Red's unconscious mind was flooded with a gentle, yet urgent voice.
"Red."
Someone called him. It was not a voice he knew.
"Red."
Should he ignore it? Sleeping was really comfortable...
"Red!"
Red felt himself startle and he opened his eyes slowly. Expecting to see, the ceiling of the room he stayed in, he was surprised when he saw darkness.
He sat up slowly, taking in his surroundings. It was dark all around. Even below him, it seemed to stretch. How far did it go? How was he standing?
"Red, you must listen. There is not enough time."
Wha-? Red paused when he realized he could not speak. His eyes widened when he took notice of a black mist where his mouth usually was. Now that was weird.
The voice continued on, unaware of Red's thoughts.
"The ones that have been attacking the region are powerful and ruthless. They have a lot of power in many places and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. You must be careful."
Red tilted his head to show his confusion as he could not speak. Then he perked up as he remembered the museum. Yes, they were attacking Pewter City. But why tell him this and not the authorities?
"You might be wondering why I'm telling you this but I-" The voice paused and Red could sense hesitation in the deep voice. "I want to be free."
Free? Was this person being held by this group?
"Though that is not what we must focus on. These are the people you must watch out the most for."
Red winced as pain came along with the flash of three images. A cold, calculating woman with eyes that seemed to blaze with a fierce determination, a young girl with hair as white as snow and eyes that radiated happiness (for some strange reason Red felt threatened) and finally a man with a face twisted in a frown, eyes feeling they they were boring into his soul.
"They are a group known as the Shadow Syndicate."the voice continued. "They will not hesitate to use any means necessary to get what they want." The voice sighed. "I'm not sure what exactly they hope to succeed but I know you will be crucial to that plan, following your unique abilities and strong connection to the psychic world."
Ah...so they want him? Red nodded slowly. That does sound like trouble.
"Be warned: the Shadow Syndicate will not give up easily and you must be prepared to face them head-on. Get stronger Red. Much stronger. I will try to guide you as much as I can." The voice sighed. "Now I must go before they realize I am awake."
Red was stunned. They're just going to leave him like this?
"Oh, and I'm called Mewtwo."
Red blinked. Mew...two?
/
Blue briefly wondered where he was as he awakened. He deflated when he saw the pure white ceiling of the room. He was still in the hospital.
Blue didn't move from his position in the chair. Yellow was gonna come to drag him out in a few minutes so he could at least shower before spending the rest of the day moping.
It had been two days since the museum attack but Red still hadn't woken up. At one point during the first day, he jolted harshly and startled everyone but he knew much as twitch after that and Blue started to become worried. Was Red even going to wake up at this point?
If he didn't, Blue wouldn't know who to blame. It wasn't anyone's fault that Red was attacked. And he certainly wasn't stupid enough to blame himself. How he was supposed to know the museum was under attack?
He sighed. Still...
"Long day?"
Blue glanced to the bed where Red was staring at him and he shook his head. "Not really. It's still only morning."
Red turned back his head. "Ah. I woke up early huh?"
Blue glared at him with no actual heat. "It's been three days man."
"Sorry." He did not sound sorry.
"You know how much training I could have gotten in by then?" Blue grumbled. His act to looked annoyed failed extremely, too relieved by the fact his friend was awake.
Red turned back to him again. "Well why didn't you?"
Blue met his eyes before looking away, clicking his teeth. Three days wasn't enough for him to go completely soft.
"Just go get a nurse." Red said with a small smirk. "I need to get out of here."
Blue sighed. And here he was hoping he could lie a little longer.
He got up anyway. "Fine." As he reached the door, he stopped. "And you better check up on your Pichu as soon as you can. The nurses had to sedate it before forcing it into its pokeball because it got overprotective. Caused a whole fuss the other day."
Red blinked at the door as Blue closed it. His Pichu got protective?
/
Yellow was informed of Red being awake and joined them for his check up. Nothing had been physically wrong with him since they admitted him but, just to be sure. He had been discharged successfully after finding nothing out of place and Yellow and Blue had dragged him out of the room to begin catching him up on what has happened.
"And so...Pigeotto evolved!" Yellow said excitedly.
"He was getting really close when I last saw him." Red nodded. "It's to be expected."
Yellow pouted, folding her arms. "Come on. Be more excited would you?"
Red sighed dramatically. "I just woke up from coma. Give me a break."
Blue rolled his eyes. Three days is barely a coma. "You're still gonna need to go down to the station and give your statement. They're still trying to gather info on the attackers."
"Ah." Red nodded seriously. "Okay. I'll go down there later today."
Yellow perked up, unfolding her arms. "Oh! And before you go, open that package your mom set you alright?"
Red tilted his head in suspicion of their excited faces. "O...kay?"
Red stopped as they reached his room. "I'm gonna try and talk to Pichu alone." He turned to them. "Dinner at six?"
Blue smirked while Yellow couldn't help but smile widely.
"Yup!"
/
He sat on his bed beside his package. He glanced at it. Judging by Yellow and Blue's reactions, they had already opened theirs. He wondered what was in it.
Red shook his head slowly. He had more pressing matters right now. He looked to the pokeball in his palm before moving his gaze to Charmander who was sitting on the floor. It's tail was still wagging slowly, not completely over the excitement of his trainer being awake.
Red went down to the floor and briefly patted his starter's head. "Okay, I'm gonna have a talk with Pichu about what happened when I was asleep." Charmander nodded. "I want to have you there because I want you to hear this too."
Charmander nodded more seriously this time and Red had to withhold a chuckle. The conversation wasn't going to be as serious as Charmander thought it was gonna be. Pichu hadn't committed a serious offense but it could still be a bad habit. Red just wanted to warn her to stop before he had to do something about it.
With that said, he released the electric mouse. Pichu cringed as it was released from its period of stasis. It's nose twitched before it looked up at Red with wide eyes.
"Pichu!" She jumped onto him and he laughed a little as he caught her. "Yeah, it's me." He said as he held her in a hand.
"Pi!" She also greeted Charmander cheerily who waved back. He let her soak in his presence for a bit more before tapping her with a finger to draw her attention.
"We have to talk about that fiasco Blue told me you created a while back."
Pichu stiffened up and tried to back away. Red shook his head. "You're not in trouble."
Pichu looked up at him with wide eyes, surprised. Red laughed. "You didn't actually hurt anybody so good job on that." Pichu smiled. "But the problem is that you were going to." She frowned. She was trying to protect him though. Is that so wrong?
Red shook his head. "Trying to protect me isn't wrong but I can assure you, the Pokémon Center is one of the safest place I could be. And if you still don't trust that, then at least trust my friends. They have my best interests at heart."
Pichu nodded but she still looked dejected at being scolded so Red rubbed her head before she could begin to withdraw.
"There might be special cases where you're required to do those stuff but not unless I say so okay?" He looked over to Charmander and used his other hand to rubbed his head. "Same goes for you Charmander. I don't want to lose any of you."
Charmander nodded and Red nodded after, satisfied.
"Okay." He smiled. "So who wants to go with me to the station?"
/
Red took his time walking back to the Pokémon Center instead of taking a taxi. His statement hadn't been filled with complete truth but it gave the police more information than they originally had. He told them of the Commander's goal, how he looked, what Pokémon he had and some of what he blabbered about. He did lie, saying that the man mentioned the name of the group, but it wasn't like commander was here to disagree so Red thought it was fine.
His mom had called immediately on his phone after giving his statement and they talked for at least fifty minutes.
The unfamiliar weight in his pocket made it hard for Red to ignore it. From what his mom told him, she, Yellow's parents and Professor Oak had been preparing this since they first met. The plan was to give them on their first anniversary since becoming a trainer but the Pokémon Center attack worried them so they pushed it forward.
Several other things were in Red's package. Mainly books, reading and cooking mostly, but several other stuff too. He also got another pocket space backpack. It was a Silph Co. brand too so it was good quality. Yellow received something extra–a smaller backpack stuffed full–but she refused to tell them what it was. Red had just shrugged and left it at that.
Red sighed as he was hit with cool air as he stepped into the Center. He was tempted to go back to bed but it was already touching noon and he wasn't sure he would be able to sleep later if he slept now.
Then his stomach rumbled and Red glanced down at it. He had forgotten to eat breakfast.
Now that he was aware of it, he couldn't deny that he was starving so he headed to the cafeteria.
/
"So you came back." It wasn't a question. "Earlier than I thought you would."
Blue smirked at the Rock-type gym leader. "I was gonna train on my own for a few more days but then I thought. If you were gonna give me the TM anyway, why not just use you as training?"
Brock burst into laughter at Blue's reasoning.
After the fiasco at the museum, Brock said he would give Blue the TM28 whether or not he won his first battle with him as an exchange for having to participate in defending the city. Blue wasn't an idiot and did not even think about rejecting the offer.
Brock finally calmed down. "That is a fair reason. Though you do know that you're only allowed to challenge a gym only a limited amount of times a month?"
Blue smiled at him, not phased. "Trust me. I'll win before then."
Brock laughed again, it ringing around the arena. He collected himself and primed a pokeball. "Ok then. Let's not waste any time. This is my first Pokémon."
He opened the ball towards the field and the Pokémon appeared. It was a Pokémon Blue was getting increasingly familiar with. A Geodude.
Blue looked it over carefully. It was obvious this Geodude was much stronger than the ones he battled but not so much that Blue couldn't win.
He took out his pokeball and threw it in one smooth motion. Rattata came out and immediately tensed up.
"Geodude, use Rock Throw!" Geodude growled as it tensed up. Several small rocks appeared around it in the air.
"Quick Attack!"
As the rocks were thrown towards it, Rattata dashed off in a streak of white light. When all the rocks were dodged, the purple rat dived at the Geodude.
"Smack Down!" A brown energy surrounded Geodude's fist as it swung at the diving Rattata.
"Sucker Punch!"
A dark glow seemed to surround the Pokémon as it vanished before Geodude's fist made contact. Geodude cried out as it was attacked from behind.
"Oh?" Brock smirked. "Sucker Punch?"
Blue didn't answer. His Rattata was the leader of the group that attacked them. He caught it because he figured it would be the most powerful and wasn't disappointed when he saw its move set. Unfortunately, Geodude was still a Rock-type and physical moves didn't cause a lot of damage. More unfortunately, physical moves were all Rattata had at the moment.
He tried not to sigh as Brock called for another Rock Throw. This was gonna take a while.
/
Red's mind wandered as he ate with his Pokémon. He thought about his dream. He would have to do some research on Mewtwo. Red was pretty sure he'd never heard of such a Pokémon.
Speaking of research, he was almost done with his research on Pichu and he only had to start creating his thesis. As for Bulbasaur, further research need to be done. Particularly of the genetic type. And that needed tools Red had no access to.
Red frowned. He really needed to get more money. His mom had sent in some in an envelope but that wouldn't last him forever.
He looked at Charmander. The fire type was currently filling his face with a handful of Poffins. Should he start learning how to bake?
He turned to Pichu who was lying on its back, stuffed full. She had told him she wanted to get stronger. Battling regularly could help Red earn more money on top of the PokeMart jobs.
Red nodded as he decided. He tapped the table with his finger and both of his Pokémon looked up to him. "Let's go train."
/
Yellow went sightseeing once again. She went further into the city this time around and it was more clustered than usual. Yellow internally compared it to a market.
Anytime she moved she would brushed against someone and had to apologize. She quickly found a less popular area, sighing in relief.
Yellow then yelped when something crashed out of the building she was standing in front of. The glass scattered about and Yellow rose her hands to protect her face.
"Someone catch that cat!" Yellow saw an old man waving a broom at the fleeing being. She followed his gaze just in time to see a Meowth. It paused in its running to glare at the man before it was sent fleeing once again by the man's outrageous cry.
Yellow ran after it. Not to catch it for the man but because she had seen something worrying when it had paused.
It was bleeding.
/
Blue looked over to where Rattata stood. It had blood coating its fur and Blue was unsure if it was hers or the recalled Geodude's. She was shaky on her feet and was panting more than growling. But she was still awake and able to fight unlike her opponent.
Brock recalled Geodude with an easy praise, Blue following his example. "Why did you not draw another Pokémon? The battle would have ended earlier."
Blue shrugged. "I told you. This is just training. If I beat you and get the badge, it's just a bonus." In truth, the boy really only came here for a distraction, mind still caught up in the events of the attack. Battling always seemed to erase everything else from his mind.
"I see." Brock held up a different pokeball. Instead of the usual red top, it was blue with red stripes. "Then I suppose you wouldn't be against me using a Pokémon outside of the league regulations, would you?"
"Sure." Blue just grinned, holding up another pokeball. "It's just training isn't it?"
/
Red had forgotten to check in with the front desk to see if they had any individual training rooms free and so instead of trudging all the way back, he had resigned himself to using one of the larger rooms.
He had been alone at first and it was better that way as he wasn't sure how Pichu would react. He had no reason to worry as when more trainers started trickling in, she hadn't even glanced their way, too focused on Red's instructions.
It was a good four hours later, when Pichu seemed to grimace anytime she tried to use electricity, sparks flying off her cheeks, that Red called for a rest. He was working on her control and she hadn't overloaded herself once so he was impressed.
Charmander was working on learning Dragon Rage. For some reason, the fire type learnt dragon moves surprisingly easy. It shocked him when starting Dragon Breath as it usually takes days to build up, but now that he also got Dragon Rage on the first try, Red's curiosity was sparked.
Of course, he was taking notes and experimenting well but had yet to come to a good conclusion on why.
He looked at the time as he took a sip of his water. They had one more hour of training before they would go and wash up for dinner.
As Red's focus was taken away from training, it stretched out to the other occupants of the room. It was only three other boys his age though they were weirdly crowded around something.
"I don't even know what to do with it." The one in the middle spoke up. He wore black jeans and a matching hoodie with the words 'master' on the back.
Red conceded easily as Charmander took his water bottle from him, never taking his eyes and ears on the group.
"Why don't you just sell it?" One of the others offered unsurely. He had a green backpack on his back. He was wearing a white and orange T-shirt and a yellow long shorts.
Now Charmander was putting the water bottle back into his hands. Red distinctly realized it was empty. He barely got two sips out of it but still didn't find any reason to be upset.
The middle–Red called him Black–sighed. "I tried selling it but no one wants it. And when they do, it for a cheap buck because they're common in their own region."
"Well that sucks." The one on the left–he was wearing a full grey sweatsuit so Red named him Grey–said. By the drawl in his voice, he didn't seemed to particularly care. "Just release it and leave it here then. Someone's bound to pick it up."
Red rose a lone eyebrow, finally connecting all the dots. He watched as the boy commanded the pokeball to release the Pokémon and Red heard the unfamiliar whirl and crack of the beam as it listened to his orders.
"Hey Pichu." Pichu looking up from where it was curled up. Red's voice was calm and serious as it usually is but the mouse detected an underlying emotion she couldn't place. Charmander appeared to know however as he seemed to get tense.
"You know how I told you today that there might be moments where threats are the best option?"
She nodded and followed his example as he stood up. Red began walking over to the boys. "Come. I might need your help on this one."
He walked leisurely to the group. Despite having released the Pokémon, they had still chosen to stand around it and attack it with a few words or a nudge.
"Can you three stop acting like idiots?"
The three of them turned around simultaneously with similar looks of indignation. "Excuse me?" Black said.
"You are not excused." Red replied easily. "I need you to stop behaving like you have few working brain cells. You already released it. Do your job and leave it alone."
Up close, Red could identify what Pokémon it was. The bird was only a little smaller than Pichu in height. It had primarily dark blue feathers while it's lower chest was yellow. Blacks feathers formed a shape that seems almost mask-like and it had white markings around its eyes. Speaking of its eyes, they were blood red. Any other day Red would find it unsettling, if not for how the owner of those eyes was trembling before him.
He looked back up to the trainers as Green spoke up. "This is none of your business." He said heatedly. "This Rookidee is not your Pokémon."
Red just blinked at him slowly. "It's not yours either."
They stared each other off before Black scoffed. "Are you telling me you actually want this Pokémon?"
Red didn't even glance down at the bird. "I'm just trying to save you guys some dignity." He said. "As for your question." He shrugged a little. "All Pokémon are useful. It's the trainer that the problem." He made sure to look Black upon and down as he said that.
Red didn't resist as Black grabbed onto his shirt with a resentful expression. "You better watch your–" Twin growls and sparks of electricity had him pausing. Pichu and Charmander both seemed ready to jump the boy.
The boy looked back to Red. "Call off your Pokémon."
Red only raised his eyebrow. Why would he do that?
He shook his head. "You're really more dumb than I thought. I'm sorry I overestimated you."
"Wha-? AH!!!" Black let go off his clothes and kneeling to the floor, clutching his head. Red watched him go calmly. He had projected the feeling he got when he explored Blue's mind for the first time and amplified it. It must hurt.
His eyes flickered back up to the other two. "I'm really getting irritated. I still have an hour of practice that I don't want to waste." He glared at them. "Can you leave?"
Green took the chance for what it was and grabbed Black and hurriedly left the room. Grey took his time with a lazy stride. He turned and met Red's eyes. "I'm gonna beat you."
Red watched as he left the room. He clicked his teeth in annoyance and shook his head. Just from a brush of the boy's mind, he could see the trouble he could spell if someone didn't put him in his place soon.
He glanced over to check up on his Pokémon. Pichu and Charmander was looking at the other Pokémon curiously before looking up at Red, wondering what he was going to do. He turned back to the Rookidee on the floor. It was looking calmer now that the boys were gone but they as still clearly wary of him.
"That's good." The Rookidee eyes snapped to him and Red fought a smirk. For all the weakness it embodied right now, Red could see power in those eyes. He smiled a little at the bird. "You're wary of me. That's good. It'll help you survive in this world." He looked over the bird ignoring the shiver it gave. "You don't seem to be badly hurt. A Leppa Berry should be enough."
Red began to walk back to his training spot. "I'll take you outside so you can go into the wild tomorrow. You're having dinner with us after training."
/
Yellow chased the Meowth all the way to a park. It was already past five and she desperately hoped she could get a bath before eating. That didn't seem to be the case as the Meowth ran anytime she came near. Even if she did manage to get it to agree for her to heal it, she still had to find her way back to the Center.
Yellow didn't even know how it was still running. It was bleeding out!
She fell to her knees as the cat finally stopped running. "Just stop running please." She begged languidly. "I just want to heal you!"
The Meowth seemed to be surprised at her outburst and Yellow hurriedly waved her hands. "No, no, don't run." She sighed tiredly. "Just please."
The Meowth regarded her for a moment before slowly walking over. It stopped in front of her and Yellow lit up.
"Really? You'll let me help you?"
The Meowth nudged her arm.
/
When they all met up for dinner, Yellow was covered in blood. Blue and Red both looked at her.
"You need a minute?" Blue asked her with an amused twinkle in his eye.
She didn't even have it in her to sass back. She needed a shower. "Please."
/
Yellow came back later running with undried hair. She sat into the seat her friends had saved for her.
"Sorry guys." She shook her head a little and drops of water flew off it. The Pokémon below gave some annoyed cries and she apologized again.
"It's okay." Red waved her off with a hand, his cheek resting in the other. He also seemed to be tired, eyes drooping slightly. "We already ordered for all of us so the food should be in a minute."
"So what happened to you today?" Blue asked. "You looked like a cat used you as a scratching post."
Yellow sighed. "You're not too far off."
She began her tale from the moment they split up in the morning to the scene at the marketplace. While she did, their food came out.
"Not surprised." Blue shrugged. "City Pokémon are considered an annoyance by the people." Mouth too stuffed full, Pichu couldn't respond but the look it gave the trio confirmed everything it wanted to say.
Yellow nodded. "Yeah but Meowth had gotten hurt during it and I chased it until five before I finally got it to stop."
"You chased it that long?" Blue asked, surprised. He had the tail of a noodle hanging out of his mouth.
"Yup. I think it was pretty impressed so it allowed me to help it after a while." Yellow said proudly.
"Impressed?" Blue gave a clear look of incredulity. "Or annoyed? It might have given in just so you can go away."
Yellow glared at him. "I'd like to see you try." She huffed with folded arms. "Anyway, it scratched me a lot when I was removing the glass and added with the tiredness from running around, I couldn't fully heal it." Yellow pouted. "But it refused to go to the Center." She sighed and picked up a cherry tomato with her fork before eating it. "So I'm going back tomorrow." She finished.
Blue and Red nodded in understanding. Then the latter rose an eyebrow when both of his friends turned to him. "What?"
Yellow looked pointedly at the Rookidee that stuck close to Charmander while they ate.
"You think we're gonna ignore the new addition?" She asked rhetorically. Blue nodded along with Yellow. "And that's adding to the fact that it's not even from Kanto."
Yellow looked to Blue with wide eyes. "It isn't?"
He shook his head. "Not that I know of."
"It isn't." Red decided to confirm. "It's from Galar actually. And it's not mine." He smiled a bit lopsidedly. "It's actually a wild Pokémon now."
"So what are you doing with it?" Blue asked. He narrowed his eyes at him. "And now ? What's that's supposed to mean?"
Red shrugged. "Until about two hours ago, this Rookidee had a trainer. They released it and was, for a lack of better word, abusing it. It wasn't standing up for itself so I interrupted them. I offered to bring it back into the wild tomorrow." He yawned. "Way too tired today."
He glanced over to Blue. "Unlike you. You seem to have a lot of energy."
Blue reached into his pocket. "Well if you must know-"
"That's cause he's a meathead." Yellow interrupted easily. "He'd be excited even if we stayed in all day."
"You take that back!" Blue said. The fact that he didn't raise his voice showed how truly angry he was. But when Yellow didn't reply, he folded his arms. "Then I guess I won't show you the shiny new badge that I won."
"You beat Brock?!" Yellow was excited again. "Show me!"
"Hey!" Blue complained as she all but violated him to get the badge out of his hand. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at it. "This is the real deal. Congrats!"
Blue scoffed. "Of course it's the real deal." He took something else out of his pocket. "He also gave me a TM for completing the hidden challenge."
"What's the hidden challenge?" Red asked interested and Blue figured he'd be into that. Instead of answering, Blue smirked. "It's a secret."
Red actually pouted at that and Blue couldn't help but laugh. It was nice to hold one over his best friend every once in a while.
"What TM is it?" Yellow asked, inspecting the case. She read the tiny letters on it just as Blue answered.
"Dig." Blue sipped on his chocolate smoothie. He was the only one who ordered one despite his friends trying to get him to choose something else knowing his stomach was gonna hurt later. Blue argued that the chocolate was worth it.
"He said he's got something else for me but it wasn't gonna arrive until the thirty first. Think we can stay that long?" He asked them. Red and Yellow looked to each other and shrugged. They had nowhere important to get to.
"We can leave the day after, the first of June." Yellow offered. "Sounds good?"
Agreements came from both Red and Blue and the deal was set.
BONUS CUT!!!
"A Squirtle." Brock said with folded arms. "I hope you know that you will need more than a type advantage to beat me."
"Oh I know." Blue looked up at the Onix with a smirk. "Dexter, can you tell me about Onix?"
"It would be my pleasure." A cheerful beep came from the Pokédex. "Onix. The Rock Snake Pokémon. A Rock and Ground Type." Images pulled up of the reviewed Pokémon. "Though it is referred to as the Rock Snake Pokémon, Onix does not bear much resemblance to the reptiles. In fact, it has surprisingly more common ground with a lowly earthworm." Blue couldn't help but look at the Onix, whose face was fixed in a permanent scowl. It was an earthworm? "It was believed to be the largest Pokémon prior to the discovery of Steelix and Wailord. Onix has terrible eyesight but from spending time underground, it has gotten sensitive to the slightest vibrations."
Blue looked away from the pad to look back up at Onix. "Again. An earthworm?" Squirtle seems to she the sentiment with her own offended sounds.
Brock smirked. "I was shocked when I first learnt it too." He unfolded his arms. "So? You ready?"
"Squirtle, Water Gun!"
A quick spray of water hit Onix in the jaw and its head snapped back.
"Get a move on Squirtle!" Squirtle darted off towards Onix at the order. Brock's laughter rang throughout the area. "I like the way you roll!" He looked up at his large serpent. "Onix, let's greet them shall we? Use Rock Throw!"
Squirtle instinctively started to dodge the projectiles. They were faster than Geodude's so it was constantly moving to evade them.
Brock grinned. People tend to challenge his gym first so he rarely gets to use the stronger Pokémon. "Once more Onix!"
More projectiles joined the previous and Blue winced as they fired. There was no dodging all of those.
"Up in the air, Squirtle! Use the rocks!"
Squirtle gave an affirmation before propelling itself of a passing rock to launch itself into the air, managing to reach eye level of the rock snake.
Just as Blue was to call for a Water Gun, Brock grinned wider. "Smack Down!"
Onix's tail came down faster than Blue could register. He grimaced as Squirtle was slammed into the ground. Thankfully, Brock wasn't the type of person to hit someone while they were down and Squirtle was spared a few seconds to get back up.
He watched as she shook herself off and stood up. Her shell had taken most of the hit but Blue knew that it could only take so much of an Onix's attacks before cracking. And that's considering the fact if Squirtle didn't faint by then.
Blue tilted his head as he considered his options.
"Giving up?" Brock asked with a grin. He was having fun with this battle but would prioritize his role as a mentor to new trainers. Blue had just gotten a taste of fast paced battle and was allowed to forfeit whenever he liked.
He was surprised when Blue just grinned. "Not at all. It's gonna take more than that to get rid of us. Right, Squirtle?"
"Squirtle!" The turtle gave a positive thumbs up.
Brock stared at them for a moment before chuckling. "Well Oak, you and your Squirtle have a lot more guts than some of the trainers that have been challenging me these days. I'm impressed."
"Don't be. We haven't won yet." Blue smirked. "Squirtle, go!"
"Underground Onix! Use Dig!"
Blue resisted the urge to gasp as he saw Onix stretch before practically diving into the ground. Squirtle cried as it covered its eyes from the dust that flew around.
Blue looked at the hole in the field. There was no way they were following it.
"So?" Blue's attention was brought back to Brock. "What are you going to do?"
Blue frowned. They were not at the level that they could stop Onix and Squirtle was going to get attacked no matter what Blue ordered. He might as well minimize the damage.
"Squirtle!" The blue Pokémon was snapped out of her apprehension by her trainer's voice. "Use Withdraw! Use Water Pulse after!"
Brock watched silently as Squirtle's shell flashed blue as the turtle retreated into it. This would minimize the damage that Squirtle would suffer from the attack and would also make use of the close range to make her own. He suppressed the proud smile tugging on his lips to not give anything away.
They felt it the moment Onix was coming to attack, the rumbling of the area too hard to miss. Blue tightened his fists and in her shell, Squirtle squeezed her eyes.
Blue couldn't restrain his cry this time as the ground opened up under Squirtle. Her limbs came out with her face twisted in pain but as soon as she laid eyes on her attacker, a determined expression took over. She brought her two small hands together and a ball of water was summoned between them. She slammed it down on the Onix.
Onix roared in pain and Brock remained unflinching while Blue held his ears. He looked out to the field.
"Squirtle! Follow up with Water Gun!"
Another spray of water, this time in the form of a beam, hit Onix, snapping its head backwards.
"Onto Onix Squirtle!"
Brock watched passively. If Onix took one more hit of water, it would faint. He could easily overthrow the Squirtle with an attack but...
He looked to Blue who had a desperate gleam in his eyes as he watched Squirtle race to Onix.
His job here was to mentor, nothing else. He had his fun and Blue certainly proved himself ready for the next challenge. He shrugged internally. Might as well make it look as real as possible.
"Onix, Rock Throw!"
"Jump Squirtle!" Squirtle followed the order immediately as if automatic and met eye level with Onix.
"Water Pulse!"
Squirtle formed the orb quickly, showing the results of hours of practice. Only when he was sure the attack hit and his face was hidden by the Pokémon, did Brock smile.
Blue watched as the large snake fell, Squirtle followed after, panting. Did it faint?
"Congratulations, Blue." Blue looked back up at Brock. They glanced down as a click came from in front of him. A badge was dispatched in the steel container. "You won."
Blue took up the badge gingerly. He vaguely noticed the sound of Brock recalling Onix, probably not wanting it to suffer from the cold water, but Blue's focus was on the feeling of the badge between his fingers.
It was sort of cold, totally unlike the feeling in his chest as he won. The ridges were a little blunt but could definitely cause damage if used the right way. Its design was simple and almost...plain.
It was beautiful.
Blue held it in his palm. Then he smiled, raising his fist in the air. "We won Squirtle!"
Squirtle also raised a fist with a cheer.
"Hey, Brock!" Brock rose an eyebrow a little at the boy though he could definitely not see it from all the way across the field. "I know you went easy on me this time." He pointed to his chest. "But when I get stronger, I'll force you to go all out."
Brock smiled with folded arms.
"I look forward to the day, Blue Oak."