A Reminiscence
Chapter Five
Strong Rivalries
()()()
After our strange little adventure with the inspector, we were thankfully able to get some rest in the motel, and the next morning, an acceptable breakfast of eggs and bacon. It was hardly the highest-quality establishment, but after the hotel previous, it was a vast improvement.
When we walked out of the motel together, it seemed as if not much would happen that day, and I thanked the heavens themselves for such. Alas, it was soon proven not to be, as none other than Jack LeBoure walked up next to us, entirely uninvited, and began running his mouth.
"Larch! Still around, I see. You're gonna want to get that ticket soon, or else you won't make it to Unova in time to embarrass yourself!"
"Tell me, LeBoure, do you ever tire of being the most insufferable clod to walk upon this Earth?" I asked.
He merely shrugged and grinned. "It can be hard work sometimes."
"What do you want, Jack?" I stopped suddenly, turning to face him.
"Well, actually, I was wondering something. You go on and on about that Shaymin of yours so often, I thought it might be interesting to put it up against an actual Legendary to see where it stands."
I silently seethed for a moment, and then considered his proposal. Although it would be nice to finally shut him up, I knew he was referring to that damned Latias, and that putting Shaymin against it would be far, far too risky. I then considered an alternate path that might prove even more embarrassing for him.
"I shall do you better, LeBoure. I offer that, instead of your Latias against my Shaymin, I shall pit Rembrandt against her."
Anne, Ralph, and Jack all stared at me like I had gone completely out of my head. "Are…are you serious?" Jack asked, not believing my proposal was in earnest. "You want…to put a Smeargle…against a Latias."
"Indeed I do, and I am quite serious! I believe I stand a fair chance!"
Jack turned away from me and shook his head a bit, then turned back. "This I gotta see."
"I shall meet you at the gym, then," I offered, smiling.
"Yeah, yeah, sure…"
As I walked off, somewhat confident my plan would work, the other three stayed behind, utterly confused at my proposal.
()()()
I always thought the Celadon Gym was an odd little construction; much of it functioned as a greenhouse, and a very well kept one at that. Although the leader, Erika, was known to excel at Plant-type Pokémon, and her defeat would net one the Rainbow Badge, I was not there to battle her, which was just as well, since she was out on business when I got there, replaced by one of her assistants. He was somewhat odd looking, wearing his khakis and his beekeeper's hat, but seemed nice enough, and quickly made his services known to me.
"Hello, I'm afraid that Erika is out for now, so I'll be the interim Gym Leader until she gets back. How can I help you?"
"I challenged a certain rival of mine to a Pokémon battle, and thought it best to have it in a safe, controlled environment rather than out among the public."
"That's probably smart. Our battling area is open right now, so you won't have to wait. Who's your opponent?"
"A very unpleasant person, to be sure. He should be arriving shortly."
As I said this, the door opened behind me, and the others walked in, Jack looking surprisingly concerned.
"Look, Berkeley, this is a really terrible idea. There's no possible way that thing could beat Latias."
Indeed, it seemed that even when Jack was concerned for something, he had to find some way to make himself superior to it.
"Are you afraid, Jack? Afraid you will lose, so you are now trying to stop the battle before it starts?"
Jack grimaced. "What? No! It's a Latias against a Smeargle, why would I ever be afraid of losing in that?"
Erika's assistant raised his eyebrows, clearly impressed at the implication of the statement. "He has a point, that sounds like a really bad idea. Are you sure that—"
"I am entirely sure I want to go through with this," I insisted. "Now, where is the battling area?"
"Right over here, sirs." The fellow guided us to a fairly wide, grassy area, encased by a massive glass dome, which would be absolutely perfect for a battle of this caliber.
"All right, this is going to be a one-on-one fight," the assistant explained. "You each get one Pokémon, which you've apparently already chosen. No fighting dirty, no potions, and no switching your Pokémon out. Ready…" we each pulled out the appropriate PokeBall, "set…" we held them out, "Go!"
In a flash, we released our Pokémon, Rembrandt standing before the glorious, oddly-shaped Legendary Pokémon, Latias.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell is this?" the Smeargle demanded, looking quite shocked. "What's this thing? Does that douchebag own it?"
"I shall explain later, Rembrandt, for now, we must fight!" I yelped as the Latias surged forward, one wing glowing silver, a clear use of Steel Wing. In an excellent display of reflexes, Rembrandt leapt over the wing like an Olympic athlete, turning around and striking the Latias on the head before landing expertly. She turned around before running into me, evidently quite steamed.
"What the…" Jack bellowed. "How did he do that?!"
"Practice and co-ordination!" I proudly answered. "Now, Rembrandt, use Leech Seed!"
Rembrandt threw out three small seeds, which caught the Latias off-guard, allowing them to take root and consistently provide Rembrandt with her own strength.
Although I could not read Jack's mind, in that moment, I did not have to, as the fear on his face from my early lead was quite evident.
"Uh…uh…Confusion!"
"Damn it!" I cried, pressing my hands to my temples to prevent myself from being affected. Rembrandt, unfortunately, reacted to late, and although he was not hit with the full brunt of the psychic onslaught, he was still rendered quite woozy.
I groaned. My advantage had been wrenched from me in a heartbeat, but the effect of the seeds kicked in at that moment and he regained some semblance of coherency.
"Oh…wow, that's awesome…" he mumbled, trying to regain himself.
"Focus, Rembrandt!" I shouted. "Get onto her back!"
He shook his head a few times and attempted to follow the command, but the Latias was impressively skilled, and consistently managed to dodge Rembrandt's attempts to get on her.
"Use Steel Wing again!" Jack shouted. The stakes were raised much higher as the wing transformed once more, meaning that if Rembrandt were to be struck, he would most likely be knocked out immediately, or even worse.
"Forget the back!" I commanded. "Dodge until she gets tired!"
Such a thing quickly proved to be very difficult indeed, as Rembrandt was barely able to dodge the vicious onslaught that the Latias was dishing out.
"Uh…hey, you might wanna calm down a little bit there, guys, this is starting to get out of hand!" the assistant warned. It went entirely unheeded, and I could not help but gape in horror as Rembrandt was struck by the steel wing.
"NO!" I cried, as he flew off to the side, landing in some shrubbery. For a few tense moments, nothing happened, and I halted my breath, hoping the worst had not come to pass. I felt like cheering madly when Rembrandt leapt back out, looking somewhat worse for the wear, but more importantly, very, very mad.
"Alright, now you're gonna get it!" he cried, running headlong at the shocked Latias, leaping up at the last second and delivering a solid kick beneath her chin. This proved enough for him to get onto her neck, allowing him to grab the "ears" and start riding her like a bull, cheering wildly. Although he certainly seemed to be enjoying himself, the rest of us simply stared in confusion at the strange sight before us.
"Okay, this is ridiculous." the assistant finally decided, pulling out a whistle and blowing on it. Both Pokémon on the field halted and stared at him as he called for a time-out.
"Are you all right, Rembrandt?" I asked, as he returned to me and Jack recalled his Latias.
"Ah…damn, that nearly blew my sternum in."
"My apologies for this whole business…I may have overestimated our abilities…"
Rembrandt shook his head. "Forget about it. I've got a score to settle, and goddamn it, I'm gonna settle it!"
He turned back to face Jack, who now looked quite mad.
"I'm not gonna let you win with that stupid beagle thing!" he shouted, releasing the Latias again.
"Okay, play nice this time," the assistant said. "And…begin!"
At first, neither of us announced a move, now realizing that whatever it was, it would probably be countered almost immediately. Neither did our Pokémon move, either, recognizing the same truth.
"Come on, come on…" Rembrandt muttered, circling the arena slowly, ready to attack at a moment's notice. The Latias was doing the same, a look of extreme concentration upon her face.
Then, in a movement so sudden it was almost impossible to tell what had happened, they launched at each other, both of them attempting a number of strikes in an effort to find an opening. However, as soon as this deadly dance began, it ended, both of them in the same position as before, waiting for another strike.
"Where did you learn to do that?" I asked breathlessly, quite impressed by what had happened before me.
"I get a lot of practice in that PokeBall." he answered, his focus not wavering for a second. The Latias lunged again, but Rembrandt realized it as a ruse, and leapt away before the Latias used Confusion again, safely escaping its range.
"They've just taken complete control over the match!" the assistant said. "You two aren't even doing anything!"
"Well, what would you do in this situation?" I demanded. "This has gotten entirely beyond my control! I am powerless now!"
Indeed, it seemed anybody was powerless to stop the battle now taking place before us. Once more, they lunged for each other, the Latias going just a bit too low, which allowed Rembrandt to leap over her and grab a wing, biting hard into it. She shrieked and attempted to shake him off, but the hold of his jaw was simply too powerful. Increasingly desperate, the Latias flew through the glass ceiling, but Rembrandt released his grip and fell back to the ground.
"Oh, what the hell?! Do you have any idea how expensive that glass is?" The assistant's concern was quickly drowned out as the Latias flew back in, glowing powerfully. She then appeared to punch into the ground, sending out a wave of raw psychic energy so powerful that we were all immediately knocked out. The last thing I saw before going under completely was the Latias grabbing Rembrandt's unconscious form and then flying out of the large hole she had made…
()()()
When I awoke, it was obviously later in the day, though it was still quite bright out, so I could not have been under for long. I slowly got to my feet, being quite careful as I was still fuzzy in the head.
"Wha…hello? Anybody?" I called out, hoping I would get a response. I quickly got one from Jack, who seemed quite displeased.
"What the hell was that!?" He demanded, rubbing his temples. "Where'd they go?"
"How should I know that?" I countered. "I was unconscious just as much as you were."
"If I lost that Latias, I am going to sue you out of everything that you own!"
"Relax, would you? I am sure they can still be found." Next to me, the assistant stirred, looking around at the mess.
"Damn it, she leaves for one day, and look at what happens…" he muttered, rubbing his head. "Wait, where the hell did they go?!" he yelled, running over to the arena and wildly looking about.
"That's what I was wondering," Jack said. "Evidently, Mr. Supergenius over here just let this escalate after his stupid Smeargle—"
"Stop trying to pin this on me, would you! It was your Latias that made us all unconscious, Rembrandt was entirely innocent in that."
"He bit her on the wing and rode her like a bull! I wouldn't call that 'innocent', Larch!"
"Only after she threw him into the greenery!"
"Well, maybe if you didn't instigate this stupid-ass battle in the first place, we wouldn't be having this problem!"
"Maybe if you stopped being an intolerable idiot for five seconds, I would never have challenged you in the first place!"
"Ladies, please, can you discuss this later?" the assistant asked. "Right now, we should try to find them."
"Find who?" Anne asked, walking up behind me.
"Rembrandt and the Latias have disappeared entirely." I said.
"What?! Can't anybody hold on to their Pokémon these days? Jeez…"
"That is irrelevant right now. We must find them!"
"What's this 'we' crap, now?" Anne demanded. "This was your screw-up, you figure it out. Besides, I have a really bad headache. Jesus, goddamn Psychic-types…"
Quite complete with the business, she walked off continuing to mutter some unintelligible anger.
"Blast. That Mightyena of hers would have been incredibly useful."
"A Mightyena?" Jack asked. "Seriously? Doesn't anybody use actually useful Pokémon these days?"
I glared at him. "I'll have you know, he has served quite a good purpose on our journey so far. Why, Rembrandt may have been lost even earlier without his timely help!"
"Oh, yeah, we probably should go looking for him."
"Where is Ralph?" I asked, looking around for him. I quickly spotted him, still sprawled on the ground, not conscious, but obviously still alive.
"Damn it, everybody useful is unavailable." I noted.
"Hey!" Jack objected. "I'm useful."
"Oh, certainly, I have no doubt in my mind that you will be of great use here. Why, the police should hire you for their manhunts, you would be utterly invaluable in such an event—"
"Will you two quit it?!" the assistant demanded. "You're acting like children! Just go get your stupid Pokémon and leave so I can fix this mess."
Jack and I looked at each other, and decided it would be wisest to follow his instruction. We collected our things and quickly made our leave, finding ourselves back out on the street.
"Well, now what?" Jack asked.
"We should begin by asking around. Perhaps somebody has seen them?"
"Yeah, that grandpa over there looks like he's been here a while." The man he was referring to was an older gentleman, sitting on a bench and reading a novella. Given that he was almost to the end of the book, it did indeed seem that he had been there for some time.
"Alright, sir, did you recently see a Latias flying out of that gym over there?" I asked him. He set down his book, not bothering to take his place, and looked up at me.
"Why, yes I did, sonny. Quite the powerbomb she did on that Smeargle, too." He laughed, despite my obvious concern.
"Powerbomb? Bloody hell…where did they go?"
"Well, after the powerbomb, they started jumping around each other, attracted quite the crowd. Eventually, they gave up and walked off. Seemed quite nice with each other."
"Oh?" I asked, genuinely surprised.
"Berkeley, I swear, if that dumb artist thing of yours gets my Latias—"
"Why is that the first thing that crosses your mind?" I asked.
"Well, uh…okay, yeah, wow, that sounded really bad…"
"You two wanna get a room already?" the man asked us. Jack and I glanced at each other, then quickly looked away, quite uncomfortable with this line of conversation.
"Uh…yes, anyway, where did they go?" I asked, desperate to change the subject.
"Somewhere in the forest, over yonder. Real good catch, that Latias was, by the way."
"…Thank you?" Jack clearly had little idea what to think at this point, and instead ran over into the forest, eager to be rid of the whole mess. I followed suit, having the same desire, and turned up the volume on the translator to ensure I caught any ambient conversation.
"Hey, Latias, where the hell are you?" Jack yelled, clearly not interested in the same degree of precision as I. "Latias, come on, I want to get out of this asshole of a city!"
"Have you any subtlety at all?" I asked, pushing past him. "Rembrandt?" I asked simply. I waited a moment for the response, but found none.
"Where have they gone?" I wondered. "How far into the forest could they have gone?"
"Apparently, pretty far in," Jack said, looking around for any sign. "Damn it, they really went in here."
"Perhaps they are not in the forest at all. They may very well have left some time ago."
Jack halted, considering this possibility. After a while, he simply said "Shit," and turned around. I followed, hoping I was right.
()()()
"Okay, that didn't work," Jack said, walking back to the old man. "Did you see them go anywhere else after they went into the forest?"
"Why, yes, actually, I forgot to mention. They came back out after a few minutes holding some berries and went right over there." He turned around on his seat and pointed behind him, and lo, there were Rembrandt and the Latias, chatting away in front of a sizable crowd of people.
"…We are quite stupid, aren't we?" I asked Jack.
"...Goddamnit," Jack muttered, running over.
"Say, would you like my translator?" I offered, following after him. He turned to face me, staring at me.
"Fine," he said. I took them out of my ear and handed them to him. He quickly placed him into his ears and walked over to his Latias. Getting closer, he stopped, evidently hearing Pokémon talk in English for the first time. Stopping for a few more moments, he finally said "Holy shit!" and pulled out his Pokeball, pushing away the crowd and recalling the Latias at last. The crowd dispersed, making noticeable sounds of great disappointment, and Rembrandt glared at him.
"Hey, come on, I've been out for, like, an hour. I need to get out of here."
I could not tell what Rembrandt then said, but given that Jack then yelled, "Well, fuck you too!" I can guess it was that he stated.
Jack walked back to me, visibly displeased, and handed back the translators. "I guess they do work. That Latias is still gonna steal the show, though."
"I am sure she will. A fine specimen, and a fine…well, attempt at a battle, I suppose."
He shrugged. "I guess it was alright before it went to shit. Thank you."
Jack held out his hand, and I decided to shake it as a show of good faith. We nodded at each other, and then he walked off, leaving me alone outside of the gym.
"Did you find him?" Anne asked, walking up next to me.
"Uh…yes, right over there." I went over to retrieve Rembrandt, now thinking about what would happen when we finally got to Unova. I had no doubt that, no matter what, it would certainly be interesting…