-Hugh's PoV
I could not believe what I was hearing. I had spent a few hours at the ranch, training Cornell by pitting him against the wild Pocket Monsters there. So far, the work had been a success and he had gained a few levels. In exchange for this opportunity, I had done some work around the place for the ranch owner. Moving this and that, feeding the tamed Pocket Monsters, nothing too strenuous.
When I had finished up my work, I went to the ranch owner to see if there was antything else he needed me to do. He told me that one of his Herdier, Smoky, had gone missing and wouldn't come when he called for her, so maybe I could go look for her. A Pocket Monster gone missing right under the nose of its owner; what could be worse? And worst of all, he was treating the situation like it wasn't that big of a deal. "What are we waiting for? She could've gotten completely lost by this time! I'll find her!"
"That's much obliged, son but it's not-" I opened my Pocket Ball and sent out Cornell and the two of us raced into the tall grass of the ranch. We met the eyes of Trainer who were also training at the ranch, and others who worked at it but like to take brakes with Pocket Monster battles. But Cornell had learned Vine Whip and how to be more agile in battle, so we defeated all of those Trainers fairly quickly. As I continued to search through the ranch, I heard barking from the northeastern area.
Cornell and I raced to the area, and then carefully trekked through the woods that surrounded the place. Standing still for a while, we waited for confirmation of what I expected. There it was again, faint barking, but I also heard the gruff voice of a man trying to silence the cries. My concern had been correct; someone was trying to steal Smoky. We dashed past the trees and arrived at an enclosure of the woods where a man wearing black from mouth to toe and a black hat was struggling with Smoky, trying to quiet her.
"I have you cornered, thief! Drop the Herdier and there won't be much trouble!" The thief finally realized that he was not alone and dropped Smoky, who quickly dashed to where we had come from and as I later found out, back into the rancher's house. "Who do you think you are to meddle in greater matters? I'll pummel you in battle!" He pulled out a Pocket Ball, which opened to reveal a Purrloin, who hissed and prepared to attack. "Cornell, use Vine -", then a large bird-like Pocket Monster landed right between the four of us.
On top of the brightly colored bird was Cheren, my Battle Strategies teacher who looked as smug as ever as he dismounted. "I got a call from this location that there was some trouble. I hoped it wouldn't be of this sort. Dodo, use Wing Attack!", the Pocket Monster complied and struck the Purrloin with both of its wings, knocking it out in one move. The thief returned his Pocket Monster to its Pocket Ball, legs shaking as he looked at Cheren, clearly terrified. "Grunt D6 to Base, I am dealing with a Code Black. Please return me to base." Before Cheren could even make a move, the thief vanished in flash of light, leaving no trace that he had been there.
Cheren sighed, "Just when I thought things were getting back to normal, we have another mess to clean up. I'll have to report this to the League. We can't let this get out of hand like before." "Hey, what'd you that for, huh? I had him right where I wanted him." Cheren turned to look at me, a grave look on his face. He was always so serious and acted like he was someone special; I had no idea why Rosa looked up to the guy, when he was clearly full of it. "Hello, Hugh, I'm glad you're making progress on your Pocket Monster Index. But this situation is a lttle above you. I recommend you don't get involved if you see one of those people again, okay?" "Yeah, well why should I care what you have to say? What have you even done in the past two years to make you so confident? Al you've done is drone on and on in class about battle tactics, but I've never seen really prove why the League chose you to be a Gym Leader? Why don't you battle me right here and now and I'll see what you've got!"
Another smirk appeared on his lips and he looked like he was going to laugh at me, but changed his mind. "Well, if you want to challenge me, I recommend you come back to Aspertia and challenge my Gym. That would be the proper thing to do. And if you see Rosa, please tell her that I wish her luck on her journey and forgive her for the incident she caused. Not that she'll need much of it. I heard from a friend she defeated you in your first official battle. Maybe you should focus on defeating her first, m'kay?" Then he mounted the multi-colored bird Pocket Monster asnd flew off again. Tt, what a jerk. Cornell and I went to back to the rancher's house. I had trained enough here, and now I knew that there was "situation" occurring that Cheren didn't want me involved in, like I cared what he said. I would have to keep my eyes peeled in case more Pocket Monster theieves appeared, along with my search to find Kitty.
When I explained that I would be leaving to the rancher and his wife, he was about to give me something out of a bag he was holding when a familiar person arrived at the entrance of the ranch. "Hello there, sir. Have you seen my friend? He said he was here training, and I... oh hey Hugh, it's you! How've you been?" Remembering the talk we had on the Xtransceiver and what Cheren said, I decided not to hesitate. "I challenge you a battle, right here and now!" I ordered Cornell to attack as Rosa sent out Wottson, who blocked the attack with the shell on his stomach. The two Pocket Monsters began to ecxhange attacks, not caring to dodge or counter. But despite the type advantage, Wottson managed to lower Cornell's guard and used a Tackle to knock him out. I had lost again, despite all my training. I couldn't afford to look mad in front of the rancher and his wife, so I put on a smile and tried not to look to disappointed in myself.
"Well, you won. You must have gotten stronger since the last time we battled." "Well, that sure was something. I haven't seen such a tough battle in while. Here, take these to heal up your Pocket Monsters." He finally reached into the bag and pulled out a pair of Potions that he gave to each of us. We thanked him and left the ranch together as we headed onto Route 20.