Chapter 5: I Know That Guy!

The next day, Philip couldn't concentrate on his job after being at Amelia's apartment. He would always catch himself staring off as he thought more and more about her, and every time he would shake his head in frustration. It's been going on for a long time that even John began to notice. John was getting worried, wondering why Philip was worked up for what seems like nothing. He decided to confront him at once.

"Hey," John said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Philip nodded, wondering what was concerning him as they both went to the back of the store. John's face now showed true concern, which got Philip's curiosity even more.

"I've noticed that you're acting a bit strange today," John said. "You would gaze out and then get mad or something." He then put a hand on Philip's shoulder. "If there's something bothering you, you know you can tell me what it is."

Philip now understood what he was so worried about and blushed a bit from embarrassment. "Oh, that," he said. "Don't worry about it; it's…nothing." John didn't believe him at all. Then Philip added, "I guess it's sort of a… y'know, girl problem…"

Hearing this, the little Foongus's eyes lit up and smiled. "Ohhh…" he said. "For a second there, I thought it was something bad! *chuckle*" Philip blushed a deeper shade of red and smirked a little. He felt like he was back in grade school, when sharing small secrets with a friend was exciting.

"Well," John said, raising an eyebrow as he nudged the Karrablast playfully, "What's her name?"

"…Amelia," Philip said, almost pronouncing every syllable clearly and delicately. In an instant he remembered her never-blinking glowing amber eyes, and his heart rate began to speed up. John smiled from ear to ear. "Oh-h!" he said excitedly. "Tell me all about her!"

They spent a good ten minutes talking about how Philip met Amelia. There were a lot of excited responses from John, like "Ooh!" and "Oh!" and "Ahhh…". John was really intrigued by this sudden love story.

When Philip and John were laughing, Philip took a peak out the window and immediately stopped laughing. He froze in place, staring at the figure on the other side of the window. John noticed how tense his friend was getting and followed where he was staring at. He saw a mean-looking Krookodile wearing a black tip hat and a heavy black coat strolling by with his claws in his pockets. He seemed to be whistling a tune from an oldies radio station.

"What's wrong, Philip?" John said worriedly after a long period of silence. Philip now had a deep frown built on his face. "…I know that guy…" he whispered, still looking at the window where the Krookodile had been.

"…What?"

"I know that guy. I know that guy. I KNOW THAT GUY!" Philip was spilling out his anger uncontrollably, his tiny paws clenched into tight fists. John was terrified. He had never seen him like that. "Calm down! You're scaring me!" John cried, trying to grab Philip's shoulders.

Philip's heavy breathing began to ease when he saw his friend's worry. "I'm sorry," he quickly said. "But that guy… is Gold Rush." John's mouth opened in shock, but before he could respond, he saw Philip hurrying to get out.

"Wait! What are you doing!?"

"I can't let him get away this time! He has to pay!"

"But that guy can beat you up easily!"

"But I just can't let him go this time!"

"..B-but…"

John didn't know what else to say, but either way it was too late; Philip was already out of the store. I hope he's going to be okay, he thought as he sat behind the front counter, nothing left to do but worry.

…

Philip followed Gold Rush almost all the way to the other side of town. Since he was a small guy, he could easily hide from him if he was suspicious that someone was following him. Philip was unsure of doing this, but there was something else that told him this was now or never.

He was now hiding behind a wall, peeking at his enemy with watchful eyes as he knocks on a door in an alleyway. Philip leans a little closer to hear a conversation.

*knock knock*

"Password?"

"Pikurusu."

The blue steel door opened for the Krookodile, and he immediately went inside. Once he completely disappeared, the door closed quietly, making a small clicking noise.

Pickle? That was the password? Philip thought. That's lame. Philip, now deciding it was a good time to go back to the store and plot out his next move, turned around to find two big figures standing in his way. He looked up to see a Tyranitar and a Dragonite wearing black tip hats sneering down at him.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Tyranitar said.

"Looks like we got a trespasser," Dragonite growled.

"What should we do with it, then?"

"Let's ask for a third opinion."

Dragonite's Dragon Claw knocked Philip out cold. All he could see was darkness. He thought he was dead for sure.

After what seemed like hours, Philip woke up to a throbbing pain on the side of his head. He rubbed it gently, letting out a slight moan of pain. Then his surroundings caught his attention; he didn't recognize the place at all. He found himself lying down on the cold concrete floor in what seemed like a room. It was dark except for a dim light bulb hanging around loosely from a wire attached to the ceiling. He looked around and didn't see anything until he saw a pair of eyes staring at him from the dark shadows. The figure stepped out and revealed itself to be a black tip hat-wearing Scrafty. He looked stronger than other Scrafty that Philip has seen, and this intimidated him.

The Scrafty began to walk slowly around Philip. "So, we got a trespasser here, eh?" he said. "How interesting…" The Scrafty stopped and turned to face Philip. "Why are you here, hm? You want somethin' or what?" Scrafty stooped over Philip and brought his face closer to his. "Well you're in the wrong place, see. This is our turf, and you ain't got nothin' to do here. We make the rules around here, and you're about to find out what we do to Pokemon like you." Philip gulped loudly at Scrafty's face. He suddenly regretted thinking about coming here.

Scrafty dropped Philip from his grasp and began to walk away. He snapped his fingers in the air. "Show him the way out, boys," he requested as he disappeared into the darkness. Then, the Tyranitar and the Dragonite from earlier came out from the shadows and smiled evil-like at Philip, thinking about what they're going to do to him.

Philip stood up slowly, rubbing the side of his head again while holding his stance. He had to defend himself; he got himself into this mess, so he needs to try to get out of it.

Tyranitar first used Crunch, biting Philip's arm. Then Dragonite followed by using Aqua Tail, completely catching him off guard and fell with a loud thump. Philip was in even more pain, but he didn't want to give up that easily. He then used Headbutt, which got Tyranitar from behind. Tyranitar was not really affected by it, and then continued to use Payback. Philip let out a harsh cry of pain as he collapsed on the ground. Dragonite had no sympathy when he used Dragon Rush on the now drained Karrablast. A violent shock of pain overtook Philip as he yelled some more. Then his eyesight blurred and went into deep unconsciousness.

Tyranitar and Dragonite smirked and high-fived each other. "Let's get rid of him," Tyranitar said. Dragonite nodded as they both took Philip's unconscious body towards the exit. They took him towards the garbage can located against the wall where Philip was hiding earlier and put him inside. The two bad Pokemon cackled in an evil manner as they walked back to their lair, satisfied on another job well done. Philip thought he would never see the sun rise again – or Amelia's lavender flame waving in the air.

…

John was getting really worried. It was six o' clock in the afternoon and Philip hasn't returned yet. He was pacing around nervously, thinking up all the possible places he could be at, until the opening of the door caught his attention.

It was Amelia, who was looking around the room, completely ignoring John. She came to visit Philip and invite him over for some tea later. John waited a few moments before answering. "Hi!" he said. "Can I help you?"

Amelia looked at him, wondering who he was. "Hi," she answered politely. "Is Philip here? I'm his friend, Amelia." John's face lit up, excited that he finally met Philip's crush. "Oh, yes! Philip has told me about you!" he smiled. Amelia was surprised. "He has?" she asked, curious and touched at the same time. She somehow felt… special.

"He sure has!" John said. Then he immediately went back to his worried state. "Unfortunately, he's not here right now. In fact, he hasn't been here all afternoon! He went after this guy, saying he recognized him because it was the guy that burned his sto-'' John quickly covered his mouth, remembering that that topic was a private matter.

Now Amelia wanted to know. "Burned his what?" she asked suspiciously. John's eyes opened wide, knowing that he was a terrible liar and wouldn't get out of this situation without spilling the beans.

"…I-I don't know if I should tell you…" he said, hoping she'd understand. But she didn't; she wanted to know everything. "Please tell me," she said. "I'm his friend, too, and this is starting to get me worried. Please, I need to know." Her amber eyes flickered, reflecting an emotion of hurt taking over her. John noticed the flickering of her eyes and his conscience was swirling his mind, making him unsure on what to do. But, he thought, she might help me look for him. She is his friend, and Philip cares a lot about her…

John sighed. "Okay. I'll tell you everything I know…"

…

Amelia couldn't believe what Philip has been through. And here she was, thinking that her life was a horrible mess. She now understood Philip much more, and was thankful that John was able to share his information with her.

"Poor Philip…" was all she managed to say, wiping off her tears from hearing Philip's back story. John put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her as he gave her a tissue. Amelia thanked him and dabbed around her eyes with it.

John began to pace again. "Now, the question is where to find Philip. He never told me where he was going…" John rubbed his chin, thinking as hard as he can where he could possibly locate his lost friend.

Amelia did some thinking of her own. She remembered that John described the Krookodile wearing a tip hat. "John?" she asked. "Did you say he was wearing a black tip hat?" John nodded, wondering how good was that going to do to find Philip.

Amelia jumped off from her chair in newfound excitement. "That's it! He's probably at the Tipper's lair!" John raised an eyebrow, wondering how she knew that. As if she understood his expression, Amelia smiled shyly. "I unfortunately have trouble with gangs," she explained. John nodded, taking it as a normal response.

"Do you know where their hideout is at?"

"Yes. It is about five to six blocks from here."

"Perfect! Let's go!"

John locked up the store with Philip's key copy, making sure he had the "Open" sign switched to "Closed". He turned towards Amelia, smiling nervously, for they were off on a journey to find their dear friend… wherever he might be.