Rules Governing Pokemon Battles

Art. 7

1. In a Pokémon battle, the use of weaponry or other objects brought from outside is strictly prohibited.

2. Any Pokémon found to be using unauthorized weapons during a battle may be disqualified, and the trainer may be subject to penalties or fines.

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I've Been Around

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Chapter thirteen – Drop your morals, dude

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Callahan's eyes were wide as saucers as he stared up at the Onix, his neck protesting from how far back he had to tilt his head to properly see his opponent's face. The family man's lips were parted as if on the verge of speech, but the sheer impact of the Pokémon's appearance was enough to stun him into silence. Sudowoodo's Pokéball nearly slipped out his hand, with Callahan's fingers barely holding on strongly enough to not let it fall.

Brandon released an explosive bark of laughter at Callahan's reaction, the sound probably hearable all the way from the entrance of the cave. "What happened to your arrogance?!" Brandon asked and leaned forward a little to get a good look at his opponent, his mirth doubling at the man's pure shock. "Don't tell me you're scared stiff already!"

Callahan didn't even hear him. For a long moment, he only kept staring upwards at the Onix, with only a single thought racing through him.

I can't win…

I can't… If it was a Pokémon made of skin then I might've stood a chance, but I can't win against this. Sudowoodo's a rock type as well, he can't stand up to this thing!

Suddenly, his pupils dilated as a thought shot through him. Wait, who said that we had to defeat the Pokémon? He eyed towards the trainer. No. I have to take out the trainer. If I can get close enough… He gripped his dagger. I have to go all in.

He glared up at the leader, forcing his hand to stop trembling.

"Guess I have to fake it until I make it, huh?"

Brandon stared at him under silence for several seconds before emitting a dark chuckle, his voice much deeper than before. "You think you can cross this distance and take me out, am I right? Then I just have to make sure to keep you out of range," he said and raised his arm forward.

"Rockslide!"

The Onix emitted a roar that shook the cave before it smashed its tail into the ground. Rocks broke free from the surface, floating in midair for a few seconds before the Onix twirled around and slammed them into motion, coming together to form a giant wave of rocks, hurling towards Callahan like a tsunami.

The liar inhaled sharply, grasping chaotically towards his Pokéball and releasing Sudowoodo.

"Sudowoodo, rock attack!" he yelled and adjusted his beret, surprising the Pokémon itself by dashing directly forward towards the rain of rocks, and when they were close enough for his tastes, he watched them explode right in front of him without stopping for a second.

A dust cloud had been left from where the rocks had been shattered.

Even from amidst the chaotic whirl of dust, Callahan could hear the leader's irked growl, and it only served to spur him on. I'm dead anyways if I try to think, no time to linger by playing it safe!

In three seconds he had crossed most of the distance between himself and his opponent, knife at the ready.

Just when he was about to burst from the dust cloud, a gigantic stone tail came setting out the smoke with the speed of a bullet. The tail grew in his vision, and he barely had time enough to throw himself flat against the ground before he felt the tail fly overhead, the windblast generated from the attack sending his jacket in disarray and making the dust cloud disappear.

His beret fluttered down beside Sudowoodo, who stood trembling in the distance as the Onix towered above Callahan with a listless expression of superiority.

Brandon stood there with crossed arms in the distance, a smirk on his lips as he cocked his head as if he enjoyed Callahan's fear.

"Your head would've been torn from your body if you hadn't dodged that." His smile watered. "Playtime's over. Sever him." He slowly lowered one hand. "Iron tail."

With surprising speed considering its size, the Onix aimed a strike at where Callahan was standing, its tail becoming coated with an iron shine a second before it could land. With a panicked cry, the man dodged, rolling to the side so the tail passed right in front of him, and he closed his eyes as the swipe triggered a heavy current of air which blasted right against his body. The gust tore at his shirt and he was thrown backwards, and when he crawled back to his feet, he found himself standing right within range of the stone giant's next attack.

Again, Callahan dove to the side, but he'd barely backed a meter before his back connected with the cave wall. He yelled in surprise, only for him to compose himself when the lie he told himself resurfaced.

Is this what the best trainer there every was would do?! Scream in panic?!

No, instead of going for another dodge, he pointed his hand at the leader, not to surrender, but to fight back.

"Sudowoodo! Hurl the bastard full of stones! Now!"

Sudowoodo flinched at the urgency in his voice. It widened its stance and frowned, letting eight rocks appear above its head in a wide circle before shooting them all towards Brandon.

The Onix automatically turned around in horror.

Brandon only scowled as the rocks came hurling towards him from all directions. Still, he never flinched. As if he was facing nothing but soft pillows, he threw another Pokéball onto the ground, watching the trail of blue energy materialise into an Abra.

"Teleport."

There was a moment of silence, then there was a flash. All the rocks collided against the rock surface, Brandon nowhere to be seen.

A voice erupted from right behind Callahan, speaking a short, "Nice try," before Callahan whirled around to slash at the person who'd been teleported behind him. Brandon merely smirked as the knife was an inch removed from his cheek before it suddenly vanished. With nothing in hand, Callahan's body was pulled to the side by his own momentum.

"Your guard is open."

Seconds slowed down into hours as Callahan watched himself stumble towards the ground, but he never would land. The Onix snatched him from the air, its tail curling around Callahan's body and locking him in a crushing grip.

"You look so surprised!" Brandon roared with laughter at the liar's shocked expression. Callahan's knife flashed into Brandon's hand. "What's the matter, huh?" he asked loudly and forced Onix to tighten its grip, enough to make any man scream in pain of their bones crushing, and when Callahan bit back a scream, the leader's grin turned dangerous. "Did you die of shock? Then let me wake you right up again!"

With a devilish cackling coming from the trainer, the giant raised its tail high over its head before smashing it into the ground, crushing Callahan against the concrete. "You awake yet?" the leader shouted, and before Callahan could even begin to answer, it drove its tail through the wall that separated the cave. The entire wall crumbled to the ground, and Brandon hollered with laughter before raising his fist towards his face to make the Onix lower Callahan's body towards him, chuckling darkly when he saw that the man's hair and face was caked with blood. "Anybody home?"

A cough was his only response, the weak sound only serving to increase the bandit's already bursting mirth. "Look there! You see that? Seems she didn't get away scratch free, either."

Callahan turned his head in a daze to find Risa lying unconscious on the ground, surrounded by rubble. Her opponent was lying beside her. Because of the spinning of the room and his hazy vision, he was unable to see whether her chest was still moving.

"What an idiot! Seems like Edward went easy on her! But it's over now. You thought you could barge in here and steal from us! Well, this is what you get. You are weak. And the only thing you got is that thing, which isn't even trying to help!"

On cue, Sudowoodo faced upward. It had been shivering in a corner, too afraid to fight.

"The best trainer there ever was, you said?" Brandon spat into Callahan's bloodied face. "What a joke."

The leader opened his palm, letting the Onix drop Callahan's body like he was nothing but a ragdoll.

"Show that weakling how it's done."

In the blink of an eye, the Onix towered above Sudowoodo. It roared out like a demon from hell before it slammed off half the side of Sudowoodo's body. Sudowoodo's eyes constricted in pain before it fainted not a second after. Its knees gave out beneath him. It fell to the ground, a tiny cloud of dust appearing at the impact.

Callahan could do nothing but watch it happen while lying on the ground.

He was breathing heavily through gritted teeth as he felt his ribs shift unnaturally with every breath.

"Now, all your Pokémon are down. So is your teammate. In a real contest, we would call this a win. But now, I'm not so sure I will let you off the hook so easily." Brandon squatted down beside him. "I want to hear you say it. I am a failure of a man. I have gotten my little darling over there killed, and I surrender to your greatness. If you do, I will make it quick. If not..."

A dark shadow washed over him. The Onix had raised its gigantic tail.

Brandon stared down at him, waiting, and when he didn't get an answer, he heaved a dramatic sigh, attempting to purse his lips into a mock pout, but he was far too aggravated to do it, and it ended up looking like a disgusted sneer instead. "Okay. Then I guess I will have to move on to your little honey over there," he said as his eyes traveled to the girl lying on the other side. "I will have you watch."

When the man didn't respond, the leader heaved another sigh and turned around. "I wonder what I have to do to her until you finally sur-"

"I-I'm not a trainer." Callahan remained perfectly still on the ground, staring up at the guy as he spoke. "I am not a trainer, nor will you ever hear me claim to be one," he said, his voice strained by the pain. "I am quite… the opposite." He spat blood, his attempt at speech already straining his lungs. "I'm pathetic, and weak, and undeserving of any kindness that's given to me. Throughout all my life, all I ever did was try to do things according the books, and do what everyone else was doing." He heaved a deep trembling sigh and groaned as he moved his right arm to brace his palm to the ground to help him upright, granting the opponent the darkest look that the leader has ever seen. "T-thank you for this final push. Now I'm done with that."

The leader laughed. "What are y-"

"Tell me, Brandon," Callahan interrupted coldly, a spasm of pain shooting across his face as he rose through his knees. "You seem to know quite a lot about Pokémon, so tell me; what happens when you open up a Pokéball?"

On pure instinct, Brandon leaped backwards, but it was already too late. Callahan had already thrown himself at him and snatched the Onix's Pokéball from his belt and forced the Pokémon back inside. The leader was still in the midst of his leap, but Callahan's momentum already carried him forward, slamming the Pokéball into Brandon's mouth, cracking his front teeth.

"The Pokémon appears wherever there's an open space!"

At once with his words, Callahan clicked the button.

The cave erupted into a tornado of light.

The rocks on the wall were painted a new crimson colour, the outcome of the battle as clear as the stunned expression of the blood-soaked Onix, who trembled for a moment as it progressed the situation before its pupils constricted, releasing a roar louder than the world had ever heard.

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To be continued…

Oooooh! Callahan you absolute madlad! I truly had a blast writing this one! I wanted to show the naivety of Callahan's idea of going into this region unprepared and thinking he could just barge into any gym and win without ever having been in a battle before.

Like here, he's totally outmatched, and even his one and only Pokémon can't do anything against this bandit, who's not even an actual gym-leader, mind you. And even then, a gym-leader isn't nearly as strong as someone from the Pokémon League.

Also, while going through all the moves ingame, I was surprised to find this description about the move Teleport: 'The user switches places with another party Pokémon. It may also be used to warp to the last Pokémon Center visited. If a wild Pokémon uses this move, it flees.'

If it's able to warp a human being to a specific location, in this example that being a Pokémon Center, then it should also be able to allow them to teleport anywhere else. I never thought that Teleport could actually teleport humans, but after reading this, I guess I'll take full advantage of it!

So yeah! Lemme know what you guys think of the fight!

If you can't wait until next week for the next chapter, you can read the next 6 chapters ahead of the rest on my Pa tre on: www dot pat-reon dot com/Sidiko. Like, comment, subscribe and share this video to help the YouTube algorithm.