to be worn on archeological digs, was slung over the back of her chair, but Hilbert had never seen her wear it.

"Ah, back for more, huh?" she said tauntingly, standing up and walking around her desk. "You really are a glutton for punishment, Hilbert."

Hilbert grit his teeth, taking his position on the battleground. "Yeah, you can say that," he growled. "Especially because I suffered and bled to catch the Pokemon that'll beat you. So this time, it's gonna be different! I'll be the one kicking your ass this time, instead of the other way around!"

Lenora just laughed, taking her Herdier's Poke Ball off her belt and tossing it out as the health bar screen lit up and the glass panels slid down to cover the front of the bookshelves.

Hilbert quickly considered his options as the enemy Pokemon stared him down, but ultimately chose to lead off with Maru, awkwardly throwing out the Ball with his left hand as opposed to his dominant right hand due to his injured arm. The Discipline Pokemon immediately leapt into action, blasting away with a Water Gun. The Herdier didn't even attempt to dodge, and while the attack took off a chunk of its health, it didn't even seem fazed, just shaking itself dry.

Hilbert gulped. Uh, oh.

Lenora laughed again. "Is that all you've got? Herdier, show 'em what real power is! Leer, then Take Down!"

"Shit!" Hilbert cried, his eyes going wide as the enemy Herdier's glowed red, freezing Maru in place. It then charged forward, slamming into Maru with force that would have broken a human ribcage with little effort. Maru cried out as he was sent flying into the back wall, hitting it with sickening force. He landed hard, his health bar now on the cusp of turning yellow. Though the Herdier took a small chunk of damage from the recoil, its health bar was still more full than Maru's.

"Maru, get up!" Hilbert yelled, letting out a sigh of relief as his starter jumped back into the fray. "Focus Energy, let's go!"

Maru closed his eyes and concentrated, the golden pillars surrounding him, indicating a boost to his critical hit rate.

"You've tried that same trick before and it didn't work," Lenora said, rolling her eyes. "What makes you think it will this time?"

Not dignifying that with a reply, Hilbert merely yelled, "Maru, Razor Shell!"

Maru took the seashells off his thighs and raced towards the Herdier, who did the same, opening its jaw for a Bite attack. Maru noticed the danger too late. He slashed and missed, the Herdier turning and pouncing on him, biting down hard.

Maru yelled in pain, thrashing around underneath his opponent, his health bar going down into the mid-yellow. "Maru, come on!" Hilbert yelled. "Get it off you! Razor Shell!"

Maru grit his teeth and slashed at the Herdier, hitting it in the side of the head. It yipped in pain, jumping off its enemy, its health bar going down to the yellow as well.

Dammit, Matu didn't get the crit, Hilbert thought. That would have knocked out that Herdier for sure!

The Herdier growled, clearly angry. It ran towards Maru, building up speed for another Take Down. Maru just barely dodged out of the way, slashing at it as it went past. A small white glint appeared for a split second as its seashells made contact, indicating the critical hit. This was enough to knock out the Herdier, its health bar shooting down to nothing.

Lenora didn't seem afraid, though, only smirking as she recalled her first Pokemon to its Poke Ball and taking out her second one. "And here we are again," she said. "You've been on this treadmill once before, Hilbert. Are you sure you can take it again?"

"Like I said at the start, it's gonna be different this time," Hilbert spat, his tone dripping with rage. "So throw out that fucking Watchog already and let's get this over with!"

"Okay then, you asked for it," Lenora smirked, which just made Hilbert's blood boil further. "Go, Watchog!"

Watchog was a meerkat-like Pokemon that stood on its hind legs. It was largely covered in reddish-brown fur, but there were yellow markings on its body that resembled a safety vest of some sort, with these same yellow markings ringing its tail just below the scruffy white tip. Its hands and feet were also white. There was a single, sharp tooth protruding from its mouth, and its cheeks were constantly puffed out. Its eyes were the same demonic red as its pre-evolution Patrat, but given they were now attached to a larger being, they somehow looked even worse.

Hilbert's mouth became a thin line as Lenora gave the command that even now caused his heart to skip a beat. "Watchog, Retaliate!" the Gym Leader called.

A yellow glow surrounded the Lookout Pokemon, and then it charged forward. "Maru, don't dodge!" Hilbert yelled. "You've gotta take this if we want any chance of winning!"

Maru closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact as the Watchog rammed into him. He was sent flying into the south hardwood wall with enough force to crack it, but it didn't matter. He'd been rendered unconscious upon the Watchog slamming into him.

Even though he'd seen this twice before, Hilbert still winced at the sight of his starter being knocked out by the move. He quickly recalled Maru, taking Sensei's Poke Ball off his belt. This has to work, he thought, sending a silent prayer to the heavens. He threw out the Poke Ball in an awkward hooking motion with his left hand. "Go, Sensei!"

Lenora was taken aback as she saw the Karate Pokemon materialize, letting out a guttural battle cry. The crazy idiot actually caught a Sawk!? she thought, then she gave a small smirk. He's either got a lot of luck, or talent. If it's the latter, I need to see it. "Well, I have to admit, I wasn't expecting this! Most people stay the hell away from Sawk and Throh. I think you're the first one that's ever been desperate enough to catch one to try and beat me! Unfortunately, as you know, I have countermeasures for brute force. Watchog, Hypnosis!"

Watchog's eyes turned completely red, and a strange energy beam shot from them, connecting with Sensei. His eyes closed and his head drooped as sleep overtook him.

The yellow glow of Retaliate- Watchog's best option against the Sawk- surrounded the Lookout Pokemon before it ran forward. Just then, a glow surrounded Sawk as well, and its eyes snapped open as the Chesto Berry Hilbert had given it took effect. His eyes glowed the telltale red of Leer, freezing the Watchog under his intimidating gaze.

"Gotcha!" Hilbert cried. "Sensei, Double Kick, now!"

Sensei obeyed, running forward and spinning on his heel once he was close enough, giving a devastating kick right to the Watchog's head, taking off half its health bar. Sensei then planted the kicking foot on the ground, and spun around on that heel, sending his other leg on a collision course with Watchog's head. The blow landed, knocking the Lookout Pokemon off its feet, and out.

Hilbert took a second to let the event sink in, and then the floodgates of excitement opened, even as his Pokédex pinged twice to let him know that Sensei had grown to level 16. "Yes! Yes! We won! Finally!" he ran up to his newest team member to shower it in praise.

Lenora just smiled at the display and recalled her fainted Watchog. She walked up to Hilbert. "Looks like my hunch about you right now was right," she said. "But you're not just talented, Hilbert- you're motivated! I have to admit, I salute you."

"Does this means I can have the Badge now?" Hilbert said, returning Sensei to his Poke Ball.

"Absolutely," Lenora said, taking the small piece of metal out of her pocket and tapping Trainer Cards with him to give him his prize money. "This is the Basic Badge- a hard-earned one, in your case."

Hilbert examined the Badge. It, like the Trio Badge, was made of brass, but this one was a straight rectangle shape, with a purple inlay. Certain sections had tiny brass bars across them to create small squares in the inlaid purple section, looking almost like the spine of a book.

"And take this, too," Lenora said. She took a TM jewel case out of her pocket, handing it to the boy. "This is TM67, and I think you know what it is."

"Yeah..." Hilbert said, grimacing.

Hilbert had just finished putting the Basic Badge away in his Badge Case, when frantic footsteps were heard, followed by Hawes running down the stairs so fast he almost tripped, shouting, "LENORA! DEEEAAAR!"

"What's going on, honey!?" Lenora cried, running up to him.

Breathing heavily, Hawes spewed the words out so fast they were an auditory blur. "TeamPlasma'sgoingtostealtheDragoniteskeleton!"

"What?" Lenora said, putting her hand on his shoulder to support him. "I didn't understand that. Please say it more slowly."

"Team Plasma… upstairs…" Hawes panted, "Big group… Here to steal the big skeleton… They said it themselves…"

"What!?" Lenora cried. "We gotta get up there and stop them, now! Hilbert, come on!"

Without wasting any more time, she ran up the stairs leading out of the underground room, Hawes and Hilbert following her, Hilbert wondering all the while why the world had suddenly gone mad.