Ichigo has managed to win his third badge against Kutsuzawa. Now that he has, our heroes are heading for Jacklot City for his fourth gym battle. For now, they've stopped at a local pokemon center, but it won't be much longer until they reach Jacklot City.
"We've made a stop for now, but we'll be in Jacklot City soon." Orihime said. She gave Rena a call since Jacklot City is where she's from.
"That's awesome. You know, Pokemon Talent Star will be appearing in Jacklot City as well." Rena said.
"Seriously?!" Orihime said as she was excited by the thought.
"Yeah. Not only will I get to see you guys again and show you around my home, but we'll be competing against each other again." Rena said.
"Great! We'll see you there!" Orihime said as she ended the call.
"Orihime!" Rukia called with the others at the door. "Are you ready to go?"
"I am." Orihime said as she left with them. It wasn't going to take them long to reach Jacklot City, but what they didn't know was that something was watching them that wanted to cause trouble.
You're just a kid on a quest
To be the best of the best
Someday your destined for power and glory
You know you're up to the test
There's only one way to tell this story
Be a hero
Be a hero
All the power is at your command
Face your fears and show you're a hero
The future of the world is in your hands
Pokémon
(Ichigo's voice) Lean and Mean
"So, once we make it through this forest, we'll be in Jacklot City?" Ichigo asked.
"That's right. It's just like Kutsuzawa said." Rukia claimed. "Jacklot City isn't that faraway. We'll be there in no time." All of them were happy to hear they would be there soon. Suddenly, Absol came to a stop and looked around for something.
"Absol? Is something wrong?" Ichigo asked as they all stopped. Absol could sense something wasn't right. It soon spotted it as he tackled Ichigo out of the way. He did that because something was about to fall on Ichigo and exploded.
"What was that?!" Orihime said.
"I'm not sure." Chad said. They found that rather weird until they heard someone laughing. They looked ahead and saw a small pokemon up on a rock laughing at them.
"Is that a Scraggy?" Ichigo said.
"It sure looks like one." Rukia said. Scraggy didn't stop there. Scraggy held out it's arms and focused power into an orb.
"Watch out! It's using Focus Blast!" Rukia said. Scraggy tossed the attack at them, but they all moved out of the way when the attack came at them.
"Scraggy!" Scraggy didn't stop there as it jumped in the air and held out it's arm to attack them.
"Now it's using Brick Break!" Rukia said.
"Absol, Night Slash!" Ichigo said. Absol jumped in the air and knocked Scraggy down to the ground before Scraggy's attack hit. "What's the deal with that little twerp? Why did it attack us like that?"
"Maybe it just wants to battle." Chad said. Scraggy got back up and looked pretty mad. Scraggy charged right at Absol and smashed it's head against Absol, but Absol stood his ground and pushed Scraggy back.
"You want it that way? You got it!" Ichigo said. "Absol, get that Scraggy!" Absol went at Scraggy, but Scraggy jumped right over Absol. Instead of going at Absol, Scraggy went at Ichigo and used Headbutt on him instead. When Scraggy did that, it tried to run off. Just before it left, Scraggy pulled it's eye down and stuck it's tongue at them. Then, just ran off into the woods.
"What an immature pokemon." Rukia said. Rukia was just blowing it off, but Ichigo got irritated from it.
"Running from a battle it started? I don't think so." Ichigo said as he chased after him with Absol chasing after Ichigo.
"And an immature trainer." Rukia said with annoyance. Ichigo chased after Scraggy. He wasn't going let Scraggy go that easily. He looked around, but seemed to have lost sight of it.
"Where'd that little runt go?" Ichigo said as he tried to hunt Scraggy down.
"Absol!" Absol called at Ichigo and Ichigo could tell what Absol was saying.
"Yeah... I guess I shouldn't get so bent out of shape. I just wish I knew what that was about." Ichigo said. Ichigo was about to turn back, but he started hearing a strange sound. He and Absol followed it and they saw Scraggy training against a tree as it kept attacking it. "There it is, but is it training?"
"Scraggy!" Scraggy's head glowed blue and smashed it against the tree. Scraggy was breathing hard with Ichigo seeing that Scraggy was working hard in it's training.
"It is training, but what for?" Ichigo wondered.
"Absol." Absol spotted something else coming and Ichigo had a look. They spotted three larger pokemon walking over to Scraggy. Scraggy spotted them and didn't look happy. Those three pokemon were two Primeapes and an Ursaring. Ursaring looked down at Scraggy with a grin on it's face.
"This doesn't look good." Ichigo said.
"Ring... Ura ura ur." Ursaring was saying something to Scraggy like it was making fun of it. Scraggy didn't like Ursaring at all. Scraggy jumped at Ursaring to try and attack it, but Ursaring slashed its claw against Scraggy and knocked Scraggy down. It didn't stop there. The Primeapes and Ursaring ganged up on Scraggy and just beat poor Scraggy around. Ichigo hated what he was seeing.
"Absol, Razor Wind! Chase them away!" Ichigo said. Absol jumped in as it used the attack and blasted the three of them. "Get lost or else!" Ursaring and Primeape were annoyed, but they weren't going to bother with them. They just walked away and left Scraggy laying on the ground. "Scraggy!" Ichigo and Absol hurried to Scraggy and saw it was badly injured. "We better get back to the others fast. Scraggy needs help."
...
The Group
Ichigo and Absol hurried back to the others as fast as they could. When they got there, Rukia and Orihime helped Scraggy as best as they could.
"Here. I brought back a couple oran berries." Chad said as he handed them to the girls.
"Thanks, Chad. We can give them to Scraggy when its able to eat." Rukia said as she finished treating Scraggy's injuries.
"So, you're saying poor Scraggy was being beaten around by three bigger pokemon?" Orihime asked Ichigo.
"Yeah. There were two Primeapes and it looked like the Ursaring was the one calling the shots." Ichigo said.
"Ursaring and Primeape... I think Nurse Joy mentioned something about them." Rukia said. "They're referred to as the bullies around here."
"I get it now..." Ichigo said as he looked down at Scraggy. "Scraggy here must be trying to get stronger, trying to stand up for itself."
"I think Scraggy is going to be okay, but we should give it a moment to rest." Rukia said. It was great hearing that Scraggy is going to be okay, but Ichigo could feel sympathetic towards Scraggy. Ichigo waited and waited for Scraggy to wake up, and he never left Scraggy's side. When Scraggy began opening his eyes, he felt a lot better seeing Scraggy waking up.
"Scraggy! I'm glad to see you're doing okay." Ichigo said. He reached for the berries and handed them over to Scraggy. "Eat this. It will help get your strength back."
"Scraggy." Scraggy took the berries and started eating them. Scraggy could feel it's strength coming back. Scraggy was able to get back on it's feet and was feeling good.
"Someone looks like it's doing better." Rukia said as they were all glad to see Scraggy was moving again. Scraggy might be grateful, but Scraggy jumped away and looked ready for a fight.
"Does Scraggy still want to battle?" Orihime said.
"I'm guessing it wants to beat those three pokemon again." Chad said.
"That's crazy. There are three of them and they're so much bigger than Scraggy." Orihime said as she didn't like it at all. "Look at what those three just did to it." Ichigo could see that Scraggy really wants to do this. Ichigo walked over with Scraggy ready to fight. He reached down and placed his hand on Scraggy's head with Scraggy lowing its guard.
"You really want to get those guys, don't you? You want to show them that you're not going to be pushed around, and you won't let them push others around." Ichigo said. That's exactly how Scraggy felt. "Don't worry. We'll help you out. Strength in numbers, isn't there?" Scraggy was touched that Ichigo would be willing to help it.
"Are you sure, Ichigo?" Rukia asked.
"We've got to do something. The only way a bully will back off is if you stand up to them." Ichigo said. "We can't just leave Scraggy here. What's to stop those three from doing this again?" They all saw a point there.
"But what can we do?" Orihime asked.
"Let's see..." Rukia said as she tried to think this. "Ursaring are normal-types. A fighting-type like Scraggy would have the advantage. The problem is those Primeape. They're backing Ursaring up. Scraggy is outnumbered, and they're much bigger than Scraggy is."
"That's how we can help." Ichigo said. "If we keep those Primeape off Scraggy, Scraggy can battle Ursaring one-on-one."
"Good idea. I say we try it." Rukia said. All of them were in full agreement to help Scraggy. They're not going to let those bullies push others around like this.
...
The Pokemon
Ursaring and his two underlings continued to push other pokemon that live in the forest around. Just now, they swiped some food some smaller pokemon gathered and took it all for themselves. While the smaller pokemon were afraid, the three of them were enjoying themselves.
"Scraggy!"
"Ring?" Ursaring looked behind himself and spotted Scraggy there. Scraggy was challenging Ursaring to a rematch. Ursaring seemed rather annoyed and decided to just let Primeape handle it. Both of them stepped forward and faced Scraggy.
"Swanna, Aerial Ace!"
"Sableye, Shadow Claw!" Swanna and Sableye showed up as they each took on a Primeape and pushed them away from the battle. Chad and the girls were going to deal with the Primeape. That left Scraggy to deal with Ursaring alone. Ursaring was rather surprised to see his underlings being taken out.
"Not this time, Ursaring." Ichigo said as he and Absol stepped out. "This time, you'll have to fight fair instead of ganging up on others. Unless you're really afraid of this little guy."
"Scraggy!" Scraggy looked ready for a fight, and Ursaring didn't like being called a coward. Ursaring took the challenge as it went at Scraggy with it's claws out, but Scraggy moved fast and bashed it's head right in Ursaring's gut and did some damage. This is a real battle. Meanwhile, the others were making sure the Primeape don't interfere.
"Sableye, Shadow Claw again!" Chad said. Sableye had a shadow form around it's claw and went on to attack as it slashed against Primeape. Primeape tried fighting back as it kept throwing punches at it, but Sableye was able to avoid the attacks. "Now use Power Gem!"
"Sableye!" Sableye blasted a beam from it's eyes and managed to hit Primeape with Primeape being knocked out. That's one down.
"Swanna, Bubble Beam!" Orihime said. Swanna blasted bubbles, but Primeape was able to jump away from the attacks. It jumped at Swanna to attack it, but Swanna flew up and avoided its attacks.
"Be careful, Orihime." Rukia said. "Primeape can be tough and vicious pokemon when they get mad."
"Swanna can handle this. Swanna, Aerial Ace!" Orihime said. Swanna flew down at Primeape, but it wasn't Aerial Ace. Something happened as Swanna was surrounded by a bright light and smashed itself against Primeape with an explosion going off. When Swanna flew away, static came off it. "What was that?"
"Brave Bird!" Rukia said. "It's a powerful flying-type move."
"Brave Bird sounds great! Swanna, try Brave Bird one more time!" Orihime said. Swanna flew at Primeape one more time, but something happened. The energy that surrounded Swanna before just disappeared and the attack was a failure. Primeape used the surprise to land a clean hit against Swanna. Primeape went to attack again, but Orihime acted fast. "Air Slash!" Swanna was able to use that attack at the last second and blasted Primeape with it being taken out. "What happened to Brave Bird?"
"I guess it still needs work. Probably for the best at the moment. Brave Bird causes recoil damage." Rukia said. Those two are beaten now. All that is left is Ursaring. Ursaring kept trying to slash Scraggy, but Scraggy stayed out of Ursaring's reach with it being more nimble.
"Keep it up, Scraggy! You're doing great!" Ichigo said. Ursaring tried using Hammer Arm, but Scraggy jumped and used Zen Headbutt against Ursaring. Both sides powered Focus Blast and threw it at the same time. Their attacks clashed into each other and cancelled each other out. Scraggy took the opening as it jumped high in the air and came down with Brick Break. Scraggy smashed its attack right on Ursarin's head and hit Ursaring hard. Ursaring couldn't hold itself together and dropped to the ground. "You did it! Goes to show you bigger isn't better."
"Absol!"
"Scraggy!" Scraggy stood in victory on Ursaring. The smaller pokemon saw the whole thing and they were all impressed. They all cheered for Scraggy like he was their champion and Scraggy loved it, but it pulled it off thanks to Ichigo and his friends.
...
Later
"You were awesome out there, Scraggy." Ichigo said as they were getting ready to hit the road again.
"Hopefully, those three won't cause trouble again." Orihime said.
"We'll see you later." Ichigo said as he and his friends got going, but Scraggy didn't want to see them go.
"Scraggy!" Scraggy chased after them and clutched Ichigo's leg to get him to stop.
"What is it?" Ichigo asked.
"Wait a minute. I think Scraggy wants to go with us, be your pokemon, Ichigo." Rukia said.
"Is that true? Do you want to come along?" Ichigo asked.
"Scraggy!" Scraggy loved the idea. Ichigo took a pokeball and tapped it against Scraggy. Scraggy went inside the pokeball and it shook around in Ichigo's hand before it stopped and Scraggy was offically caught.
"You've got another new friend to help you out." Orihime said.
"Yeah. I have a feeling we're going to make a great team." Ichigo said.
Helping out a fellow pokemon is what our heroes would do out of the kindness in their hearts. This time, Ichigo was rewarded by having a new pokemon, a new friend to travel with. With Jacklot City just around the corner, Scraggy just might be what Ichigo needs. As the journey continues.
To Be Continued...
Pokemon Question: Okay, all you trainers. The answer to the last question was...Cresselia! Other than Lunatone, Cresselia is a pokemon is best known for representing the crescent moon. Here's the next question. What pokemon usually has its eyes covered and relies on it's sense of smell?
