Chapter 2: Fear of the Fearow
Xander could hardly breathe as the Hyper Beam came spiraling towards him. All 15 years of his life began to flash before his eyes. He tried to get up and run, but there was no time to escape. The Tyrogue quickly hopped to its feet and dashed toward Xander with blinding speed. It rammed him, just barely knocking him out of the way, but took a glancing blow to the arm. Both Xander and Tyrogue fell to the ground and the Fearow screeched in rage.
Xander could see that the Fearow had a large lump on the top of its head. "Oh, man." he said in a low voice, "I think I hit it with that rock I threw." He looked to his right to see the Tyrogue on the ground, holding its left arm in pain. He looked back into the sky to see the Fearow swooping down for another attack. Xander leaped up, grabbed the Tyrogue and began to run across the field. The enraged Fearow chased them down, blasting Hyper Beams and screeching loudly.
He ran as far as he could, as fast as he could. He prayed that the Fearow wouldn't catch him, but he didn't have time to look back. He could hear the blasts crashing into the ground right behind him. He could see a small patch of woods ahead and ran for it. The Fearow recharged and shot another Hyper Beam at him. Xander turned his head slightly, just enough to see the attack coming and ducked. The blast flew over his head and kicked up a cloud of dust in front of him. Xander used it as coverage and dived through the dust and into the trees. The Fearow flew overhead searching the bushels for Xander and the injured Pokemon, but couldn't see through the leaves. Xander found a large hollow tree and took Tyrogue inside.
"Oh, man. This is insane." he said, peeking out of the tree. He laid the Tyrogue on the ground and reached in his pocket.
"T-Tyrogue!" the Pokemon cried in pain.
"Don't worry; it's gonna be alright." Xander said, pulling a small red piece of cloth out of his pocket. He took a look at the arm and began to wrap the wound with the cloth.
"What was I thinking?" he asked himself, "I actually thought that I could wait to the last minute to do this. I'm so stupid. If I make it out of this in one piece…oh, please let me make it out of here in one piece."
He tightened the red cloth and looked at Tyrogue. "Is that a little better?" he asked.
"Ty…rogue, Tyrogue." it responded with a hesitant nod.
"Heh, no sweat," Xander said, "You saved me so I helped you. You don't owe me anything."
The Tyrogue looked away stubbornly and Xander began to laugh. He was running out of breath from exhaustion and he knew that catching a Pokemon should have been the last thing on his mind at the moment, but he couldn't help feeling upset with himself. He peered out of the tree again to see if the Fearow had left, but it was still circling around overhead.
"That thing doesn't know when to quit." Xander said, "Well, I guess we'd better get comfortable. We might be here for a while." Xander leaned his head back against the tree and Tyrogue lay facing the opposite way.
"You know what?" he said, directing the question to Tyrogue, "All I've ever wanted to do was prove myself to everyone. I just wanted to show people that I could do something right….something great. I got accepted into this great school and even then, people doubted me. They said I wouldn't last two weeks in there or they'd take one look at me and turn me away at the front door. I didn't want to believe them. I didn't want to believe that they were right about me, but I'm starting to believe that they just might be. I had three weeks notice to catch a Pokemon and I put it off until the last day. Who would want a trainer like that?"
Tyrogue laid there listening to Xander's words and taking them to heart on some level. Xander sighed again and sat back.
Hours went by and the two hadn't left, not even for a second. The sky had turned a vibrant orange with pink and purple highlights. The sun was large and red, setting in the west, barely peering over the horizon. Xander decided to take another look for the Fearow and sure enough, it was still hovering above. Just then his stomach began to growl loudly.
"Aw, I forgot to eat before I left this morning." he said, "If I knew I was going to be out here all day, I would've packed a lunch or something. Ramen sounds really good right now." Xander began to look around for something to eat and he spotted an Oran Berry hanging from a tree not far from him.
"Perfect!" he exclaimed, "It's not Ramen, but it'll do. I'm going for it." he slowly stepped out of the hollow tree and began to creep over towards the berry. The Tyrogue took a small step out from inside the tree as well to stretch its legs. Xander slowly made his way over to the tree, being careful not to make any sudden movements. The Fearow was still unable to see him so he continued to move ahead and just as he was almost to the tree, he felt himself step on something. He looked down to see that he was standing on a Sentret's tail. The little Pokemon screamed out and Xander jumped back in fear. The Fearow heard it and spotted them with its keen eye. It opened its beak widely and prepared to fire another Hyper Beam. The Sentret ran off and Xander did the same, with Tyrogue not far behind him.
They ran out of the woods and back into the field and the wild Fearow began to chase them down again.
"Oh boy, that was stupid." Xander said to himself, "I'm really not on it today."
Tyrogue stopped suddenly and turned to their predator.
"What are you doing?" Xander yelled out, "Are you crazy? You're going to get yourself killed." Tyrogue turned its head and glared at him. Xander had never seen such a look before. It wasn't going to run anymore and he could see that. Tyrogue had determination in his eyes. Xander knew that feeling. It was determined to prove itself just as much as he was.
"Is there anything that I can say to stop you from doing this?" he asked. Tyrogue didn't respond. It just turned its head back toward the screeching Fearow.
"Ok then, I'm with you Tyrogue." he said standing behind it. The Fearow screeched loudly once again and swooped in at them.
"Tyrogue jump out of the way and use…uh, Mega Punch!" Xander commanded. Tyrogue leaped to the left and Xander moved as well. It connected with a strong Mega Punch to the side of Fearow's head. The Fearow was knocked off center and began to spin a little.
"Alright now use…um, use…I don't know. Just use something quick!" he yelled. Tyrogue linked a lightning fast Mach Punch with a Comet Punch attack and the Fearow screeched in pain as Tyrogue unleashed rapid punches to its body.
"Wow, good job Tyrogue." Xander said in amazement, "Looks like you don't need my help after all." Tyrogue ended his barrage in an attempt to finish with a kick, but the Fearow caught its bearings and countered with a wing attack, knocking Tyrogue back and then swooping in for a Fury Attack. Fearow hit blow after blow on the now helpless Tyrogue.
"Stop! Leave it alone!" Xander yelled. He ran and jumped on the Fearow's back, wrapping his arms tightly around its neck. It moved frantically trying to shake Xander off, but he held on as tight as he could as Tyrogue fell to the ground from the rigorous attacks. Xander lost his grip and flew off of Fearow's back, onto the ground. He groaned in pain as he lay on the ground, holding his left side. The Fearow was now angrier than ever and it prepared to fire another Hyper Beam. Xander and Tyrogue were both unable to move in time to dodge this point blank attack, but just before it fired a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and struck it. The Fearow cried out and flew off over the horizon, battered and bruised. Xander looked up to see a familiar Pokemon walking toward him.
"Sparx!" he exclaimed, "How did you get here?"
"Xander are you ok?" his grandpa asked as he walked up to him, "Oh, thank goodness. Jolteon and I were worried sick about you."
"What are you doing here grandpa?" Xander asked.
"It looks like I'm saving your cheeks." he responded, "You were gone for a long time so I decided to come and make sure everything was ok. I figured if you hadn't caught a Pokemon by now then you weren't going to do it on your own. I don't mind if you just borrow one of mine."
"Thanks grandpa, but now's not the time for that." Xander said, "I really need your help. This Tyrogue is hurt very badly. We need to get him home, quick."
"Oh, sure thing, kiddo." he replied, "Hurry up and put it in the pokeball so we can get it out of here."
"Oh, right." Xander said, nodding his head. He took the white pokeball out of his pocket and tossed it at the Pokemon. It bounced off of Tyrogue and a red beam shot out, engulfing it and sucking it inside. As the pokeball shook, the two of them waited in anticipation. It shook again and Xander clinched his fingers. It shook one final time and the red light went off. Xander picked up the pokeball and held it in his hand.
"Alright grandpa lets get home." he said. His grandfather nodded and they ran off, towards town. As he and his grandpa walked across the field in the autumn twilight, Xander gazed into the sky as the stars began to shine. The sky slowly slipped from bright orange and pink, into cool blue and dark purple. They headed back across the water and through the town. They rushed into the house; Xander grabbed the wounded Pokemon and laid it on the couch in the living room.
"Mom, Dad!" he yelled at the top of his lungs and his parents came rushing downstairs.
"Oh, no!" his mom exclaimed covering her mouth and staring at the injured Pokemon.
"What happened?" his father asked.
"We were attacked by a Fearow on Kindle Road." Xander replied, "Do we have anymore Super Potion?"
"Yes, in the cupboard. I'll go get some." his mother replied. She ran into the kitchen, grabbed the Super Potion and ran back into the living room with it in hand. Xander took it from her and began to spray the wounds. Tyrogue flinched from the sting, but Xander continued to spray the potion.
"There's not much more we can do for it now." his father stated, "All we can do is wait. We should get some sleep and check on it in the morning."
"Na," Xander replied, "I'm going to stay here with him dad. You guys go ahead to sleep."
His parents soon went off to bed, but he stayed by Tyrogue's side all night. He barely slept at all, but by the time morning came he was fast asleep. He was awakened by a tapping on his shoulder. Startled, he jumped up to see that Tyrogue was feeling much better and his wounds had healed up pretty nicely.
"Tyrogue!" Xander yelled, "Your ok!"
"Great. He should be fine now." his father said as he walked downstairs. He turned around and his parents and his grandfather were standing behind him, looking on happily.
"You'd better get ready to head out, Xander. Your ship leaves in two hours, you know." his mother said, "Now don't forget to brush your teeth and wash your face. Remember, hygiene is the most important thing."
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" Xander exclaimed. He turned and looked at Tyrogue. "Let's go. We're gonna be late." Tyrogue folded its arms and turned his head stubbornly.
"Don't be like that Tyrogue." Xander pleaded, but Tyrogue wouldn't budge.
"Stubborn little thing, isn't it?" his father asked.
"Tyrogue, not only did we save your life, but technically, I caught you and that means that I'm your trainer now." Xander said. The Tyrogue's eyes widened and it slowly turned its head toward him.
"Come on…it'll be fun." Xander said with a smile. Tyrogue sighed and Xander returned him to the old Premier Ball.
"Alright!" Xander exclaimed, "This is gonna be great!" Xander hopped up and ran upstairs to grab his things. He'd had a big day yesterday and he was hoping that the today would leave some time to relax, but little did he know, as he walked out of his front door, there's never a dull day at the Pokemon Academy.
Next Chapter: Chance Meetings