Check That Off The Bucket List

With Clemont and Bonnie in the lead, we were led towards a Public Battle Area.

Because of the popularity of Trainer's battling, the public parks in most cities had designated areas to allow Battles. Like an ordinary park had paths for jogging, picnic areas, and the likes, the parks in the world of Pokémon had arenas for training Pokémon and Mock Battles.

Arriving at the arena, Ash and Clemont took their places on either side, facing each other. Bonnie and I stood at the side, with Luca and Luci by my side. Bonnie was practically bouncing in anticipation, clearly excited to witness a Pokémon Battle.

"Alright, Bunnelby! Come on out, and let's have a Battle!"

Clemont exclaimed before the Pokéball in his hand released its distinctive multi-coloured energy, landing in the arena only to form into a brown-furred rabbit-type Pokémon that stood on its hind legs, its ears pointing straight up at the top of its head.

"Bunnelby!" it announced, readying itself for battle.

"Awesome! I've never seen that Pokémon before! Alright, Pikachu! Let's give it our all!" Ash exclaimed as Pikachu took its position in the arena as well.

"Pikachu!" it shouted as sparks of yellow electricity arched across its cute cheeks.

"Lots of luck to both Teams!" Bonnie announced, signifying the start of the battle.

"Alright, Bunnelby, this'll be our very first battle, so just relax, and you'll do just fine!" Clemont encouraged.

"Bunnel!" Bunnelby cried.

"Kay, Pikachu, use [Thunderbolt]!" Ash ordered.

Fluctuations in the air surrounding Pikachu began to develop, growing fiercer and more wild as more significant amounts of yellow electricity began building up around its small body. Finally, leaping into the air, Pikachu's build-up reached its peak, allowing it to discharge all of its gathered energy in the form of a beam of lightning!

"Pi-Ka-Chuuuuuuuu!~"

Despite the attack itself moving at the speed of lightning, Pikachu's charge up allowed Clemont enough time to get his orders out to Bunnelby,

"Bunnelby, use your ears to stir up the sand!"

Hearing Clemont's order, Bunnelby's ears flexed, much like arms, before slamming down into the arena's surface, almost perfectly in time with Pikachu's attack!

The impact caused a massive dust cloud to bust upwards, intercepting the almost instantaneous lightning bolt heading Bunnelby's way.

Due to electric type attacks being useless against ground type Pokemon or ground itself due to its general immunity, the two moves naturally cancelled each other out.

I raised my brow, watching the Battle unfold. I'd seen this exact match played out many times, but seeing it in person really showed the fast-paced nature that wasn't present before.

"Bunnelby may be a [Normal] type Pokémon, but it's more than prepared to deal with any [Electric] type moves!" Clemont announced, looking quite smug with what he and Bunnelby had just pulled off.

"Wow, Bunnelby's really strong!" Ash replied with genuine admiration.

"Now it's our turn! Bunnelby, use [Dig]!"

Hearing Clemonts order, Bunnelby leapt into the air before orientating itself to land head-first towards the ground. However, before impact, Bunnelby began rotating its body at increasingly high speeds while shaping its ears into a pointed shape. This allowed Bunnelby to drill through the dirt, disappearing from view easily.

Understanding the danger such a move presented, Ash acted immediately, ordering,

"Quick, Pikachu, evasive maneuvers! Don't let Bunnelby know where you are!"

"Pika~!" Pikachu immediately complied, taking off into a sprint, making erratic changes in direction by dashing all over the arena.

However, it was all for naught as Clemont suddenly called out,

"Now!"

With a sudden bang, the ground beneath Pikachu erupted as Bunnelby burst from below. The strike sent Pikachu soaring through the air, back the way it came. But, while in mid-air, Bunnelby spared no mercy, whipping its body around and dealing a devastating blow to Pikachu with its ears.

Pikachu blasted away even faster from the impact and crashed into the ground with a heavy thud, causing me to wince internally. I was sure an impact like that must've forced the air right out of its lungs.

Pikachu rolled a couple of times on the ground before using its momentum to spring to its feet, sliding to a stop in a stunning display of perseverance and agility.

Pikachu was breathing heavily, as expected from someone who'd had the wind forced out of them. However, it seemed to stabilise rather quickly, which, from my perspective, was rather admirable.

"You alright, Pikachu?!" Ash shouted.

"Pi… Pi.. Pika, Pika!" Pikachu's determination returned after a few laboured breaths, electricity sparking wildly from its cheeks.

"That's the spirit! Alright, Pikachu, use [Quick Attack]!"

With a burst of surprising speed, Pikachu bolted towards Bunnelby, who was already waiting for it. Pikachu's body glowed a fluorescent white while it dashed from side to side, attempting to make its attack as unpredictable as possible.

Despite being ready, Pikachu's speed appeared to catch Bunnelby off-guard, resulting in Pikachu impacting directly into Bunnelby's chest, sending it tumbling backwards in the air.

While Bunnelby soared through the air, it seemed as though Clemont could already tell that Bunnelby would recover quickly. Thus, he promptly ordered,

"Use [Double Slap]!"

As Bunnelby neared the ground, it caught itself with its ears and landed back on its feet, quickly charging toward Pikachu!

Now it was Pikachu's turn to be caught off-guard, having just completed an attack.

When Bunnelby got within range, its ears glowed with white luminescence before rapidly and repeatedly thrashing Pikachu across its face, throwing it back towards Ash.

"Bunnelby's ears are just like hands! We gotta somehow get past them!"

Ash exclaimed, more to himself and Pikachu than to anyone else. Despite this, Clemont decided to reply, saying,

"Pretty neat, huh? Bunnelby's ears can do lots of great things!"

"You're still raring to go, aren't you, Buddy?!"

"Pika, Pika~!" Pikachu replied enthusiastically.

"Alright then, use [Iron Tail]!"

With Pikachu's tail glowing much like Bunnelby's ears previously had, Pikachu burst into the air all while spinning rapidly, allowing gravity and momentum to add more power towards its next strike!

"Look at that! Pikachu knows a [Steel] type move!" Bonnie exclaimed from the sidelines.

"Piii-Kaaa-Chu~!"

"Bunnelby, quick! Use your ears to catch it!"

"Bunnel-by~!"

With a resounding bang that sent a shockwave rippling across the arena, Bunnelby's ears clamped closed on Pikachu's incoming tail, cracking the ground where Bunnelby was standing as a result of the force Pikachu carried.

"Pika~?"

"Ah!" Ash exclaimed.

"Ha! It worked as it should!"

Suddenly, Ash's shocked expression changed, morphing into a smirk similar to the one I was currently expressing now. This was always one of Ash's more clever moves.

"Yeah, it was good that you caught it, but now, it's too bad you can't use your ears! Now, Pikachu!"

"Pika, Pika, Pika, PIKA~!"

BOOOOOM

Pikachu suddenly let off an [Electro Ball] point-blank directly from its tail! The massive orb of electricity burst with devastating results, channelling all that energy directly into Bunnleby by way of its ears!

Bunnelby was sent tumbling backwards, but before it could find its footing, Ash ordered,

"Pikachu, [Quick Attack]!

Pikachu once again burst forward with blinding speed, glowing a bright white; however, in the middle of its charge, it suddenly began to stop before backflipping out of the way, just in time to avoid an electrified net that suddenly swooped down onto the arena.

Immediately recognising the gadget, my heart rate spiked! I began to grin from ear to ear, unable to control my expression. I mean, c'mon! How could I! The comic relief had finally arrived!

"Pikachu! Are you alright?!" Ash shouted as he ran to Pikachu's side.

"Pikachu~!" Pikachu replied with a nod.

"Alright, whaddya think you're doing?!" Ash cried out.

"That was dangerous!" Clemont declared.

"Who are you!" Bonnie exclaimed.

'Oh, my gooood! Here it comes!!!!!!' I squealed inwardly, like a little girl opening presents on Christmas Morning.

"Prepare for trouble, our middle name~!"

"And make it double; it's a high-stakes game~!"

"To protect the world from devastation~!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation~!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love~!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above~!"

"Jessie~!"

"And James~!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light~!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight and fight~!"

"Meowth, that's right~!"

"Wobbuffet~!"

'Ahh~! There it is! Absolute perfection! My new life is complete; I can now die in peace!'

I could barely stop my hands from clenching in absolute euphoria at hearing this entire intro live! One of my childhood dreams had finally come true! Though that did kind of beg the question… Ash should be pretty familiar with their whole 'shpiel' by now... So why does he never just attack immediately….?

"Team Rocket! You would follow us here!" Ash suddenly exclaimed, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Wait, do you know them?!" Bonnie asked, quite surprised.

"I've never seen a talking Meowth before! That's incredible!" Clemont said, beginning to walk towards them as if in some kind of weird researcher trance.

However, Ash managed to grab his shoulder, stopping him from going any further before saying,

"Wait, those are a group of really bad guys who are always trying to take my Pikachu!"

"Pardon me, twerp, but you're selling us short~!" James fired back.

"Catching Pikachu is just one of our numerous and glorious goals~!" Jessie completed.

"The rest of them include confiscating all the strong and rare Pokémon in Kalos~! Forming a formidable Pokémon army is inevitable~!" James continued.

"Buuuut, catching Pikachu is job #1~!" Jessie reminded.

"Pika~?"

"There is no better way for us to begin our Kalos Kingdom~!" James exclaimed.

"Wobbaffet~!"

"And I'll take de one wit da ears~!" Meowth said in its heavy New Yorker accent.

"Pika~, Pika~!"

"Like that's gonna happen!" Ash declared.

"I will not stand idly by and let you steal other people's Pokémon!" Clemont announced.

"That's right! Who do you think you are anyways!" Bonnie shouted.

"Team Rocket, that's who!" They all exclaimed simultaneously.

"Alright, Pikachu, use-" Ash began but was suddenly interrupted by a loud guffawing.

"HAHAHAHA, Oh my god! I can't! HAHAHA, I-I can't! I seriously can't! HAHAHAHA!"

Everyone seemed to freeze in shock at the loud laughter that suddenly appeared from behind them, turning around to find me hunched over with tears in my eyes.

"Umm… Kai? Is everything alright?" Ash asked nervously.

"Hehehe, yeah, yeah, everything's great, Ash. But, sorry, I just couldn't help myself; these clowns are just too funny!"

"Who do you think you're calling clowns, Twerp #2?!?" Jessie shouted at me.

"Team Rocket, that's who!" I shouted back.

Hearing my reply, silence once again descended around us as everyone could clearly hear the mocking in my voice as I repeated what they'd said just previously. I tried to keep a straight face, but…

"Pfft…"

"Pfft…"

"Hehehehahaha"

Soon enough, even Ash and Clemont were struggling to hold back their laughter, with Bonnie even openly giggling, before finally,

I, once again, couldn't hold it in!

"BAHAHAHAHA!" I began laughing once more.

"Ugh! Deal with that twerp, Wobbaffet!"

Hearing the order, Wobbaffet charged forward towards me. However, knowing the type of Pokémon Wobbaffet was, I stood my ground to call their bluff.

However, it seems my newly found companions didn't know about Wobbaffet's peculiarity, with Ash snapping out of his giggling, saying,

"Pikachu, use [Thunderbolt]!"

"No, wait, Ash!" I tried to call out but was too late.

"Pi-Kaaa-Chuuuu~!"

Pikachu had already built up its energy and released a beam of lightning directly at Wobbaffet!

"Now, Wobbaffet~!" Jessie cried out!

Just as the bolt of lightning reached Wobbaffet, a shiny reflective coat covered its entirety, causing Pikachu's [Thunderbolt] to fizzle out, only to be sent back at the still airborne Pikachu with twice the strength!

"Pika~?!" Pikachu exclaimed before suddenly,

BOOOOM

"Pikachu!!!!" Ash cried out, running over as fast as he could, catching Pikachu out of the air with a leap, tumbling across the ground. After coming to a stop, Ash asked,

"Hey buddy, are you okay?"

"Pika…" Pikachu replied somewhat faintly.

"Excellent, Wobbaffet! I give you an 11!" Jessie praised.

"Wobba!"

"Ash, we better retreat! That was [Mirror Coat]! Any special move we throw at them gets reflected back at double the power! We can't withstand that kind of strength!" Clemont called out.

"We've always stood up to them before, and we always will! So if Pikachu is okay, as long as Pikachu doesn't give up, I'll be right here, battling to the end!"

"All you'll end up with are re-runs~!" Jessie quipped.

"Uhh, Ash, just to let you kno-" I tried to call out, only to be ignored once again.

"Pikachu, use [Electro Ball]!" Ash called out again, causing me to facepalm.

"We'll help out too! Bunnelby, use [Mudshot]!" Hearing what Clemont said, I proceeded to facepalm with the other hand, now with both hands on my face!

Despite being the one to mention [Mirror Coat]'s effects, he still decided to go with a Special Attack in order to 'help out'.

Seeing the two attacks coming its way, Wobbaffet proceeded to skillfully evade every single one of Bunnelby's [Mudshot]'s before activating [Mirror Coat] once more as it came into contact with Pikachu's [Electro Ball]!

Like a broken record, the erratic ball of electricity fizzled out, only to have a new one, double the size of Pikachu's, fired back at them.

However, it was at this moment that I remembered a special someone who was about to appear.

Just as I guessed, inches before the new [Electro Ball] impacted with Pikachu, a bluish-white blur intercepted it, causing a massive explosion mid-air!

From the smoke cloud descended the figure; in its arms was Pikachu.

"Pikachu! Are you okay, Pikachu?!" Ash ran over and exclaimed.

"Pika~! Pika, Pi~!"

"Who's that Pokémon?" Jessie asked, nearly causing me to point and say, 'HA! She said it!' but decided to keep my thoughts to myself.

"Gasp! It's a Froakie!" Clemont announced as he ran over with Bonnie.

"A Froakie?" Ash asked, seemingly confused.

"It's a [Water] type Pokémon new trainers get when they start their Journey in the Kalos Region. So that [Electro Ball] must've hit pretty hard." I answered.

They all looked at me with wide eyes.

"What? I read a lot about the places I plan to visit." I said while shrugging my shoulders.

"Are you okay, Froakie? Where's your Trainer?" Ash asked, but Froakie seemed a bit too injured to reply, not that any of us, sans Meowth, would understand if it could.

Suddenly, Froakie bounded forward, stopping a couple of steps away from Team Rocket, exclaiming,

"Froakie, Fro~!"

"What's with all the yapping~?" Jessie asked, appearing quite bewildered.

"I think Froakie wants to help us! You can't take them on while you're injured like that!" Ash shouted as he ran towards Froakie.

But the starter Pokémon didn't seem to care as it prepared to jump in for an attack.

At this point, I was already fed up with this farce; therefore, before Froakie could move, I whistled at a surprisingly high pitch and high volume.

In an instant, less time than it took to blink, Froakie was caught, held between two firm and unmoving paws.

It all happened so fast that everyone froze, trying to process what just happened.

"Haaaa…." I let out a deep, audible sigh.

Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie turned to look at me after hearing my sigh and realising it was Luci who'd suddenly appeared and held Froakie, who was currently struggling to get free, courtesy of her [Extreme Speed] Move.

"Alright, now that I have everyone's attention, are you finally gonna listen to me?" I asked rhetorically.

Seeing Ash nod, I smiled lightly before saying.

"Ash, do you know what makes Wobbaffet special among all Pokémon?"

"Umm… no, I don't… Sorry.." Ash replied after trying to think about the answer, only to feel embarrassed when he couldn't come to one.

"Don't worry about it, anyways; the thing that makes Wobbaffet so special is that it is one of the only Pokémon in existence that doesn't have a single attack Move in its arsenal."

"Huh?!?" Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie exclaimed in surprise.

"Mhm, you heard me right. Wobbaffets never attack first. They only ever respond to attacks, hence why Miss 'Whats-her-face' keeps making it use [Mirror Coat] to throw back every move you send at it, instead of throwing out its own."

Hearing my words, my three companions looked at me with wide eyes while Team Rocket seemed to flinch. However, I wasn't done.

"You see, the best way to deal with Wobbaffets is to not deal with them at all," I smirked.

"Seeing as earlier you said that Team Rocket here followed you to Kalos, I'm assuming that Wobbaffet and Meowth are the only Pokémon they have at the moment." I then turned to Team Rocket, saying,

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but Meowth is technically the only Pokémon currently on your team that has any possibility of attacking, provided we do absolutely nothing, right?" I asked as my smile grew bigger, evidently not expecting an answer as I already knew I was right.

"O-O-Of course not! We have p-p-plenty of other Pokémon to Battle with!" Jessie exclaimed, not sounding very convincing.

"I see! If so, then why don't you bring them out! Don't worry; we'll wait!" I said in a cheerful voice with a full smile on my face.

"W-w-well…" James tried to answer.

"Y-y'see…" Meowth tried to answer.

Seeing that they couldn't come up with anything, I returned my eyes to my companions, smiling as I said,

"See?"

Clemont released a defeated sigh as if disappointed in himself for not knowing such an important fact. Ash himself looked pretty embarrassed, probably remembering all the times when Wobbaffet's [Mirror Coat] cost him and his friends a lot of trouble in the past.

"Well, anyways, Luca, you can do it now!" I suddenly said; however, everyone looked at me confusedly, wondering what I meant.

However, they soon realised that one of my partners was missing. Looking towards Team Rocket, and with Team Rocket looking behind themselves, Luca stood with a massively overcharged [Aura Sphere].

Before any of them could react, Luca released the massive sphere of swirling aura directly at Team Rocket, causing an enormous explosion that sent them soaring through the air!

"We're blasting off again~!!!!!"

"Wobbaffet~!"

I watched with a broad smile as their figures slowly faded away into the distance, immensely enjoying being able to do that myself.

With that out of the way, Luca returned to my side at the same time that Luci did. However, there seemed to be a problem with Froakie.

"Clemont, where is the nearest Pokémon Center?" I asked hurriedly.

"Huh?" Clemont seemed confused for a second before noticing the state of Froakie.

"Ah!" His sudden exclamation drew Bonnie's and Ash's attention towards Froakie as well.

"It seems our little Hero here took a bit too much damage," I said.

"Oh no! Froakie!" Bonnie exclaimed as she ran over to my side.

"Froakie!" Ash said, doing the same.

"So? Pokémon Center?" I asked again.

"Umm, I don't know exactly from here…" Clemont replied.

"Well, we gotta help Froakie, somehow!" Ash shouted.

With his eyebrows furrowed, Clemont seemed to be thinking hard about how to solve this issue. His eyebrows finally shot up, a clear sign of realisation, before stating,

"The Professor's Lab! I know the way there! Professor Sycamore should have all the equipment necessary to help Froakie recover!"

"Then let's get moving!" Ash shouted, reaching out to grab Froakie from Luci.

Luci was about to pull away, but she caught sight of me nodding my head, thus allowing Ash to take Froakie from her.

Ash, Bonnie and Clemont all took off in one direction. Watching them leave, I sighed slightly before smiling, turning to look at my partners before saying,

"Shall we?"

"Carrrrr!!" They both replied.

With one last smile, we took off running after our new friends.

…

..

.