Chapter 3|Fight or Flight
Pangoro Guild Hall
Fist of the Mountains
Riley discovered that she couldn't wake up on time for her life. Saphira had been yelling at her for fifteen minutes, but she didn't even stir. By the time she did wake up, they were late for their training. They rushed down the grand steps of the guild down to the training yard, where Mr. Kenjo, a Throh, and a Machamp stood in front of a bunch of Pokemon. They took our places amongst them as quietly as possible.
"...will begin to spar," finished the Throh. They paid the new team no attention, showing how strict the guild was. "You will get thirty minutes to train before we randomly assign battle partners. Begin, class!"
"Yes, sensei!" echoed the crowd, who immediately dispersed. Riley and Saphira were left looking around, wondering what to do.
"Hey, white belts! Get to training if you want to pass the exam!" bellowed the Machamp. Mr. Kenjo walked over to Team Requiem, waving to the Machamp as if to say, 'I got this.'
"What do we do, Mr. Kenjo?" asked Saphira. The Sawk pointed to the rest of the Pokemon, who were firing projectiles at dummies, hitting training posts, and running, flying, or whatever training they need.
"Get ready to fight," said the Sawk. "And from now on, you will call me Sensei Kenjo until you reach black belt." Riley rubbed her head, as she had a splitting headache. "Are you okay, Riley?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, brushing it off.
"I recommend you start working on dodging, as it is one of the most important things to know about battling, as your opponent can do no damage. Try dodging one of Saphira's Bubble Beams."
"Okay," said Saphira, shaking herself to warm up. "Ready, Riley?"
"Wait, what?" asked a dazed Riley. She was suddenly knocked off her feet by a torrent of small bubbles. They stung, but that was expected since she was a fire type. 'So that's what it feels like to be attacked by a water type move," thought Riley. She didn't remember if she ever felt what that was like back when she was human, but she was surprised by the pain she felt from being pelted by bubbles. Her wings crumpled beneath her back, and she didn't feel like getting up again.
"Shit, shit, shit!" cursed Riley.
"Sorry, Riley! I'm so sorry, are you okay?" she asked. Riley pretended like it was nothing, getting up again although her body ached.
"I'm fine," she said. "I'll dodge it this time."
"Watch the trajectory of the attack and move out of the way. It's easier than it seems," commented Kenjo. Riley rolled her eyes, wanting to tell him that she knew how to dodge. As Saphira took a deep breath to unleash another move, Riley braced herself to dodge to the right. The bubbles came towards her, but now that she expected them, it was easy to dodge. All she had to do was sidestep.
"That was too easy," said Riley.
"It should be. Now, take turns attacking each other and start using multiple moves and changing direction. I have to go help some others as well," said Kenjo, walking over to a group of younger Pokemon.
"Okay, your turn, boing!" exclaimed Saphira, hopping up and down. Now, Riley had no idea how to use moves, but Flamethrower seemed like her best option. Instinctively, she breathed in heavily, feeling heat swelling up inside her throat. She closed her eyes and exhaled hard, flames tickling the sides of her jaw. Instead of a continuous beam of flames, she unleashed a Flame Burst. Saphira was fast, bouncing out of the way of the initial fireball. "Too easy," she declared. She spoke too soon, as the fireball suddenly exploded, the blast hitting Saphira and sending her flying. As she hit the ground with a thud, she hopped up, brushing herself off. "I'm okay, boing!"
"Did I just do that?" whispered Riley to herself. She was losing her mind. The more she thought about them, four moves echoed in the back of her mind: Flame Burst, Flamethrower, Slash, and Fly. Saphira waddled over.
"Wow, that was cool, Riley," she said, "We'll both do great, I know it!" A loud bell rung from the top of the tower, Kenjo walking over to them.
"You two ready?" he asked as the large crowd of Pokemon came around us, lining up again.
"Oh, Arceus," thought Riley out loud. "Well, Saphira, we'll have another go next month."
"No! We're going to rank up today!" she declared, "We've got this!" Kenjo, the Machamp, and the Throh began pairing Pokemon up. Riley hoped they would be new to battling as well.
"You, Charizard!" exclaimed the Machamp, pointing his four arms at form different Pokemon. "You're with the Machop at number 3. Azumarill, you're with the Servine at 4."
"What," said Riley absentmindedly.
"Hey, Charizard," greeted the Machop, who had an annoying, nasally voice. "You ready for this?"
"Oh, uh, yeah," replied Riley. The Machop hopped and did some punches and weaves.
"I'm totally ready for this, and I hope you're ready for an awesome fight. I'm Richard, what's your name?"
"Riley," she replied. "You're probably gonna beat me."
"Go easy on yourself," he laughed. Riley took back what she thought about him. He was a nice kid, but how nice was he in battle? "Woah, check out those two!" Riley peered into the ring, where a Scraggy and a Wartortle were going ham. The Wartortle was spinning around the arena in his shell, which was a perfect combination of offense and defense! It seemed unstoppable! The Scraggy narrowly avoided the spinning shell, reading his foot. As the Wartortle came spinning towards him, he kicked the shell, sending his opponent flying into the air. The Wartortle didn't break a sweat, as he popped out and unleashed a Water Gun. It caught the Scraggy unawares, as he took the attack full blast.
Riley thought he was down for the count, and so did the Wartortle, who landed gracefully and cheered. Suddenly, the Scraggy hopped up and threw a sucker punch on the Wartortle, following up with a sweeping kick to knock him over. What an insane turn of events! The Wartortle was stuck on his back, and unable to do anything, he went back into his shell. As his finishing move, the Scraggy wound up a kick and sent the Wartortle flying out of the arena. Riley was amazed and scared at the same time.
"And the winner in arena three is Simon!" exclaimed the Machamp, queuing up the next two fighters. Riley and Richard watched as the line slowly diminished. None of these matches came close to the intense first round.
She scanned the crowd curiously. Saphira was arguing with the Servine about something, but they were much further back in the line for arena four. As soon as she spotted a Riolu, she got a splitting headache. It was like a bomb burst inside her head, closing in on her. She screamed from the pain, her vision going dark.
"You won't. The entire guild is there, it's impossible!" said a deep voice. Chains clacked against a harsh wind.
"Oh-ho, is that so?" sneered another voice. The darkness cut out and Riley was thrown onto the ground.
"Riley, Riley, are you good?" asked Richard, who seemed to be the only one who noticed her collapse. None of that was real, and she was back in reality. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, I think it's just my damn nerves," said Riley, already forgetting the words and focusing on the battle. Richard looked over at the Riolu and shrugged.
"Okay, well, we're almost up. Be ready!" exclaimed Richard.
Soon enough, they were up. Riley and Richard stood in opposite ends of the large circular arena, the Machamp announcing the start of the fight.
"This match is Riley Charizard vs. Richard Machop! Fight!"
Riley was definitely not ready, but she would give it her all. She really didn't want to get hurt. She and Richard locked eyes before he made the first move. He ran up to her to strike, so she tried to dodge. She felt a lot heavier, so dodging was nearly impossible with Richard moving that fast. He struck for her weak spot, right behind the knees and knocked her to her back. She wanted to give up and cry, but the laughing in the crowd turned the pain into anger. She pushed herself back up and unleashed a Flame Burst, which Richard easily dodged. As expected, it burst behind him as he ran to deliver another attack, dealing some damage.
"Damn, I thought that was an Ember," he said, brushing himself off and charging towards Riley. It was then her eyes lit up. Richard packed a huge punch, but it seemed that he only knew melee attacks, so getting off the ground would be an instant win. Could she fly though? It was worth a shot, as she was already embarrassed by losing. Extra limbs were weird to control, but they were there. Riley flapped her wings lightly to make sure they worked. Although she was scared of heights, she only needed to get a few feet off the ground. She kicked hard and flapped her large wings, beginning to levitate off the ground.
"This isn't that hard," thought Riley. Richard looked up in awe as she ascended into the air.
"Woah, I thought you were too heavy to fly!" exclaimed Richard.
"You're a rude piece of-!" exclaimed Riley, shooting three more Fire Bursts down towards the ground. Richard knew to dodge the initial ball and the blast this time, but there were too many of them. He became overwhelmed with the amount of fire, succumbing to the flames. Had she won? When the fire cleared, Richard could be seen barely standing, burn marks on his grey skin. He grinned.
"I knew you were strong," he said. Riley couldn't believe this kid was still battling. This kid was insane, but she still had mad respect for him. Suddenly, she got heavier.
"Shit! I wasn't paying attention!" thought Riley urgently as she looked down to see Richard hanging on her dangling tail, practically hugging the flame. "Richard!"
"I ain't giving up just yet," he said, slowly climbing up her back. She flew higher out of fear, trying to shake him off. She could barely see him by turning her neck. Once on her back, he taunted, "Woah, the view is great up here!"
"Get the hell off!" exclaimed Riley, her wings getting tired. She heard a snicker and felt a barrage of punches and kicks right into her back. She screamed, fire shooting into the sky and her tail whipping in the air, but Richard didn't let up. The punches moved up her neck and started hitting her head, making the world spin as she climbed higher. She panted, her vision getting fuzzy. This was a Pokemon battle. Her wings gave out as she tumbled to the ground, flipping backwards slightly. She was too tired to care about Richard's screams as they tumbled down towards the stone arena.
Finally, there was a loud thud as the Charizard hit the ground flat on her back, barely conscious. Boy, she was glad to be back on the cold, hard ground. She wanted to lay there for several hours, but it was sort of uncomfortable, as if she were lying on a lump in the ground. Once reality hit her, she immediately stood up to see an unconscious Richard crumpled beneath her weight.
"The winner of arena three is Riley!" declared the Machamp as the Machop began to stir.
"Richard, Arceus, are you okay?" asked Riley. He coughed, giving her a thumbs up.
"Warn me next time," he rasped before being carried off to the medical wing. She couldn't believe she won her first battle, although it was against a fourteen year old. Suddenly, the match in arena four was starting, featuring Saphira and the Servine. Riley rushed over to watch the battle. She noticed Mr. Kenjo was watching the fight as well, so she went and joined him.
"Are you overseeing this fight?" asked Riley.
"Yes, and I saw your fight by the way," he said, "Very good, you both fought well, so you both will probably go up some belts."
"Really?" she said, before watching the fight, which seemed to have just started. Compared to what she saw earlier, this was pathetic. Saphira and the Servine just pranced around the arena, firing cheap and terribly aimed attacks at each other.
"Quit dodging, this will last forever," said the Servine.
"I don't care, I'm going to win, Clef," snapped Saphira. "Don't tell me what to do, boing!"
"Stop doing that boing thing! It's annoying," said Clef.
"Looks like she made a friend," commented Riley. Mr. Kenjo laughed but said nothing.
"Oh, hey Riley!" waved Saphira from the ring. The Servine stopped attacking and yelled,
"You can't just talk to other Pokemon in battle!"
"I can do what I want," said Saphira, charging at Clef. Clef tried to use vine whip on her but missed, Saphira taking him down.
"Oof!" both of them grunted. Riley snorted. It then turned into a slap fight, both of them throwing the weakest barrage of punches Riley's ever seen at each other. This went on for about five minutes before both of them got tired.
"I can't do this anymore," panted Clef, falling over. Saphira stuck her fist in the air weakly before collapsing as well.
"What did I just watch?" muttered Riley, attempting to facepalm with her claw.
"Well, Saphira just won," pointed out Kenjo. "The winner of area four is Saphira!"
Riley admired the beautiful stained glass windows of the hospital wing to get treated for her bruises. Some Oran berry cream worked wonders on wounds. Most of the panels were colorful depictions of landscapes, but some depicted huge battles of what seemed to be the Great War.
She looked down the hall to see dozens of Pokemon being treated. The beds to the left and right of her were taken by Richard and Saphira, and next to her was Clef. This was also the waiting room until the senseis called them into the grand hall to award belts. It was all really exciting and new for Riley. Richard was looking a lot better after taking some Rawst berry medicine, which he claimed tasted disgusting.
"Good fight, Riley," he said, looking a little disappointed.
"Well, there's tomorrow's exam to look forwards too," said Riley, "Besides, you're still the better fighter. If I didn't fall out of the sky there, I would've been done for."
"Really? I was that close? Damn," he said.
"Are you part of an exploration team?" asked Riley.
"No, I'm a student here. I just want to get stronger before going out, you know?" he explained. Riley nodded before being tackled by Saphira.
"Riley! I saw your battle, you did amazing, boing!" exclaimed Saphira.
"Y- you did great, too!" replied Riley half-heartedly, pushing the Azumarill off of her. She heard Clef snort from two beds away.
"I would've won if it weren't for your unorthodox tactics," proclaimed the Servine.
"You couldn't aim your attacks, boing!" exclaimed Saphira. I at least hit a few Bubble Beams!" snapped Saphira.
"Well, they didn't hurt because water type moves aren't very effective against grass types.
"Oh well," said Saphira.
"Damn, when is this ceremony gonna start? I can't stand the waiting," said Richard, hopping off of his bed. Suddenly, the Machamp ran through the hall shouting something.
"Lockdown! There has been an assassination attempt!" he yelled. "Get to the grand hall, everyone!" Riley's heart sunk… an assassination attempt? There was a huge commotion, Pokemon running down the hallway to get to safety.
"W- what?" stuttered Clef.
"You heard him, there's been an attack!" exclaimed Richard.
"Let's go check it out!" exclaimed Saphira.
"Someone was just attacked! Are you that heartless? No, we're supposed to be going to the grand hall!" exclaimed Clef, starting to panic.
"I'll go check it out with you, I just want to know what's going on," said Riley, who thought that Pokemon could only faint. "Why would there be an assassination attempt at an exam? And who was attacked?"
"Let's go, I need to see who it was… I really hope I don't know them," said Richard. They looked around, and the hall was empty. It was just the four of them standing there.
"I'm going to head to the hall, but you can do whatever you want," said Clef. "The murderer could still be out there.
"Okay," said Saphira as the three headed for the exit to the training yard. Riley heard soft footsteps running towards her.
"Fine, I'll make sure you three don't do anything stupid. I can't believe someone was almost killed... and here, too!" exclaimed Clef.
"Hurry up, we don't want to be caught snooping," said Saphira. The four snuck out the back door that led out to the arenas. Mr. Kenjo was out there with the body, along with several other Pokemon that were probably officers. He and several nervous doctors were attending to the unconscious form of a Riolu. He was shaking, jumping when the four showed up.
"You four?" he sputtered, shaking his head. "You're not supposed to be out here!"
"It was an assassination attempt! What if one of my friends was killed?" asked Richard. The Sawk shook his head and looked to the side.
"What happened?" asked Saphira, trying to look at the covered body. Kenjo took a deep breath.
"Romulus, the son of one of our historians, was brutally slashed across the back!" sighed Kenjo. "I knew something was wrong when Remus didn't report to work this morning."
"Who did it?" yelled Richard. "I'm gonna kill whoever did it!"
"Do you know him?" asked Riley.
"Y- yeah… we train together," replied Richard with clenched fists. There was a moment of silence.
"It was a Greninja, who used Phantom Force to finish him off after he won a battle. It teleported in and out," said Kenjo solemnly.. Clef shuddered next to Saphira. "We do not know who he is, but we are currently investigating it." Riley was glad they got the full story instead of being denied, but there were still unanswered questions.
"Where is his dad now?" she asked.
"He- he did not show up to work today," said Kenjo distressingly. "We think that this was done as a threat."
Riley's brain lit up, but she didn't know why. It was like she knew something but completely forgot about it.
"That's terrible, who would do such a thing?" asked Saphira.
"That is what we are trying to figure out," said Kenjo.
"What if he's still around here?" asked Richard, "What if he tries killing someone else?"
"Massacring an entire guild is not a wise idea. That will put all the other guilds against them as well," said Kenjo, "This was an assassination attempt."
"Can we do anything to help?" asked Saphira.
"No, you shall report to the hall and wait for instructions… the belt ceremony will be delayed," said Kenjo.
"As long as everyone's okay, I'm fine with that," said Clef, nudging Saphira. "Let's head back, guys."
"Yeah, we've seen enough," said Riley, rubbing her head.