Chapter 6: Petalburg Forest (Part 2)
"Yena!" A voice suddenly called out, and Shaun spun around. Poochyena had somehow escaped from the Pokeball, currently it was batting a leaf, and she couldn't blame it for doing so, meaning escaping from its Pokeball. Being the person that she was, she scooped Poochyena up in her arms and hugged it.
"I'm sorry, I should have thought to let you out of your Pokeball." She said apologetically, immediately feeling guilty. It really wasn't fair that Poochyena should be cooped up in a Pokeball when Electrike was free to walk outside next to her.
For some strange reason, Poochyena didn't seem to mind, though normally one would have growled and struggled to get free. Maybe it was just tired, yes, that was it, as it watched, Poochyena's eyelids began to drop again, and it yawned hugely, its ears pricking forward. Such a sweet little Pokemon, was Shaun's thought, till she remembered how vicious they could be.
"I guess he's....pretty tired, maybe I should carry him for a bit, until he wakes up again, that it." She added, speaking to Electrike, as the Poochyena's eyes fully closed and he was pretty soundly asleep.
"Trike?" Electrike replied absently, as it glared up into the trees, and Shaun seemed to sense something there, a presence or something. But then again, there were a ton of Pokemon living in the treetops, obviously one or two of them could possibly be lurking in the trees above them.
Suddenly, a man seemed to just...drop out of the trees. He was wearing a blue bandanna on his head, a black and white striped short sleeved t-shirt, and blue pants with a thick white stripe down the sides. He also wore black shoes and black gloves. Black, white, and blue themed? Interesting person, I'll bet he's weird. Shaun could have slapped her forehead, what was that last thought all about. But then he glared at her, the...she didn't know what, anger, surprise...loathing or greed perhaps? Whatever it was that existed in his eyes and facial expression startled her and she stepped back.
"And Electrike....and a Poochyena." He murmured, whipping out an electronic device, he appeared to be putting information into it, muttering quietly as he did so. Shaun wondered what he was all about.
"Er...I hope I don't sound rude or anything, but who the heck are you?" Shaun asked, rather more boldly than she normally would have in this circumstance. The man looked up at her again as if only just noticing that she was there. Weird.
"Hand over your Pokemon and no one gets hurt." He growled, making his point clear and simple, it was impossible not to understand what he meant.
"What? No way am I just going to hand them over! In fact, there's no way you're taking them!" Shaun replied, suddenly bristling at what the man had just said. Why the heck would he want my Pokemon? He should have some of his own. The man stepped forward, the look on his face becoming more and more menacing. Upon closer inspection, he appeared to be in his late teen years, though the look in his eyes was belonging of someone much older, perhaps even ten years older. She already knew his business, and she ached to give him a punch in the stomach for what he had just said. About giving up her Pokemon.
"Face it. You're not going to defeat me in a battle."
"Oh yeah? Who said?" Shaun snapped, her voice rising. Poochyena had woken up and was looking around, frightened.
"I say so, and if you know what's good for you, you'll hand them over!" Apparently the teenager wasn't exactly experienced in this, and Shaun had every reason to believe he wasn't a great battler either, but she didn't want it to go there.
"I already said I wouldn't!" She was sounding incredibly childish by now, and not at all intimidating, but the look on her face was enough to send a money obsessed, rude, strict, and furious company manager scurrying.
"That's it, you're really in for it now! Zubat, go and take them!"
"What? A battle's what you want?"
"Maybe not, but you just had to let it come to that. If I win, your Pokemon are mine, all mine. They're the official property of Team Aqua if I win." He said confidently, though it sounded like he hadn't done this many times before. She could detect a little slipping of his confidence.
"Electrike, ready to take them?" She set Poochyena, who was still somewhat groggy, on the ground, where it sat down on its hind legs and stared out, a bit confused, very frightened.
"Zubat! Leech Life!" Zubat flew forward, fangs bared to bite Electrike and drain its energy.
"Electrike, use Thunder Wave!" Shaun said, desperate to win this battle. She knew she should be keeping calm, but the consequences of losing...well, let's just focus on the battle.
Electrike growled and sent forth a weak jolt of electricity, striking Zubat as it neared its target. The electricity wrapped around Zubat, restaining it and rendering it unable to move. Slowly, it could possibly recover, and on certain turns it might be able to attack, but this gave Electrike the upper hand.
"Tackle, use it as many times as it takes!" Electrike charged and slammed into Zubat with a full body tackle as it struggled to get its wings to obey its brain. Its attempt was futile, however, and soon it found itself being hit with another tackle. The Team Aqua member didn't seem to be so confident anymore, but the look on his face was murderous, and it only drove Shaun and Electrike's efforts deeper into the battle.
"Supersonic! Zubat, you've got to try and use it!"
Zubat opened its mouth and emitted a horrible screech, Electrike closed its eyes in pain, as did Shaun and Poochyena, but after a while it stopped. Electrike's eyes were still shut as the sound of the screech rang and pounded in its ears.
"Trike!" It called helplessly, as Zubat moved awkwardly forward and used a Leech Life attack. Some energy was drained from Electrike in the attack, and seemed to revive Zubat slightly, but it also seemed to cure Electrike of its stunned confusion.
"Trike!" It called again, defiantly this time. Awaiting instruction.
"Thunder Wave, then toss it into the air with a tackle, and slam it into the ground!" She called, as Electrike gave a small growl and bared its teeth, before releasing a crackling jolt of electricity, which hit Zubat, wrapping around it once more. Meanwhile, the Team Aqua member gritted his teeth.
Electrike then backed up and began running at towards Zubat, slamming into it and tossing it into the air, before following it into the air with a determined jump, and giving it a push towards the ground. However, as Electrike had lost some energy due to Leech Life, Zubat wasn't exactly slammed into the ground, instead, it hit the ground with a thud! Normally, in this situation, as she saw it on TV, a cloud of dust would rise up, but in this case, there was no "dust" to rise up. However, it was clear that Zubat had been knocked out.
"Zubat...return!" The Team Aqua member called furiously, his eyes burning with anger and frustration. Then he scowled and disappeared.
"Good job, Electrike!" She said, hugging it and ignoring the small shock she received at touching its electricity charged fur. Electrike seemed to grin, though due to the way its mouth was shaped, it couldn't exactly do that. Then Shaun stood up again, seeming somewhat distant.
"That was...easy, almost too easy if you know what I mean...." She picked up Poochyena, "well, let's keep going, we've got to reach Rustboro City before nightfall, which I'm sure we will. I'd hate to camp out here tonight...."