When Ralts said Sandshrew was closer, she wasn't kidding. The group walked maybe ten minutes, Hoothoot hopping along branches. They heard the echo of energies clashing. The sound of battle. Joe and Sonia briefly eyed each other. They had the same thought. Sandshrew was involved. They ran through ankle-high grass and over thick tree roots piercing the surface until they reached a clearing. They arrived to see a small panda strike Sandshrew with hands wrapped in purple energy. Sandshrew was blasted away.
The panda was bipedal, like Sandshrew. It flicked its hands and the energy vanished. It had a black body and white head, with black eyes. It wore a mischievous grin and had a leaf in its mouth.
Sandshrew rolled and landed on his rough, sand-coloured back that almost looked like a wall of brick. An ear twitched. He turned his head and saw Sonia running at him. He didn't have the energy to fight against her affection.
Sonia reached Sandshrew. Crouched by him. She had a lot to say. She swallowed whatever was going to come out of her mouth. Recalled Joe mentioning how she may be too much for the young boy. She instead gave a tired smile and rested on her legs. She picked up Sandshrew. Placed his head on her lap. Forced herself not to stroke his head.
Joe walked. He watched the panda, and it watched the humans in return. The grin never left its mouth. It had missing tufts of fur across its body, revealing small scars. They were barely noticeable. The only injury that really stood out was a cut by an eye. Given enough time and growth, the scars on the panda would become invisible. Fur would grow over them.
Joe wondered why the panda was hanging around, but that wasn't important right now. He reached Sonia and Sandshrew. "Is he okay?"
Sonia gave Sandshrew a little checkup, lifting his arms to see his sides. Felt around his back. "Yeah, he's okay. Just normal fightin' stuff."
Joe dropped his bag. Brought out the Potion. Sprayed Sandshrew. He squirmed at the mist but calmed a moment later when he realised it wasn't water.
It seemed like Sonia wasn't going to say anything, so Joe would. He knelt before Sandshrew. "It's all well and good to do what you want, but you can't run off like that, Sandshrew. If you want to battle, then go for it. But make sure you don't cause problems for other people in the process, okay?"
Sandshrew expected the lecture, but not from the stranger. He looked up at Sonia and his eyes dipped. The stranger was right. Sonia had other Pokemon to worry about, and yet she had to spend time tracking Sandshrew to get him back. They'd both been a nuisance to each other, although Sandshrew believed he'd been the worst of the two.
"He's right, Sandshrew." Sonia said. Still forced herself not to coddle the Pokemon. "You gave me a real scare. Ya gotta come back to the lab. But don't worry, I learned my lesson, okay? I'll stop treatin' ya like a kid, and in return ya don't run away again."
Sandshrew nodded. Sat up. Locked eyes with the panda. Sonia forced him back down. "I know I said I wouldn't coddle ya, but I still gotta treat ya properly. Ya outta energy. No more fightin' until ya've been treated. Got it?"
Sandshrew let out a little squeak and stopped resisting. Let himself sit and rest, leaning against Sonia. He'd fought all day, every day since running away. He was tired. Being by Sonia had the benefit of calming him. Sandshrew was still young, after all. While he may complain about receiving affection, children still needed a parent's love to grow properly.
Joe turned to the panda. It watched with hungry eyes. So that was it. It still wanted a fight, but Sandshrew wasn't going to provide. Joe stepped forward. "If you want a fight, I'll be your opponent."
The panda looked Joe up and down. Nodded. Rotom heard this and flew out of Joe's pocket. Hovered in a corner of his view. Revealed the panda was a Pancham.
Joe was going to summon Ralts from Sonia's side, but Cyndaquil made a noise. Got Joe's attention. He looked down at the hedgehog. Joe didn't want to use him. He'd just fought Caterpie. But for some reason, Joe couldn't say no. If Cyndaquil's eyes were open, Joe felt like he'd see a powerful fire raging within the hedgehog. He had something to prove.
"All right. Cyndaquil, you're up."
Before Joe had finished speaking, the fire on Cyndaquil's back ignited and he rushed to stand a few feet in front of Joe. Stomped the ground and let out a mighty (cute) roar. The battle commenced.
Pancham rushed in, its hands glowing with purple energy. Rotom identified the move as Dual Chop. The hand was as flat as possible with straight fingers, like a karate chop. Pancham swiped at Cyndaquil. The hedgehog ducked and bounced up to smash Pancham in the face using Tackle before Pancham could take a second swing.
Cyndaquil got more air than expected. He spun upside down and unleashed fireballs that were swatted away with Dual Chop. Cyndaquil landed on his back. Rolled over fast. Met Pancham's Arm Thrust with his head. Cyndaquil was repelled backwards, skidding along grass. As he fell back, he fired Ember as much as he could. Forced Pancham to parry them. One fireball hit the panda in the face.
Pancham shook its head. The flames dissipated. Cyndaquil shoulder-barged Pancham and the two Pokemon tumbled to the ground. They righted themselves just a foot apart. Stared at each other. Waited for the other to act. Pancham moved first, stretching a bright brown energy, Arm Thrust, as far as it could. Cyndaquil opened his mouth and fired Ember. This countered the attack but caused a small explosion from energies clashing. They were both in smoke briefly.
They backed out. Pancham only had melee attacks, while Cyndaquil had Ember. It was scared of a stray ranged attack. It was right to be. The smoke turned red as a fireball burst through. Since it had been on Pancham's mind, it managed to use Dual Chop to parry Ember just in time.
The smoke gave Cyndaquil an idea. He was weaker than he expected. He was still recovering from his bout with Caterpie. But Cyndaquil wasn't going to back down. He was going to push himself to win. He trusted Joe to be his eyes.
Cyndaquil messed with energy as quickly as he could. The fluctuations reached Rotom. A new move appeared on the phone's screen. Smokescreen. A moment later, pure black smoke was released from Cyndaquil's pads, from under the blazing fire on his back. It engulfed the area with a thick fog. Pancham had no choice but to be within Smokescreen if it wanted to attack its opponent so it didn't try to run.
By constantly spreading energy through the cloud, Cyndaquil could keep the smoke under control. It wouldn't naturally rise to cover Pancham's ears, so Joe knew where Pancham was.
Joe understood. He started ordering Cyndaquil, telling him where his foe was because even Cyndaquil couldn't see in his own smoke.
Cyndaquil ran around the smoke, sometimes unleashing Ember, sometimes charging in to use Tackle. No matter what he did, Pancham couldn't react fast enough. By the time Pancham saw Ember coming from its South, Cyndaquil had run around and charged from the East. Cyndaquil got some good hits in, flame lighting up the smoke until it hit Pancham. A couple of precise and strong tackles knocked Pancham about, Cyndaquil disappearing into the smoke as his foe took time to stand up.
Pancham tried its best to counter, but it could never predict where Cyndaquil would be. Joe had learned from Absol that he needed to be unpredictable, so he constantly changed and altered his plan last second, and Pancham couldn't understand the compass navigation Joe was using.
Pancham was annoyed, but there was only one way out of this. It needed to focus. It listened carefully. It heard footsteps behind it. It spun and used Dual Chop. Struck Cyndaquil across the face. Knocked Cyndaquil off balance and away from itself. It used the point of its fingers to jab with its other hand, thrusting Cyndaquil into the air and out of the smoke. Now unable to send energy through Smokescreen, the fog began to waft away on the wind.
Cyndaquil landed on his rear and rolled onto his back. Released more fire from his back to blast himself against the ground, forcing himself to roll over onto his feet. He had one last idea, inspired by the mighty bug he fought earlier today. Cyndaquil was tired. He didn't have much energy left. He needed to end this now or he'd lose, and he absolutely refused to lose.
Pancham came running in. Used Arm Thrust. Cyndaquil stepped aside and began building his fire up. Pancham kept up the assault while Cyndaquil just dodged. He got hit a couple of times as he ducked and rolled and sidestepped out of the way. He continued to build up the fire within his body. It was causing the flames on his back to spike in size and temperature.
Rotom added another entry to Cyndaquil's list of moves, but this one was like Absol's Ability. A line of question marks. On top of that, Cyndaquil's Ability had triggered. Blaze. It forced the body to generate more energy when defence was low. It was a last-ditch attempt to keep the wielder alive and well and to force them to win the fight.
Cyndaquil kept dodging until he was sure this would work. When he was left alone at Elm's laboratory, he had begun developing a powerful move. A display of strength to show off how awesome he was in a final attempt to get a Trainer to pick him. Joe had picked Cyndaquil before he had fully developed the move, but he had a missing piece anyway. He lacked an activator. That was until today. Cyndaquil simply lacked real combat experience and understanding. The battle with Caterpie this morning showed Cyndaquil how to release this new move.
Pancham came in using Dual Chop. Cyndaquil looked at Joe and nodded. Pancham got closer. Joe had no idea what this move was, but he could feel the intense heat radiating off Cyndaquil. A heat haze filled the area, like the doors to a boiling room had been opened. It washed over Joe's Aura and gave him an indicator as to Cyndaquil's plan. He gave his command.
"Use your full power!"
Pancham was mere inches away. It couldn't back out as Dual Chop raced through the air. Cyndaquil spun in place, pointing his back flames at Pancham. Pancham was half an inch from striking. Cyndaquil roared and a great explosion released from his back. It had to have a diameter of at least six feet. It entirely covered Pancham, and then some.
The final piece. A grand explosion like Bug Bomb. Fighting Caterpie had clued Cyndaquil into how to store and release vasts amounts of energy for one attack. He had tried multiple ways to release this move, from using it like Ember, to biting like Fire Fang, to swiping like Scratch. But none of those options worked with what Cyndaquil wanted. A move strong enough to end a fight.
Pancham was blasted away at high speeds, smoke trailing around its body. Joe saw this coming. He didn't want Pancham to be any more scarred than it currently was. He was already on the move. Pancham was going to strike a tree hard. Joe sprinted as his eyes followed Pancham. He caught up just in time, slamming his back into a tree and catching Pancham with his body.
Joe crouched to rest Pancham against a tree. It looked up at him, its grin unwavering. Joe grinned back. Turned and rushed to Cyndaquil. The hedgehog was panting and barely standing. Joe ducked and caught Cyndaquil before he collapsed. The two smiled at each other as Joe tossed his Pokemon into the sky and caught it.
"I couldn't ask for better. That was a perfect fight. You did good." Joe said. Cyndaquil let out a happy but tired squeak, a smile on his face. The hedgehog had made its Trainer proud and, in return, felt pride in himself.
Sandshrew watched Joe walk over to himself and Sonia. He'd watched the entire fight. It seemed like having a Trainer was a way to unlock a Pokemon's full potential. Joe being the eyes of his team would allow Sandshrew to fight better. He'd also be able to fight more. He looked up with sparkling eyes.
"Nope. Ya gotta wait 'til we get back and ya all healed up." Sonia chided when she saw the look on Sandshrew's face. This had no effect on his attitude towards the big man. It got Sonia thinking.
Joe put Cyndaquil away to let him rest. Turned to Pancham. Saw it walking off into the treeline. A shame. He would've liked to catch it. That Pancham seemed strong. But if it didn't want to stick around and be caught, Joe wasn't going to force it.
He turned to Sonia. "Shall we hit the road, then?"
She nodded. They set off, this time aimed straight for Pallet. She carried the little escapee in her arms.
That evening, they found another clearing. Joe had kept a close eye on Sonia. For the most part she seemed to be returning to normal. She'd once again talked his ear off for the entire day. He wasn't going to complain. He liked her company.
Joe set everything up. Watched Hoothoot sit in a tree, big, glowing, red eyes visible as the sun fell. He gave Ralts her food and asked her a quick question. Kept his voice low just in case. Sonia didn't need to overhear him. Maybe he was being overbearing. "How's Sonia doing?"
Ralts held a pellet of food with both hands and gently nibbled on it. "She's okay."
Joe nodded. Went to eat with Sonia. Reached for a topic to talk about. He grinned. Decided to tease her. "I've never heard an adult squeal seeing a bit of skin." He patted his side to get the point across.
Sonia turned a little red. "I thought ya were gonna take ya shirt off or somethin'."
"Oh? Wanted to see more?" Joe reached for his side and Sonia reacted the same way, squirming and covering her eyes with a hand. Joe's grin deepened.
Sonia eventually calmed herself and retaliated. "Yeah, well, it turns out ya can go in the wild wearin' a suit. No need to be all slovenly like yaself."
They continued to banter and have fun until Sonia let out a mighty yawn and went to bed. Joe kept an eye on her again, just in case she experienced a nightmare.
This gave Joe time to think. He considered how Cyndaquil had learned a new move today. He'd learned multiple, but according to Rotom, one was unknown. Pokemon could manipulate energy wavelengths in ways unseen before. In the grand scheme of things, recorded history was only a portion of actual history, so whatever Cyndaquil did had almost certianly happened before. Anyway, Joe's thought lingered on how he now had two things to keep an eye on. Absol's Ability and Cyndaquil's move. Joe was still a new Trainer. He was too busy using all his brain power to think of a winning strategy. He couldn't spare a thought to small oddities.
Rotom could pinpoint what Cyndaquil had used as a Fire-type move. Beyond that, it got complicated. A mess of wavelengths Rotom couldn't sift through.
Joe's next thought was more serious. He had seen scarred Pokemon on TV before, but seeing one in person made him realise Absol walked away from her battle with Raikou unscathed. A point he hadn't considered before. It bolstered the idea that Raikou was still young. It hadn't unlocked its full potential. But then again, Pokemon often showed mercy to their opponents. Pokemon didn't go out of their way to maim other animals. Maybe the Pokemon behind the mind control was holding back. Joe was beginning to hate having multiple possibilities and no answers. He wanted to know what was going on.
Joe heard noises from Sonia's tent. He walked over. She was tossing and turning, but was otherwise asleep. He sat next to her. Sonia rolled into Joe's crossed legs. Flung an arm over him. She calmed down. It looked like Joe was in for another night of comforting Sonia.
Joe awoke the next morning. He couldn't see much. Might still be dark out. He figured he'd rest a little longer. As his senses woke up, Joe realised he heard light snoring. It was Sonia. He could feel something around his body. Arms wrapped around him. He looked up. Saw Sonia's face. At some point he'd fallen asleep and lay next to Sonia. She embraced him, his head held tight to her chest. He could feel her heartbeat. Slow and steady.
Joe remained this way as long as he could. Out of all possible ways to wake up, being in the embrace of a beautiful woman was at the top of the list. Although considering Sonia's strange strength, Joe couldn't escape even if he wanted to. He closed his eyes and must've dozed off for a short period of time. The next thing he knew, Sonia was stroking his hair because she was awake.
Sonia had woken up at some point in the night, only to see Joe sitting by her side, sleeping sitting up. Again. She pulled him down and grabbed a blanket from his backpack. Tossed it over herself and Joe. Smiled to herself as she watched his sleeping face. It didn't take Sonia long to fall asleep.
All good things must come to an end. Joe had to force himself out of the Heaven he was currently experiencing. It was time to head back to Pallet and finish this job.
* * * * *
Pancham had lost, fair and square. Both in ideals and in combat. It had listened to Joe's little lecture. It was meant for Sandshrew, but Pancham applied the man's words to itself. Pancham was a rowdy animal that had been let go because of its attitude. It had belonged to a young boy in a nearby town. It had destroyed some items in the house. The boy's parents forced their child to let Pancham go.
Pancham's abandonment happened a couple of weeks ago. Since then, Pancham had been nothing but a nuisance to others. It had gone around the forest, lashing out at many other Pokemon even though they had done nothing to Pancham. It was how Pancham ended up with a couple of small scars. It had pushed itself to the limit constantly and hadn't properly regenerated its energy. Pancham had been angry and felt like it had something to prove. Thinking about it, Pancham couldn't remember what point it was trying to prove anymore. A feeling or thought lost in the sea of anger.
As Pancham walked away from Joe, it raised its head and stood up straight. A new day, a new Pancham. It'd been a menace of the forest for too long. Pancham wore a renewed grin as its stride lengthened.
The next day, Pancham was mindlessly walking through the forest when it spotted a bug being bullied by a bird. Pancham considered Joe. He seemed like a morally righteous man. His Aura was good. He'd rushed in to stop Pancham from getting hurt. So, what would Joe do? He'd save the bug.
Pancham jumped in to help, scaring the Spearow away. The Sewaddle thanked Pancham and shared food with it. Pancham was handed a berry it had eaten many times before, but for some reason this one tasted better. Pancham rubbed the back of its head and its usually cheeky grin turned into one of awkwardness. It continued walking, a strange feeling in its chest. Maybe being a better Pokemon wasn't such a bad idea.