"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN"T USE YOUR GYARADOS?" I shout at Misty.
"I'm not saying he can't knock them all out but the skirmish would only attract more bugs! AND THAT'S THE LAST THING I WANNA SEE!" she looks like she'd faint anytime now.
"Okay, okay you win." I say while returning all of my pokemon to their pokeballs. I don't get to gather myself at all before starting my run.
"Red I know a secret place just five minutes from here, I use it for hiding my extra belongings but I'm sure it's empty now." Samurai replies while shortening his bug catching net, which was surprising. Hopefully he uses his sword and it's not just another sophisticated ornament.
Then we ran like there's no tomorrow. Well, there would be no tomorrow for me if I get caught in that swarm of beedrills.
"Hey don't fall back Red." Misty says while sprinting forward recklessly ignoring all the rubble on the way.
"If only *huff I was in a better shape *huff "
"Nah man, she's just too quick, no way anyone would run like that even if a herd of Tauros were chasing after them!" Samurai looks amazed by Misty's agility.
"Maybe I would. *huff " Who knew running would be so hard? I never had to run a day in my life other than the annual sports day events. Even then I was faster than my peers at that time. This body just has trash stamina.
'This is bad. I can barely hold on with the other two.' Looking back I see a couple of beedrills close by on my trail. I need to buy time.
"Go Icarus!"
"PIJ-OHHH!" He pops out battle-ready in mid-air, his eyes immediately scanning the surroundings.
"Use whirlwind to keep the beedrills at bay!"
"PIJOHHH!" he cries out as he continuously flaps his wings generating a huge attack of wind, blowing several beedrills out of sight.
"Good job Icarus! Don't let them near!" I can see many other beedrills replacing the positions of those who fell out.
"All this is because of me Red. I'm truly sorry for causing this!"
"It's not your fault Samurai. Any pokemon will call for help if it's injured. Maybe the swarm of beedrills mistook your pokemon's cry *huff of their own!"
Samurai can't afford to reply as a beedrill's stinger almost grazes his cheek.
"YEOWCHHH!"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Let's keep moving!" Samurai is a strong fella. I can see blood bleeding out from the cut he received.
"Hey where's the hidden outpost you mentioned?" Misty shouts from the front.
"It's almost here. Please bear a little more."
"*huff Only if it were that *huff easy for me."
After a couple of minutes which felt like a lifetime, we finally arrive at an old wooden shack in the forest right beside a lake.
"Quick! Hurry in!"
"I have no idea where we are right now. Let me see..." Misty says while bringing out a map.
"*huff That was not the workout I hoped for." I say while bringing out my water bottle from my backpack.
"Yeah we need to lay low for a while now. Beedrills are incredibly notorious hunters when in groups and they don't forget faces easily." Samurai peers out from a gap in the wall.
"Are they out there right now?" I ask, hopeful that we've evaded them.
"Well I can't see them."
"No, do not go outside now. They're waiting to catch us when our guard is down!" Misty warns me.
"What do we do?" I think for a moment before asking a ridiculous question.
"What if I capture them all one by one?"
"We do not have that many empty pokeballs Red."
"Oh right. So maybe knock them out one by one?"
"No that won't work either. Now that they know our location they will be gathering their forces to strike us all together at once." I hate that Samurai is making sense here.
I recalled Icarus the pidgeotto back when I entered this small shack. Now that we're all here together we might have a chance to breakthrough from one side. Or risk getting surrounded by beedrills.
"MIsty have you figured out where we are?"
"Yes, but unfortunately we're actually deeper in the forest now... It seems like they chased us to this territory knowingly.." she sounds like her worst nightmare just came true, another night in the bug forest.
"You guys, as an apology for my inaction causing this I'll be the one to lead us out of here by today." Samurai stands upright and looks us right in the eyes.
"How are you gonna do that mister? There's only one route that's paved here to lead us back to the century old tree. From there we'd need to go in the opposite direction we came from to even reach the main path that goes all the way around to the other side of the forest, where the gates are situated." Misty is almost as angry as her gyarados.
"That's only if you follow the official map." Samurai flashes a wide confident smile.
"I know this place like I do my bug Pokemon. If we keep going in the direction behind this hut, there's a clearing that has many bug pokemon in it. But going further we can actually arrive right at the gates of this forest."
"You mean?"
"Yes its a short-cut filled with wild pokemon. Plus we'll be chased by beedrills during that time. We need to act fast or it'll be over for us anyways."
"Alright Samurai I trust you to lead the way. I'll clear the way if you find any hurdles." I answer confidently.
"Red! You've only known him for the past fifteen minutes!" Misty says while side eyeing Samurai.
"That's enough for me to trust his character Misty. Like I did with you, I want you to trust me this time."
"Okay, I do. But if this plan goes awry you're gonna be the one to take responsibility."
"Fine by me. Thanks for doing so." I smile at her.
"Guys it's now or never. Let's go!" Samurai opens the back door of the shack and leads us out.
I hear the buzzing of beedrills instantly, distant but on our trail. We need to hurry.
"Samurai go faster." I hate running away like a prey. Its not a pleasant experience.
"I am trying but I need some time Red. It's been a while since I've been here."
"AHHHH!" I hear Misty's scream, turning my head in dread to see what happened to her, only to see she's unharmed.
"Misty stop shouting!"
"It's another bug! Yuck!" She points towards a kakuna hanging from the tree.
"Leave it to me." I bring out Tyson the rattata.
"RATTATA!" He seems disappointed to only get the weaker opponents. Looking at me with a sour face.
"I'm sorry bro. Next time I'll pair you up with a really strong opponent. For now, use hyper fang!"
A kakuna who only knows harden was a swift capture for me.
"I'll name you when I get a chance to buddy." I smile at it resting in it's pokeball. It's pitch black eyes with its white pupil staring back at me. In a way it's oddly cute.
"Here guys, come here!" Samurai leads us further into the deep forest.
The deeper I ventured into the forest I less it felt like a path. This area feels more like a wild life zone with dense canopy over us which blocks most sunlight. Therefore the air here feels cooler and damp. All this leads to life flourishing here like crazy. All Bug-type Pokémon activity had increased and the trail we followed disappeared altogether.
"RED! DO SOMETHING!" Misty shouts for the umpteenth time. This time it was a bunch of caterpie resting on top of one another. So it kinda looked like a messed up rat king of sorts.
"Do you have a mute button Misty?" I kept Tyson out of the pokeball all the way here, just to deal with every bug pokemon Misty came across. She just goes into shock every time she sees a bug.
"You know the drill Tyson."
"Rattata!" He acknowledges my command. Using hyper fang on each pokemon on the way, I wonder if his front teeth are in a good condition.
In no less than a minute all the bugs are knocked out. I couldn't resist capturing some for myself. So until now I had captured a metapod, a caterpie and a weedle along with the kakuna I caught before arriving here.
"Wait the path has disappeared now? Where do we go?" I ask confused.
"What now mister Samurai?" Misty asks Samurai mockingly.
"It's fine that means the clearing is nearby!" he keeps searching for leads.
I can hear the buzzing getting near us, sound carries strangely under the thick foliage, it's almost like a beedrill is just behind me....
"Red look out!" I hear Misty's voice and I instinctively duck just in time to dodge a stinger from a beedrill. It goes past my ear. I could hear the shrill sound it made. I felt goosebumps.
"Go Bob!" I call out my dear starter to defeat this beedrill.
"SQUIRT-SQUIRT!" he's angry at the beedrill who was the reason I was almost hurt.
"Yeah let's teach it a lesson. Use water gun!"
"HSHHHHH!" A stream of water like a jet cut through the air.
The beedrill dodges the attack by changing his position quickly by rapidly vibrating it's wings. Its movement is different from other wild pokemon. Its always hovering in air and only moving erratically.
"BZZZZZ!" It goes for an assault by jabbing its stinger towards Bob arriving just before him in a zig-zag motion.
"Squirt!" Bob withdraws into his shell just as quickly the beedrill dodged his water gun.
"BZZZ" The beedrill upon realising it can't deal with Bob effectively goes into a stance I've never its species go in before- it taking a deep breadth and immediately sharpening its stingers.
"It knows focus energy! Red withdraw Bob now!" Misty yells from the sidelines.
"BZZZ!" The beedrill repeatedly jabs Bob who's withdrawn into his shell.
'This is bad. Bob can only use bite in close range for a counter attack but how can I make him do so without him being filled with holes from from the poison stings?'
Suddenly I hear a cracking sound. Bob's whole shell had a crack across it diagonally from suffering through the repeated fury attacks. 'OH FUCK NO.'
"BOB RETURN!" I rush to recall Bob in the middle of battle. If a meelee fighter like beedrill has closed the gap between itself and Bob, it'll render Bob's fighting power useless.
"Go Icarus!" I should've used this guy from the start. Why'd I not pick Icarus or Percy? I know that Flying types are strong against the bug types? I maybe fucking retarded and now this may have permanently affected Bob.
"USE WING ATTACK!" I shout, not angry at Icarus but it sounds like so.
"Pij-ohhh!" He cries out in anguish.
Icarus moves faster than the beedrill and smacks it's head repeatedly by flaring his wings out.
An equivalent exchange begins between the beedrill and my Icarus. With each interaction the beedrill gets slower and weaker. Icarus' wing attack does more damage to beedrill than beedrill's poison sting does to Icarus.
Clearly Icarus is not in the mood to play around, not stopping until the beedrill is in a critical condition almost as if to avenge Bob. Ignoring all the numerous scratches he received from the beedrill in return.
Even Tyson joined the brawl. Well this is not an official league match so it can be anyone against anyone. I just use 1v1 to train my pokemon for the actual gym battle format.
"RATTATA!" Tyson uses hyper fang all over the poor beedrill's body.
"PIJOHH!" Icarus stops for a while and so does Tyson, letting beedrill get up and then proceed to beat it down again.
"That's enough!" Even though I'd like it to have been beaten more. It might be the strongest beedrill I've faced, I need to capture this pokemon.
"Go pokeball!" I throw my pokeball at the beedrill only for it to jab my pokeball in return and break it.
"Why are you resisting? I don't want to harm you or your home. I'm just passing by here to reach my destination, it was you who snuck up on me first." I am angry at myself for not withdrawing Bob sooner. I picked the wrong fight for him this time.
"Don't fear. I'm not a bad guy like you." I throw another pokeball, after a long pause and three dings it showed a successful capture.
"I found it! Hurry Red we don't have much time!" Samurai looks over to find all the beedrills closing in on us.
"Alright! Icarus follow me!" I couldn't get to see my newly captured pokemon's information yet again. I recall Tyson and thank him for his service.
"Red, your Bob will be fine. There's only damage at the outer keratin layer as your pokemon didn't show any bleeding. His internal bone structure is unharmed. It's painful but not life-threatening." Misty assures me from the side. At times like this she looks mature.
"Thanks a lot Misty. How can I treat him right now?"
"We'll apply a potion or a super potion. He needs to avoid battles temporarily."
"Alright..." This is all because of my stupid actions. Only if I didn't choose him at random.
'WHY AM I TAKING ALL OF THIS LIGHTLY? THE FATE OF MY POKEMON ARE IN MY HANDS!'
Bob always was better than his opponent pokemon in all of his battles. That's all, I didn't actually think before choosing any of my pokemon for the battles they were going up against.
'I need to be a better Trainer. Think before I do.' I begin to run, now more determined than before.
We come across a clearing right after almost getting stabbed in the behind by a beedrill or two. Icarus was the mvp as always. Without his whirlwind we'd be dead a long time ago.
"Wait why'd they stop chasing us?" I ask Samurai.
"We have successfully left their territory. And this is a territory of an even stronger predator." He says grimly.
"Wait you didn't tell me about this." I am tired of running away.
"Yeah I didn't have the time then Red. Listen, if all goes well we'll be out of this clearing in a jiffy." he doesn't sound as sure as he was before the departure.
Just then I smell a sweet scent of candy. It reminded me of the times I used to steal money from my dad's wallet just to buy the cola flavored lollipop from the market.
"Red this is bad." Misty says ominously.
"What is bad Misty? Please don't say it's another bug." I'm tired of beating those poor defenseless mons again and again.
"No its worse. I don't think even gyarados is winning in an ambush against it. If I think it is what it is."
"What is it? Are you the riddler? Just tell me." I say quickening my pace. Only to be touched with thick dark green vines being dangled in front of me. It was almost like a muscle but had the texture of a rubber.
"YO! WHAT THE FUCK!" I scream, didn't even think about not cussing.
"It's the reason why this clearing is even here in the first place Red. This is.." Samurai didn't get to finish his sentence or rather I couldn't hear the end of it.
I hear the loudest pokemon cry ever with a slight gurgling undertone.
"Vreee–BELLL!"