Chapter 13

Dodrio unleashed a massive beam, powered by its three heads. It was headed for the fire-type.

It would've hit, but Guts remembered something.

He was angry, maybe more or less than last time, and he wanted to bash his foe.

However, he was a little patient and jumped to the side.

The beam scraped the side of Guts' fur but rendered him still conscious.

Dodrio had not known Guts was still able to do that.

It paid for that.

"Cynda..." Guts began to roll, headed for his target.

"...Quil!" His attack smashed Dodrio, shaking the giant.

It was like a tree being brought down by an angry axe. Once the flying-type shook, there was not much left to do.

With a second gone, so was its consciousness.

Dodrio fell, dust escaping where it landed.

Bob looked at the pokémon and saw another one on top of it.

It was Guts. Back still blazing, breathing heavily.

The faint glow was now getting brighter and brighter.

Bob smiled. His pokémon was evolving.

"Cyn...Cyn...Cyn..." Guts was out of breath but felt an unknown strength compliment him.

"Cyn...Cyn...Lava..."

"Quil...Lava...Quilava..."

Once the light escaped, a new pokémon erupted.

The fact that Guts was standing on the unconscious Dodrio, his now mo-hawk hair and lower back burning up, with his opened red eyes added to the fray. Bob could compare him to a demon.

'That was awesome,' He thought, watching the spectacle, 'that was the first evolution,'

Making his presence known, the referee spoke.

"Gym Leader Falkner has run out of pokémon," He swung the flag in Bob's direction, "The challenger is the winner!"

A wave of joy and relief flew over Bob and Guts.

'Holy cow,' Bob thought, watching Guts exhale steam from his nostrils, 'I won my first gym badge,'

"Quilava?" Guts jumped off the Dodrio and looked at Bob, waiting for an answer.

Bob nodded and threw a thumbs-up.

A tear rolled down Guts' eye. He was overwhelmed with emotion.

"Quilava!" He threw his front paws in victory. Bob had to stop himself from doing the same thing.

After both pokémon were returned, Falkner and Bob walks to the middle of the field and shook hands.

"Damn, my prized pokémon..." Falkner muttered, handing something over to Bob, "You have earned this,"

It was the Zephyr badge in all its glory.

Bob took out the badge case and placed it in the first slot. It fit snuggly.

"I firmly know that flying-types are the masters of this world," Falkner spoke, "but I can say, your Cyndaquil, now Quilava, is the master of the fire-type,"

"Thank you," Bob didn't know what to say.

"You may come back for a rematch, then I'll show you the true power of my father's pokémon. Until then, I shall challenge the next trainer," Falkner said.

Bob nodded, and with a greeting, walked away.

'Wow,' He was in a good mood, 'that was amazing, jeez, I never knew it was this fun,'

Bob then thought, about the sports back in his old world, then thought about it.

'Wonder if my apartment has someone else living in it after I died,' He thought, walking away from the gym, 'all my stuff must be gone as well,'

He sighed upon walking to the Pokécenter. The stuff he had were pretty valuable to him and expensive. The thought of it being dumped and broken made Bob cringe.

Entering the building, it was almost dark. Bob went to heal his pokémon by Nurse Joy. After that, he walked to the free trainer rooms.

But, it was far from over.

Bob took the time to buy more food bowls, so he placed them down and filled each one with pokéfood.

Once he released everyone, they began eating.

However, Dio was sitting, as if he was depressed.

His head was down, but his mind spun.

If only he had hit that hit...

If only he had dodged...

If only he had listened to Bob...

Maybe, just maybe, he would not have lost.

It was obvious, as after waking up in the pokéball, Dio knew he had been knocked down.

"Quilava?"

Guts was next to him, looking concerned over his ally.

Dio looked at him. The evolved Guts had gotten the attention of the other two before this, as Geodude and Spinarak jumped him to the floor with joy, but with the flying-type, he felt nothing.

He just wanted to be left alone.

Guts patted his back with a paw, putting on a somber smile.

Dio was taken aback by this. Every time he knew that Guts had a loss, Dio laughed.

But now, Guts was not laughing. He was actually being supportive.

Then it hit him.

Guts knew what it was like to lose.

The dark pool came to mind.

He was in it during the fight with Dodrio.

While he was overtaken by its calm waters, Guts was swimming to the surface, not giving up.

As this grew to respect, Bob was busy with his book and pen.

'That reminds me,' He thought, taking out the Pokédex.

"Quilava, the volcano pokémon," It spoke, "this pokémon keeps its foes at bay with intensifying flames and gusts of brutally hot air. Its nimbleness allows it to dodge and weave out of attacks,"

Bob felt a sting of pain upon hearing its voice.

'I should've scanned more pokémon,' He thought, placing it back, 'that's silly of me,'

Continuing with the records, Bob took a look once finished.

___

[Guts]Quilava: 5-2-0 (4W Streak)

[Dio]Pidgey: 6-1-0 (1L Streak)

Geodude: 3-0-1 (1A Streak)

Spinarak: 0-0-0

___

'Neat,' Bob thought, closing the book, 'the numbers will grow,'

"Lava..." Bob heard a groan.

It was Guts, who had eaten his fill.

Without thinking, he laid next to Bob.

Bob smirked and picked him up, holding the fire-type in his arms.

'He reminds me so much of my cat,' Bob thought, scratching Guts' head, 'she probably does not give a shit about me dying, and may have the next tenant feeding and petting her while she plots an evil plan,'

Guts let out a squeak. It made Bob's heart melt.

But what made Bob curious was that the fire-type had a face of pleasure.

'This face,' Bob thought, 'I've seen it before,'

Looking around, Bob saw that the other pokémon had returned to their pokéballs.

"That face you are making, Guts," Bob said holding him up by his arms, "you miss a certain pokémon, don't you?"

It was true, and Guts acted as if he was caught red-handed.

"Quil!" He stated, denying the claim.

"Alright," Bob shrugged, he was not going to press on.

He sat up and went to go shower.

'Now that I think about it,' Bob thought, scrubbing his body, 'I may not know much, but that was not a face of love. Maybe he just likes her hugs?"

Bob soon thought of something else.

'Oh crap, I'm gonna go through puberty again,' Bob had no fond memories of that time, 'this time, I will try and not go emo,"

After a few minutes, Bob left the shower and cleaned himself.

This time, he decided not to sleep fully dressed, only with a sweater and underpants on.

It felt weird, but it did not stop Bob.

Once he walked back to the bed, he saw Guts fast asleep.

He had a goofy smile on his face and a pink hue on his cheeks.

'Yep, I suppose Guts just misses Griffith's hugs,' Bob paused, 'that sounds really wrong out of context,'

So after placing Guts in his pokéball, Bob sat back on the bed, sighing.

'What a long day,' He covered himself with the blankets, and after glancing at his cap and clothes on the floor, Bob prepared for a good rest.