Chapter 8: A Mankey's Rage
The man behind the counter at the Poké Mart sits back, propping his feet up on the counter pulling a magazine from the rack behind him and starts reading it. He is a young man that looks to be about the same age as Michio. He has short brown hair that is spiked up in the front. He chews his bubble gum, blowing bubbles, and popping it loudly. His ears perk up as he overhears the conversation of the teenagers in his store.
"I said nothing happened." Rina says as she looks through the shelves for Pokémon food.
"But they said-" Michio starts.
"I don't care what they said. Nothing happened." Her face turns irritated as she flashes him a glare.
She finally picks up a small bag of Pokémon food and treats. She takes them up to the counter and sets them down. The man behind the counter peers over his magazine glancing at the food on the counter. His feet drop from the counter as he sits up setting the magazine on the counter. Rina glances down at it noticing the half naked girl on the cover. A disgusted look forms on her face as he starts ringing her up.
"Okay. The total is 400 Pokédollars." He looks up at her making eye contact. His green eyes shine like emeralds as they peer into her pools of blue. He smiles and says, "You know, since you're such a pretty girl, this one will be on the house." He bags up her items and hands them to her.
She blushes as she takes her bag from him, "I'm not pretty."
He holds her hand in his, "Yes, you are. You know, you're friends mentioned earlier that you guys were on a journey. You all should stay here for the night. We are hosting a ghost hunt tonight. It will be fun. Plus, you can always stay with me. Granted, I only have two bedrooms so you may have to room with me."
As Michio opens his mouth to start telling off this guy, a book flies across the room and hits the guy behind the counter in the head causing him to fall backwards. A short girl with long, blonde hair steps out from the back room. Her hair is pulled back in straight pigtails, her hair curling at the end. Her blue, no sleeve dress reaches just above her knees showing off her white over the knee high socks. She swiftly crosses the room and steps behind the counter.
"I leave you alone for an hour and you're already hitting on girls. You have some issues, Ryo-Niichan." She looks at her customers and bows her head, "Gomen nasai. Niichan is a stupid idiot. Ignore him, please." She smiles as she kicks her brother in the side. He lets out a yelp in pain as she smiles even brighter.
Daisuke's eyes sparkle as he looks over the girl in front of him. He takes her hand in his and looks into her crystal blue eyes. "You're so pretty."
She giggles, "Why, thank you!" She starts to blush.
"I'm glad to see you're not one of those girls that stuffs their bras with Pokéballs."
She glances down at her lack of large breasts as her eyes turn red with anger. She snatches her hand from his and crosses her arms over her chest. She turns her back to him and examines the area around her. She picks up the entire magazine rack, turning back around, and throws it at him hitting him square in the face causing him to fall back and land onto a shelf.
"Hmph. Take that you jerk."
"That's what you get for being flat chested." Her brother says as he grips the counter using it to hoist himself off the floor. The girl kicks him again causing him to yell out in pain again.
Rina sighs while Seiji places his face in his hands in disbelief. Daisuke's Eevee walks over to him, kicking random Pokémon food and objects out of her way. She hops on top of him as he lies there unconscious. The rest of the group goes to him helping him up out of the wreckage underneath and around him. Rina kneels down pulling the a first aid kit out of her bag looking for the smelling salts she keeps for emergencies. Trixie starts smacking Daisuke in the face full force with her small paws. After a few hits, his eyes slowly start to open. He looks around the room as he sits up holding his head in his hand.
Rina looks up from her first aid kit, tossing everything back in. "That saved me some trouble." She places it back in her bag and stands back up. "By the way, I didn't know you had a thing for the lolita type."
He looks up at her with an unamused look on his face. Seiji holds out his hand to his younger brother sitting up on the floor. Daisuke takes his hand and slowly stands up as the younger girl looks at them angrily. Rina bows slightly to her and apologizes for the mess. She offers to help the girl clean it up when she shakes her head and tells them that it is fine. She thanks them for their purchase and asks them nicely to leave as she sticks her tongue out at Daisuke. The blonde calls him a jerk under breath as the group leaves the store.
"Hmph. That baka. He needs to learn some manners." She hits her brother on the head with the pornographic magazine he was looking at earlier.
"Ouch! Hey. I didn't say anything this time." He cringes and pulls back as she starts moving towards him.
She hops over the counter and grabs the broom and dustpan to clean up some of the mess on the floor. Over her shoulder she responds, "You were thinking it!"
After minutes of them cleaning the store, they hear the bell above the door go off. They both look to see no one at the door. They look at each and shrug as they continue to clean the large pile in front of them. A loud noise is heard in the back room followed by a woman's voice cursing at random inanimate objects. The door to the back opens up and a woman covered in dirt comes through the door.
The blonde girl looks over at her and smiles excitedly, "Izumi-senpai!" She throws her broom at her brother and runs up to the older woman.
"Ai-chan, I need your help with something." She says as she reaches past the younger girl and grabs a towel from the shelf which she uses to wipe off her face.
"Anything for you, Izumi-senpai!" Her eyes sparkle brightly as she looks up at her mentor.
"First, I'm going downstairs to take a shower. Second, I need a disguise." She puts the now dirty towel back on the shelf.
"You got it!" Ai says as they leave the room and go down stairs.
"Hey! You can't leave me to clean this mess up by myself!" He lets out a breath of air in anger. "Damn bitch."
A few moments of silence follow his statement. He hears loud footsteps coming from the stairs. Ai stands in the doorway as she picks up and throws a mop bucket and a mop at him. He catches the mop in his left hand but the mop bucket hits him square in the face.
"I heard that! You can handle this by yourself. Hmph." She runs back down the stairs as Ryo lies on the ground dizzy.
~Outside the Shop~
"So, what do we want to do? We can always Teleport to the first major city." Rina says as she pets Vixy as she sits in her arms.
"Well, you only have two Pokémon. You should go train in the woods between here and there. Plus, you may find a Pokémon that you like." Michio crosses his arms in front of his chest as he looks down the pathway outside of town.
"This is true. Plus, maybe Seiji-kun and Daisuke-kun will find Pokémon they like."
Seiji and Daisuke nod in agreeance.
"Well, it's settled then. We can go wander around in the forest for a while and see what we find." Michio grips his bag and starts walking ahead of the ground down the dirt pathway.
"Don't leave me!" Rina fast walks to catch up to him, Seiji and Daisuke following behind her.
They walk down the dirt road leading outside the city, looking around at their surroundings hoping to spot some Pokémon amongst the trees. The sounds of Pokémon start to fill the air the further they get away from town. They travel for an hour without seeing anything cross their paths. Seiji and Daisuke exchange casual conversation talking about the latest episode of their favorite television show. Michio notices something ahead of them and comes to a halt. Everyone else stops behind him as his eyes focus, and he notices a girl ahead of them.
She smiles and waves as she walks up to them. Her long, auburn hair flows in the breeze as she holds her red skirt down. Her hair contains a single red bow on the side pulling her bangs out of her face. She is dressed in a white blouse covered by a blue sleeveless vest that matches her blue knee high socks. Her brown shoes looked like those of a school girl. Her eyes are a dark brown that is brought out by her eye shadow. Her lips are a shiny pink. She walks right up to Rina and smiles brightly.
"Umm...hi?" Rina says in a confused tone.
"We made eye contact. We have to battle." She says as she pulls a Pokéball from her belt.
"Is she serious?" Rina looks up to Michio who nods and tells her that those are the rules. "Oh. Wow. Okay." She turns back to the girl. "But, I'm not very good at battling yet. I just started my journey."
"Don't worry. I'm training right now too. I go to the prestigious Pokémon Academy. I don't have very good grades though. I've been battling people trying to get better. Everyone keeps defeating me though." She responds in a sad tone of voice.
"Well, you'll probably defeat me. Is there a monetary value attached to this battle?"
"Oh, no. I have plenty of money. Daddy has lots of money. I'm here purely for practice." She gives Rina a sickening, sweet smile.
"I see…" She turns around and asks, "Do you think I should do it?"
"Sure! I think you'll do fine." Seiji says.
"I agree." Daisuke chimes in.
Michio looks down at her and ruffles the hair on the top of her head, "You'll do just fine. Go practice. You could use it. In fact, try with Rattata first. If we need to, we can always use Abra and go back to town to use the Pokémon Center again."
She faces her opponent again, "Okay. You're on."
"That's great! May the best one win!"
Both girls set up about twenty feet apart from each other. Rina releases her Rattata from his Pokéball as the other girl calls forth a small, green Pokémon with a black diamond on its back and a yellow feather sticking out of the top of its head. Rina pulls out her Pokédex and registers the entry.
"Gulpin, the Stomach Pokémon. Gulpin is able to swallow items of its own size whole, as its stomach compresses most of its body. Its unique stomach acid allows it to digest almost anything."
'A poison type Pokémon. I hope I have what it takes to handle the poison.' Rina bites down on her thumb nail as she thinks.
"Are you ready?" The girl calls out. Rina nods and she yells out, "Gulpin, use Poison Gas!"
Gulpin's mouth opens up as a black cloud starts filtering out of its mouth. The cloud of poison gas starts moving towards the group rapidly. The male members of the group start covering their faces with their t-shirts and informing their Pokémon to not breathe in as much of the gas as possible. Rina places her hand over her nose and mouth. She looks around noticing a gap in the gas.
"Rattata, run under the gas and use Quick Attack."
Rattata sprints forward with quick speed, coming in and out of the trainers' vision. He ducks under the gas holding his breath. A white trail of energy flows behind the Rattata as he slams into Gulpin knocking him back. Gulpin flies backwards, his mouth closing and the cloud of poison gas starts dissipating.
"Oh, no! Gulpin! Get up and use Pound on Rattata!" The brown haired girl yells.
Gulpin positions itself back up and lunges forward into Rattata. Rattata moves backwards to dodge but lands in a cloud of poison gas. He starts coughing as his legs start shaking.
"Rattata!"
The Rattata starts to glow a pale red color as his eyes start flashing red. He lunges forward and lands on top of Gulpin. He opens his mouth revealing his front two sharp teeth. He bites down on Gulpin and Gulpin starts to flail and knock him off.
"What's going on?" Rina asks as her Pokédex starts to blink and talk.
"Some Pokémon have special abilities. One of Rattata's special abilities is called Guts. This ability greatly increases Rattata's attack power when the Pokémon is suffering from a status ailment like poison. Also, some Pokémon won't listen to their trainers if they feel their trainer is too inexperienced."
A glare forms on her face, "Thank you, Pokédex."
Gulpin starts flailing around the battlefield in pain, trying to get the Rattata to come off.
"Let go of him, you meanie!" The girl yells.
"Rattata! Release him!"
Rattata's eyes dart to Rina, and he reluctantly releases his fang's grip on the Gulpin. He backs up a little bit then slams his head back into the Gulpin knocking it into its trainer's feet. Gulpin lies there unconscious. Rattata comes back to Rina and collapses at her feet. She leans down and picks him up feeling his body grow warmer with a fever.
She reaches in her bag and pulls out her first aid kit. She give the Rattata an Antidote her mother had packed for her the day before. Rattata starts to yawn and falls asleep after receiving the treatment. Rina sets Rattata on the ground in front of her and clicks her Pokéball. She tells Rattata to return to his Pokéball as a red light connects him to his ball. She stands back up and looks over at Vixy.
"You'll listen to me right girl?"
Vulpix barks and nods to her owner. They both look at the girl who is sitting with her Gulpin. She seems to be talking to it with an angry tone of voice but she's being quiet enough that the group can't really understand her. She stands up angrily and sends Gulpin back to its Pokéball. Her eyes dart over to Rina's and lock with hers.
"That can be considered a draw, I suppose. Both of our Pokémon are not fit to battle. Technically, yours didn't faint but that doesn't matter. Send out your next one. You won't beat my next one."
Vulpix jumps forward in front of Rina sniffing the air with a curious look on her face. The poisonous gas has completely dissipated from the air around the battlefield. Rina notices Vixy sniffing the air in confusion and asks her what she smells. The Vulpix barks to her owner in a confused tone saying she doesn't know. They both continue looking forward at the girl on the other end of the field. She brings out another Pokéball releasing a large yellow Pokémon that they have seen before.
"Victreebel! Show them who's the boss!"
Vines start shooting out of Victreebel's body grabbing onto the tiny Vulpix and wrapping around Rina. The girl starts to laugh menacingly as a trap releases underneath them and they fall into a net that hoists them up into a tree.
"Hey. This is cheating!" Rina yells out as she tries to pulls the vines off of her waist and legs. More vines grab a hold of her arms lifting her up into the air. She lets out a loud scream and continues to struggle.
"Sweety, Team Rocket never plays fair." She says as she smirks.
"Rina-chan!" Michio yells out from the net as he tries to move around. The net starts pushing into his skin causing indentions to form. His foot kicks Seiji in the back of the head causing him to yell out in pain. 'Dammit! I can't really move in here. I can't reach my Pokéballs.'
He notices a flash of light tan fur in his peripheral vision. The object slams into Victreebel knocking into its side causing it to fall to the ground. Rina lets out a high pitched yell followed by a high pitched bark from Vixy as the tentacles sling them both into the ground. Rina's head hits the ground with force as the tentacles release her from their grip. She rolls on the ground landing on her side facing Victreebel. Her vision goes blurry as she hears her name being called out. Her eyes slowly close as she mumbles Vixy and Michio's names, the sounds around her become muffled sounding like she is under water.
"Rina-chan!" Michio continues to yell out from the net frantically trying to reach any of his Pokéballs. His foot continues to connect with the back of Seiji's head.
A loud roar sounds causing everyone to stop and look down at the ground. His head still covered in a bandage, Mankey stands there as a red aura begins to form around his body. He looks down at Rina's still, limp body on the ground and roars again causing the Victreebel to scurry behind his trainer in fear. Mankey's eyes turn red as he pounds his chest with his brown hands. He glares at the woman and her Pokémon making shivers crawl up her spine.
"Victreebel! Use Leaf Storm on him!" She says trying to hold her composure.
Victreebel hesitates as the Mankey keeps glaring at him not blinking. Victreebel slides from behind his trainer as he waves his leaf arms and his yellow vine stands straight up into the air. He lets out a loud cry causing multiple leaves to gather around his body and begin to glow green. The leaves swirl around him forming a leaf tornado. The vine on his head and his leaf appendages point at the Mankey as the leaves fire forward like a cyclone.
Mankey jumps up as the leaves shoot past him, hitting the net cutting part of it open. Michio falls out of the hole and lands on the ground on his back. He winces as the hard ground hits his back and his tail bone. He looks up noticing the two brothers still tangled up in the net. He slowly sits up and rubs his lower back. He reaches on his side and grips one of his Pokéballs firmly in his hand. He clicks the white button in the middle releasing his Pidgeot.
"Pidgeot. Cut them down for me." He stands up completely and stumbles over to Rina as fast as he can. Vixy stands up and runs over to her trainer and friend. She paws at her face trying to wake the girl. Michio leans down and places one arm behind her knees and one underneath her shoulders. Vixy hops on top of Rina as he picks her up bridal style, Rina's legs dangling over his arm. Michio glares at the the woman in front of them as he watches the Mankey battle the Victreebel.
"Dammit! Aim better!" The girl yells out in anger.
Mankey runs up to the Victreebel as his rage begins to build even more. He ducks down, swiping his leg under Victreebel causing the Pokémon to fall forward and hit the ground with heavy force. Despite his trainers yelling, Victreebel lies on the ground unable to move. Mankey balls up his fists which start to glow and he starts punching Victreebel repeatedly. The female trainer bites down on her lower lip in anger. She brings out her Pokéball and calls her Pokémon back into his home before he could faint.
"You bastard. I'll be back." She licks the blood from her now bleeding lip.
She releases another Pokémon and hops on the back of a large gray and brown bird Pokémon. It has a circular patch of white feather on its forehead matching the large white markings covering the front of its chest and throat area. The Pokémon looks at them with small red eyes that peer out behind the black crest that extends over its head almost all the way to its beak. It lets out a loud shriek from its thin, yellow beak, extending its large wings. It begins flapping them hovering in the air above them. The girl sticks her tongue out at them as she orders her Pokémon to fly to the nearest town. They speed off into the distance and it isn't long before they leave the group's vision.
Pidgeot helps to release Seiji and Daisuke from their netting. They both thank Pidgeot who makes a twittering sound as he smiles. They both stand on their feet and stretch their extremities. Michio walks over to them and sets Rina down underneath the tree. He opens up her bag pulling out a bottle of water and a washcloth. He pours the water onto the cloth and folds it over placing it on her forehead cleaning off the dirt. Mankey walks up to Michio and sits down next to Rina with a sad expression on his face. Rina stays still and doesn't move, her breathing slow and quiet.
"Rina-chan, wake up. Onegai. (Please.)"
Author's Note: Thank you for reading my newest chapter. I am sorry for being late with the update. I didn't quite know how I wanted to write the scene. I have also been busy. I had a big get together this past weekend and got a case of sun sickness -.- There is good news though! I got engaged this weekend! ^_^