The Dezen Discovery
By LoneGrowlithe
Chapter Eight
I glared venomously at the smoke haired boy who stood at the opposite end of our make believe battle field, a minimized pokeball ready in his hands. Wolf was perched on my shoulder, as serious as I was about this battle; he had not been very approving of Wesley's nickname for me.
"Time to battle then Raticate," sneered Wesley from across the field as he maximized the pokeball to its full size.
"Ladies first," I called out to the boy smugly, causing the small crowd that had gathered around us to snicker.
A look of anger crossed Wesley's face before he tossed his pokeball, colored an orange red, onto the field. To emerge from it was a lizard like Pokemon, standing firmly with its two feet, equipped with sharp claws, on the ground. It struck the air with one hand curled into a fist, before settling into an attack position, its arms in front of it raised slightly, with claws bared. A long tail spread out behind it, tipped off with a blazing flame, contrasting well with its orange scales and white stomach.
The Charmander seemed eager to battle, waiting patiently for its opponent to arrive.
"My pokemon is my Charmander, Zukie," announced Wesley as he stood calmly.
"Wolf, you're up," I spoke to the eternally ablaze bird on my shoulder.
Wolf gave me a nod and an encouraging croon before leaping off my shoulder to land on the battlefield in front of Zukie.
"Wolf, who ever heard of someone naming a bird Pokemon Wolf," Wesley laughed having heard my choice of name for my Pokemon.
"Well, now you have Swalot," I called out, "So lets get started already."
"Fine, Zukie, Ember," called Wesley.
Zukie's reaction was fast, in one fluent motion, she leapt forwards, the flame on her tail blazing, and turned mid-air, sending the end of her tail flinging right for Wolf. Wolf however, had enough sense to take off before the hit landed, soaring high above Zukie as she landed on her feet; it had been a near miss however.
"Awesome call Wolf! Now, charge her with a Tackle attack."
Wolf nodded in affirmation of my order, and then swooped down, aiming right for the solitary Charmander, only to collide painfully with her tail as she brought it up in another ember attack; neither however escaped damage, as Wolf, squawking in surprise, instinctively raked out with his talons, catching Zukies retreating tail with them.
Wolf flew higher into the air, while Zukie grabbed her tail and looked at the minute scratches Wolf had inflicted, before releasing it and glaring up at the bird above her, anger causing fire in her eyes.
"Zukie, forget the scratches," called out Wesley, "Get him with your own scratch attack when he gets close."
"Char," Zukie nodded at her trainers order, and cast a wary eye on Wolf, waiting for him to attack.
I grinned, an idea forming in my mind, and then shouted out my own commands, "Wolf fly in low and then use Leer, followed up with an Ember attack."
Wolf looked at me unsurely, but upon seeing the grin on my face, gained confidence and dived through the air, until he was skimming just above the ground, making a direct Beedrill line for Zukie. As he neared her, his eyes suddenly took on an ethereal glow, as he bore down on her. Zukie gave a shriek of fright, and forgetting her orders, shirked away as Wolf got nearer.
At the last minute, his eyes losing their glowing feature, Wolf veered upwards sharply, and with a flick of his tail, embers flew off, sparking painfully into Zukie's face. Zukie shrieked again, clawing at the burning embers on her face as if it were killing her while Wolf snickered as he flew in slow circles above her.
"Zukie, calm down," Wesley called out to his overreacting Charmander, "Use your growl attack to slow him down, and then try another Scratch attack."
Zukie, calming down, looked up at Wolf, and suddenly released a resounding rumble from deep in her throat, which caused Wolf to falter in the air as it reached his ears, dipping low to the ground. Satisfied, Zukie leapt forwards, and raked her claws along Wolf's right wing, causing him to disdainfully crash into the ground.
I watched as Zukie stood victoriously over Wolf, thinking the battle won, but I sighed in relief as Wolf somehow managed to stagger to his feet after meeting the ground, and turned to caw at Zukie defiantly before lifting into the air again.
"Alright Wolf," I cheered as my Asydri soared low above the battlefield, but high enough to stay out of Zukie's jumping range, "Now, use the same attack you did before."
"Zukie, watch out for it, close your eyes before he uses Leer," Wesley countered my order even as Wolf dipped and soared just above the ground.
Zukie nodded, and as Wolf neared, his eyes beginning to glow anew, she shut her eyes, making the attack worthless. Acting quickly, I shouted out a change of commands.
"Forget the attack Wolf; instead go in for a full speed tackle."
His eyes dimmed and the glow about them died, and Wolf began to flap his Wings harder and faster, and before Wesley could utter a word, he slammed into Zukie, her eyes still closed, causing her to cry out in surprise as the two of them tumbled over each other.
I waited as the two stumbled to their feet, just inches from each other, caught in a glaring contest, before suddenly, Zukie leapt forwards, her blazing tail flaring as she brought it down, ready to crash into Wolf's side, only to find she hit nothing, as Wolf nimbly hopped out of striking distance before giving a mighty pump of his wings, and slamming into Zukie once more, sending them tumbling again.
The two of them staggered to their feet again, glaring holes into each other again, both panting but not letting their guard down, before finally, Zukie seemed to reach the end of her tether, and closed her eyes and collapsed, leaving Wolf the only one standing, albeit barely.
A moment of silence followed, before suddenly I let out a whooping yell and ran forwards picking a weary Wolf up into my arms and hugging him gently as the crowd themselves cheered for the victor, although there was the undertone of boo's coming from Keith.
"Alright Wolf, you did it," I praised as I hugged him; "You won your first trainer battle."
"Asyyy," Wolf crooned back to me softly, happiness evident in his tired voice.
I heard some muttering behind be, and I turned just in time to see Wesley telling his Charmander a job well done before returning her to her pokeball and then turning to me.
"You may have won this time," he glowered as he bitterly handed me a twenty dollar note for winning, "But don't expect to next time."
With that, he walked off, Keith following him after he aimed a disapproving glare in my direction. I glared at their retreating backs before turning my full attention to the exhausted Asydri in my arms, while Larana came bounding up beside me.
"That was an awesome battle Sayunae, you really socked it to him," Larana congratulated as I clumsily stuffed the twenty into my pocket while still trying to keep a hold of Wolf's form which had gone limp from his exhaustion.
"Thanks 'Rana," I smiled at her as I set Wolf down on the ground, Kida bounding up to meet him, and kneeled next to him after fishing a potion out of my pocket, "But It was Wolf who done all the work, not me."
"Well, I guess so," smiled Larana before she turned to Wolf and scratched the top of his head affectionately, "You did great Wolf, way to show that Charmander."
"Asydri," Wolf chirruped in delight before giving a small wince as I applied potion to the spots Zukie's claws had nicked him, although the scratches themselves were barely visible under his flames and feathers.
"There we go," I announced as I put the half empty bottle of potion back in my pocket, "That should keep you right as rain 'til we get to the Pokemon centre to get you properly healed."
"I have a feeling we'll be visiting the Pokemon centre a fair bit today," Larana speculated as Wolf managed to flutter up into the air and fly around a bit before settling into a rhythmic pattern as we began to trek towards the Pokemon centre.
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After heading to the Pokemon centre to get Wolf healed and rested up a bit, we were once again out at the park, looking for new challenges to be had. Larana herself was more eager than I was, Wolf and I having participated in a battle already, she was hoping for the next challenge.
There were considerably more people at the park when we arrived, young children off of school playing on the swings and other activities the park provided, or settling down to watch the still raging Pokemon battles that continued. A couple of parents were present also, but the majority was still the trainers, milling around the Battle Centre as we'd heard someone mutter as we headed over.
With Kida held securely in her arms, to prevent the mischievous cat from causing trouble, Larana delved into the crowd of trainers, looking for someone to challenge. I decided to wait, and I went over to a nearby bench and sat down, while Wolf, who had been soaring high in the air above, came down and perched himself on the back rest of the bench, looking around in curiosity at all the people milling about.
I wasn't waiting long before Larana emerged from the crowd again, this time followed by two girls. What surprised me though was that the girls were almost completely identical, before I abruptly recognized them as the twins from the presentation ceremony in Judan village.
Both of them had shoulder length dark brown hair, dropped loose so that it spilled about their heads. They're eyes were different shades of blue, one light, one dark and they both had fair skin and complexion. Their clothes however were different, although both wore jeans, their tops were different. The one with the lighter eyes had a purple shirt on with small red dots spelling Kit and was a bit shorter than her sibling, while the other had a black shirt, this time with yellow dots spelling Kat.
"Hey 'Yunae, look who I found," Larana grinned as she at the twins walked over.
"Hello," I gave a friendly wave as they approached, and the twins waved back.
"I remember you," spoke up the one with lighter eyes, "We saw you at the ceremony, you got Asydri as I recall."
"Yeah, I did," I smiled at her before indicating to Wolf who was perched behind and beside me, "Meet Wolf."
Wolf, suddenly realizing he was being introduced, gave a delighted chirp of greeting at the twins and flew up to them to inspect them, causing the two burst into light peals of laughter.
"Pleasure," joked the darker eyed as she gave Wolf a small pat on the head before turning to me, "I'm Kat, Course, you can probably tell," she introduced herself before indicating to her T-shirt.
"And I gather your Kit," I joked as I turned to the other.
"You got it," she giggled.
"Your friend here tells us she's looking for a battle," Kit spoke up with an indication to Larana, "But me and Kat only fight in double battles."
"Double battles!" I voiced, looking at them, "All the time."
"Not all the time," grinned Kit, "But if we're in trainer battles or gym battles we will. We just so happen to like to do everything together."
"So how about it, you want to fight with Larana in a double battle," asked Kat eagerly.
"I dunno, what d'you think Wolf, are you up for another battle," I asked him as he flew around us all.
Wolf chirped, and nodded his head eagerly before flying over to the grassy area of the park.
"I'll take that as a yes," I grinned and we all headed after Wolf who had found us a nice battle area.
"We saw your battle with Wesley," commented Kat as we walked.
"Very well done on it too," said Kit, "So how about we apply those same rules to our battle, we each put, say about thirty, into the stakes pot, and we all use our starter Pokemon."
"I'm up for it," said Kat.
"Well, Kida is itching to battle, so why not," grinned Larana, and Kida agreed with a full heated meow.
"Well then, looks like I'm outnumbered," I snickered, "Woof!"
"What!" everyone exclaimed and looked at me strangely.
"Woof!" I repeated and laughing, ran over to where Wolf was waiting.
"Does she always do that," I heard Kit comment to Larana from somewhere behind me.
"As long as I've known her," was Larana's faint reply.
Soon enough, we stood ready to fight, me and Larana on one side of the field, Kida and Wolf taking their positions on the space in front of us, while across the other end, Kit and Kat stood close together, before both pulled out their pokeballs containing the Pokemon they were going to use.
Kit, rolling in her hand a deep blue pokeball, flung it onto the field and the Pokemon inside burst forth to stand in front of Kida.
It was a long cerulean blue crocodile Pokemon, although its tail seemed to be the longest part of its body. It was built thick, with armored skin and large muscles in its rather short legs to hold it up. The tail, while long was equally thick. Running along the course of its spine were bright green spikes, traveling right down till one ended the tip of the tail, and two spikes set into its shoulders, sharp as the ones down its spine. Claws ended each of its three toes, sharp and ominous looking. It looked to be about a foot or two high, and once it had finished materializing from the white energy, it yawned, revealing a mouth full of razor teeth, before setting its yellow eyes with a steely gaze on Kida.
"My Pokemon is Wave," called Kit with a grin on her face.
Now its was Kat's turn, in one fluent motion, she pulled a bright green pokeball from her belt, and tossed it into the battle field and released her Pokemon before the ball deftly returned to her hand.
Kat's Pokemon was not much different from a Charmander, in fact, if it wasn't for some noticeable differences, I would have though it one. Her Pokemon was green, a lovely light emerald which covered most of its body except for its stomach, which was a darker shade of green, akin to that of its pokeball. The end of its tail lacked the flame Charmander had; instead, the flame was replaced by a flower bulb, as of yet unopened, and splashed a color of deep green.
From its back sprouted two deep green fern leaves, small in comparison, but looking much like they could have been wings for which it could fly with, save the fact they had hardly a chance of lifting the rather large Pokemon off the ground. Around the Pokemons wrists and ankles, were circlets of small deep green dots.
"My Pokemon is Leaf," Kat vastly repeated her sister's sentence, changing only the name of her Pokemon.
Digging into my jacket pocket, I pulled out my blaze colored pokedex and pointed it at Wave first.
"Cascardron the small crocodile Pokemon
Cascardron is commonly used as one of the starting Pokemon for beginning trainers in the Dezen region. While temperamental, it can be a fiercely loyal companion, determined to win any battle.
Pokemon Gender: Male
Pokemon size: 1'07"
Pokemon Type: Water," The pokedex beeped out before I turned it towards Leaf.
"Leafius the Bud lizard Pokemon
Leafius is commonly the grass beginning Pokemon of the region Dezen. Leafius are solitary creatures, living along and away from their evolved forms family groups, although groups of wild Leafius form bands and care for each other.
Pokemon gender: Female
Pokemon size: 2'01
Pokemon type: Grass."
Wolf, I figured, would do alright against Leaf, but it was Wave that was going to cause a problem, even if Wolf managed to stay out striking range of his tail, claws and jaws, if Wave knew Water gun or another attack to that effect, Wolf was a goner if he got hit. Kida seemed eager enough to fight however and was jumping around in a small pattern while still keeping her eyes on the opponent.
"Alright then, I'll start," Larana suddenly spoke, breaking the tension that hung like a thick cloud, "Kida, tackle attack on Wave."
Kida, ceasing her pattern, leapt forwards, closing the distance between her and Wave quickly. Wolf had taken to the air as Leaf, of her own accord, leapt forwards, aiming a scratch attack where he had been.
"Good one Leaf, but forget him, go for the cat," called out Kat and Leaf changed direction and charge for Kida.
"Wolf, follow her, use ember when you can."
"Wave, use your Water gun on the ground in front of you, then aim it for the Asydri."
Wave, reacting quickly, exhaled a large amount of water on the grass and dirt, making it slippery and muddy, causing Kida to slip and slide once she hit it, although still heading for Wave, who nimbly stepped out of the way, causing Kida to go sliding past him, before turning his head, blasted a jet of water at Wolf, who has been in hot pursuit of Leaf, who had leapt over the soggy spot of the field, and was scratching at a dodging Kida.
Wolf had to suddenly bank left, as he narrowly missed the blast of water that came shooting at him, but he still continued his trajectory path towards Leaf, undeterred by the Water guns being fired at him in rapid succession.
"Leaf, watch out, the Asydri is coming up," Kat called out a warning.
"Kida, keep him there."
"Wave, defensive position, guard Leaf's back."
To my astonishment, the two Pokemon belonging to the twins seemed to be able to work in complete unison. Wave, acting quickly, managed a quick dash along the field, until he was standing at Leaf's back, guarding her from any attack from behind, while Leaf was free to slash away at Kida as she pleased. A feeling of horror overcame me as Wolf got nearer, he wasn't going to be able to attack Leaf so easy now that Wave was her defender.
"Wolf, get out of there, its no use," I yelled, as Wave launches another jet of water from his mouth.
Wolf steered left, dodging the majority of the attack, but squawked out in surprise and pain as water seared the flames of his tail. The sudden attack to his tail caused Wolf to temporarily steer out of control, this action distracted Kida enough that Leaf was able to land a few scratch attacks on her. Wolf regained his flight pattern, but now having seen a flaw, changed it so that it was erratic and so that there wasn't as much of a chance for Wave to hit him again.
"Awesome Wave, keep you position."
"Kida, change of plans, scratch attack on Wave."
"Leaf, defend Wave."
This was insane, if we tried to attack from one angle, the other defended, and vice versa if we tried the other way. I had to think of something.
"Wolf, when Kida attacks Wave, use Ember on Leaf," I bellowed out my orders, hoping they would work.
Kida, taking her chance, leapt forwards, barreling towards Leaf, while Wolf came flying in from above.
"Wave, Water Gun on Wolf."
"Leaf, Use Growl."
Kat and Kit called out their counter orders. Kida had by that time, already slunk past an unsuspecting Leaf as she kept her eyes to the sky for Wolf's attack, leaving her free to leap onto Wave's back and dig in her claws. Wave at that moment had been about to launch a Water Gun attack at Wolf, but in his surprise and confusion that he was being attacked, the jet of compressed water slammed into the ground in front of him, sending up a spray of mud and grass.
Wolf, his way clear, then swooped down on Leaf, and then pulled up sharply, with his signature flick of his tail, sending the embers flying for the grass type. Leaf, whom had been distracted slightly by her teams mates plight, looked up, preparing to execute her Growl attack, just as the embers came flying and seared into her back, setting her leaves ablaze.
Leaf shrieked, while Wave somehow managed to roll onto his back, and thus dislodging Kida who had held a firm grip with her claws as he gamboled around. Wave, once free of his rider, jumped over to where Leaf was, trying vainly to put out the flames that were engulfing her leaves, with ease, he blasted a Water gun onto the flaming appendages, thus squandering the flames and putting Leaf at a temporary ease.
Once the temporary Hazard was dealt with, Leaf, somewhat scorched and looking rather worn, and Wave, small scratches barely visible on the tough hide of his back, stood ready to fight once more. Wolf, flying above the battlefield as was his custom, and Kida, panting but still eager to continue, were also ready to attack.
"Wave, Water gun barrage on Wolf."
"Leaf, Vine Whip on Kida, keep her from attacking."
"Wolf, use Tackle on Wave," I ordered, my throat dry from anticipation, "But stay out of the way of his attacks."
"Kida, uh, use Sand-attack," Larana ordered, nervousness in her voice.
Wave, standing firm beside his partner, began to well up his reserves of water and began firing Water Guns in rapid succession towards Wolf who was closing in by the second. Leaf, digging her clawed feet into the ground, threw up her arms, and the circlet of green dots around her wrist suddenly came to life, vines growing from them at a rapid speed as the headed for a nearby Kida. Kida, now as nervous as Larana, whirled around and began to kick up dirt and clumps of grass, sending them flying towards the two opponents in hopes of blinding them.
But there was no such luck to be had, Leaf just simply closed her eyes at the oncoming barrage and after it had settled, continue her vines on their trajectory path, and thus wrapping them around Kida's legs and hauling her into the air to dangle upside down.
A loud pain filled squawk attracted my attention from Kida's predicament, and I turned in time to see Wolf begin to plummet through the air after being nailed by one of Wave's Water gun attacks.
I waited a bare moment, before it became obvious he was unconscious, and in one swift movement, I had yanked his Blaze ball from my belt, and he was being into red energy and then absorbed into the ball before he could make contact with the ground.
"Looks like you're on your own," I mumbled to Larana as I looked mournfully at Wolf's ball, "You done good Wolf, the best you could," I whispered to it before minimizing it to its smaller stature, an orb the same size as a bonker, and clipped it to my belt.
Larana, as nervous as ever now that she was in the battle alone, seemed frozen to the spot, as Wave turned towards Kida, and waited for his trainers command. Leaf still had Kida dangling by her paws, her furry ruffs askew as she struggled vainly to get free.
"Kida, bite the vines to get Leaf to let go," Larana called out and Kida complied, sinking her teeth into the nearest vine she could access, it wasn't really a bite attack, but still, it was effective.
Leaf squealed in pain and retracted all her vines, blowing gently on the one that had been bitten, while Wave moved in to defend her. Kida had landed deftly on her feet when Leaf had dropped her, as most cats usually did, and was standing ready to fight, even though it seemed pointless.
"Kida, Try to land a Tackle attack on Leaf," Larana called out nervously and desperately.
Kida nodded, and bolted forwards, as a blast of water hit where she had once been. She ran in a zigzag pattern, not giving any quarters to where she could be hit, eventually, she drove her way past Wave, and slammed point blank into Leafs injured back, causing the lizard Pokemon to lose her balance and fall forwards onto the ground before dashing away, to avoid the tail Wave swiped at her.
Leaf staggered to her feet, only to fall again, and this time not get up. Kat sighed, and pulling Leafs pokeball from her belt, withdrew the downed grass type to its sanctuary, leaving now only two combatants on the field, one on each side.
"Wave, Tackle attack."
"You too Kida."
The two Pokemon, obeying their trainer's orders, charge towards each other, gaining momentum with every step. Wave, although his legs were stubby, was able to pick up a reasonable amount of speed, and rammed full force into Kida, his much larger bulk providing a more effective Tackle, and sending Kida flying to crash into the ground not far away. She skidded for a bit before trying to get to her feet then collapsing, and stilled, unmoving except for the shallow rises and falls of her chest.
With a defeated sigh, Larana pulled out Kida's pokeball and the cat Pokemon was returned, while Kit and Kat both congratulated Wave on a job well done.
"Looks like we lost," Larana concluded as she walked up to stand next to me.
"So what, everyone has to lose sometime, right," was my reply with a shrug of my shoulder, before I started to walk over to where Kit, Kat and Wave were.
"Good battle," Kit smiled as I approached holding out her hand for me to shake.
"You were the better party though," I grinned as I shook her hand.
"Thanks," Giggled Kit as she put a delighted Wave in his pokeball.
"It was an awesome battle though," Larana mentioned as she sifted through the wallet we kept our money in and handed the twins sixty dollars while bowing serenely, joking around by pretending to be a waiter or butler, "Your winnings Master."
Kat laughed as she took the money from Larana and slotted it in her own pocket "Maybe we can have another battle sometime."
"Maybe, but we'll be stronger next time, guaranteed," I grinned.
"Looking forwards to it then," Kit replied with as big a grin as mine.
"Sayunae, we should head to the Pokemon centre, Wolf and Kida need to be healed," Larana suggested and I nodded.
"We'll come with it," volunteered Kat, "We'll be heading over there anyway."
"Sure," I smiled at them.
The two smiled back and along with Larana we began to head towards the Pokemon centre, falling into a conversation and getting to know each other as we walked.
TBC
Okay, just a chapter full of battles and such, I've finally introduced Leafius and Cascardron into the fic, now Zaep is the only one to do :D
The new pokemon mentioned in this chapter are © by me. Do not use them without permission.
Pokemon is © by Nintendo.