Chapter 6: Taste of Victory
Crisp morning air somehow seemed to find its way around the defenses of the sleeping bag hiding the partners beneath its canvas and cotton. It was still somewhat cold as it gently kissed the end of Rin's nose with its chill. As a way of waking someone up, it was rather effective, though it did have a tendency to make them feel as if they had just gotten to sleep only moments before. As Rin blinked several times in a confused sort of way, Salem lifted his head with his nose twitching at the unexpected intruder. He then made a sound that was something close to a groan before it broke into an almighty yawn. This caused the young woman to grumble in protest of the stench and made her feel more optimistic about getting out of the sleeping bag.
"Good morning to you too Salem." she said in a husky voice as she proceeded to throw her body as quickly as she could from the warmth of the sleeping bag.
Goosebumps exploded along her arm and legs, the cooler than normal air finding her exposed skin and giving it a tickle. Clapping her hands together a few times, Rin grabbed for her backpack and the clothing she had stored away. Dancing from foot to foot, she managed to get on her denim pants without falling backwards. She then tugged her night shirt over her head, allowing for even more goosebumps before she managed to stuff that away and pull on a soft cotton long-sleeved white t-shirt. Pulling on a windbreaker jacket, she sat down on the end of the sleeping bag to do likewise with a pair of socks and her sneakers. Rummaging around in another section of her backpack, she collected a brush and hair tie, fastening her blonde hair into a long ponytail behind her head. Returning the brush to its pocket, she then turned towards the opening in the sleeping bag and gently prodded the lump that was Salem. He grunted once before wiggling his way out of the bag, pausing a moment to stretch his body, shake out his fur vigorously, and give another almighty tongue curling yawn. He then turned towards Rin and gave her a sleepy wag of his tail.
"How are you feeling?" she asked genuinely as she gave his chin a scratch, thinking about the terrifying battle from last night. Salem had been bitten rather badly after all.
He seemed to think about it for a moment before wagging his tail once more. Not entirely convinced, Rin decided that she wanted to diagnose him herself. She patted one of her legs to call him over and began to inspect the area where the Spinarak had bitten him. She gently rubbed away some sticky residue in his fur before carefully parting it to examine a bump on the skin below. It wasn't all that bad, not even a hint of blood, so she brushed his fur back into place. She then gently patted his back before turning her attention to other matters.
Digging around in her backpack once more, Salem quirking his head with renewed curiosity, she retrieved one of her bowls. She then hefted herself from the sleeping bag and made her way over to the berry bushes, the curious Pokémon trailing behind her.
"Time for some breakfast before we move out," she said, plucking ripe juicy fruit from the branches and collecting it into her bowl.
Once she had a plentiful amount, she walked back over to her sleeping bag and sat down once more. Pulling out her water bottle, she washed off the berries before picking up one and offering it to Salem. He sniffed at it for a moment before taking it between his teeth and setting it on the ground next to him. He then took an experimental bite and seemed to enjoy it so much that he collected the rest of the berry into his mouth and quickly snapped it up. Only a moment later, he was looking expectantly up at his trainer and running his tongue over his lips. Rin giggled before giving him a small handful to eat. While he busied himself with consuming his portion, she began to eat some for herself. Together, they enjoyed the gush of sweet juice across their tongues, the two of them happily worked their way through the entire bowl. Feeling refreshed and satisfied, they collected the sleeping bag into the backpack and started off down the road once more, making their way towards the next town in their journey.
The morning and most of the early afternoon passed by with little excitement, birdsong accompanying them as the partners conversed quietly and enjoyed their surroundings. Salem had at one point darted into the trees for a moment, coming back shortly thereafter with a branch laden with hardy root like berries that reminded Rin of carrots. Together, the two of them shared the fruit. Shortly after this discovery, when the shadows beneath their bodies were starting to lengthen in the opposite direction, they received an exciting surprise.
The sound of dirt and rocks crunching under slim bicycle tires reached their ears long before they caught sight of the actual bicycle. When it finally came into view, Rin was immediately drawn by the sight of the girl riding it. She was short and almost painfully thin, with hair the color of an open orange flame and skin that was nearly completely obscured by numerous freckles. The girl seemed to spot the pair shortly after this and increased the tempo of her peddling. As she got close enough, she abruptly skidded to a stop and sat panting for several seconds while her bright blue eyes danced with excitement. Rin and Salem slowly came to an uncertain stop, the latter's nose twitching and sniffing even though there were still several feet between them.
It was the redhead that broke the silence first, cutting Rin to the chase as she opened her mouth to offer a greeting. "You a Pokémon trainer?" she asked in a thick southern accent that made her words slightly hard to understand.
Blinking slightly in surprise, Rin hurried to jump past the greetings as well, in order to catch up with the thread of the conversation. She smiled at the girl and attempted to use her naturally friendly demeanor to help with keeping things light and comfortable. "Yes, I'm a trainer. My name is Rin and this is my part-," she was suddenly cut off by an explosion of giggling from the other girl and watched in bewilderment as she then proceeded to quickly get off her bike and carefully lean it against a tree.
Skipping back over to the pair, the girl's face split into a grin that nearly went from ear to ear. When she came to a stop, she ended with a small bounce.
"Name's Anna an' I am a trainer too," the girl said rather quickly, looking even more excited than she did before. One of her small hands suddenly darted for her belt, plucking off a shiny red and white ball attached to it. For a moment, she rolled it between her fingers as she seemed to be thinking. "Wanna have a battle?" she then asked eagerly, her confidence appearing as a visible cloud around her.
Rin took a few moments to try and absorb Anna's words, the girl spoke so fast. To buy herself some time, she glanced down at Salem. The Poochyena mix looked about as thrilled as if another Spinarak had challenged them to a battle. The small wrinkle above his nose quickly made up her mind.
"We would love one," she said, glancing back up at the hyper overconfident girl.
There was a flash of something close to triumph that shown in Anna's eyes, and she quickly did a pixie hop to a spot that was several feet away from the duo. She then spun on her heel and raised her Pokeball into the air above her head.
"Time for our victory list to get longer! Come on out Rosie!" As she said this, she pressed in the button on the side of the Pokeball and tossed it into the air. It arced gracefully for a moment before opening on an invisible hinge, a beam of bright red light shooting out and beginning to condense into a lithe shape. After a few moments, it took on the shape and colors of a beautiful creature.
Primarily green, it had a similar appearance to that of a small lady that was wearing a crown and holding two bouquets of roses, one red and one blue. It regarded the other trainer and her Pokémon for a moment before suddenly striking a pose that was eerily similar to the one Anna made about the same time.
Quietly, Rin retrieved her Pokédex and opened it, pointing its accurate camera towards the new Pokémon. It thought for a couple of seconds before displaying a picture of the green creature, but in a more dignified pose.
"Roselia, the Thorn Pokémon. Those raised with clean water are said to grow more vividly colored flowers. Hidden within these beautiful flowers on their arms are concealed toxic spikes, don't even think about picking them," the Pokédex informed her happily, also displaying information that this was a grass and poison type and adding useful links to healing items for any poisoning if something like that should happen.
Anna tittered softly as she watched Rin, a look of smug superiority appearing on her freckled face. In front of her, her Roselia had managed to adopt a similar expression and was directing this at Salem. Apparently, they were far above using a Pokédex to gain information.
Rin ignored the negativity, focusing more on her excitement and nervousness at the prospect of her and Salem's first trainer battle. She had studied some of the books about the formalities of battles and was harboring a small feeling of hopeful confidence that she and her Pokémon alike would do well. Carefully putting away her Pokédex once more, her gaze flickered down towards her partner.
"Ready for this?" she asked him, satisfied when his own eyes turned up towards her and he offered a single bark and a flash of his teeth.
"Alrighty then. We will have a one on one battle since both of us only have one Pokémon. The winner will receive 300 pokédollars from the loser," Anna began to trill quickly, her words tumbling over each other in her excitement, "Sound fair?"
"Sure," Rin responded politely before nodding to Salem.
She couldn't help but smile slightly as she watched her partner strut forward with his bushy tail lifted high into the air above him. He walked a few feet away from his trainer before he stopped, planting his paws squarely into the ground and lifting his chin in a challenging posture. Without waiting for a word from her own trainer, Rosie danced forward a few feet as well, shaking her rose blossom in a way that was probably supposed to be menacing, but came off rather cute. They stared at one another across the distance of only a few feet, muscles ready to jump into action at a moments notice.
"Rosie use poison sting!" Anna said so quickly that the words became one, throwing her arms forward in a dramatic gesture.
Reacting to her command, the Roselia folded her arms together quickly before opening them wide, sending a small spray of poisonous barbs flying through the air. Hissing as they pierced through the air, they headed straight and true for Salem's heart. Reacting quickly, he leapt sideways. The first two barbs whistled past harmlessly, ruffling his fur lightly. The next pair managed to graze his shoulder, scratching the skin and taking a few strands of hair with them. The last and final barb hit the area a few inches below his shoulder with a soft thud and a sharp yelp from Salem.
Feeling dizzy at the sight of her partner in pain, it took Rin a few moments to respond. "Use your teeth to take the sting out so that you don't get poisoned. Then let's try a bite!" she said quickly, though not as quickly as her opponent, fearing that despite her swift effort, he would still end up poisoned.
Responding to her words with a slightly surprised expression, Salem quickly bit down on the poisonous spike and swiftly pulled it out. Letting it drop to the ground, he then exposed his fangs in something that looked similar to a toothy grin. Digging his claws into the dirt of the road, his body rocketed forward towards the rosy Pokémon. She stumbled back a step in surprise, mouth opening as if she wanted to say something. Before she could react, the gray blur of the Poochyena mix was upon her, sharp teeth snapping as he brought them together in a bite in the middle of her torso. Wailing In pain, the Roselia swung one of her thorny arms towards the spot right between Salem's ears. He smoothly sidestepped the blow and stumbled forward with the momentum. He quickly took advantage of the opportunity to give her another bite on one of her flailing legs.
Looking like she wasn't happy at all, Anna stomped a foot on the ground. "Shake it off and use razor leaf!" she said fiercely, still confident that she had a victory under her belt.
Rosie responded almost immediately, plucking several of the leaves from her apparently many layered skirt and tossing them into the air. Using her ability to control plants, she sent these flying through the air with a worrying whirring. Salem didn't have time to get out of the way this time. The leaves flew towards his body and left several cuts across his cheeks, muzzle, and forelegs in their passing, only to fall harmlessly to the ground a few feet behind him. Even though he gritted his teeth together as if restraining a whine, Rin was still able to see through his brave face to the evident pain the attack caused. But despite the hurt they had caused her partner, the leaves had served to give her inspiration.
"Salem, use ember!" she cried, hoping that the fire would be as effective against the grass as it had been against the spider.
Anna tossed a skeptical and scoffing expression in her direction, eyebrows lifted slightly. After a moment, she rolled her eyes and said, "Don't be stupid, Poochyena isn't a fire type, it's a dark ty-" Her voice abruptly cut off as if she were choking and her blue eyes threatened to pop out of her head with how wide they had gone.
The reason for this became apparent when Salem's black muzzle opened to reveal a flickering light behind his teeth. This quickly became a small flame that jumped from his mouth and flew directly towards the equally stunned Roselia, slamming directly in the middle of her chest. Almost immediately, the flowery Pokémon began to wave her arms through the air, beating at the flames that licked across her body. Unfortunately, the only purpose this served was to give the fire an opportunity to set her rose bouquets aflame.
Gradually, as the last of the flickering flames finally began to wink out of existence, Rosie began to slow in her frantic motions, lithe body swaying unsteadily. Her eyes started to close ever so slowly and she very daintily crumpled to the ground, hitting it with a soft rustle of leaves. From this position on the ground, completely unconscious, she began to smoke ever so gently.
For several long seconds, there wasn't anything else that moved or made any sound. Then all at once, Salem huffed rather loudly and sat down, running his tongue across one of the cuts scratched on the side of his muzzle, tail wiggling ever so slightly. It was all Rin could do to keep from bursting into laughter at the sight, especially when Anna stomped her foot in a dramatic sort of fashion and made an angry grab for her pokeball. She returned her fallen grass Pokémon to it in a bright red beam of light before clipping it back onto her belt.
" Good battle. I really like your Pokémon." Rin said in a soft voice after a moment, smiling gently.
Anna responded with a sour glare and a toss of her head that made her curls bounce. She then proceeded to stomp her way over to Rin and shove some money into her hand. Without a word, she whirled around and quickly retrieved her bike, swinging her leg up and over. After a moment, she let out a noise that sounded like a Meowth that had just been sat on and threw her hands up towards the sky.
"I HATE LOSING!" she howled angrily.
Together, Rin and Salem stood slightly dumbfounded as they watched the girl pedal furiously away, leaving them in a slight cloud of dust that was kicked up by her bike tires. As one, girl and Pokémon turned their heads to look at one another for a handful of heartbeats before Rin finally began to laugh and Salem snorted several more times as he wiggled happily. They made their way over to the side of the road, sitting down in the grass so that any injuries from the battle could be healed. Stuffing the money into her backpack without a second glance, Rin retrieved a box of potions and pulled one out.
"Good job for winning. You were amazing." she said warmly to her partner, smiling down at him before holding up the small spray bottle. "Want me to take care of your cuts for you?"
Eying the bottle doubtfully for a moment, Salem allowed for a muted bark, holding quite still as the medicine began to be sprayed across his injuries. With a power that only this sort of technology could provide, the cuts sealed themselves rather quickly, becoming thin scabs or vanishing altogether. It also seemed to tickle, for the Poochyena hybrid squirmed slightly beneath its ministering, wrinkling his nose and hissing between his teeth in a manner that sounded almost like laughter.
"There, feel better." Rin muttered soothingly, dropping the used potion inside of her backpack before slipping it back onto her shoulders and collecting her partner into her arms and administering a generous scratching. He let out several happy barks that had his trainer laughing again.
After a few moments, she was able to catch her breath, and Rin had a sudden revelation, looking down at Salem quickly, relief washing over her in a sudden torrent. "You know, I just realized something." She laughed, the little Poochyena mix cocking his head to one side with evident interest. "Part of your DNA is a poison type. That barb Rosie threw at you earlier wouldn't have poisoned you even if she had wanted it to! You're immune!"
Salem wasn't entirely sure what she was talking about, but he mostly understood that his trainer was happy about him in some way. So instead of hurting his head trying to figure everything out, he twisted around in Rin's arms, put his front paws onto her stomach, and gave her a customary lick on her chin. She was just going to have to accept that as his answer.