Weathering The Storm... (A Pokemon OC Story)

Chapter 18: First Encounter of A Foe...

"Do you... have a trainer who made you fight like this?"

Mudkip nodded again then turned away from Ellie, running up a flight of stairs with Ellie following cautiously. It ran along the corridor, going past many rooms and landing at the end one. It gestured for Ellie to come over, and Ellie obeyed. She tried to open the door and found that it wasn't locked like she had thought it might be. The door swung open, and several different Pokeballs lay around the room, some in containers with labels. Some were labelled to have already been sold, but some were selected to go on sale on the black market. Ellie wished she could have saved all of them, but just going inside and helping Mudkip was already a risk, never mind taking containers full of Pokeballs.

Ellie didn't have to look far to find Mudkip's Pokeball though, as it sat on the windowsill of the room. It was almost too easy, but Ellie didn't want to question it. The only thing she wanted to do was grab the Pokeball and sprint as far away from the building as she could. So, she took it.

The Pokeball was lifted off of its small pedestal, but then a large alarm rang throughout the entire building. It was deafening how loud it was, and quickly alerted everyone in the building that something had been taken from the storage room.

"Oh no."

Mudkip looked up at her and found only pure anxiety on Ellie's face. And, the anxiety only increased as someone stepped into the hallway and looked directly at Ellie. He stared at her, then at Mudkip, and asked,

"What the hell do you think you're doing with my Pokemon's Pokeball?"

"Are you Mudkip's trainer?"

"Yes, and believe it or not, I don't take kindly to a random brat trying to steal my Pokemon."

The man stopped for a second, as he realised that Ellie hadn't grabbed a Pokeball from her pocket yet. Ellie was trying to battle her nervousness but the man saw through the facade.

"Alright, I can see that you are in no position to battle. Mudkip is too weak, and you don't have any Pokemon."

"I have Pokemon.", Ellie lied, but the man continued without taking much notice of Ellie's obvious lie.

"I'll let you leave, as long as you give me Mudkip back. If you don't, well..."

The man released a Pokemon from its Pokeball, one Ellie instinctively recognized as a Zangoose. The Pokemon sharpened its claws and threatened to slice Ellie on the spot.

"Those hands could slice someone up in an instant. I know what I'd choose, but its up to you."

Zangoose edged slightly closer to Ellie, and Ellie almost immediately cracked. She had already seen what that Pokemon could do and didn't want to be on the receiving end again. She handed the Pokeball to the man, and the man took the Pokeball with a grin on his face.

"Thank you. Now, leave and never return."

The man gestured to leave the room and Ellie looked down at Mudkip. She crouched beside Mudkip, and the man expected that she was saying her final goodbyes. But, Ellie actually whispered,

"On my mark, attack him. I'll yell out attack and you just rush him with whatever you've got."

Ellie smiled at Mudkip, and Mudkip smiled back. Ellie looked at the man and said,

"Thank you for sparing me, I really app-ATTACK!"

Mudkip immediately leapt into action and tackled the man in the gut. Saliva sprayed from the man's mouth, and he dropped the Pokeball immediately. Ellie snatched the Pokeball from mid-air and yelled out,