“NOW! Eevee!”

Survival was the name of the game. Jet and Eevee had to survive Houndoom’s attack for an unspecified time. It took Jet time to realize they would never survive just by running. Houndoom was too strong and too fast. Plus, with his sense of smell he could track them down in a matter of minutes. They had to do a mix of hit and run tactics.

Eevee jumped out from behind the car with a tackle that sent Houndoom flying. Before Houndoom could recover Jet picked up Eevee and ran! Jet threw Eevee in the air and it landed on the top of the maze. On the wall of cars that had been stacked together.

The arcade and mall trip had actually helped. Jet had stopped putting Eevee down and Eevee had (mostly) stopped being such an asshole. It took them another two days to get themselves together and to get on the same page as trainer and Pokémon.

Houndoom tracked them from around the corner but he was only able to find Jet. he realized he was going to be surprise-attacked again but it was too late. Eevee leapt off the top of a junked car and landed on Houndoom’s back. Houndoom RAGED.

Houndoom tossed Eevee from his back. Eevee easily caught himself and landed on his feet. He stumbled a little thanks to his prosthesis but he soon gained his balance. Houndoom reared its head back for a Flamethrower.

“Eevee, use Sand-attack!” Jet said.

Eevee turned around and kicked sand in Houndoom’s face. Houndoom’s let out a spurt of steam of red hot flames. The pillar of flame veered to Eevee’s left, barely missing Jet’s Pokémon.

“Now follow it up with another Tackle!”

Eevee went in for another tackle! Houndoom caught him this time. Before Eevee’s attack could connect. Houndoom let out another pillar of flame. Eevee had been charging in and took the hit full on.

“Eveeeee!” Eevee shouted.

A whistle blew. Jade came running up waving her hands. “Eevee is unable to battle!”

She took out a yellow item shaped like a crystal. She snapped it into and waved it under Eevee’s nose. The Revive woke Eevee up with a start.

“You guys did amazing!” Jade screamed. She ran in a hugged Jet who couldn’t help but to feel awkward.

Houndoom sat back proudly and walked off with its head held high.

“What do you say to another match with Houndoom, Eevee?”

Houndoom looked back. Jet couldn’t tell exactly but he thought he saw surprise and fear written on the dog Pokémon’s face.

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“No, you guys don’t want to overdo it.” Jade handed Jet a bag of potato chips and Jet began munching on them. He took a seat on the ground and placed the bag next to him.

“Have you thought about strategy?”

“Our basic strategy is to run around and not get burnt.” Jet said.

“Evvee!” Eevee said in agreement.

“Not for Houndoom. For Scarface.” Jade corrected.

“Oh… Run around and not get trampled.” Jet joked.

“Evvvee!” Eevee said in agreement.

Jade just rolled her eyes.

But Jade was right. Houndoom was strong but Scarface was infinitely stronger. Would Eevee be ready for the fight? If they went in unprepared it was instant death. Also Eevee hadn’t gained a single level.

Fighting with Houndoom was great practice but Eevee only got EXP when he won and they hadn’t won a single fight yet. Eevee was way less clumsy with his prosthetic leg, but there were still times he’d stumble.

“I think the biggest thing to remember is that Scarface is a wild Pokémon. He doesn’t have a trainer to help him with items.”

She was right. Items were the great equalizer when fighting a wild Pokémon at higher levels. The downside was supplies cost money. Potions. Revives. Pokéballs. GreatBalls. Ultraballs. XSpeed. How much money would Jet have to spend to catch Scarface the Bouffalant? And there was no promise he could even catch him. If he managed to get Scarface weak enough, how many Pokéballs would he have to waste to actually catch him?

A pit began to form in the bottom of Jet’s stomach. There was a tough decision that needed to be made.

Jet reached for his potato chips but they weren’t where he placed them. He turned his head to see Eevee with his head pushed deep inside the bag.

“EEVEE!” Eevee pulled his head out of the chip bag. A layer of chip dust covered his fur. He had the audacity to lick his lips. “You ate them all?! You FAT little shit!”

“Eevee,” began to bark back at Jet angrily. After a moment of arguing Eevee leapt into Jet’s arms trying to bite him. Jet pulled at the Pokémon’s tail. Eevee kicked Jet in the chin… AGAIN. Jet stretched the little Pokémon out like an accordion.

Jade sighed and turned to Shadow. “Well it was good while it lasted.”

“Froakie!”

“Let’s go get ice cream.”

Jet and Eevee continued to fight. At this point Jet had Eevee in a sleeper hold and was giving him a noogie. Eevee had wiggled out and bit down on Jet’s arm.

“Ice cream It’s my treat.” Jade said after Jet and Eevee finally finished their bickering. Jet sat straight up as did Eevee. They instantly stopped fighting.

The ice cream store wasn’t far. 15 minutes walking distance. Jet got chocolate for himself and vanilla for Eevee. Jade got a flavor called Beedrill’s Bonanza that was made with honey for both her and Shadow the Froakie.

“Jade, I want to thank you.” Jet said.

“Huh? Dude. It’s just ice cream.”

“No, meant for everything. You’ve been training us the last few weeks. Hanging out at the mall a few days ago. Like Everything. So I just wanted to say thanks."

“I have a question. Do you really intend to fight Scarface?"

"I have to get the money to be a trainer?"

"You could always wait till next season. It'll give you time to make more money."

"No. I can't." Jet said anxiously.

"There's something you're not telling me?" Jade said.

"I thought you were a ninja and knew everything." Jet smirked. Jade just gave him a flat look. "Okay. I guess I can tell you the story. This is what happened..."