“There he is Baba!” Jet said. Most people thought that the savannas of the Arjana Region were completely flat, like a cardboard box. For the most part that was true but there were still caves to hide in, slopes to climb, and hills that let someone peak down onto their prey.
A storm was blowing in. The bright Arjana sky was slowly turning gray. Lighting danced in the distance. The hill sloped down at a steep angle and ended in a small water hole. Jet sat at the top of the hill peering down at the sole Rhydon just below him.
“How’d you know it was going to be here?”
“Even though Rock Type Pokemon have a weakness to water they still need to drink every once and awhile. Not very often ‘tho.” The man lectured. “He hit the last watering-hole three weeks ago so I knew by now he’d be thirsty. I followed his trail and knew he’d be headed to this one. The other one is too far north.”
Baba pulled out a pokédex and aimed it at Rhyhorn.
Name: Rhyhorn, the Spikes Pokemon Level: 12 Rhyhorn runs in a straight line, smashing everything in its path. It is not bothered even if it rushes headlong into a block of steel. This Pokémon may feel some pain from the collision the next day, however.
Jet sat down. Making sure he was out of sight of the Pokemon. The older man readied his backpack. It was filled with potions and pokeballs. The man was about as black as obsidian. He was bigger than most men by several inches and stronger than them by several pounds.
“Are you going to catch it?”
“Yeah,”
“Are you going to hurt it?”
“You have to weaken it first then catch it.”
“Everyone at school says you used to be a member of Team Rocket? Everyone says you used to hurt Pokemon.”
“That was a long time ago. I did my time and now…” the man paused. Jet could feet the earth rumbling beneath his feet. Baba's face zoned out as if he realized something. “Shit! It can smell us. We’re upwind.”
“RHYYYYYHOOORN!” The Rhyhorn charged over the hill screaming!
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Jet chugged the last of the water in the canteen shaking the memory from his head. He had two more canteens and wasn’t worried about water. What he was worried about was wild Pokemon. Years ago his dad had protected him against that Rhyhorn. Now Jet only had himself to rely on.
Or so he thought.
“What are you doing out here?”
“Holy shit!
“EEVEE!”
Both Jet and Eevee, who remained in Jet’s backpack with its head poking out, jumped in surprise. It took him a while to realize who he was looking at. It was the same girl from a few days ago. The pretty light-skinned girl with the punk rock jean jacket.
“Where did you come from?” Jet looked around. Had she been following him or had she been out here the whole time? Either way he should have seen her approach. There was nowhere she could have hidden for miles. Maybe a few trees and bushes but he should have noticed her.
“Secretly. I’m from a clan of ninjas. Shsssh. Don’t tell anybody.” The girl shushed Jet who frowned in confusion. This girl was weird.
“Are you following me?
“Wasn’t planning on it. But I literally had nothing better to do and I saw you looking suspicious.”
“Leave me alone,” Jet turned and began marching off in the other direction. The girl continued to follow Jet. After a while he began to get angry.
“You know you can be a real asshole. Might help you get a girlfriend if you were a little nicer.”
“I’m not looking for a girlfriend. I’m tracking a Pokémon.”
“A super powerful Pokémon?” She asked. Jet ignored her. “If you tell me what you’re doing I’ll promise I’ll go home.”
Jet turned back to her. Her almond eyes searched him for answers. Jet debated the pros and cons of telling her anything for a minute straight. Something about the way she gazed at him made him shiver. The voice in his mind was calling him a “simp” but he decided to ignore it and told her anyway.
“I’m tracking Scarface the Buffolant. I want the bounty.”
“WHAT?!”
“Shsssh!” Jet shushed her putting a finger to her lips. She raised an eyebrow at the action but didn’t protest. Jet, eventually feeling awkward back away.
“How would you even know where Scarface is?”
“I looked online and started tracking his movements. Most people think he’s headed north. Which makes sense if he’s avoiding humans.”
“But you don’t think he’s headed north?”
“Naw. Scarface is the leader of the herd. Which means he’s got to lead the other Buffolant to food and water. From his last reported location a water-hole is a week and a half away if he heads north but only three days if he heads south.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“You think he’s smart enough to know that?”
“Yeah…” Jet didn’t want to explain anymore but he kept talking despite himself. “Scarface has been around a long time and hasn’t gotten caught by a trainer. He knows where to hide. He knows the area extremely well. He is probably hiding in plain sight. We’re looking for him in the area he should be but actually he's hiding right outside Umooja.”
“So when are we meeting him?”
“Uhh. You’re having pronoun trouble. Because we said that you’re going home.” Jet said putting emphasis on his pronouns.
“Oh. The thing you have to learn about me is that I am a liar. I’m totally following you.” She said using the same emphasis. Jet grunted and turned to walk away and she followed.
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” He growled.
“You don’t want me to get hurt?” She laughed still using the emphasis on pronouns. “Look, are you really going to face a super powerful Pokémon with an Eevee that won’t even listen to you?”
“Eevee does listen to me.” Jet said defensively.
“Eevee,” Eevee said negatively. The tiny creature shook his head no.
“You’re going to need a trainer that knows what they’re doing.”
“And that’s you?”
“Yep. Or I could just go tell Officer Jenny where you are and what you’re doing.”
Jet grumbled. “Alright, come on.”
“My name is Jade by the way.
“Yeah, I remember,” Jet said grumpily.
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It took another hour to reach the watering hole. It was the same watering hole Jet had gone to all those years ago with his baba. He stood on top of the same hill he had back then. This time instead of a Rhyhorn he looked down on a bunch of brown bovine Pokémon.
Each one had a large dark afro puff on their heads with two large, curving horns, each with two golden growths resembling rings, protruding from the afro.
[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/6f17418f-c2f8-4acb-a748-15c3c94aca3f/dfe8tkn-12add4f3-d9b2-4b40-a6f7-db607de57aab.png/v1/fill/w_1192,h_670,q_70,strp/arjana__the_wild_area_by_airmangrace_dfe8tkn-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NzIwIiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvNmYxNzQxOGYtYzJmOC00YWNiLWE3NDgtMTVjM2M5NGFjYTNmXC9kZmU4dGtuLTEyYWRkNGYzLWQ5YjItNGI0MC1hNmY3LWRiNjA3ZGU1N2FhYi5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.-ERtRp5MHjfAlg5DwpJsY_RhOYMYYtLEd9e-hLzDyCs]
“Whoa, you were right,” Jade said. Jet beamed at the compliment before she added. “I saw that video online and thought you were just a dumb asshole. But you’re actually a really smart asshole.”
“Thanks?” Jet said with an upward inflection.
“So which one is Scarface?”
As if answering her question there was a large scream from one of the Pokémon. From far away the Pokémon looked just like the others. But that was just a trick of his eyes. Jet realized that the Pokemon was huge. Bigger than the rest by a huge margin.
It stomped its huge hoofs and the other Buffolant cleared a way for it to drink from the watering-hole.
Jade pulled out a red device and pointed it at Scarface.
Name: Bouffalant, the Bash Buffalo Pokemon. Level: 50 A charging Bouffalant can pulverize a huge boulder with a single headbutt! Even if a fierce fight breaks out within the herd, the fluffy fur on their heads absorbs impacts, preventing injuries.
NOTE: THIS CURRENT BOUFFALANT IS AN ALPHA!
Jet frowned. “You have a Pokédex?” He asked Jade.
“Yeah, I got it a year ago.”
A cold wind blew from behind Jet and he felt something shiver against his back. But it wasn’t from the wind. He turned and pulled the backpack off.
Eevee who normally liked to poke his head out of the bag was huddled down into the bottom of the bag. It was shaking. It was shaking bad. Its paw was up over its eyes. He tried to place his prosthesis over his eyes as well but it did nothing to help.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Eevee what wrong,”
“BOUFF!” The Alpha Bouffalant roared.
Eevee shivered and tried to sink deeper into the bag although he had already hit rock bottom. Jet reached out and stroked its fur only for Eevee to flinch.
He was afraid. Jet realized. Eevee hadn't been afraid of anything so far. It was a bold little son-of-a-bitch. It had jumped in to fight Pikachu which was three levels above it. They had lost but Eevee hadn’t been fearful of the battle at all. The day they met Eevee had jumped right up to meet him.
The day they had met.
Then it hit Jet like a pile of bricks. What had his mother told him? Eevee had lost its leg after getting caught in a stampede? It was Scarface. He’s the one that had caused Eevee to lose his leg.
Jet had totally forgotten about it. He had totally glanced over what Eevee’s could have been feeling. Of course the poor thing was probably traumatized. Jet felt a wave of stupidity and shame wash over him for failing to realize his Pokémon's feeling.
“You’re right about me Jade. I’m just some dumb asshole.”
[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/6f17418f-c2f8-4acb-a748-15c3c94aca3f/dfeqnw3-bf112eea-f7b4-4483-8c69-cf7500af7aef.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_907,strp/pokemon_obsidian__scarface_the_bouffalant_by_airmangrace_dfeqnw3-fullview.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9OTA3IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvNmYxNzQxOGYtYzJmOC00YWNiLWE3NDgtMTVjM2M5NGFjYTNmXC9kZmVxbnczLWJmMTEyZWVhLWY3YjQtNDQ4My04YzY5LWNmNzUwMGFmN2FlZi5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.WPBUPFCmdJ8flA_QIZgpVtY-NLRQLB-ggs8qvp29rEU]
“Uhh, we got bigger problems.” Jet looked at her slinging the backpack over his back. She was peering down the hill wide eyed.
“BOUFF!” The ground shook as Scarface slammed down onto the ground. It slammed his foot down several times. The Pokemon lowered its head and took off at a run. Directly towards them.
“It’s headed this way!”
Jet realized his second mistake. It was the same mistake his father had made years ago. Only this time his father wasn’t there to protect him. Jet looked at Jade.
“We’re upwind!”