Editor's Note: Winter break ended, and many things happened over those 15 days. A few of them involving me becoming a brony, getting involved in an RP, and cancelling a Let's Play project that I poured a lot of time into. I will admit that I often get a heavy onset of depression at this time of year. One of the things that didn't happen was, of course, the fanfic. I had promised myself that I would edit the fanfic over the break, but other plans got in the way. I'm also very unsure about how the fight turned out, so tell me if it needs adjustment. I apologize beforehand for all of the "the _."
Besides that, here's the next part. Don't forget to R&R, I'm always listening.
By the way, do I need to capitalize the names of moves? I'm not sure myself.
Part 2: The Group
The shrubbery began to glow a dim orange-red as Katherine and Cloe approached the tree line. Katherine stopped in her tracks as she saw just barely over the brush. What she saw surprised her. Cloe barely got a glimpse as she poked her head through the shrubs.
It was the Charmander from the battle Cloe had seen earlier. However, instead of the Geodude opponent, it was three Pokemon of various types. Cloe was stunned as the Charmander staggered back to his feet, only to be beaten down again.
One of the three Pokemon was a Poliwag, which is a blue tadpole-like Pokemon with a swirl on its stomach. It fired bubbles at the Charmander, which made a hissing noise as they hit the fire-type's body. The second was a Pikachu, an agile electric-type Pokemon. The little mouse used Quick Attack to knock down the Charmander as it tried to get up.
The final of the three was a Poochyena. A gray Pokemon that resembled a wolf pup; it had a black snout and pointy ears. Its snout had a dark-pink nose at the end, and its eyes were yellow and red. The Poochyena did nothing, apparently watching over the fight. Cloe guessed that if the other two were somehow beaten by the Charmander, then the Poochyena would probably finish the job.
The Charmander got up slowly after again getting beat down. This time, he spared a quick glance at the Eevee. The expression on his face was that of helplessness. Cloe looked behind herself to look for Katherine. To her surprise, she was nowhere to be seen. There was only one thing Cloe could do, and that was to join the fight.
Knowing the risk of injury was high, Cloe jumped out of the shrubs and stood beside the Charmander, ready to fight with whatever she had. Putting herself into an offensive stance, she tried to invoke the instinct inside her. This instinct would give her the power to fight.
Cloe hadn't fought before. She even knew that her stance was incorrect; it felt uncomfortable to her. Still, she couldn't just stand around and do nothing. The Charmander then started poking the side of its neck in various spots, as if it was trying to press something.
Something caught Cloe's attention; a collar-like device surrounded the Charmander's neck. A clear band blended in with the Charmander's skin, and the only visible part of the device was a very small and thin pad. This pad had 5 buttons in the shape of a pentagon, and in the middle of these buttons was a light. The light was red and flashing.
The Poliwag was the first to begin attacking. It fired a Water Gun at the Charmander, who barely dodged the attack. Cloe began to run in a slightly stumbling manner towards the Poliwag and smacked it lightly with her paw. This had barely any effect on the water-type, and the Poliwag returned fire with water. Cloe got drenched and retreated back a few steps.
A rustle came from the shrubbery to the left of Cloe, and again from the shrubbery on the right. Almost instantly, a Vulpix and a Vaporeon appeared through the shrubs. Before they landed, the Vaporeon and the Vulpix seemed to have already sized up their opponents. Landing on the ground in front of Cloe and the Charmander, the two Pokemon readied their offensive stances and prepared to fight.
Both the Pikachu and the Poliwag began to run directly at their stronger opponents. The Vulpix intercepted the Pikachu, who apparently tried targeting the Vaporeon, and used Quick Attack to cancel the Pikachu's similar attack. The force knocked back and dazed the Vulpix, while the Pikachu began tumbling backwards, righting itself after a moment. The Poliwag began blowing bubbles again, which in a state of inconvenience for the tadpole-like Pokemon floated off in another direction thanks to a slight breeze.
Cloe witnessed the pair as they worked together to attack their opponents. Her eyes were focused on the Vulpix's movements during most of the fight. She watched as the Vulpix tackled the Pikachu and pinned it to the ground, frying the mouse to a crisp with Ember. Almost instantly after, the Pikachu was returned to its Pokeball.
The Vulpix watched as the roasted Pokemon returned to its trainer. It forgot for a moment that there were two more Pokemon on the field, still raring to fight. The Poliwag took this advantage to spray a Water Gun at the unsuspecting fire-type. A small, but powerful jet of water hit the Vulpix. The Vulpix let out a cry of pain as the cold water connected, making a loud hissing sound. The spray was interrupted as the Vaporeon tackled the Poliwag away, letting the Vulpix attempt to shake off the water.
Cloe watched as it all unfolded, feeling anger as she spectated. Seeing the Vulpix in such a condition made something in the little Eevee snap. With no knowledge of any harmful attack, Cloe bounded headfirst at the Poliwag, shouting "Leave her alone!" and hit it with such a force that it started rolling backwards. She knew the moment that her attack connected with the Water-type; her instincts finally kicked in.
Cloe noticed the Vaporeon's stance. Feeling the connection between her and the Water-type, she mimicked the stance, finding it more comfortable than her stance before. The Vaporeon glanced at Cloe, giving a small grin. Cloe then heard the Vaporeon speak. Cloe couldn't understand a word of what the water-type was saying, and was taken by surprise when the Vulpix responded back, and went to check on the Charmander.
She looked back as the Vulpix walked over to the Charmander, still drenched in water, and watched as the Charmander responded to anything the little fox Pokemon was saying. The Charmander gave a look of concern, and motioned the Vulpix to sit down. The Charmander began breathing weak flames on the Vulpix's body, trying to dry its fur.
A sudden loud growl came from in front of Cloe. The Poliwag, still in fighting condition, was returned to its Pokeball. She snapped back into her stance, ready to fight again. The Poochyena she saw before the fight rushed out of the bushes, brandishing its sharp fang-like teeth at Cloe. Cloe clearly knew this Pokemon meant business, and that she could get seriously hurt if she didn't try her hardest to fight back.
The Poochyena ran at an incredible speed directly at Cloe. She knew she had a split second to think about what the best option was. What should I do? I could try to counter, but I would get hurt… What if I tried to dodge? I barely have any time left, but it's my only option.
Cloe barely finished her thought when the Poochyena jumped, its jaws wide open. Cloe dodged to her right and snapped around, only to see that the Poochyena was already trying to bite her again. She couldn't dodge away quickly enough, and the Poochyena snapped its sharp teeth on Cloe's hind leg. She yelped in pain as he tightened his grip, and kept tightening it with the intention to snap Cloe's leg in two.
The Vulpix had other plans, as she used Quick Attack right into the Poochyena's rib cage. The dog yelped and released its grip, centering its attention on the Vulpix. Cloe quickly ran in front of the Vulpix, her mind filled with anger. She wasn't going to back out of this fight just yet. I'm not stopping until this thing bleeds! She thought as she focused on the Poochyena. The Poochyena, unaware that it provoked uncontrollable anger in the little Pokemon, ran directly at Cloe, ready to bite her again.
When she dodged a third time, she noticed that the Poochyena was jumping higher each time it tried. She figured out its weakness. She stood still as the Poochyena dashed forward again, and jumped much higher than she stood. At the apex of the dog-like Pokemon's jump, she ran underneath the Poochyena and tackled it. It howled, doing a couple of flips in midair before landing face first into the ground. To add insult to injury, the Vaporeon sprayed it with water the moment it hit the ground. I would prefer fire, but I guess this works too. Cloe thought.
The Poochyena got up again, raring to fight, only to be pinned down by the Vaporeon and drenched with water. The Vaporeon wasn't stopping with its Water Gun, presumably until it drowned the little dog. The trainer in the shadows had another idea in mind, as he retrieved his Pokemon and scuttled away.
Cloe felt an overwhelming sense of pain coming from her hind leg. She looked back to see it bleeding quite badly. I guess I was so ticked off at that mutt that I didn't feel anything. She was tired from her first fight, and sat down. She looked at the three Pokemon she fought alongside. They all had looks of satisfaction on their faces.
What are they looking at? Cloe thought, even though she knew the answer already. She glanced at the Charmander, and noticed it was searching through a small bag. It had pulled out a collar, and proceeded to limp towards her. She reluctantly let the Charmander get close enough, when she figured out what it was holding in its hand. A collar? Why is he giving me a collar?
She glanced at the Vulpix and Vaporeon, and could barely see that they too were wearing the same collar. She allowed it to put it on for her. When it was finished, the Charmander pressed a button on the collar, and returned to its two colleagues. The collar began making a quiet whirring noise.
A slight beep could be heard from the collar when the sound stopped. Not a split-second later, she heard something she had never heard before. "Can you hear me?" An unfamiliar voice asked. Cloe started looking around to find the source of the voice. She centered her vision on the Charmander again, when it started talking to her. "So I take it that you can." The Charmander said, its voice like a young teenager's.
"What? How can I understand you?" Cloe said as she stood up in surprise. "Now, don't worry about a thing." She glanced at the Vaporeon, who also began to speak. "You looked like you haven't fought before, dear." The Vaporeon spoke in a voice that sounded like an older man. "However, considering how quickly you learned…" The voice paused, Cloe's eyes shifted towards the Vulpix. "You might be someone that could help us." The Vulpix finished in a feminine voice.
The group started introducing themselves in a friendly manner. "I'm Charmander. Pleased to meet you." He said. "Oh, and these two are Vale," Charmander said as he pointed at the Vulpix. "and Vapor." pointing at the Vaporeon.
"Who are you? We've seen you around the park at times, but we have never seen you fight anything." Vale said. Cloe became a little nervous. "Uh…I'm Cloe." She said in a shaky voice. "You are right, I have never fought before this."
"Well, well, well… This should get interesting…" Charmander said in a shady voice. "Would you quit it with that mysterious, shady voice?" Vale said as she hit Charmander in the back of the head with her paw. "We're trying to ask her something, not scare her."
"Alright, alright…" Charmander sighed. "You know what? How about you ask her, Vale? You're the friendliest of us here."
'Friendliest?' Cloe thought as she flashed back to Vale barbequing the Pikachu. Maybe he meant in a social kind of way.
"Fine, then." Vale said. "Cloe, would you mind coming back here tomorrow? We have something to show you." She finished.
"Um…OK?" Cloe said hesitantly. "Don't worry, it'll be fine." Vale chuckled lightly.
"You'll need something for that wound of yours." Vapor said as he pointed at Cloe's wound. "My trainer is a nurse. She can handle it." Cloe nodded and began to limp away.
"Oh, and by the way, Cloe…" Charmander said suddenly. Cloe looked back at Charmander, who was still looking at her in gratitude. "Thank you."
Cloe limped out of the shrubbery, just as Katherine appeared with an officer at her side. "Yeah, here's where I saw the fight. There was a Charmander getting bullied by a Pikachu and a Poliwag." She finished and quickly saw that there was nothing there anymore. "What? They were here a moment ago!" The officer began walking off. "I'll start looking for those Pokemon, ma'am. Don't worry about a thing."
Katherine then looked at Cloe. Her expression changed from concern to shock upon seeing Cloe's wounds. "Cloe, you didn't!" Cloe nodded to Katherine's surprise, she shook it off and picked up the Eevee. "I might as well show you where I work. I don't think a potion and bandages will help with that wound." Katherine said as she took Cloe to the nearby Pokemon Center.
Cloe had never been taken to the Pokemon Center (At least, not in the sense that she needed medical attention.) Cloe was perfectly healthy, and until now, never needed serious medical attention to treat something.
Katherine entered the building, wounded Cloe in hand, and walked up to the counter almost hurriedly. "Hey, Katherine, you do realize today is one of your days off, right?" The nurse behind the counter said. "Yes, I know Danae, but Cloe needs some help." Katherine said as she pointed at Cloe's hind leg. "Oh my! How did she get that?" Danae said in a shocked tone.
"I'm not sure, but I think she got it in a fight with some Pokemon that were bullying a Charmander. Can you help?" Katherine explained. "Sure, Katherine. It'll be a moment, since this looks like a pretty bad wound." Danae said as she took Cloe, and brought her to a small steel table.
Cloe's ears flattened as she saw many sharp objects aligned neatly in a metal tray, with a bag on top of a metal rod with a tube sticking out of the bottom near the tray. Danae noticed Cloe's concerns and comforted her. "Don't worry; we won't be using any of that on you. Not today, at least." She said jokingly.
The nurse placed Cloe on the cold, hard table. Grabbing a spray bottle of an odd pink fluid, Danae motioned for Cloe to stand up. "Don't worry; this will sting for just a moment…" She said softly.
A small mist flew out of the bottle and touched Cloe's wounds, which left a burning sensation for a few moments. When the sensations stopped, Cloe glanced down at her leg, only to find that the wounds were gone. Her ears perked up instantly, and she smiled at the nurse.
"Don't mention it." Danae giggled. "Now, let's take you back to Katherine."
Katherine took Cloe back to her small apartment. The apartment had a bedroom with a bathroom across the hall. The living room and kitchens were connected, separated only by a small eating bar for two or three people. The sun began to set, leaving a dark orange hue on the city. Cloe glanced at the park through the window, unaware of what will happen tomorrow.
"Good night, Cloe. See you in the morning." Katherine yawned. Katherine hadn't noticed the collar, since Cloe had hidden it in the tufts of fur that surrounded her neck. She was almost surprised that she could understand what humans were saying, and was afraid that she could also speak to humans. She didn't mutter a word when Katherine tried talking to her, she just smiled and nodded.
She often slept on the couch or in her Pokeball. Tonight, she slept on the couch near the heating vent under the right arm of the couch. I wonder what kinds of surprises await me tomorrow… Cloe thought as she curled up. There's only one way to find out…and staying up…won't help… Clue finished her thoughts as she fell asleep.
Over 3,000 words this time? Alright, I'm getting better at this! Sorry for such a long time of not updating. A lot of things happened, and I didn't have enough time to work on this chapter. Expect more to come, slowly but surely. Also, don't forget to review this chapter. I'm always listening.