Chp 10: First Battle With Zorua

"Boom!"

While Vic was fighting against the leader of the gang, on the other side of the room, Zorua was squaring off against the Rattata. Zorua roared and unleashed a Night Daze that spread outward ahead of him.

However, the agile Rattata managed to jump out of the way as the darkish-red energy ball went by and struck the empty wall behind it.

Due to the impact, a section of the wall fell, sending dust into the air. This gave the small Rattata a chance to hide from Zorua's sight. Zorua's who couldn't see anything because of all the dust was caught off guard by a sudden Quick Attack from Rattata.

Seeing their Pokemon fighting hard, Vic and Greg also stepped up the intensity of their attacks. It was Vic, who first managed to get the upper hand. Greg's metal bat had been shattered in half by the dagger that Vic had switched out.

Before Greg could react, Vic used this chance to leave a deep cut across his chest.

"Wait!" Greg screamed out in pain. He let go of his ruined bat and raised his hands up. "I surrender!"

Vic, on the other hand, ignored it and kept swinging his blade, attempting to finish him off. This guy had tried to kill him. Helpless, Greg could only suppress the pain on his chest and desperately avoid the dagger.

"Rattata! Save me!"

Even though Greg had only had Rattata a short while, he took good care of it. So when it saw his trainer in a bad situation, it wanted to rush over as soon as possible to protect him.

Obviously, Zorua would never allow it to happen. He ran up in front of Rattata and stood in its path. In the end, Rattata could do nothing but watch his master suffer.

As the number of cuts on Greg's body rose, Rattata became more agitated. It launched a violent assault on Zorua, but to no avail.

To Zorua's credit, he managed to remain calm throughout it all. His time spent on the run from his pursuers gave him a lot of combat experience. And after staying with Vic, eating all kinds of healthy foods and pokeblocks, his strength had improved a lot. Even if he was occasionally hit by Rattata's attacks, he could handle it.

On the opposite side, Greg was defenceless against Vic's assault due to his lack of a weapon and his injuries. He could sporadically fight back by grabbing objects from his surroundings and flung them at Vic.

Over time, Greg's body became riddled with numerous cuts. He lost so much blood that he collapsed on the floor.

Once Vic was confident that Greg was no longer capable of moving, he instructed Kevin to keep an eye on him and shifted his attention to the ongoing battle between the two Pokemon.

"Zorua! Use Leer and then Dark Pulse!" Vic instructed.

Zorua obeyed his order and used Leer on Rattata with his glowing red eyes. Rattata was immediately struck with fear and unable to move from his spot. Taking advantage of this chance, Zorua fired off a Dark Pulse, instantly knocking his opponent out.

With Greg and his Rattata out of action, the battle was finally over. That's when they realised that the other thugs had completely disappeared. They must have quietly slipped out when no one paid attention to them.

Vic and Kevin didn't give it much thought, but Greg felt angry that his men had abandoned him. He had completely forgotten how little he actually cared about them.

While Greg was mentally cursing his men, Vic went to see if Zorua was hurt. After not finding anything serious, he patted Zorua's head and gave him a pokeblock as a treat.

"Good job, Zorua!"

Vic got up and headed over to where Rattata lay. Before getting any closer, he double-checked to make sure that it had passed out. He initially mistook it for a shiny Rattata, but upon closer inspection, he discovered that its fur had been dyed.

'Smart,' Vic thought. He could see why Greg did this. It made Rattata become much harder to spot, especially in a dimly lit room like the one they were in at this time.

Vic had heard stories about people dying to their former enemies' Pokemon ever since he came to this world. He did not want to go through the same thing. Thus, he ordered Zorua to kill the Rattata.

Without batting an eye, Zorua finished what Vic had instructed him to do in one single move. For him, Vic had become the most important person in the world, and anyone who tried to hurt him would suffer his wrath.

The direct impact of the Dark Pulse sent Rattata careening off into the distance. As it slid to the floor, the Mouse Pokemon twitched slightly. His movements got weaker as time passed.

Greg saw his Rattata taking his last breath and, overcome with sadness, he closed his eyes weakly. He knew what would happen next and had already come to terms with his fate.

Vic walked up to Greg and pulled his dagger out of his belt. Closing his eyes, he thrusted the dagger straight down into Greg's heart, ending his life instantly. After Greg had stopped breathing, Vic drew his blade back, cleaned it with a rag, and stowed it away.

While everything was going on, Kevin returned with his sister, who had been locked up in the building's back rooms. He said nothing regarding Vic killing the gang leader. He only gestured for his sister to follow him.

"Anna, you remember Vic right? He's also here to save you. Say thank you to him," Kevin told his sister.

Kevin's sister was called Anna. She looked to be around seven years old, with large round blue eyes and blonde hair pulled back in pigtails.

Anna recognised Vic instantly. She had seen him several times when her brother brought him to their home. Under Kevin's encouraging eyes, she timidly stretched out her hand toward Vic.

"Thank you for saving me!" she murmured, her cheeks flushing before slipping behind her brother.

Vic smiled at Anna and said, "No problem."

Anna, to his relief, seemed unharmed. He was worried that having gone through that at such a young age might leave her traumatised. Thankfully, everything worked out fine.