Chapter 3
Kent was, to say the least, distracted. He walked as if in a haze after what had happened – not only did he nearly lose Ryko, his carelessness nearly got him stabbed. In this state, he was hardly concerned with his surroundings. Ryko could obviously tell; several times, the Growlithe was forced to tug at his owner's pant leg in order to keep the trainer from stepping into the street. Kent was somewhat touched at his partner's behavior; it seemed that Ryko wasn't dwelling on what happened at all… Instead, he was simply looking out for his trainer. The thought comforted Kent, who smiled and crouched in order to scratch the pokemon behind his ears. "Thanks… I'll be alright, though. I promise." He said, before standing again to re-assess his surroundings.
Kent's mind was starting to come back into focus. True, he had had a terrifying experience, but as Ryko indicated, that was over. Now, he had to get his head screwed on straight and quit brooding about the what-ifs. Now that he thought about it… perhaps Ryko ought to have a rest. After all, what had just happened was likely traumatizing for him; not to mention, it wouldn't do for him to attract any more attention at the moment… "Say, Ryko…" Kent said, looking down at his partner. "I… think it best for you to head back into your pokeball for the moment. I know, I know, I'm sorry, buddy, but don't worry. I'll be fine." He said, pre-empting the Growlithe's whimpers. "See you in a little while, then.." Kent said, releasing a red stream of light from the pokeball which he had retrieved from his belt. The light enveloped Ryko, and a moment later, he was gone.
Kent heaved a heavy sigh as he put the shrunken pokeball back where it belonged. Ryko had the right idea – moping all day wouldn't accomplish anything… He had to get some work done. This in mind, Kent took another pokeball from his belt. The ball opened in his hand, unleashing a bright flash of light, which quickly took form on the ground in front of him – a small, brown, fox-like creature stood, taking a moment to get acclimated to the sudden change in environment. "Well hello, there, Orpheus.." Kent said, smiling down at the Eevee. "We're going to spend the day together. How does that sound?" he added; the creature's ears drooped somewhat – Orpheus hadn't been in Kent's possession long, after all. "Now, now, it'll be fine. C'mon, follow me." He said, waving for the pokemon to follow. Reluctant as Orpheus was, he was a good listener.
Kent made his way back down the hill that led to the Pokemon Center, which he passed, still heading south. At this stage in Orpheus' development, it was important for the two of them to bond, which is why Kent had decided to head for a park which he had taken notice of – perfect for him to unwind after the day's events, while simultaneously furthering his objectives. The walk to the park was smooth, and soon, the two were surrounded by a myriad of trainers and pokemon, all enjoying the nice weather and peaceful environment. Kent quickly found a bench, on which he sat before patting the spot beside him. "Up here, c'mon." he commanded – Orpheus obeyed, though the Eevee kept his distance. Kent only smiled – he did, after all, have something up his sleeve.
From his back, Kent produced a small object bearing a number of colored rectangular items inside. Pokeblocks were a specialty of the Hoenn area – made from any number of berries in order to create a specific flavor. Kent had observed Orpheus' behavior for some time, and had finally determined the sort of pokeblock the Eevee would likely enjoy; these things often went hand in hand with pokemon, after all. Taking one of the pokeblocks from the case, Kent held it out in front of him. He had several, though for now, it was better to remain safe and only offer one. "Orpheus, I've got a present for you." He said, gaining the Eevee's attention. As usual, Orpheus seemed hesitant. Carefully, Orpheus sat up and drew closer to the pokeblock, sniffing it. Apparently, it passed the test, as it was immediately snatched from Kent's hand. Kent couldn't help but grin at the reaction – Orpheus' ears perked straight up, then drooped as the treat was savored. Immediately, Orpheus looked up for more.
It was Orpheus' cautious demeanor that had led Kent to mix bitter pokeblocks for him. Based on the look that the Eevee was giving him at the moment, Kent's insight was correct. "Alright, alright. I've got some more, but I can only give one extra for now. Can't go wasting them, can we?" he asked, offering another of the morsels to the pokemon. This one was taken almost instantly; Orpheus let out an appreciative mewl, then stood, resting his front paws on Kent's leg. For his part, Kent lightly scratched his Eevee; they hadn't shared such a close moment since Orpheus had hatched, which made the time spent here quite special to him. "Glad you liked it." Kent said, smiling. "Now then, why don't we-" he continued, though he was cut off by a curious sensation. There was an odd trembling about… the very ground began to shake. The tremor was gentle, at first, but within moments, it grew to be very noticeable. Another second later, and the shaking was nearly unbearable – Kent had almost fallen straight off the bench; he was already clutching onto Orpheus in order to keep him safe.
The earthquake subsided, leaving Kent stunned and curious as to what had just happened. The answer didn't take long to reveal itself, however – almost as soon as the ground ceased its shaking, a loud roar could be heard, just a couple blocks away. Something was clearly wrong.. Kent jumped to his feet, letting Orpheus down as well. "Follow me. We've got to check this out." Orpheus seemed unsure, though he did as he was told. Kent sprinted out of the park, and across the street. As he came to the next corner, the source of the earthquake revealed itself: it was an Onix – a gargantuan snake formed entirely of boulders, and it looked incredibly agitated. There was, however, another quality to this Onix that set it apart; most pokemon of this species were gray, but this one.. It was a peculiar shade of golden-brown, which practically shone in the sunlight. Half the creature's body was around the corner, and so Kent could not see what was happening, but what he heard gave the situation away – a massive thud, and a breaking of windows; this Onix was on a rampage.
There was no time to lose. Kent was a trainer, and none too shabby if he had anything to say about it. He had to do something about this. "Orpheus, return!" he called, retrieving the Eevee before it got injured in this conflict. Kent carried four pokemon with him, but none of them were particularly optimal for fighting a rock type like Onix… Still, there was one pokemon in his party that could hold its own. "Mistral, you're up!" Kent shouted, tossing a Great Ball in front of him. The ball returned, unleashing a great deal of light as it did. In a flash, the light cleared, revealing a tall, silver bird-like pokemon. The Skarmory opened her eyes, glaring at the foe. "Mistral, take flight!" he shouted, pointing at the Onix. The Skarmory took off in a flash of silver, and began circling its prey. As a flying type, it would be weak to the Onix's rock type attacks, but thankfully, Skarmory's steel typing would dull this to neutrality. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best Kent had at the moment; as an added bonus, while physical attacks wouldn't be particularly effective against the foe, rock types were vulnerable to steel type attacks, adding to Mistral's effectiveness.
"Mistral, Agility! And follow it up with Steel Wing!" Kent shouted, cupping his hands in front of his mouth. Mistral clearly heard, as she went into a sharp dive, building immense speed. The Onix was apparently too busy dealing with a number of other pokemon released by the trainers nearby to notice; its tail swept by, crashing into a number of pokemon, as well as the corner of the building nearby. Many of the windows shattered; rubble went flying. The Onix let out another roar, and at that very moment, Mistral's attack struck – her wings shone in the light, colliding with the Onix's face at a high speed. Mistral recovered in the air, but seemed somewhat shaken – the Onix had barely been affected by the Steel Wing attack, even with its velocity bolstered by Agility. "Not good.. Mistral, fall back and regroup!" Kent shouted, at a loss for what to do next. The Onix didn't even budge - It certainly didn't leave a whole lot of room for tactics…
"Vaporeon! Ice Beam!" came a shout from behind. The hair on the back of Kent's neck stood on end as the frigid energy shot by – at this attack, the Onix reared back and let out another roar; the creature began withdrawing, heading further east down the road… Kent only stared – the power behind that attack was amazing; what's more, the voice sounded very familiar… Turning his head, Kent once again saw a face which he had come across twice in this very day – her bright green eyes were narrowed into a confident glare, and the Vaporeon she commanded seemed ready for anything. "What's the matter? You just going to stand there? We've got to take this thing down! Another Earthquake could be disastrous!" she snapped. Harsh, but she was right.. He had a job to do.
"We'll lure it to the bay! Your Vaporeon will have the advantage there – follow my lead!" Kent called, before looking back up at Mistral. "Cut off its escape routes, Mistral! Use Spikes! Block every path but the one leading east!" Kent shouted. Mistral let out a loud, threatening caw – her wings glowed, and with several flaps, dozens of black caltrops dropped both in front of and to the side of the Onix. Another attack order came from Leanne; this time, the Ice Beam shot directly in front of the Onix, which slid back in order to avoid the attack. "Keep it up, Mistral! Hit it with Steel Wing, one more time! Drive it back!" Mistral let out another cry and went into its dive – its wings shone again in the light, and Mistral picked up speed. Once more, Mistral's wing collided with the Onix, this time a few segments below its head. It appeared that this was a cleaner hit, as Mistral recovered beautifully.
The Onix, meanwhile, seemed enraged. It could no longer move forward, and appeared to be looking for an escape route in order to re-group. With the success of the attacks from Mistral and Leanne's Vaporeon, the trainers and citizens who had fled the area before appeared to be nearing once more, their courage restored. The waves from the cove could be heard as Kent and Leanne led the charge, giving chase to the Onix while evading the spikes. The time to strike was near. The Onix was blinded with rage and fear. Clearly, it realized it was cornered – it turned, and let out another deafening roar, lowering its posture. With a flick of its tail, a number of boulders were sent flying toward the two trainers, as well as Leanne's Vaporeon. "INCOMING!" Kent shouted, taking Leanne by the wrist in order to take her out of harm's way. Her Vaporeon jumped back, while Kent managed to take the two of them out of harm's way – the rocks hit the ground with a series of loud crashes, sending debris this way and that.
Leanne took her wrist from Kent's hand and gave the final command – "Vaporeon, surf!" she shouted, pointing at the target. Leanne's Vaporeon cried into the air, and soon, a large wave began forming behind the Onix, crashing into the pokemon before receding back to the bay. Finally, it seemed as if the Onix had had enough – it crashed to the ground, its eyes clamped shut. The officers that kept the group of bystanders back sprung into action at that point, cordoning off the area – one policeman thanked Kent and Leanne for their support, before leading them to a side street away from the rest of the bystanders. Mistral began following overhead, before she was recalled into Kent's Great Ball once more; in the background, he could hear a good deal of chatter at the attack.
Heaving a heavy sigh, Kent's posture relaxed somewhat – the fight was over. Finally, he turned to face Leanne, who seemed to be checking her Vaporeon for injuries. "Looks like you've helped me out again… Thank you, Leanne. You're quite the trainer, I see…" he said, sounding appreciative, though thoroughly exhausted.
"What anyone would've done." She said simply, shrugging her shoulders. Satisfied that her Vaporeon was uninjured, she stood and looked over at Kent. "You did well, once you sank into your role. Your Skarmory… Mistral, was it? It needed training, to be sure, but it was quite talented…" she said, looking down at the ball in Kent's hand.
"Eheh.. Thanks. I actually caught her fairly recently – she seems to have gotten used to taking my commands, though; like you said, I'm still raising her, but she shows promise." Kent replied, rubbing the back of his neck. Looking at her now, he took in more than her distinctive gaze – truthfully, she was rather easy on the eyes. "Anyway, that's two I owe you. Any way I can make it up to you?" he asked, ignoring his observation for the time being.
"Well… Now that you ask…" she began, smiling. Her grin had a somewhat coy look to it; clearly, she had something on her mind. "Could you follow me for a little while? I'm heading to the Pokemon Center." She said, pointing off toward the west with her thumb. Kent met her question with a curious gaze, though still, he nodded.
"Sure… I don't see why not. Let's go; Mistral could use it, anyway, I suppose…" he said, shrugging. With that, Leanne walked down the side street, stopping to wait for Kent as she reached the corner. The day had been long, and utterly draining; as it seemed, there was still more yet to come…