Short chapter today, my writing program has been acting up and I want to get it fixed before I continue with the story.
Chapter 10: Team Galactic
I quickly ran over to the group, sliding to a stop next to Dawn. "Hold on, two against one isn't fair at all!" I said in what I assumed was a smooth voice. Sora landed in front of me next to Lizbeth. "Yeah, back off!" she cried, though nobody but Lizbeth and I understood her. The two grunts took a step back, clearly concerned by these new developments.
Dawn, meanwhile, was ecstatic. "Thank Arceus you showed up Nick!" she said. "I didn't think Lizbeth and I could have held them off for very long." The water-type glanced up at her trainer, an offended look on her face. "Not that you aren't the best Lizbeth!" Dawn quickly backpedaled. "But, I mean, we were outnumbered."
Rowan merely stared at me, gray eyes cold. "How's your team coming young man?" he asked gruffly. I flinched, remembering his harsh words, and the death that had followed shortly after. "Fine." I answered curtly, bringing my attention back to the criminals in front of me. Rowan's stare never left me. If anything, his eyes turned colder.
"Anyway, let's get back to these two assholes." I said. "What's your problem? Trying to rob an old man and a girl? That's low."
The grunts took exception to my continued insults. "Shut your mouth boy!" one shouted. "It doesn't matter if you have two trainers or a thousand, Team Galactic isn't gonna loose to you!" He grabbed a pokeball off of his belt and released a Stunky. The purple skunk pokemon had white markings over it's eyes and back, and bared it's fangs at the two bird pokemon.
"That's right, we're unstoppable!" the other grunt shouted, seeming like he was encouraging himself more than threatening us. He sent out his own pokemon, a Glameow. The cat pokemon looked over it's opponents, a bored expression on its face.
I decided to make the first move. "Sora, Wing Attack! Target the Glameow!" I cried. The large bird took to the air, circling around shortly before flying at the gray cat with incredible speed, her wings glowing white.
Just before impact, I heard a bark of "Use Fake Out to intercept!" and watched helplessly as the Stunky came out of nowhere, stepping between Sora and the Glameow. The little skunk stood on it's hind legs, clapping it's front paws together. A shock wave crashed out from his paws The shock-wave slammed into Sora, doing minimal damage, but stopping her in her tracks. She hovered for a second before flying back into the air.
"Okay Glameow, let's get in there too! Fury Swipes!" the other grunt commanded. The thin cat leaped forward, slashing Lizbeth, the only opponent within reach with its claws. It landed 3 quick blows before retreating, neatly dodging a counterstrike from the Piplup.
"Hang in there Lizbeth, use Water Gun!" Dawn ordered. Lizbeth let loose a jet of water, knocking the Glameow back several feet. The cat didn't like getting wet as much as the next cat and howled and cried, shaking itself off as best it could. "Hey!" the grunt shouted. "Quit your whining! Get back in there and finish this!" The cat hissed at its trainer, but obeyed, slinking back into the fray.
Meanwhile, Sora had come back around, deciding without my commands to take the fight to the Stunky that had blocked her attack earlier. The Quick Attack hit home, Sora's body slamming into Stunky's side. The Glameow moved to intercept Sora as she took to the sky again, but Lizbeth blocked her with a powerful Pound attack, punching the cat right in the jaw.
Sora wheeled around again, wings glowing with another Wing Attack. The Stunky steadied itself, and rolled at the last minute, trying to dodge the attack. It wasn't fast enough though, and Sora adjusted her trajectory, homing in on her target. The attack nailed the poison-type, knocking him back. However, the change in direction threw Sora off balance, and she tumbled to the ground.
Team Galactic took advantage of this immediately. "Stunky, use Fury Swipes now!" the grunt roared. Stunky leaped forward, claws flashing as he ripped and tore at Sora.
"Get away from her!" Dawn shouted. Lizbeth charged forward, intent on removing the Stunky from her friend, but the Glameow got in the way again. The Piplup chirped something fierce, nailing the gray cat with a vicious Pound attack. When she reached Sora, she drew back her fist for another Pound, but the Stunky jumped out of the way, backing off.
I watched, amazed as Sora got to her feet. "Are you okay girl?" I asked, stepping over and checking for injuries. Surprisingly, there weren't any serious wounds. I looked at her curiously for answers.
"His attacks were weak." she said simply. "I can finish this." I nodded and stepped back, giving her room. "Sora, Quick Attack!" I said. Sora flew forward with incredible speed, tackling the Stunky before he even knew what was happening. The purple pokemon slid back across the path, before lying still, fainted. I turned my attention to the Glameow and discovered, to my astonishment, that the Pound attack from Lizbeth earlier had knocked it out cold.
The grunts seemed to notice this too. They were seething, faces red with rage. "Unacceptable!" the lead grunt cried. "How can Team Galactic loose to a couple of useless trainers like you!?" he recalled his Stunky as his partner did the same. "You may have won this time but mark my words, we'll still succeed. Team Plasma will not fail!" he announced, running off into the distance, partner close behind. I had to fight the urge to say something witty after them, but I didn't want to sound like a corny action movie star.
Instead, I turned to face Dawn and Rowan. Dawn was busy fussing over Lizbeth, who wasn't even wounded. Rowan continued to stare at me. "What?" I asked, annoyed at the constant gaze.
The older man snorted, a halfway attempt at a chuckle. "It's interesting to watch you in battle Nuzlocker." he stated. I stared, trying to find the meaning of his words when a gasp interrupted my thoughts.
"No! Nick you aren't...?" Dawn asked, clearly upset by this revelation. Sheepishly, I took the glove off my right hand, showing her the mark. Sora lifted her wing, showing her own mark as well. Dawn's eyes widened. "I can't believe this!" she yelled suddenly, getting to her feet. I was taken aback by the sudden change in attitude from her. When the hell did Dawn become so aggressive? I thought.
"How can you do that! Put your pokemon's lives in danger, for what!? A stupid challenge that no one will remember you for!? The way you battle, it's to reckless! Sora could have died there if Lizbeth hadn't knocked the Stunky away from her! How would you have felt then!? Answer me!" Dawn shouted, each word increasing in volume until she was practically screaming at me. She paused after the tirade to catch her breath and I took the opportunity to defend myself.
"I'm going to answer the easiest question first." I said. "I didn't react to the Stunky's attack because I knew Sora was tougher than that. I checked to make sure she was okay, and look, she's fine. As for the second question, how would I have felt? I would feel terrible. I didn't want any of my team to die."
Rowan's eyes narrowed. "I couldn't help but notice you used the word "didn't" there." he growled. Dawn suddenly looked conflicted, face torn between anger at me and sadness for the dead pokemon. I hesitated form answering, remembering his lecture from the Lab. Rowan seemed to notice this. "Would it have anything to do with the new sign in Route 201?"
I took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. That was Brittany, my first Bidoof." I said. "I haven't lost anyone since, I'm being careful." I said.
Rowan shook his head. "Being careful would have been never accepting the challenge in the first place!" he roared. "If the pokemon league would allow it, I would take back the Turtwig I gave you and all the pokemon you've caught since!" I glared at the professor, taking a defensive stance. To my surprise, Sora stepped between us and spread her wings, protecting me.
"Who are you to take us away form him!" she cried. "He may not be the best trainer in the world, but he's trying his best to take care of us! In the wild, we have to fight every day for our survival. How is that any different from this challenge? I know that some pokemon have it easy, like Franklin and Lizbeth there, but just because there's extra risk in our journey does not make it any worse than yours!"
Rowan and Dawn stared at the Staravia, clearly not hearing a word she said. I sighed and quickly translated. That got me a couple of confused looks. "It's the mark. It let's me understand pokemon language. Only my pokemon though." I explained.
Rowan's eyes softened slightly. "Let me see the Turtwig." he said suddenly. I hesitated slightly, then gave in, returning Sora and releasing Franklin. He looked around, getting his bearings, when his eyes landed on Rowan. "Professor!" he shouted gleefully, running up to the old man and nudging his leg. "I haven't seen you in forever!"
"Hello Turtwig, or should I call you Franklin now?" Rowan asked, kneeling down to pet the turtle. His rough demeanor evaporating when faced with the pokemon he raised for so long. It was hard not to see him as a kind old man when he talked to Franklin. "I want to ask you something and I'll need your trainer to translate for me okay?" he asked. Franklin nodded, showing he understood. "Good. Franklin, are you happy with Nick, knowing the risk of his challenge?"
My heart sank. I remembered the conversation the team had had last night, and Franklin's problems today about finding what makes him happy. What if he gives the wrong answer? Should I lie? No, that won't work... my mind raced to find a way out of this situation. Franklin's answer pulled my back to reality.
"Yep!" he said without hesitation, nodding to make sure Rowan understood. The Professor nodded, getting to his feet. "That's all I needed to hear. Dawn!" he barked suddenly. "We're going back to Jublife. I need to report Team Galactic to the authorities." he said, already walking down the path to the city. Dawn looked conflicted, like she still wanted to chew me out for being a Nuzlocker, but she relented, recalling Lizbeth and jogging to catch up to Rowan's longer stride.
I watched them go for a short while before looking down at Franklin. "Did you really mean that?" I asked. "That you're happy traveling with me?"
The grass-type nodded again. "Uh-huh. I thought about it while I was in the pokeball. I decided that I want to travel the world with you. That's my goal." he said.
I grinned. "That's a lofty goal." I teased, moving down the path toward Jagged Pass. "You'll have to work hard to achieve that."
Franklin looked up at me, confused. "Why do I have to work hard?" he asked.
My grin widened. "Cause maybe I want to travel with Mufasa. Maybe I want the strongest on my team to be my traveling partner." I winked at him to let him know I was kidding.
Franklin grinned in return. "Then I'll just have to be your strongest pokemon!" he shouted gleefully. We laughed and took off down the path, ready for any challenge that awaited us.
We had no idea what was coming.