Chapter 3
That night was still. On the Town's edge, light became scarcer and the only aids to sight were sparse street lamps and starlight. Conifers towered into the night sky like black cones. Occasionally the sound of smashing glass echoed through the forest, coming from the main road that went along one side of the forest parameter. There was a small, outdoor basketball court, surrounded by wire fencing. One side of it had a door, wide open, allowing members of the public to come and go as they please.
Something smashed again, and the screeching of a cat followed. A figure chased away the feline before returning to the wire fence where he had been leaning. He was alone, and quite clearly in a terrible mood. He took another swig of beer, and frowned in displeasure. Despite the foul taste, he continued to drink it.
"Dean!"
Blue eyes angrily lifted themselves toward the source of the sound. He looked around into the darkness, a shadow figure catching his eye standing under the peachy glow of a street light, on the other side of the road. It took him a few seconds to realise the voice was Davie's.
"Your Mom's been on the phone. She wants you to call her."
The only response to what Davie had just said was a half-finished bottle of beer hurling in his direction. Luckily Dean's aim wasn't very good, as the closest it got to Davie was about ten feet in front of him. It smashed into pieces, beer spraying and foaming in all directions. Davie just shifted his gaze away and sighed.
"Are you drunk?"
"Fuck off!"
Davie strolled towards his drunken nephew and stopped right in front of him, hands in pockets. Dean was on the floor, looking at Davie's feet. His lip pouted like that of a child who didn't get his own way. His pose was comparable to that of a moody gorilla, arms folded and brow straining to cover his eyes.
"It's late. You can't stay out here all night. Its getting cold."
Dean didn't even notice how cold it was getting until he'd been told so. He began feeling it biting at his sunburn and his body began to shiver involuntarily. He tightened his arms closer to his body, as if to prepare for a long night. He wasn't moving for anyone. He barely noticed Davie planting himself next to him. Davie sat with his arms over his knees. He tilted his head to look around Dean.
"Got any more bevs?"
Dean frowned, not yet used to the Slateport slang, and looked for his backpack. From it he pulled out two bottles of some cheap brand. Too inebriated to hold the bottle opener properly, he handed both bottles to Davie and left it up to him. Silence filled the air like water. They both sat there with their drinks like two bums on a street corner, but a feeling of satisfaction had entered the air. Something squeaked above them, and Dean looked up to find several wild Zubat darting around in the air.
Like little bluebirds they stood out against the black sky, illuminated by streetlight. "What are thay?" Dean asked.
"Zubat, dumb ass."
Dean squinted his eyes, but had no success in focusing his vision. It required for him to lean forward to heave himself onto his feet, and it took a good few seconds for him to gain balance and get used to standing. He suddenly felt a bit of nausea, but ignored it and swaggered confidently over to the middle of the basketball court. He stood like a spinning top ready to topple over any second, and probably felt like it, too. He appeared to be fumbling his pocket for something… or his belt. A red flash of light illuminated the area like a flare for a split second before a three legged Kabuto was revealed, vitality regained from an hour spent at the Pokemon Centre.
"Come on down, you fucking flying rats!" Dean bellowed and stumbled from his own voice. His yelling was only rewarded by a swoop from one of the bat-like pokemon, its wings skimming his head. Hair stuck up for a while before falling back into place.
From the wire fence Davie chuckled to himself as Dean spun around, frantically looking for the speedy creature. It took him a while to find it fluttering and biting at Ancience's shell. Ancience seemed slightly annoyed and slowly pulled her remaining legs back underneath her body, as if she could tolerate the attack to an extent.
"C'mon Ansssince… Attack, you pussy!"
Ancience wasted no time. It was as if, given the excuse, she was quite happy to fend off the annoying little creature. She lifted the front of her shell to reveal her pincers (leaning slightly to her left due to the extra weight put on her remaining left leg). She hissed and seemed to freeze, as if she was waiting for the Zubat to come round from her shell to the front of her body. Her shell appeared to shine like metal, in no way Dean had ever seen before.
"That move is called harden. Remember it!" In the state Dean was in, Davie wasn't sure if he would.
Dean didn't even seem to pay much attention to Davie. "Scratch… Use scratch!" He hesitated, undecided as to whether that was the right move or not. He guzzled the last of the bottle and threw it over the fence, causing more broken glass.
The fluttering mass was taken by surprise when Ancience pounced with her pincers and delivered a quick jab, rather than a scratch. Like a plane shot down the Zubat tumbled to the ground, but quickly regained its senses and flew to a safe distance. It hovered, wings flapping at a frantic speed to keep airborne. The sight of it was tense – it appeared to be doing noting with its mouth gaping open. Dean looked down at his Kabuto, watching as her scuttlers wriggled and jerked in discomfort as if she could hear some incredible noise, causing her to topple onto her back. Her eyes didn't glow red, but changed colour by the second from vivid green to blue and even purple.
"Dean! She's confused!" Davie jogged over and put a small round blue metal ball in Dean's hand. "Throw this at the Zubat!"
He seemed unaware as to what he was doing. He stood and looked at the ball for a while before throwing it in the Zubat's (general) direction. When it hit the ground it made a metal 'tink' sound before opening and sucking the bat into it in a display of bright light. Like a vacuum the device made no allowance for the weakened creature to get out. There was barely a shiver of movement from it after that.
Silence engulfed the air once more, except from the tapping sound of Ancience's feet aimlessly wandering. Seeming bewildered, Dean staggered over to the great ball that contained his new pokemon and picked it up. He just stared at it.
"Good work, mate." Davie wandered over to Dean and gave him a friendly slap on the back.
With that, Dean thrust his head forward and brought up his drink.