Throughout that evening, Team A had gone through many trials and tribulations.
"Ah, next obstacle. Rope of death." Scrafty scoffs. "Why don't you try this one, Buneary?"
"What? Me?" Buneary questions.
"What, scared?" Scrafty nudges Buneary.
“No! No way!” Buneary grabs the rope. “If I have to climb it, then I will!”
Buneary leaps on the rope. She starts climbing her way up the tree.
"Hm...It looks like you need to throw a few apples in this bucket to weigh it down!" Eevee realizes. "Then, the rope holding the logs in front of us will lift!"
"Just throw 'em' down here, Buneary!" Eevee yells out.
Buneary throws an apple at the bucket. The apple hits Eevee on the head and lands inside the bucket.
"N-Nevermind, don't do that...Just drop them." Eevee groans.
Buneary drops all the apples on the ground.
”Alright, let’s put these things where they belong." Says Pikachu.
The apples are put in the bucket, and the logs are lifted.
"Alright! Nice going, you guys!" Eevee beams.
Pikachu is busy investigating a passageway through the trees.
"Hey, what're you looking at, kid?" Scrafty pushes Pikachu aside. "Oh, I see."
"Seems you found a secret path...Quite impressive, I'll admit." Scrafty sarcastically claps.
"What do you say, gang? If we're lucky, we'll find an extraordinary shortcut. If we're not, then we'll just happen to be the kids who came in last. No harm in that, right?" Scrafty shrugs. "Who's in?"
"I’m not sure…” Pikachu says.
”Yeah, seems too sketchy. Like it’s too good to be true.” Eevee starts walking back.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea either. Seems too risky.” Buneary shakes her head.
”Well, as the leader, I say you are all bitch-made.” Scrafty scoffs. “Now, come on. Let’s see what’s on this path.”
“Who made you the leader?” Buneary asks.
”I called shotgun.” Scrafty declares. “Now, get your ass over here.”
Scrafty and the crew walk through the forbidden path.
Scrafty pushes away some vines. “Don’t need these in my way…”
Everyone admires the beautiful atmosphere in the secret pathway.
”Maybe this isn’t so bad after all…” Pikachu says.
Eevee picks out a Pecha berry. “Wow, the berries are all perfectly ripe!”
“I’d advise against eating berries in a prohibited area.” Buneary warns. “We don’t know what’s been around here.”
”Come on, live a little. What’s the worst thing that can happen? We get attacked? It’ll be a 4 against one. You guys will cower in fear, while I’ll deal with the four Pokémon that attack us by myself.” Scrafty chuckles.
Pikachu starts carving a tree with a rock. He draws a small house on the tree.
"I say we take a break here. Just relax a bit." Scrafty lays on the grass.
"I thought you would be prepared for a worst-case scenario at the very least if you were going to go off the tracks." Buneary sighs.
"When did I ever say that?" Scrafty chews on an Oran berry.
Suddenly, Pikachu notices a glowing rock in the distance.
He drops his rock. He sneakily walks over to the rock.
Pikachu inspects the rock. It's very small, like a shard.
Pikachu touches it. The shard inflicts a zapping pain on Pikachu. Pikachu falls into a bush.
Pikachu looks at his arm. He has a visible burn mark just below his palm.
….
“Hm…I’ve never seen this before.”
Pikachu looks up to the sky.
”Hm….”
Pikachu puts a leaf over the shard to hide it, but the leaf is zapped as well.
"Ack!" Pikachu yelps.
Pikachu inspects the shard. It was unlike anything he had seen before. It was like a crystal the size of a small rock, and it zapped anything that touched it. Although it seemed to emit electricity, the shard was red, the color of symbolism for fire, as well as an emblem of fire in the middle. Perhaps the zapping wasn't because of electricity, but instead to act as a sort of barrier for those forbidden to touch it? But who was allowed to? The more Pikachu inspected the crystal, the more questions he had.
Buneary appears behind Pikachu. "Hey, what are you doing?"
Pikachu tries his best to play it cool. He picks up a nearby rock and starts carving something on a tree.
"Nothing much."
"Hey, what's up with you and tree carvings? Is that like, a hobby or something?"
"That is so, but it's not just specifically trees I carve. I carve whatever surfaces I see fit."
Buneary sees a burnt leaf on the ground. "Ooh, what's this?"
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Pikachu exclaims.
Buneary looks back at Pikachu in suspicion.
"U-Um...That's poison ivy! If you touch it, you'll get itchy spots all over you!
"Oh, is that so?" Says Buneary. "Doesn't look like poison ivy to me."
"It's a special kind. They call it 'Camo clover'." Pikachu explains.
...
"They call it 'Camo clover', even though it's clearly a leaf." Buneary raises her eyebrow.
"Um...Yeah." Pikachu scratches his head.
...
Buneary lifts the leaf. She sees the red crystal underneath it.
"Oh...Huh?"
Pikachu facepalms. "Please don't touch that."
"What's the reason now?" Buneary questions.
"If you do, that thing's going to zap you. Trust me."
"You know, I'm not gonna play along with your lies, Pikachu. If you want to convince someone not to do something, you gotta at least make your reasoning believa-"
Buneary touches the crystal and gets zapped.
"Ack! What...?"
"What did I tell you?" Pikachu sighs.
...
"Pikachu, what is this?" Buneary questions.
"I don't know. It's some sort of shard I found here. It has a fire emblem on the center if you look closely enough."
"So it must belong to some legendary fire pokemon?"
"Well, it's possible."
Buneary takes another look at the crystal.
"We need to report this to someone." Buneary declares.
"How?" Pikachu asks. "I don't think the staff would be willing to walk through a forbidden path just to find evidence for some rumor some disobedient kids told them. And we most definitely can't bring it to them.
"We'll have to find some way." Says Buneary.
Suddenly, a rustling is heard in the bushes.
"Hm? What was that?" Pikachu questions.
....
"It was probably nothing." Buneary reassures. "Just keep-"
Grrrr...
Buneary looks toward the bushes. The bushes start rustling.
A large fire-type pokemon emerges from the bushes.
"Where...Is it?" Heatmor grumbles.
He looks at Pikachu and Buneary.
"Why...What are you fools doing here...?" Heatmor questions.
4"Um...What are you doing...here?" Pikachu replies.
Heatmor looks at the red crystal on the ground.
"Well...I'll be damned. If it isn't the one thing I was looking for." Heatmor chuckles. He picks up the crystal. "Why, this emblem is a very important factor to a quite special operation..."
"Hey, wait...This person looks familiar..." Buneary whispers.
"You think?" Says Pikachu.
Heatmor turns towards Pikachu and Buneary. "Hehe...I'll be taking this, thank you..." All of a sudden, Heatmor grins a devilish grin.
Buneary recognizes Heatmor's grin. It was the same grin on the mugshot of one of the outlaws on the "Top wanted" list.
Heatmor turns his back toward Pikachu and Buneary, revealing a tattoo on his back.
Pikachu's eyes widen in realization. This Pokemon had a tattoo on his back, similar to the outlaws from his home town.
”Buneary. We need to get out of here. Right now.” Pikachu says.
“I know.” Buneary takes a step back.
"Why, you little runts don't mind if I keep this, eh?" Heatmor chuckles. "You better, cause' you're not getting it back, that's for sure!"
Meanwhile...
Team 2 has reached the end of the obstacle course.
"Alright!" Chespin jumps for joy. "We did it, big bro!"
"Hah! Awesome! Let's take those flags, everyone!"
The team takes all of their respective flags.
"Huh. The other teams' flags are still there. I wonder what's taking them so long." Raboot wonders.
"I don't know about team 3, but I can see Scrafty from team 1 trying to go off-course in some way." Fennekin supposes.
"That is true. And no offense, but team 3 doesn't have quite the strong lineup either."
"That's not important, however. Let's just take the flags back and claim our position in first place." Says Raboot.
"Amen to that!" Snivy chuckles.
Soon after, Team 3 arrives to retrieve the flags.
"Hey, looks like we made second place!" Butterfree beams. "That's great!"
"I wonder what team 1's doing. Hope the new kid's holding up well." Mudkip says. "Scrafty's probably tormenting him. And Eevee can get a bit curious...They might have gotten lost somewhere."
“Well, that’s not our problem.” Oshowatt shrugs. Come on, guys. Let’s get these flags back!”
”Sounds like a plan!" Ivysaur grabs her flag and holds it in her mouth.
"Try not to eat the flag now, Ivysaur." Oshowatt chuckles.
Ivysaur lightly whacks Oshowatt with her vine.
"Ouch."
Meanwhile...
Heatmor has run off with the crystal.
"W-What now? What's he gonna do with that?" Pikachu wonders.
"He said it was an 'important factor to a special operation'..." Says Buneary. “If my suspicions of him being an outlaw are correct…”
”They are. I saw the tattoo on his back." Pikachu explains. "That sign…It can only mean one thing and one thing only."
"What about the tattoo?" Buneary asks.
"You...You seriously don't know?" Pikachu sighs.
"Well, I'm sorry, but I personally don't spend a lot of time around malicious criminals." Buneary shakes her head. "What does it mean?"
"Well, it's a long story..." Pikachu starts to explain.
"Long ago, the outlaws formed. They were an organization of evil set on world domination."
"For a while, they were a small cult. However, as their empire grew, they decided they needed a logo to identify each other with. So, they came up with the same logo that we saw on that pokemon's back."
"They've identified with that logo for years...Even back in my old home town."
"So, that means that whatever he's trying to do with that crystal...It probably involves some huge-scale evil scheme..." Buneary presumes.
"It must be...And if that's the case, we should report it to someone immediately." Pikachu declares.
Heatmor had been secretly eavesdropping on Pikachu and Buneary's conversation. He peers over from the tree he's standing behind.
"Well, what are we waiting for? We should get Scrafty and Eevee and head out of here.
"Sounds like a plan."
Pikachu and Buneary run to Scrafty and Eevee.
"Hey, Buneary! Hey, Pikachu! What's up?" Says Eevee.
"What were you guys doing? You didn't catch anything on fire, did ya?" Scrafty chuckles. "Would hate to have to clean up after a couple of idiots."
"No, look." Buneary sighs. "Pikachu found this weird red shard on the ground. Some outlaw pokemon took it, and we don't know what he's going to do with it."
"What? That's awful!" Eevee exclaims. "We need to go ahead and tell somebody instantly!"
"And let the teachers know we went off-course and tried to cheat?" Scrafty shakes his head. "Hell to the no. Look, it seems this whole thing isn't any of our business. I'm a rebel, but I'm not going to get myself involved with some outlaw. And I'm not going to deal with detention either just because it's the 'moral' thing to do. Now, shut up, and let's get going. We'll just walk through this shortcut and find the flags, and boom. Jackpot. No worries. If we're lucky, we'll come in at least 2nd place. And if we're the last ones there, so what?"
"No! We're not doing that! I'd rather we just turn ourselves and the outlaw in than for anyone to get hurt! Who know's what that guy's up to? If he isn't caught, it's going to backfire. And I don't want to be the reason why!" Eevee protests.
"Oh my god, will you SHUT UP?" Scrafty growls. "The world isn't that black and white. Sometimes bad things happen. That's just the rules of nature. Not everything is rainbows, cupcakes, and licking Barney the Nidoking's purple asscheeks! And if you think otherwise, you're delusional. Now let's fucking GO!"
"I know that bad things happen! I know the world isn't cupcakes and rainbows! But that doesn't just give you an excuse to refuse to do what is morally right in this situation!" Eevee sighs.
"Morally right, my ass! That's the problem with people! Always trying to do what's morally right to get the social status to substitute for fending for themselves in this world! You act like you're a rational person, but I can tell you're just a stuck-up asshole who just wants to get people to like you." Scrafty scoffs.
"I don't care about people liking me, I just want to prevent a possibly disastrous situation from happening!" Eevee retorts.
"Keep telling yourself that!" Scrafty yells.
"I will!" Eevee exclaims.
"Cut it out, you two!" Buneary exclaims.
Suddenly, Heatmor emerges from the bushes.
"Hehehehe..." Heatmor chuckles. "You know, I'd advise for you all to listen to your little 'Scrafty' friend."
"Oh, nice going, you two. Now, he heard us!" Buneary sighs.
"I've been hearin' you this whole time, ever since I left." Heatmor corrects Buneary. "I've been eavesdropping on your whole conversation from the moment you thought I wasn't listening."
"And you didn't realize? You just talked at a loud-ass volume while he was there the whole freaking time?" Scrafty facepalms.
"It was a shame. If you all just agreed to leave it behind, you would have been able to escape this little area." Heatmor shakes his head. "But now?"
"Now, you have to answer to me." Heatmor smirks. "And I've got a hell of a lot of questions."
"The first is violence." Heatmor blows fire out his snout. "And the answer is yes."
Heatmor growls. He charges at the group.
Heatmor swats Pikachu like a fly. Pikachu crashes into a tree.
"You want the damn shard so bad?" Heatmor asks. "Then take it!"
Heatmor throws the shard at Pikachu. Pikachu is zapped by the shard as he tries to take it off.
As Pikachu is zapped, his body weakens. He struggles to take the crystal off. His eyes slowly start to close.
"Pikachu!" Buneary exclaims.
Buneary is grabbed by Heatmor.
"Not so fast, little runt."
Eevee uses the opportunity to rush toward Pikachu. She grabs a stick with her mouth and whacks the crystal off of Pikachu's stomach.
Pikachu groans. He barely stumbles to his feet.
Scrafty is thrown at the tree. The sheer force from Heatmor's throw breaks the tree.
"Run!" Eevee exclaims.
Scrafty quickly lands on his feet and moves out of the way of the tree. He pushes Pikachu out of the tree's way as well.
"Move faster, chubby bitch!" Scrafty kicks Pikachu's body, which was on the ground.
Pikachu gets up. "We need to get out of here. Now."
"Hm...You know, I've been quite hungry today..." Heatmor chuckles. He looks towards Buneary, who he had grabbed in his right hand. "Perhaps some lunch can't possibly hurt, can it?"
Heatmor holds Buneary by her ear over his mouth. Buneary struggles and squirms.
"Ah, yes... My favorite flavor." Heatmor grins. "Damsel in distress...Extra grilled."
Heatmor points his snout toward Buneary. He prepares his snout to breathe fire and burn Buneary alive.
"Or do I prefer it raw? How about we have a little test-taste..." Heatmor pulls on Buneary's arm, trying to rip it off.
"Oh, god...We've got to do something." Pikachu declares. "Where's the bag?"
Scrafty grabs the team's bag and runs toward Heatmor. "You're not going to make it in time, asshole!"
Scrafty leaps toward Heatmor. He throws a stun seed in Heatmor's eye.
Heatmor drops Buneary. He whacks Scrafty with his snout. Scrafty is knocked into a pond.
Heatmor falls on his back. A loud thud erupts.
Eevee runs towards Buneary. She grabs the team bag that Scrafty dropped. She searches the bag for Oran berries.
"Come on...Do we seriously not have any?" Eevee sighs.
Pikachu drags Scrafty out of the pond. Scrafty gasps for air.
"Pikachu...This is your goddamn fault." Scrafty pants.
"I-I know...I shouldn't have listened to you." Pikachu frowns.
"That's not what I meant, damnit." Scrafty grasps the ground. "But it doesn't matter. We need to get out of here while he's still down. We don't have any other choice. I'm not going to continue fighting this guy, and I refuse to be responsible for the gravestones of 3 of my classmates."
Scrafty and Pikachu run toward Eevee.
"Eevee, grab Buneary. We need to get out of here right now." Pikachu declares.
Eevee drags Buneary and begins to run out of the forest with Pikachu and Scrafty.
As Heatmor is stunned, he realizes that the group is leaving. He calls in his reinforcements, who had been searching for the crystal along with him.
Suddenly, a group of Weaviles block the team's path.
"Are you serious right now?" Scrafty groans.
The Weaviles surround the team in a circle.
"Oh, no...What do we do?" Eevee gulps.
As the Weaviles close in on the team, they see Heatmor leaving with the crystal.
"Dammit...Well, I've only got one choice." Scrafty reaches in his pockets. "Arceus, forgive me for what I'm about to do."
"What are you doing, Scrafty?" Eevee asks.
"Something I legally can't." Scrafty replies.
Scrafty pulls out a dagger.
"Back off, assholes." Scrafty warns. "Or I'm going to shove this where the sun can't shine."
The Weaviles gasp.
"Hey, isn't that an illegal weapon?"
"If you don't have a permit."
"Oh, god. This guy's pulling out a weapon without a permit."
...
The Weaviles all burst into a fit of laughter.
"That little thing? Are you kidding me?"
"I haven't seen a blade that short since my college years!"
Scrafty sighs. "Arceus, forgive me for what I'm about to do."
Scrafty slices off the top of one of the Weaviles' hands.
"GAH!" The Weavile grunts. He looks at his hand, oozing with blood.
"So that's how you want to do it, eh?" The Weavile smirks.
The Weavile prepares his claw. "Then take...THIS!"
The Weavile slashes its claw at Scrafty. Scrafty deflects it with his dagger.
"Gonna have to try harder than that, buddy." Scrafty spins the dagger in his hand.
Another Weavile sneaks behind Scrafty. He prepares a vicious claw attack.
Pikachu sees the Weavile behind Scrafty. He rushes in and deflects the Weavile's hit with Iron tail.
The Weavile lands on his feet. He takes a step back. Eevee bites his foot. She chomps down with all her might. The Weavile's blood starts leaking out of his leg. Pikachu hits him on the head with another Iron tail, and the Weavile collapses on the ground. Eevee headbutts him until she confirms that he is knocked unconscious.
Scrafty is practically fencing with his dagger and Weavile's claw. He catches Weavile off guard and stabs him. He kicks Weavile on the chin and knocks him unconscious.
Pikachu headbutts a Weavile. He uses a thunderbolt on top of the Weavile and toasts him.
Eevee uses
Swift on a Weavile. The Weavile easily dodges the move. However, Eevee throws a rock at the Weavile's head as it dodges, and it trips over. Eevee bites the Weavile's ear. She takes a piss on the Weavile's head.
"Oops! Did I piss you off there, buddy?"
Another Weavile leaps at Eevee. Scrafty throws his dagger at the Weavile, and he crashes to the ground. Scrafty pulls the dagger out of the Weavile. He uses brick-break to break the Weavile's back.
Pikachu covers Weavile's eyes with his tail, and Eevee gut-checks him with a headbutt. The Weavile coughs out a spurt of blood and falls toward the ground.
Now, only one Weavile remains.
Eevee throws an apple at Weavile. He prepares to catch it, when Scrafty slices the apple in two, and half of the apple hits Weavile on the head. Pikachu uses an electro ball on Weavile. Weavile is hit and falls toward the ground. Eevee lifts a rock over Weavile's head, and she smashes it, breaking the rock in two.
...
Everyone sits down to collect themselves.
"Okay, you know what? Now that we already went through all this, I honestly think turning in this outlaw dude sounds like a pretty damn good idea." Scrafty admits. "But for the record, we should never speak about what happened here with the reinforcements. I do not want anybody to know I just used a weapon without a permit. I'm a rebel, but I do not feel like spending time in prison."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Pikachu sighs.
"Can we go home now? I don't want anything else to happen...I'm pretty tired." Says Eevee.
"Yeah, let's head back. Maybe when we report what happened, the teachers won't be too mad. They'll probably be understanding, I hope." Says Pikachu.
"I don't know about understanding, but I'm guessing they won't go absolutely ballistic. After all, they are pretty lenient." Scrafty shrugs. "Although, I won't be surprised if they scream at the top of their lungs at least once."
"YOU DID WHAAAAAAAAAAAT!?"
Mr. Bibarel crosses his arms.
"Are you kidding me? Not only do you stray from the path in order to CHEAT, and not only did you not even return the flags and pass the assignment, but you got involved with OUTLAW SCHEMING, and got a fellow student injured?" Bibarel pinches his forehead in disappointment. "How do you mess up that badly?"
"Not as lenient as you presumed..." Scrafty whispers.
"Scrafty, not the time." Pikachu sighs.
"I expect this from you, Scrafty...But Eevee, Buneary, AND the new kid? For god's sake, what were you kids thinking? Were you thinking at all?"
Mr. Bibarel sighs. "Just get out. Get out of my classroom. I need time to think. Nurse Chansey, can you please take care of the injured student?"
Nurse Chansey carries Buneary to the Nurse's office.
"Pikachu, Eevee, and Scrafty, you now have detention for the rest of the school day. Now, go."
"Yes, sir." Pikachu and Eevee reply. Scrafty stays silent.
After school...
Pikachu is heading home, when Eevee starts walking next to him.
Pikachu sighs. "Hey, Eevee."
"Hi, Pikachu!" Says Eevee.
"So, erm...Rough day today, huh..." Eevee slightly frowns. "Definitely not how I expected any of that to go at all."
"No kidding...What a bummer of a first day. I'm completely fresh in this new town...All I hoped was to make a good first impression...To make friends and adjust, just like my mom wishes I would. But I screwed that up. Now everyone probably thinks I'm a nuisance." Pikachu stops and stands near a pond.
"Well, It's not all doom and gloom, you know..." Eevee pokes Pikachu lightly. "Everyone doesn't think you're a nuisance, you know..."
"How would you know?" Pikachu shrugs. "You didn't ask everyone, did you?"
"No, but I asked one person." Eevee smiles. "And they said that although Pikachu made a huge mistake, and convinced everyone he was a failure, they still knew that deep down inside, Pikachu's a sweet and charming guy who's just a bit confused, and they understand him."
"Someone said that...?" Pikachu's frown turns into a faint smile. "Who was it?"
"Me, you big dummy!" Eevee nudges Pikachu. "You know, I used to be just like you. I used to be anxious...And cared about what other people thought of me. I wanted to make sure people wanted to be my friend. But now? I've decided to be my own person. And yeah, I don't have many friends at all. People see me as annoying. They don't hate me, but they don't want to be near me. But you know what? None of that ever mattered. I don't care about who hates me, or who's indifferent to me."
"I care about the people who like me. The people who care for me as much as I care for them. My family. My friends, who seemed to be non-existent." Eevee leans toward Pikachu. "And maybe, you don't see me as a friend yet. Maybe you never will. But I just wanted you to know that I understand you. And although you may feel like a total failure, you still made a good impression on somebody."
"So, are you still gonna mope about what other people think, or what? I mean, I'm not forcing you to be happy, but I just want to remind you that there's a reason to be. Alright?" Says Eevee.
"See you tomorrow, 'Bro'." Eevee giggles.
Pikachu waves goodbye to Eevee, with a large smile on his face. He thought that maybe moving to this new town wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe not everybody liked him. Maybe about everyone hated him. But just one sincere friend was all he needed. He just needed someone who cared. After all, all he wanted, in the end, was to make things easier on his mother. To at the very least make it easier for her to adjust to the changes.
Pikachu walked home. His mother, Goodra greeted him as he walked through the door.
"Welcome back, sweetie! How was your first day?"
"It was...Eventful, to say the least." Pikachu replies. Because it was true. That was the least he could say.
"Did you make any friends?" Goodra asks as she gives Pikachu his dinner.
"Yeah, actually." Pikachu faintly smiles.
"Oh, honey, that's great to know! I'm so glad you're adjusting to this new town so well already! Oh, I just knew you would do great." Goodra tightly hugs her son.
"Heh, mom..." Pikachu chuckles.
Goodra pats Pikachu on the head. "I bet tomorrow's gonna be another eventful day as well, honey. So get good sleep tonight!" Goodra pats Pikachu on the head.
"Will do, mom." Pikachu says as he eats his dinner.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, honey." Goodra giggles.
Pikachu eats his dinner and then heads to bed. He takes a look at an old picture of him, Goodra, and his father.
"Hey, dad...I kinda made a few mistakes today...I wouldn't say I did the best being in a new town...But, today, I realized that sometimes 'the best' isn't always exactly what you need. Sometimes okay is...okay. And the best thing about today is what made me realize that. Thanks to a new friend, I was able to pull through the troubles today gave me. And I just want you to know, that I still think about you... And I want to make you proud. I hope I achieved that. Love you, dad..."
Pikachu places the photo down. He lays in his bed, and then closes his eyes.
TO
BE
CONTINUED
