Chapter 9: The trainer in Red cap

"Soooo... boringggg"

"Nido... kingggg"

*Sigh* "Sometimes, I wonder if you two are really a sibling." Proton shakes his head.

It has been several weeks since the S.S. Anne mission. Nidoking and I have been spending most of our time lazing around. Sometimes, we'd sparred with each other. Other time, well... more lazing around.

"Why don't you go outside and do something... I dunno, more productive." Proton suggests. "You can't just coop yourself for a long period of time. It's unhealthy!"

"Nidoking"

"You too, Nidoking. Don't think I didn't notice that missing chunk of food from our supplies." Proton points his finger accusingly.

"...Nidoking." Nidoking then turns his head away, ignoring Proton.

"Ugh, fineee. Come on, Nidoking. Let's go."

"Nido. Nido. Nidoking." Nidoking complies, getting up while grumbling something under his breath.

Making our way toward the exit, I grab a pack of cigarettes from my pocket and pull out a stick before using a lighter to light it up.

"Nidoking?" Nidoking asks, looking at a cigarette in my hand.

"...fine, you can have one." I hand him my cigar, to which Nidoking takes it before I pull out another one. Both of us would enjoy smoking in quiet peace.

...Until I catch something at the corner of my eyes.

"Hey... isn't that?"

"Nidoking..." Nidoking snarls at the sight of the familiar Red cap, feeling irritated by the mere sight of his.

The trainer in Red cap quickly takes notice of me, before he marches straight right to us.

"Great. It's you. What do you want, muted?" I annoyingly ask.

"..."

"Still muted I see."

"...!"

"What? You want to know where the hideout is? Tough luck because I ain't telling you."

"...!"

"Even if you did beat me in a pokemon battle, I'm still not going to tell you anything."

"...?"

"You want to have a pokemon battle? Even though you won't gain anything from it?"

"...!"

"Right, I'm supposed I could waste some time. You up for it, Nidoking?"

"Nidoking!" Seem like Nidoking really looks forward to the rematch.

"Alright, let me just find someplace for the battle first, then we can have our match."

Making our way, we eventually reach an open field behind a pokemon center. "This is the place that Nidoking and I usually spar with each other."

"...?"

"Yeah, not a lot of people want to fight with Team Rocket. I have to make do with the resources that I have." I shrug.

Eventually, we stand at the end of the battlefield from each side. "Alright! Let's do this! Nidoking! On your position!"

"Nidoking!"

"...!" The trainer in Red cap throws a pokeball forward, releasing his first pokemon.

"Charmeleon!"

"A Charmeleon eh? This will be an interesting matchup."

"...!" The trainer in Red cap points his index finger forward, ordering his Charmeleon to attack.

"Char! Charmeleon!" Charmeleon starts by charging a flame inside his maw.

"Nidoking! Use Horn Attack!"

"Nido!" Nidoking charges forward. Charmeleon quickly retaliates against Nidoking with Flamethrower, but Nidoking ignores the pain from being burned and lands a solid hit on Charmeleon, pushing the fire pokemon back by a few centimeters.

"...!" The trainer in Red cap gives out his second order, Charmeleon then switches from special attack to physical as its claws start to harden.

"Nidoking! Use Sand-Attack!" Taking a step back, Nidoking uses its tail to build up a bunch of sand to shoot toward Charmeleon, temporarily blinding the flame pokemon.

"Now! Use Chip Away!"

"...!" As my Nidoking charges forward, the trainer in Red cap quickly orders his Charmeleon to raise his guard up, but it was a futile attempt. Nidoking manages to hit Charmelon with his full power, knocking it out instantly.

"...?!" The trainer in Red cap is shocked by the outcome, unaware of the big grin I have on my face.

"Surprise? It's Chip Away, muted." The trainer in Red cap looks at me, confused. "That attack ignores defense, so your Charmeleon's attempt at guarding is pretty much useless!"

"...hmph." The trainer in Red cap let out a small scoff, before pulling out his pokeball and sending out his second pokemon.

"GYARADOSSS!" The gigantic atrocious Pokémon lets out a very loud battle cry, almost shaking the nearby trees. Nidoking was not fazed or even intimidated by the vicious pokemon. Instead, his eyes are filled with a fire of determination, gazing into the eyes of his opponent.

The Gyarados seem to recognize Nidoking and almost let out a small laugh, aggravating him even further.

"Calm down, Nidoking! Don't let your emotion clouds you. We can win this!"

"NIDOKING!" Nidoking lets out a strong battle cry in return.

"...!" Giving out his order, Gyarados starts charging up the attack.

"Watch out, Nidoking! It's gonna use Dragon Rage!" As soon as I finished my sentence, the aqua pokemon fires out the said attack.

Nidoking manages to dodge the attack just in time before Gyarados proceeds to charge up another Dragon Rage and fire it toward Nidoking again.

"...!" Changing strategy, the trainer in Red cap orders his Gyarados to charge forward.

Seeing as Gyarados is on the move, I order Nidoking to retaliate by charging forward. "Now's our chance! Nidoking! Use Horn Attack!"

Suddenly, Gyarados abruptly halts and create a swirling vortex before shooting it toward Nidoking, trapping the poison pokemon inside a Twister.

"Nidoking!"

"...!" Not wanting to let any chance for him to escape, the trainer in Red cap quickly orders Gyarados to use Dragon Rage. Gyarados then charges up and fire Dragon Rage towards Nidoking, hitting him straight on.

Upon the impact, dust gathers and spread around the battlefield, obscuring the view of my pokemon. Eventually, all the dust settles, revealing an injured Nidoking, heavily breathing.

"Nidoking! Are you ok?!" I ask Nidoking in worry but he doesn't seem to respond or even acknowledge me. Something seems to be very wrong with Nidoking here. His eyes which were once filled with determination are no longer there. Instead, it was replaced by a burning rage. His breath is shaking, I can hear it from all the way here. He even clenches his fist so hard that it starts dripping with blood.

Hold on. I think I remember reading this from one of his pokedex entry. What was it again? That if it goes on a rampage, there's no stopping it, right? If that's the case then oh boy, we better start praying for Gyarados.

"NIDO-" Uh oh. "KINGGGG!" Nidoking roars out a very loud cry before charging straight toward the Gyarados.

Taken aback by the sudden aggression from Nidoking, Gyarados quickly retaliates with another Dragon Rage, but Nidoking tank the attacks and pushes forward.

Starting to get desperate, Gyarados tries to use Bite on him but Nidoking swiftly dodges it, making the Gyarados stumble on his own attack. With his weakness on wide open, Nidoking proceeds to Thrash on Gyarados before the pokemon could even do anything.

Roaring out in pain, Gyarados tries to crawl its way out, but Nidoking is having none of it. He grabs the tail of a big fish pokemon before pulling it toward him. I can almost see Gyarados' pleading eyes, begging for help before getting succumb to Nidoking's wrath. It was a one side massacre as Nidoking would keep going and going and going until Gyarados faints.

Both of us stare at the result of our battle, lost for words.

"...Wow..." I decide to break the silence. "Remind me to not make Nidoking angry ever again."

"..." The trainer in Red cap nods along.

"So... do we call it a day? Because I don't think my Nidoking can keep going without accidentally breaking something."

The trainer in Red cap nods, not saying anything. We decide to call it a tie and be on our way. But first, I need to get my Nidoking back to his senses.

"When I told you to go outside and do something, I didn't mean it as find yourself a battle!" Proton yells through his phone, probably face-palming too if I could see it.

"Yeah yeah. How's Nidoking anyway?"

"He did quite a number to himself. It will take a few hours for him to recover." Proton states. "Meanwhile, I've got a mission for you." Oh?

"How comes? What's the occasion here?"

"It's actually Petrel that wants you, not me. He's at the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town. It's the only tall building there, you can't miss it." *CLICK*

Lavender Town? Isn't that place like 2 routes away? How am I going to get there?

Suddenly, an Alakazam Teleport near me. "Alakazam!"

Oh. That answers my question.

Pokemon Tower. A burial ground for Pokémon. It's a seven-story tower that contains hundreds of graves for deceased Pokémon. Many people visit the building daily to pay their respects to the fallen. Their slogan is "May the Souls of the Pokemon Rest Easy".

"Still... can't you just Teleport me to the top floor?" I ask Alakazam, to which the pokemon shakes his head in response. "Shame. In the end, looks like I get to work on my legs anyway."

As I take the first step inside, someone suddenly bumps into me, making me fall on my butt. "Ouch... Hey! Watch where you going you-" The person shouts.

But as our eyes make contact, both of us go silent as we immediately recognize each other faces. "You...!" The person growls back.

"Yeah. Me." I respond back to the person with spiky brown hair.

Blue Oak.

"What are you doing here?! Don't tell me, Team Rocket stoops so low that they decide to steal a dead pokemon?!" Blue asks in an angry manner.

"And what if I do, what are you going to do about it, huh!?" I taunt him back, getting irritated here.

"You're about to find out!" Blue then pulls out his pokeball, ready to send out his pokemon.

But then he didn't.

"...forget it. Just do what you want." Slumping his shoulder, Blue pockets his pokeball away.

Huh?

"Go on! What are you waiting for!?" Blue raises his voice, almost yelling.

"...Ok?" Still confused, I decide to walk past him, making my way toward the stair. But then I notice how angry Blue looks. "...you alright?" I ask him.

"Why do you care anyway? It's none of your business!" Blue retorts back, seeming irritated by my company.

Looking at the interior, I notice the number of gravestones that are present here. So much that they have to start lining it up into multiple sections. Usually, when people visit the Pokemon Tower, it is either to pay respect to the dead or... "Did someone close to you die?"

Blue goes rigid after I ask, confirming my suspicion. Immediately, he punches his fist against the nearby wall, grabbing the attention of a few passersby. "I didn't mean to- ...I didn't!" Blue says something under his breath but couldn't make it out entirely.

"If only I didn't push him too far, if only!" Gritting his teeth, Blue clenches his fist and punches the wall again. Eventually, he calm down just a bit. But right now, he looks really depressing. "...I'm sorry, Raticate. If only I was a better trainer."

...Maybe I should comfort him.

Marching toward the young teenager, I grab a pack of cigarettes from my pocket and offer it to him. "Want some?"

Blue looks at me in disbelief. "I'm 16!"

"And I'm a criminal," I respond. "What's your point?"

Blue stares at me for a while before taking up on my offer. Pulling out a stick from the pack, I use my lighter to light up a cigarette for him. Blue then quickly inhales the smoke, making him gag so hard that he coughs it out.

"Take it easy, buddy. You're going to want the smoke to cool down first before inhaling. Slow and steady." I explain.

Following my advice, Blue manages to smoke his cigarette for the first time, letting out a puff of cloud. Now he looks a lot more relaxed. "Better?"

"...Yeah, much better. Thanks, Mister..."

"Gade. Call me Gade."

"Right, Mister Gade. I guess I'll see you around then." Blue waves at me.

"Let's hope that our next encounter is a good one." I wave back.

After that, we both part and be on our way.

Nidoking (Male)

Nature: Rash

Type: Poison/Ground

Ability: Sheer Force

Move set

- Chip Away

- Sand-Attack

- Horn Attack

- Thrash