章 18: Shining Gold (3/3)

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"Are you sure you don't wanna be a Warrior? You sure were fighting like one earlier." Izan asked. "Honestly, you were amazing out there."

The trip to the clearing they trained in was quiet, if not for the talk between Pokemon and trainer.

Sandshrew tilted her head at the question, taking the compliment in stride, and then firmly shook her head in denial. He didn't know what to make of that, so he just shrugged and scratched under her chin in response.

"Shreeewww…" Clearly, she appreciated it.

Aurora spoke up now that Sandshrew wasn't glaring at her anymore. "So where exactly are we headed to?"

"Oh, it's just a quiet place by the outskirts of town."

Concern made itself known in her voice. "Outskirts of town? Like, near the forest? Wouldn't there be wild Pokemon around?"

"I mean… yeah. But they're pretty harmless all things considered. It's not like we're going deep into the forests." He clarified.

And he wasn't exaggerating. While training they did see the odd Pidgey or Psyduck waddle by, but that's all they did. Pass by.

Most of them didn't even glance at them.

"Plus, don't you still have Glaceon on you? It's not like anything bad happened to him."

Collectively, they decided to leave Snorunt behind while Vulpix was being taken care of. It was gutsy, but it's newborn body didn't listen to it.

It was too exhausted to move much.

She nodded. "That's true, but I still-"

*Niiiiiii~!*

They both stopped as they heard the sound of Pokemon cries and fighting ahead, something neither was expecting.

Looking at each other, they had a silent conversation with their eyes.

Aurora, by the look on her face, clearly wanted nothing to do with whatever was going on.

On the contrary, Izan was curious. It could be anything from a battle to someone stealing his training spot. Either way, it's not like they'd stop whatever they were doing and attack them.

They could just run if need be.

Running forward, they arrived only to witness a scene neither of them anticipated.

Multiple cracks in the ground and various holes and fallen trees made for the after-effects of what looked like a fierce battle. Rubble was strewn about and if Izan looked closer, he'd notice that half of the bushes were empty of berries.

What took most of his attention, however, was the battle that was still going on as he stared.

At least fifteen Diglett were surrounding two Pokemon. A Nidorino and a female Nidoran. The Nidoran was passed out behind the Nidorino, clearly much injured than its stronger counterpart.

The barb on Nidoran's forehead was cut clean off, and a huge gash that went down its entire face showed why. There were a ton of other bigger scratches all over its body, but that one was bleeding heavily.

Nidorino, on the other hand, didn't look much better. Although it was standing and fighting, it too had a huge amount of bruises and scratches.

'Aren't Diglett herbivores? And how the hell does Diglett even scratch things?!' Izan thought, stunned by the sight.

His question was answered as one of the Diglett suddenly rushed past Nidorino with incredible speed, nicking him with one of the rocks surrounding its body.

In response, the barbs on Nidorino's body all flared up, shooting in all directions as multiple [Poison Sting]s went flying. Being so close, none of them even came close to Nidoran's body.

Sadly, the group of Diglett all easily dodged the barbs by going underground and popping back up in different spots, resuming their attack.

Izan snapped out of his stupor. "Sandshrew, [Rollout] those little brown shits! Make sure to avoid the two in the middle at all costs."

With a quick "Shrew!", Sandshrew hopped off his shoulder, immediately going into a roll and taking off like a rocket.

Not expecting the sudden attack, a few of the Digletts were hit and sent spiraling through the ground as easily as walking through the air.

A thought struck him. 'Why are there any Diglett here? Nidoran, I could see, but those guys are usually in Diglett's Cave, not roaming in groups.'

A ball flew into the air, and familiar sparkles represented the Pokemon's arrival. "Glaceon, use [Ice Shard] to help get rid of those Diglett." Aurora, too, snapped out of her daze.

The canine appeared on the field and followed orders immediately, opening its maw and shooting out several fragments of ice, all honing on a different Diglett.

"Izan, what the hell are we doing?!" Aurora whisper yelled.

He looked at her like she was stupid. "What do you mean 'what are we doing'? We're helping, duh."

Looking back to the fight, he immediately bent down and picked up a rock, throwing it with all his force at a Diglett that tried to sneak attack the already downed Nidoran.

"Bullseye, bitch!" He barked.

The rock wouldn't have done much if he aimed for the skin, but luckily his aim was good enough to hit it right in the eye.

Sandshrew, at that point, had already gone through four or five Diglett, and the backup was enough to make them reconsider continuing the fight.

The nail in the coffin happened when Glaceon's frostbite-inducing hit most of them and took them out easily.

There was a bit of a chitter as the Diglett briefly conversed, before one by one they all went underground.

Sandshrew slid, stopping her roll. Both she and Glaceon vigilantly searched the area and found no enemies.

The Diglett fled the scene.

Aurora let out a breath now that they were gone, returning Glaceon and thanking it for its help. "Now what do we do?"

Izan, on the other hand, was focused entirely on the Nidorino and the female Nidoran with it. He grimaced as he eyeballed the damage they took.

'Nidorino will probably be fine if we just leave, but that Nidoran is for sure gonna die without medical attention.'

Almost like he was in a trance, his feet started walking straight to the Nidoran in question. Something was urging him to help it, ignoring all of the consequences that came with it.

It was a promise. An oath he didn't recall taking implored him to keep moving forward. To not allow needless death when he had the power to prevent it.

"Izan, back up, that thing is dangerous! Hello? Izan!" Her voice became fainter with each step.

He shrugged off her hand on his shoulder.

The Nidorino growled and hissed at him, but he could see it for what it was. It sought to protect the Pokemon behind it, and it was resolved to apart to do so.

Yet, he could tell it was scared. It was in pain, and couldn't put up much of a fight, but it fought on anyway.

A brave protector.

His eyes flared up with orange light.

The Nidorino took a step back, surprised, but took another step forward in anger. Desperate, its eyes radiated pink as psychic energy took hold of Izan, stopping him in his tracks.

The orange blazed into shining gold.

"Admirable." Izan's lips moved on their own as he took another step forward, breaking the attack instantly.

Crouching down, he was face to face with the sweating Nidorino, as he reached back into his back pocket.

The Nidorino's eyes were focused completely on his left hand, waiting to see what he'd pull out. If it sensed even a slight bit of danger, it would use everything it had.

*Snap*

In one swift movement, Izan snapped with his other hand, catching the Nidorino's attention. And with his left hand that grabbed an item out of his backpack, he touched it to Nidorino's head.

The Pokeball opened up, absorbing the behemoth with a red laser, and with two quick shakes and a-

*Click*

Nidorino was caught.

"Gotcha bitch." Izan grinned. He then took out another Pokeball and caught the Nidoran on the ground. It didn't even shake, putting up zero resistance.

He stood up, taking the first Pokeball and making a pose. "I caught a Nidorino!"

Turning around with a smile, his eyes were dark brown again. "Alright, let's go before-" He noticed Aurora looking at him like he was a Doduo. "What?"

…

"What'd I do?"

---

->RQ: I've been meaning to ask. Does anyone have a guess for the glowing eye thing I've been sprinkling in the story? I doubt anyone will guess, but I'm curious.

If you don't care about the above, I have a different question: Favorite Pokemon character? Could be from any medium, I don't mind.

My favorite is no doubt Guzma. But a close second is Cyrus. Third is easily N/Ghetsis.