Chapter 5 – First battle
After what had happened that afternoon, Rachael and Zack kept talking non-stop about the battle, and how strong Steven was. They were both excited, amazed and confused at the same time. They were both excited about the match the had just seen. They were amazed at Maxie's arrogance and Steven's strength, and they were confused about what did Maxie want to wake that would increase the land mass.
The two friends were heading to Petalburg City, which held a gym, when Rachael said:
"I feel the urge to have a battle. What do ya' say?" said Rachael with a smile on her face.
"Huh? Oh, a battle… Okay. Um, I've never..." Zack hesitated for a moment, and then finished his sentence. "I've never been in a pokemon battle before," Zack finished.
"Oh, that's alright. I'll find a trainer, and I can show you how it is done," said Rachael. "I've had experience because Dad used to get some weak pokemon and we used to battle each other. It was really fun. That's what I'm gonna miss about him."
"Cool, so can I watch you battle someone?" asked Zack excitedly, and with a manic grin on his face.
"Yeah, all right. It is route 102, and the pokemon season just started, so there is bound to be plenty of trainers around. Yeah, here we go," said Rachael. She had spotted a young trainer. He looked even younger than Zack or Rachael, so Rachael walked tstraight up to him. He turned around and grinned.
"Battle me," said Rachael with a grin.
"YES! I've been waiting to battle someone for TWO days!" said the young boy excitedly. "I caught a new pokemon the other day. I'll keep it a surprise for you. I'm Joel. Wos' your name?"
"I'm Rachael. This is my friend Zack. Okay, lets battle already," replied Rachael with a bit of annoyance in her voice. She only wanted a battle.
"Go, Electrike!" said the boy happily, and a tiny little green and yellow monster jumped out. He looked like a dog and a cat mingled together, but there were different features about him.
"Flame, go," said Rachael normally.
"Elec, Spark!" said Joel once again happily.
"Tackle," said Rachael once again; normally. But, Electrike was too quick. His speed was amazing. He ran straight up and shocked Torchic with the semi strong attack spark. When Electrike finished, Torchic looked just a little worn, and she was puffing. She ran up and tackled Elec as quickly as he had attacked her. Elec was hit with such force that he rolled of twice and landed abruptly on the ground. It didn't look like he was getting up.
"Come on, Elec! Get up!" He nearly didn't make it, but he got up. He was too worn out. "Quick attack!" said Joel urgently. Elec wasn't getting up. "Oh… great job… return." Now that his Electrike was down and out, and Torchic was still healthy, the match already was in Rachael's hands.
"Aron, go!" said Joel, the smile back on his face. He knew: normal type is barely effective against steel, let alone rock. The attack tackle would be nothing against Aron.
"Aron, Metal claw!" said Joel cheerfully. Aron ran up very quickly and slashed Flame.
"Oh… okay, um… uh oh…" stuttered Rachael. Right then, and there, Flame looked at Rachael, and then back to her opponent. She then breathed in a great deal of air just before Aron started to run up for another metal claw, and released fire. She had learnt the attack ember.
"Aah! No! Aron!" screeched Joel. Aron was dooooowwwnnn… "Ohh, you beat me…" said Joel disappointedly. He looked at the ground, collected his Aron, and ran off on the road to Petalburg City.
"Wow, Flame! You learnt ember! Well done! What a good girl," said Rachael happily.
"That was really good," said Zack, in awe. "That kid looked pretty upset though."
"Nah, you gotta learn not to feel sorry for 'em after a bit." She shrugged her shoulders, put her arms out and said "what are you gonna do?"
"Oohhhkaaay…" said Zack very slowly. He had the very strong itch to go and have a pokemon battle. "MY turn!" he said.
"Yay! I get to watch someone. Looke, there is someone right there," Rachael said excitedly. She was pointing to a girl who looked about his age, she had boardies on and a blue top. She also had dirty blonde coloured hair.
"Ooh! A trainer, lets battle!" she said very quickly. Zack did not even have time to say no, even if he wanted to. The girl had already thrown her pokeball at the ground. A very small pokemon jumped out – It was green, had what looked like grass growing out of it's head and it couldn't of been more than 1 foot tall; It was an Oddish. Zack fumbled in his pocket for his pokeball of his Mudkip. He finally got hold of it and said:
"Go, Mudkip!" He was wondering what was wrong; Mudkip hadn't appeared.
"Umm, Zack!" said Rachael quietly. She was pointing to his hand. Zack turned around and looked at his hand.
"Oh shit…" he said quietly. The girl was giggling loudly, but Zack ignored her. "Mudkip, go!" he said. Mudkip jumped out, looked around, saw Zack and ran up to him. She started chewing on his jeans.
"No! This is a battle! Mud!" said Zack impatiently. Mud's ears pricked up and she saw the Oddish. She gave a soft growl.
"Tackle!" said Zack quickly.
"Razor leaf!" said the girl just as quickly. Grass was super effective against water. Mud was too quick and she ran up and knocked Oddish on her back. She wasn't moving.
"Oh!" shrieked the girl. "Return. Wurmple, go!" This was no match at all for little Mudkip at all.
"Tackle, again!" said Zack excitedly, with pure confidence in his voice. Mud ran up and hit Wurmple very strong, so that Wurple went down with the same effect as Flame had done to Elec.
"OH! You cheated! I hate you, I hate you, you suck, meanie! You cheated! I hate you! You cheated! YOU CHEATED!" shrieked the girl. She returned her Wurmple and ran off into the woods, crying dramatically.
"Wow… I just won my first pokemon battle! That… that was pretty cool! Good job Mudkip! Well done… here you go…" Zack had reached inside his bag and gotten the pokemon treats. He got one for Mudkip.
"Man, that was really good! Yo' kicked her ass!" said Rachael, her eyes bright and a toothy grin on her face. Zack stood up and lowered his eyebrows so that they were closer to his eyes.
"She looked pretty upset… I don't think I should have been…" said Zack, as he trailed off and looked at Rachael. She was grinning widely. "What?"
"Don't feel sorry for them, dude," said Rachael normally. Zack grinned back. Little did he know that this would be the first of his many defeated opponents, and matches.
"You're gonna be a star. I know it." Said Rachael with an admiring smile.
