Percy broke through the front of the crowd and realized they were all also trainers. He stopped, confused as to why this wasn't an all-out war. "Why are only 5 of us fighting at once?" He asked the closest, most confident trainer.
She glanced at him, "Anymore Pokémon battling in this street would tear it apart, and cause warfield mentalities. We experienced trainers have to make sure domestic battles don't turn into untold bloodshed on domestic soil. It's a different thing when you're at war, and there are other countries besieging the city. But Team Rocket shouldn't cause us to make our own demise." She fingered her pokeball belt as she watched the battles in front of her.
She was a particularly old trainer, at what he guessed to be 45. Most trainers retire from this life far before her. Maybe she was just a retired trainer brought to the streets by the criminals in her city's streets. Percy looked at Fay and Theo's battles. The Team Rockets Pokémon were all around level 30, which was a little stronger than Fay and Theo's Pokémon.
They were holding up, but were starting to crumble under the intensity of the situation. They were great trainers, but Team Rocket was one of their first actual battles with other people. The three other trainers were engaged in a more three-on-three fight in comparison to the isolated fights Fay and Theo had.
There was a fear that Team Rocket might steal a trainer's pokemon after defeating it. If anything like that happened to Fay, it would hurt her progress.
Jason asked the older trainer a question. "Can people be tagged in or what?" He asked. He seemed to be jumping at the opportunity to hop into the battle like Percy. Percy immediately got close to listen to the answer.
She eyed the young trainers with a critical eye. "Yes, but the most experienced or strongest trainers go first. The trainers in this crowd would really disperse if every one of them actually wanted to fight a Team Rocket member. There are a few trainers already set to go next, though. If you want to go, you'll have to wait, or convince the trainers to let you go next." She said over her shoulder.
Jason cursed to himself. "What kind of battle rules are these. Out in the forest, I'll get jumped by 3 Team Rocket members, but in the city, I can't hop into a battle against the criminals." His jaw was tense.
The older trainer sneered. "Young trainers can't be expected to know. But the wild and cities are very different. War reveals this. You will know, the news points to it coming soon." She said.
Percy felt what she was saying was real, yet he knew he didn't know. A part of him wanted to say how he still doesn't think it made sense, but the tone of the woman's voice was resonating this feeling outward. His aura sense picked up on the feeling and integrated itself into his feelings. He turned back to watch the battles.
Theo had recalled his first Pokémon he had out and switched to his second. His opponent was damaged and tired, but it was still a powerful Pokémon. Jason raised his arms and waved them around in front of the crowd. "Everyone, is it okay if my friend and I take the next sub! We have some serious business with them, and we need to get past them to see what they're blocking off! There's a plot beyond just these battles." He shouted.
A gruff trainer laughed, "You think the rest of us don't have our own serious business? These fuckers killed my daughter years ago."
Jason shook his head. "Your business with them is serious too, but we need to get past these guys. The battles are too intense for anyone to safely cross. If my friend and I get put in, we can create a safe passage for trainers to go past them." Jason said. The man paused for a moment and looked at the three-on-three.
The trainers in the battle had no chemistry and were fighting a chaotic battle where all six Pokémon were attacking randomly and without coordination. The gruff trainer looked the two boys up and down. "Anyone else disagree? If not, I'm leading the charge past the battles. We're not even on the third Pokémon of each of these Team Rocket dimwits." He shouted to the crowd of trainers, which had dwindled to only 10 people.
60 percent of the people left to look for different battles, while some others realized they weren't about that life. No one disagreed, but some did talk about joining the charge. Some didn't because of the risk of crossing through the Pokémon battles. The average trainer could be crippled by a single move. Percy and Jason were soon running up to two of the trainers.
One of them had their third Pokémon knocked out while the other had most of his knocked out. They both wanted to tap out regardless. Thankfully, none of them were stolen and were safely recalled to their balls. Percy and Jason popped their balls open as they came to a sliding stop.
They had to hop into the battle quickly as the single trainer was facing three different Pokémon. Percy could tell he was more experienced as he expertly ordered his Gloom to navigate between the attacks. He had been analyzing the fight the second he knew he'd get next. The Team Rocket Pokémon in their battle were two Raticates and a Fearow.
Crash appeared in front of Percy with a stomp. "Let's make this quick." Percy clapped and looked toward Jason's Pokémon. It was the Quilava that had started at the same level as Crash. It was now the same level, which surprised Percy. He thought Crash was progressing faster. His prodigy friends are deemed prodigies, of course.
Jason looked over to Percy with a large grin. "It's been a while since we've battled together. Let's do it." Jason said.
Percy and Jason threw their arms forward, sending their Pokémon into the battle quickly. The Fearow screeched in pain as its dive was interrupted by a Fire Blast. It took off into the sky as smoke trailed off its feathers. Crash charged into one of the Raticates with a powerful Aqua Tail. It was a three-on-three now. The two Raticates stuck closely to each other.
The other one appeared in front of Crash and slammed its body into him. Crash roared as the Raticate smashed him into the ground. "Watch out!" Percy shouted as the other Raticate dashed forward to attack the pinned Crash. Deep growls emanated from the lizard's chest as ice energy gathered inside his fist.
His red eyes glowed as he stood under the weight of the Raticate. His fist smashed into the side of the Raticate, throwing it across the battlefield and straight through a wall on the side of the street. As the other Raticate closed in on the distracted Crash, the other trainer acted.
They had a Gloom whose vines looked quite powerful. The green plants wrapped around the Raticate's body, bringing it to a halt. "Pull your vines back!" Jason shouted as he directed Quilava to Fire Blast the restrained Pokémon. A star of fire smashed into the brown rat as the Gloom danced backward from the flames. The other Raticate dashed out of the building it had been thrown through, with its teeth glowing black.
"Scald, let's go!" Percy commanded. Crash's chest rumbled as steam came through his nostrils. A powerful stream of boiling water shot toward the Raticate. As the Raticate ran forward, it began splitting into different afterimages. The beam of water dispelled three of the clones, but three more arrived at Crash. "Grab it once it's close. " Percy said.
A screech pierced the air as the Fearow dove into the battle. Its beak smashed into Quilava, throwing the Pokémon back into Jason. Jason caught his Pokémon and set it back on the ground. Quilava was weak defensively but quite fast. However, the Fearow was faster. Quilava shook off the attack and jumped from his trainer's hands. It seemed more driven now than Percy had ever seen it.
He knew the Quilava was more of a lazy type. Crash glanced back at Quilava with a grin as the Raticate closed in on three sides. His tail burst with water energy as he spun. The tail cleared through two of the clones before smashing into the real one. Its black teeth clashed against Crash's tail for a moment, but it was pushed backward by Crash's strength. His Aqua Tail was his best move. Crash looked back at the Quilava with contempt as he blew steam out his nose.
Percy looked at Crash with an apprehensive smile. They were competing, and he hadn't seen it until now. He looked to Jason with a smile as well. Jason sneered as he raised his hand. The Fearow had sped back toward Quilava, and a shield of psychic energy appeared in front of it.