EPISODE 65: Ruthless***

As I opened my mouth to call the all-clear, something snapped. I freeze, pressing myself against the cold, wet stone, my gaze flicking across the unyielding darkness of the cave. My stomach clenches at the unmistakable scratch of paws passing over debris and wind shrieks through the hollows and gaps of the cave-like banshees haunting a graveyard.

"Absol, come out!" I toss out my Pokemon out of her Pokeball. She begins to sniff, smelling the odd fragrance of granite and coal merged into one, the unusual scratch of paws from the sides of the cave, and the moist peculiar rough stones, dangling by the ceilings, and some emerged from the ground.

She begins to growl, after sniffing one of the scratches. This is definitely not a good sign for us. She persists to growl, starting to bark like a ruthless dog bringing terror to a stranger who dares pass through its territory. Her barks echo loudly, disturbing the quietude of the still cave.

"Absol what is it?" I query.

She returns to me, apparently overprotective. She stands firm, blocking me from moving forward from the cave. I start to worry, perspiring heavily. My hands become somewhat moist as I cling tightly to one of the rocks.

"Absol, what's wrong?" I question again. She responds with negligence to my question as her barks become louder. All of a sudden, the wind screams directly to my face, very irking, very annoying. Due to the wind, my hair covers my eyes, and no matter how much I try to push it away in order to see clearly, the wind would persistently cover my face.

<Ty!>A Pokemon's cry echoes throughout.

"What the?" I exclaim, stepping backward slowly by slowly.

<Typhlosion!>The Pokemon charges to me. Flinching is the result. Absol engages, pouncing on the terrorizing beast. Both of them fought amidst my eyes. Claw against claw, glare against glare, and power against power. Absol retaliates, protecting me from the foul beast.

Typhlosion stands firm, wreaking damage upon Absol. The peace of the cave is disrupted as the two angered Pokemons fought until one calls out a surrender. With many scars and scratches at Typhlosion, thanks to my Absol, I throw a Pokeball in hopes to capture it.

The Pokeball merely did anything, only malfunctioning and breaking apart after being thrown at the fiery beast. I try again, throwing a Pokeball once more, and just like the first one, it fails all of a sudden. I've never encountered a Pokeball problem like this before, thus my mind is having a hard time to comprehend what just happened.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Ethan's voice sounds from afar. He rushes to me with a ferocious, angry look.

"You again?! Now you're trying to steal my Pokemon? Typhlosion is mine!" Ethan scolds, returning his Pokemon to its Pokeball. Now I understand why. It is because of the reason that Typhlosion belongs to another trainer, thus I could not catch it.

"I didn't know Typhlosion had a trainer," I reply back.

"Am I to believe a grunt of Team Rocket? A criminal organization? What are you trying to plot in this cave?!"

"I came here alone. Now leave me, I have some business to take care of inside this cave."

"You're planning to steal something aren't you?"

"No. I'm planning to catch a rare Pokemon. Am I not allowed to do such a thing only because I'm a member of Team Rocket? Sounds unfair and unjust to me." I complain.

"We had a truce last time, and now this is where we have our rematch. A one on one, if I win, you will leave the cave for-"

<Gardevoir!> Gardevoir interrupts, tossing herself out of her Pokeball. She blasts Ethan with her Moon Blast attack.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I query sarcastically, chuckling at Ethan's looks after being blasted by Gardevoir's attack. I then give my Pokemon a pat in the shoulder.

<Typhlosion!>Typhlosion tosses itself out as well, enraging because my Pokemon have dealt damage to its trainer. From the ground, Ethan gets back to his feet, preparing to attack. Gardevoir has only dealt a single wound on Ethan's face after being suddenly blasted.

"So, you have a new form of battling? Hitting trainers with Pokemon moves?" He says sarcastically.

"Nah, I'm not the only one," I respond back, remembering Ebony who nearly killed me a bunch of times.

"You seem more intense than Red." I tease.

"I do not even know who he is." He says. I'll take his response as an example of sarcasm, but a part of me was telling that his words are true. It is a shock to see a trainer who is unfamiliar with the missing "Pokemon Champion" of the Kanto Region.

"Psychic." I start the first move. Gardevoir blasts Typhlosion back to its trainer, causing the two of them to collide.

Both of them rise from the ground as Ethan replies, "Typhlosion, use Fire Punch!"

The two Pokemons clash, just like what happened with Typhlosion and Absol. With Ethan under control, the match is intense, unlike before when Absol was dealing with his Pokemon alone. His strategic skills are displayed before my eyes, using the battleground as an advantage by commanding his Pokemon to throw boulders towards my shiny Gardevoir. He cares not about my shiny, nor does he become intimidated by it.

"What in the world are the two of you doing?!" From behind, the curious soon-to-be ecologist Kris, intervenes with the match, carrying her Togepi on her grasps. Surprisingly, it has not evolved yet since the last time the two of us met each other.

"Luna? It's been a long time since we've first met, and ooh, I never knew you were challenging Ethan. Sorry to disturb." She sees me, greeting me pleasantly and apologizing afterward.

"What the? She's a member of Team Rocket!"

"No, you mean former member." Kris corrects.

"Look, me and her made a truce back in Ecruteak city. She's a member of Team Rocket who pretends not to be!" Ethan doubts.

"Your friend here is right. I am a member of Team Rocket. However, I have not come here to cause any trouble at all. I came here to catch a Pokemon until your friend interrupted me, shouting at me for a mere mistake!" I admit the truth while looking at Ethan sarcastically.

"You attacked my Typhlosion first!"

"Well, you should've kept it inside its Pokeball! And I thought it was a wild Pokemon!" I counter back.

"Please stop. Both of you are acting like a bunch of kids. And Ethan, we've talked about this. Pokemons should stay inside their Pokeballs!"

"Come on Kris, whose side are you on anyway? Don't tell me you're siding with a grunt?"

"Sorry Ethan but Luna wins the argument this time. If you didn't release your Typhlosion while we ate lunch in the cave, then this argument wouldn't have started in the first place. And, I find it comfortable to be with Luna despite being a grunt.

Although, Luna, I see no reason why you had to lie in front of me, Ethan, and Eusine about being a former member of Team Rocket." Kris, quells the argument, explaining the problems of both sides.

"If I were to say I am a member of Team Rocket, what would you think of me? I even fear that you would call the cops on me."

"Me? Of course not, I'll keep this little secret between you and me!" Kris promises, winking afterward.

"Are you serious Kris? You're talking to a Team Rocket member! Don't you remember what they did in Azalea Town? The Slowpokes?"

"Oh Ethan, that was in the past, and it seems like Luna is different from the other members out there. Come on, you know how the saying goes, "bring your friends close and your enemies closer." Anyways, now that the argument is finished, let's all find Dratini together."

"Wait... you're willing to help me?"

"Of course Luna. You see, the reason why me and Ethan are here in the first place was to find a Dratini as well. Come with us, and we'll help you capture one too." Kris says, delightedly. On the other hand, Ethan couldn't stop sighing, slapping his face hard with the palm of his left hand.

Kris seems like a trustworthy person, so I've agreed to come with her. We've become acquaintances, but as for Ethan, the rivalry between us remains the same. This is the first time I've been befriended by a trainer. It is both shocking and suspicious at the same time. Nevertheless, the three of us have one goal, and that is to capture a Dratini for our own sake.