Chapter-16
Once we get back and share the wonderful news with our families, they are very happy for us and decide to throw a celebration party to welcome Lexus, Scarlett and Finn into our family. I can see Mom crying over Dad's shoulder as she says between sobs-"They grow up so fast..". Our school friends soon crowd around us and look on with envious eyes at our Pokémon partners even Lily and Mark who were fortunate to have received the Jotho region starters can't help but look on with envy. Some of our friends who already have their own Pokémon even request for a battle later to which Heart and Soul passionately accept. Although they may have had their Pokémon for a bit longer than us they still get creamed by us after we spend a short evening getting familiar with our new partners moves and abilities. Lexus, Scarlett and Finn were very excited from the battle result, but I could still see the fire burning in their eyes as they wished to get stronger still.
Our new Pokémon partners also decided to help out at the cafe starting the next day and would also accompany us as we explored the many attractions around the fair in our free time. We didn't like to keep them in their Poke balls and they seemed to like being out in the open too, this resulted in a lot of gazes being attracted to us by passersby; well they were considered as rare Pokémon in this region so we didn't pay too much attention. One day towards the end of the fair we came across a large crowd of people gathered around the large artificial lake in the city's main central park. In the outer fringes of the crowd we spot Mary, Damian and Clair, and they furiously wave towards us to come over when they also spot us.
We chat for a little while wondering what could possibly have drawn such a crowd, while we are chatting Damien shows us his newly obtained Cyndaquil which he got from Professor Elm just two days prior much to the envious looks of Mary and Clair. They soon spot Lexus, Finn and Scarlett behind us and they briefly go into shock and then furiously enquire about how we came to possess these Pokémon, so we give them a brief explanation and even introduce them to our new Pokémon partners. After chatting with everyone some more we decide to head further into the crowd to check what's going on, the three of us pick up our Pokémon afraid they'd get lost in the crowd and proceed forward. On closer inspection we discover that a special Pokémon fishing event is being organised by the Hoenn region envoys.
"Hey there you three, would you like to participate in this event?"- Professor Birch calls out to us from the front desks upon spotting us in the crowd. We head over to greet him along with Clair and co. and also enquire more about this event as there are way too many excited trainers gathered here than any normal fishing event.
"Hahaha. Of course there is a very important reason for the excitement. Like any other fishing event the participants may catch one Pokémon that they reel in but what is special here is that we have released ten Pokémon that are normally exclusive to the Hoenn region in this lake so who ever gets lucky can obtain them. So, do you kids want to try your luck and participate?"- Professor Birch explains to us and asks if we wish to participate.
"Of course we're willing Professor."- Soul, our master angler steps up to the challenge, although Heart looks a little down; she was still pretty bad at fishing and wouldn't land a bite for long periods, even when she borrowed her Grandpa's Super rod before to practice she amazingly only managed to reel in Magikarps most of the time with the occasional Poliwag or Goldeen.
"Which Hoenn region's Pokémon have been released in the lake Professor?"- Damian asks eagerly as we head to the registration booths.
"I'm sorry but I cannot disclose that information, but I can tell you that all the ten Pokémon are different. Also be very careful when capturing the Pokémon with your Poke balls as you are permitted to catch only one and switching to another afterwards is not allowed."- Professor Birch replies as we receive the event standard issue Fishing Rods and prepare to set out. We separate from Damian, Mary and Clair who politely excuse themselves, guess they remember Hearts fishing style all too well and are afraid of the dead zones she creates around her fishing spots. Well, after a lot of practice with us she no longer creates any dead zones at least although her catch rate has shown no significant improvement.
Soul as usual starts reeling Pokémon within a few minutes but then releases them as he seems to be waiting to catch the ten special ones from Hoenn. I also manage to reel in quite a few but with a lesser efficiency than Soul of course. Heart is still just waiting there as patiently as she could with a determined look occasionally throwing us a few glares. So far all we are able to reel in are Magikarps, Krabbys, Staryus, Poliwags, etc. basically only the more commonly seen Pokémon of Jotho. Just as we are wondering if there are really any Hoenn region Pokémon here let alone ten; we see a girl fishing near a patch of water lilies not far from us reel in a Lotad, she is very surprised and immediately catches it. A lot of other trainers close by stare on with envious looks and renew their efforts.
Time is running out and the hour allotted to us is nearly up, finally we decide to just catch the next Pokémon we reel in as it wouldn't be good if we did not catch any Pokémon from this event. Heart has just about had it, the poor girl she still hasn't even managed to reel in even one Pokémon let alone a rare Hoenn region one.
"Tor Torchic chic."- Scarlett encourages her from the side and Heart calms down a bit.
I manage to reel in a Magikarp next which earns me weird looks from the other two as we had promised to catch the next Pokémon we pull up, I don't really mind and after asking Lexus to use Pound on the Magikarp a couple of times to weaken it I catch it successfully with a Lure-Friend fusion ball. As this event didn't really impose any restrictions on the type of Poke ball a trainer used like in the safari or bug catching contest so the three of us decided to use my custom made Lure-Friend balls.
Soul had better luck as he managed to reel in a Chinchou which he successfully caught. Just as we wait for the time limit to expire we see that Heart's line has gone taut, it seems as though she's finally got something.
"Oooo..Finally, my prayers have been answered. Well at least I won't leave this event with nothing to show for it."- Heart excitedly pulls on the rod and reels in the Pokémon caught on the other end. Soul repeatedly advices her to not be too hasty in pulling in the line or the Pokémon could escape and she surprisingly listens to him without raising any protest. Finally when she pulls the Pokémon to the surface my jaw drops to the floor; of all the people fishing here and all the Pokémon in the lake Heart just had to be the one to reel in a Feebas.
"Wha... What Pokémon is this? It looks soo.."- Heart comments as she looks at the less than pretty looking Pokémon caught on the end of her line.
"Quick, catch it. Trust me, regardless of its looks catch it now."- I scream at her. She panics at my frenzied behaviour but still does as I'd told her to do after some hesitation. It looks like we all got a Pokémon from this event, Heart is no doubt the big winner even if she doesn't realise it yet. We decide to head back to the organisers to turn in our Fishing Rods since we all caught a Pokémon and the time is nearly up.
"I'm surprised you actually caught that Pokémon despite Sage's yelling, knowing you I was sure you wouldn't be willing to catch it and would have thrown up a fuss instead." – Soul mocks her, Soul has really changed now and doesn't discriminate between different Pokémon no matter their looks or strength but that didn't mean he'd stop mocking Heart.
"*humpf* How petty do you think I am? Look, Sage caught a Magikarp but he isn't the least bit whiney. Besides, what's wrong with the Pokémon I caught? All Pokémon are special and amazing in their own right, you should know that better than anyone."- Heart fires back.
"I know, you don't have to tell me. I would have caught a Magikarp too if I had pulled one in the end, as a true trainer I wouldn't care about any of that and would make it the most powerful Magikarp ever."- Soul replies defensively.
"Alright now you two, I know you both are exceptional trainers in the making and respect all Pokémon under the skies so stop it already."- I try to diffuse the tension.
Right then we hear a high pitched drawl of a voice from behind us-"Do my ears deceive me or did I just hear some punk say something about training a stupid Magikarp to be super strong." Turning back to find the source we spot a gaudily dressed pale and thin boy with his brown hair in a mushroom like style; he is surrounded by a group of about half a dozen other boys who are dressed in similar attire as if they are the lackeys of the one in the center.
"Go bother someone else Brunden."- Mary comes over to our location and tries to shoo the kid 'Brunden' and his gang away.
"Well if it isn't little Mary, if you're here then that goody two shoes Clair and pompous brat Damian won't be far behind."- Brunden continues to provoke us.
"What's going on here?"- Clair and Damian soon join in.
"As expected."- Brunden says after looking at this scene.
"Go away Brunden, I won't go easy on you a second time, *humpf* looks like you still haven't learnt your lesson from last time."- Damian warns him.
"Ooo... Look boys its 'Mr. I got a region starter', run away or he'll beat your Pokémon with his Cyndaquil. *humpf* What right do you have to get a Pokémon from Professor Elm? Think you're better than everyone just because of that Cyndaquil do you, well it's good that you're here now. We can settle our debt; I challenge you to a Pokémon battle right now."- Brunden arrogantly issues a challenge to Damian who agrees to it in the heat of the moment.
As we head over to the park's battlefield close by-
"Hey Mary- Who is that arrogant kid?"- Heart asks about Brunden.
"He's just a spoilt rich kid. His father who's into the trade business is a big name around the city since he owns a large share in the Game Corner; most of the prizes are imported through their company. He acts all high and mighty suppressing the local kids and literally buys his friends through his connection with the Game Corner."- Mary responds.
"Yeah, apparently he's really bitter about not being able to get a region starter from the Pokémon lab as well as failing the Pokédex application test so he's been taking it out on anyone and everyone especially Damian since he received his Cyndaquil and Pokédex directly from Professor Elm. You know I even heard he also used all sorts of despicable methods to get a starter as well, my friend Casey also got a Chikorita from Professor Elm as well and he had forced her to play a game in the Game Corner with a bet on the winner getting the Pokémon. Anyway Damian was also there thankfully and put a stop to it by beating him in a battle, looks like he's still sour about it though."- Clair adds on.
"*tch*. What a despicable character."- Soul comments and Heart and I can't help but agree silently as we follow behind the group at a distance. We soon reach the battlefield and Damian and Brunden take their positions while one of Brunden's lackey steps forward to be the referee.
"This will be a one on one battle between Brunden and Damian, each side will use one Pokémon, no switching of Pokémon are allowed. The match ends when one Pokémon is unable to battle or the trainer forfeits. Let the battle begin!"- The referee calls out and they both call out their Pokémon simultaneously. Damian calls out his Cyndaquil as you'd expect but what surprised Mary, Clair and even Damian was the fact that Brunden called out a Staryu which he must have caught just moments ago.
"What not going to use your Magby this time?"- Damian mocks him although you can tell that he's a bit nervous, after all his fire type Cyndaquil is a bad matchup for the water type Staryu.
"*humpf* I don't use trash Pokémon. This time I aim to win, Staryu use Water Gun."- Brunden commands.
"That guy, so despicable, he purposely led Damian to think he wanted a rematch between their first Pokémon partners. Who knew he would use a petty trick like this using a type advantage."- Clair mutters beside us. This guy got a Magby for his first Pokémon! That's not bad in fact many people would be eternally grateful to get such an opportunity. My impression of this Brunden character is falling lower and lower, and by the looks of it Soul and Heart are feeling the same way as they cast disdainful looks towards Brunden.
"Quick Cyndaquil, jump and use Ember."- Damian hurriedly commands and his Pokémon evades in the nick of time and counter attacks.
"*humpf* I'd like to see you evade this. Staryu break through those pitiful flames and attack with Rapid Spin."- Brunden commands. I find this tactic of his to be awfully cruel, I mean sure fire type moves aren't very effective on his Pokémon but there surely were better ways, I would even understand if he used this method when cornered but this was too much.
Anyway his Staryu powers through and deals quite a bit of damage to Cyndaquil. This Brunden fellow's innate skill [Fury] is sort of similar to my Dad's skill in that it is strength oriented- it greatly increases the attack power of his Pokémon but it also drops their accuracy and evasiveness slightly.
"Hahaha. How about that? Dont let up Staryu, continue attacking."- Brunden orders while laughing madly.
"*tch* Cyndaquil use Smoke Screen and take cover."- Damian starts to play to his strength as his own skill [Blur] improves his Pokémon's evasiveness. As the smoke engulfs the battle field Damian resorts to hit and run tactics as he orders Cyndaquil to use Ember while constantly moving around within the smoke. Brunden just has his Staryu wildly attack in random directions hoping to get lucky.
"You, stop with these sneaky and cowardly tactics and fight me head on with honour."- Brunden curses.
"Fight with honour, like you'd know what that even means. Besides these are just battle tactics and strategies any decent trainer should understand that."- Damian counters, he also gets Cyndaquil to increase the tempo of attacks in the hopes of defeating the opponent quickly before the smoke dissipates any further.
"You.."- Brunden goes into a rage, fortunately for him though with the smoke clearing up a bit his Staryu spots Cyndaquil and deals it a super effective blow with Water Gun. "Hahaha. That's the way, don't let up now and attack with Rapid Spin."- Brunden seizes the advantage.
*thud* Cyndaquil after taking massive damage from the opponents super effective move is sent flying out of the battle field from the next attack and lands close to us, he has already fainted.
"No Cyndquil..."- Damian rushes over to his collapsed partner.
"Hahaha. I'm not letting you off that easy, Staryu use Water Gun on that pathetic Pokémon again."- Brunden mercilessly orders, with Damian's speed he has no way to make it in time to help. Everyone is looking on in panic; suddenly-
"Lexus, deflect it with Pound."- I quickly send Lexus to help out. We are quite in sync as Lexus gracefully leaps up and deflects the Water Gun headed straight for Cyndaquil with his tail before making a graceful landing.
"There's no need to go that far seeing as you've already won."- I tell Brunden in a stern voice.
"Who are you? How dare you interfere in this match? Do you know who I am?"- Brunden flares up.
"*tch* Looking at such lively characters makes my battle spirit itch. If you seriously still want to play I'll be happy to accompany you. I'll even let you choose which of my Pokémon you want to fight."- Soul responds to him while calling out both Finn and Electra (his recently acquired Chinchou) while cracking his knuckles.
"Like I'd stoop so low as to fight a weak trainer who considers a Magikarp as a strong Pokémon, no thanks."- Although Brunden said that he was visibly quite alarmed seeing Soul's Pokémon, there was no way he'd be able to get a type advantage when fighting Soul in fact he'd be disadvantaged, especially now that Staryu is already quite injured from the last battle.
Seeing this attitude of Brunden's of fearing the strong and bullying the weak Heart, Mary, Clair and the rest had quite a few unpleasant things to say about Brunden. He was quite flared up now but he still didn't dare agree to a battle against Soul. At this time Soul continues to mock him-
"Pathetic, looks like I'll have to really get a Pokémon like Magikarp or something before this useless excuse of a trainer has the guts to accept my challenge."- Soul continues to deride him.
"*hah* Well in that case I would truly like to see you challenge my Staryu and I with a trashy Magikarp."- Brunden hangs on to Souls comment like a drowning man would a life saver.
"Can you be any more shameless?"- Heart can't to stand this guy any more but before she can continue further along that line-
"Fine in that case my Magikarp and I challenge you and your Staryu to a battle, right here three days from now when the fair ends at this same time of day. Do you dare to accept?"- I challenge him and at the same time release Shenron (my new Magikarp).
"Puhahaha. Are you serious? Well in that case let's make it a bit more interesting and place a monetary wager in the true trainer spirit, say like 5000 Poke Dollars."- Brunden is overjoyed to find his provocation has not only let him escape from a tough battle but has also angered an idiot into gifting him some money.
"You.."- Before Heart could flare up any more I accept. After going over the details of the battle with Brunden and his gang before they leave while laughing excitedly.
"*sigh* Didn't think you could get so hot headed. Don't you feel you were too rash and impulsive back there?"- Soul asks me after the other party is out of earshot.
"Meh.."- I reply nonchalantly.
"What 'meh'? You better have a plan or else... 5000 Poke is no small sum even for us but we can still get that amount, the more serious issue here is losing to that creep."- Heart adds on while also enquiring about my plans and intentions.
"Sage, I'm very sorry to have you dragged into this."- Damian is very upset and worried about getting me in this mess but I placate him and everyone else by saying I have a plan. I seriously believed I could train up Shenron and make him battle worthy, that's why I took a three day time period to undergo intensive training. I still remember that episode in the Pokémon anime of my previous life where Ash and his friends encounter the B Button League, a group of trainers that look down on strengthening their Pokémon by evolution and instead focus on reaching the limits of un-evolved Pokémon. The scene of their Magikarp displaying their strength in battle was amazing, sure three days wasn't a lot but if I could get Shenron to display even a fifth of that potential I'd be able to beat a trainer like Brunden who didn't look like the type to train his Pokémon at all and instead relied on under handed means and shortcuts to win.