The Journey of A Champion: A Pokemon Fanfic

Chapter 3: Yune

“ Please, Tackle, Deerling.” The Pokemon’s face turned sharp and with overwhelming speed he ran into Oshawott and knocked her back. She hit the ground, bruising everywhere. Oshawott quickly got up and awaited command, already angered by Deerling’s superior behavior.

“ Quick Attack!” Oshawott ran, but Deerling jumped over her as if leaping a hurdle.

“ Energy Ball, as rehearsed.”  Deerling fired a glowing green energy ball at Oshawott’s feet and she instinctively jumped. Deerling fired three more times and the energy hit Oshawott in the air. She was flung backward and hit the ground with breakneck force. Oshawott skidded to a stop on her back and attempted to get up. She was too weak, though. Oshawott fell back to the ground, exhausted.

“ Oshawott is unable to battle. Riley, send out your second Pokemon.” Tomas called from the sideline. Riley ran out to Oshawott and cradled her in her arms.

“ You did great! You’re so strong. Thank you, Oshawott.” A flash of red light appeared and Oshawott was gone. Riley stood up and spoke to Yune. “ I guess I underestimated you. You’re not like the gentle, mature girl I thought you were. You’re fierce!” Riley said, utterly impressed. “ And really good!” 

Again the battle started up. Riley took out Electrike who stared at her expressionlessly. She thought to herself. Please let him listen to me. We can only get through this by working together. Please, please, let this work. “ Ready?” 

“ Deerling wishes to battle.” Yune replied cheerily.

“ Ok!” Riley tied her hair up in a ponytail to make her look tougher. It had its effect. Yune raised her eyebrows, not intimidated, but impressed. “ Ready as I can be!” A fire seem to be slowly kindling in Electrike as well. 

“ Deerling, Tackle!” Deerling rushed towards Electrike and Electrike began running too. Riley watched satisfied. They had practiced this and Electrike was executing it perfectly. Yune’s face was a swamp of confusion. What is she doing? Her Electrike is going to get hit by the Tackle. She didn’t even call out a move. What is going on?

Electrike jumped and bounced off the Deerling’s head, avoiding the move. He swiftly landed on the ground behind Deerling. Electricity had started to crackle in his fur. Deerling didn’t have time to react. Before he knew it Riley called out, “ Use Spark,” but Electrike thought differently. He grabbed Deerling with his teeth and performed a Bite instead of Spark. Deerling wailed in pain, but Riley yelled from her spot on the stadium.

“ What are you doing, Electrike. That’s not what I called!” Electrike ignored her and continued doing damage to his foe. Riley took a deep breath. “OK. This can work.” She said to herself. “ We’ll do this together, Electrike!” Riley yelled with a new energy. She clenched her fist and grinned.

“ OK, Electrike use Discharge!” Elecktrike’s eyes flitted over to Riley and impressment flickered across his face. He clamped down and released the stored energy. It was devastating. Yellow sparks flashed in the air and the two Pokemon were caught in the middle of the destructive attack. Even with Deerling’s slight resistance to electric type moves she had sustained massive damage. Electrike dropped Deerling and caught his breath. Deerling staggered to her feet and backed away, watching Electrike’s impassive face. They were both breathing hard. Electrike hadn’t taken any damage, but both Pokemon were worn out.

“ Energy Ball!” Yune called out, forgetting her usual manners. Deerling stood up straighter and began shooting blazing orbs of green energy at Electrike. He dodged them swiftly by jumping, but lost his footing and slipped. Electrike was blasted backwards as a wave of energy hit him full force. He fell back and tumbled to the ground, but stood up again and regained his purchase. He looked back at Riley and she nodded.

Fire shot through the air and blazed towards Deerling. “ Flamethrower.” Riley breathed. “ Awesome.” Deerling didn’t have time to react. Flamethrower hit and Deerling was knocked out.

“ Deerling is unable to battle. Riley and Electrike win.” Tomas yelled from the sidelines.

Yune appeared from a flash of red and walked over to Riley. “ I do not want to make a rival of you so I hope this fight was good natured. I am very impressed and sure my Pokemon enjoyed this experience as much as I. I am glad you are accompanying my brother. He needs someone to support him and you may be just the person. Thank you for all you have done.” She turned to them both. “ I hope to see you soon, but I can’t stay any longer. Castelia City is calling.” She spun on her heels, began humming to herself, and walked toward the town.

“ Good job.” Riley gasped, surprised that Tomas had spoken.

“ Umm. Thank you.”

“ That flamethrower was a surprise.” Riley nodded not sure what to say. As Tomas began to open his mouth again a small commotion came from the town square.

“ No, no, I really can’t accept. It is not fair to you.” Yune was in the square by a flower stand. A young man was peeking out behind the stand holding out a rose.

“ But a maiden as sweet as you deserves a flower just as beautiful.” Another man came along and took Yune’s hand.

“ This fair lass would never want the hand of a brute like you. Why don’t you step away and let the lady show you I’m the better man?” Yune giggled. The conversation continued that way and Riley turned to Tomas.

“ She’ll be fine. 90% of the time you’re with her that happens. By now she can easily tell them off.” Slight annoyance crept into Tomas’s tone.

“ OK.” Riley said, not really sure how to respond properly.

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The rest of the day flew by. The trainers practiced till dark, ate, and then retired to their bed room. Electrike and Oshawott sat on the floor while Riley lay on the bed.

“Big day tomorrow.” Riley stated simply. Oshawott nodded cheerfully. “ We have to be ready.” More nods. After that, the Pokemon curled up around her. They soon went to sleep. Riley crept out of bed and picked up her Pokedex. There were two mysteries she wanted to solve.

“ Electrike are native to the Hoenn region.” The Pokedex buzzed. So then how did Wattson get one? Riley wondered. Next she scanned Oshawott. A file came up listing gender differences, location, cry, and a variety of other things, including a move list. Riley checked it. 

Razor shell, water gun, hydro pump, and other moves were listed. Riley scrolled through again, and  again, and again.

“ Where is it?” She began to whisper anxiously. 5 times through she stopped. Riley threw the Pokedex to the ground and it clacked and skidded under the bed.

“ Shoot!” Not only could she not find quick attack in Oshawott’s move list now she had to crawl under a dusty  bed. Riley got on her hands and knees and slid under the bed. She felt around. Her hands felt something and she pulled it out. A toothbrush. She kept looking. A shoe. Belt buckle. Yen. Someone’s bracelet. Her Pokedex! The screen didn’t look cracked. As far as she could see no damage had been done. Riley stopped.

For some reason, she had to keep looking, but she didn’t know what for. One last time she reached under and her hand closed around a spherical object. She pulled it out and blew off the dust. 

It was a Pokeball, a Master Ball. She clicked the center and it opened with a brilliant white light. Riley shut her eyes tight, not knowing what to expect. She slowly opened her eyes and saw nothing.

The Master Ball was empty.