Finding Red

12

Crystal took a deep breath as she placed Nuria on the ground. The red-haired boy commanded his Totodile to stand at attention. He barked out a command so fast, that Crystal watched without moving as the Totodile hit Nuria with a stream of water. Nuria winced, and Crystal flinched. She had no clue how to battle. With a look of panic she turned to Red.

"Help," she said at the air, and the stranger raised his eyebrows almost expectedly.

Red rolled his eyes. "I know, I know. I'm working on it."

"You asked for the battle. Why are you randomly asking for help now?" Asked the stranger, not seeing the other interaction.

Crystal coughed. "Divine intervention. I'm asking for some of that, since you know it's only my second battle."

"Of course it is," said Red and the stranger at almost the same time.

"Look," said Red as he stepped onto the battlefield. "I can help you fight this butt, but I have one condition. I won't command for you. Since you're following in my footsteps, you have to learn step by step."

"Well what now?" Crystal asked.

The red-haired boy rolled his eyes and she remembered he could hear her portion of their conversation. "Well obviously we battle like normal people do. Totodile, Water Gun again!"

"Dodge it!" Crystal threw out, but neither trainer nor Pokémon had the experience to do that.

Nuria took the hit and Crystal winced a little as she watched without help. Red shook his head at the display and the stranger just laughed. Crystal looked to the battle legend, trying to ignore the words that the stranger was saying.

"Honestly," said the red-head, "why even bother? You're just as weak as those other kids."

Red stepped in front of the Totodile. "Ignore him. He's just trying to get into your head. Right now you don't have the reaction speed or psychological capability to deal with him though, so you need to put some distance between the both of you."

"Nuria, Smokescreen!" Crystal commanded in response.

Black fog spread itself around the area, covering everything visible. Unable to see anything, Crystal took a moment to breathe, as Red told her to. And then she looked at him for the next piece of insight. Crystal figured that she would be attacking the stranger's Pokémon, but she didn't know how to go about that. There was something to the approach that was just that difficult.

"If you use a fire move you'll give away your position," Red stated, confirming her thoughts. "Use the dark to your advantage. You can do physical damage to him several times before the smokescreen is gone. Just make sure Nuria gets out of the way."

She nodded. "Nuria, you know what to do. Tackle and run."

She closed her eyes and listened to the soft footsteps of both Pokémon. They were at different rhythms, but she could tell they were getting close to each other. It was when she heard the first hit that she opened them. The feral cries of the two baby Pokémon echoed through the smoke for a moment, and as she looked at the red-haired stranger, he bit his lip, the look of strategizing written all over his face. And then he smiled.

"Totodile! Water Gun! Spray everywhere," he said.

The smoke began to clear, bogged down by water. Crystal felt her pulse quicken. She was exposed now, which meant that if she was going to win this battle, she would have to act quick. Not that it was as bad as she thought. The stranger's Totodile looked really banged up, enough so that with another strong hit, it could be possible to topple him over and finish him.