Meanwhile, at the northern edge of the market, a big black truck that had some sort of a red fox painted on the side of the truck, stood on the opposite side of the street. People gave it strange looks as it passed by; after all, cars and trucks weren't common here, except for some farmers who had machines to help them in their work. Pokémon driven carriages was the normal way to transport things in the slowly moving Arcanum. Guarding the truck were groups of men and women, both Arcanians and foreigners.
"How boring..." one of the female guards remarked to another guard, as the guards dressed in dark clothes guarding the trucks seemed bored. "You'd think as we got here, we'd be in for some great entertainment."
"Heh, guess we'll have to make some fun of our own," another guard chuckled, facing the people around that were observing them. Then, with a deep, cocky tone, he asked, "Any of you chumps want to battle?"
"I WOULD LIKE TO BATTLE!" shouted one of the younger male villagers causing the two guards to flinch at his enthusiasm. "But... I have no pokemon." he added, suddenly depressed. The male guard raised an eyebrow at him; his mood swings were... interesting. Darn kids.
"If I battle you, do you PROMISE to leave my oranges alone?" Another villager asked. "My oranges have been stolen for 10 years!"
"You idiot," the female guard hissed. "We just got here; we've had nothing to do with your stolen oranges. Besides; how do you know they were stolen?"
"BUT-- THEY WERE STOLEN! I JUST KNOW IT!" he insisted, stomping on the ground in his frustrations and stubbornness. "I HAD THEM IN MY HANDS, I TOOK THEM TO BED, I HUGGED THEM WHILE I SLEPT AND NOW THEY'RE GONE!"
"You fool!" another villager remarked. "Why would you hug your oranges?!"
"Because he is giving them love, stupid!" another replied.
"Don't call me stupid, stupid!" the villager demanded. "You're so stupid that in the next 10 seconds when I give you a knuckle sandwich, you'll think it would be delicious!"
"Maybe I think it will be! What's it too you?!"
"Shut up!"
"No, YOU shut up!"
"Shut your FACE!"
"I'll shut YOUR face with his oranges!"
"AHA, SO YOU'RE THE ONE WHO STOLE THEM!"
"No stupid, SHUT UP!"
"I can't believe you don't know how to SHUT UP!"
"OKAY, EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!" the female guard ordered, as everyone did indeed... shut up. "Thank you."
"Let's begin the battles!" the male guard announced.
****
Soon, Lynn and her pokemon were strolling through the street, until they all saw a huge crowd. Lynn, being a curious type that she is, decided to investigate. All she heard was the sounds of shouting, and the cries of pokemon. She weaved and squired her way through the crowd,until she saw in a more opened space, a bonsly being knocked around by a squirtle's water gun.
"Slyyyyy!" (Okay, okay, I'm sorry for making fun of turtles pleeeease stop!) the Bonsly begged.
"Squirtle!" (Damn right you are! Turtles are the greatest thing ever!) Squirtle hissed, as he continued to use his Water Gun, hosing the Bonsly down. Soon, the Bonsly fainted, as rock pokemon really hate water. Lynn never knew why, in fact, she often wondered how rock pokemon could have baths.
"No, Bonslyyyy!" a teenaged boy cringed, who soon afterwards, returned his fainted bonsly back into it's pokeball. He soon angrily turned to the man who was dressed in a dark outfit; the male guard. "Curse you! I'll get you for this!"
The man smirked. "Who's next?" He wondered. Lynn silently looked on, to the battles that soon took place.
After Konan, the next challenger, proclaimed that his market's products was cheap and had great wagon parking, he sent out his Wooper, a pokemon that loved to dance to please customers. He was battling a female guard with dark clothing, as she sent out a Bulbasaur to counter the Wooper's water attacks. Wooper began it's trademark dancing as everyone in the crowd clapped,being pleased with the performance, Bulbasaur declared that his 'bulb was not amused', and used Vine Whip to try and slap the Wooper silly, making the Wooper jump up and down to avoid the attacks. Everyone thought that this was part of the act, however, that point became moot when Bulbasaur used a Tackle attack the instant Wooper jumped once again, making the Wooper slam right on the ground, faint. The crowd was not pleased as they started to boo, but Bulbasaur then roared that once again, 'I have a bulb; your arguments are INVALID!'
Next, a challenger was a girl named Miyouri who dragged her seemingly cowardly Poochyena by the tail, up towards the truck. She was battling a male guard who sent out his Charmander from it's pokeball. As soon as Poochyena caught sight of the 'vicious' Charmander, it tackled the girl who dropped a pokeball, as used the tip of it's nose to open the pokeball, sending the Poochyena inside. Miyouri frustratingly threw Poochyena's pokeball, sending out Poochyena again, demanding it to battle. Poochyena caught sight of the Charmander once again, who without any options, growled softly and waved it's tail as viciously as it could. Shortly before the male guard could even order an attack, the Poochyena fainted out of pure fear.
In the third battle, the challenger was a male named Zack who constantly reminded everyone that he was a Broski. 'You can't beat me because I'm a broski!!' he would shout. Of course, no one actually knew what a broski was, so they didn't really take him seriously. Zack sent out a Magby who loved to fist pump in the air, while the same male guard who battled last time sent out the familiar Squirtle to counter Magby's fire attacks. The Magby, chanting 'Whoo! Whoo Whoo!' as it released it's Ember attack, was only countered by the Squirtle's Water Gun, hitting it square on the face. 'Are you serious, bro?!' Zack said in shock, as the Squirtle, proclaiming that turtles are the greatest, tackled the Magby, causing it to faint. 'Turtles before... Brotles.' The squirtle claimed afterward.
"Flare," (That Magby was a disgrace,) Flareon remarked.
"Pan..." (Their idiocy did show now bound...) Pansage added.
"Who are these guys?" Lynn asked a scruffy looking man beside her, as she glanced back at their truck. "That red fox... I've never a logo like seen it before."
"Indeed; they just appeared out of the blue," the man replied. "These guys have been challenging everyone left and right, and no one knows why. I've heard that thy are undefeated too."
Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander... Lynn thought. I read that in the book: The Tales of Pokemon. Supposedly, far away, you can start out with those pokemon on a journey... hm.
"We've still got some time to kill," the male guard announced. He soon peered into Lynn's eyes, as Lynn cringed. "You wanna be next?"
Lynn gulped. "Uh... okay, you're on. Flareon, Marill, Pansage, let's go... where are they?" Lynn then said, searching around for her pokemon.
Flareon, Pansage, and Marill were all sitting by a fruit vendor, as they saw a teenaged girl and boy, walking by, in which soon they stopped to view the fruit merchandise.
"Mmmm... These apples look good!" the teenage boy beamed. He picked up an apple from the basket, and took a bite out of it. The vendor was vexed.
"Sir! You need to pay!" the vendor demanded.
"...How come I have to pay?" the boy whined.
"You can't take something from a store without paying!" the girl explained. "This region, or the next; you have to pay for all your goods!"
"Hey! If you won't pay, I'm going to have you arrested!" the vendor warned.
"No one said anything about not paying!" the boy grumbled. "So.. how much does this cost anyway?"
"4 coins per apple," the vendor said. "You've got the money, don't you?"
The boy then reached for his pocket, got out three coins, and handed them over. However, the vendor coughed, signalling that it was not enough.
"What? Isn't that all you need?" the boy said.
"Geez, don't you know math?" the girl asked sarcastically. As she slapped her forehead with her right hand. "If I had 3 coins, plus one more coin, how many would I have?"
"W-wait, I know this one!" answered the boy. "Three plus that one coin! See? I told you I knew!"
"Three plus that one coin," the girl repeated, shaking her head with a sigh. "If I added THAT coin to the three, how many would I have?" the girl even hinted at the number four, by showing the boy four fingers, while very softly, yet constantly whispering, 'four... four...'
"OH YEAH! Uh.. a few coins?"
"Flare..." (He's rivaling the two idiots we saw battling before in stupidity...)
"Marill!" (Mr. Cloud said that guy is winning!)
"Marill! Pansage! Flareon! Where are you?!" called Lynn's voice, from a few feet away.
"Sage..." (Time to go back...) Pansage sighed, as he was not looking forward to watching more battles.
****
However, much to Pansage's surprise, it was now his, and Lynn's turn to battle the guards. Lynn stepped forward, as she saw that she was battling the female guard. The female guard smirked.
"My, aren't you a cute little thing," she mocked. "If I'm not careful... you might just eat me up!"
"Um, I'm afraid the swallow-up-alot spirit has prevented me from doing that," Lynn retorted. "Not that I would resort to cannibalism anyway."
"Hey idiot, it was just a figure of speech," the female sneered. She then took out two pokeballs. "Since you have three pokemon, why don't we have a double battle? If one of our first two pokemon is knocked out, then we send out the third one. The person who has all three of their pokemon faint first is the loser. Caprice?"
"Understood," Lynn grasped. "Pansage, Flareon, get ready!"
"Sage..." (You know, I never did get that payment in bananas for battling...) Pansage mumbled, upon him and Flareon standing ready to battle.
"Go! Squirtle and Charmander!" the guard cried, throwing her two pokeballs. The first pokeball released a familiar Squirtle to Lynn, rubbing it's shell and stretching before getting ready. It then blinked at the two, Flareon and Pansage.
"Squirtle! Squirt!" (You two are not turtles! You must DIE!)
"Flareon!" (Not if I BURN you first!)
The second pokeball released a cheerful Charmander, as it ran in place, warming up before the inevitable battle. It then did a back flip, followed up with a few head warm ups before it became fully ready.
"Chaaaaaaarmander!" (Alllllright, dum all over, yes we are!)
"Sage?" (What?)
"Charmander!" (Dum all over, near and far!)
Pansage blinked as he turned to Flareon. "Sage Pan--" (Don't underestimate them. Maybe if we can get the jump on them with some slow, careful strategy, we can get the upper hand to avoid their attacks and we can follow up with a counter--)
"Flareon!" (Too late, this is more fun!) Before Lynn could issue a command, Flareon started to release his Flamethrower upon the two pokemon,causing Squirtle to Withdraw to his shell, and forcing Charmander to leap out of the way.
"Ugh, Flareon, I didn't give the signal yet!" Lynn glared, followed up with a sigh. Although at this point, I shouldn't be surprised, she then thought. Well, since Flareon started anyway, Lynn suppose that she could give the first move. "Pansage, use Vine Whip on Squirtle!"
The sign that Pansage obeyed began as he released it's Vine Whip upon Squirtle's Withdrawn shell. However, unfazed from the protection of the shell, Squirtle soon rose, standing back up.
"Squirtle, use Tackle on Pansage!" declared the guard after the Vine Whip failure. The small turtle pokemon charged forward towards Pansage, or as quickly as it's short, blue legs with a shell on him back could allow him anyways...
"Pansage - dodge!" countered Lynn without hesitation. Pansage leaped out of Squirtle's way with ease, causing Squirtle to almost trip and fall from coming so fast, only to miss. "Use Vine whip again!" Lynn ordered, hoping that Pansage's Vine Whip would do more damage this time, however, before the attack could hit, the Squirtle withdrew to it's shell again, blocking the attack.
"Charmander - Ember on Pansage!" the guard commanded. Charmander took a deep breath, chanting on how dum everyone is, and blew out sprays of volcanic ember swarms.
"Flareon - counter with Flamethrower!" ordered by Lynn. Flareon blew his red hot Flamethrower, blowing away Charmander's ember with ease. Flareon continued his Flamethrower maneuver, as an attempt to scorch the Charmander. Charmander was able to jog, skip, and hop out of the way, even at one point where the Charmander was in front of the crowd as people had to duck to avoid Flareon's misfire. Soon, Flareon stopped.
"Flare...Eon," (Pretty fast for a lizard...unlike that turtle there,) Flareon taunted, trying to provoke Squirtle to slip.
"Squirtle, Squirt!" (Hey, that's rude! You are pretty rude!) Squirtle shouted as it recovered.
"Flareon!" (And turtles are pretty ugly!)
"SQUIRT?!" (WHAT?!) Squirtle shrieked. "Squirt--" (What did you just say--)
"Pansage," (He said that turtles are ugly,) Pansage said calmly as he rubbed his ears. "Sage, Pan." (If I may add that you certainly are not going to be much faster - or prettier with that big shell on your back.)
"Tle - Squirtle!" (You - Charmander, help me out here!) Squirtle asked, upon turning to his teammate.
"Charmander, Char!" (Don't worry Squirtle, I think turtles are dum!) Charmander happily said as an attempt to complement Squirtle. However, it was soon rewarded with a infuriated Squirtle's Water Gun straight on the face, knocking it out on the spot. It's last words, was Water is dum.
"Wh-?! NO MY FLAME LIZARD!" the female guard shrieked. "Damn it, Squirtle! What have I told you?!" Lynn could do nothing but blink as the female guard frustratingly sent out her next pokemon: a know-it-all bulbasaur who was obsessed with it's bulb.
"Bulbasaur!" (You can't beat me because I have a bulb! Your arguments are INVALID!) he declared upon entering the fray.
"Flare?" (A bulbasaur? Pffft!)
I guess I can use Flareon's Flamethrower to attack that Bulbasaur... Lynn thought. I can also use Pansage to cover Flareon's Water weakness... I think I'm in a good position! Lynn then smirked, issuing her next order. "Flareon - Flamethrower! The fire spirit shall protect you!"
Flareon, still unable to figure out the existence of this 'fire spirit', still threw his hot-blooded flamethrower towards the bulbasaur and squirtle, causing them both to duck out of the way.
"Bulba!" (How dare you try to burn my precious bulb!) Bulbasaur yelled. "Pansage - Use Scratch on Squirtle!" Commanded Lynn, as she planned on stacking mor edamage to the Squirtle before giving it the final blow. Pansage started hoping towards it, sticking out it's claws, prepared to deliver a scratch.
"Squirtle, Water Gun!" the female guard countered. Squirtle released his watery jet move - Water Gun, forcing Pansage to be knocked back, but not enough for a serious hit. "Now - Bulbasaur - Tackle!" she then commanded. Bulbasaur, said to be gaining energy from his bulb, rushed over to the staggered Pansage, hitting it square on the nose before Pansage could move out of the way. Soon Pansage fainted, who didn't even get the bananas he wanted.
"Return, Pansage," Lynn said, taking out Pansage's pokeball, returning it inside for a rest. Darn, so much for my plan... perhaps Venus has been enlightened and the water spirits are more powerful... Lynn then turned to Marill, who was busy idling nearby. "Marill, I need you!"
"Flare..." (Oh please, no...) Flareon wished. However, much to his dismay, Marill agreed to Lynn's request, and hopped and waddled her way over towards the battlefield.
"Mar!" (Mr. Cloud and I are ready!) she announced. Oh boy, this was not going to end well.
****