Chapter 8

The fresh afternoon air of the forest sang in my lungs as I followed the worn dirt road. I had left Falune behind less than an hour ago and the fresh goodbyes weighed on my heart. The only comfort to me was my Pokemon, all three of them were out of their balls and they scampered around the road.

We met few wild Pokemon on our walk, and the ones we did meet were defeated quickly and soundly. I was proud of the team I was putting together, if I could even call Shock and Luna a "team". The town we were heading to, Lodon, housed one of the eight Pokemon gyms. I hadn't bothered with the gyms up until now, as I had other things to think about, but as I watched Shock run laps around Luna I resolved to at least try it out. For them.

"Oh boy, another trainer!" I was so absorbed in my own thoughts that the unexpected voice made me jump.

The voice belonged to a young boy who looked as if he had just spent several days in the woods. He wore a baseball cap and a silly grin that showed off the gap between his front teeth. His clothes were stained by dirt and grass, and a twig stuck out of his short brown hair.

"Hey," the boy shouted again. He talked so fast I hardly had time to open my mouth before he barreled on. "Where are you going? Lodon? I just came from there. Traveling is super boring, wanna fight?" The words finally stopped and he looked at me expectantly.

"Uh… yeah, sure." The kid pumped a fist in the air and dug around in his bag for his Pokeballs. I looked down at Shock who bounced excitedly at my feet. "You wanna start us off?" I whispered to him.

Shock bolted out into the road between us just as the boy released a Bulbasaur. I winced, this wasn't going to be easy.

All due credit to Shock, he put up an admirable fight before I was forced to call him back. I called Luna in next, confident in her abilities, but was dismayed when the Bulbasaur's next move, takedown, knocked her entirely off kilter. The only silver lining was that the recoil also knocked the grass type out.

I was hyping Luna up for the next match when the kid sent out a Mankey. My heart dropped. "He sure knows his types," I grumbled.

Knowing she was at a disadvantage, I instructed her to drag the fight out as long as possible. If she could outlast it in a game of stamina, she might have a chance. My hopes were dashed, however, when after a couple of successful hits from Luna, the boy got wise to our scheme and retaliated with a powerful cross-chop at just the right time. Berating myself for my lack of foresight, I recalled Luna and began counting out the prize money I owed to the victor.

"What are you doing?" The boy asked, cupping his hands around his mouth in an unnecessary attempt to make himself louder. "Hope you're not giving up on me!"

"I have no Pokemon left," I shouted back.

"Yes you do." The boy pointed across our makeshift battlefield at Crystal.

The Deino sat patiently at my feet. Feeling my eyes on her, she bumped her head into my leg. "Oh, but she's not…" I trailed off.

Crystal didn't technically belong to me. She was Eren's Pokemon, even if he had told me to look after her that didn't mean I had the right to ask her to fight for me. I bit my lip, considering.

"Hey Crystal." I knelt down to whisper to her. "I know I'm not Eren, but would you be alright if I became your honorary trainer for a while?" Crystal chirped at me, bonking her head into my knee, with more force this time, before trotting into the field. "I'll take that as a 'yes', then," I chuckled.

I squared my shoulders as I stood up, full of new confidence. "That's more like it!" I boy cheered. "Let's finish this!"

"Yes, let's. Crystal, knock it off its feet with a tackle!"

Without hesitation, Crystal launches forward, crashing headlong into the Mankey's leg. It wobbles but stays upright. That is, until Crystal comes around for another pass and sends it tumbling head over heels.

"Mankey, get up!" The boy shouts at the same moment I do.

"Don't let it get up!"

Crystal reacts first, jumping up onto the Mankey's stomach. The bruise left on my own stomach twinges in sympathy.

"Now, bite it!" I yell.

"No! Mankey, grab it!"

The Mankey's hands wrap around Crystal's body just as her head disappears into the layers of fluff. The Mankey lifts Crystal up, taking with her a sizable chuck of its own fur. It shrieks in pain, dropping Crystal. I, knowing how heavy a Deino can be when dropped, winced as Crystal lands back on the Mankey. There's an audible huff as the Mankey loses the air in its lungs. Crystal hops off and takes one of the Mankey's arms in her jaws, shaking it like a Poochyena would. The effort, while commendable, isn't needed as the Mankey appears to have passed out.

The boy recalled his Pokemon and, with a crestfallen look at his final Pokeball, sent out the most pathetic-looking Spearow I had ever seen. It was abnormally small and looked like it had been sent through a cycle in a dishwasher. As it appeared, it let out a squawk that sounded more like a cough and dropped a couple of its feathers.

I almost felt bad instructing Crystal to fight this thing, but if the boy wasn't willing to concede… Needless to say, it wasn't long before the poor creature was sent back to its ball.

Upon the defeat of his final Pokemon, the boy stood stock still. His bottom lip trembled and I took a step forward, words of consolation on my lips. To my horror, I had hardly taken another step when he sighed and collapsed to the ground.

I rushed to his side, frantically checking his pulse and breathing. Thankfully, he seemed fine, he had only fainted. However, I wasn't sure what to do with him now. I certainly wasn't going to carry him with me. In the end, I took some prize money from his bag, dragged him to the side of the road, and left him with three revives and a bottle of water. With one last glance at the strange kid, I continued on my way.