“Kasey said to let him out somewhere cool and dark, but I don’t think she had this in mind,” Cashe said, shivering, “Isn’t there a nice cave around here that we can use or something? This is kind of creepy.”
“Sneasel won’t care,” Emilia said, “and you didn’t want to search the route for hours looking for a cave, remember?”
“Still,” Cashe said. His breath billowed into a cloud of condensed vapor with the word.
“Just hurry up,” Lindon complained, “It’s freezing in here.”
“Fine, hold on,” Cashe took the luxury ball from his belt and tossed it into the walk-in cooler. They were lucky enough to find someone who would lend them the use of their cooler to meet Sneasel, saving them hours of searching for an appropriate spot. Unfortunately, the first person to give them permission was a butcher, and the walk-in cooler was filled with the butchered carcasses of various animals hanging from meat hooks.
The luxury ball bounced off the metal floor of the cooler and cracked open, filling the small room with red light. It faded, revealing a dark form. Sneasel was a bipedal pokemon, three feet in height, and reminded Cashe almost of a cat standing on its hind legs. He had a thin coat of blue-black fur covering its body and multiple long, red feathers protruding from him in place of a tail. Sneasel had a pair of pointed cat ears on his head, though one of them was obscured by another red feather jutting out from his head.
Sneasel looked around as he emerged from his pokeball, examining his environment. Just as Emilia predicted, he did not seem to care at all about being in the grisly place. He noticed Cashe immediately and bounced over to him, a visible spring in his step.
“Sneasel,” Sneasel said, stopping in front of Cashe.
“Hello,” Cashe said, “I’m your new trainer, Cashe.”
“Sneasel!” Sneasel jumped onto Cashe like a child jumping for a hug, wrapping his arms around Cashe’s torso.
“Jesus Christ!” Cashe swore as Sneasel’s sharp claws dug into his back. He wrapped his arms around the pokemon instinctively, hoping to alleviate the need for Sneasel to hang on. It worked, and Sneasel retracted his claws as Cashed held him up in an awkward hug.
“Huh,” Lindon said, watching the pair.
“What?” Cashe said. He pulled Sneasel off of him and held him away from his body. The little guy was freezing cold.
“I dunno, I guess I just expected a Sneasel to be aloof or mean, you know?” Lindon said, “He’s a dark type, right? And aren’t Sneasel supposed to eat the eggs of other pokemon or something like that?”
“Not this guy,” Emilia said, “He was raised on a breeder’s farm. If he were eating eggs they would have to get rid of him right away.”
“Sneasel?” Sneasel enquired.
“No, I do not have eggs for you,” Cashe said with a frown.
“What’s that around his neck?” Lindon said, pointing at Sneasel’s neck.
“What are you talking about?” Cashe lifted Sneasel higher in the air so he could see Sneasel’s neck, causing the pokemon to squirm happily and spread his arms out like a child pretending to fly.
“That!” Lindon said and Cashe saw what he was talking about. There was a small, leather collar around Sneasel’s neck, with a curved, dark gray stone dangling from it like a tag on a dog.
“Oh, that’s his Razor Claw,” Cashe said, placing Sneasel down, “It was included by the breeder as part of the deal I have with them. It’s what will allow him to evolve into a Weavile once he gets strong enough.”
“How strong is he now?” Lindon said, watching Sneasel closely as he explored the small cooler.
“Sneas!”
“That’s right, he's the strongest Sneasel,” Cashe said, “We’ll only find out how strong he really is once we test him in battle. But we can do that later, I want to get out of here. Ready to go, Sneasel?”
“Sneasel.”
“Do you want to go back in the ball or walk with us? I should warn you it’s fairly warm outside.”
“Sneasel.”
“Okay, but don’t wander off. People get nervous around pokemon they don’t recognize. I don’t want an Officer Jenny giving us any trouble.”
Sneasel nodded and hopped ahead of him, waiting patiently in front of the cooler door. Cashe frowned. Sneasel was being awfully cooperative. The little guy seemed happy, but he was still a dark type. He would have to watch him closely.
Trust, however, was a two-way street, and he would receive none if he did not show Sneasel some himself. Cashe pressed the large lever to open the cooler. Sneasel slipped out first, before the door had fully opened, but when Cashe pushed it all the way open, he was just saying hello to the butcher. A large man, the butcher was taken with the small pokemon immediately, offering up a few scraps of meat as a treat for Sneasel and patting him on the head. Sneasel purred in pleasure and Cashe made a note for future rewards.
They thanked the butcher for the use of the cooler, and Cashe grabbed a few packs of meat on the way out as further thanks. They left the butcher’s shop and moved into the street. Sneasel shivered as they entered the warm air, darting into the shade of a nearby awning.
“I can return you to your pokeball if you’re not comfortable,” Cashe offered, again, “It’s no trouble for me.”
“Sneasel.” Sneasel replied, poking his arm out into the sun before hastily pulling it back.
“If you insist,” Cashe said. He turned down the street with Emilia and Lindon, making sure Sneasel stayed close. He did, amusingly darting from shadow to shadow to keep out of the sun for as long as possible, hiding under tables placed in front of restaurants, in branches of trees, and even once in the shadow of a large Stoutland that was heading in the opposite direction.
Sneasel was fast, easily the fastest of Cashe’s pokemon, and it did not go unnoticed.
“You know,” Emilia said, eying Sneasel as they walked, “You mentioned testing Sneasel in battle. Lindon wanted to see the trainers battle. Why don’t we head over to the gym and have a little battle ourselves? We can check out the Third Circuit gym trainers after.”
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“Yes please!” Lindon said.
“A battle?” Cashe said, “Against Omanyte or Charmeleon? I don’t know if Sneasel is ready for that yet.”
“Sneasel!”
Cashe grinned, “I’m sure you are, but Emilia is a heck of a trainer, too.”
Emilia shook her head and smiled, “No, I was thinking Bagon. Let’s head back to the Pokemon Center to pick him up.”
“You sure?” Cashe said, “That’s not a good match up for you.”
Emilia nodded, “You know there are stories about Bagon throwing themselves off cliffs in attempts to fly. Over and over again, every day.”
“What?” Lindon laughed, “They can’t fly.”
“And yet, they still jump off cliffs.” Emilia said, “Dragon pokemon are stubborn and Bagon in particular have little understanding of their own limits.”
“Ah,” Cashe nodded, “You want to clamp down on that as soon as you can to help with training.”
“To help with battling,” Emilia corrected, “Dragon type pokemon are the type most known for not listening to their trainers. I want him to learn that what I say is what is best before we get into any serious battles.”
***
Unlike the gym in Vermillion City, the practice area of the Iki Town Gym was not located within the gym itself. A significant portion of the area behind the gym had been cleared for a series of perhaps two dozen small battlefields. Each small arena had two, low sets of bleachers lined along its edges so observers could watch from the sides and trainers could wait their turn.
Despite Iki Town’s small size, the practice area was filled with people. Many trainers waited in the stands for their turn to battle or chatted casually with fans and observers. Cashe, Lindon, and Emilia sat with them on a set of bleachers, waiting for their turn to come.
To their south, the towering stadium loomed, casting a long shadow over the practice area in the afternoon light. From the outside, the gym was similar to the stadiums of Earth, not the enormous structures of soccer or football stadiums, but closer to that of hockey or basketball. The main difference seemed to be that the building was made entirely of wood, or at least the exterior was, with rows and rows of paneling lining the entire structure.
Being so close to the gym, Cashe could hear the sounds of the crowd within it, cheering as battles took place inside. They were not the overwhelming roars that Cashe experienced when watching the Viridian City gym battle, but closer to that of the cruise, making him think there were likely only lower circuit battles taking place inside.
In the practice yard in front of them, a pair of trainers were finishing up their mock battle. Cashe thought they were likely Second Circuit trainers, going by their pokemon, a Morgrem and a Passimian. As they cleared the field, Cashe and Emilia stood to take their turns.
“Don’t hold back,” Emilia reminded him, “Treat it like a real battle. I want this guy to know his instincts are second to my orders.”
“Got it,” Cashe nodded, stepping to the practice field.
He directed Sneasel onto the battlefield. Sneasel darted forward and investigated the small area. It was made of hard-packed dirt, much like what one could find on old fashioned race tracks, and kicked up tiny plumes of dust as Sneasel moved across it. Opposite Cashe, Emilia released Bagon from his pokeball.
“See that guy over there?” Cashe said, calling Sneasel back to him and pointing to Bagon, who was receiving a similar talk from Emilia, “He’s pretty new to battling, so we are going to show him what it's all about.”
Sneasel narrowed his eyes at Bagon, “Sneasel?”
“No, go as hard as you can. He’s weak to your typing so most of your attacks will be extra powerful. He was caught from the wild, so he’s a stubborn pokemon. We want him to learn to listen to his trainer from this battle, so you have to win, and win by a lot.”
As if to emphasize Cashe’s point, Bagon trumpeted out a cry of complaint at Emilia and stomped away from her, standing at the ready and staring down Cashe and Sneasel.
“Even though he’s new to battling, be careful,” Cashe warned, “If he hits you with that big head of his, it’s going to hurt.”
“Sneasel.”
Cashe gave Sneasel an encouraging pat on the head and took a few steps back, leaving room for Sneasel and Bagon to battle. Around the practice yard, a few people gathered on the benches, recognizing the rare pokemon and trying to figure out what was happening. Cashe saw more than one phone leave a teenager’s pocket to record the battle.
“Great,” Cashe grumbled with a little sigh, causing Sneasel to look back at him. Cashe shook his head, “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
Sneasel nodded and focused again on Bagon.
Cashe took out his pokedex, confirming the moves that Sneasel knew before nodding to Emilia and signaling he was ready.
She nodded back, “Alright, on three we begin. One, three! Headbutt!”
“Sneasel, Ice Shard!” Cashe called out as soon as Emilia shouted three. Skipping the count was a tactic Emilia had used against him before and he was ready for it.
Bagon, however, was not ready for it, and was slow to respond to his trainer’s command. He almost jumped in surprise when Emilia’s order came through, taking his eyes off of Sneasel for a split second.
It was a mistake. Sneasel burst forward with incredible speed, showing immediately that Cashe and Emilia had got their money’s worth with his purchase. Cashe expected a pokemon on par with Bulbasaur in terms of health and ability, but he did not expect Sneasel to already have training. It was obvious that he did, however, as soon as his order left his mouth.
Sneasel did not hesitate, responding almost before the final syllable died in Cashe’s throat and rocketed across the packed dirt of the practice yard. A small cloud of dust kicked up in his wake and swirled with the movement of the winds caused by Sneasel’s passing. Cashe could barely track the attack, Sneasel was moving so fast. That alone would be impressive, but it was compounded by the fact that Sneasel did not need to move to make the attack in the first place.
With Sneasel’s burst of speed, a jagged shard of ice formed in his hand, which he tossed directly at Bagon. The ice took the shape of a wicked spearhead, the speed of the throw only increased by Sneasel’s initial burst of movement.
Eyes not on Sneasel, Bagon took the shard in the chest, where it stuck, jutting from Bagon’s thick skin like an icy dagger. Bagon cried out in pain and spun around to face Sneasel, but Sneasel had already moved from his starting position.
“Look out, Bagon! To your right! Use Dragon Breath!” Emilia shouted out a warning.
“Ice Punch!” Cashe ordered.
Sneasel attacked from Bagon’s right, lashing out with a fist covered in glowing, white, energy. This time, Bagon turned to meet the attack, but instead of releasing a burst of powerful energy from his mouth, Bagon chose instead to snap at Sneasel with Bite.
Dragon Breath may have been able to keep Sneasel at bay, but Bite was definitely the wrong option. Sneasel was much faster than Bagon, and dodged the attack with little effort, clobbering Bagon across the head with his fist of icy energy.
Bagon was thrown backwards and stumbled to the ground, his little arms and legs making it impossible to balance, especially with his giant head.
“Good work, Sneasel,” Cashe shouted, “Aim for his body next time. His skull is too thick to be easily hurt!”
“Hang in there Bagon, you can do it!” Emilia called out. Bagon struggled to his feet, shaking from the hit and roaring as loud as he could. “Good. Now you need to slow him down! Use Scary Face!”
“Sneasel, Taunt!”
“Sneasel.” Sneasel smirked at Bagon, giving him a look Cashe could only describe as condescending. Bagon screamed in frustration and charged forward, ignoring Emilia’s orders and falling for the taunt completely.
Bagon ran at Sneasel, extending his head forward in an attempt to headbutt him, but Sneasel was much too fast for his opponent. He stepped out of the way at the last second, looking at Cashe directly and waiting for an order.
Cashe smiled as Bagon went stumbling by Sneasel and tripped over his own feet, crashing to the ground. “Ice Shard, Sneasel.”
Sneasel followed his orders, tossing another wickedly shaped shard of jagged ice at Bagon as he struggled to get back to his feet. It struck home as Bagon got up, sending him back to the ground again. With a disappointed shake of her head, Emilia returned him to her ball, ending the battle.
*****