Chapter 03 –
Prepare for Trouble...
Arthur was nearing the forest exit. He was cycling somewhat faster than normal, and didn't notice two men and a woman entering the forest on the same trail as Arthur. He was unable to break, and knocked over one of the men, falling of his bicycle in the process.
“Ouch! Stupid kid! Watch where you're going, will you?” he snarled.
“Yeah, you're lucky we have business to attend to!” the woman of the group said.
“Hey buddy, this is a bicycle trail! You weren't even supposed to be here!” Arthur snarled back.
“What!? Why, I oughta...” the guy Arthur hit said with a clenched fist.
“Leave him alone, Darren. We're on a mission, remember...?” the woman said.
And so the three walked off. Arthur examined them when they did. He noted a red 'R' on the back of their jackets. Without thinking about it too much, Arthur wiped the dust off of his clothes, and picked up his bicycle. He exited the forest.
Arrived in Azalea, Arthur noticed strange black vans parked on various places. The vans were marked with a large red 'R' on their sides. Just like the people back in Ilex Forest had on their jackets. Now it struck Arthur. It was a familiar mark to Arthur. He remembered hearing a lot about that mark at school back in Violet City. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, though.
He walked his bicycle through the streets as he spotted various men and women dressed in black walking the streets, just like the ones in Ilex Forest. Arthur overheard various conversations about a rare Pokémon being somewhere in this area. “
A rare Pokémon?” Arthur thought.
He approached his home. His mother was standing on the porch, together with two men in black. Arthur's mother was having an argument with the two men.
“I'm not giving you anything!” she yelled.
“Miss, don't make it any more complicated than it already is...” on of the men begun.
“...Yeah ma'am, we've been ordered by the boss to collect every Pokémon in town.” the other supplemented. “That includes your Growlithe.”
Arthur got off of his bike, and dropped it on the ground. “Hey! Keep your hands off of my mother!” he ordered. The men looked over their shoulders simultaneously, then faced each other.
“Go talk to the boy, I'll take care of his mother.” the man on the left said.
“No!! Go easy on my boy!” Arthur's mom cried.
The man approached Arthur slowly, holding out his hands before him. He attempted to assure Arthur that he wasn't about to hurt him, Arthur just needed to stay out of this. Arthur ignored his words completely.
“Eat me! What are you guys doing here anyway?” Arthur asked.
“Excuse me, kid!? You show some nerve having such a mouth against Team Rocket!”
Now Arthur remembered. Team Rocket is an organization of thieves and bandits, determined to own every Pokémon in the world, even if they were to take them from their trainers. And now they've invaded Azalea Town.
“Oh yeah!? Well, you show some nerve harassing my mother! You have no business at all here, get the heck out of this town!!” Arthur angrily shouted.
“That's enough, boy.” The Team Rocket member grabbed a Poké ball from his pocket.
Arthur gasped. Perhaps it was better to keep quiet this time. “
Me and my big mouth...” he thought. The Rocket member threw the Poké ball, and a Zubat emerged. It let out a painfully high-pitched scream. Arthur's mother turned hysterical. Was he going to use Pokémon to attack her son?
“You brutes!! He's only a kid, don't hurt him!!”
“
Oh yeah? Well you're in for a surprise, buster!” Arthur thought, with a grin on his face. He went for his back pocket. The Rocket member smirked slightly. “Come on, boy, show me what you got!” “What is he doing?” Arthur's mother thought.
“Sandshrew! I choose you!” Arthur called, and threw his Poké ball.
“Sssandshreww!” Sandshrew said.
Arthur's mother's eyes widened. “
He... he used the Poké ball for...” She couldn't even finish her thoughts. She needed to sit down for a minute. The other Rocket member meddled with Arthur and his fellow member.
“Sandshrew are pretty tough. You think you got this?” he asked to his battling colleague.
“Are you kidding me? Sandshrew is a ground-type Pokémon! He can't hit my Zubat!”
“Sandshrew! Use Sand Attack!” Arthur called.
Sandshrew let out a screech, and wiped his tail over the ground with enough force to create a big sand cloud. Zubat dodged the entire cloud with ease, simply flying over it. Instead, it hit the two Rocket members. They covered their faces.
“
*cough* *cough* You see? Zubat hasn't got a scratch!” he coughed.
Zubat kept flying around in circles over the sand cloud. It may not have hit Zubat, but it shrouded Sandshrew entirely, making it difficult to spot him. Meanwhile, more people noticed the battle, and formed a crowd watching on a safe distance. The Rocket member had a plan.
“Zubat! Find him using Supersonic!”
Zubat faced the sand cloud, and let out an obnoxious screech. The sound waves hit something, and returned to Zubat. It knew that it had found Arthur's Sandshrew. It screeched excited. “Alright! Fly in there and use Bite!” Zubat rushed lightning-quick in the sand cloud. Arthur gasped. Moments later, Sandshrew's cry was heard in the cloud. The crowd gasped.
“Sandshrew! Get away from there!!” Arthur called in a desperate attempt to save Sandshrew.
Sandshrew scurried out of the cloud on all four of his legs, with Zubat closing in on him. Zubat's speed was obviously superior to Sandshrew's. “Use Scratch as soon as Zubat's close enough!” Arthur said. While running on all fours, Sandshrew dived in the air. Zubat hung above Sanshrew and was about to put its fangs in Sandshrew's skin once more. Sandshrew turned around in the air, facing Zubat. With a mighty swipe from his claws, Sandshrew managed to hit Zubat out of the air. The crowd cheered. Arthur smiled.
“Get up, Zubat. I'm
NOT gonna lose this!” The Rocket member said.
“Oh, yes you will.” The other member said.
Zubat crawled up, and flapped its wings. It levitated slowly off the ground. “Now, Sandshrew, chase Zubat down with Rollout!!” Arthur ordered, and Sanshrew acted accordingly. Sandshrew curled up into a ball, and charged his Rollout attack.
“What the heck this that Sandshrew doing?” one of the Rocket members said.
“Oh darn, I think I know exactly what it's going to do! Zubat!! Quick Attack! NOW!!”
In the blink of an eye, Zubat flew towards Sandshrew, who was curled up, ready to attack. Quick as Zubat may be, it wasn't fast enough to hit Sandshrew before he bouldered towards Zubat. On it's own instinct, Zubat flew up higher in an order to dodge the move, only to be scratched by Sandshrew's rough skin. It felt like a cheese slicer had rubbed against Zubat's stomach. Zubat collapsed towards the ground, and fainted. The people applauded Arthur and Sandshrew, and the Rocket members were jeered at at the same time. The Rocket member called back Zubat.
“By Giovanni... He beat us!” the member said.
“Just you wait, kid... We'll be back.” the members ran away.
“And stay out!” Arthur yelled.
Arthur turned to his mother. She kept quiet at first. Arthur stuttered.
“Mom... I-I...”
“Don't say anything...” his mother interrupted. “I know enough.”
Sandshrew watched the two speak to each other.
“...You spend all your money on a single Poké ball, you go back to the Poké mart to sell it, probably getting back half the money you lost on it, but you catch a Pokémon instead?”
“...” Arthur murmured a bit in himself unintelligibly.
“Your money-managing skills are horrid, you put yourself in danger by facing Team Rocket, and probably by catching that Pokémon without having one yourself, and...”
Sandshrew covered his eyes in embarrassment. Arthur's mother noticed that. “but...” she tried to continue to reprimand Arthur for his actions.
“...but in the end, you and Sandshrew protected us from those gangsters.” she smiled.
Arthur looked up surprised. The people cheered and applauded. It sounded: “You go, Arthur!” “Our saviour!” “That Sandshrew is so cool!”
“Sssandshrew!” Sanshrew said, looking at Arthur.
Arthur crouched down to Sandshrew's level. Sandshrew smiled friendly, and closed his eyes. Arthur winked Sandshrew back.
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So, that was the third chapter. I liked writing down the battle between Sandshrew and Zubat, I think it turned out quite well. If you guys have any comments/critique about my story so far, fire away! I would love to hear from you! ;)