Chapter 7
Disclaimer-
Gasp, another chapter. This one is also a nice plotline chapter, with more story than pokemon (although the pokemon are still involved). Please post any comments, I would like a few comments!
Anyway you know the drill, rated R for Violence, and Language.
Enjoy
CHAPTER 7- Fours a Crowd
After spending a few days in the Ridge woods, Sebastian, Ken and Damon made their way to the rest area Damon mentioned earlier. It was a beautiful site to Sebastian and Ken, with crystal clear water and a running stream, heading right into the oval shaped lake. The clearing had a number of tents dotting over it all, and trainers scattered all over the lakeshore. Some of them were eating a picnic lunch; others were taking a swim in the lake. There were even a pokemon battle going on, and a crowd of 15 or so trainers was watching the action.
“Check that out!” an excited Ken said, running towards the crowd of trainers. Damon and Sebastian followed suit, joining the throng of people in a circle near the lake. The battle was apparently a hotly contested match, as the crowd of young trainers was cheering loudly.
The two trainers fighting seemed to be more experienced in battling. Both were barking orders like mad to the two pokemon they had out. The first trainer was a tall, lanky guy wearing a red baseball cap. His pokemon was an Oddish, which was currently dodging the attacks of the 2nd pokemon, a Jigglypuff. The Jigglypuff was trying to pound the weed in front of it, but kept missing.
Sebastian looked up and saw the back of the other trainer, he had short hair in a ponytail, and was tall and thin, but he couldn’t see anything else, as the crowd was large at this point. Then, he heard a female voice shouting above all else.
“Ok Jigglypuff, grab it and double slap!” she shouted. The pokemon grabbed the Oddish by the weeds on it’s head, and lifted it from the ground. It began to smack it in its face, the oddish yelping with each successful slap.
“Oddish, try a stun spore!” cried the male trainer. The Oddish struggled to shoot the spore, but the Jigglypuffs hand’s held the stem of the weeds, and the stun spore couldn’t get out.
“Keep it up, and try a body slam Jigglypuff!” “Jiggly!” yelped the pink puffball, as it stop slapping the Oddish and then used it’s full weight to pound it onto the grassy floor. The grass type was dazed, and was definitely tired, but was still standing, although barely.
“Oddish, absorb some energy!” cried the male trainer. The oddish tilted its body, and concentrated for a moment, as the weeds on its head began to glow a light green. Soon small green orbs floated from its head, hitting into the Jigglypuff. The green orbs then turned blue, and as if it were a dazzling light show, floated back to Oddish, entering the top of it’s head again. “Oooddd..ish..” panted the grass type, as it stood up straight this time, gaining energy from the absorb attack.
Throughout the battle, Sebastian was paying attention to one thing above all else. The female trainer who was ordering the Jigglypuff kept all of his attention. She turned around, and Sebastian felt his heart skip a beat for a moment. Her large blue eyes had an intensity that he has never seen. Her blue shirt and faded jeans matched them perfectly.
Her face was almost angelic, creamy white skin and beautifully shaped lips…’Wow’, he thought to himself, ‘She is gorgeous…’ “DIISSSH!” cried the Oddish in battle, snapping Sebastian back into reality. He looked and saw the tiny grass type shoot leaves out of its weedy head and to it’s opponent. The Jigglypuff began to duck and dodge the razor sharp leaves, but was not fast enough and got nicked by a few of them, leaving a gash on its left cheek. The crowd dispersed for a moment, as the sharp leaves went whirling past some onlooker’s legs and into the trees behind them.
“JIGGGGLYY!” it cried in pain. Its trainer had the fiery look in her eyes again. “I’m not losing this one, Jigglypuff, take it down!” she yelled out! The Pink pokemon geared its body, its large eyes closing as it concentrated. It’s feet stood its ground for a moment, leaning back. It then charged at full force towards the Oddish.
“DODGE IT!” cried the male trainer, but it was a little to late, as the pink pokemon hit it in full force, knocking it downwards. The Oddish tried to lift itself this time, but it could barely get its leaves up. The male trainer recalled it, and conceded there.
“Good battle Sophie.” The male trainer said, as he put his pokeball away in his backpack and walked away. The girl, Sophie, smiled and grabbed her own pokeball. “Return Jigglypuff.” She said, as the pokemon retreated in a red flash. She tilted her head backwards and looked at the throng of people around her.
“Whose next?” she asked the crowd. The group of onlookers just stared, some of them walked away, going back to their tents.
“I WILL!” Sebastian practically yelled. He was still deep in his own thoughts, admiring her beauty. Ken and Damon looked at him in near shock. Sophie looked at him, and instead of questioning why he yelled, she just nodded and motioned him to come over here.
“She is a tough trainer Sebastian, you sure?” Damon asked. “Finally something that we can agree on.” Stated Ken. He turned to his friend and said, “You sure dude, you might lose.”
“So what?” Sebastian nearly snapped back. “Got to fight to win you know?” He turned towards Sophie, still admiring her features, and walked towards her, his face as red as a tomato.
“That was weird….” Said Ken, his face with a puzzled look on it. Damon just looked on at Sebastian rather coldly. ‘What is he up to….’ He thought to himself.
Sebastian walked closer to Sophie, and his mind was racing with every step. ‘Should I say hi? Should I shake her hand? What if I make an *** of myself? What should I do?’ he said in his mind. His nervousness was showing at this point. He was sweating heavily, even in the cool breeze of the forest. His hands were trembling a bit, so he kept them in the pockets of his shorts. His face was still red, blushing as if he was embarrassed of something.
He finally was close enough to see Sophie up close. Sebastian extended his trembling hand and cleared his throat.
“Um…I’m Sebastian and it’s nice to..um meet…” “Yeah yeah, my names Sophie kid. Ok lets get this over with dude. Get ready to lose.” The girl replied, grabbing his hand and shaking it violently. Sebastian almost yelped in pain from her grip. “So…um…how old are you Sophie?” He asked her. “I’m 17 but that has no relevance buddy, lets go and get this done with, jeez!” she said harshly” I like simple, so let’s keep it one on one Sebastian.” She smiled, showing off her white teeth “Lets get this on boy!” she cried excitingly, as she turned around and took position near the edge of the lake where she was before.
Sebastian, still blushing in the face, nodded and followed suit to his position. ‘Wow, this is so cool…I hope I can impress her…’ He was thinking to himself, trying to get serious for a moment.
Sophie grabbed one of her pokeballs and threw it on the ground. In a flash, a small green figure appeared. It’s big yellow eyes darted all over the field, checking around to see its competition. The Treeko was waiting for it’s opponent. “Ok, let’s make this even then.” Sebastian said confidently. He picked his pokeball, and threw it on the ground. His Seedot came out jumping, full of energy and eager to battle.
By this time, the circle was intact again; most of the trainers from last time were here to see this battle between the two rookies. Ken and Damon were off to the side, looking on as Sebastian got ready to battle.
“You think he will win?” Ken asked Damon. “Who knows? I think he is blinded though by that girl. So he is already not paying attention.” He replied back. “You never have anything nice to say don’t you?” Ken snapped back. Damon just shrugged his shoulders. “I call it as I see it Ken. Forget it and lets see how he does in this one.”
Both trainers scanned the field, the two grass types in the middle of it, with Sebastian and Sophie at the ends. Sebastian was clearing his throat for a second, and shouted out to Sophie.
“This should be good Sophie, good luck.” he said to her. “Luck is for wimps kid” scoffed Sophie, who kept her eyes on the Seedot. “Ok Treeko, lets get this party started, give it a pound attack!” cried Sophie.
The Treeko was quick, going on all fours and running at top speed towards the Seedot. Its tail was arched backwards, like a whip ready to strike. “Seedot jump, and use a bullet seed!” commanded Sebastian.
The acorn obliged, and jumped high into the air as the Treeko was about to smash it with its tail. The Treeko though, not to be undone, jumped as well, going slightly higher in the air than the Seedot. It was over Seedot, and in a quick motion used it’s tail to smack the Seedot onto the ground. “Oh no!” cried Sebastian. Sophie had a devilish grin on her face and just laughed. “Got to do better than that! Treeko this time give him a quick attack before it gets up again!” she ordered the pokemon. “Tree!” it cried, this time moving at faster than anyone could see. The Seedot was trying to get up, but the Treeko got to it first, hitting it this time with it’s head.
Seedot flew back once again, this time hitting the grassy ground hard. “****!” cried Sebastian. “Seedot, get up, and try to harden yourself!” he shouted back. The pokemon this time was able to get up, although it was shaking a bit from the hits it suffered, and shortly after it’s body began to glow. Once it subsided, the acorn looked nearly shiny and blinding. And not a moment to soon to, as the Treeko hit it from behind thanks to it’s quick attack. This time though, Seedot stood it’s ground, its new defense helping it a bit.
“Ok Treeko, keep up the quick attack, and break that shell of his now!” The Treeko turned around to make another pass at it. “Seedot bide your time!” cried Sebastian. “Seeeddd.” It said back, standing it’s ground. The Treeko rammed into it again, and Seedot was pushed backwards, but was still standing. It’s big eyes were closed, concentrating on what it had to do.
On the sidelines, Ken was ready to explode with anger. “Why the hell is he letting it get hit? How can that help him?” He yelped angrily. Damon just smiled a bit. ‘Good idea Sebastian’ he thought to himself, ‘your learning fast….’
Sophie herself was perplexed by Sebastian’s choices. ‘This guy is a dumbass, sitting there taking it. This is to easy.’ “Ok Treeko, stop the quick attack and go for the kill. CRUSH CLAW NOW!” she yelled. Treeko kept circling his opponent, and in a flash stopped right in front of it, raising its hand and extending it’s tiny claws used for climbing.
“UNLEASH IT SEEDOT!” cried Sebastian. Seedot opened its eyes, now glowing red. Its body trembled, glowing red as well. It was shaking violently for a few seconds, before it screamed. “SSEEEEDDD!”, and a wave of energy hit into Treeko heavily, knocking it backwards onto the ground.
“Holy ****!” cried Sophie, a look of disbelief on her face. “Treeko get up!” she cried, but the grass type wasn’t moving at all. Seedot, after using energy like that, sat on the floor, totally exhausted. Sophie saw that the battle was over. “Treeko, return.” She whispered, her head hanging low from her defeat.
Sebastian recalled his Seedot, and was greeted by a number of trainers, praising him for his success in his battle. Sebastian himself was happy that he won finally, but wanted to speak to Sophie first. She was walking towards the end of the lake, and heading to a tent near the edge of the woods. “HEY WAIT!” Sebastian yelled at her, but she didn’t even look up to acknowledge him.
“Sophie wait…I wanted to say it was a good battle…” he began to say, but was cut off by Sophie who put her hand over his mouth. “Shut up, you won, nice match, leave me be now buddy!” She snapped at him. “But….it was just…” “It was a bad match for me!” she said back at him. “Look, just leave me be ok. I need time alone.” She said, before entering into her tent. Sebastian looked confused, and without thinking went inside her tent to see her.
Her tent was like any normal one, but with a few additives. She had a fold up chair and table with a few papers on it. She also had a ton of food boxes lying on the ground. As well as that, she had a large sleeping bag with a custom Dragonite drawing on it, something unusual as few people have custom sleeping bags like hers. ‘This is no ordinary girl.’ He thought to himself, as he approached her, sitting on the fold up chair, her head looking at the tent’s celing.
“I thought I told you to…” Sophie began to say angrily, but this time Sebastian cut her off.
“Look, I’m sorry that you lost, but you are a tough trainer. You can kick anyone’s *** out there. So be proud of what you accomplished. You can’t win them all you know, that would be boring if you did, you know…” Sebastian said calmly, despite the fact that he didn’t know what else to say. “It’s all for good fun anyway right?” He asked her.
‘For you maybe, for me the stakes are higher.’ She thought to herself. “Yeah I guess so…never thought of it that way before.” “You take it seriously?” asked Sebastian.
“You don’t?” retorted Sophie. “Battling is a trainers life buddy. If you suck at it, you might as well quit now.” Sebastian just nodded. “I guess we both a got a lot to learn.” He said.
“Why you a rookie?” asked Sophie. Sebastian nodded. “But so are you, so were in good….” “I AM NO ROOKIE BUDDY!” she shouted back at him. “NEVER CALL ME A ROOKIE!” “Ok ok, calm down please Sophie.” Sebastian pleaded, now slightly frightened by her. Sophie looked at him for a second, and hers rested from the intensity before. “I’m sorry…that’s a touchy subject for me.” “It’s cool Sophie, it’s cool.”
Just then, there was a knock on the tent flap. Someone was hitting the fabric “Hey Seb! Come on out for a second.” Ken called.
“So um, where are you heading?” Sebastian asked, totally ignoring his friends outside. Sophie stuttered, and to a second to reply.
“Well…I um.. I go wherever I like to. I’m a free roamer. I also want to get as many gym battles as I can. So far I got one badge.” She replied. She held up her bag to prove her story.
“Wow cool.” Sebastian exclaimed. “Hey…um…you travel alone right?” he asked her.
“Well yeah I….” “SEB! COME ON OUT!” shouted Ken from the outside, interrupting Sophie. “Maybe you should answer your friend out there….” “I will in a second.” Sebastian replied. He then cleared his throat, as his heart skipped a beat just thinking about his next question.
“Would you…um, like to travel with me…I mean us? Me my friends outside? It will be fun im sure, some company plus some new friends and stuff?” He said, running out of breath towards the end of his sentence. His heart was pounding fast now; it felt like it was about to jump out of his chest. “Hmm…ill see kid, no go to your friends.” She said, winking at Sebastian. Sebastian just blushed and excused himself, opening the tent flap and heading outside.
“Dude, were going to head out.” Ken said the moment he saw his friend. “Were are about two hours from the exit of the forest, and we can make it to Liechi by nightfall.” Damon chimed in.
“Ok ok, but is it ok if Sophie comes with us?” asked Sebastian. Both Damon and Ken looked confused. “Who?” asked Damon. “The girl I just battled. We have been talking, and I would like her to come with us.”
“Seb I don’t know…”Ken began to say, before he was cut off by Sebastian’s pleading.
“Oh come on man. She is traveling alone, she has experience, and she is pretty cool. Why not, I mean the more the merrier.” Sebastian said gleefully.
“Dude, come with me for a second.” Ken said, grabbing his arm and forcing him to walk towards his house.
“What what is it?” asked Sebastian. “Dude, it’s bad enough we have Damon, but now this chick? I mean come on. It was only supposed to be me and you, the dynamic duo dude. Now were making a crowd here. I really don’t want anyone else to come with us.”
“Ken, you got to understand something. This girl…she…she makes my stomachs tie in knots. I like her a lot, and I want to….I guess be with her.” Ken had an angry look in his eye. “Let me get this straight, you got the hot’s for that chick?” Ken asked. Sebastian just blushed and nodded. Ken let out a deep sigh, and nodded back, “I was hoping I would get some first Seb.” He said back, smiling. Both boys bursted in laughter for a second, before gaining their composure. Sebastian broke the silence first.
“Ok, I’m going to tell her the good news. Thanks buddy!” said Sebastain, who hugged his friend and ran off to tell her the good news. “No…problem.” Said Ken. Unfortunately he was thinking something else.
‘I should be happy for him….Why do I feel so upset though?’ he asked himself. Ken was not the only one deep in thought, as Damon as well was beginning to think about things.
‘This girl…she will either be more problems…or she can be used to my advantage…’ he thought to himself. ‘Perhaps I can…no, that’s just wrong, I couldn’t do that to the three of them. Still, I can’t let the others catch up to me.’ He thought to himself, pondering his next move. ‘Four is a crowd, but you can get lost in a crowd easily…’ he thought, and kept on thinking for a few minutes.
Inside the tent, another discussion was occurring.
“You sure I won’t be a burden. No no, not at all, I promise. I mean, the guys don’t care, and I sure don’t, it’s up to you now Sophie.” Sebastian stated.
“Hmmm…I have traveled alone for a while, and I am used to it. I don’t really think I need you guys at all.” She said coldly. “BUT….your kind of a cool guy, and you probably won’t be like the other jerks around here. Most of them give me cat calls for some reason.” She muttered, practically spitting out the last of her sentence.
“We won’t do that. The three of us were like gentleman. So what do you say?” asked Sebastian, pleading at this point. His face was redder than a cherry.
Sophie just kept her eyes on Sebastian, watching his face turn different shades of red. ‘Man this guy must be a virgin or something…’ she thought to herself. “Ok, ill go with you guys. When do we leave?” She said.
Sebastian, about ready to jump for joy, nearly yelled out loud “Were leaving now! Let’s go!” In the back of his mind, he was thinking to himself,
‘YES! YES YES YES SHE IS COMING WITH US! Wow…I never thought I would be so happy about something like this….I can’t wait to see her in action again, she is a tough trainer.’
“You going to just stand there, or you going to help me pack kid?” Sophie said sternly, snapping Sebastian back to reality. She was already rolling up her sleeping bag. “Oh yeah, sure.” Sebastian said back, grabbing a few of the boxes on the ground. ‘This has been a good day.’ He kept thinking to himself, smiling as he helped his new friend clean her tent. After a few moments, they finished cleaning, and rolled the tent up from the outside. Sebastian then introduced her to Ken and Damon, who both had awkward looks when shaking her hand, but were still happy none the less. The foursome then got ready and walked back into the woods, continuing their journey.