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Chapter 7
Versus Nidoking

"Wani!"

The Big Jaw Pokémon shuffled its feet in an excited attempt to dance when it appeared on the grassy battle field. When it was finished, it waved its arms at its audience: the two boys and one Pokémon that stood on the opposite side of the field.

"Stupid Pokémon," the crimson-haired boy insulted under his breath.

Kenta and Jackson, however, stared at the Totodile with disbelief and suspicion. The very dance the Pokémon performed nearly reminded them of Marina's Totodile. As though that wasn't enough, the way this Totodile's Trainer was looking at the Poké Ball was a bit peculiar.

"No way," Kenta murmured as he thought through these similarities. He stood on the sidelines of the field, observing the Totodile.

Marina did just come by here, but...Did she battle him and lose? He wondered with a start, but shook it off. Wait, no. He said he wouldn't take our starters. But...

"Chikor," Jackson's Chikorita spoke with slight confusion. She tilted her head in puzzlement while the leaf on her head rose up and down.

"Wani," replied the Totodile standing across from her, unbothered. It snapped its large jaws together repeatedly, eager to battle.

Witnessing this, the grip on Kenta's Poké Ball that he still held in his hand tightened. Does Chikorita think so too? Marina... Did this guy really...? He cast a glare at the unnamed boy. The red-haired boy noticed this, returning it with a piercing look of his own before the battle's start.

"All right, Chikorita! Use your Razor Leaf!" Jackson ordered.

"Chikori," the little yellow Pokémon called out as she twirled the leaf on her head. She jumped and continued to spin it, giving one more rapid twist before sending a flurry of razor sharp leaves at her opponent.

"Water Gun!" the boy commanded.

"Wanino!" The silliness stamped out of it instantly, Totodile opened its mouth wide and a spray of water soared into the sky. The attacks collided and fell apart on contact.

"What!? How can it be that strong?" Jackson asked as his jaw almost literally dropped.

"I told you my Pokémon was stronger," the red-haired Trainer said, "Totodile, Scratch!"

"Wani, wani, wani," his Pokémon repeated and charged toward Chikorita. As the Leaf Pokémon narrowly avoided with a troubled frown, Totodile maneuvered quickly and smacked the back of her head.

"Uh—use your vines to jump!" Jackson called.

Chikorita turned to him with a befuddled look, a pair of green vines emerging from two of her many seeds around her neck. However, she cried out and stumbled as Totodile smacked her with its claws

"Water Gun," ordered the red-haired Trainer.

With an energetic nod at him, Totodile opened its jaws wide and hammered its opponent with a jet of water. Chikorita, though not as fazed by the attack, tumbled on the ground.

"Tackle that croc, Chikorita!"

Chikorita scrambled to her feet and sprinted toward the blue crocodile. But her opponent mischievously grinned and stepped aside in an excited bound, forcing her to make a cumbersome stop. Totodile opened its jaws wide, lunging to sink its teeth into Chikorita's leaf. Chikorita let out a pained squeal and tugged away only to cry out more.

"Scratch," Totodile's owner ordered again, amused and arrogant.

Releasing Chikorita from its torturous jaws, Totodile rapidly scratched her. A smirk appeared on its toothy mouth, almost as if mimicking its Trainer. Chikorita yelped and recoiled at each blow. She shot leaves at random, rarely hitting her mark as the Totodile continued to pummel her with its claws.

"Jackson, snap out of it! Do something!" Kenta shouted.

The boy glanced at him anxiously. "I know that! Chikorita, get away and then try another Tackle!"

Yet as he said this, the crocodile delivered a merciless tackle into the Chikorita, violently thrusting her away. The little grass-type collapsed onto the dirt and lifted her head for a moment, harshly murmuring a growl.

Totodile replied with a shake of its head. Its short arms bent as it put its hands on its hips, looking down at her stubbornly. With a final sad glare, Chikorita went limp.

"Chikorita!" Jackson called out. Totodile made a run toward its Trainer as Jackson scrambled to his Chikorita. He lifted his unconscious Pokémon, picking her up. "Hey, Chikorita! Are you alright?" Jackson turned on his opponent angrily. "What's wrong with you? Why'd you have to go and hurt my Pokémon this badly?!"

"Wani?" Totodile scratched its head, but was returned into its Poké Ball moments later.

"Knocking a Pokémon out is how battles are won. Now show me your other Pokémon," the red-haired Trainer snapped, though his tone was slathered in cold amusement at his victory. He walked toward Jackson, yet paused when Jackson replied.

"I don't have any other Pokémon," he admitted irritably.

"Don't lie," the boy retorted.

"It's true," Kenta interjected. "Professor Elm was supposed to give us Poké Balls, but he forgot."

The boy scowled. "That incompetent...! Whatever. I knew this was a bad idea. I don't care about any weak Pokémon you have. I can easily find stronger ones on my own." Yet he made a sharp turn and proceeded toward his side of the field. "You're next, even though you have nothing but a Cyndaquil."

"My Cyndaquil is all I need." Kenta, frowning, took Jackson's place on their side of the arena. His navy eyes stabbed into the boy's cold silver irises.

I'm just worried about that Totodile.

On the dirt trail of Route 30, Marina and a boy stood some distance away from each other, Poké Balls in hand. By looks, the boy was younger than Marina, too young to be an official Trainer yet still able to raise his own Pokémon near his hometown.

"We'll win this time! Hiyah! Go, Rattata!" he called out. He made a ridiculous heroic pose before he threw the Poké Ball between him and the girl, who giggled. A purple rat, large but small enough to carry, appeared out of the sphere with its tail swishing about.

"Kenya, let's go!" Marina shouted as she sent out Kenya, her Spearow. Kenya was the exact height as Rattata, yet he wore an intimidating glare complimented by his narrow eyes and sharp beak. His multi-colored feathers meshed into a blur as he took to the air at once, quick like a humming bird.

"Peck, Kenya!"

"Onii!" Kenya swooped down upon Rattata and nipped at it with his beak. Marina ordered the attack again, and Kenya refused to cease as he pecked his opponent over and over, following it when it tried to escape. Watching this, Marina waited for her opponent, who was being shouted at by his friends on the sidelines.

He doesn't seem to know what he's doing that much... But I can't go too easy on him.

"Uh, try using Tackle to counter it!" the boy exclaimed, though uncertainly.

"Kenya, dodge it!"

Squawking, Kenya sped up into the air, easily avoiding the tackle. Rattata looked up, chattering its teeth in frustration.

"Now hit it with your Fury Attack, Kenya!" Marina commanded and pointed to the violet-colored rat. A wicked spark glinted in the Spearow's eyes and it plummeted toward the Rattata.

"Ah! Move out of the way! No, wait, Tackle it!" The young boy called, causing his panicking Pokémon to sprint about in confusion.

As Kenya passed, he scratched its head with the sharp talons on his feet before soaring in the air again. The attack finished off the rat Pokémon, which fell to the ground and timidly refused to get back up.

"Return!" Rattata's Trainer, defeated, held out his Poké Ball and a red beam of light absorbed the rat back inside.

"Here, Kenya!" Marina said happily with her hand raised.

The Tiny Bird Pokémon flew toward her and perched on her shoulder, gently clutching her jacket with his sharp claws. He opened one of his wings and nipped at his feathers, but closed his eyes in content as Marina stroked his head.

"Good job, Kenya! Good boy," she praised, pulling out a berry from her bag and offering it to the bird.

"Oni," Kenya chirped. Avoiding her fingers, he gently nibbled on his reward.

"That's a strong Spearow," the young boy said and walked up to her, "I heard they were really mean."

"Thanks! This one isn't really like that, though," the girl replied with a glance at her Pokémon, which continued to calmly eat the berry from her hand.

From behind her challenger, his two friends ran up to them.

"Hey, Joey, you gave in just like that?" one of them complained.

"Man, I can't believe you choked again," the other boy commented. "You always say that your Rattata is in the top percentage, but you never win."

"Hey! You were defeated too," Joey muttered with a frown. He turned Marina and took out a PokéGear from his jacket pocket. It was a similar model to Marina's except for the color scheme, which was black and blue instead of white and pink. "Can I have your PokéGear number? We could battle again later."

"Sure!" Marina responded with a quick nod, grabbing the PokéGear around her neck. The two pointed the devices at each other's and a moment later—after a few moments of Marina shuffling through the PokéGear's options—a beeping tone sounded. She then placed her PokéGear around her neck.

"No one has ever beaten us that fast," one of his said during the process, "You flattened us!"

"You always say that! Everyone flattens us," argued Joey.

"But look at her four Poké Balls," the third youngster piped in, "and she didn't have to use more than one of them for each of our battles. We had no chance; she's a real Pokémon Trainer!"

"We didn't even get to see her starter, either."

Marina forced out a weak laugh. "Hey, do you know where Mr. Pokémon lives?" she asked.

"Uhhh..."

The three boys stopped talking and looked at one another, huddling and discussing with one another afterwards. However, their voices weren't hushed in the least bit.

"Does she mean that weird guy?"

"That guy who finds cool stuff?"

"It's just north of here, right?"

"Yeah! That's it, I think...wait, wouldn't it be south?"

"No, I'm certain it's..."

Looking down, Marina checked her PokéGear. She walked ahead as the children continued to talk among each other.

Minutes later, Joey turned to her. "Yeah, it's just north of here. Why do you want to—? Huh?" He stopped as he and his friends noticed that she was gone.

"...Where'd she go?"

Jackson sat irritably on the fountain beside the battle field, his expression a fusion of anger and regret as he returned his unconscious Chikorita to the comforts of her Poké Ball. He held a constant glare at the boy who had defeated him, though it went unseen.

"Go, Cyndaquil!" Kenta yelled.

The little fire mouse uttered a short call and, with some effort, lit a fire on his back. It eyed the red-haired boy with slight hesitation, flinching as the boy snickered.

"What's so funny?" Kenta asked, annoyed with his attitude.

"That thing looks so weak and cowardly. Do you want me to go easy on you?"

"What? Of course not."

"Have it your way, wimp. Go, Nidoking!" Wearing the same loathing smirk, he threw another Poké Ball onto the field.

A large figure appeared from the white light and Kenta, his Cyndaquil, and Jackson gasped. Even the nearby Trainers stared, stunned at the Pokémon's appearance. It was a fierce creature that stood strongly on its hind legs, covered in plum-colored armor and large spikes lining its back. Roughly taller than Kenta himself, the Nidoking towered over its opponent. Having expected a little blue crocodile, the boy was speechless and his Cyndaquil was downright frightened.

"I said you'd regret it, didn't I? Prepare for your loss," the unknown Trainer said. As though he despised the Nidoking itself, he glared at his Pokémon and ordered in a harsh tone, "Thrash that shrimp!"

Clenching his hands tightly, Kenta refused to back down and called out, "Cyndaquil, use your Ember attack!"

With a ground-trembling roar, Nidoking charged toward Cyndaquil. The Fire Mouse Pokémon looked from side to side, unable to decide where to go. He turned back to his opponent, the flames on his back bursting to life as fire kindled in his mouth. But the fearsome Nidoking walked through them as if they were fireflies, smashing its fist into its opponent, the blow sending the Cyndaquil airborne. A second punch came down hard upon him, making an intense smack on impact. Cyndaquil landed shortly after, tumbling onto the ground near Kenta's feet. The fire on his back evaporated.

"Cyndaquil!" Kenta ran to him, knelt at his Pokémon's side and picked it up. Cyndaquil did not respond, utterly out of commission.

Gritting his teeth, Kenta turned his head and looked up at his opponent. The smirking boy's hair seemed to shimmer in the sun as he reveled in his second triumph. His Nidoking towered behind him, its shadow engulfing Kenta and his defeated Pokémon.

"Don't be too upset; you should've known you would lose," the boy sneered.

"Shut up," Kenta snapped. The Trainer shrugged arrogantly and mounted on a smooth area on the Nidoking's back, and Kenta stood. "Hey! What's your name? Who are you?"

"Humph. You'll soon find out; I'm going to become the strongest Pokémon Trainer." He gave a rough tap on his Pokémon's ear. "Go."

Another roar came from Nidoking, and it stomped away with surprising speed. Kenta and Jackson watched him for a few moments before turning their attention to their Pokémon, hurrying for the Pokémon Center.

The forest surrounding Marina darkened as the sky fell into twilight. She settled down beside the small campfire she had made, sighing as she tended to it with the occasional twig.

It had been two days since she began traversing Route 30, yet she was still searching for Mr. Pokémon's house. After she encountered the three young Trainers, she had spotted a sign that, funnily enough, read, "Mr. Pokémon's house straight ahead." Believing in it proved to be a frustrating mistake. Not only could she not find the house anywhere nearby, but she had strayed from Route 30's dirt roads as a result of following the sign's instructions. Maybe she got turned around by battling a wild Pokémon. Marina had been wandering aimlessly, hoping that she was going the right way, before she finally decided to settle down for the night.

"I never imagined it was this far off," Marina said to herself, "No wonder Professor Elm needed us to go in his place. Good thing my PokéGear has a map now; at least I won't get totally lost."

She paused to set her backpack down, reaching for her Poké Balls around her waist. Her hand froze when she felt a third empty slot, one too many since she had five Pokémon before she left Cherrygrove. One of the underage Trainer's words echoed in her mind.

"We didn't even get to see her starter..."

Little did the youngster know, he wouldn't have seen it even if Marina did want to use Wani-Wani. That was because its Poké Ball—and therefore Wani-Wani the Totodile himself—went missing. She had no idea how long she had traveled without noticing, and it was hard for her to believe it when she found out. The girl had looked through her bag, searched every empty Poké Ball she had on hand, called the Pokémon Center, and checked her Pokémon countless times, yet Wani-Wani was nowhere to be found. Not a trace, much like her search for Mr. Pokémon's house.

She had already tried retracing her steps, but she had covered so much ground that day and her feet were aching by the time she had set up camp.

Making such a klutzy mistake was upsetting and embarrassing. It brought her shame to have lost a Pokémon so early on her journey to become a distinguished Pokémon Trainer—like she saw her brother to be. Chris never lost his Pokémon, although she never saw her brother's awe-inspiring Typhlosion when she last watched him battle in Kanto's Regional Tournament on TV.

But as much as it made her feel guilty and terrible to admit it, Marina had never wanted the Pokémon in the first place. She only expected a certain Pokémon from her brother. All of her other Pokémon were also more responsive to her bubbly personality than her Wani-Wani ever was. Of course, she really worried for her Totodile's safety, but she could only hope that a passing Trainer would find him. Someone he actually liked.

Maybe it was for the best...

It hurt to think that. She felt like a failure of a Trainer.

Poking the fire with a stick, Marina recalled the last memory of her certainly having Wani-Wani. It was when she had walked out of the Pokémon Center in Cherrygrove City, where she had met that irritable boy. She had been spacing out before she noticed him, and he had nearly bumped into her moments after. Actually, the boy seemed to be in a hurry to put some distance between them.

With another deep sigh, Marina rested her cheek on her arm in thought. In her free hand, she gently held a small green Poké Ball in her palm.

Did that guy steal it? Even if he did, what should I do? I don't even know who he was...

Throughout her pondering, Marina looked around her again. All was silent besides the chirping of crickets and the occasional hooting from the owl Pokémon Hoothoot. Finding relief in the normal nighttime sounds, she watched as the fire flickered and crackled, the flames reflecting in Marina's eyes.

"Should I...even do anything?" she asked herself.

She looked down at her PokéGear, which was still hanging from her neck. Though she didn't have Kenta or Jackson's PokéGear number, she did know their home phones. This didn't serve her well, as she didn't know how to manually add phone numbers to her PokéGear.

And though she did have Professor Elm's number on her PokéGear, she could not gather the courage to ring him up just yet. An annoying, sarcastic scenario of what she could say rung in her mind.

"Hi, Professor Elm! I lost my Totodile, could you send me another? Actually, what about the Pokémon Chris wanted to give me?"

Yeah, right. Marina closed her eyes, completely dissatisfied at the thought. I couldn't say that. And I'm beginning to wonder if Chris actually forgot about giving me a Pokémon... Maybe May was right.

"But I will call the Professor," she decided, "when I get to Mr. Pokémon's house. Maybe he'll know what to do."

Marina then covered her small campfire with dirt, smiting the small yet vigorous light. She secured her Poké Balls onto her belt, making sure the four of them were still there before lying down on the grass. Using her bag as a pillow, she rolled onto her side and curled up.

"Sorry, Wani-Wani," the girl muttered. Slowly, she fell into an uneasy sleep.