J
Weaving in and out of people, I finally made it to the dock. Then I stopped in my tracks. Teddy ran straight into the back of my legs, but I didn't notice. Sweet guitar chords were floating through the air. Hardly anyone seemed like they could hear it. How that was possible was beyond me. And then I heard his voice.
"Breathe out, so I can breathe you in, hold you in." I walked on further until I saw him. He held a guitar in his hands, his fingers lazily strumming the strings, as if he'd played this song a hundred times. "And now I know you've always been, out of your head. Out of my head I sang…"
"And I wonder, when I sing along with you," I murmured along with his voice, so quietly I could barely hear myself. "If anything could ever feel this real forever."
He continued singing, but I felt my voice die. I'd heard the song from somewhere, a long time ago. Maybe from Max. But for some reason shivers ran along my arms. I was wondering whether to stay and listen or approach him, when Zed happened to glance my way. Our eyes met, and for a brief second, there was…something. Like mutual understanding, only more powerful.
Taking a deep breath, I walked over to him and smiled. "You're quite the musician aren't you?"
Z
"The only thing I'll ever ask of you, you've got to promise not to stop when I say 'when'…" I ended the song with a Gsus2 chord; I could never remember how the song actually ended, whether it was a Gsus2 or a G5, but the way I did it always sounded interesting and unresolved. When the strings stopped their vibrations, I looked up to the throng filing out; there, Jamie stood staring with soft eyes, and a soft Teddiursa clung cutely to her legs. I waved her over with my head, a motion that looks more like a tic of Tourette's than anything, but it gets the job done.
She said with a faint smile, "You're quite the musician aren't you?"
I exhaled and chuckled a little. "It's more of a hobby than anything; I don't think I need a label like 'musician' until I know for sure what I want to put into life…" I sighed. "I dunno. Well anyway, I looked a map of Vermillion, and there should be a park suitable for battling a few blocks down…shall we?" I slung my guitar around to my back and turned the direction that the crowd of departing passengers walked. "I hope you're ready for a thorough bluffing!"
J
A hobby. Either Zed was extremely modest, or he was extremely modest. While I hadn't been around many musicians, I knew talent when I heard it. The boy was something special and he didn't even know it. I smiled to myself as I followed behind him. I could fiddle around with my TouchKey and create simple melodies, but his skills were raw talent.
"…ready for a thorough bluffing!" I bit my lip as we continued walking. Soon a lush, green park came into view. Several other trainers were scattered throughout the place, engaged in their own battles. I figured I might as well confess before things got under way.
"Um…Zed?" I wrung my hands and waited until I had his attention. "Well…truth is…I've actually never battled against another trainer before."
BATTLE! Zed vs. Jamie
"…I've actually never battled against another trainer before."
"Really? Well, I'm honored to be your first!" I said with a grin. We put about forty feet of space between each other and readied our first Pokemon.
From Jamie's side, "Go Poliwhirl!"
"Thoreau!" The big old turtle with the landmass on his back looked down upon the Poliwhirl; I was confident. "This should be cake! Use To-"
"Ice Beam!" the clever girl shouted, and the blue swirly creature blasted a bright blue-tint beam of sheer cold out of its…uhh…mouth? Thoreau took heavy damage, but stood his ground and roared. I cried, "Ok, now use Toxic!" A poisonous sludge shot out of Torterra's mouth, pelting the foe in the face. Man, I wouldn't want to get hit by that…Antidote smells awful.
"Do it again Poliwhirl! Hang in there!" Another Ice Beam; only this time, Thoreau's constitution had faded. Darn…hope there's a Pokemon Center in town. I sent out another Grass-type, my Victreebel Quasimodo; I hoped to whittle away health slowly, and maybe give her a slight advantage a little bit. Once again, her Poliwhirl had a speed advantage, and used yet another Ice Beam, pummeling Quasimodo. But this time, I decided to take to the offensive first. "Ok, use Bullet Seed!" Victreebel fired hundreds of seeds out of his enormous mouth, instantly knocking out the Poliwhirl. "That worked," I chided.
"Oh that was nothing…go, Dewott!" In a flash of light, an adorable blue otter-like Pokemon appeared. Somehow or another, my Victreebel managed to fire off another few hundred founds of seeds, badly damaging the Dewott. After a few moments, the Dewott got up, and her master called out "Hydro Pump!" Uh-oh. Gallons of water burst from the relatively diminutive creature, and Quasimodo was blown away. "Looks like your Victreebel was…overwatered," Jamie punned. Oh, she's good. I let out a slightly exasperated sigh and lobbed out my Meditite. "Go, Tzu! Use Drain Punch!" When the brightness of the Pokeball faded, my Meditite landed a glowing fist upon the opponent, knocking it out. "Oh darn," Jamie breathed; she hesitated a bit, giving time for a Teddiursa to break out of its Pokeball. "Umm…that works! Go Teddy!" Jamie grinned as the bear growled adorably. My Meditite took a brief moment to gather his stamina, using Bulk Up. In a sudden dash, Teddy dashed forward and beat the living snot out of Tzu, in the devastating Close Combat; somehow, the Meditite seemed unfazed, and attacked with another Drain Punch at my discretion, one-shotting the bear. I kinda felt bad…but not really.
"Go, Ponyta!" Oh damn, I suck against Fire-types. Please don't use something powerful like Fire B- "Use Fire Blast!" Shit…Well at least it was beautiful attack; the horse shot a jet of flame not unlike Hydro Pump out of its mouth and snout, and upon connecting with my Meditite, it burst into five different directions. Magnifecent, but devastating. "Tzu! Use Calm Mind, and don't give up!" But he was on his last legs. He crossed his legs and hovered lightly, but another Fire Blast rushed in and wiped him out. I thought fast for a good alternative to this beast…
"Your turn Hobbes!" My little Deino jumped out of the Pokeball's aura. At the very least, he was resistant to fire. Ponyta once again used Fire Blast, but it wasn't nearly as devastating as it had been; I called my Deino to use Thunder Wave, and in an electromagnetic pulse, the foe was stunned. Next, having a speed advantage, the little dragon called forth energy meteors from the sky, quite an impressive and non-dragon-like feat. Ponyta returned fire (heh, fire puns) by galloping to Hobbes and striking with a tail incased in iron. We were really about the power plays now. Hobbes once again used Draco Meteor, but his weakness was starting to show; fortunately, the Ponyta's weakness showed first, as she collapsed.
Jamie then sent out a Sableye, one of the most dastardly Pokemon ever created; they have no weaknesses, and to a guy like me who likes to exploit weaknesses in battle, it's quite a frustrating feature. Sableye started off with Will-O-Wisp, but it missed…oops. I began to use the same strategy I used against her Ponyta, paralyzing with Thunder Wave, then calling forth Draco Meteor in the next turn; however, using the devastating attack had run Deino's stats ragged, and the meteors glanced right off the odd skin of Sableye. It countered with a might electricity-infused punch, staggering the tiny dragon. "Ok, what the hell, use Fire Fang!" Deino sprinted to the foe, its mouth ablaze, and bit hard onto the Sableye's skinny arm; but with an order from Jamie, Sableye's eyes glowed bright black (bright…black..) and Hobbes was sent flying, unconscious.
"Here's a familiar face, Morgana!" I was running low on Pokemon, but I was saving my best for last…it's a good strategy, trust me. Unfortunately, the Sableye tried to use Will-O-Wisp again, and it worked, my Natu now suffered burns! Not a fan of burns at all; I decided to use U-Turn and send in the big guns, my Luxray! Tesla promptly sent a large wave of lightning discharge at his foe, who countered with another Dark Pulse; Jamie started to look very worried. In what looked like a last-ditch effort, she recalled her Sableye and sent in her Pidgeotto, a formidable foe, from what I could tell. Tesla used Discharge once again, and it dropped like a stone...I was legitimately disappoint, I really wanted to see how the great bird would fare in battle. Sableye was sent out once again, and with yet another discharge, this final foe was sent packing!
Humble in victory, I approached Jamie with an outstretched hand. "Wow, that Sableye gave me a run for my money! That was so fun, and you did great for your first time!" I grinned as naturally as I could, but the awkwardness was still there. "We should head to a Pokemon Center and get our friends fixed up!"
J
For a moment I could only stare at Zed's outstretched hand. I'd lost. Every one of my Pokemon, beaten. A sting of worthlessness pierced my heart for a second, but I pushed it away. Even my precious Pidgeotto had been beaten in one attack. I studied the guy in front of me. Before the battle, he'd acted like he was just mediocre. Was that to catch me off guard? But as he grinned crookedly at me, I knew that wasn't the case. And if I pushed my pride away for a moment, I could feel….exhilaration. It was my first battle, and I'd lost. But I'd had fun.
I took Zed's hand in mine, his skin feeling warm and foreign to mine. "Yeah we should. I was too overconfident; your Tesla blew me away." That was probably Zed's most dangerous Pokemon. It took a lot of training for a Pokemon to be that strong. I let go of his hand.
"Hey, um, where were you planning to stay tonight?" I held my breath.