"C'mon, battle me!" he said again.
"I…fine!" Shelby said, a new confidence spurring in herself.
"Heh…good," a smirk appeared on his face.
Shelby grabbed the pokeball for her new Pidgey, getting it ready to go. She wanted to try it out, and she knew this would be a good opportunity. Oh no, I should've found the level out earlier, she thought worriedly. As he shouted something and threw his pokeball, all thoughts of that were gone from her mind. She chucked hers as well. Both Pokémon came out in flashes of light.
"Odd!"
She looked at the new Pokémon curiously. Wonder what that is, Shelby quickly pulled out her Pokedex, reading the information on the Oddish quickly. Good, my Pidgey's gust attack should have no problem with this, she thought. When she looked at the field a second later, Pidgey was pecking at the ground. Shelby blanched, you've gotta be kidding me! The boy started laughing. Shelby's eyes narrowed.
"Pidgey, quick attack!"
Even though it had been sort of careless, now it was in battle mode. Pidgey flew at the Oddish, and the trainer, too busy laughing, didn't notice until it was too late.
"Oddish!" the boy shouted. He looked up and glared at Shelby. "Fine, Oddish use Absorb!"
Oddish did as it was told; only sapping Pidgey's energy a little because Pidgey had the type advantage. Pidgey flapped its wings angrily.
"Gust attack!"
Pidgey whipped up a small tornado. It slammed into Oddish, sending it flying. The Oddish hit a tree and slid down. The leaves on the top of its head were wilted, showing that it had been defeated. Shelby grinned, she was very proud of her Pidgey's first win. The boy looked at Shelby then back at Oddish. With a small huff he returned his Pokémon then went for the next one. There was another flash of light, and a fish looking Pokémon sprang out of the ball. Shelby did another data check and found that this Pokémon was called Goldeen. It was a water type, but as long as Pidgey finished it she knew that everything would be alright.
"Pidgey, quick attack!"
Pidgey flew in for the attack, but Goldeen flopped up to meet it. Shelby looked at the fight, surprised. The trainer hadn't said a word, yet the Goldeen countered Pidgey's attack perfectly. They met in a clash, Goldeen's horn getting Pidgey right on its body. No! Shelby thought. Pidgey cooed and landed on the ground. The boy smirked triumphantly. If only it hadn't gotten its strength sapped by Oddish, Shelby thought with her teeth ground together.
"There's no way your puny Pokémon can take on my Goldeen," he scoffed. "I've trained it since it was a baby and now I know it's much stronger than any Pokemon you have," he said. Shelby could tell he was really proud of his Pokémon's power, but so far she was too. She returned her exhausted Pidgey and grabbed Cyndaquil's pokeball. "There's a fire emblem on it," the boy said. "You know…you're not going to be able to win that way."
"I don't care, 'cuz I'm going to try!" With those words, she sent out her Cyndaquil. It came out, the flame on its back already lit. She grinned proudly, we have gotten closer. Hopefully because of that we'll be able to take on this Goldeen…but…I just hope it doesn't know too many water type moves.
"Goldeen use water sport!"
"Cyndaquil hurry up and headbutt that Goldeen!" Shelby commanded. The water came down, but she knew it was just to weaken his power. As long as it didn't damage her Cyndaquil too much, she hoped they could win with a few headbutts. Goldeen got hit by the headbutt, but it only skimmed it lightly. Darn it! Shelby thought. Cyndaquil sprang back away from the Goldeen, ready to go again.
"Goldeen hit it with peck and finish it off!" the boy called. His Goldeen sprang into action, flopping up in the air and aiming directly for Cyndaquil.
"Quick Cyndaquil, use your ember attack!" Shelby shouted. She knew it wouldn't do a lot of damage, but she hoped that it would stop the Goldeen from hitting Cyndaquil with all of its power. Luckily it did, but Goldeen escaped with barely a mark on it. We need to make these attacks count, she thought. Her fist clenched and she pointed at Goldeen. "Now use—"
"Dive in the water!" the boy said, interrupting her. The Goldeen splashed into the small pond nearby. Shelby ran over and so did the boy. She looked around, trying to spot the Goldeen. Shelby knew Cyndaquil couldn't go in the water, so she just had to wait for the Goldeen to show itself. The boy looked up at her. His mouth twitched and he called, "Go Goldeen, attack with peck!"
The Goldeen sprang out of the water, bringing a small wave with it. Shelby knew that it wasn't really an attack, but it was strategic and if it hit Cyndaquil… "Cyndaquil hurry and use smokescreen to hide!" Shelby shouted. A cloud of smoke shot out of Cyndaquil's mouth, hiding it from Goldeen's peck attack. Though Shelby couldn't see her Pokémon, somehow she knew it was in the right position. "Cyndaquil use headbutt!"
There was a thud. A splash came from the water. Shelby thought she had heard the other trainer call something out, and she could only hope that it was just Goldeen that had gone into the water and not her Cyndaquil. If it was…she feared the answer. The smokescreen began to clear, but she couldn't see Cyndaquil or Goldeen anywhere. Oh no, she thought, looking around wildly.
"Cynda!" the cry came from a bush. Cyndaquil came trotting out on all fours. It looked beaten up, but it was still standing. Shelby then looked around for the Goldeen. She looked at the water and saw it floating, looking very dazed. The boy groaned and slumped. He returned his Goldeen and glanced up at Shelby. She looked at Cyndaquil and then scooped it up. She hugged the little Pokémon, which caused it to say, "Cynda!" The flames on its back ignited again.
"Ow!" Shelby yelped, letting go of it. Cyndaquil looked as if it were laughing at her.
"Nice battle," the boy said, almost grudgingly.
"Well…I'm really surprised I won," Shelby admitted, rubbing the back of her head. "I mean Cyndaquil looks pretty tired over here…" She thought of something and grabbed it out of her backpack. It was the potion one of the assistants had handed her. She sprayed it on Cyndaquil, and suddenly he looked brand new. "Alright," she said softly. She looked ahead. She could already see the outline of buildings not too far away. "Viridian City here I come," she said softly.
The boy smiled a little and stuck out his hand. "I'm Kid Trainer James," he replied. Shelby shook his hand,
"I'm Shelby."
"Well…see you around and nice battling with you," he smiled a bit more and then jogged off in the direction of Pallet.
"Return—"
"PIKACHU!"
Shelby looked over. A Pikachu was standing on the rock, cheeks sparkling with electricity. Its little arms were in small fists, and it was almost glaring at her and Cyndaquil. Shelby gulped. I want a Pikachu, but this one seems a little…difficult? She thought, searching for the proper word. It looked like it was just itching for a fight and would do anything to get it. Suddenly a bolt of electricity flew towards her and Cyndaquil.
"Cynda!" Cyndaquil called out, clearly startled by the Pikachu's abrupt attack. It knew that it was time to battle again, so the flames on its back lit up. Shelby hoped that Cyndaquil could hold out this last battle and then they could move to Viridian as soon as possible. Plus, there were thunderclouds beginning to appear in the area. Though if they were from Pikachu or not, Shelby couldn't tell.
"Cyndaquil hurry and use ember!" Shelby decided using ember would be the safest bet. It seemed to be really dangerous to get too close to something that could shock you. Plus, Pikachu seemed to be a little wired at the time.
The fire burst from Cyndaquil's mouth, shooting directly at the wild Pikachu. Pikachu countered with a thundershock attack. They met in a bang, sending debris and dust flying into the air. When it cleared, Pikachu looked only slightly weakened but Cyndaquil was already panting. It's too tired…I need to wrap this up, Shelby thought. Taking a chance, she had Cyndaquil use headbutt. As it got closer to the Pikachu, the Pikachu began to get sparks from its cheeks.
"Hurry and use ember while it's unsuspecting!" Shelby called to Cyndaquil. Fire shot out of its mouth again. To top it all of, the headbutt hit head on. Pikachu let out a cry and hit a rock. It began to get back up, but it looked considerably weaker than before. Shelby let out a tired huff. Cyndaquil was panting harder; Shelby knew its stamina was almost out.
"P…pika, pi," Pikachu said. It hopped into the air and then shot a jolt of electricity down on Cyndaquil.
"No! Cyndaquil dodge it!" Shelby shouted.
Luckily Cyndaquil escaped in the nick of time. The lightning hit it, but the effect wasn't at bad. Cyndaquil got paralyzed though, and Shelby knew that now was her chance. She told Cyndaquil to use one final ember attack and then she planned to throw the pokeball. She knew this was it, all or nothing.
The ember hit, and she realized that Pikachu got a burn. It fell because the burn was right on its knee. She chucked the Pokeball at the wild Pikachu, watching it begin to shake. She had to admit it shook a little more violently than with Pidgey, but she hoped that all her battling and hard work paid off…
(OOC: phew...that was like...3 and 1/2 pages on word...seems so much shorter here XD)
