Paul was baffled.
How could this be possible?
He wondered this as he watched the new arrival headbutt Chimchar through the air. That by itself wasn't something unexpected, considering how much of a failure the starter pokemon was.
What had him distraught was that Elekid was lying in a pitiful heap right next to him.
A fluke. It has to be.
As he tried to convince himself of that he couldn't help but feel despair in his heart as he watched the unknown pocket monster come closer to him.
"Starravia, Aron, s-stand by for battle!"
After seeing the thing absolutely flatten his strongest partner into the ground, he knew in his heart that the two of them stood no chance. So instead of dallying any further, he quickly recalled Elekid and Turtwig and started a slow retreat out of the cave.
But it was all for naught as a vicious stone edge flew through the air into Starravia's right wing and body with a sickening crack. The bird pokemon, young as it was, instantly lost consciousness from the pain.
Paul cursed under his breath. He knew then and there that he was done for. It was like the world slowed down as he witnessed the monster running with blinding speed straight at him. He could see the trajectory of its body, almost taste the glee of the creature as it headed for a collision course straight for Paul.
Elekid and Starravia were out. Chimchar could barely get it's knees under it. Aron was too slow.
This is it.
The realization hit him all of a sudden that this would be all he would ever amount to. Another young trainer, arrogant and self assured, who attempted to traverse the underground of Sinnoh and met his end too soon. He would never live to see his team at their peak. He would never become Champion. And he would never again speak with Reggie.
No!
He remembered his older brother, the one positive influence in his miserable life. The one person whom he could count on, ever lean on. He imagined him all alone in an empty house, the last of his family disappearing into the caves of Sinnoh, never to be seen again.
Paul felt a weight lift from his shoulders, the desperation to live turning into determination. He felt energized, his body trying to move out of the way of the predator coming his way and at the last minute he dodged to the right with superhuman speed.
The pokemon flew through where he stood merely milliseconds ago, large, gaping jaws chomping at empty air.
I'm alive.
That was the only thought going through Paul's head. All the adrenaline that was surging through his body suddenly gave way to a harsh feeling of exhaustion. He felt as though he had run a marathon in the heat of summer with no prior training. So exhausted was he that he didn't notice until it was too late that the creature was turning around for another run.
You gotta be kidding me. What the hell is this thing made of? How can it still be standing after taking Elekid, Turtwig, and Starravia's full power?
Paul had no idea what to do. His best pokemon were down, Aron was sinking into the ground on the other side of the cave, and he felt as though he couldn't move a muscle. All he could do was either beg this monster for mercy or be poke-food for the caterpie. But he wasn't a quitter.
Not ever before and not even now.
And it looked as though someone else agreed.
The monster jerked its sight to a shining white light behind Paul that had engulfed the cave. For a few seconds, all were quiet as they witnessed a pokemon advance to the next stage in its life.
As the light died down there was a visible shift in the air, as the monster seemed to have forgotten about Paul and had all of its focus on the Monferno that blazed through the air with a Mach Punch.
There was a resounding thud as the monkey's fist met the jaw of the land shark. The monster flew through the air but it seemed as though Monferno wasn't done. It came to a halt and started spewing fire in a clockwise rotation, enveloping its body in a bright Flame Wheel that went through the air faster than Paul had ever seen Chimchar move.
The Flame Wheel impacted the creature in midair, resulting in a sizzling noise, followed a second later with a pitiful screech of pain.
Monferno came to a stumbling stop in front of Paul, while the creature impacted the rocky wall of the cave with a loud thunk of unconsciousness. After confirming that it was well and truly unconsciousness, the monkey Pokémon went to check on Paul, pulling him up against the wall into a sitting position
"Chimchar - no, Monferno, you evolved to… save me?" Paul asked, disbelieving that a pokemon he thought had no potential, had no ability, was the one to save his life.
A happy growl rumbled from the battered pokemon's mouth, a mouth that was smiling for the first time in a long while. The idea that it was useful to the boy it had dedicated its entire being towards for the longest time had filled it's heart with joy, even despite the numerous injuries across it's bruised body.
As Paul looked at his second pokemon's goofily smiling face, he couldn't help but let out a gurgled laugh.
A muffled grunt some feet away from the two instantly evaporated the good mood.
Paul could feel the darkness approaching closer, lulling him to sleep but he had to make sure he finished one final task.
Gotta… get that thing… in a pokeball… before it hurts anyone… again…
His fingers clumsily reached for the singular ultra ball in his satchel, and he grabbed and threw it towards the pokemon that had caused the worst day of his life. As his thoughts started unraveling, he heard a distant *ding* confirming the capture and he knew then that he could finally rest.
He went to sleep.
And woke up to a fat blob peering at his face.
P.S: Just so ya'll know I have not preplanned anything so I'm writing this spontaneously. Originally this was supposed to be CJ-CHOMPER annoying Paul, defeating his team idiot-savant style and then deciding to follow Paul around, hence getting captured. But instead it became this. Idk if i'll write more of this story but who knows, and Ik this is short (only 1000 words) but I felt that trying to write any more than this would just hurt the quality and get my creativity wayyy down. Thanks for reading!