To be clear, it was not just another day in the office. The everyday grunt squabbles and bickering over turf is one thing, but Rook was T’s son, which raised the stakes considerably.

He was a hotheaded little shit who didn’t know his place, but then again. That was probably exactly how he saw me.

I leave the store and start making my way down towards the harbor warehouse to meet up with Tom and see if he managed to scrounge up Jerry and Crystal. Just as I get outside, the pokeball at my belt rattles aggressively.

“What do you want, Taillow?” I say as I release him out. The small bird shuffles around his legs on the ground as he stretches before fixing me with an accusing glare.

“Taillow.” He grunts at me before puffing his chest out. Ah. I get it. He was mad that I argued with Nico about who to bring.

“Listen man. I get that you want to prove yourself. That’s what I want too. But this fight is going to be a tough one and I’ve fought with Lotad before.”

“Taill- Taillow.” Taillow chirps as he flies up on my shoulder to berate me even further, lightly pecking around my neck.

“Alright, Alright. Enough. I get it. I’m sure you’re just as strong as Lotad is. It’s not a question of strength though, it’s one of experience.” I hold out my arm and he bedrundingly perches on it. “I don’t just want to win here, I want to make a statement. So when we do face off with Rook, here’s the plan-.”

----------------------------------------

I kick my skateboard up as I meet up with the crew. Tom is sitting up on a crate with a smoke out while Jerry chats animatedly at him.

“Dude, Wallace is totally winning Evergrande this year, I’d put 150 on it right now.” Jerry said. He waves his stocky arms around as he makes his points. “The guy is just nuts. He is going to repeat, I put that on my mama.”

Tom just blows smoke back into his face.

“Steven Stone is finally back though. Remember his championship run? Have you seen the old vids of his Metagross?” Tom drops the smoke and puts it out with his foot. “Anyways I’m not betting shit after last week. I lost heaps on Indigo.”

Tom nods towards me, looking at me through the mop of his black hair.

“What about you, Lucian?” He asks.

“You know I don’t follow that stuff man. It’s just noise. Besides, I can’t believe all the shit we do hasn’t disillusioned you guys with gambling.” I say. “Anyways, where’s Crystal?”

Jerry shrugs and looks at Tom.

“She was supposed to be here like forever ago. I don’t know man; you know what she’s like. She’s probably still getting ready. Do you even think we should bring her? I mean, us three alone could do this easy. She’d just be dead weight.” Tom laughs.

“Hey, man. She’s new to all this.” Jerry protested. “Have some sympathy, it must have been rough for her after her journey didn’t work out.”

“Well, in any case, if she’s not here, she’s not here. Nico wanted her to roll with us so for now for whatever reason.” I said. “More importantly, what’d u hear about what Rook wants specifically?”

“I talked to Ming and he said that he’s just been at the docks looking for a shipment to come down Hyde lane to us.” Tom said. “Makes sense ‘cause we haven’t exactly been quiet about increasing our presence at the actual shipyard. Hell, I had to face down a bunch of riffraff just yesterday.”

I frowned.

“Alright, no use delaying the inevitable. Also, no escalating it. T probably has one of his higher ups watching and I’d be surprised if Roquelle isn’t somewhere on her Swellow checking up on us.” I say. “Let’s just go. I didn’t want the trouble of babysitting Crystal anyways.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Tom rolls his eyes, grinning as Jerry laugh along with him. “We’ll leave pretty boy Rook and his goons alone after we whoop his ass.”

I fix them both with a glare.

“This shit is serious. Clean break after the fight, no one wants a war. We just make it to next week clean, we’re raking in money after all the new business gets set up. So. Don’t. Fuck. It. Up.” I tell them, poking them in the shoulder after every word.

I look up in the sky and sigh.

“Alright, no more waiting around, let’s go take care of business.”

As we walked toward the shipyard I focus on my breathing to calm myself. It’s hard to describe the feeling you get before an honest to Arceus fight. My hands get clammy, and my heart beats just a bit faster. There’s the nervous anticipation and increased awareness that you get as your mind goes over what can or will need to be done.

But this fight feels different. Rook is a strong battler and fighter, stronger than the usual guttertrash and grunts I’ve have to deal with. I take care of him, and manage the new Pete’s and I could…. I could be more than what I was. A step towards where I should be.

I’m startled out of my thoughts as we get to the edge of the shipyard. Rook and three of his goons are bullying and harassing the hell out of some of the builders setting up the new Pete’s storefront.

Rook looks every bit the thug he is. Combed back blond hair with his hands in his jacket pockets. His goons’ Corphish, Zangoose and Wingull wrecking the construction equipment.

“Oi, dumbass.” I say, smiling. “The fuck you doing around here friend?”

Tom lets out his Skitty as Jerry lets out his Plusle and Minun behind me. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank the Legendarys above that Jerry made the choice to get those two little troublemakers. The mouse shits got into trouble everyday but on days like these they earned their keep. And since they were so small Jerry could afford to keep them, even if it came at the cost of them always stealing from Tom’s Skitty.

There’s a brief moment where the 3 pokemon on each side stare each other down around us. And then the silence ends abruptly-

“Tackle!”

“Quick attack!”

“Pound!”

“Helping hand and tackle boys!”

And then all of a sudden it’s chaos at the docks. Rook and I stare at each other while the fighting erupts around us.

----------------------------------------

Tom

Ever since around a year ago, Lucian decided out of nowhere to be ambitious. More jobs for the boss, more collections on dues, more turf fights. Lucian had Jerry and I running all over the place. Not to mention all the fucking training. Never mind that he didn’t have his own pokémon. He’d borrow from Nico or Roquelle and bust Skits all up and down East Ave. And then he’d take Jerry’s mice and do the same shit.

All that shit got annoying real fast, but it’s like that thing that Roquelle is always saying. A pokémon that’s idle never evolves. Applies to people too.

And all that pays off in a moment like this.

“Oi, dumbass! The fuck you doing around here, friend?” Lucian calls out.

I chuck out Skits as Jerry lets out Tufts and Smalls.

The thing that most people, or even most trainers don’t get about street fights is the sheer chaos of it. It’s a no-holds barred throwdown, and most are decided within the first few moments. Your everyday pokémon trainer is focused on the one-on-one matchup, what type move do he needs to get out, how to counter his opponent’s strengths. In doing so, they forget a crucial fact. At our level, the one who strikes hard and fast, almost always wins.

Emphasis on the fastest. It’s a tempo thing. As soon as you’re on the backfoot, you worry less about punching back and more on the fact that you’re getting punched. In trainer terms, you stutter, your move-callouts are slower, which causes your pokemon’s confidence to falter, and before you know it your pokémon is on its ass and so are you.

“Tackle” I yell out while Jerry yells out beside me.

The instant the fight starts, Skitty lunges at Zangoose with his tackle, bruising it before it can even register to quick attack like the goon could finish calling out. And it’s followed right up with a helping hand boosted tackle from Minun. And just like that, Zangoose is out for the count.

Thank Arceus we spent hours preparing that combo. Hard, fast and barring a mismatch, piling right on whichever pokemon’s on the left. Hey, you gotta single out one to gang up on somehow.

“Tch, could you be anymore useless?” Rook shouts venomously, glaring at Zangoose’s trainer.

“I’ll- Rook you saw that what was I-,” The grunt fumbles over his pokeball, stammering, trying to return his Zangoose.

Ah. Damn. Rook’s totally gonna eviscerate him later.

Rook’s eyebrows furrow in rage as he works in jaw contemplating. The two remaining Flute Boys at least have the common sense to instantly go on the defensive, Wingull flying far overhead trying desperately to avoid the sparks thrown at him while Corphish continuing to harden as he brawls with Skits. Any fool worth his salt knew this fight was over. I mean, it’s a Plusle and Minun against a Corphish and a Wingull at that point. Not to mention I’d take us over any of the other rookie crews in Lilycove.

And just like that, Rook throws his pokeball out.

I brace myself. Rook's Whimsur is infamous for being a tough shit. She's a brawler through and through, not to mention the voice. I've heard some horror stories from the other grunts in the gang about the uproars she's managed to get off.

Only. Rook's pokeball releases and I'm not staring at a Whimsur.

"LOUDRED" Loudred screams and it's a harsh fucking sound. The Wingull above falters above her even.

"Shit. We are so fucked." Jerry mutters.

For once, I agree with him.