Always Audacity
Chapter III - Shoulda seen that coming
Other than the soft rustle of leaves above his head, silence dominated the clearing that the three Pokémon stood in. One the far side, the bird and rat Pokémon staring him down with a mixture of confused and annoyed looks. On his own side, Sam held his ground, frozen in place with his paw still hanging in mid-air in greeting. Okay… this is awkward…
He lowered the paw, "Yeah… sorry about that… didn't exactly have the greatest night." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "Still a little bit… err… hungover…"
The Pidgey and the Rattata glanced at each other, the disgust now being replaced with disbelief. The Pidgey clipped their beak as they looked back at him. "Hungover?"
"Err… yeah?"
"At your age?"
Sam blinked at that, mind initially drawing a blank. Ah… Scorbunny is a pre-evolution, right? Err...
"I was…" he started slowly, trying to work out another solution, "...drinking a lot of juice… but I think someone spiked it."
"Really?"
"Yeah…"
The two Pokémon glanced at each other again, and Sam could tell they didn't quite believe him. The Rattata seemed to shrug half-heartedly, so at first glance, it seemed like they were going to let it slide. Okay, let's get them distracted…
"Hey, I'm kinda lost… do you happen to know where the nearest town is?"
The Pidgey cackled, "Really? It's not that big an island and you managed to get lost?"
"I'm kinda new here. And-"
"You got hungover?" the Rattata interrupted, whiskers twitching.
"…yeah."
Flicking an ear, Sam straightened up, "So can you… you know… point me in the right direction?"
Their eyes flicked back for a second, almost distractedly before the Pidgey nodded. "Sure, just follow the trail that way." He pointed a wing towards another, more defined path through the trees on the other end of the clearing. "That'll take you to the main road."
Suddenly, the Rattata spun on its feathered companion, eyes narrowing. As the Pidgey leaned in, it began to whisper.
Too bad it didn't really recognise the fact that Sam now had pretty big ears. "What are you doing? We don't know where this kid came from!"
"Says the guy who couldn't work out his seeds."
The rat quivered, "Look, you know how no one's evolving again, he could be from one of the teams, or those hunters! Besides, I've never seen Scorbunny around here."
"Come on." The bird hissed, "You said yourself, he's just a kid."
Ears twitching, Sam merely raised up one paw. "Err… first of all… I'm not a kid…"
Well, that's what I think anyway…
"…secondly… look, I can see you guys are a bit on edge. So, I'll just get out of your hair and hit that road."
He started strolling over to the path, keeping one eye on the two Pokémon, "I won't tell anyone you're here either. You don't have to worry about th-"
That was when he saw the yellow shape, jutting out from behind the back of the Rattata, and with that, he stopped mid stride. He was about to brush it off, consider it nothing… but curiosity nibbled at the back of his mind and so… it got the better of him. "Hey, what's that?"
Taking a step back, the Rattata hid the yellow shape away. "It's nothing." The Pidgey said. "Just some berries."
"You said you were looking at seeds though…" Sam mused, taking a few steps closer, trying to peer round, "Unless you guys have berries to-"
The yellow shape reappeared into view… and he recognised it as an arm attached to a little yellow and brown body… covered in blood. Sam froze, his entire body stiffening, "W-wait… is that a-"
He cried out as the Pidgey slammed into his chest headfirst, pain surging across his body as he was sent flying away and onto his back. Groaning, he shoved himself up, just in time to see the Rattata dive towards him, teeth flashing.
"Shit!"
Kicking his feet into the ground, Sam rolled and bounced back, just about evading the attack as the rat slammed head first into the grass. Landing back on his feet, he raised his paws up, eyes flicking between the now hovering bird and the rat. The bird was slowly shaking his head, "I was kinda wishing you didn't see that."
"Now can we deal with the brat?" The Rattata snapped.
"Gonna have to now."
Snarling, Sam bounced from one foot to the other, his heart pounding that little bit harder, ready to fight them off. "So what? You two are just some murderers?!"
The Pidgey snapped his beak, "We're just trying to make a living, this guy just got in the way!"
"Murder is still murder!"
Dragging his feet into the ground, the Rattata growled back, "Can't let you tell the authorities about us…"
Pulling a mock punch, Sam flashed a grin, the confidence flooding through him despite the throbbing chest. "I'm not helpless you know." He said, "Just me against the two of you? It's not like I'm dealing with some big dude huh?"
Something thumped into the ground just behind him, the earth softly quaking under his feet, and with that, the two Pokémon before him seemed to flash… smirks. Sam's smile melted away. "That's exactly who's behind me right?"
"Yep." Replied a deep, rumbling voice behind him.
Slowly, Sam spun on his heel to come face to face with a gigantic Pokémon with two heavily built arms and shorter legs. Not only that, but it was also covered in orange padding and grey fins… a Swampert. It flashed a toothless grin as Sam's confidence vanished, the Scorbunny stumbling back… "Fancy your chances now?"
The Scorbunny resisted the urge for his body to shake. "Err… yeah… I don't think so…"
With that, he snapped forward, crying out and willing the Ember to fire away.
Nothing happened. Blinking, Sam jabbed both paws forward, trying to focus on them, encourage flames to form. "Err…" He thrust them once more… and still nothing happened.
Over his shoulder, the Pidgey and Rattata shared a confused glance.
Sam's eyes widened as he slowly began to back off from the giant Swampert, towering over him.
Okay… kinda need a new plan…
The two started to snigger amongst themselves.
Run?
And finally, it broke out into laughter. "He doesn't even know how to use a move!" the Rattata cackled, "How stupid do you have to be!?"
Yeah… run.
The Swampert frowned. "You know… even if you knew what you were doing, I'm still a water type?"
"Err… yeah… point taken."
And with that, he leapt straight up at the muscular mon. Its eyes widened as it tried to pull back in surprise. But the little Scorbunny was faster, grunting as he booted the bigger Mon in the face. Another few kicks, and Sam was up and over the Swampert, touching down into the grass behind him. "At least I can still move mate!" he teased.
And with that, Sam shot off, running for the woods as fast as his legs would allow. "What are you waiting for you idiots!?" the Swampert rumbled, "After him!"