The leaves danced and the trees lean with the silent rhythm of the invisible howls as Red and company found themselves at the entrance to the next city of Cerulean which is home to his second badge. They all looked in awe while they observed the various different houses along with the infamous Kanto Bike Shop before they started to step foot into the city in search for a Pokemon Center. The cool winds blew through the houses of Cerulean City when Red and company wandered through the streets, realizing that the place is a lot more deserted than he expected which made him confused. 'Usually there would be people around. It's 5:30 PM. It's not that late.'
Sounds started to echo through the quiet which caught the raven haired teen's attention as he looked around, seeing nothing in sight. Shrugging it off as nothing and continuing through Cerulean City, he then heard several sounds, some of them sounding very close before Shinx started growling and Clefairy started to get into a battle stance, alerting the young trainer once again when he started to observe the area and search for anything that moves. After a few minutes of looking around and not finding anything, Red then slowly continued through the street, making sure to look around while the sun started to descend and go under the horizon. Noticing that Shinx has not moved from its spot, the teen quickly took out his slingshot and gathered some stones when he heard a voice in the distance.
"Thief now!" As those words left the person's mouth, Red saw a blur before he hastily stated his command to his own Pokemon. "Clefairy, use Copycat to mimic the Pokemon movements and Shinx, use Charge."
Clefairy's eyes started to glow before it started to move in a blur while Shinx started to glow when it absorbed the electrical particles in the air. The moment they heard a cry of pain, Red quickly commanded the Electric-type to use Spark which it did as it attacked the silhouette with an empowered electrical powered tackle, knocking it back into a wall. As they all gathered around the Pokemon, the raven haired teen took out his Pokedex and use it to scan the thing to see if it's a Pokemon when the Pokedex made a finding.
"Sneasel, the Sharp Claw Pokemon. This cunning Pokémon hides in the cover of darkness, waiting to attack its prey."
As he read the description of the Pokemon, the teen looked at Sneasel who was unconscious on the ground before he noticed someone come out of the shadows, running towards him. As soon as the person got close enough, his red eyes widened when he saw the shine of the knife that the person had along with the pure blood lust in their eyes which slightly startled him as he stepped back. On instinct and pure adrenaline, the red capped trainer quickly aimed his slingshot and shot the person's hand, making them release the knife which they quickly caught in their other hand as they continued charging, ignoring the pain. Red continued shooting to only fail when he was suddenly attacked from behind by various shards that imbedded into his back, immediately making him feel extremely cold as he looked back and see Sneasel gaining back consciousness. The raven haired was about to yell a command until he heard Shinx's cry, making him turn around and was face to face with the knife as he stopped it, fighting off the attacker as they pushed him into a wall which knocked his cap off and increase the pain of the shards that were in his back.
The person who was shown in the light was a individual in a Gyarados hoodie whose face was hidden as their bloodshot eyes glared at the teen while the knife got closer to his abdomen. The struggle continued before Shinx attacked the person with Spark, saving Red and knocking the assailant into a bunch of trash cans. Thanking the Electric type, he then turned his gaze to Sneasel who was having issues while fighting Clefairy before it was attacked by Shinx causing it to crash into a wall as they both started to double team the Pokemon. The Dark-type then disappear which caused the trio to be surprised and on alert until they heard a sound from another direction, seeing the hooded figure now gone, much to their anxiety. The three started to search around until they heard no sounds anymore, much to their relief as they let out a breath that they didn't know they held.
'Well, that was an event.' The teen mentally comments before he went for his cap to realize that it wasn't there. The teen looked around only to see that the cap could not be found, he then looked at his Pokemon to see that neither Shinx nor Clefairy has his cap and Beedrill is sleeping in its Pokeball.
"Where's my cap? Oh no! Where's the cap?" Red thought aloud while he searched frantically throughout the area, including the trash bins but was rewarded with failure as he could not find his cap. He then remembered the move that the hooded figure used and his eyes widened when he dashed into the alleyway that the person was before the Sneasel picked him up, his Pokemon following after him.
'It could've taken my medicine, my berries but why did it have to go for my cap.' The teen thought when he found himself on another street, unable to tell which way their attackers went, much to his worry and frustration. He was about to pick a random direction until he heard Shinx call for him, pointing in a different direction to which he looked at the direction and then back to it.
"You think that's where they went?" He asked, receiving a nod from the Electric type as it led the way, making him follow while he put Clefairy over his hatless head. As he sprinted through streets and alleyways, he then found the hooded bandit along with a gang of them before he quickly took refuge behind a wall as he listened to their conversation. Red eavesdropped while he sneak a peek at the people, realizing that most of them are bald men before he saw the person and their Sneasel taking out various items out of their bag, including his hat which got the teen visibly angered as he put his hands in his pockets to calm himself and assess the situation.
"This…was all you could find, twerp?" One of the men said before the hooded person slowly nod before speaking.
"…sorry…there was not much people on the street…" Red was surprised when he heard that the voice was feminine which still did not soften or decrease his anger when he took another look at his hat.
"That doesn't justify the situation, Kim. You should have more loot."
"But Dread, I couldn't-"
"No more complaints, you damn wench! You better watch who you're talking to, you little shit!" One of the men started to shout when the raven haired teen started to step back, making a call to the police before he hit something with his foot which echoed throughout the whole as he and Shinx started to groan simultaneously with Clefairy blinking in confusion.
"Seriously?!" He whisper shouted before he heard the men being alerted when they searched the area, some of them with guns in their hands along with the hooded figure, now known as Kim who was grabbed by the arm by the man known as Dread who was glaring into her eyes.
"We will deal with you later, twerp. C'mon!" He stated in a dangerous tone which made Kim shudder in fear before she nodded silently when he dragged her off, not waiting for her response. At this point, Red was already in another alleyway finishing his call with the police when he ended the call, searching around only to find one of the men hovering over him which startled the teen before he realized that the man has not seen him yet. As the man turned around and went to search in another direction, the raven haired took this opportunity when he took a broken pipe and slammed it on the man's head, surprising Shinx and Clefairy and knocking him out instantly. Pulling the man's body to a place where the police would notice it, he then ventured silently through the street with the Electric type informing him of which way to go, effectively knocking out some of the men which he used to create a pattern of unconscious men for the police to follow. The moment he sprinted into another alleyway, he came across two women who had noticed him, Pokeballs in their hands ready as they quickly threw, releasing a Stunky and Combusken.
"Well, look what we have here, Ashley. Doesn't he look cute?"
"Yeah, Vanessa. Would be a shame if we hurt him but orders are orders. Sic' him, boys."
The moment she made her statement, both Pokemon came towards Red and his partners before the teen made a silent command to which they nodded, much to the girls' confusion. Before they could recognize what was going on, Shinx then gave both Pokemon a menacing Leer which frightening them before Clefairy charged them with one of its fist turning red as it punched Combusken with a Mega Punch, knocking it into Stunky as they both got slammed into the wall and fell by some trash bins. The girls gasped in surprise until they saw Shinx started to glow as it gathered energy from the air around it.
"Stunky, use Toxic." Vanessa ordered before the Dark-type, spitting out a pool of venomous liquid from its mouth which spread apart, hitting both Shinx and Clefairy and hit Red's arm, much to the teen's frustration as he physically voiced his thoughts. "Seriously? Again with this arm."
When he turned to look at his Pokemon, he saw that Clefairy is unusually alright despite being poisoned, it's body slightly glowing however as he turned his gaze to Shinx, he realized something about the Electric-type that unnerved him as the Pokemon looked more intimidating and feral as it made a cry, making him turn to see Combusken coming towards them, an idea coming to his mind as he quickly made a command. "Clefairy, Copycat."
As he stated that, Clefairy eyes started to glow before it let out the same purple stream that hit the Fire type, causing it to stagger a little until its eyes started to zone in on Clefairy as it arms went back, Red gasped as he noticed the move. 'That's Aerial Ace. Alright, let's try this.'
"Copycat." As he made that one word, Clefairy eyes glowed once again until it copied the attack which resulted in a clash, knocking both Pokemon back to their sides of the alleyway. Noticing that Shinx looks impatient and about to attack everything in sight, Red allowed it to let loose by commanding it to use Spark and telling Clefairy to get out of the way, as the Pokemon let out a battle cry that echoed throughout the alleyway and street, much to Red's fear. 'Oh no.'
Once finished, it ran towards its opponent, enveloped in electricity that nearly filled up the whole alleyway and caused everything metallic to be attracted to the Electric as it goes. It then tackled its foes, resulting in an explosion that knocked them back into the street along with some of the trash cans and knocking over a dumpster. Red stood in surprise before he heard sounds from the other side, going to hide before he came to face to face with the hooded figure who was known when Kim as she tried to stab only for him to dodge, the knife barely grazing his undershirt before he saw Sneasel stealthily came up to him with its claws glowing metallic. Before he could do anything, one of his Pokeball opened, releasing Beedrill who knocked the Dark type to the side before jabbing it twice with Twineedle which caused it to groan in pain as it could barely stand up. Kim clicked her teeth before she once again to stab the raven haired trainer who dodged as he put her hand behind her back, putting her in a lock that caused to drop her knife to which he knocked it under the dumpster. In a feisty struggle, Kim managed to hold out as she knocked him in his stomach causing him to push her away. She then made a couple punches at Red which he dodged before she swept his legs and took him to the floor until she put her arm on his neck, causing it to be hard for the boy to breathe. Flailing and struggling desperately, the teen was rewarded with success as he knocked her to the side before he swapped positions with him being on top, holding her arms and dodging her kicks as he held her in place.
"I'll kill you! Sneasel! Ice Shard, now!" She ordered, only to be rewarded to silence as she saw the Dark type unconscious. She then went for another Pokeball, releasing an Eevee which quickly attacked Red, causing him to accidentally rip the hoodie as he fell backwards. As he regained his senses and looked towards the figure, his eyes widened as he saw the moon shine on a girl with silky smooth silvery blue hair and eyes of the same color as she rubbed her head, realizing that she doesn't have the hood section of her jacket on her.
"What the? My hoodie! Damn you!" She exclaimed as she clenched her fists as her Eevee went beside her, growling at them. She then made a step forward as she glared angrily at Red when she started to speak. "Do you have any idea what you have done? You tore my hoodie. Those things are like our code of conduct."
As she finished, she then started pacing around before her eyes widen in horror, thinking about what would happen if Dread would find out about this. Kim then stopped before she dropped to the floor, punching the ground as she voiced her emotions. "Damn it…I can't do anything right… Not a damn thing…"
Red looked at her in confusion before he heard her continue, saying a sentence that immediately caused him to stop. "Nothing I do…ever makes a difference…"
Hearing that sentence caused the raven haired teen's heart to remind of the pain that he had went through years ago and the thoughts that followed which always end with him reciting that sentence like a mantra. He knew way too well how she feels and although she's making a choice he would never see himself making, it doesn't change the face that he understood. She then started sobbing while Red started to walk over to her and put his hand on her shoulder, being rewarded with her shrugging him off, glaring angrily at him.
"T-this is your fault. If you didn't just resisted, I-I would be able to have Dread on my back l-like this." She said, pointing her finger at the raven haired as he looked at her incredulously before he started to voice his opinion. "You…attacked me and my Pokemon, tried to kill me, made me suffer wounds and took my precious cap…and YOU have the audacity to say that this is my fault. Sorry for retaliating and fending for my life!"
Everyone was surprised at the silent teen's outburst, including Red himself as he cleared his throat and looked around him, seeing that everyone was looking at him with awestruck looks on their face. He then started again as he spoke again. "Look…I understand how you feel…but you don't have to go…through all this. There are literally and I mean literally other ways to go through this. You can go to being a Gym Leader, an Elite Four Member. Heck, trainer battles even come under a cost if you bet and win."
As the teen made his explanation, he was starting to feel uncomfortable before he stopped speaking, being emotionally exhausted from being embarrassed as he looked at Kim who started pouting as she positioned herself to sit down in a more comfortable position before she motioned Red to sit down. As he obliged and sit down, still a bit on guard and alert, she then took out his hat from her hooded pocket and gave it to him as she returned Sneasel into its Pokeball and Eevee jumped into her lap.
"Let's say what you say is true. How do you get these jobs and ways to get money when having strong Pokemon is literally what the world is after? You can't be strong with just any Pokemon." As she said this, Red started snickering before he tried his best not to laugh which caused her to pout even more as she whined. "Hey, I'm being serious here. You think I can go against people who have their Dragonite and Metagross with an Eevee and a Sneasel! That's signing up for failure. People use strong Pokemon to survive. To be strong. All I have are weak Pokemon…but I still love them."
Red thought about what she said, in this day and age, everyone wants the best of the best and almost everyone who is a Champion or of Champion status or level either has a Pokemon that is widely associated as strong like an Infernape or Hydreigon or a Pokemon that can Mega Evolve to reach greater heights. He has never seen an Elite Four or a Champion with just a regular Pikachu or an Eevee winning through the League as they always considered them as weak and too cute for battle. He always wondered why does a Pokémon needs to be big or intimidating to be able to win a battle when he was younger. He always asked Blue, Yellow and even Professor Oak about this but they never gave him an distinct answer that really made him understood the reason for this, stating that they're too weak or they're not cool enough. There was even a test in class which he failed as they asked which Pokemon does he think would be most ideal for a League match and he stated all of them, explaining that every Pokemon has their strengths and weaknesses. He then remembered when he was asked about a question about what kind of Champion he wanted to be and how a Champion is supposed to be as he opened his mouth and recited the same words that he said when he was younger.
"I think it doesn't matter…" He answered which astonished Kim before he continued. "Who cares if it's a strong Pokemon or a weak Pokemon. I feel like that's just someone opinion, their perspective of thinking on what strength is and what it means. There is no issue with going for strong Pokemon or a powerful one. However, if you have a Pokemon that you love the most, don't you want to try your hardest to allow them to win and gain victory, no matter what the cost?"
Kim's eyes widened when she heard the teen said this, thinking deeply on every word that he stated as she looked at Eevee who looked up back to her. She was about to say something but was interrupted as Red dodged an attack before another came towards Kim which the raven haired teen pushed her out of the way as the attack barely missed them. They both looked forward as they saw Dread and his fellow gang members at the corner snickering before his smirk turns to a face of disgust.
"So that's what you were up to, huh Kim? You fucking other dudes now behind my back? Why don't you introduce this lovely gentleman to me, huh?!" Dread asked as he stepped down the alleyway as a huge green Pokemon followed him. As Kim and Red got up and looked at the hulking creature that is now beside the man, Dread laughed before he pat the Pokemon and then started speaking. "Like the guy, his name is Spike. The strongest Tyranitar around. Why don't you say hi, Spike?"
At the moment he said this, the Pokemon roared, its voice shaking the ground as it faced the two teenagers with a menacing smirk on its face. Dread then snapped its fingers which made the Tyranitar opened its mouth as it started to glow. 'That's Flamethrower!'
"It's over. We can't win against a Tyranitar. They are known to be powerful." She said, giving up as she run to the other direction until she heard something then an explosion. When she didn't feel the hot temperatures of the Fire-type move but she heard Dread curse, she turned around to see smoke in Spike's face as Shinx retreated to Red's side of the alleyway which made a question pop in her head. 'What just happened?'
"So you think you can take on a Tyranitar with a Shinx, huh?!" He asked, angered by the fact that his Pokemon's attack has been stopped by a simple first stage Electric-type before he ordered with toxic in his voice. "Well, think again. Earthquake!"
"Clefairy, Copycat that. Beedrill, String Shot and wrap him up and Shinx, charge." Red quickly commanded as Clefairy's eyes started glowing. Lifting its foot, Spike was about to use its move only to lose its balance and movement due to ground being covered by strings of silk, making it unable to lift its limb or move as the Bug type wrapped it up to the point that only its face is showing. Dread commanded the Pokemon to use Flamethrower before it once again got hit by a Spark from Shinx which hit harder than before and caused the Pokemon to be paralyzed before Clefairy hit it with an Earthquake which made the Rock-type lose its balance a bit. Red then commanded all of his Pokemon to attack the Rock-type which after a while resulted in his victory as the Tyranitar dropped to the floor face first, unconscious which made Dread angry. Red celebrated his victory before he heard the loading of guns, seeing Dread and the other pointing their guns at him, ready to fire.
"Hope you like lead, kid." He said before pressing the trigger as he felt nothing seeing him and the others without their guns, much to their confusion. He then saw Sneasel with a pile of broken ammunitions by its side before he was sneak attacked by Beedrill who looked at the rest of his gang members with a menacing look in its eyes. They were about to fight until one word caused all of them to widen their eyes in fear.
"Freeze!"
As this word echoed through the alleyway, all the gang members put their hands in the air as the police came with their Arcanine, Manectric and Stoutland by their sides. It didn't take long until all of the gang members were rallied up, including Dread who was yelling curse words at Red who shrugged it off as he was given first aid by some of the police women.
"You're lucky this wasn't worse, kid." They said as they patched him up, gaining a wince from the wounded teenager. Searching around, he looked from the corner of his eye when he saw Kim sneaking away. She noticed him staring at her, sweating profusely as she thought he would rat her out to the cops. To her surprise, he turned the other way, making it look like he didn't notice her as she smiled and made her way down the alleyway and into the darkness, mouthing a 'thank you' to him which made him smile as a thought cross his mind when he was free to go as he went to the direction of the Pokemon Center. 'Let's just hope that you make the right choice this time, Kim.'
"So you say that you would like to participate for the League challenge, correct? It's gonna take more than that Sneasel and Eevee to win it all. Will you be alright? Also, don't you think Dark types are a bit too evil to be using for a League challenger or a specialist?" The receptionist asks as they started processing the silver haired girl's trainer card.
"Nah! Don't worry. I'll be alright. With enough training, they'll be able to handle the pros. Right guys?" Kim said, getting an agreement from both of them. The receptionist smiled as he almost finished with the card before he asked a question. "Oh! By the way, I forgot to ask. What's your name, young challenger?"
She then smiled widely as she announced her name with confidence on her face.
"Call me Karen. The girl of darkness."
Hope that you liked this chapter. It came on a whim and this is sorta filler as of the moment. How do you like the gangs so far? Would you believe me that when I first made Karen, I never knew that she was an actual bad guy in the Pokemon Adventures Manga? I was honestly surprised, damn. I was thinking of her when I was making this chapter as some kinda way to introduce her to the story but I never knew she was almost like this in the adventures manga. Welp, who cares? Still putting her in the story the way I want to. What's done is done. Hope you guys will love the chapter and her character regardless and I hope that you will like the story. Also, thanks for your guys time in reading and reviewing the story, I really appreciate it. Enigma out!