A/N: Chapter two! One more chapter in this particular story to go. I'm enjoying the heck out of these short stories, even if no one reviews. They're so much fun to write.
Soothe the Savage
Part II
Haruhi wondered how she got herself into messes like these.
She was currently being cheered on by a very exuberant Kaoru and Hikaru and their Plusle and Minun as she faced off with Daisy City's gym leader, Hinako Tsuwabuki. The short haired woman was rather energetic, practically bouncing in her shoes as she stared Haruhi down.
"The rules are simple! Because you are a new trainer, I will use only one Pokemon! You, however, may use up to three! If you cannot defeat me, then you will be free to challenge me again two weeks from now. Is this acceptable to you, young maiden?"
Haruhi's face dropped into an annoyed expression. She really wished that crazy girl would stop calling her a 'maiden.' It was starting to get on her nerves. And…and were those flower petals floating around her? What the heck? This place was just plain weird.
"Yeah, that's fine," Haruhi called, waiting patiently for the leader to release her Pokemon.
With a flourish and a cry of; "Show them the beauty of the Daisy!" a Sunflora appeared in the ring, weaving from side to side as a shower of petals rained down on it.
Haruhi narrowed her eyes; Sunflora was a grass-type, which meant it would be weak against electric-types. But she hadn't had any practice at all battling with Shocker. It was a gamble using him first, but it would be easier than trying Hana, who wouldn't even listen to her, or Flutter, who wouldn't inflict much damage.
Decision made, Haruhi pulled Shocker's Pokeball from her belt, tossing it into the air and watching as the white light coalesced into the form of the Elekid, who gave a dramatic cry as electricity danced along the plugs atop his head.
"Ohohoho!" Hinako cried, looking vaguely impressed. "A good choice, young maiden! But will it be enough to stand up to my beautiful Daisy?" She raised one arm dramatically, and then let it fall, finger pointed ahead at her Sunflora. "Daisy, use razor leaf!"
The Sunflora obeyed with a loud cry, sending a flurry of sharp leaves directly at Shocker. Haruhi blanched, her mind freezing for a brief moment as she watched the attack come straight at her Pokemon.
"Haruhi!" Hikaru cried from the stands. "What are you doing? Don't just stand there!" His Minun squeaked in agreement, waving it's little tail frantically as it jumped up and down.
Haruhi snapped out of her trance, blinking in shock before her gaze landed on her waiting Elekid. "Shocker," she cried. "Dodge and use thunder shock!"
Shocker obeyed, but he wasn't fast enough; Haruhi's hesitation had cost him, and the leaves grazed along his arms even as he leapt to the side, eliciting a pained cry from the yellow monster. Shocker managed to regain his footing, skidding to a stop as yellow light crackled along his antennae-like plugs. A bright wave of thunder jolted towards the Sunflora, but the more experienced Pokemon dodged it easily, dancing and weaving out of the way expertly.
Haruhi gritted her teeth, growling out a low breath. She knew it was stupid to challenge the gym leader with so little experience! "Shocker, use swift!" she commanded, and the Elekid obeyed, shooting a stream of stars towards the still swaying Sunflora. This time, they managed to make contact, though they didn't do as much damage as Haruhi had hoped.
"A good counterattack, young maiden, but not good enough!"
Haruhi wished the stupid woman would shut up.
"Daisy, now use sunny day and bullet seed!"
The Sunflora obeyed, spreading it's petals and doing a weird little jig. The sunlight in the open-roofed gym grew brighter, and Haruhi had to shield her eyes as she gazed out at the battlefield. Before she could react, a flurry of seeds slammed into Shocker, sending the Elekid sprawling backwards in a cloud of dust.
Haruhi gasped. She hadn't even had time to tell her Pokemon to dodge! "Shocker!"
The little yellow Pokemon tried valiantly to raise himself back on his feet, but the effort and the attacks proved to be too much, and he tumbled back into the dirt with a groan.
"Elekid is unable to battle," the referee called, holding up a flag in Hinako's direction. "Sunflora is the winner." Haruhi heard the sounds of Hikaru and Kaoru's displeasure from the stands, booing and hissing and making general nuisances of themselves.
Hinako drew a hand back in front of her face, laughing merrily. "Ohohoho! A good first effort, young maiden! Now let's see your next Pokemon!"
Haruhi gritted her teeth. Flutter wasn't going to stand a chance against a grass type, but she didn't have a choice. Closing her hand around Flutter's capsule, she called the Pidgey out onto the field. Flutter appeared with a flourish of wings, already sizing up his opponent with a critical eye.
"Flutter, use gust!"
Flutter's wings flapped furiously, sending sharpened blades of air towards Daisy. The Sunflora didn't try to dodge, but took the attack head on. It sent it reeling backwards, but only slightly, and it seemed relatively unaffected by the gust.
"Use sand attack!"
"Daisy, use bullet seed!"
The sand kicked up by Flutter's wings managed to blind the Sunflora, throwing it's aim off only marginally. The bullet seeds slammed into one of Flutter's wings, effectively grounding the Pidgey, who looked worse for the wear. Haruhi clenched one hand at her side, her mind working furiously to come up with some solution to the current situation.
If she could just lower the Sunflora's accuracy enough, maybe she could wear it down with enough gust attacks to actually win this thing. But Flutter was flying with only one wing now, which would make it doubly hard to win. "Flutter, use sand attack again!"
The Pidgey tried valiantly to drum up enough sand for a decent attack, and managed to spray the Sunflora with dirt and grit, but it didn't do much as the flower-like Pokemon danced to the side.
"Daisy, use pound!"
The Sunflora darted forward, slamming one of it's harmless looking leaves into Flutter's back. The Pidgey collapsed with a squawk of pain, struggling to rise briefly, before it sunk into a heap in the dirt.
"Pidgey is unable to battle!" the ref cried, holding a flag up in Hinako's direction. "Sunflora is the winner!"
"This is bad, Hikaru," Kaoru mumbled, biting his nail in anticipation of Haruhi's next move. "She only has one Pokemon left, and it's a grass-type, just like Sunflora. Do you think she can pull it off?"
"I don't know, Kaoru. That Chikorita of hers didn't look like it was the obedient type. But she might be able to…"
Haruhi, meanwhile, was groaning in frustration. All she had left was Hana, and there was no way her Chikorita was going to win this match, let alone listen to her. But she had no other option. Sighing in defeat, she grabbed Hana's Pokeball and chucked it in the air.
"I'm counting on you," she murmured, closing her eyes briefly.
Hikaru and Kaoru watched thoughtfully from the stands as Haruhi's Chikorita appeared on the scene. It looked disinterested, yawning and circling as though it was about to lay down and sparing Haruhi even less than a glance. "Oh no," Kaoru muttered, and Yuri squeaked on his shoulder, looking despairing.
"Hey, Haruhi!" Hikaru yelled. "Looks like you're getting your butt kicked! Why don't you shape up? That gym leader's just playing with you, you know!"
"Hikaru!" Kaoru gasped, and Yuri and Juri both squawked in surprise and outrage. Hikaru merely smirked, catching Haruhi's furious gaze as she turned burning chocolate orbs his way.
"You hear me, Haruhi! She's just making fun of you! Can't you do better than that? It's disappointing!"
Haruhi's brows drew down in a scowl, before her face suddenly lightened in understanding. Hikaru's smirk morphed into a cat-like grin as the girl in the arena below seemed to decipher exactly what he was doing. Kaoru still wasn't so sure, and nudged his brother in confusion. "Hikaru, what-?"
"Shhh!" Hikaru shushed. "Just watch!"
Haruhi had turned her attention to her apathetic Chikorita, while her Sunflora opponent began swaying back and forth as it ambled towards Hana. "Hey, Hana!"
The grass-type glanced up, opening one eye lazily to glare at her trainer.
"Yeah, you. Are you really that scared of a silly flower that you're gonna sit there and let it beat you up? Pathetic! I thought you were better than that!"
Hana growled, her eyes flashing angrily as she surged to her feet.
"That Sunflora already beat Shocker and Flutter. I bet it'll beat you too! No problem!"
Hinako looked vaguely confused, glancing from Pokemon to trainer with a wide-eyed look. Is she…insulting her Pokemon? she wondered, never having seen such a tactic before. She didn't think it was against the rules, but it kind of seemed a bit…mean.
"Yeah, that's what I thought!" Haruhi continued. "I bet you couldn't even put a scratch on that Sunflora! Especially not with your razor leaf attack!"
Gnashing her teeth, Hana turned to face the Sunflora, her master's taunting words ringing in her ears as she twirled her head in a wide arc, sending a barrage of razor sharp leaves towards her opponent. The Sunflora, not having expected the attack, was knocked backwards, stumbling and falling to one knee in the dirt.
"I bet that didn't even make it flinch! Your poison powder will probably make it think twice about picking a fight with you!"
Hana didn't seem to realize she was being manipulated as she sent a cloud of poisonous powder floating towards the Sunflora. The flower Pokemon tried to dodge, but it was still recovering from the unexpected attack from before, and didn't quite manage to get away in time. The powder hit it, and it coughed and sputtered, looking rather ill as the poison ate away at it's health.
"Ha! You've got it on the ropes now! But just to be sure it won't mess with you again, you'd better use magical leaf!"
Hana reared back, her head rounding in another wide arc as a flurry of glowing leaves materialized around her and shot towards the Sunflora. It made a weak attempt to move, but the effects of the poison powder were too much, and the magical leaf was the last straw. With a sharp cry, the flower Pokemon fell to the floor of the arena, and did not get back up.
"Sunflora is unable to battle!" the ref announced. "Chikorita is the winner!"
Dear mother in heaven…
I might be a jerk, but I won.
A/N: End of chapter two. Hope you enjoyed it!