I have two notes before this chapter that I feel are worth mentioning:
If you've read this far, then you probably already know that this story works at a slower pace than other Pokemon fanfics. I want the main characters to be well understood before Hakins gets any Pokemon.
There is another bolded soundtrack recommendation from XD Gale of Darkness in this chapter. Official VGM will have all of the ones I'll be using in this story, and should come up if you search up what's in bold on YouTube.
Chapters will come out sporadically, and are being written as this is posted. That all being said, here is one of my personal favorite chapters, The Thug!
Sergei and I stepped off of the boat, my legs wobbly as they made contact with land once more. I shuffled my feet around, feeling smooth concrete under me.
The port city hadn't changed much since I had last been here. The lighthouse now towered far more menacingly up close, its pillar the same color as the ground. Houses were islands in the ocean, connected by a complex series of turning platforms that led back to the port. The area was crowded with burly sailors, some hauling cargo to the warehouses around, and others leaned against walls, smoking a pipe or having an arm wrestle.
Sergei and I made our way off of the dock. The man mountain stopped to acknowledge a man sitting on one of the pillars that roped ships to the harbor. The man was bald; thin and wiry with a contraption on the back of his head. He wore a working man's attire. Sergei clasped arms with the man.
"Wakin, my friend!" he said, a grin on his face. "Hyow has the Port been treating you?"
Wakin sighed, and put his arms at his hips.
"Clearly better than the sea has treated you, old friend."
Sergei laughed. "Well, they call it the Savage Pokemon for a reason."
Wakin gave a small smile, but as his gaze dragged around the port, it gave way to a frown.
"The smell of salt is everywhere. Water's always 'round, so that's good, I guess. Me? You know I'm a desert rat, Serg. I need to breathe in and choke on the air."
Sergei nodded. "Is the truck at the designated location?"
"You bet," Wakin replied. "Got a kid near it, though. Says he won't leave until his friend arrives. I'm not in the business of hurting kids anymore, Serg, so be a nice guy and take care of 'im."
I had been staring around the city, but the conversation caught my attention. I stepped into the group.
"Uh, Wakin, right? Could you describe the kid for me?"
Wakin cracked a grin. "So this is the kid who's gonna catch a Pokemon at the Oasis, huh? Why, we haven't even shaken hands yet." he extended a thin arm.
I met his handshake; his palms felt like sandpaper.
"So, the kid that was causing you trouble, right?"
Wakin nodded. "Yeah. He was wearin' a bright blue shirt and some denim pants. What really stood out was the eyes, though. Real blue and all that."
I turned to Sergei. "That's gotta be Dustin, Sergei. We should head over."
"Go on ahead," he replied. "I have to provide our friend with payment. We must also discuss some recent updates that have affected the original plan. Show him where, Wakin."
Wakin pointed ahead, towards a flight of stairs that led to a dunetop beyond view in the distance.
"Just head in that direction, Hakins. The big 'ol truck; can't miss it."
I obliged, throwing the duffle over my head and rolling my suitcase in the direction of the lot.
The giant crab, now directly to my left, was of impressive size. Upon further inspection the crab was the building itself, its claws shifting up and down, trying its best to draw in seafaring passers-by. There was seating out front, with sailors wolfing down chowder and drinking profusely. I watched with a tinge of sadness as the waiters had to endure the ruckus. I tried to keep focused, but the conversation between two sailors caught my attention as I walked by. They were both startlingly similar, so it was hard to differentiate the two.
"We've been sat down in these chairs for three years now," the one on the right said. "Ain't that just bonkers, matey?"
The sailor to his left nodded, looking out into the ocean. "I'd say so, matey."
The right sailor smiled, leaning back in his chair.
"You and I have been through a lot. Us sailing the oceans, meeting new people and walks of life. Isn't it heartwarming to think about, matey?"
The left sailor nodded, eyes locked on the ocean. "I'd say so matey."
The right sailor took a swig of his drink.
"Why, I remember when our ship got damaged, and we found ourselves stranded on a small island, fighting over the coconuts growing on a single tree. I'm sure you still laugh about those times now too, matey?"
The left sailor nodded, his blue eyes focused. "I'd say so, matey."
The right sailor turned to face his friend, and his burly arms hit the table.
"You'd say so, matey? Why I oughta -" he chuckled, and settled back into his seat. "You never change, matey. Ya never change!"
I felt the old connection between the two of them. Smiling, I continued onwards, the rest of their conversation fading away with the buzz on the pier.
I tensed up as I brushed past a flow of naval folk, most shouting to their mates or frantically rushing to a departing boat. There were people everywhere that I looked. Keeping the right direction was becoming increasingly difficult; this was nothing like home. Dodging oncoming people was a whole task of its own.
Beginning to get overwhelmed, I spotted an unoccupied bench ahead, and rushed over to it. I fought through the crowd, but managed to grab the seat. I closed my eyes, and laid my hands limp against my thighs. I took a deep breath, flinching as the smell of sweat and salt invaded my senses. I fought through the stench, and continued to take deep breaths. I stopped sweating. The tension that had made my legs bounce ceased. I looked around again.
The port area was rather small. A few dozen people milled about, whispering to their fellow shipmates or walking quickly towards a boat soon to leave. The bench faced the docks, and the view was of the ocean. I had grown to see the shining of the water like others see a blank wall. My fists unclenched. I turned around, and saw the staircase a good distance ahead, past the small crowds and the larger lots for parking. Reminding myself of the objective, I continued onwards.
The concrete was now giving way to a cracked green tiling. The clicking of the stone as I ascended the stairs was oddly pleasing. I reached the top of the staircase, and was underwhelmed at what lay beyond. There was a barren concrete lot was filled with motorcycles, varying from ones with wheels to others which floated off of the ground. Sergei's truck stood out. It was a twelve-wheeled titan, which looked like it had enough storage on it to fuel an entire army. The truck, like Sergei, was covered in scratches and dents of varying sizes, likely having just as many stories behind each one as the man himself. I stopped admiring the truck as I looked to my right, seeing Dustin sitting on a rock nearby.
I let loose a whistle, and jogged over to greet him. Dustin whirled around, and hopped off of the rock. We clasped arms.
"It's been too long, Dustin!" I said, smiling.
"I know, right?" Dustin replied, his blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight. "It's good to see you again."
I smiled in return.
"So, where's Trapinch?" I asked.
Dustin had owned Trapinch for several years now. A gift when he turned twelve, his parents thought that a Pokemon was all that he wanted. Dustin appreciated what he was given, but would tell me constantly about how awesome it would be if he could travel the treacherous deserts of Orre, and challenge himself.
Almost on cue, Trapinch emerged from behind the same rock that Dustin was on. She looked at me blankly for a moment, and then hobbled over to me. I tensed up.
"She's not going to bite me again, is she?" I asked, remembering almost every other time that I had been around her on visits to Gateon Port.
Dustin laughed. "Don't worry! She's gotten better with that since then. Isn't that right Trapinch?"
"Pinch Pinch!" Trapinch replied happily, rubbing her massive jaw against my leg. I nudged her away gently, not wanting to take any chances.
"So do you have everything?" I asked, looking back towards the port city, and at the spiralling lighthouse.
"Yeah! Right there next to the truck," he replied. "Can't wait to get on the open road! Bought some Poke Balls and everything."
Behind him, Trapinch was opening and closing her jaw, pacing around nervously. I raised an eyebrow, but turned my attention back to Dustin.
"So, your parents finally let you go, huh? What changed their minds?"
Dustin shrugged, rubbing the back of his head with his left arm and cracking a smile.
"I'm really not sure what exactly it was. I think that they just needed these last six or so years to finally warm up to the idea…" Dustin trailed off, his eyes fixed towards the massive truck.
I nodded, gazing around cracked asphalt lot and beyond, towards the mass expanse of hot desert. My eyes narrowed.
"Huh…" I muttered to myself aloud.
Dustin's gaze immediately turned back to me.
"What? What is is Hakins?" he asked, tone underlying some sort of anxiety.
"Are your parents going to be here to send you off?" I asked.
His arm once again found its way to the back of his neck.
"We went ahead and did that earlier this morning. My parents both had to get to work earlier to meet up with a recently docked ship. Notice all the people running about down there?"
My gaze moved to the buzz at the pier, and then to the ships currently docked. As I gazed at the bustle, I caught a faint rumbling sound near the rock where Dustin was sitting. I passed it off as one of the many seismic shifts that occurred on the mainland.
I sat on the rock with Dustin, and began to tell him what had happened over the past few days. I tensed up, still torn over my lost battle against Salvator. Tension became a smile as I explained the boat ride to Gateon. Hearing Dustin laugh and talk in person was a nice change of pace.
"Wow, can I see your PDA?" Dustin asked.
I retrieved it from the front pocket of my bag, and passed it over to him. He ran his hand across the surface, and then powered it on. As he began to inquire about its functions, a loud crashing came from behind us.
"PINCH!"
We both wheeled around.
Without our knowledge, Trapinch had dug underground and resurfaced directly under one of the motorcycles. The crash had caused all of the parked bikes to tumble over in sequence. Dustin jumped from his place on the rock.
"Trapinch? Why did you do that?"
We ran over to where Trapinch now stood with her head down. Dustin crouched down and frowned at the impetuous Pokemon.
"Trapinch, look at me."
The Pokemon lifted its head and looked at Dustin. It's black eyes were rife with shame.
"I know that we don't get to play in the desert a lot," Dustin said, patting Trapinch's head, "But we have to be careful when we do. We're still in Gateon, and so we have to be on our best behavior, ok?"
Trapinch lunged into his arms, cuddling close. Dustin couldn't help but laugh at this gesture, and hugged her back. I sighed.
"Hate to interrupt," I said. "But we have a dozen bikes to prop back up here, and we could use her help with that.
Dustin rose to his feet, setting Trapinch down lightly, and we got to work. While the streamlined bikes looked light, we struggled against the weight of each of them, even the floating ones, which needed to be stabilized in order to begin levitating again. At last, we reached the bike at the back of the row, which had been hit by Trapinch. The damage didn't look too bad, but there was a sizable dent on the bottom.
I turned to look at Dustin.
"Maybe if we prop this up and, like, leave a note or something, it'll be ok?"
Dustin gave me an expression of uncertainty. He raised one of his hands and rubbed his fingers together.
I nodded.
"Yeah, money wouldn't be a bad idea either. Do you have something I can write on?"
"One sec…"
Dustin reached into his pack, which was now off of his back and on the ground, and pulled out a journal. Dustin was definitely the writer of us two, and liked keeping detailed entries on all of the memorable parts of his day. He tore a piece of paper out and handed it to me.
"Alright," I said, sitting down on the ground.
I stared at the paper, pen in hand. I scratched my head. Meanwhile, Dustin and Trapinch got to work getting the last bike upright again. While it did balance standing, it was clearly not completely balanced.
"Ok, I think I've got it."
After a few minutes of scribbling, I walked over to the bike and placed the note in between the grips of one of the handles. Standing next to Dustin and Trapinch, I shook my head.
"Man, this is not what I thought I'd be doing at the beginning of my journey."
A voice roared from behind us.
"Hey! What do you pipsqueaks think you're doing near my bike?"
My head shot back, while Dustin visibly jumped. Trapinch hobbled over to a soft patch of sand and began tunneling away.
"Trapinch, no!" Dustin said.
Dustin tried to get ahold of the Ant Pit Pokemon, but she slipped away before he could get a firm hold on her.
"Come on!" I said, aiming my voice into the burrow created by Trapinch.
Hopeless, we turned around to face the menace walking towards us.
He looked to a be younger man, maybe mid twenties. He wore a tight red shirt that with a white lightning bolt running down it, the shirt small enough that his cut abs were exposed to the desert sun. Black and red shorts hung from his waist, and a fingerless glove decorated only one of his hands. His long face was contorted into a snarl, and bright blue eyes pierced into both me and Dustin. He had a well-gelled bleach blonde mohawk to top it all off.
"Step aside, I've got places to be." he said. He sounded like someone who was angry all the time.
"Yessir," Dustin replied.
We both scrambled out of the brute's way. I snapped back into focus, though, and remembered what we had just left on his bike. I tried to intervene, but it was already too late. The man narrowed his eyes upon reaching his bike, moving his head to inspect it.
"Weird, I thought I fixed the orientation weeks ago." he said. His attention then shifted to the white piece of paper in his handle. His face turned to an expression of confusion, and he yanked the note from its place. I, of course, knew what he was reading.
To the Owner of this Bike,
We had an incident with one of our Pokemon, and he dented to bottom of your bike. We're really sorry, and we hope that the money included with this note can help cover the costs of repairing it. I hope that you have a wonderful day.
Sincerely, a Stranger
It took the man longer than I would've thought for him to read it, but neither of us dared to move, for fear that this broad fellow would make us regret it.
He spun the letter around a couple of times, and then turned to glare at us.
"Alright, pipsqueaks. Where is the money you're talking about?"
Dustin gulped, and held out a few thousand Poke Dollars. The man snatched the money from his hands. He looked at the amount, and then his eye twitched.
"You damage both the electronic power regulator and the left plating of my bike, and you think that this will pay off any of that?!" he roared. He lifted his right foot, decked out in a combat boot, and stamped the ground with incredible force.
Dustin was now several steps behind me, so I figured that I was the one that had to say something.
"Sir, we're really sorry, but we don't have more money. Please-"
"SHUT IT!" he yelled, "You think that I'm swimming in cash and can just pay this off on my own?"
He looked around frantically.
"Where is the Pokemon that did this to my bike?"
"Please don't hurt her!" Dustin said from behind me.
The thug turned to face us. He began walking towards us. I tried to think of something to say, but one of the man's broad arms shoved me to the side. My skin scraped against the hot asphalt of the parking lot as I went quite a distance back. I got back onto my knees, and saw the man holding Dustin in the air with both of his arms. Dustin struggled in the grip of his hands, which were large enough to pin him in place while in the air.
"No! Please no!" Dustin shouted, wriggling furiously in an attempt to escape.
A stray leg kicked the man in the face. His head recoiled, but returned to focus on the boy in his arms.
"Tell me where the Pokemon is! Tell me!"
Anger flowed through me, and I launched from my position on the ground, now standing upright.
"Hey!" I shouted, shaking. "Put him down!"
It was no good. The man was too enraged; I could hear his snarls from where I was. Ready to do whatever it took, I dropped my backpack, and ran at him. He whirled around to look at me, and then sent a swift kick into my stomach. My breath left me instantly, and I felt the skin on the bottom of my back scrape open as I slid back from the force of the blow. However, my effort had been enough to momentarily distract the large thug, as Dustin swung both of his legs back and delivered a two pronged kick to the man's face. He howled, his grip on Dustin breaking, and my good friend rolled back onto the ground. The man, clutching his face, stepped back into his bike, knocking it over again and falling onto it with a thud.
"Hakins, are you ok?" Dustin said, running over to me. His deep blue eyes were filled with worry.
I was still reeling from the kick, so all that I could muster was a thumbs up and a weak laugh. Dustin sighed with relief.
"Ok, good. We need to get out of here. Like, now." Dustin said.
He offered me a hand, and I pushed through the pain and took his hand, once again stumbling to my feet.
We didn't even get to fleeing before we heard the roar from the toppled bike. I turned to look back, and saw the man standing, nose bleeding profusely. His mouth was wretched into a scowl.
"That's it! Now you've done it!" he said, his voice sending shivers down our spines. He took a Poke Ball out of his pocket.
"Block their escape!"
The ball whizzed through the air, and out came a massive serpent Pokemon, with a menacing sword-shaped tail. Both me and Dustin had snapped out of our trance and began to run, but the Pokemon slithered with astonishing speed, its figure blocking the view of the stairs within seconds.
My hands shook.
"Dustin, what is that?" I asked.
"That's a Seviper, dude," Dustin replied. "We're not fist fighting our way through this thing."
It let out an earth-trembling hiss, and we took a few steps back. I turned to face the man, who was cackling. He was still a few dozen yards away.
"Now you've done it, you munchkins. Now you have done it! Hyahahah!"
A stray blast of mud came out of nowhere, nailing Seviper in the back of its head. It let out a howl, recoiling sideways.
Trapinch stood on the top of a nearby dune, clearly not bursting with confidence.
"Nice shot Trapinch!" I shouted. Dustin, however, wasn't sharing my celebratory spirits.
"Get out of here," Dustin yelled. "Seviper is too strong. Use Dig and get away!"
"Seviper, Flamethrower!"
Trapinch didn't have enough time to react, and as she hopped into the air to try and dig, the Flamethrower made direct contact. An explosion sounded, and Trapinch came flying onto the parking lot, fainted.
The man looked at the Ant Pit Pokemon, and gave a single sarcastic clap.
"So, it was you, wasn't it?"
"Return, Trapinch!"
The red flash sounded from Dustin's Poke Ball, and Trapinch was now gone.
The man snarled.
"How annoying."
He was getting closer, and didn't seem fazed at all by his cuts and bruises.
"First, you break my bike. Then, you kick me in the face! You've messed with the looks and life of Zook, and that's not to be taken lightly you pipsqueaks!"
Zook's pace had now put him directly in front of us. He grinned diabolically.
"I don't care if you don't have Pokemon. I'm gonna throttle you right now!"
He raised his hand up, and Seviper began charging a Flamethrower in its mouth.
"I'm gonna enjoy this."
"Alright, Petal Blizzard!" a voice called from the stairs.
A flurry of pink petals came barreling into Seviper, knocking it into one of the sand dunes beyond the lot. In the moment of confusion, I threw an elbow into Zook's stomach, dropping him to one knee. I ran for the stairs, seeing Dustin punch Zook in the face hard as he ran to catch up to me.
Turning ahead of me, I was filled with relief to see Sergei there waiting to us. Wakin was standing next to a Gloom with his eyes trained on the dune, as Seviper exploded from the sand and made its way back to the lot in front of a hurt Zook.
"I like these two, Serg. Looks like they've figured out the law of the wasteland already." Wakin said, a knowing smile on his face.
"I'll take it from here, Wakin. Keep these two safe. I've got history with this one." Sergei replied.
We reached the two of them, and stayed behind with Wakin as Sergei stepped forwards into the lot.
By this point, Zook had returned to his feet. The blood had stopped flowing from his nose, but a new, discernible bruise was now decorating the side of his face. Upon locking eyes with Sergei, he stepped back in surprise.
"You? These punks are with you?"
"Still harassing children, Zook? I thought that two years in jail would've set you straight, but clearly I'm going to have to remind you why you don't get to push people around anymore."
There were no good-spirited laughs or charmistmatic smiles here. Sergei seemed to become a completely different person: a much scarier one at that. Zook scoffed.
"And here I was thinking that I couldn't get angrier today. Those kids may have damaged the face of Zook, but the things you've done to me are hard to top, Sergei."
He clenched his fists and delivered a stomp into the ground before continuing.
"You may have gotten the best of me before, but we're a lot stronger now!"
Seviper let out a shout, and turned to glare directly at Sergei. The man mountain reached into his belt, enlarging a Poke Ball of his own.
"I doubt that." Sergei said, returning Seviper's gaze fearlessly. "Alright Golem, out!"
The ball was tossed into the air, and out came the spherical shape of Golem. It landed with a loud thud.
"Let's get a better angle on this," I said, tapping Dustin on the shoulder and gesturing towards a section of the rock wall enclosing the parking lot to our right.
"Since when did you care about so much about Pokemon battling?" Dustin replied, giving me a smile.
I couldn't help but smile back.
"Come on." I said.
Wakin nodded, and together the three of us made our way to the wall. We sat down, realizing that Zook's anger was now focused only on Sergei. The desert sun was almost at its apex, but the sea breeze flowing from Gateon offered bursts of reprieve from the brutal heat. I watched carefully.
"We were waiting for you, Golem." Zook said, the veins in his arms and face jutting out quite alarmingly.
"Once I'm done throttling you, Sergei, those kids over there are fish food."
Sergei sighed, arms now crossed.
"No, Zook," Sergei replied. "When I beat you right now, you're not doing anything."
Zook let out the loudest roar yet.
"Enough! Seviper, VENOSHOCK!"
(Play Cipher Peon Battle Theme from XD Gale of Darkness)
Seviper opened its mouth, but this time a corrosive purple spray shot from the serpent's mouth, barreling towards Golem at a quick speed.
Sergei snapped into action.
"Golem, Autotomize, now!"
Golem let out a shout, and the many rocks that made up its body seemed to morph, causing a large amount of dust to be sifted out. Golem was now out of view, but the Venoshock was now making its way towards Sergei. However, he side stepped right while spinning, the attack just barely missing him as he planted his feet, seeming like he was completely in control.
The dust quickly settled, and I was shocked to see Golem now shifting laterally with ease. Zook snarled.
"Keep it going, Seviper," Zook shouted. "Use your speed, and aim another Venoshock!"
Seviper dropped onto the ground and began slinking around the field with its impressive speed.
Sergei held up his hand.
"Eyes up, Golen!"
Golem stood in place, carefully observing the movements of Seviper. The serpent found its spot and let loose another wave of poison.
"Now, Rollout!"
Golem instantly folded into itself and spun, completely dodging the Venoshock once again. Its speed was incredible, and Seviper was clearly feeling the pressure. Golem's Rollout proved to be too much, as the serpent mispredicted where Golem would be, and took the Rollout from behind.
A shockwave blew through the lot, sending the sand behind us flying back. Golem rolled back to its place in front of Sergei, still in ball form. Seviper slowly rose back up, and shook its head.
"You're still good, Seviper! Now give 'em a Flamethrower!"
Seviper let loose a wave of fire, and its ferocious heat could be felt from where we were sitting.
"Rollout again!" Sergei called.
Golem rolled out of the way of the initial wave of fire.
"Keep it up!" Zook yelled, fists clashing against each other.
Seviper maintained the Flamethrower and moved its head towards the rolling Golem. The serpent was clearly not fast enough, and was starting to get run in circles by Golem.
"There's your opening, Golem! Strike now!" Sergei shouted.
Golem barreled for Seviper.
"Jump!" Zook called.
Seviper sprung off of its tail, and now found itself above a stunned Golem.
"FLAMETHROWER!" Zook shouted, his cry sending me shivers.
Seviper let loose another wave of fire. Golem wasn't fast enough to dodge this one. The impact caused an explosion, and Sergei grunted as the heat wave from the move hit him.
My heart was pounding from the stands. Was it over?
No.
Golem let loose a shout, and the explosion from the cloud was swept away as Golem began spinning rapidly. The smoke now gone, Golem rolled back to its place in front of Sergei. The singe marks on its body were clear. That attack did some serious damage.
Seviper landed in its place in front of Zook, heaving.
I shared a look with Dustin. Wakin noticed this, and nodded.
"Seviper may not have received a direct hit in that scuffle, but the effort to maintain that Flamethrower, and to jump, did quite a number on her," Wakin said, eyes still trained on the battle. "That Pokemon's tough; I'll give the lug props for that."
My attention turned to Sergei. He seemed surprised by what he had just seen, but that uncertainty was quickly replaced with a look of determination.
"Are you ready to continue, Golem?"
His Pokemon let out a roar.
"Not bad Zook," Sergei said, exchanging a nod with Golem. "If you weren't such a bastard all the time, I might've actually respected how far you've come. But your projectile attacks aren't going to faze us anymore, so steer clear of those, chuvak."
Zook twitched.
"Don't call me that! Seviper, Flamethrower!"
Seviper let loose another fiery burst.
"Golem, direct your momentum forwards, and spin backwards!"
Golem listened, as if this was a tactic that they had spent a lot of time practicing. Golem began to roll backwards in place, generating a huge air current upwards. The fire flew upwards and dissipated in the air. Golem jumped back out of ball form, and flexed its arms.
"GRAH!" Zook yelled. "Now Iron Tail, Seviper!"
Seviper's tail became coated in a metallic covering, the glare from it hurting my eyes. It lunged forwards, its now straight body moving faster than before.
A fire was lit in Sergei's eyes now. He clashed his fists together.
"Close in and fight back with Thunder Punch!"
(Play fast version of same theme)
Golem rolled to meet Seviper's attack, taking an initial hit as a result. It left its ball form, the tail of Seviper still buried in its head, and its arms began to crackle with electricity. Pulling in the startled Seviper with one arm, it landed a direct Thunder Punch to the head with the other, sending Seviper rolling back. It slithered upright quickly.
"You're ready this time Seviper! Meet Golem with Iron Tail Again!"
"Keep up those Thunder Punches, and go to battle!"
The two battered Pokemon charged at one another, letting out roars as they met with an impact that sent a sonic boom through the area.
I didn't even notice that I had risen to my feet. This battle made my clash with Salvator seem like child's play. This felt like the final battle in the ultimate action movie. Both Sergei and Zook were moving in sync with their Pokemon as Iron Tail met Thunderpunch. A clash of wills, with so much emotion that I found myself tearing up as I raised one of my fists.
"Come on Sergei! You've got this!" I yelled.
Sergei's gaze remained fixed on the battle, but he raised a fist in my direction. I heard Wakin chuckle from next to me.
And that's when I noticed that Seviper was giving up ground. Golem wasn't just blindly clashing; it was maneuvering with expert precision, sometimes using the spherical nature of its body to cause attacks to graze off of it harmlessly.
Zook took notice of this too.
"No...No way!"
Sergei let loose a hearty laugh.
"I'm not the only one who trained in precision hand-to-hand combat, my friend. There's no better soldier than my Golem! Show him what I mean!"
Seviper was in the middle of a sideways swing towards Golem. He spun horizontally and parried the attack, the force of the impact with the spin sending Seviper to the left. Golem ended that momentum with a Thunder Punch to the serpent's midsection, and then landed a second Thunder Punch on Seviper's head. It let out a shriek as it flew back in front of Zook.
"Come on Seviper!" Zook shouted. Seviper had taken substantial damage, and was struggling to get up.
Sergei crossed his arms.
"This attack decides it! Earth Power!"
Golem let out a roar, and dug its arms into the ground. The ground around Seviper's body began to cave in. The serpent tried to slither out of the attack, but the shockwaves of the crater didn't allow it the footing to escape. The ground then gave in, and a burst of rock and sand shot up from below Seviper. The explosion's power was unbelievable, and the winds were strong enough to where I had to grip the rock wall in order to stay upright.
The dust in the crater settled, and Seviper laid there, unmoving. Zook's eyes went wide.
(End)
"No way! Seviper, get up!" Zook called.
"Thank you, Comrade," Sergei said, giving the victorious Pokemon a nice pat on the back.
The man mountain made his way over to Zook.
"Argh! Damn it! Return, Seviper!"
A red light engulfed Seviper, and a moment later, it was gone. Zook looked up to see Sergei walking towards him. The thug's face contorted once again.
"Don't you dare think that this is over yet, Sergei!" Zook said, hands now once again clenched into fists.
Zook charged him, preparing a punch for the seasoned traveller.
Sergei sighed.
"No, this is over."
Sergei dodged the punch effortlessly, and delivered three quick blows to the head. Zook toppled over, and lay unmoving.
Sergei cracked his knuckles, and looked up towards us, a smile once again on his face.
"Don't worry, boys! He will be perfectly fine, I promise you. I think he needed to sleep this mood off though, ah?" Sergei let out a laugh.
Me, Dustin, and Wakin made our way over to him. Sergei was talking to Golem, pointing at the cater created in the middle of the lot by its Earth Power. Golem nodded, and began smoothing out and filling in the hole.
"That was incredible, Sergei!" I said, still riding the high from the battle.
Dustin nodded.
"Yeah, for sure. My Trapinch needs healing, though. I need to get to the Pokemon Center. It's not too far from here."
"No need, chuvak," Sergei replied. "There's a stationary healing machine in the back of my truck. I'll show you."
Sergei then turned to Wakin.
"Could you have a look at his bike and estimate the repair costs? Zook may be scum, but nobody deserves to travel through the Orre region on foot."
"I can do that, Serg." Wakin replied. With that, he made his way over to the bike and crouched down to inspect the damage.
Meanwhile, I followed Sergei and Dustin to the towering army truck. Sergei hit a button near the place where a license plate would normally be, and the back of the truck began to fold downwards. Dustin and I looked with eyes wide as we gazed into the interior of the truck.
While there were quite a lot of crates and whatnot in the back of the truck, the sheer size of the space within the truck was staggering. A workbench and various tool racks stood on opposing sides of the walls of the truck, along with an electric generator, a stove, and a couch, which all appeared to be bolted down. Upon seeing this, my gaze immediately shifted back to the wheels of the truck, and I noticed that these were no ordinary tires. They were thick and treaded, clearly designed to hold the weight of its cargo in any terrain. Looking up towards the loose tarp that covered this space, I noticed small solar panels angled on either side of the truck. All I could think of looking at the thing was that I would likely never see anything like that again.
Dustin followed Sergei up the ramp and over to the healing machine, which was placed opposite to the stove. I scrambled in after them, surprised to find that I was able to stand upright comfortably in this space. My shoes walked on fine carpets laid out along the floor, and the plethora of fans blowing air in the shaded back gave me a break from the sun.
Sergei powered on the machine, quickly typing in what I assumed to be the configuration process for its usage. After a few moments, he gestured for Dustin to step forwards. Realizing what I left outside, I scurried out of the truck and looked around for my stuff. I found my backpack against the stone wall, sent back from the ferocity of the battle, but still in fairly good shape. My suitcase and duffel were far enough away to avoid damage as well. I heaved a sigh of relief, and carried my things towards the truck, already beginning to sweat a lot from the burden of carrying my stuff. Thankfully, the storage compression cubes weren't that heavy, so I didn't have a hard time getting my suitcase up the ramp.
Upon entering the truck once more, I saw the happy bouncing figure of Trapinch, as it rubbed its jaw against Sergei's leg. The friendly giant chuckled and gave her an affectionate pat. Seeing me enter, Sergei helped me secure my things in empty crates, doing the same for Dustin's duffel, which was near the truck the whole time. Afterwards, we made our way off of the truck.
Wakin was waiting for us outside. He had the heart to drag Zook under the shade of his bike. I went with Dustin to the edge of town while Sergei and Wakin discussed the damages to the bike. We stood at the border between the asphalt of the lot and the beige of the sandstone road ahead.
I could feel Dustin gazing in my direction, so I turned back towards him and gave him a smile. He passed my PDA back to me, which I placed in one of my front pockets. The silence continued.
I still had quite a few pains; the back of my head was still ringing a little bit; the exposed part of my back that scraped against the asphalt still kept me from bending down too much, out of fear of stretching the skin; I was pretty sure that I had bruises on my stomach. But, strangely, this was exactly what I had waited so long for. Something different. Something dangerous. Not a simulation that you could end when things got difficult, but a real life threat where I had to adapt and make tough calls. I definitely didn't do everything right, but that was the fun of it.
I looked back out at the expanse of desert before us.
"Hey, Dustin?" I asked, a smile once again starting to form on my face.
"Yeah, Hakins?" Dustin said.
"If we had this much action before even leaving Gateon Port, what do you think is waiting for us out there?"
Dustin swallowed, and shifted uncomfortably.
"I mean, a lot more probably. But things will get a lot easier once we have more Pokemon by our side. And if Sergei's going to be here with us, we have nothing to worry about, right?"
"You're right about that." I said, sitting down on the asphalt and taking off my backpack.
After a moment, Dustin sat down with me. I took out my water bottle from my bag, and took a swig. I offered some to Dustin, who took a few swigs as well. I chuckled.
"Sergei really kicked ass today. I mean, I guessed that he was a pretty good battler, but that was something else." I said.
Dustin laughed, and I could see all of his curls bounce as he did.
"We kicked ass too, Hakins." Dustin said, "If Zook hadn't sent out Seviper…" He held out his fist.
I suddenly remembered elbowing Zook in the gut, and grinned. I met the fist bump.
"He would've been done for," I replied.
Stay safe out there, and have an excellent rest of your day!