Pokemon: Shiretown Trainers! (IC)

Halfway on Route 1, the three Shiretown trainers meet up and rendezvous back to Viridian City. Clint was glad to see Brent again, it seemed that the first day of being a trainer had been different for all three of them. "Did you catch one Brent?", he asked involving Sprigg in the conversation, "Because if so,that would mean all three of us caught a Pokémon our first day! Which I think is a big deal."

Clint shared with the others about his day and how he caught Spearow as they traveled back to Viridian City. He then got a room at the closest hotel and bid the others goodnight. Clint badly wanted to sleep in a comfortable bed before toughing it out the next couple of days in caves and wooded areas.

---

All he could remember from his dream was Totodile and Spearow, the two Pokémon Clint currently had in his party. A flying type and a water type, Clint sprang awake still wearing his clothes and gathered his things quick, he gripped the travel voucher Sprigg gave him and left the room. Clint grabbed an apple from the breakfast area of the hotel and checked out if his room, "Have a wonderful day", the clerk smiled, her Meowth sat on the surface of the desk and licked it's left paw. Clint took out his pokedex and registered the Meowth before exiting the hotel, outside he ate the apple and walked to the PokeMart where he stocked up on Potions and a couple energy drinks. Clint cracked open a cold energy drink called ELECTRODE EXPLOSION and sipped it beside a tree at the bicycle shop, he had two hours to kill before the store opened. He released Spearow and Totodile from their pokeballs, "Alright you two", he sipped from his drink and pointed at Totodile, "Totodile will defend", Clint crossed his chest with his arms, "And Spearow will attack", he stood and made a karate chop action. "Totodile will do everything he can to dodge Spearow's attacks and may retaliate if Spearow leaves itself open", Clint put on his aviators as the sun crested the trees, and watched his Pokémon spar. Both Pokémon came out of the match hurt but they both displayed signs of learning as they fought, Totodile used Bite on Spearow when Spearow left itself open and after that, the Spearow became more diligent in how long he hovered near Totodile during Fury Attacks.

The owner of the bicycle shop arrived on his skateboard, he kicked it up and the board slid casually under his right arm as he opened the door. The board had an Arcanine wrapped in orange flame on the bottom and yellow wheels. Clint healed Spearow and Totodile with potions before entering the store, the owner had the radio playing funk music. "Hey, I'm Clint and I have a travel voucher I can exchange here", he talked to a back turned man holding a coffee, the man turned around, "Gosh you're here early", the man had short grey hair and wrinkles from squinting, a thin white mustache and goatee, "Well ok, what would you like as transportation?" the man squinted and sipped his coffee. Clint saw the man's skateboard leaning against the wall by the register. "How about a skateboard?", Clint replied. "The only way I like to ride is on a skateboard, in the city and roads the skateboard is efficient and cool", the owner grabbed his board and opened the backdoor, "Follow me."

They entered a room with skateboard decks on a wall, a vast collection of art portraying rare and strong pokemon. "I made all these boards myself from top quality wood from Fuschia City, first you have to pick one and then I can show you how to put it together and fix it. Later I'll show you the basics on how to ride the streets if you're game", the man picked up a deck and showed it to Clint, "How about Raichu! It handles the exact same as the board I use and this ones are top tier with the Evo Board wheels that come with it". "Awesome!", Clint had heard about Evo Boards and how on the top of the board there is the 1st evolution of the featured pokemon. "So when I skate around people can see Pikachu and Raichu", the owner of the bicycle shop smiled, "Exactly!, and you can help promote the Evo Board brand! Welcome to the team Clint", they clasped on orange wheels and silver axls and talked about how to maintain the board before Clint tested it out. It took a couple tries, but he got used to the actions to make the board faster and stabilize himself, he could learn tricks later as he practiced.

"Thanks Silver!", Clint waved at the bicycle shop owner, "I'll tell people I got my sweet board from Silver's bicycle shop! Home of the Evo Board." The owner smiled, waved, and drank his coffee.

On his newly acquired skateboard, Clint traversed the streets of Viridian City. He followed the signs to the city Pokémon Gym, he practiced lowering himself to go faster when he neared hills and tried to test out his turning. The Pokémon Gym had an older vibe to it, a large concrete building with brown shingles and a couple of large pokeballs painted in red on either side of the doors, there was a sign on the doors, Closed for Maintenance, Clint kicked up the skateboard and remembered when his mother left, she initially closed the gym for maintenance but it had yet to reopen. That was 6 years ago, Clint stood up at the gym and paused for a few minutes. One day I'll have a gym of my own, he thought to himself, in the corner of his eye and down the road he saw a figure. The figure wore a green poncho, a wide brimmed straw hat, and had a bug-catcher net slung over his shoulder, "Oye mate!, tha gyms 'been closed for months, how 'bout a battle!", he shouted from the middle of the street. "Sure" Clint shouted back, he took off his backpack and took out both of his pokeballs. "Should really start putting your pokeballs on your belt! Easier to quickdraw!", the outlaw trainer called, "Go Caterpie!"

"Spearow, attack!", Clint released Spearow and the bird Pokémon flew straight down the street, it saw the petite green worm on the pavement and moved into a swift wing attack without Clint telling him to. The Caterpie stood it's ground and glared at Spearow with intensity, "NOW", the bug-catcher called out to his Caterpie and the Caterpie used String Shot, the web like substance coated Spearow and forced him to land on the ground and miss the Wing Attack. In anger and without Clint's assistance, Spearow used Leer and ripped the string from his wing with his beak. The Caterpie froze, Spearow did not waste his time and lunged into a Quick Attack. Spearow struck the Caterie and followed with a Peck, which critically hit the Caterpie, striking it unconscious. The outlaw bug-catcher beamed his Caterpie and released a Pokémon Clint had not seen before, it had large red eyes and purple fur wrapped around it's circular body, with two antenna that bounced atop it's head.. "Venonat! Use Supersonic", sound waves shot from around Venonat, it seemed to vibrate as it buzzed, the waves knocked Spearow out of the air and it landed awkward. Spearow stood up but stood dizzily, it's head spun around and the opponent's Venonat charged using Headbutt, which rendered Spearow unconscious. The Venonat defeated Spearow and Clint switched it out with Totodile. "Dile!", Totodile leaped from it's pokeball and caught a glimpse of his target, it was as determined to win this battle just as much as Clint was. "Use Bubble Totodile!" Clint called out and Totodile blew a large bubble directly at the Venonat, who aptly dodge the large sphere. "Supersonic" the opposing trainer shouted and again waves of sound vibrated from the bug Pokémon and collided with Totodile. The alligator Pokémon lifted it's hands over it's ears and winced from the sonic attack, with no time to waste Clint shouted over the sonic attack, "Use Bubble again but this time jump through it!!", as it held it's hands over it's ears Totodile produced another bubble attack and jumped through the bubble, the bubble popped loudly and disrupted the Supersonic attack. "Now Venonat, use Quick Attack", the Venonat darted at Totodile and bashed Totodile hard in the chest; but Totodile stood it's ground. "Use Sand Attack!", Clint shouted and Totodile quickly whipped its tail across the pavement and sprayed the Venonat with bits of debris. "Now use Scratch!", Totodile clawed the bug Pokémon with all it's strength and sent the Venonat toppling back toward it's trainer. Totodile breathed heavily as it waited for the opposing Venonat to get up, but his opponent struggled and whimpered as it tried to pull itself from the ground. Before Clint could give an order for the finishing blow the Venonat was beamed back to it's pokeball by it's trainer.

"Clever move using Bubble to disrupt Supersonic", the bug-catcher walked toward Clint and extended his hand, "Names Reggie". Clint returned Totodile and shook Reggie's hand, "I'm Clint, thanks for the intense battle, you have some really disciplined Pokémon. I'm impressed." "Thanks", Reggie replied and tiled his hat up to reveal more of his face. He had brown eyes framed with a freckled complexion, he wore a bandaid over his nose and had what appeared to be a gold tooth glint out from the corner of his mouth. "You're Pokémon ain't too shabby either, though it seems like you're Spearow is a little reckless, makes it easier for other Pokémon to confuse it. Did you catch it recently?" Clint smiled at the other boy, "Actually yeah I did, caught it yesterday, guess it still has a bit of a wild side", he laughed and Reggie joined in laughing with him. "I wouldn't worry to much 'bout it", Reggie clarified, "Given some time and trainin' I think your Spearow will be formidable", he looked at his digital watch on his wrist, "Crikey! The bug catching contest starts in 30 minutes! We got to heal our Pokémon quick if we want to register on time!"

"Bug Catching Contest?"


**********************************************************************************************************

Viridian Forest Bug Catching Contest

At the entrance to Viridian Forest, approximately 30 trainers gathered for the bug catching contest. The officials gathered at the entrance, all Pokémon Rangers of the forest. They wore red uniforms accompanied by a red hat with a black pokeball in the middle, they had pokeballs along their belts and worked quickly moving boxes and setting up tables.

Clint stood with Reggie and introduced the other trainers as they arrived, he relayed that the gym in Viridian has been closed for a while and if the trainers wanted to get their first gym badge they needed to head to Pewter City. "This is a good opportunity to get more bug Pokémon added to our Pokedexes anyways, and it could be fun!", Clint stretched out his arms and gestured at the rest of the trainers. "Could be fun?", Reggie exclaimed, "I look forward to this event every year! I got my Venonat last year and I'm excited to see what rare bugs they have for us this year! I heard a rumor that there may be some Pokémon from Hoenn as well as Johto." It was obvious to the party of trainers that Reggie was beyond passionate about Bug Pokemon.

In the corner of his eye, Clint saw Malik. He didn't see the other rival trainers but he pointed him out to the others. Malik was busy on his laptop typing vigorously and sipped from a thermos.

"Attention Trainers! We are about to begin the Bug Catching Contest! Please gather around for the rules!", a ranger with long platinum hair spoke through a megaphone and stood on a podium. "Each trainer will register their name at the table to my right and receive 10 Sport Balls, specifically designed for this event and will only be active for the event", she held a sport ball in front of her, it looked almost like a regular pokeball but it had the black pokeball of the ranger stamped on the top. "Each trainer will have 4 hours to catch as many bug Pokémon as they can within the time limit, when the 4 hours is up, the pokeballs will be deactivated and the judging will commence at the back entrance. Each trainer will choose one Pokémon from what they have caught and register it to be judged, you're welcome to keep the rest of what you captured, or release the Pokémon back into the wild!", some trainers nodded their heads in agreement. "The Pokémon will be judged by a variety of criteria, size, health, rarity, and spirit to just name a few of the amazing qualities bug Pokémon have to offer."

"Shall we begin?"
 
Sprigg listened to the two boys tell tales of their first encounters and recount what happened while they were split. When the chance rose, she tried chiming in but it didn’t matter that she hardly got a word in. She was just happy that Brent was found and the group reunited.

Her Pokémon mingled about with the others. The Pokémon were still learning to be comfortable with one another. They had to work well on a team just as Brent, Clint, and Sprigg had to.

As they sky darkened and the streets of Viridian quieted, Sprigg sought out her hotel room. She fell asleep with a smile on her face and a Pokémon snuggled up on either side of her.

---​

The sun was shining and Viridian grew lively as vendors opened up shop and bells rang with each customer that walked through a door. Sprigg snacked on a cinnamon apple muffin that she snagged from the hotel; Weedle and Chikorita shared a chocolate one between the two of them.

The sight of pink hair stole her attention and she noticed Ms. Honey packing up her things. She quickened her pace and called out before the breeder got too far. “Ms. Honey, the day is just starting. You’re going to miss the morning rush!” She offered a hand to help carry some of Honey’s belongings and took place at her side as they walked.

“I’ve got other priorities today. I’ll be judging at the Bug Catching Contest,” she smiled at the Pokémon walking ahead of them. Her own Parasect, nicknamed “Parry,” joined in on the babbling discussion amongst the Pokémon, all of which was incoherent to the trainers. “In the Viridian Forest,” she added, stopping short of a red jeep where other judges were preparing for the event. Ms. Honey took the rest of her items from Sprigg and loaded them into the vehicle. “Judging by the expression on your face, I’d say this is your first time hearing of it. You should sign up.” She winked. “I’ll see you there.”

With her excitement unrestrained, Sprigg ran off with hardly a good-bye. Now that she caught wind of the bug event, there was no time to waste!

She spent the rest of her late morning preparing for the event; she packed the items Ms. Honey had given her the day before, experimented with different forms of trapping, and practiced her pokeball aim, throw, and technique. Feeling comfortably prepared, she carried on with just 45 minutes before the start of the event. It never hurt to be early.

On her way, she caught a glimpse of Clint; it was the sound of Pokémon combat that gave up his location. Chikorita made a disapproving sound when Sprigg rolled her eyes. It took Sprigg awhile to realize it was directed at her and not Clint. “What?” She threw her hands into the air. “I don’t like battling. I don’t want to make you fight.”

Chik shrugged and looked over at Weedle and then back to Sprigg.

“I suppose it...would be useful. I wouldn’t want either of you to be in a situation where you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself. But still,” she put a hand on her hip as she walked, “I think it’s cruel to force Pokémon to battle.” She stopped walking and knelt down beside both her Pokémon. “You don’t have to fight if you don’t want to. If you do, then I understand. Just know, I don’t want to put you two, or any of my Pokémon, in danger. Or in an uncomfortable situation. Hopefully we’re never in a place where we’re forced to fight, but until then, we’ll avoid that. Deal?” She held out her fist, pinky out.

Chikorita extended her leg, attempting the closest thing to a pinky promise and Weedle bowed his head, touching his stinger to the pile and thus forming their pact.

---​

Sprigg marveled at the Rangers in their red uniforms. She always admired the Rangers from back at home and respected the teamwork shared between them and their Pokémon. She hardly noticed the group of trainers that gathered for the event. It wasn’t until she heard the voice of her friends that she suddenly realized she wasn’t alone with the Rangers.

‘Right. It’s a contest.’ There was going to be a lot of competition. It’s not like she was here to win or anything but more people meant more crowding.

Sprigg nodded to Reggie when Clint introduced him to the group, recognizing him from earlier when the two boys were battling it out. She wondered who won that fight. After registering her name and collecting her sport balls, Sprigg waved to her friends and wished them good luck.

The group walked around for about an hour before finding signs of Pokémon activity. The roots at the base of the tree had scratch marks, and there were tracks that skittered away towards a small burrow. Sprigg placed a small pokéblock at the entrance, hoping to entice the Pokémon to come out. She hid patiently in some bushes not far off, holding up her binoculars to get a closer look.

A couple minutes later, the dirt began to mound and she saw a white Pokémon slowly come to the surface. As its antennae probed the ground in front of it, she held out her pokegear and readied her pokeball. Her movement, though careful, seemed to startle the Pokémonbecause before she could do anything else, the Pokémon quickly swiped at the block with its claw and burrowed back into the ground. The little guy was quick.

Luckily her pokegear was able to pick up some information. “Nincada. This Pokémon absorbs nutrients from the roots of trees. It can't withstand bright sunlight so avoids it.” She had to change her strategy.

Weedle and Chikorita collected roots while Sprigg dug a hole. She placed the roots at the bottom of the hole, threw in a pokéblock for good measure, and covered the top with a few large leaves. “Now we wait.” She hunkered down again with her Pokémon. “Chikorita, on my go.” Chikorita nodded and then focused on the trap.

Scuttling tiny claws could be heard scratching at the dirt below, breaking through into the hole Sprigg dug. She could hear Nincada pause for a moment, study whether or not it was safe, and then proceeded towards the bait. “NOW!” Sprigg called out at the same time she pulled the leaf covering off the hole. The sudden rush of sunlight caused Nincada to freeze up, giving them enough time to act before it retreated back through the hole.

Chikorita lunged forward and used sleep powder. A shimmering dust wafted over the hole and fell onto Nincada. Nincada blinked a few times and then yawned. “Ca-daaaaaa,” the sound he made drew out, getting quieter as he slowly drifted off to sleep. Sprigg threw the ball from where she stood, not risking to get closer incase Nincada woke up. The ball absorbed the small bug Pokémon and shook twice before it stopped moving. “Yes!” Sprigg celebrated with a little dance. Weedle wiggled beside her and Chikorita simply wagged her tail. “Off to the next?” She smiled at her Pokémon but then quickly looked off at something in the distance. She squinted her eyes as she strained to see. “I thought I saw..” A flash of white light, but more like the sun bouncing off a shiny object. When she tried to look again, she saw nothing. No movement. No sound. She shook her head. “Nevermind. Let’s keep moving.” She led her Pokémon in the opposite direction.

The trio walked deeper into the forest before coming across what appeared to be a web. Higher up on the web was a green spider Pokémon. “Spinarak. It spins a web using fine - but durable - thread. Some fishermen weave its sturdy thread into nets or fishing line to catch fish Pokémon.” “Could be useful?” She said as she looked down to her Pokémon and shrugged. “It lies still in the same pose for days in its web, waiting patiently for prey to be trapped.”

As Sprigg and Chikorita sat to think of a plan, Weedle moved a bit closer to the web. He looked back at his trainer and then to the web, gulping as his eyes trailed up to the Spinarak above. “WEEEEEEDLLLLLLLEEEE,” he screeched as he lunged himself into the web. He writhed and acted like an enticing prey, making lots of vibrations.

“CHIK!” Chikorita alerted her trainer, a grave expression on her face as she worried about Weedle’s safety.

“Weedle!” Sprigg shot up, “Weedle, what are you doing? Are you crazy?! Get out of there!”

“Weedle-Wee,” he shot a small smile at Sprigg in a way that said “too late.”

The spider Pokémon quickly started climbing down the web, pinching its mandibles together in anticipation. The speed in which it moved made Weedle nervous, but luckily he had a trick up his sleeve. A sticky silk shot out of his mouth and wrapped around Spinarak’s legs, slowing it down. “String shot, nice!” Sprigg called out. “Okay Chik, that’s your cue. Stun spore, now!”

Chikorita nodded firmly. “Chik,” her voice was determined. She whipped her leaf and a cloud of orange spores sliced through the air, paralyzing the spider on impact. Unfortunately, Weedle was too close and got hit as well. “We-eEeEeee,” Weedle whimpered. He could hardly speak a word.

“Ouuuu,” Sprigg winced. “Sorry about that. Weedle, return.” She called Weedle back into the ball. Unfortunately he’d be no help now. “You need to be more careful next time, missy.”

Chikorita agreed.

Sprigg threw her second sport ball. She missed the first time and the ball got stuck in the web. On her second throw, the ball shook for what seemed to be forever before it stopped moving. “Two down.” She looked at the time on her pokegear. “Let’s see what we can get in the last hour.”

It took some convincing, but with her newly acquired Spinarak, Sprigg was able to create a rope with her web. After creating a loop, she set it on the ground and placed a pokéblock in the center. The other end of the rope lead into the bushes where Chikorita and Sprigg had been waiting.

Chikorita let out a gasp and pointed in a direction opposite of them.

“I saw it too.” Something green blurred between the trees. And again, that same flash as light glistened off of it. That wasn’t the first time she saw it.

“I think we’re being followed.”
 
After the nap on the ATV, he sent a text back his mom that he was alright while Clint told his story first, with Joey clinging to every word. He didn't tell his own tale with the same enthusiasm as Clint, though Joey was enthralled by it. Joey had clearly constructed his own mythos over Brent's Rattata, embellishing how it evaded other trainer's captures for years. The naming process had become much easier afterward. Brent's Rattata was named Chewie in honor of Joey's help, and for its resourcefulness and shaggy appearance.

When they had reached Viridian, Brent split from Clint and Sprigg to hang out with Joey, who suggested to go the PokeCenter to heal up his Rattata. Bitey and Chewie were introduced to each other after, and Laharl lay on its stomach, still tired from the night of running with Brent. Joey's dad looked less grumpy as he saw his son talk with a new friend, at least by Brent's estimation, after being called up and letting his son stay up this late. He introduced himself as Mr. Pearce. Chewie jumped around Bitey, and seeing them this close together made Brent realize it was much bigger than Bitey, taking care not to play rough. Joey laughed and tossed in a plastic ball from his pack for them to play with. Chewie would deke out Bitey occassionally before passing it the ball deftly with a swing of its tail. Playtime had been cut short though with the gentle reminder from Mr. Pearce that it was bed time.

"Thank you for everything." said Brent, bowing slightly to Joey and his dad. Joey looked so happy he didn't seem sleepy at all.
"See you at the Bug Catching Competition tomorrow?" said Joey.
Brent was visibly taken aback by this. It was clearly not goodbye as Brent had expected.
"Oh, right, sorry, as we were in the PokeCenter I saw the posting on a board. I was going to ask Dad if I could go, but then I forgot. Can I go, please please please?"
Pearce exchanged a glance with Brent, who relaxed and nodded, then back at Joey. "Sure."
"Yippee!" exclaimed Joey.

Pearce motioned for Brent to tag along as they headed towards a hotel. It made sense given that it was too late to drive back, and Pearce would be too tired to drive back anyway. Plus it was simply more convenient. They got key cards to their own rooms, and bid each other good night with rooms adjacent to each other.

---
Brent heard the alarm clock buzzer, which read 7:00. He groaned. Just a few minutes later, he got a text from Joey to meet him at the hotel cafeteria to get some continental breakfast. He slapped on some clothes and joined Joey and his dad. Afterward, they went back to the park. While Laharl and two Rattatas were playing with the ball again, Brent took out his pokedex and pressed buttons, becoming frustrated that he couldn't figure it out. It blared, Rattata, the Mouse Pokemon. Bites anything when it attacks. Small and very quick, it is a common sight in many places.

Joey looked over Brent's shoulder, and guided him on how to access his pokemon's attacks and general statistics without having to point at one like he had just done by accident. Joey didn't seem to mind at all showing him the ropes. Brent could've asked his original team or his mom for help, but he had felt intimidated by what they knew already about pokemon. Joey made it easy for Brent to understand, and didn't talk down nor make stuff overly complicated. It was simple like a kid would look at a video game for the first time.

After their play in the park concluded, the three Pokemon looked fresh and ready for the day ahead. After stocking up on water, potions and antidote at the PokeCenter, they still arrived at the Bug Catching Competition early, and while they were waiting they sat down on the grass. Brent loaned Joey his DS and guided him on the game just as Joey had done for Brent's pokedex.

"Still playing childish games."
Brent and Joey both stood up, with Brent stepping forward so he was between Joey and Malik.
"I'll see you after the competition, Joey." said Brent. "Go on with your dad."
Joey stared at Malik, then nodded at Brent. "Right." He ran promptly to meet up with his dad who was close by.
"What are you doing here?"
"I could say the same. Did your team put you up to this?"
"No."
Malik nodded and smirked. "At least you saw an opportunity. Tyson's a meat head with a narrow view of power and Bill's daughter just thinks they're gross. But you know, you could've saved yourself the embarrassment by not coming. You won't win." He tapped on his laptop casing. "I just crunched the numbers on historical frequency heat maps on the pokemon I want to find. Do you think you can just trip over the rare ones?"
"You'd be surprised by just how much area I can cover in a short time."
"This opportunity's wasted on you. You won't catch anything good."
"I already caught a Rattata. You still have one pokemon on your belt."
Malik laughed sharply. "Rattata's a dime a dozen. Catching one's nothing."

The announcement for getting the Sports Balls was made and Malik went off without another word. Brent was relieved to not have to talk with Malik anymore. He was exhausting, moving from question to question just to get the reaction he wanted. Brent got a group text from Clint, to say that they should meet after the competition ended, stating he saw Brent and Sprigg in the crowd of about thirty trainers. Brent replied with a thumbs up emoji.
---
The first part of the bug catching competition was uneventful as the crowd of thirty trainers had to disperse from the initial heap of thirty as to not scare off the pokemon. There were still bug pokemon picked off by trainers that appeared for the go-wide strategy in fear of not using all of their Sports Balls. Brent didn't know which pokemon were any good as he wasn't able to even point his pokedex without another trainer already engaged with it.

He hadn't seen Malik ever since he sprinted away, presumably to one of the places he gloated about during their last meeting. Brent didn't think Malik's map would be foolproof, though it was clear Malik had high confidence in what he was doing, and made sure he wasn't being followed.
At least it was a nice day out. Brent finally got to some space of the forest for himself to just collect his thoughts and relax. He didn't have to think about pokemon seriously like Malik seemed to and look inside hollow stumps and grass. A large tree caught his eye and he walked towards it. He turned to look at the other side when a large body flew past him. It was a large beetle creature with a blue exoskeleton and long, pronged horn on its head. Brent chased after it, and released Laharl.

"Laharl, Ember!"
It was a direct hit, and was flying in a slightly jagged way, turning around and swooping down towards Laharl. It nearly tackled it before slamming on the ground with its weight. Brent flipped out his pokedex and pointed at the pokemon.

Heracross, the Single Horn Pokémon. Though gentle and docile, Heracross possesses great strength and power. Their favorite food is the fresh sap of leafy trees.

Presumably he had found it while it was eating. Though it looked burned by the fire on the carapace, it was still standing and looked like it didn't do too much. Laharl used Ember again, but it was swatted out of the air by Heracross before it punched Laharl squarely on the nose, sending it backward. It regained its standing by rolling on its front, but it was bruised. Heracross was making another pass.
"Wait for my signal." whispered Brent. "Store your energy."
Laharl stood its ground, charging the Ember attack. Heracross flew down.
"Growl!"
Laharl opened its mouth as though making an ember, but it was instead a growl as Brent commanded, so Heracross' predicted deflection met only air, though the other fist was at the ready.
"Flare up!"
Laharl's back burst up in flames, a Cyndaquil characteristic Brent learned from the Pokedex. Flame burned Heracross' underbelly and it flew a ways before rolling on the ground to put out the flames.

"Squirtle, use your Bubble now!"
The bubbles hit Laharl as soon as its flames went out and it fainted. Malik ran towards where Heracross landed. Brent returned Laharl to his pokeball before he could even start thinking about Malik's cheap ambush tactic. He just knew that he had just placed the Heracross in Malik's sights.
"You jerk!"
Brent yelled and ran faster.
"Squirtle, return. Paras, I choose you!"
Before Brent could understand the strategy, Malik commanded it to use Poison Powder as Heracross continued the fight, seeing it as its only hope of escape. It downed the Paras in a single fell swoop, the spores hitting Heracross directly at point blank range. Malik returned it just as quickly, expecting the result.
"Now you, Spinarak!" Spinarak came out of its ball. "Use String Shot! Go for the eyes!"
The String Shot hit Heracross' eyes as it was trying to fan off the spores. It flew fowards towards where it was shot from and got a glancing blow on the Spinarak, enough for it to go down.
"Good, my pawns!" shouted Malik gleefully. "Return! Squirtle, come back out!"
"Chewie, I choose you!" shouted Brent.
"You're in my way. Squirtle, water gun, then tackle!"
The Squirtle shot in bursts, but the Rattata dodged, and only glanced it with its shell body as Rattata kicked it back down. Chewie remained standing between Malik and Squirtle and Heracross. Meanwhile, Brent ran towards the Heracross. In a panic, Malik tried throwing a Sports Ball at the Heracross. Chewie jumped nimbly and swatted it out of the air with its tail, with the years of experience doing the same against trainers while in the while.
"What are you doing?!" Malik shouted.
Brent dodged its desperate punching and sprayed Antidote and Potion on it.
"Go now!" said Brent, waving his arms at Heracross but it continued to flail wildly. "Rattata, fend them off! Use Quick Attack!"
"Fool! Squirtle, Withdraw!"
The Rattata hit the shell dead on, but didn't appear to do much as it was hit back only a short ways. Afterward it came back out and shot another stream of bubbles at it, which it couldn't dodge in time, and it recoiled from the hard impact of its skull against Squirtle's shell.
"You're out of pokemon, so stay out of my way." said Malik.
The Heracross shook off the rest of the spores and stood up, ripping off the string. It looked visibly determined, punching his fists together and walking towards the Squirtle.
"Squirtle, modified Tackle now, while it's weak!"
Squirtle withdrew again into it's shell. Water flowed from the other side of the shell in a powerful jet, causing it to fly forward like a missile at Heracross.
"Catapult it with your horn!" shouted Brent. Heracross reacted instantly to the command, shell grinding against horn before Heracross whipped back, flinging the airborne Squirtle away. Malik chased after the Squirtle.
Brent sighed after Malik was gone. The potion and antidote had worked. He didn't understand why he had used them on the Heracross. He had simply reacted to the injustice of the situation. Heracross had been interrupted while it was feeding and had been attacked like it was being poached by two trainers. Heracross flew to Chewie and picked it up in it's arms. Brent returned Chewie back to it's ball.
"Thanks." Brent replied sullenly.
"Cross!" It pointed to its horn.
"That was great, wasn't it? Well, I guess this is good-bye."
Brent turned away. The Heracross flew over Brent in front of him.
"I'm all out of Pokemon. Blackout. Plus you would've won if our battle continued. All I have are these Sports Balls. See?" The Sports Ball expanded outward. Heracross outstretched an arm and touched it, causing the beam to envelop it. The Sports Ball wiggled only once before going back at rest.
 
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Viridian forest was lush with leaves and trees basking in the lingering hum of insects living in harmony in the protected park. From the entrance and throughout the forest there were a diverse array of trainers and Pokémon scouring the bushes and decomposing logs for Bug type pokemon. Clint spent close to an hour traveling deep into the western part of the park to find a location that Reggie told him about. Before they separated, Reggie told Clint about an area in the western part of Viridian forest where the foliage is thick and the trees are tall, that was where some of the stronger Kanto Bug type Pokémon thrived, "The same spot is where I found Venonat", he explained, "Be warned though, the Pokémon there are meaner than average, the reason I'm not going back that way is because you need to watch your back before you get swarmed, plus I want to catch a bug type from Johto or Hoenn and I doubt any will be in there,'' he rummaged through his backpack and handed Clint an Antidote, "Here, you might need this, good luck mate!"

Alone, Clint brought out Totodile and when the brambles and vines became too thick to walk through, the trainer got Totodile to cut and bite his way into making a path. He looked into the trees and once in a while Clint saw Metapod and Kakuna sleeping high in a branches out of throwing distance, but he brought out his pokedex and collected their data, making sure his pokedex was muted in order to not disturb and make more noise to add to the chomping and snapping sounds that Totodile made. The pair tried to make their footprint as minimal as possible, Clint ducked through behind Totodile and would lightly bend branches to traverse the dense brush, keeping track of the path they made in case they needed to leave quickly.

"Dile!", Totodile stopped abruptly and stared at a large tree, around the tree there were spots where the branches had been broken and leaves trampled before they arrived. The area wasn't disturbed in a perfect circle, but in a way that indicated a more natural disturbance. Totodile stared at the tree and tilted it's head to the side, "Dile Dile", it whispered and when Clint set down his backpack it climbed into the bag, unzipped it, and grabbed one of the Sport Balls with it's mouth. "What do you see buddy?", Clint whispered as he crouched beside the Pokémon and took the ball from it's mouth, he stared at the same spot for a long time before he noticed that the brown texture of the bark on the tree didn't quite sync up with the rest. It moved ever so slightly in the shade, exposing it's spikey pincers that we're inside a hole of the massive tree, "Ah, I see it now,'' he nodded to Totodile and brought out his pokedex and tried to get a reading with only seeing part of the pokemon. "Pinsir, If it fails to crush the victim in its pincers it will swing it around and toss it hard."

"Sounds badass", Clint commented in a hushed tone, "We're going to need to be careful if we want to catch it, so when I bring out Spearow I want you to try and spray it in the face with a water gun alright, but only when you got a clear shot,'' Clint winked and made a gun shape with his hand and Totodile copied it enthusiastically, Clint had to hold in his laughter at how cute his partner was being, he brought his hand down on Totodile's head and patted it gently.

As the Pokémon and Trainer shared a candid moment hidden in the bushes, there came a flying object that crashed its way through the trees so loud that it broke the peaceful state of the habitat before they could jump into action. The object crashed hard into the large tree and toppled the Pinsir from it's position and the bug Pokémon landed on it's back stunned. Clint stood up and revealed himself from the bushes to get a better look at what the object was; a shell of brown with pale yellow on the bottom and thick white ridges.

"SQUIRTLE!", Malik screamed as he thrashed his way through the thickets of vines, his clothes were cut up from running through the branches, his glasses were sitting off-center on his nose, and his hair was mangled with sweat. The Pinsir shook itself back into consciousness and looked at Malik in anger, then scanned the scene to see Clint looking back at him. The Squirtle laid unconscious close to the Pinsir and before anyone could act, there was a rumble above in the tree followed by the hum of several wings. The Pinsir stood frozen as it looked up into the canopy of leaves, it had a long white scar over it's left eye but the eye appeared intact and functional as the creatures emerged from above. About eight Beedrill descended at the Pinsir and lunged at the Bug Pokémon with their large needles in a flurry of poisonous blows.The Pinsir crossed it's body with both arms in a defensive stance but with wasn't enough to block all the attacks that struck him from all sides.

"We need to help him Totodile", Clint reached for another pokeball and threw it, releasing Spearow. "Spearow! You and Totodile need to help that Pinsir, each of you attack the same Beedrill in coordinated attacks! Totodile will use Water Gun and Bubble,and when they are distracted Spearow will hit them with a Wing Attack!", Clint gestured when he said 'Wing Attack' and slapped his elbow with his hand. Totodile and Spearow nodded at their trainer and turned to aid the defending Pinsir from it's assailants.

As the Pokémon engaged in combat, Clint ran over to Malik who stood frozen and locked in place. "Your Squirtle is unconscious over there", he pointed in the general direction of the battle, Totodile was spraying the Beedrills with water and Spearow was taking each opportunity to strike as the Pinsir defended itself. Malik looked at himself in Clint's mirrored sunglasses and stammered, "I--uh-Bre----nt---uh, Squirtle", he adjusted his glasses and brought out a pokeball, he ran closer to the battle and sent out a red beam to retrieve his Squirtle. A Beedrill saw the red beam and buzzed at the unaware rival trainer with intensity, Clint leaped to push Malik out of the way and got body checked by the Beedrill, luckily for both trainers, neither of them got impaled by the large stinger. Malik rose to his feet quickly and brushed the dirt from his pants, grabbed his laptop bag and ran away without saying a word. "Ungrateful jerk", Clint muttered and scrambled for his bag and grabbed a sports ball with each hand.

Six Beedrill remained and continued to angrily attack the Pinsir, as well as Totodile and Spearow. Totodile dodged deftly but Clint could see the water type Pokémon was getting tired. Spearow on the other hand, appeared to be energized from it's super effective attacks, but at times it would accidently leave the door open for a Beedrill to get in a good strike. Clint threw both sports balls in his hands at the Beedrill that hovered around the injured Pinsir, he managed to trap one inside a ball temporarily and it wiggled on the ground surface as the other ball whizzed over the head of another Beedrill. Pinsir looked over at Clint and saw the determination in Clint's face as the trainer threw more sports balls at the remaining Beedrill, the Pinsir collapsed to the ground and gripped it's sides as the Beedrill flew away and emerged from used sports balls. When Clint ran out of sports balls he defended himself and Pinsir by taking his skateboard and swung it at any Beedrill that tried to retaliate after its escape from a failed capture.

When the fight was concluded, only one Beedrill remained captured in a sports ball and the others flew away. Totodile was exhausted and Clint beamed him back into his pokeball so he could take a much deserved rest, Spearow lingered however and though it was noticeably tired it remained alert to any more incoming threats. Spearow hopped over to the Pinsir that laid on the ground and cawed to Clint to help the bug type Pokémon. Clint ran over and threw his backpack on the forest floor and sprayed the Pinsir with an Antidote that Reggie gave him. He sprayed the Antidote on the Pinsir and also sprayed a potion but it didn't seem to improve Pinsir's health, it remained still and appeared in agony from being poisoned so many times. Clint needed to act fast so he reached for a regular pokeball from his bag and bent himself closer to Pinsir, "I want to help you, but you're badly poisoned and I don't know how to treat a Pokémon as hurt as you", he paused and brought the pokeball between them, "But if you enter this pokeball and let me take you to get help, I promise to release you when you're ready." Clint waited patiently and rested the pokeball near Pinsir's left side, Pinsir seemed confused and disorientated and didn't move to enter the pokeball. "Spearow spear, row, spear", he cawed empathetically, as if to assure Pinsir that Clint would stick to his word. "Pin...sir", Pinsir let out a faint breath and reached to the pokeball, the pokeball opened and encased the bug type Pokémon in a white light and Pinsir took its place inside the pokeball calmly.

Without a moment to lose, Clint reached for the pokeball and while he kept Pinsir's ball in his hand he tossed the sports ball containing a Beedrill into his bag and flung it over his shoulder. "Let's get to the end of the forest Spearow, we need to get Pinsir some medical attention quick!"

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Just as the final thirty minutes of the bug catching contest was underway, Clint arrived at the exit with Spearow as the rangers prepared the stage for the judging to commence. A ranger spotted Clint's approach and unaware of the situation said, "You still have a half hour trainer, come back in thirty minutes", Clint was exhausted and about to crash from the energy drink he had earlier that morning, he held up the pokeball containing Pinsir and said shakily, "Pinsir needs help, Beedrill attacked us and he is badly poisoned", Spearow landed on his shoulder and screeched at the ranger, alerting the other rangers and judges in the area.

"Clint?!", Professor Shrub called out from the surrounding group and Clint began to fade in and out of consciousness. Though Shrub could not see behind Clint's sunglasses, she knew that the young trainer needed help and ran to his side. Spearow didn't leave his side
 
Both Sprigg and Chikorita gasped as a tall, winged green pokemon emerged from the trees. It had long blades as arms and as Sprigg examined the pokemon further, she realized the flashes she was seeing was the light of the sun from glistening off the scythes. As the pokemon stood there watching them watch it, she quickly took out her pokedex and scanned the bug pokemon. “Its protective colors make it invisible,” ‘That explains why we didn’t see it following us.’ “With ninja-like ability and speed, it can create the illusion that there is more than one. It shreds its enemy with its razor-sharp scythes.”

“We need to be careful of his scythes,” Sprigg noted mainly to herself although it was stated out loud.

Scyther continued to watch them, curiously. Knowing he was spotted, there was no sense in continuing to hide. Or perhaps that’s what he wanted them to think. This was really all just a fun game to him.

Sprigg eyed as he walked up to the trap she had set. She was trying to study what the Scyther was doing or thinking, not sure of his intentions.

Without keeping his eyes off of them lurking in the bushes, he sliced the rope with his scythed arm, foiling her trap plan.

Sprigg growled. “You can’t-,” she shot out of the bush with her arms firm at her sides, her hands in fists. “You can’t just do that.” Chikorita protested with her trainer.

Scyther teasingly ate the pokeblock Sprigg had so graciously laid out for him. Like taking candy from a baby. “Scy scy scy scy.”

Sprigg didn’t enjoy the mockery, or the fact that Scyther saw this as a game. She was about ready to pack her things up and just remove herself from the situation but before she could react or do anything else, Scyther used double team. His speed was quick as he dodged back and forth. It was hard for Sprigg to follow his movements, she wasn’t quite sure which of the figures was really his.

“Chikorita, use sweet scent!”

Chikorita jumped out ahead of Sprigg and sent out a haze of pink, sparkling dust that swirled around Scyther. Sprigg’s intent wasn’t necessarily to slow him down, but to make it easier to hit. The move seemed to fail, however. Scyther’s movements were less fluid as the sweet scent distracted him a little, but it didn’t help Sprigg or Chikorita pick out the real one from the copies. Hopefully it was enough for Sprigg to at least land a hit. The contest was coming to an end soon and she didn’t have the time or energy to battle it out.

Her eyes scanned the Scythers zig zagging before her and then threw the sport ball when she thought she had an opening.

It hit the Scyther dead on and then…did nothing as it fell straight to the ground. Scyther looked down at the ball and then back up at Sprigg. His mouth turned up at a corner and with a wink, he double teamed away back into the thick of the forest.

“What! No!” Sprigg looked at her pokegear. Time was up. “I guess I don’t mind that we didn’t catch him,” she said as she grabbed her things and looked down at Chikorita to her side. “I’m just glad he didn’t use those blades on us. He looked mean.”

Chikorita nodded in agreement.

“And rude. Did you get bully vibes from him? I got bully vibes from him.”

Chikorita continued to nod as the two walked off into the distance, their silhouettes getting smaller as they got closer to the exit. Unbeknownst to them, a blurred and darting Scyther trailed behind them.

---​
Most of the trainers were already gathered at the exit, entering the pokemon they caught. As Sprigg passed the table of judges, she patted the two sports balls on her belt and gave a thumbs up to Ms. Honey who had been waving at her from the table. Sprigg could see her mouthing the words “good luck” and she mouthed “thanks” in return.

As she came up to the table where she could turn in her unused sports balls, she saw Clint in the medic tent. Nurses were hurrying about from pokemon to pokemon, Sprigg didn’t realize how many would get hurt in this event.

As she approached Clint’s bed, she noticed Spearow and Totodile were out of their pokeballs. Each was receiving care from one of the nurses, and in the party, a new pokemon, Pinsir, was being tended to as well. Standing on the other side of the bed was Professor Shrub. Sprigg dropped all of her things and rushed over to her friend. “Clint, what happened?! Are you okay?” She went to go in for a hug but then thought otherwise as she didn’t want to accidentally hurt him.

Chikorita bounded over to her pokepals and immediately began releasing soothing aromas from her leaf to try and calm their nerves. She chirped away at them, reassuring she was here to help and hoped their recovery wasn’t going to be much longer. She couldn’t wait to hear about what happened or their adventures, or to even introduce herself to the new Pinsir friend. But all of that had to wait as there were more pressing matters at hand.
 
Brent spent the rest of the time trying to enjoy the rest of his time alone in the forest, reflecting on what had happened. He thought about catching other bugs, but Malik had soured the experience. Malik reminded Brent that there would always be trainers, blinded by competitiveness, to simply see pokemon as mere means to an end. There were already stories Brent could tell for each of his pokemon, and for today, one new story of how he met Heracross was enough.

He walked back into camp and walked up to the judges table, and appeared to be one of the stragglers as the crowd around the tent was very disperse. Placing the single sports ball from his belt onto the designated table, he bowed and made his way to the other open burlap sac to deposit the other sports balls that he had been given. Brent flipped open his phone for any new messages. There were none. He entered a message into the group chat with Clint and Sprigg: < I've just finished. Where are you? >. After that, he used the cell phone number punched in by Joey to give him a quick message as well: < Did you find anything cool today? >. Brent waited, but neither got a reply. He sat down on a bench and watched the entrance dully.

Malik shuffled into the camp. His glasses were crooked, and his white shirt was dirty and not tucked. There was a look of defeat in his eyes as he shambled towards the judging table and nudged his two sports balls into free indentations. He kept his eyes to the ground, looked up to Brent, scowled, and kept walking.

Brent's phone buzzed. The text he got was from Sprigg, that there was an incident and to meet her at the nurse's tent right away. He shot up from the bench and ran towards the nurse's tent marked with the red cross he had recalled seeing adjacent to the judge's desk. Once inside the tent, he saw the tables of pokemon and more distinctly, Clint. Professor Shrub and Sprigg were both looking over him. Brent weaved his way past the busy doctors and nurses of the tent frantically moving about to care for patients.

"What happened?" said Brent, panicked.
 
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"Just a wee bit of heat stroke and some minor cuts", Professor Shrub replied to Brent's inquiry, " Clint just needs to remember to pack more water and not to solely rely on energy drinks to hydrate, isn't that right?", she worriedly turned to Clint, who was now sitting up and drinking a glass of water. "Yes Ma'am", the young trainer replied and donned his baseball cap, he scanned the room, "How's Pinsir holding up?"

Back to business, Shrub smirked, "Pinsir is doing much better now, the nurse says he is very tough to have taken so many poison stings and to bounce back so quickly, he is resting in his pokeball, as well as your other Pokémon", Shrub smiled and looked to Brent and Sprigg, "Lovely to see all of you, and golly I'm excited to meet the Pokémon you all have caught during the bug catching contest."

Clint made a perplexed look on his face and Shrub giggled at him, "I'm one of the judges silly, I love judging catching events because of all the unique Pokémon you get to see in such a short time, all with diverse personalities and quirks", she winked at Sprigg through her glasses and pushed them up with her index finger,"And not to worry, the other judges are already aware that you three are my interns and I have agreed to not let my personal biases interfere with my judging criterion, my criteria is based primarily on facts such as size, weight, power level, and IQ."

The three trainers made their way out of the infirmary tents and talked with the Professor about the contest, the Pokémon, they had caught, and their upcoming journey across Kanto. After Professor Shrub hugged each of them. Shrub then joined Ms. Honey, a rather handsome looking Bug Catcher with a blonde beard and blue eyes, and two rangers who all went inside the judges tent to view the submissions.

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ANT-agonists Appear! BEE-ware Team Rocket!

The trainers stood around and chatted amongst themselves while the Judges reviewed the submitted Pokemon, Clint took each of his Pokémon out and introduced Totodile and Spearow to Pinsir. Pinsir nodded and lifted it's hand in a quiet gesture to the other Pokemon, "If you're willing to stick around Pinsir", Clint crouched as he spoke to Pinsir, "I think we could become a powerful team, you're strong and I'm going to need all the help I can get to defeat the Gym leader in Pewter City!"

Pinsir shrugged, Totodile jumped up and down and Spearow cawed in response, as if Pinsir's response registered with the other Pokémon as a yes.

"Oy ya caught a Pinsir mate?", Reggie walked to the group and Clint beamed Totodile and Spearow back inside their pokeballs, "Why didn't ya register it?", Reggie asked. "I didn't have Pinsir in a sports ball", Clint scratched the back of his neck and smiled, "I had to use all my sport balls to help Pinsir from a bunch of angry Beedrill, we're lucky to have gotten out of there when we did,'' Pinsir looked up at both trainers and nodded his head, remembering the event.

"What did you catch?", Clint asked Reggie, but was interrupted before Reggie answered.

"Attention Trainers, the judges are ready to announce the winners!", Ms. Honey was on a megaphone and called out from a basic wooden stage, and the other judges joined her, except it was only Professor Shrub and the bug catcher gentlemen that joined her in the announcements. "In third place we have Reggie!, Reggie is from Kanto and caught a wonderfully elegant Sirskit, the unique Water and Bug Pokémon from the Hoenn region! He wins a 10% discount card for Poke-Mart stores across Kanto, pretty sweet", Ms. Honey smiled and passed the Megaphone to Professor Shrub, "In second we have Sprigg of Johto and her Nincada!, a rare bug type that avoids capture often, she wins a discount card and an Ultra Ball. An Ultra Ball is much stronger than a great ball or regular pokeball, an Ultra Ball can catch larger Pokémon more effectively."

There was clapping for Reggie and Sprigg, who were invited onstage, then the gentleman bug-catcher walked onto the stage and brought out the prize for 1st place, a high performance Kangaskhan theme beige backpack full of travel supplies and Pokémon gear. Without the megaphone he spoke loudly, "It's not everyday you run into a Heracross with so much fighting spirit, 1st place goes to Brent from Johto region!"

There was cheering and trainers gathered around the stage to see the winners get their photographs taken and receive their prizes. Brent stood with Heracross, Sprigg had Nincada on her left shoulder, and Reggie had Surskit at his feet, balanced on it's thin spider-like legs.

Behind the crowd there was some arguing and a Ranger was shoved out of the judging tent, Two women in black Team Rocket uniforms each walked out with duffle bags full of pokeballs, the woman with long platinum blonde hair who was disguised as a ranger laughed, "Thanks for the rare bug Pokémon you punks!", the other had short brown hair and a nose ring, she wore a black rocket hat, "Don't bother fighting us, Team Rocket only recruits Ace Trainers and Jigglypuff is ready to pummel some Pokemon!"

Each Rocket sent out their Pokemon, a brown two-headed bird Pokémon called a Doduo was the blonde woman's and next to it was the puff-ball Pokémon known as Jigglypuff, Clint brought out his Pokegear and recorded the rockets Pokémon.

--- Time for trainers to interact with Team Rocket ---

"What do you say Pinsir?, Want to teach these criminals a lesson?", Clint looked down at Pinsir.

"Sir!", Pinsir stepped forward out of the crowd.
 
After the brief scare at the tent, Brent let his pokemon get healed by one of the stations. When he left the tent, Joey was waving at him, and without even beginning with a hello, started his personal account. Joey's dad, Mr. Pearce, simply raised his hand in a wave of awknowledgement.

"I found so many cool things! You should've seen it. There was a whole bunch of Butterfree in a clearing, like a pixie ring, my dad said, with all the powder shimmering from the sky. They were really high up though so my Bitey couldn't get at 'em, but then we found a Metapod nearby, looking up too. Bitey attacked as it spotted us. Bitey almost chipped its tooth when it used Harden, but it got enough damage in that I could catch it. It was tough. I think it will be a Butterfree someday. How about you?"

Brent was about to start his account, until he was interrupted by the announcement.

"Attention Trainers, the judges are ready to announce the winners!"

Joey ran to where the wooden stage was, and Brent ran to follow. They were near the back, so Pearce picked up his son to put him on his shoulders. Brent smiled as he looked up at Joey before looking at the stage. It was good that Joey had a father. When he heard Sprigg's name, he clapped more than for Reggie, and then he heard his name called.

Brent couldn't believe it. As he walked up and went upon the stage, he saw all the judges, including his mother, politely smile and clap in congratulations. He was visibly dumbfounded as he was handed the backpack offstage with a pokemon on it of which he didn't even know the name, looking visibly dumbfounded until Professor Shrub hugged Brent and kissed him on the cheek.

"You've already changed so much."

Brent didn't know what else to say. He had won a Pokemon competition of all things. Just a few days ago, he was sitting alone hoping he could avoid Pokemon for the rest of his life.

Once the photo op was setup and took their first photograph, the women in black uniforms burst out of the tent and boldly announced their blatant theivery to the crowd. Brent saw Malik sneak from behind the corner of the tent that the women had exited; presumably he had been sulking there immediately after the winners had been called. Malik angrily pointed at the women, and Brent obliged by looking at them instead. Malik was in a dangerous situation, even if he chose not to do anything desperate. It didn't seem beyond Malik to make a jump at what were obviously criminals for his caught pokemon back, just as he made the jump on Brent to catch the Heracross from under him. Brent knew that in that bag was Joey's Metapod, among others that were caught fairly during the course of the day. He felt the anger swell up inside for having another stain on the day of a competition he had won, but he also felt fear, fear of not having the strength to take on these criminals, even if he didn't know who 'Team Rocket' was.

"You give everyone back their Pokemon right now!" shouted Brent. He knew it was a useless callout even as he said it. Still, he hoped the rangers had a silent alarm triggered for the police to arrive. It also meant perhaps giving Malik an opening, if he was going to do something stupid anyway. He had stepped forward from the crowd of people with his Heracross.

"Or what?" said the blonde woman. Brent had no reply. "I didn't think so."
"How much do you think his first place Heracross is worth?" sneered the one with the short brown hair.
The blonde smirked. "How about a trade? Your Heracross, for one of our bags."
"Half a bag." murmured the other.
Brent stood silent, as the blonde counted down from ten. He pretended to consider the offer in his mind, hesitating with sports ball in hand at his side with a loose grip, rolling it with his hand. The blonde mirrored the same stance with the bag. The countdown ended.
"When it comes down to it, kid, people only care about themselves." said the blonde.
"Save it, you two-bit thief." said Brent. "Accepting that trade would've been an insult to every stolen pokemon you have. Each one is equal to my own."
"Squirtle, now!" shouted Malik. A strong water gun shot from its mouth into the opening on top of the bag. During Brent's talk with the blonde woman, her grip on the bag had relaxed considerably, making the opening bigger. As the water filled the bag up, it flew through the air and Sports Balls rained from the sky.
"Time for us to teach you a lesson!" said Brent.
 
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“Oh good, you got my message,” Sprigg took a step back and allowed for Brent to move closer to Clint as he entered the medical tent. She listened to Shrub’s words of wisdom to Clint. She knew Shrub was just preparing him for next time, in hopes to avoid something like this in the future. But it was valuable information she could use for herself, as well.

“Woah, so cool!” said Sprigg when she learned Shrub was a judge for the contest. She was eager to show Shrub what she had caught. “I hope I get to be a judge some day,” she said with a smile so wide, her cheeks started to tire. She thought she would be an honest and just judge, free of biases and judging pokemon for their true value and potential. Too often do others win from favoritism or entitlement alone, it’s unfair to those who work hard to achieve their goals.

The time for the judges to deliberate neared and Sprigg joined the rest of the contestants as they all waited anxiously before the wooden stage. Sprigg waved to Ms. Honey before she ducked into the judges tent.

“You’ll be a strong addition to Clint’s team, Pinsir! I know you’ll help him make it far.” She had her pokemon out and introduced them to Clint’s Pinsir. “Chik, chik.” “Weedle.” “Cada.” The sounds of pokemon talk chattered at her feet. She made small talk with the group of friends that circled her, including that of Reggie. Sprigg was about to ask him what he had caught before Clint beat her to the punch. Though, even Clint’s question didn’t elicit an answer as a deadened hush washed over the crowd. Every trainer’s eyes were on the judges as they took up their spots on the stage. “That was quick,” Sprigg said quietly to herself as she beamed all but Chikorita back into their pokeballs.

When Reggie’s name was called, Sprigg patted him on the back. “Wow, I’ve never seen a sirskit before!” She whipped out her pokedex and registered the pokemon immediately. “Go Reggie!” She was too busy clapping and watching Reggie collect his prize when she felt a nudge on her shoulder. She looked over at Clint and saw as he was pointing to the stage. It took her some time to register that he was trying to bring her attention to the judge calling her name.

“Sprigg,” Shrub repeated.

“I-uh. Right!” She shook her head, honestly not expecting to place at all. Trainers parted, making a path as she walked for the stage. She shook Shrub’s hand as she accepted her winnings, gave Shrub a tight hug, and then quickly hurried to left stage where she, Chikorita, and Nincada celebrated together.

When Heracross was called, Sprigg enthusiastically jumped up and down knowing immediately it was Brent who had won first place. She nearly dropped her winning items as she clapped her hands. Nincada held on tight so he wouldn’t fall from her shoulder. “WOOOOOO, Go Brent! I knew you’d do great!” She whistled and hooted.

Sprigg took up Brent’s side, and Reggie the other, as they gathered for a group photo with their respective pokemons. A few single snapshots were taken, too, with Nincada tapping gleefully away on her shoulder. Chikorita wasn’t too happy that she had to stand outside of the picture, but Sprigg promised they could get a picture together later.

The celebration didn’t last long as an eruption from the tent attracted everyone’s attention. Two women dressed in black clothing with a red letter ‘R’ on the chest were carrying dufflebags full of sportsballs. “Team Rocket!” Sprigg stepped forward, Chikorita immediately jumping in front of her. “Chik!” She registered the Rocket pokemon in hopes she could gain some sort of advantage on them.
The tension in the air was thick as the two Rockets tried to make a deal with Brent. They foolishly thought the had the upper hand, but unbeknownst to them, Brent wasn’t going to give in. Sprigg was proud of him for his decision. Sprigg didn’t suspect the sudden flank attack from Malik, and wondered if Malik and Brent devised that plan intentionally. A number of sport balls flew into the air, freed from one of the duffle bags. The Rocket with the nose ring still had the other bag.

“I don’t want to fight your pokemon, but I have no issue fighting you. Nincada, scratch. Chikorita, tackle!” Nincada scuttled off Sprigg’s shoulder, hopped up onto the duffle bag and furiously scratched at the brown haired Rocket’s hand.

“Uh-aaah! Ow-ow, get off of me!” She swiped at the small bug pokemon and sent him flying, dropping the duffle bag in the process.

Chikorita jumped into the air and spun, charging up her tackle. She whipped her head at the Rocket’s face, slicing her cheek with her leaf. The Rocket stumbled backwards and Sprigg lunged forward, throwing her entire body over the duffle bag. “Nincada, get the other sport balls. Go!” Nincada scurried across the ground as he collected all of the straggler sport balls in a pile safely away from the Rockets. Nearby trainers did the same. Sprigg looked up at the Rocket standing before her, with laughter in her voice. “Good always triumphs over evil!”

“Why you little-”

Chikorita stepped in front of her trainer, ready to defend Sprigg until her last breath.

The brown haired Rocket smiled. “How precious. Too bad we have you beat. Jigglypuff, let’s teach this grass type to dance to our tune.” Jigglypuff stuck out her chest and inhaled deeply before releasing the most beautiful sound Chikorita had ever heard. Her body drifted closer, she couldn’t help but be drawn to Jigglypuff’s soothing melody. Her limbs felt heavy as she slumped to the ground and her eyes equally as heavy as she fell asleep. “Now where were we? Ah, yes. I have no issue fighting you, either,” the brown haired Rocket said with a wry smile.

Sprigg closed her eyes, listening to her heart pound as she prepared to get hit.

“Jigglypuff, let’s beat her to a pulp. Poun-.”

A sharp hum cut through the air as the whoosh of a blade moved in front of the Rocket’s head. The curve of the blade hooked into the Rocket’s nose ring. The Rocket’s eyes traveled the length of the blade, and the arm from which it was attached to, before she was eye to eye.

“A Sc-Sc-Scyther!” She stuttered.

Scyther glared at the Rocket, his one arm and blade held up to the Rocket’s face and the other firmly at his side, ready to engage.

“C-Call off your Scyther, you twerp!”

“Oh, Scyther isn’t my pokemon. He’s acting on his own volition. A wild pokemon, through and through.” Scyther winked at the Rocket. “Careful now, don’t want to move too much or that Scyther might just rip that ring straight out of your nose.” Scyther looked down at Sprigg from the corner of his eye and motioned his head for her to get out of there. She hurriedly gathered up the duffle bag, scooped up Chikorita, and took a few steps back into those gathered behind her. Nincada scurried up her pants leg and took a spot back on her shoulder. “You did good, Nincada. I’m proud of you buddy.” She said as she scritched his chin.

Scyther squinted and looked back at the Rocket, his brows briefly narrowed. “Scy!” He pointed in the opposite direction with his free arm.

“Ye-yes sir!” The Rocket carefully unhinged the blade from her nose, her eyes wide as she looked down at the sharp blade so close to her face. “Jigglypuff,” she said as she called Jigglypuff back into the ball. “Let’s get out of here!” She yelled for the other Rocket and vanished into the woods.

“I appreciate your help, Scyther. I won’t forget this,” Sprigg turned to thank the mysterious pokemon, but when she did, Scyther was nowhere to be seen.