Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ The Forgotten Son ❯ Out of Darkness ( Chapter 6 )

As it gave another odd-sounding yell Kenshin leapt forward again with its sword at the ready, but it was easily repelled just as it had been before. The battle had extended for a little while, but with each exchange the difference between scyther and Kenshin grew larger; scyther benefited from the commands of its trainer as well as a higher level in power- it's speed was not inferior either.

 

Every attempt from Kenshin to strike was read carefully and brilliantly, always blocked and the opening exposed. As Kenshin toppled backward onto the ground for the umpteenth time, scyther's master gave a sneer; “Enough of this. Scyther, let's end it- now!”

 

Scyther nodded, obviously satisfied with the command, and charged forward. Luke gritted his teeth and could barely watch as Kenshin stood up again, its legs wobbly, expression energyless and body wounded all over. Just as scyther brought down its mighty scythe, however, the attack hit not the treecko's frail body but instead a collection of thick black mass, from which eyes appeared and a fog spread across the room. The Gastly had stepped in at the last moment, released from Luke's partner's pokeball.

 

“That was the height of pathetic, I swear to God.” He said as he stepped out of the shadows, his eyes leering at Luke. “I can't stand to watch a battle like that go on any longer. Gastly, let's curse him and give him a taste of night shade.”

 

The fog seemed to tremble as the black energy of the curse was laid upon scyther, the ghost pokemon giving up its own life energy to handicap its opponent.

 

“Hmmph, you're a heartless trainer indeed to impose such a dreadful attack on your pokemon.” Scyther's master said, a little disappointed. “Scyther, let's give him a good fury cutter!”

 

Scyther nodded, cutting rapidly at the fog, but it failed to have any effect. The slashes simply whiffed through the fog, not damaging the opponent in the least bit.

 

“You idiot- only Gastly's core can be affected by such meager attacks. You can't battle fog. Night shade, Gastly.”

 

As scyther's master frowned the fog flashed with a painful black energy, the attack focusing on the scyther and causing it to wobble in place as the curse continued to eat away at its strength. The fog slowly thickened until nothing was visible, but after another black flash there the sound of a `thud' as something hit the damp ground.

 

“Gastly, let's go.”

 

A red beam shot through the fog, catching the black core perfectly even in the darkness and immediately sucking away all the fog; however what was revealed was a decoy slowpoke which had been previously kidnapped and was dropped on the ground as the scyther and its master made an escape.

 

“Cowards.” The red-haired child scoffed, brushing some hair out from his face. “Let's go, Mr. helpless. Can't have you wetting yourself all alone in this cave.”

 

Luke frowned a little but was otherwise unaffected by the insult. He felt no need to do anything but passively accept it, and willingly followed his partner deeper into the cave. He was met with an equally evil leer from treecko, and the remainder of the journey in was quite silent. Luke would occasionally open his mouth, but he couldn't think of anything to say; he had failed them, and that was it- although he was a bit upset at the fact that he'd lost respect from both Kenshin and his partner.

 

Finally, after journeying through the secret caverns in the well, they came upon a decent group of rockets with a large number of slowpoke as well as what appeared to be a cutting table smeared with blood and a brown sack of tails beside it. The room was well lit with flood lights around the perimeter, and there were no passages deeper; this was the center of their operations. Most of the slowpoke looked utterly depressed without their tail, almost like a fixed dog or cat.

 

Red-hair chose to stand silently as the rockets chatted among each other. His evil aura slowly gained their attention without him having to make a sound, and after half a minute every eye in the room was turned to him. He wordlessly released his Gastly from its pokeball, staring angrily back at the rockets.

 

One, who seemed awfully important wiped chuckled and was the first to say anything; “Okay, kid, I gotcha. You're gonna save the day, huh? Gonna play superman, right?”

 

That comment was NOT the thing to say to the red-haired boy, and this was something Luke watched happen as his mouth dropped below his chest.

 

“Listen to me you sick worthless piles of crap!” Red-hair said this as he marched forward and yanked down his insulter by the scruff of his neck, “I am not to be tampered with and if you think otherwise then you'll pay for it!”

 

His comment was met with another snicker, but before this grew into a laugh the man suddenly choked on something and fell to the floor, breathing uneasily. Out from his mouth spewed Gastly, who had evidently discreetly entered the man's esophagus earlier. When the man stood up, his expression was entirely different, squeezed into utter rage and with his teeth bared.

 

“You wanna play rough, huh kid? I'll give you rough!” he said this as he released a team of two pokemon; a purple ball-shaped koffing and a blue bat zubat like one of the earlier men had.

 

“See, this is what I hate; you guys are all talk combined with useless pokemon. Those guys look untrained and pathetic- here, maybe you just can't comprehend real strength.”

 

He gestured to Luke, who was surprised at his giving a second chance and took it eagerly, gesturing to Woop to step forward alongside Gastly.

 

The battle began instantly without any real signal, and this caught Luke by surprise; both of the other trainers issued a command simultaneously and three of the pokemon sprang into action immediately.

 

The Gastly had overtaken the zubat in seconds, enveloping it in complete darkness while the koffing spewed noxious gasses as Woop, who coughed uneasily and looked at Luke with an expression of sadness.

 

“I'm sorry, Woop! Let's give `em a good mud slap!”

 

The blue pokemon nodded, slapping a muddy part of the ground with its tail to fling it into the air and blasting it forward with a shot of water, but both pokemon were unaffected as the attack fell just below their altitude. The poor command was taken advantage of in seconds, as koffing spewed another wave of gas- this time damaging Woop rather than poisoning it. As this exchange happened Luke could hear the faint screeching of zubat as it was slowly laid to waste, although at this point he was caught up entirely on his own battle.

 

“Woop, let's try a water gun!”

 

The blue pokemon nodded, gushing out a steady stream of water and blasting back the koffing, but by now the poison was getting to it and its attacks were slowly fading into weakness. After another wave of gas it looked to be badly pained, and Luke grimly called it back out of battle, realizing Woop was just plain outmatched and if the fight continued blow for blow Woop was going to lose.

 

“Miltank…” Luke said solemnly, looking at his trusted cow pokemon, “Do you want to take his place?”

 

Miltank crossed her arms and shook her head. She personally didn't like to battle, and saw it as a useless contest; she had disapproved of Luke from the beginning when he slowly drifted toward battle, and her mind wasn't going to change now.

 

“Okay, that's fine.” Luke said. “Well, Kenshin and Woop are in bad condition and Magikarp isn't ready for this yet, so… I guess I'm done.”

 

“What are you talking about?!”

 

Luke turned in surprise to see red-hair already finished, his gaze fixed on Luke.

 

“You're gonna let that slide? Maker her fight! Make your pokemon in bad condition fight- the fat lady hasn't sung for them yet! They've got to learn that there's no easy way out. Don't baby them!”

 

Luke frowned “No, that's not fair. They're obviously weaker, and I want them to trust me. What can I gain in that respect from forcing them to fight?”

 

“Why not try some real strategy outside of standing in place and firing attacks?! And I think asserting yourself once in a while may actually gain you some trust, huh?!”

 

Luke looked away, unwilling to comply with his demands. He just plain didn't want to continue this fight any longer, and that was that.

 

“Fine.” The red haired boy scoffed, obviously very disappointed. He turned to the rocket, releasing his blue totodile. “Let's make quick work of this guy, everyone; all out attack!”

 

The remaining four minutes of the battle were very one-sided as the rocket's remaining pokemon were made quick work of. He gave an almost pained grimace as his final pokemon flashed red and was sucked back into its ball, the safety snatching it away from further abuse. The rocket, who had been quite sure of himself before was now dethroned as the red hair boy stepped forward. He fell to his knees, and the red haired boy appeared almost majestic as he stood over his opponent victoriously, his cold eyes staring deep into the rocket's soul.

 

The entire room was taken aback, but after seeing the kid battle nobody dared to challenge him. They were certain of their own doom, and rather than have to deal with it anymore they suddenly scrambled out of the caverns, bumping into each other and causing minor havoc.

 

Red-hair gritted his teeth and stomped down on the ground, in a bit of a rage. “This is ridiculous! Nobody in this stupid operation can finish a fight. I hope that the higher ups aren't the same, and if they are they'd better think twice about ever coming back!”

 

He said this rather loudly into the caverns, possibly hoping the fleeing rockets would hear him. Luke watched in a quiet awe, as the red haired kid's grip over the room was quite a surprise. After a moment, a small grin spread on Luke's face; the rockets were gone, the hate was over for now. He could finally be himself.

 

At least, this is what he thought. But inside him, the question of his father still remained like a black stain on his shirt that wouldn't come out. Sooner or later the question was going to drive him to move toward more battles; the question was when.

 

The red hair kid had by now noticed Luke's silent presence and was giving him a stern glare. He didn't have to say anything; by now Luke could fully comprehend what he was saying without sound. The red haired boy's words from a few days ago were now ringing in his head again; “You're training your pokemon to be weak, you're letting them get too close. I learned that getting close to a pokemon is painful- the hard way. I hope that you change your ways soon.”

 

Twice today he had failed his partner, but it didn't matter anymore. He was free, and his pokemon were okay for the most part.

 

He silently turned around and walked back out from the well; he was through here. He was anticipating some good rest back home, but this would never actually come for the rest of his life…