Chapter 6
"Hey! Felix!" called Zane. "You going to the Pokemon League? Oh hey, sis!"
"Hi Zane!" Daisy greeted her brother with a friendly smile.
"Yeah, what's it to you?" grumbled Felix.
"Well, you can forget it. You probably don't have any badges. The guard won't let you through!" sneered Zane.
"Neither do you!" retorted Felix.
"Ha! I was just getting a good look at the place before I set off making history," said Zane. "I wanna get a good mental image to keep me focused on my journey! By the way, did your Pokemon get any stronger?"
"Strong enough to beat you!" said Felix with a feigned confidence.
The two boys looked each other in the eyes. The wind blew, rustling everyone's hair lightly. Zane hunched over, his hand hovering near his belt. His finger twitched. Felix hunched over to match, his palm facing backward toward Pikachu behind him. A tumbleweed rolled between the rivals.
Am I strong enough to beat him? Felix thought to himself. What if he beat Zane twice? Did he have potential to make it big in the Pokemon League challenge? Could this be enough to convince his mom to let him at least leave town on a journey? If he couldn't beat Zane decisively, then he had a long way to go to face Team Rocket.
Felix shifted his eyes to glance at Daisy, but before he could get a good look at the expression on her face, Zane hurled a Pokeball to the ground.
"Go, Spearow!" cried Zane.
"Go, Pikachu!" directed Felix, and Pikachu darted forward. "For pride!"
So he decided to go with Spearow… What a fool, doesn't he know Pikachu can easily take it out? Felix thought to himself.
"Spearow, use Peck!" shouted Zane.
"Blast Spearow out of the sky with Thundershock!" cried Felix.
Before Spearow could land a Peck, Pikachu sent a quick bolt of electricity hurling at Spearow, shocking him. Spearow kept his composure and dove directly at Pikachu. Spearow's beak made contact with Pikachu's forehead and it began to bleed.
Pikachu could tell that this Spearow has had a good amount of training and a combat level that exceeded his own.
"Use your Thundershock again, Pikachu!"
Pikachu wiped the blood from his face and sent another charge from his cheeks. Spearow could not bear the second shock and fell to the ground unconscious. Pikachu looked prideful in his honorable victory.
"Come back, Spearow!" called Zane. "Spearow didn't stand much of a chance against your electricity. That was to be expected. But your Pikachu is no match for my Eevee!"
"What! No fair! I only have one Pokemon! This breaks the commonly accepted terms of Pokemon battling! We have to agree to the same number of Pokemon to use!" shouted Felix.
"Well we didn't agree to terms before we started, did we? If you're so tough, why don't you beat both my Pokemon!" sneered Zane as he tossed Eevee's Pokeball in the air.
"Eevee, Sand-Attack!"
"Pikachu, Thundershock!"
Pikachu sent an electric charge at Eevee that Eevee endured with little effort. Eevee promptly kicked up sand into Pikachu's eyes. Pikachu wiped his eyes frantically, trying to regain his vision.
"Pikachu, send another Thundershock his way!"
"Eevee, Tackle attack!"
Pikachu sent another charge of lightning from his cheeks, but because of his blurred vision, he wasn't able to connect with Eevee. Eevee, on the other hand, did connect with his Tackle attack, sending Pikachu tumbling back toward Felix.
Pikachu staggered up as a bruise slowly formed on his chest and blood trickled into his sandy eyes. A smirk slightly raised one of his red cheeks.
"Pika," grunted Pikachu as the thrill of a challenge got him all charged up.
"I won't let you down, Pikachu," said Felix, amazed at Pikachu's resolve. There must be some level of respect he has for me, he thought, the sincerity of my speech must have really gotten through.
"Eevee, hit him with another Sand Attack," said Zane coolly.
"Pikachu, Thundershock!" cried Felix with all of his might.
Pikachu was able to again get his Thundershock off before being hit with another Sand Attack. Eevee again took minimal damage, while Pikachu struggled to remove the sand from his eyes. Pikachu could see nothing but blurry colors.
"Tackle him again, Eevee," said Zane, his voice getting softer and more casual with every command.
"Pikachu, Thundershock!"
Pikachu's Thundershock strayed and nearly hit Daisy who was standing at a distance off to the side. Pikachu stumbled, trying to redirect the flow of electricity, but was tackled to the ground by Eevee.
Eevee stood over Pikachu, looking triumphant. Pikachu crawled toward Felix, inching away slowly. He couldn't take another hit.
"It's ok, Pikachu. You don't have to finish the fight. You have nothing to prove to this cheater," coaxed Felix as Pikachu tried to stand back up and locate Eevee.
"You can't run away from a trainer battle," said Zane, taunting.
"You know you won, so we don't have to finish," pleaded Felix. "Spare Pikachu the pain!"
"No can do, battles go until one trainer's Pokemon are all fainted," said Zane, shaking his head.
"Come on, Zane, rules went out the window the minute you sent out Eevee," said Felix.
"Eevee, finish him with Tackle," said Zane even more coolly.
Felix looked on in horror as Eevee charged toward Pikachu. To his astonishment, a Pokemon leaped in between Eevee and Pikachu and absorbed the blow. Felix lowered his arms to see a female Nidoran growling at Eevee.
"That's enough, Zane!" called Daisy sternly. "If you wanted a two against two battle, all you had to do was ask!"
"Oh come on, sis! This doesn't concern you!" complained Zane.
"What concerns me is your lack of compassion and integrity!" said Daisy. She stood tall and firm, condescending to her little brother.
"Get your Nidoran out of the way!" yelled Zane.
"Surrender!" shouted Daisy.
"Eevee, Sand-Attack!"
"Nidoran, Double-kick!"
Before Eevee could sweep sand up into Nidoran's eyes, Nidoran lunged her back legs toward Eevee and kicked him in the cheek. The force of the impact caused Eevee's head to fall to the side, then Nidoran kicked him in the head again in the opposite direction. Eevee fainted on the second impact.
Zane scowled as he returned Eevee back to his Pokeball. "No fair, sis! This was between me and Felix!"
"I'll tell you what's not fair! Not assuming the commonly accepted terms were in place when no terms were agreed upon! And then not showing mercy when it was completely warranted!" growled Daisy.
"It was completely warranted, sis," said Zane. "I've seen what happens beyond Viridian City. Kanto is a lot less civilized than podunk Pallet Town. The world out there is ruthless with no integrity. If Felix has any desire to make it in the Pokemon League, he'll need to watch his back."
Daisy relaxed her posture and sighed. "I'm afraid you're probably right."
"Look, Felix, here's 280 Pokedollars. Us Pallet Town folk gotta stick together. I heard the Pokemon League has a lot of tough trainers. I have to figure out a way to get past them. You should quit dawdling and get a move on!"
With that, Zane tossed the money in the direction of a kneeling Felix and stormed off with his nose in the air.
Felix didn't look at the money and remained kneeling, holding a very beat up Pikachu.
"What am I thinking, taking on Team Rocket?" he whispered. "I'm just going to get myself and Pikachu killed."
Daisy knelt down and put her arm around Felix. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pressured you into Pokemon training. I'm sorry about my brother and what happened to Pikachu. I'm sorry about Magnemite. I'm sorry about everything."
"It's not your fault," Felix said tearfully. "I was the fool. We should head to that Pokemon hospital-looking place I saw back in Viridian."
The two friends solemnly journeyed to what Felix discovered to be called a Pokemon Center, where they treat your Pokemon for free. What Felix thought might take a long time to treat, the Pokemon Center was able to heal in little more than an hour. Once Pikachu seemed like his normal self, the friends headed south back to Pallet Town.
Not far into their trek across Route 1, Felix suddenly stumbled and caught himself with his hands on his knees.
"Are you okay?" asked Daisy nervously.
"I- I can't explain it…" said Felix. A look of paralyzed panic overtook his face.
"What? What is it?" pressed Daisy. Her face fell with every passing moment.
"I- I saw something terrible. We need to hurry back to Pallet Town. I- I think something terrible has happened," said Felix, holding back tears. He took off running toward home.