Chapter 4

BASH!

BASH!

BASH!

The training had become regular for the past week.

For a couple of hours, Hilbert would sit and watch Oshawott smash against the same tree over and over again, creating a deeper dent each time.

'He's improving, I guess the buff's working as it should,' He thought, laying against another tree, 'maybe it's almost time to face Daniel,'

During that week, Hilbert caught two more matches which had the same thing in common.

Roxy the Riolu would dominate both.

'Oshawott's dodging is spectacular,' Hilbert remembered what happened last week, 'my mother must've felt bad when he dashed away from her hand,'

For Hilbert, even if he was a bit hurt, didn't mind Oshawott rejecting his head pats.

His mother, however, took it like a punch to the gut.

Even when she tempted him with certain food or items, he would still weave or jump out of the way.

As he thought that, Hilbert yawned.

'Damn, I'm tired,' He looked around, 'I want to get up, but I honestly don't mind sleeping here,'

Even with the threat of a wild pokémon, Hilbert never ran into one that whole week.

What makes him think that there will be one now?

'Okay, I've seen enough movies to know what may happen,' He crossed his arms, 'but this is real life, and I'm not too far away from the town,'

With that in mind, Hilbert closed his eyes and slept quietly with only the heavy slamming of the water type's body against the tree providing some white noise to him.

"Oshawott," The water type, now tired, paused and turned to look at Hilbert.

The fact that he slept surprised Oshawott.

However, he kept his distance as even when he was asleep, Oshawott was still frightened of Hilbert.

"Osha..."

He looked around.

It was really quiet.

He had gotten used to it over the week, but now, an adventurous spree had taken over.

"..."

Oshawott had plans.

He just needed to take a walk. Alone.

There was no plan to leave Hilbert, as the water type felt stronger than before.

So, he picked a direction, and Oshawott began his walk.

The path he took was a random one, but he made sure to remember the way.

"Osha..." He sighed, enjoying the tranquillity around him.

He looked around.

It was just the normal things like before.

Trees, grass, flowers, a purple cat...

Oshawott paused, then looked again.

When he saw its green eyes, he jumped back into a tree, shivering.

"Purrloin?" The Purrloin turned to look at Oshawott as if he had disturbed the dark type.

"Pur, pur, pur," Oshawott could hear it chuckle as it stepped closer to the water type.

If he could've, Oshawott would've dented the tree by how much he pushed against it, to at least have some ground between this wild pokémon and himself.

Purrloin, seeing some fun, stood on its hind legs, with a berry in its mouth.

"Loin!" It hissed, trying to look scary.

To a human, this would probably be adorable, but to an Oshawott, this nearly made him faint.

Instead, all he could do was cower in fear as Purrloin continued to intimidate him.

SLASH!

SHINK!

To try and create space, Oshawott jumped from the tree and fell onto his side.

When he looked up again, the Purrloin was on its back.

"Osha-" He looked at the tree and began to tremble even more.

Where his head was, a long slash mark appeared.

This was not from the water type.

He knew that.

Oshawott's black eyes grew white when he looked back at the Purrloin.

It looked...rather limp.

There, on top of it, looked like another pokémon.

He could've gotten more details, but something else grabbed his attention.

With his reflexes, he threw his head back.

The blade that slashed took its place.

From this split second, Oshawott immediately ran in another direction.

All the blades, the killer glare and the red liquid painted on some of those blades sent the exact message to the rest of his body.

The Pawniard watched as Oshawott dashed away.

More slicing sounds could be heard from the one still on the Purrloin.

A moment later, another one appeared behind the drenched one.

The two gave each other a look.

Tink!

Tink!

The drenched one tapped its helmet head twice with its arm blade.

A second later, they vanished.

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" To other people, they would be hearing:

"OSHA! OSHA! OSHA! OSHA!"

Of course, Oshawott only said this to himself, as he glanced behind him, and instantly tried to run faster.

The two Pawniard behind him dashed past trees, jumping from branch to branch effortlessly.

They had done this before.

While Oshawott kept his pace, running past trees and bushes, the two Pawniard looked at each other.

Tink!

"Neck..." The drenched one said, tapping its blade against the back of its helmet.

The water type, still running, thought about something.

This chase was similar to when he ran from his family.

His heart twisted and spasmed. That is why he never allowed anyone to touch him or show him affection.

For when he did, those very pokémon were the ones to hurt him the most.

Hilbert came to mind.

Now that he thought about it, that boy was the same. But he couldn't handle a second betrayal.

Just then, from one of the trees, a Pawniard circled the bark and flung at Oshawott, its blades to the side, aiming for the water type's nape.

The blades, glimmering with an intent to kill, swung like an axe to a tree.

Pawniard watched as the water type ducked, its blades hitting the air.

But what scared it the most was that it aimed for Oshawott, but not for a good landing.

BAM!

The other Pawniard sighed as its comrade slammed into a tree, sliding down the chipped bark.

Now, it realised it needed to do things by itself.

When the dark type watched this blunder, Oshawott took this opportunity to hide behind a tree.

"Osha...Osha..." He breathed, gasping for air.

He needed these few seconds to gain energy and to shake his pursuers off his tail.

If only he had hidden properly, the water type would've gotten some time.

Luckily, Oshawott caught an attack incoming and jumped out of the way.

But, a detail petrified him.

This attack continued.

From the bottom right side of the tree he hid at, it continued in a spiral upwards, the dents marking the pathway of this force unleashed.

It ended when the water type lost sight of the Pawniard, but this begun another tremor.

Of course, Oshawott could see Pawniard in the air, but he now noticed what was so terrifying.

The dark type was spinning.

Like a wheel of a car, this red piece of metal spun so fast, it was like an afterimage.

When it landed, Oshawott saw its face for a split second.

This was the face of a pokémon that wanted to fuck something up.

"O...sha-" The water type, once again, found itself pressed up against another tree, quivering to his core.

The emotionless expression from the Pawniard made it worse.

A moment later, it kicked the ground with its foot, and in a revolving state, directed its attack for Oshawott's head.

In his final moments, the water type thought of how weak he was, and that was part of the reason his family betrayed him, by banishing the poor water type.

'Oshawott, continue tackling that tree until you can't anymore,'

However, Hilbert's voice unlocked what he had forgotten in this scenario.

So, with instinct, Oshawott, instead of creating space, eliminated that space to at least hit this Pawniard with one tackle.

BOOM!

He did.

The Pawniard didn't expect the water type to fight back.

When he did, the spin was off. Miraculously, none of the blades hit deep.

Oshawott's Tackle did, though.

"PAWN!" The dark type cried, feeling its metallic body shift from the impact.

The revolution was halted.

Like a train smashing into an oncoming car, the attack was so damaging, that the Pawniard flew, a tree stopping it's trajectory.

"Osh...Osh..." The water type felt weird.

At that moment, all of his fear leaked out, and he just went for it.

The connection of the attack brought an uncomfortable feeling to him.

However, he ignored this, focusing on the Pawniard.

It landed on the ground, eyeing Oshawott with a stern face.

The Pawniard only looked at one of its blades, then the big blade on its head.

The water type could see it too.

A slight chip on both blades.

"Shit..." Pawniard said though it was only a 'Niard...' to a human, Oshawott heard this.

Nothing mattered more than to get back to a safe place.

The dark type looked at the water type and raised its blade.

"Osha?" Oshawott almost shivered, wondering what it was going to do.

Tink!

Tink!

The Pawniard only tapped its helmet with it's non-chipped blade, and dashed away, disappearing through the trees.

Oshawott grew confused, but when he thought of Hilbert, he had a mission.

He looked around. This place was familiar.

So, the water type ran.

It was by pure luck or coincidence that he found the pathway he took, so within a few minutes, Oshawott found Hilbert, still sleeping against the tree.

"Osha-wott," He squealed, running to Hilbert.

At that moment, the water type latched onto his side in a hug.

"Wott!" Oshawott realised what he had done and let go immediately.

Hilbert's words reached him again.

'You're my ace,'

'Once I'm done training you, you will become strong,'

The water type sniffed.

It was worth the risk. His family never said that to him.

So, making sure Hilbert was not awake, Oshawott quietly hugged him.

This place was better than anywhere else.

Funnily enough, the water type didn't know that Hilbert was, in fact awake, and saw Oshawott run to him.

'I want to hold him, but that will just scare him away,' He thought, feeling the water type hug his side, 'I must stay still,'

Hilbert noticed something else.

On Oshawott's right cheek, there was a horizontal slash. A little blood dripped from it.

'That must've been a terrifying situation to be in if he didn't notice that cut or even the blood,' Hilbert kept his eyes shut, 'at least it's over,'

'Don't worry, you're safe now,' Was all Hilbert could think, and do, as Oshawott held against him, seeking some affection.

Affection the water type needed.