Pathetic
"Alright Riolu use Force Palm!" Riolu rushed at Chimchar before bringing his palm up against the Fire type's face with a light blue blast bursting from the jackal's paw upon impact!
"Chimchar!" Chimchar cried out as he blasted away from his opponent before crashing to the ground at his trainer's feet as he uttered out a soft groan. "Chimchar..."
"Chimchar?!" Barry gasped out while pulling lightly at his hair from the sheer shock of his best friend just besting him in a practice battle! Zach and Dawn had been on their way to Oreburgh City when they came across Barry while making a brief stop to restock on supplies and heal up their teams and he immediately challenged Zach to a fight upon locking eyes with the duo. The battle had started with Morpeko facing off against Barry's Starly only for it to end rather quickly as Morpeko ended things with Aura Wheel, the fierce gerbil didn't want to stop there either as he'd made a mad dash for Chimchar upon the Fire type's release only for Zach to quickly swap him out for Riolu!
"We lost..." Barry hung his head as he returned Chimchar to his ball. "Well looks like I've got a bit of catching up to do!" He resumed to his usual attitude rather quickly.
"Zach's the best at battling!" Dawn exclaimed, giving him a friendly hug as Zach blushed lightly.
"I wouldn't say that, Morpeko's just crazy strong!" Zach remarked as Riolu nodded his head lightly in agreement. "It took all we had just to capture it in the first place!"
"I bet you're strong enough to face Paul though!" Barry exclaimed with an excited smile spread across his face as Zach and Dawn gave each other a questioning look before looking back at Barry.
"Whose Paul?" Dawn asked with a light blink.
"Oh he's the greatest!" Barry immediately started to gush as Dawn couldn't tell if Barry idolized the guy or had a crush on him, it was hard to tell. "He's this super strong trainer who completely destroys everyone he battles against, he's actually within this very town right now! You should challenge him!"
"That seems a bit of of our league then if he's beaten everyone you've seen him fight," Zach shook his head. "No way, I won't force my Pokemon into a fight like that. I've got to train more and get stronger before I can even attempt to beat-"
"He's already heading off to ask him to battle you." Dawn shook her head before placing her hand on his shoulder. "You can just decline him you know, you're not the one that initiated the challenge after all."
"Yeah there's no way I'm accepting, I mean you could easily beat a pro like Zoey or May as Pokemon levels have nothing to do with Contests but a Pokemon battle is different. I can only dodge so many attacks before my Pokemon wear out!"
"Y-You really think that I could?" Dawn asked as a light smile began to cross her face, fingering her hair lightly as she gave him a warm look.
"Of course, you had the best performance in the appeal round! I'm sure that you'll win the next one you just got unlucky is all!"
Dawn smiled at his words before pulling him into a hug. "Thank you, t-that means a lot coming from you..." Truth be told she was still feeling depressed about how it all went down but hearing her best friend say those things about her helped lift her mood immensely! Dawn leaned her head up against his as she debated on rather or not she should tell him how she felt! "Zach I-"
"So you're Cynthia's nephew, eh?" Riolu let out a growl as he recognized the male approaching them. "You don't look so special to me." He addressed with a rather disrespectful tone. Riolu's growled deepened causing Zach to look down at him as he rarely ever growled like that, he wondered what was up with him before getting his answer as Riolu began angrily barking at the man.
"Unbelievable, you're that Riolu I captured and immediately released as you didn't know Aura Sphere!" Paul stared in disbelief at the sight of Riolu as Riolu continued growling intensely at the man.
"Wait you did what?! So you just left Riolu out there poisoned?!" Zach didn't seem to mind Paul talking down to him but he couldn't help but get angry upon hearing what he did to poor Riolu!
"Why should I care what happens? It was his fault for being a disappointment." Paul glared at Riolu as Zach clenched his fists while forming a frustrated expression.
"Well that 'disappointment' is my best friend, I demand that you apologize to him!" Zach growled out.
"Your best friend is a Pokemon? How pathetic." Paul shook his head with a disinterested look.
"I'm his best friend too!" Dawn huffed her cheeks while giving Paul a harsh glare.
"Oh you are? I assumed that you were his girlfriend what with you both failing to live up to your families' legacy, pathetic just pathetic. You two deserve each other!" Just like that Dawn felt the depression seeping back into her as she lowered her head while Zach's eye began twitching as his eye burned in rage upon hearing him talk to Dawn like that.
"Don't you dare talk about her that way! You can insult me all you want but she is off limits!" Zach growled out. "Come on Riolu, let's teach this prick some manners!"
"You're on, we'll do a six on six!" Paul grabbed onto a ball before throwing it forward. "Ursaring stand by for battle!"
"Ursa!" The large grizzly bear Pokemon burst out from the ball and towered over Riolu causing the jackal pup to shiver from fright.
"Calm down Riolu, we can make this a David and Goliath situation!" Zach tried reassuring his partner as Riolu's shivers started to briefly cease for a moment. The jackal pup looked back and gave him a thumbs up before giving Ursaring a light glare while continuing to lightly tremble. "And actually I only have three Pokemon so this'll have to be a three on three match."
"Unbelievable, you've only caught three Pokemon? Pathetic." Paul scoffed. "You'll never get far if you don't start catching more Pokemon!"
Barry came back a bit late with snacks in hand, not having heard a single word his idol had spoken about his friends.
"Ursaring let's make this quick, Hyper Beam!"
Ursaring let out a roar before firing a massive yellow-orange energy beam at Riolu!
"Dodge it with Quick Attack!" Riolu swiftly moved aside in a white blur as he zigzagged across the field, avoiding the energy blast as he threw himself at Ursaring's body but it didn't appear to have had much an effect. "Now use Force Palm!" Riolu leaped up and slapped Ursaring in the face as he recharged, Ursaring letting out a growl of annoyance as the blue energy burst exploded against his face!
Paul let out an annoyed growl as he tossed out his arm. "Hammer Arm!" Ursaring's arm glowed a bright white color as he took a hard swing which sent Riolu flying up into the air but before he could come crashing down Zach dove forward and caught the jackal pup in his arms! Riolu let out a groan as he gave his best friend an apologetic expression before going limp as his eyes reduced to swirls showing them just how much Paul outclassed them.
"Yeah, go Paul!" Barry began cheering loudly for Paul with Dawn shooting him a light glare as he did so.
"Hmp," Paul returned Ursaring to his Pokeball before reaching for another ball. "Azumarill stand by for battle!"
"Azu!" The blue water rabbit cried out as she burst from her ball.
"Morpeko, let's go!"
"Morpek!" Morpeko immediately burst from his ball and without waiting for his trainer's command, activated Aura Wheel and began rapidly speeding towards Azumarill in his blue wheel of energy before striking her! Azumarill let out a cry as she was launched into the air before coming to a defeated slump in front of Paul who had quite the annoyed look upon his face as he shot the downed Pokemon a light glare before returning her to her ball.
"Hmp, pathetic!" Paul growled lightly, Barry was too busy cheering for Paul to hear him say that but both Dawn and Zach clenched their fists and growled out at Paul's disrespect towards his own Pokemon!
"You're not even going to bother thanking her?! She may have gone down quickly but I'm sure she was still trying her best!" Zach shouted.
"You're one to talk, you clearly have trouble controlling that Morpeko of yours. It didn't even let you shout out an attack!" Paul stated with a scoff before throwing out another Pokeball. "Rockruff stand by for battle!"
"Ruff!" A light brown puppy Pokemon burst from her ball, panting out as she wagged her fluffy tail before letting out an excited bark.
"Aw, she's cute! You've totally got to get one of those!" Dawn gushed.
Zach tilted his head at the sight of the Pokemon, from the name and the visible rocks within the puppy's neck fur he could easily tell that it was a Rock type but he didn't know much about the species causing him to pull out his Rotom Phone.
"Rockruff the Puppy Pokemon, this Pokemon has lived with people since times long ago. They can sense when their trainer is in the dumps and will stick close by their trainer's side!"
"Okay Morpeko, maybe we out to bring out Scorbunny-" Zach was interrupted, his hand barely touched Morpeko's ball as the rodent's fur turned black and purple once more, his red eyes glowed intensely as he let out a shriek before speeding forward in his blue energy wheel, crashing against Rockruff and knocking the canine back as she let out a light yelp!
"Rock Throw!" Rockruff howled out as rocks burst out from the ground and levitated next to her before she twitched her tail and sent them flying towards Morpeko! The electrical rodent shook off the attack and let out a growl as his cheeks began to spark before he fired off several bolts of electricity, giving shocking Rockruff as they made contact.
"Ruff!" The puppy yelped out but Paul didn't look the least bit concern.
"Alright Morpeko that's enough, return!" Zach fired off the red beam to get Morpeko back into his ball only for the troublesome rodent to leap out of the way, letting out a hungry screech as he began spinning in place in order to form another blue energy wheel!
"Hmp, that Pokemon won't even listen to you." Paul shook his head before throwing out his arm. "Rockruff use Sand Attack!"
Rockruff turned around and quickly began kicking up sand, the grain got into Morpeko's eyes and made it quite difficult for him to see causing him to narrowly miss Rockruff, the attack grazing her as he flew on past her before crashing against a tree trunk!
"Finish him with Bite!" Rockruff raced forward with an excited bark before sinking her teeth into Morpeko's body, the rodent let out a cry before going limp as swirls formed within his eyes.
"Morpeko..." Zach clenched his fist before returning the rodent to his ball, giving it a light glare for a moment before sighing out. "You did good, Morpeko. Enjoy your rest. Alright Scorbunny this is all up to you, let's go!"
"Scor!" Scorbunny burst from her ball with a cocky smile as she crossed her arms.
"Double Kick!" Scorbunny raced forward before giving Rockruff a swift kick followed quickly by another as the rock puppy let out a yelp before collapsing to her knees as swirls formed within her eyes.
"Alright Scorbunny, you did it!" Zach cheered.
"Go Scorbunny!" Dawn clapped her hands while Scorbunny cast them both a cocky smirk before looking towards Paul as she waved her paw as if to ask him to proceed and send out his next Pokemon!
"Pathetic." Paul returned Rockruff with a harsh glare, the rock puppy whimpered at his words before she disappeared, he placed the ball back onto his belt. "Ursaring stand by for battle!"
"Ursaring!" The large grizzly bear roared out as he burst back out from his ball!
Scorbunny didn't look the least bit intimidated, continuing to give off the cocky smirk as she gazed up at the larger Pokemon.
"Double Kick!" Scorbunny raced forward and swiftly kicked Ursaring.
"Hammer Arm!" Paul called out. Ursaring's fist began to glow in a white light as he quickly brought his fist down upon Scorbunny as she kicked him once more, his fist meeting her head and causing the rabbit Pokemon to go cross eyed before slumping over in defeat as her eyes quickly turned to swirls.
"Scorbunny!" Zach quickly raced out to check on the Fire type, getting down on his knees before picking up the downed rabbit while Riolu stared at their fallen comrade with a saddened expression.
"Way to go Paul, you were awesome! You're the best!" Barry cheered.
"Hmp, pathetic and a waste of my time." Paul scoffed as he returned Ursaring to his Pokeball. "You truly are an embarrassment to Cynthia's legacy, you should just give up now. Your Riolu and Scorbunny are weak and Morpeko won't even bother listening to you, why bother continuing? You probably won't even get past the first gym." He then turned his back to them as Dawn was practically spitting venom hearing Paul trash talk Zach like that. She wanted to run after him and give him a piece of her mind but she remained where she was in case Zach needed her like she needed him after her loss in Jubilife.
"Man that was an awesome battle, I'm gonna go on ahead to Oreburgh and get my first badge. Hope you two don't take your time or else I'll be forced to fine you, I don't want my rival falling behind!" Barry clenched his fists as he stared after Paul before giving the two a wave as he quickly dashed down the path that would lead to Oreburgh City.
Zach slowly stroked Scorbunny's fur as the rabbit opened her eyes and gave him an apologetic expression.
"Scor..."
"I-It's okay Scorbunny, it's not your fault." Zach sighed out, Riolu copied his expression as the jackal pup stared down at the ground with a saddened look in his eyes.
"Zach I-" Dawn reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder before he brushed her off of him. Piplup tried doing the same to Riolu only for him to push the penguin aside.
"Sorry Dawn, I just... if you don't mind I'd like some time alone."
"O-Of course, I'll be at the Pokemon Center if you need me!" Dawn really didn't want to leave his side, he was there for her when she felt down and wanted to be there for him but if that was what he wanted then she'd respect his choice. She gave him a light hug before bending down to pick up Piplup, making her way to the Pokemon Center shortly afterwards.
Zach collapsed to his knees once she was gone, tears began flowing out from his eyes as Riolu and Scorbunny collapsed next to their trainer and leaned up against him while staring down at the ground.
"I failed to defend your honor Riolu, yours and Dawn's..."
"Rio..."
"Scor..." His Pokemon cried as they blamed themselves for losing as quickly as they did.
"Morpeko won't even listen to me no matter how hard I try, even bribing him doesn't work as he'll just shock me and take it! M-Maybe he was right, maybe I should give up..."
"Rio?!"
"Scor!" Riolu looked up at his trainer with shock while Scorbunny hastily shook her head before leaning her head up against his arm.
"I won't release either of you, don't worry. I just don't think we're cut out for this..."
"You're quitting?" A familiar feminine voice spoke up as he felt Scorbunny being picked up before somebody sat down next to him, placing one hand on his shoulder while he could faintly sense Scorbunny's presence nearby before turning to see the rabbit sitting in May's lap. "I don't mean to pry but why? You seemed very passionate about becoming a champion and I can tell that it meant a lot to both you and Riolu.
"Scor."
"And Scorbunny too I presume," May smiled lightly as she lightly stroked the rabbit behind her ear before turning to face Zach with a concerned look.
"I-I lost... pretty badly too, the guy said some pretty harsh things to me but once he started picking on Riolu and Dawn I couldn't help but challenge him and we winded up losing. If it wasn't for Morpeko disobeying me we probably wouldn't have beat a single one of the dude's Pokemon, I'm a failure of a trainer!"
"No you're not, there's more to being a trainer than just battling you know. There's friendships that you forge while traveling with both fellow trainers and coordinators along with Pokemon themselves which you've done pretty good from where I stand seeing how the two of us are friends, the bond you create between yourself and your Pokemon which given how much Riolu and Scorbunny love you clearly shows that you've got a close connection with each of them." May smiled lightly before continuing. "You know when I first lost a Contest I was tempted to call it quits too, I tried challenging a gym afterwards but realized that wasn't the life for me. I had fun being a coordinator, far more fun than I did on the battlefield! And I gave it another shot and won my next contest, I lost some more along the way before eventually reaching the Grand Festival. You shouldn't give up, I've got great faith in you and believe that you'll succeed in your dream of becoming a champion! I'm pretty sure Dawn and your Pokemon feel the same way."
Scorbunny quickly nodded as she looked up at her trainer with an affectionate look while Riolu gave a similar nod before reaching out and hugging his trainer while emitting a light growl.
"Rio..."
"Scor!"
Zach smiled down at his Pokemon before looking up at May as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Thank you May, y-you're a good friend..."
"Just a friend, eh?" May nudged his arm with a playful smirk. "Your parting words last time suggest otherwise." She giggled out as Zach faintly blushed.
Dawn entered the Pokemon Center and began approaching the front desk, something was very off about the Nurse Joy though. She had the same hairstyle and hat as the previous Nurse Joy and the Jubilife Nurse Joy confirmed that they all looked alike but there was still something that felt off about her, her eyes looked the nurse over before eventually forming a shrug as she approached the counter, figuring that worrying about Zach was just putting her off her game. Not noticing that the Joy clearly had purple eyes rather than the usual blue. Dawn handed over Piplup before handing over the other Pokeballs.
"Take good care of them please," Dawn gave Nurse Joy a friendly smile and got weirded out as the nurse gave a slightly creepy smile in response.
"Don't worry, we will! Check back in a bit and your Pokemon will be ready to go!"
Dawn thought this strange behavior but shrugged it off as this nurse just having a different personality. She decided to go take a seat before taking a brief pause as she noticed a dozen other trainers sitting down and apparently waiting for their Pokemon as well, something was definitely off. A busy city would have a line like that but not a small town like this!
In the back Nurse Joy tore off her wig revealing long blonde hair tied into pigtails beneath, the real Nurse Joy muffled loudly through her gag only for the blonde woman to let out a harsh laugh. "Please nobody can hear you in here, it's hopeless! All the Pokemon here will soon belong to me and my partner, Biff!"
"It's not Biff, it's Butch! We've been partners for over six years! How do you not know this, Cassidy?!" A man with a skin tone similar to hers appeared from around a shelf, waving his fist at her. He had short green hair along with a pair of maroon eyes along with wearing a black suit with a large red R across the front of his jacket.
Cassidy rolled her eyes lightly, ignoring him before continuing on. "Whatever, is the machine ready to go?"
"Yep, Meowth's got it fired up and ready to go!"
"Meowth!" A smug looking gray Meowth appeared around the corner, giving Cassidy a thumbs up to signal that they were ready to go.
"Great, I've just received this Piplup and seeing how it refuses to stay inside it's ball we can't afford to stay around here long." Cassidy grunted as she shoved Piplup into a plastic container, the penguin cried out as he slammed his flippers against the sides of the container only for Cassidy to laugh.
"It's no use, you're gonna become part of Team Rocket's Sinnoh branch!"
"Yeah you're gonna serve a great purpose pretty soon, bet it's more exciting than working for a lame coordinator or trainer!" Butch laughed as Piplup let out an aggressive shout, pecking furiously against the container in an attempt to escape!
"Piplup!"
"Meowth, Billy get the Pokeballs loaded into the mech. I've got to fix up my hair."
"I told you, it's Butch!" Butch waved his fist after Cassidy as she walked off towards the employee restroom. He then let out an annoyed sigh before turning around to begin loading up all the Pokeballs that they'd collected into the giant mech out back.
Dawn peered around the corner after sneaking behind the front desk, wanting to check things out as Nurse Joy hadn't returned yet. Her eyes immediately picked out the trapped Piplup who continued furiously pecking at his prison but to no avail.
"Piplup!" Dawn cried out, racing forward before her hands grabbed onto the lid and pulled it off allowing for Piplup to spring right into her arms as he began crying frantically while stating that he was worried he'd never see her again!
"No need to worry Piplup, I'm here... now what's going on?" Dawn turned and noticed the tied up Nurse Joy causing her to let out an alarmed gasp before quickly rushing over to help her out. She reached for the gag first, allowing for Nurse Joy to speak freely.
"Thank you, I-Look out!"
"Meowth!" Meowth had returned and leaped towards Dawn with his claws unsheathed, preparing for a Fury Swipes before Piplup sprang up and got in his way. The penguin let out a cry before furiously pecking at Meowth to knock him away, Meowth was quick to respond as an electric glow surrounded his body, bolts of electricity soon fired off and struck Piplup giving him quite the painful shock before he'd collapse onto his side in defeat as Dawn cried out in concern.
"Piplup!" She looked around for Buneary's ball before feeling somebody coming up from behind, pinning her arms behind her back while emitting a harsh laugh.
"Troublesome girl, you should have minded your business!" Cassidy laughed before tying her arms together. "Now be a good girl and wait here, don't worry your Piplup will be in good hands!"
Dawn let out a light growl. "My friend's still outside, he'll stop you!" She shouted before being gagged as Cassidy tied a cloth around her neck causing Dawn's cries to become muffled.
"Prince charming to the rescue, eh? At least you'll still have him! Come on Butch, let's go!"
"I told you, it's But-Oh wait that's what you said!" Butch grinned before quickly hurrying after Cassidy, Meowth stuck his tongue out at Dawn before running on after them.
Boom!
"What was that?!" Zach quickly shot back onto his feet as he looked towards the Pokemon Center, Riolu was attentive as well as he stood up and focused his gaze towards the Pokemon Center. A giant gray robotic Meowth raised up onto it's four legs, towering over the Pokemon Center while holding a large crate full of Pokeballs inside of it's mouth, including a container that held a rather familiar looking Piplup who flailed his arms about in a frustrated fashion! "Piplup...? Dawn's in trouble!"
Zach quickly rushed off towards the mechanical Meowth, May hung back a bit before following. She knew she was powerful enough to stop it on her own but she wanted to at least give Zach the chance to prove himself, if things went south she'd quick step in with Blaziken before he or his Pokemon got hurt!
"Riolu race up towards the leg and use Force Palm!"
"Rio!" However rather than do that Riolu paused as he sensed a different attack, he looked down at his paws and gave Zach a look before clamping them together as he began charging up what appeared to be a sphere of aura!
"No way, you learned Aura Sphere?!"
"Rio!" Riolu cried out as he fired off the attack, the large sphere of aura flew through the air before making contact with the Meowth's face causing the jaw to break off and send the cage full of Pokeballs crashing down to the ground below!
"Who dares?!" The Meowth's coin moved upwards to reveal Butch, Cassidy and their strange looking Meowth as they glared down at the boy.
"You're gonna regret doing that kid!" Butch shouted as he waved his fist. "Nobody attacks Butch and Cassidy and gets away with it!"
"Sorry Ben and Cassidy but I'm not going to let you get away with stealing Pokemon!" Zach shouted back before flinching lightly as Butch yelled at the top of his lungs.
"It's Butch, get it right next time!"
"Teach him a lesson, Granbull!" Cassidy called out as she threw forth her own Pokeball which burst open to reveal the purple bipedal bulldog Pokemon!
"Granbull!" It growled upon bursting out in front of Riolu, towering over the jackal before Scorbunny was quick to push Riolu safely out of harm's way!
"Scor!"
"Alright Scorbunny use Quick Attack and follow up with Ember!" Scorbunny quickly dashed towards Granbull and gave the dog a swift kick but rather than shoot out fire pellets like she normally did, her body became encased with flames as she was quick to charge Granbull once more before slamming her body against it!
"That was Flame Charge... Way to go Scorbunny!" Zach punched the air as he cheered her on.
"Bite her!" Cassidy growled out.
Granbull snapped at Scorbunny in an attempt to bite her but the rabbit proved herself to be too fast as she swiftly cartwheeled away upon her trainer's command. "Flame Charge again!"
"Scor!" Scorbunny's body became cloaked in flame as she raced forward once more before throwing herself at Granbull's body, the bulldog let out a pained grunt before falling to her side in defeat as Cassidy let out a roar of annoyance.
"We're not going to lose to a child! Bob, attack him!"
"I told you, it's Butc-Oh forget it." Butch groaned out as he merely pressed the release button on his Pokeball. "Mightyena, let's give them a taste of our Hyper Beam!"
A black pelted wolf Pokemon with fierce red eyes burst out and let out a growl as he looked down at Scorbunny, the wolf opened his mouth and began charging up a orange and yellow blast of energy and before Zach could even order her to do anything, Riolu was quick to push Scorbunny out of the way before leaping forward and thrusting his palm up against Mightyena! A blue blast of energy exploded out from his paw and knocked Mightyena right off his feet, the canine collapsing onto his side in defeat before Meowth came leaping down from the mech, landing on Riolu's face before furiously scratching at him!
Scorbunny let out a shout before racing forward as flames cloaked her body, slamming against Meowth and forcing him to let go of her partner! Meowth let out an annoyed hiss as he turned and gave them both an electric shock! Scorbunny and Riolu both cried out in pain as Zach gritted his teeth before throwing out his arm.
"Scorbunny use Flame Charge and once she's out of the way, use Aura Sphere!" He directed. The two Pokemon gave a nod before Scorbunny cloaked herself in flames once more, racing forward before slamming her body up against Meowth and knocking the feline off his feet while Riolu followed up with an aura sphere, blasting Meowth into his fallen companions before they were sent flying up towards Butch and Cassidy!
"Now use Aura Sphere one last time on the mech!"
"Rio!" Riolu clamped his paws together before firing off another sphere of aura, this one stronger than the last as it flew towards the mech's head. The robotic head blew up upon contact followed by the rest of the robotic body being engulfed in an explosion as the Team Rocket agents and their Pokemon were sent flying towards the sky above!
"No fair, I can't believe we lost to a kid!" Cassidy shouted.
"Well Riolu do grow more powerful as their bond increases with their trainer, we just got unlucky." Butch shrugged as he flew next to her.
"Meowth." Meowth crossed his arms with a cross look.
"Yeah Meowth's right, we'll get succeed next time!" Butch grinned.
"I sure hope so, maybe you're right we likely won't even see him again." Cassidy laughed before the three disappeared over the horizon!
"Piplup!" Zach immediately raced for Piplup upon Team Rocket being taken care of, popping off the lid to his prison before asking for Dawn. "Where's Dawn? Is she okay?!"
Piplup smirked lightly before nodding as he pointed towards the Pokemon Center. "Pip, Piplup!" The penguin then quickly ran towards the building while Zach gave the crate a look before hurrying after him. Upon entering the building he was quick to inform the waiting trainers on where their Pokeballs were and they all quickly rushed out, a few thanking him along the way as he quickly made his way to the back and to where Piplup had gone off to.
"Dawn!" Upon seeing her Zach was quick to shove Piplup aside, halting the penguin's own attempts at rescuing her as he began tearing off the rope and tossing it aside before removing the cloth around her face. "You okay Dawn, t-they didn't hurt you did they?" He asked in a concerned tone, Dawn merely smiled in response as she gazed up at him with adoring eyes before standing up and wrapping her arms around his body.
"No need to worry, they didn't lay a finger on me! They just wanted the Pokemon."
"That's good..." Zach smiled lightly as he returned the hug, holding Dawn as her cheeks began to glow as red as a tomato berry. She closed her eyes for a moment, wanting to savor the moment and make it last. After a brief moment she opened her eyes and noticed May standing by the door waiting behind them.
"You all good?" She asked.
"Y-Yeah, we're good..." Dawn narrowed her eyes lightly as she wondered why May was there.
"Great, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay!"
"May was with me before the mech got activated, I-I stopped it and freed Piplup!" Zach explained.
Dawn gave May a light look before glancing at Zach, a smile crossed her face before she bowed her head in appreciation. "Well thank you for that, May. I'm glad he's back to normal."
"Same here!" The two friends smiled at one another before the three walked out of the back after freeing Nurse Joy in order to properly catch up with one another now that the trouble was over.
"You sure you don't want to come with us? We're going to the same contest after all." Dawn questioned only for May to shake her head.
"I'd love to but no thank you, maybe next time? I'd like to boost my team's numbers and catch a Sinnoh Pokemon or two and I know Zach's probably eager to get his first badge, I don't want to keep him waiting on my account."
"I-I wouldn't mind," Zach laughed lightly as he rubbed the back of his head. "But I understand, good luck with your search!"
"Thank you, and good luck with your gym battle!" May gave Zach a warm look before turning around as she began walking away from the two of them.
"You know, I should probably catch something as well." Zach stated as he began looking around, Riolu copied his action before pointing out a Starly that was perched on a bush a few feet away!
"Good eye, Aura Sphere!" Riolu clasped his paws together before firing off the sphere of aura, it flew across the dirt path before making contact with the bird Pokemon! Starly let out an alarmed squawk upon taking the hit and spread out his wings as he prepared to take off into the sky! Zach quickly reached for an empty Pokeball and gave it a swift throw into the air, pelting Starly just before he got out of throwing range! Starly was engulfed in a beam of red light as the ball began to fall towards the ground before landing atop the bush that Starly had previously been perched upon, the ball shook back and forth a couple of times before chiming out to announce the capture complete!
"Starly the Starling Pokemon, they flock around mountains and fields chasing after bug Pokemon. Their singing is noisy and annoying."
Zach's Rotom Phone read out as Starly's data was registered into his Pokedex.
"Rio!" Zach and Riolu both punched the air in excitement at the addition of their newest team member.
"Welcome to the team, Starly! We look forward to getting to know you."
"Rio!"
That Alolan Meowth is based on the Alolan Meowth from the Sun and Moon series. It fits Butch and Cassidy's group far more than it did Matori!
Hope you all enjoyed it, until next time~