A/N: Okay. News. My laptop slowed down this morning so thumped it with my fist and then it stopped loading. GUH. I need anger management, yes, I know. But I found a place that could fix it so I'm going over there tomorrow. It shouldn't really affect my writing of this story, but if it does, I'll be sure to let you know via my profile. Hm. This chapter. I liked it. Some interesting stuff goes down, gasp, and I think, I HOPE you enjoy it. It's sort of long, but hey, it was necessary. Was happy to get this written way earlier than I thought I'd get it written, but since I'm on a new computer, the flow may not be as great as I had hoped/would have liked. Still, I like this chapter. As for reviews.... Glacial Eidolon, I responded to your review via PM already so I won't clutter up this space with that.
Question to the readers : Should I include little location indicators at the top of each chapter? I try to let people know where the characters are in the story, but I may need to be a little less sutble about it. FOR THE RECORD : THey are still on route 202, still about a day from Jubilife. They'll get there about noon the next day, I think. Or just before noon. But yeah. Should I?
Hm... I think that's it for the notes. Again, your thoughts and suggestions and all that are always welcome. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Lulz. I also hope this comes out at the end of the daily rush so it'll have time to sit at the top and catch people's attention. BUT, ALAS. All I can do is hope. AS I SAID BEFORE, ENJOY.
They had stumbled upon the one part of the entire route where trainers congregated with any sort of regularity. It should not have been surprising what they'd found since they had been running toward the sound of voices and the sound of fighting, but Abe still felt shocked to find other people out in the woods. Which in itself was quite strange given how often he himself wandered through the wilderness at the fringe of his hometown. People in a natural setting was not something that should have felt foreign to Abe's mind, but this whole scenario, this stumbling across other people, in what he for some reason had taken to be a deserted setting disconcerted him a great deal. Which is why when those there boys laughingly helped them to their feet, Abe was the one who stood up quickly and awkwardly by himself; it drew confused stares then questioning, raise brows at Dominic. Abe fidgeted, Dominic just grinned and shook their hands. Abe hated strangers. It wasn't a simple matter of not liking strangers or not being comfortable around strangers; Abe positively hated them, in every vague meaning assigned to that very powerful word. Just look at what Dominic had done to his life so far--it just went to show just how horrendously awful strangers could be for your mental health. Strangers, Abe felt, were trouble that hadn't happened yet, yet being the operative word as far as he was concerned.
There were three of them. One was short, had this neatly combed, slicked down red hair darkened by its dampness, and narrow, squinting green eyes. He looked sneaky, entirely and completely untrustworthy. Not that Abe would have trusted him anyway, he was a stranger. There was another one, though he was tall and pale and slathered in freckles. Millions of them on his arms and legs and every other part of him that Abe could see. But they didn't look like one large freckle. Just millions and billions of tiny brown splotches. His eyes were, unsurprisingly, brown. Yet, he didn't look young. His height took away any boyishness about him and instead gave the impression that he was a giant who had been bent to fit into a slightly smaller cage. His arms and his legs were thin, but so long that he looked like he could reach up and put out the sun's eye if he wanted. And the third was nothing out of the ordinary at all, which of course meant that he was something special. He looked to be about the same height as Dominic, but far less muscular and so less intimidating. Where he stood, Abe could not make out the color of his eyes, not that he cared. Standing there with his two friends, the boy looked painfully out of place, which maybe was why he was the leader. The other two had something in common in that they were abnormal, but this woefully ordinary boy had them beat with his normality. He was the one Abe liked least.
Dominic and the three boys stood aside from Abe, laughing and being social, two things that Abe had never really enjoyed doing anyway. His laugh was either too loud or too soft or too awkward or too hollow to be a good laugh. It always drew unwanted attention and made him feel slightly more self-conscious than usual. And as for being social, he'd never been too good at that, had he? Abe stood near them though, arms folded across his chest, resting against the bottom of his ribs, staring hard at them, trying too hard to be attentive. His expression, he assumed, was banal and calm, placid. He still felt light-headed from the running and was trying to get his heart rate to calm into a slightly more normal range, but Dominic was talking sixty-five miles a second, motioning energetically, and filling the air with the crackling sparkle of his charisma; Abe hated Dominic, it was simply a reminder of just why. But when he looked into the faces of the other boys, expecting to see glazed-over stares, he saw grins and smirks and smiles, their laughter actually sounded sincere : they liked Dominic? It was this fact that convinced him of their unworthiness. Of course they liked Dominic. They looked like people who would enjoy Dominic. Stupid. Dumb. Idiotic. Morons, all four of them. Sweat pooled at his lower back and his shirt was sticking to him uncomfortably. Why hadn't he rolled his jeans up too? Abe shifted, uncomfortable, quite uncomfortable.
They were boys from the school in Jubilife, taking a break from classes to rough it in the woods. Oh, that's pretty cool, roughing it, what an idea, huh, Abe? What did Abe think about roughing it? That it sounded like a waste of time, why give up the comforts of home to go piss in the woods? Because it's fun! So you like the woods, Dominic? Of course Dominic likes the woods, doesn't he look like someone who likes to wipe his ass with leaves? Oh, good one, Abe, aren't you clever, but where was that cleverness when you nearly pissed your pants because it was so dark? Oh, Dominic, you're exaggerating; hey guys, should we go? Haha, yeah, you got us, Abe is such a joker--
The conversation drifted on that same, puttering stream of little nothings about background and the menial details of lives were exchanged. Abe, however, offered nothing of himself while the others talked over themselves and laughed and made jokes out of nothing then laughed at the un-funny humor of it all. Abe, for one, found it to be the largest waste of time he'd ever taken part in and wanted very much for it to be over. His eyes wandered over their faces, finding the same happy, cheerful expression. Abe's lack of expression singled him out and isolated him in the group, imbuing the setting with a sort of subdued tension while he stood there with his arms folded, picking at loose threads on his sleeves. What were their plans once they got to Pastoria? Oh, nothing really, they'd probably turn around and walk all the way back. That sounded like a big waste of time; oh, what about the night life in Jubilife? The best, amazing music scene. And the garden district had the best burgers anywhere. Now that sounded amazing, didn't it, Abe? Abe? Abe?
Abe blinked, aware for the first time that he was being addressed directly. All four of them had stopped and stared at him. Their expressions told him that they didn't really care what his answer was, but that he was required to answer and the longer he took, the more resentful they would become. Because he was now holding up their perfectly vapid conversation with his haughty pensiveness. Couldn't he think of them a little bit? But this was his chance to escape, to excuse himself. The pressure from outside of himself and from inside of himself to sink back into the obscure background of the conversation rendered him speechless. And the boys grinned nervously, not really knowing what to say or to do when confronted with his gaping, silent ape of a boy. Dominic raised his brow, not really surprised, but not really believing what he was seeing. Abe? Silent? Not talking? Not even to insult them? Abe could see the insinuations building behind Dominic's eyes, could see his lips twitching into a bemused grin. He swallowed.
"Huh, sorry, guess I wasn't listening," he muttered in defeat. The boys laughed again. Oh, that's all right. Nothing to worry about. Oh, Dominic needed to definitely stop by the school at some point for a proper tour of the city. Sure, sure, not like there was anything else to do. Abe, again, sank to the outskirts of the conversation, not really listening again and the boys, wary of another snag, maneuvered their talk around Abe, sparing him only occasional pitying glances. As he walked just a little ways from them to examine a very interesting group of rocks, he began to mock them in his mind. OH, Abe, poor Abe. Poor guy can't even keep up. Why doesn't he just go on home and leave the big boys to their chest-thumping. And Dominic. Abe sent a narrow-eyed stare over his shoulder at Dominic to see if he'd wither and die on the spot. Dominic was laughing and going along with all of it, completely willing to exclude him from all conversation like he wasn't even there. Dominic probably wished that he wasn't. But oh well, let Dominic wish. At least he didn't have to sit there and pretend to listen anymore. He was near enough to catch occasional words like "cool" and "just wait until you see--" and the very rare "so what do you think about--". Not that they cared what anyone thought, they just wanted a moment to catch their breath while giving the illusion of being thoughtful. He stooped to pick up a few of the coarse stones and turn them over in his hands. He sneered to the rocks, making them his confidantes.
"'Yeah, Dominic,'" he whispered to the rocks, imitating the tall, dumb one who agreed with everything the average one said, "'we'll show you how to eat and drink and sleep like a complete social robot. Just wait and see, you'll love not thinking for yourself.'" Then, snickering, he dropped his voice and octave and become Dominic, "'Hey! That sounds great, I've already got that first part down, I'm great at not thinking.'" Then, he held up the smallest rock and pointed it at the rocks in his other hands and made his voice high and whiney, "'Oh, Dominic, you're so funny, you should come live with us forever and ever and ever so that Abe can have some peace of mind.'" He laughed loudly enough that time to make the other boys notice and when he felt their eyes on his back, he gulped. The rocks dropped softly into the grass and slowly stood while the other boys made their way over. Dominic followed solemnly behind the other three, head cast down slightly, his shoulders tense. The tall one and the short one had red, angry faces, but their leader was smiling calmly, happily.
"What's so funny, guy?" The leader asked in his warm voice.
"He's making fun of us," the short one said loudly, attempting to get around the leader at Abe, but he was held back by the taller one, who didn't look too pleased but wasn't quite sure what was going on. "He thinks he's so much better than us. Well, guy, you ain't. At all." He would have said more, but their leader, still smiling, just raised a hand and shrugged.
"Come on, Joe, I'm sure he doesn't think that." He stepped close enough to Abe to touch his shoulder and to give Abe his reassuring smile. He was close enough, also, to communicate with his eyes that there was only one acceptable answer to this question, and that any other answer would have dire consequences. They were blue. Dark blue. Dark and expressive. Abe glanced at Dominic, whose face was impassive and bored. But his eyes were also hard and told Abe which answer he should give.
"Well," Abe said with a smile in his voice, casually sliding the boy's hand from his shoulder, "everyone's entitled to an opinion, right?" He smiled as brightly as he could, his stomach sucking into itself. He had tried to make it a joke and had failed. He knew it. He read it in the subtly shifting lines in the boy's face as he stepped back and folded his hands in front of him. Shit, Abe thought. Shit. But his jaw did not tighten nor did he show any other sign of acknowledging that he had just offended them. It would be better if he feigned ignorance.
"Right, guy. Right." The boy smiled, but Joe made another move to break loose from the hold of Freckles and Abe again swallowed thickly. "Say, Dominic, do you think that?" Casually, easily he addressed Dominic, as if he hadn't been talking to Abe at all just a few seconds before. Strangely, it hurt to be dismissed so easily. The boy smiled and Abe saw Dominic shrug.
"Think what? That everyone gets an opinion. I don't know, I guess. Fair is fair."
"No, no. That Abe thinks he's better than us?"
"Oh, that. Well," Dominic smiled faintly, staring at Abe over the boy's shoulder. Accusation filled his eyes and Abe squirmed uncomfortably. The other boys were watching him still, making him feel like at any minute, they'd reach out and choke him until he stopped breathing. Or worse, beat him into a meaty pulp. The tall one looked a little tired of holding on to his friend and the short one looked as ready to fight as he ever had. The leader, as usual, was smiling, waiting for Dominic's answer. "I guess I don't really know what Abe thinks." This was accompanied by another shrug and a growing grin. "He's a mystery to me."
"Oh, I see." The boy tapped his finger against his lips and turned his coldly cheerful expression back to Abe, "Thanks, Dominic." He clapped his hands together. The sound of it made Abe jump. "So! I guess that means, Abe, that no one here really knows you." The short one finally managed to get his arm loose and moved to stand at the right hand of the other boy, his young face pulled into a furious, expression. The leader went on with a slightly quizzical expression. "See, the guys and I," he motioned to include the boys and Dominic, " have been getting to know each other. But you… you…" he wagged his finger at Abe, giving his head a rueful little shake, "you haven't really been sharing much, have you?" He raised a brow. What that a rhetorical question? Abe's mouth quivered and he was about o answer before he was cut off, "no. You haven't." Brusque, curt. For the first time, something other than hurt friendliness. "You've been a little frosty to my friends and me. Now, why is that, I wonder."
Abe gaped, tried to thin of something to say. He twisted his hands around his shirt's edge. The boy was watching him closely. "I…"
"'Do think that I'm better than you guys, Colbert,'" the boy completed with a grim nod. The short one snickered, the tall one smirked, and Dominic just sighed, obviously not interested. Then the boy was smiling again and rubbing his hands together, "That's all you had to say, Abe. I appreciate your honesty." His grin was back, but this time it wasn't an imitation. It was predatory. "This is what's going to happen," he continued, "You're going to prove to us just how much better than us you are because, guy, I don't believe it." He stopped rubbing his hands together long enough to step forward and lightly rap against Abe's ribs with his fist. Did he enjoy the feel of Abe's blood running cold in his veins? The look in his eyes said yes; Abe bit his jaw and curled a fist. Then he turned around and nodded to the short one. What? He wasn't going to battle? Abe stared in confusion. He had thought that…
"So, hot shot. You ready?" A cruel, cruel voice. Not at all as high pitched as Abe had imagined. Cold air rippled throughout his chest and it was a few moments before he could say anything at all to the boy.
"Yeah, sure," he croaked. To his surprise, Dominic was staring on with interest now. He sent the boy a cold stare. This was all his fault. And when the other three boys moved to the other side of the clearing to talk over strategy, leaving Dominic and Abe alone, he made sure to tell him that.
"Asshole!" Abe shoved him and Dominic took a stumbling, laughing step backward. "Way to help, Dominic, really!" He seethed under his breath and stood making fists and trying to reduce Dominic to ash with his mind.
"Oh no, buddy. That's all you." Dominic was still laughing, still entirely absorbed in himself. Abe hit his arm again.
"You threw me under the bus!" Abe hit him yet again for good measure, watching the boys talk among the themselves. Disconcerted, he groaned. "What am I going to do, Dominic?"
Dominic stood behind him, staring at the boys. And, predictably, he shrugged. "Well, my guess is, you're going to battle," he noted dryly then with a snort, "and hopefully win. Otherwise, things are probably going to be pretty awkward for you."
Had that really just come out of Dominic's mouth? Really? Truly? It was probably the most cold-blooded thing that he had ever heard. Abe grunted and pulled out his two poke balls and a few pieces of loose lint. "You are the worst partner anyone has ever had." Abe said this completely seriously, but didn't look up from his poke balls to let Dominic know just how much he hated him in that moment. This was bad. Very, very bad. There was Poliwag. But, honestly it was Poliwag. He frowned. The Abra was still new, too new to be counted on, but Poliwag wasn't any better. And what if the guy expected him to battle all three of them at the same time? One of them he could probably take, even with Poliwag, but all three was just asking too much. Even for him. He glanced at Dominic, who was grinning at him and looking as useless as usual. With another groan, he made his selection and turned to the boys. They were several yards away, decent battle distance. He noticed for the first time that the grass had been worn away into an almost perfect oval shape clearing where loose soil peeked out beneath the patchy green and where fat stones basked beneath a yellow sun. A few trees lined the area, but it was mainly this improvised battle field. It all amounted to the same thing; no water for Poliwag to be even remotely useful.
"I wouldn't go with Abra," Dominic commented snidely. Abe looked at him with a dumb expression. "Just saying." Yet another shrug. His second least favorite Dominic mannerism.
"And I suppose you want me to use Poliwag so that I'll finally see its worth and change my cruel, cruel ways." His voice was cool and dry, and he had his brow cocked just right; it was the perfect expression to communicate his sarcasm. The last thing he wanted was more miscommunication.
"No, not at all." Dominic said, dusting off his shoulder. "I'd hate to think that you're capable of seeing the good in anything or anyone. I wouldn't know what to do with myself. No, I'm just making a suggestion. Poliwag, for some reason," he picked off a bit of grass and then scratched his sweaty arm, "likes you whereas Abra… well, Abra doesn't really know you, does it?" Superior, accusing, his tone made Abe want to punch his face directly through to his teeth.
"Shut your face, asshole," Abe snapped and turned back to his fidgeting and his waiting.
"Okay!" The call from across the field came. "We're ready. You and Joe are going to go at it." Suddenly, there was too much saliva in his mouth and he thought he'd be sick. "Go on Joe," Abe heard the leader, Colbert, tell the short one, Joe. See, he could remember names. A shame that humility hadn't been there before he'd gotten himself into this mess.
"Either stop giggling like a moron or go stand somewhere else," Abe ground out. Dominic sat down, still snickering, but more quietly. He propped his head up on his fists and watched the scene unfolding keenly. Abe thought he preferred the giggling to the sudden attentiveness. He clumsily fumbled for Poliwag's poke ball and lobbed it high. "Might as well get this over with," he sighed as the ball split open and the white light fell in a shimmering cascade to the ground.
"Poli!" It excitedly turned to Abe, happy. Abe returned its enthusiasm with a cynical deadpan.
"Try not to screw this one up, Poliwag." Poliwag demurred, and nodded slowly, shakily. Abe heard Dominic sigh behind him, but he didn't have time for the self-righteous Dominic who could do no wrong. "At least turn the right way." He felt his expression turn tense and Poliwag, giving an abrupt squeak turned to face the group of boys. Joe was casually strolling into the place while Colbert stood with his arms folded, body language tense and the tall one whose name Abe still did not know sat as Dominic did, looking bored.
"Come on out, Budew!" A Budew? Really? Abe frowned as the boy threw his ball hard at the field and as it split open mid-flight to violently belch white light forward. Budew were gentle, pleasant creatures. They weren't really Pokemon that he associated with people as fidgety and high-energy as the short boy. He'd expected a Shinx. Abe sucked at his lip and made a 'huh' sound, trying to work out the difference between what he had expected and what he now faced. The Budew landed a foot and a half or so away from Poliwag and scowled. It made a mocking sound and Abe had no choice but to recant his previous thoughts; this Budew suited its trainer perfectly. One look at it and he already didn't like the thing. It looked a little wild. Poliwag, again, retreated a step and Joe must have saw it because he quickly pointed and began to shout commands, "Absorb!" And the Budew wasted no time.
It leapt quickly and snapped open its petals, aiming its attack at Poliwag, which promptly began to quiver and shake, obviously afraid.
"Damn it, Poliwag, use bubble!" Abe countered and Poliwag did just that. But it missed, and sent its pressured burst of blue bubbles just to the left of the Budew, which then clamped its bud on Poliwag and began to suck. The pair of tangled Pokemon began to glow as energy slowly left Poliwag and entered Budew and Poliwag wiggled and made a horrible fuss, let loose cries of "Poli!" and "wag!" Abe couldn't believe he'd let Dominic talk him into this. Abra would have been better by far, "Come on Poliwag, you're slippery for crying out loud!" Poliwag, after being reminded, did in fact remember that it was slippery and with the added moisture of its nervousness, it slid with a pop from between Budew's petals.
"Budew, stun spore!" Budew pushed itself forward, going after Poliwag with its glittering brown pollen. Abe grunted and watched as Poliwag hopped along in a circle, trying to avoid the powder. "Keep it up, Budew!" Joe and his incredibly aggressive Budew were not going to make this easy, apparently.
"Poliwag, bubble!" Poliwag swung about and loosed the bubbles through the brown cloud. The bubbles darted through the shroud of brown, halting its undulating tide and dispelling it mostly. The second round of bubbles moved through the cleared space directly at Budew, which had not been able to stop, and set it retreating a step before it remembered it was a grass type and as such loved water.
Joe then instructed his Budew to use Absborb. Just like that. As if Poliwag had not just pelted his Budew, he had instructed his Pokemon to advance through the attack. It came upon Poliwag, quickly, before Abe could tell Poliwag what to do, and had it in another tight grip, sucking the energy from the little blue thing. It squirmed and wriggled, but Budew held strong, siphoning out energy as best it could while Abe stared on, feeling mainly helpless, but a little angry too. Or was it a little helpless and mainly very angry. Joe, across the field, was laughing, loudly. And the only sound that could be heard were Poliwag's screams and Joe's laughter.
"Poliwag," Abe grunted after getting more than a little fed-up. "Water Sport!"
"What's that? Water Sport?" Joe drawled sarcastically as Poliwag stopped its crying long enough to send its fount stream upward. It came sprinkling back down, coating both Pokemon in its drizzle, wetting them, dampening them. The water soaked through Poliwag's pores and made it slippery and slick. So that it popped out from Budew from the sheer force of Budew's clamping. It landed on the ground, leaping from foot to foot in a sprightly fashion, obviously amused.
"Ice beam," Abe croaked before anyone could figure out what had just happened and in the last dregs of the water sport trickling down, Poliwag spat forth blue energy; it snaked and weaved and froze the fake rain into ice. It cut through the moist air left flittering, outward-swirling flakes and Budew, caught off-guard from the abrupt loss of the Poliwag, was thrown on to its back by the force of the blow. Joe let out a strangled, surprised sound and scrambled for a way to retaliate.
"Stun spore!"
Budew was on its feet a half-second after impact, strewing its powder, directing it at Poliwag, which at Abe's request let out a bubble which again dissipated the stun spore. It had been clever and a little bit lucky to use Water Sport to both heal and free Poliwag and then to use the close range of Absorb to their advantage to use an Ice Beam after dampening Budew. But now they were again on even terms and Abe wasn't so sure he had that many bright ideas left. A breeze came upon them. It swirled through the space between Budew and Poliwag and sent the grass swaying this way then that. Movement was imminent, they both knew that, but were unwilling to bend to that fact just yet.
"Ice beam… didn't expect that," Joe said with feigned indifference. Or maybe it was actual indifference, Abe wasn't sure. He didn't feel lightened by the compliment, that was for sure. His entire body felt strained and he was on the tips of his toes, it seemed, ready for the next blow when it came. Poliwag stood facing him and Budew stood facing Joe, their Pokemon had swapped places and now he took the time to note any sort of weaknesses in Budew. Sadly, he didn't know what weaknesses looked like. Abe saw Joe smile.
"Razor leaf!"
"Poliwag, bubble!"
Poliwag's body expanded and out the bubbles came flooding; Budew twisted and slung its leaves hard, so that the air was full of their slicing, whistling noise. The collision peppered the ground with wet, green mulch and then Budew was leaping, launching a second wave and Poliwag was rolling, trying to evade them. Budew's experience and improvisational skills had put him on the defensive, Abe realized grimly and bite the inside of his mouth. Poliwag did its best to avoid a direct impact but it wasn't' quick enough or agile enough to avoid damage entirely. Budew's onslaught was heavy and at the same time, so nimble. The leaves came seemingly from every direction, honing in on Poliwag and scraping up its back and down its fronts and against its sides. It was tiring, its movements were slowing, it was lost and alone and without help; Abe had abandoned it.
"Poli!" Poliwag landed with a damp thud at Abe's feet and he stared down at its scratched skin as it labored for breath. Budew landed neatly in front of Joe, who smirked. Abe bit down hard. He balled a damp fist that felt more like jelly. All of the tension had gone out of his body, he'd lost his desire to fight entirely.
"Get up, Poliwag," he sighed. "Get up, we might as well let them finish us." Dominic snorted, then grunted, and finally just stood up. Abe was snatched up and brought very close to Dominic's face.
Anger had transformed it and exaggerated its rugged wildness. Abe felt his stomach tighten. Dominic's breath was moist on his face and washed over him like a wave of anger given physical substance. He felt it quaking in Dominic's fists and heard the straining of his collar under Dominic's hands. "Let me--"
"Shut it," he snarled, eyes narrowing. "Shut it and listen." And Abe did listen, he grew still in Dom's hands and tried to mask his fear with the cold shadow of apathy. "You may be beyond saving and a waste of time. I'm not going to argue with you on that. But that Poliwag? That Poliwag you've basically left to fend for itself in a battle that was your fault to begin with," he made sure to emphasize the 'your',"isn't And it's not only irresponsible, it's offensive to the whole training community for you to put that kind of burden on a Pokemon. SO. " He got a little spit on Abe with that one and dropped him neatly back to his feet, "You're going to suck it up and win this thing." He smoothed out the wrinkles in Abe's shirt and turned him around, as if Abe was a child, a child who didn't know any better.
Humiliation. No other word for it.
Not even the boys on the other side of the field could say anything in face of it. Abe felt hot tears sting his eyes as he curled his hands again into tight fists. "Poliwag," he growled, "Up." Poliwag rose shakily to its feet, giving a weak sound of acknowledgement as it turned haggard and weary to face the Budew. Which didn't seem diminished at all by the awkward scene they had just witnessed. Everyone and everything stood in dumbfounded stillness; emotional decimation always brought a halt to things though, didn't it?
Where did Dominic get off talking to him that way? Asshole. "Bubble," Abe shouted and grunted as Poliwag complied with a fresh stream of bubbles, issued directly toward the Budew, which countered with a razor leaf. As the leaves came whirling on to Poliwag, Abe sucked in hard and stamped his foot. What a bastard. "Dodge those." Another barked command; Poliwag tucked and rolled forward, avoiding the most of the leaves and springing to its feet. Budew was ready, heaving another barrage of leaves and so the intricate dance of razor leaf and dodge began anew. "Ice beam!"
The rhythm of the attack sequence broke a minute and a half later with an out of nowhere ice beam that shot through the leaves with ease and bore down on the flatfooted Budew. "Huh?" Joe was thrown. "Try to dodge that!" Budew tucked and rolled, trying to mimic Poliwag's attempts, but Poliwag's weakened Ice Beam faltered and dropped in its forward progression, luckily snagging the Budew in the side as it attempted to roll. It was then propelled backward like a skidding stone before it caught a loose rock and popped up. "Budew! Absorb!" Budew wearily complied and dragged itself in the direction of Poliwag; Poliwag dodged it, but the Budew had moved in close range and so with a flare of its opened bud, it managed to maneuver Poliwag into an awkward position. Abe saw this coming, however, and grunted another order. This time, bubble. Poliwag bent forward and breathed in, this time making itself too large to be attached to. And so even though it could not dodge, it still managed to escape damage. The bubble hit the Budew square in the face and Poliwag was pushed up and out from the Budew, landing somewhat sloppily nearby, safely out of range. Abe sighed in relief and Joe just muttered some more.
Poliwag's breathing remained labored and very much uneven; it was nearing the end of its line. But Abe was pleased to see that the Budew was very much the same. Or. He would have felt pleased if he was capable of feeling any sort of positive emotion after being humiliated so thoroughly. Instead, he ground his foot into the ground and chewed a bloody line against the inside of his jaw. His nerves were shot and he was shaking. But Joe, across the field didn't look so great either. His face was red and pinched and his eyes were like bits of glass glinting in the sun. Abe sighed and turned back to his Poliwag, which was drooping. He willed it to stay standing. Another silence came to the area, a breathing silence. Which suited Abe fine. The longer they went on this way, the more recovery time Poliwag had.
"Absorb!"
"Bubble!"
They were back to this again. Budew moved through the bubble stream and it was then that Abe knew that he'd made a horrible mistake. Poliwag tried and tried and tried, but Budew managed somehow to avoid all of the bubbles, and moved steadily closer. "Poliwag, dodge!" His voice rasped, but it was no use. Budew attached itself to Poliwag and began to drain away its life.
It was over.
He grit his teeth and lowered his head. Dominic made a disgusted sound and kicked a rock. His head hurt from strategies thought up and hurriedly discarded. What was he supposed to do? Poliwag's cries were at first strident but then gradually faded into a sad, soft whimpering. But he couldn't get himself to look. The feeling of failure came back to mind and he again thought of that first battle with Dominic. He had done better this time at least. With a sigh, he lifted his head and made to recall Poliwag.
"What?" His mouth dropped wide. There. On the ground. Not moving. Was Budew.
For a second, he wasn't sure what he was looking at, he thought that maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. So he rubbed his eyes and blinked, incredulous. What? Poliwag stood panting, heaving over the Budew, its body bruised and scratched, its eyes defiant, and its spiral gliding into gentle stillness, purple light fading slowly away. "What…" He trailed off.
"Hypnosis," Dominic commented cheerily, grinning. "Looks like Poliwag learned hypnosis. And just in time too, lucky."
Joe too seemed at a loss for words. But his lack of speech was more out of anger than anything else. "That's cheating!" He howled. And then he was moving across the field, charging Abe. Abe watched him come with dumb numbness, still not sure what was going on. It was Dominic who moved in front of him and caught Joe with extended hands.
"Hold on, buddy. He beat you. Fair and square, it's done." Joe, however, had different thoughts. He tried and tried to get around Dominic, but Dominic stood firm; Abe just kept staring. Even when Poliwag came over to him and stared up at him happily, seeking validation. Dominic was still trying to calm down Joe when the other two boys finally made their way over; the tall one, Freckles, stopped to pick up Budew, cradling it near to his chest, his expression grimly sober.
"Well, Abe," Colbert said with a sigh, "Looks like you won after all." It was far from sincere, but Abe managed to look at him though it was with the same vacant expression. Had he really won? Really?
His smile, when it did come, was cocky. "Yeah. Guess I did." He pulled out Poliwag's ball and pointed it at the Pokemon then said, loftily, "Return, Poliwag." Poliwag's expression wilted and Dominic, who had stopped holding back Joe, frowned darkly.
Colbert, however, remained completely unruffled by this. Said simply, with his same cheerful, chilling expression, "Well, congratulations. Win some lose some, I guess. Maybe next time." The last part was said without the smile. Joe was primed for an explosion, but Freckles worriedly rocked the Budew back and forth. Which Abe found to be strange and with his same smirking expression, raised a brow.
"You're holding on to Joe's Budew pretty tightly there… don't you think you ought to give it back to him?"
At this, Joe, Colbert, and Freckles all stared at Abe as if he were the dumbest moron on the face of the planet. Freckles clenched his jaw and with a flick his head to the side, removed his hair from his eyes. "This is my, Budew," he said gently, cradling it closer to himself. "And she's only sleeping; she'll be fine… right?" He turned to Joe, and Joe's expression turned into a bright smile.
"Sure she will, pal! Thanks for letting me use her, sorry that she got so banged up…" Joe trailed off when he realized that Freckles was too focused on his Budew to hear. He took instead to scratching nervously at his neck and looking at Abe as indirectly as possible. Dominic stood with his hands folded behind his neck again, looking like his usual bored self though Abe could still feel his anger seeping out through his skin.
"Well, guys, I think we're going to go," Colbert said after taking a long look at Joe and Freckles. Then, shaking Dominic's hand, he said, "It was nice meeting you, look us up when you get to Jubilife." To Abe, he said nothing, and quietly, he and his friends walked away. Freckles, however, did turn to glance at Abe and Dominic before vanishing through the underbrush. Abe didn't know what to make of the look he'd received. But to be fair, he didn't really have time to go over it because the moment they were alone, Dominic exploded.
"You are the most selfish, self-centered son of a bitch on the planet, Abe." He said all of this calmly as if it were a part of normal conversation, and as if it were absolute fact. He stood studying the place where the boys had vanished; Abe blinked in surprise then in anger.
"It's not my fault! I didn't ask for a battle!"
"Didn't ask for it? Didn't ask for it?" Dominic's chest swelled, but just as soon as he had decided to let out a stream of profanities, he decided against it and let out instead a large, almost painful sigh. "I'm done, Abe. Done for the day. Let's just get back up the hill and get our stuff and go." Dominic said this bitterly and Abe was about to retort, but was able to say nothing because Dominic was walking away from him again. "ANd for your own safety, you had better stay a full two feet behind me. I can't be responsible for what I'll do to you if you're within range and decide to say something else that stupid."
Despite having just won, Abe realized, he had yet again ended up losing to Dominic. It did his mood no favors and they returned to their hillside in glowering, bitter silence.