Pokemón : The Price of caution

Chapter 18: CH 18



wanting to come off as a bully in a friendly match.

"I've never heard of Drought before..." Brendan mutters, wiping at his sweaty brow. "Doesn't matter. We've got a match to win. Mudkip, Watergun!"

Lee watches carefully as Mudkip steadies himself and takes a deep breath in the same windup as Vulpix, his eyes locked onto the fox. Just as Mudkip stops the brief charging and starts moving to launch the attack, Lee reacts.

"Vulpix, dodge left now!"

The vixen darts to the left in a deft hop just as Mudkip's Watergun leaves his mouth. The water gouges into the ground with a muddy splash. "Now, Confuse Ray!" Lee follows up.

Vulpix's eyes glow a sinister red with a growl from her.

Mudkip suddenly reels back with a cry as if struck and screws his eyes shut. The poor mudfish stumbles and opens his eyes, revealing them to be unfocused as he staggers around almost drunkenly. Mudkip then trips over his own feet and falls to his side, squirming helplessly.

"No, Mudkip!" Brendan cries, reaching out with a hand. "C'mon Mudkip! Get up! I know you can do it!" He pleads with such hurt and desperation that forfeiting instantly comes to the forefront of Lee's mind. Mudkip grimaces and wobbles to his feet, struggling to maintain balance. It's a perfect time to attack, but Lee can't bring himself to issue an order. Vulpix looks back at him, her tails whipping impatiently as she waits for the call to strike.

"I told you, Brendan. Vulpix and I aren't good first opponents. Maybe call this off and find another trainer to challenge?" Lee asks, crossing his fingers behind his back.

"No way! No rough start can scare us!" Brendan roars. "Mudkip! Watergun the ground and cool off with some mud!"

'What?'

"Mud!" Mudkip calls in his high-pitched voice. In a lucid moment, he takes a breath and Waterguns the ground below himself, kicking up a plume of muddy water and obscuring himself.

"Now Tackle!" Brendan calls over the roar of the water.

Mudkip charges out of the mud plume in a full sprint, eyes clear and form refreshed. He locks onto Vulpix, who freezes up.

'Shit shit shit!' "Vulpix, Quick Attack to dodge right!" Lee frantically calls.

"Dodging with an attack..?" Brendan questions with a blink.

The vixen snaps out of her shock just in time. A white energy envelopes her form as she jukes to the right as little more than a blur of red. Mudkip just barely misses her and skids to a stop, looking around. 'If I don't do something, Vulpix is going to get hurt, but if we fight back, Mudkip is going to get trashed...' Lee takes a shaky breath. The choice is neither hard or long.'Sorry Mudkip.'

"Now, Quick Attack into Mudkip!"

Vulpix's eyes gleam at finally being on the offensive. She lands from her dodge with Quick Attack still active, then in a flicker of red, crashes into Mudkip at full speed.

The mudfish's eyes go wide and he can't even cough the air from his lungs before he's thrown a solid fifty feet across the field. He bounces once, twice, then skids to a painful stop on his side, a shallow trench in his wake. Lee can feel his heart stop as Vulpix tips her head back and howls in victory. The sunlight fades back to normal as the battle ends.

"Mudkip!" Brendan cries, rushing towards his motionless Pokemon.

'Jesus Christ. What have I done?' Brendan skids to a stop by Mudkip's still body with slumped shoulders. Lee numbly follows, trying to not let his rolling stomach vomit. The younger trainer picks up the limp Mudkip with a sigh. "You did great, pal," he murmurs, holding Mudkip to his chest.

Then Mudkip suddenly twitches in Brendan's arms and lets out a groggy "M-Mudkip?". The water pokemon shifts in his trainer's arms in a clear sign of life and looks around, blinking stars from his eyes.

Lee's stomach uncoils as quickly as it came and he lets out a breath he had no idea he was holding. "He's okay?"

'They aren't common animals. You know that,' the niggling voice in the back of his head says. 'You can't permanently take down a pokemon without making a deliberate effort.'

Brendan nods as he looks down at his pokemon. "Yeah," he replies in a more subdued voice. "I guess you were right. Vulpix is way too strong and you're too skilled," he says with a sigh. Brendan fishes out Mudkip's pokeball and enlarges it. He smiles down to his starter and says; "You did great Mudkip. You hung on where others would have crashed and burned. Enjoy your rest, okay?"

"Mudkip..." Mudkip murmurs, looking away with melancholy in his eyes before he's returned to his ball in a flash of red light. Brendan clips the ball to his belt before standing and turning to Lee, then in a surprising show of maturity, holds out a hand with a smile. "Good match. Don't expect it to be that easy next time."

Lee takes the offered hand and shakes it weakly. "Yeah, sure. Anytime." Vulpix takes time to slide up beside him, pressing herself into her trainer's leg as she looks up at him with worry.

Lee bends down and pulls her into a light hug, murmuring a congratulations for her victory.

'Am I overthinking it? Am I treating them like animals? Are pokemon just that durable?'

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