Chapter III

"Pikachus! Pikachus for sale here!"

"Get your Poké balls here! Best price!"

"Hey little mister, can I interest you in-"

"Get away from me."

I shoved past the man. I was in what some people might call the 'seedier' version of the town, where a sort of marketplace had been set up. Stalls had been set up in rows, selling cheaper, discounted supplies and Pokémon themselves. Skyscrapers towered up behind me, signaling the direction of downtown. The market was crowded with vendors, and not very many customers. That's why they were practically jumping on me.

Twenty feet away I spotted a small stall with green, peeling paint. Cages with all kinds of bug Pokémon were stacked one on top of the other next to it like a wire wall. Behind the stall stood a wiry, slightly dirty man wearing overalls. I walked up to the stall and planted my feet. With all these trainers nearby I kept an instinctive hand on the Poké ball containing Blaze. One flick of my wrist and I have at my side a six foot tall hound that could turn this whole city into a blazing inferno.

It made me more comfortable than I normally would, but not much.

"What can I do for ya?" The man at the stall asked. He leered at me, exposing his

brown teeth.

"…I was wondering if I could sell my Parasect," I answered. The man's eyes jumped.

"Parasect? That's a pretty good bug! But…" He leaned down on the counter.

"What's its condition?"

"A little beat up," I answered. This guy was making me nervous. So instead of talking about it I just took out the Poké ball and let the Parasect out.

In a flash of white the giant mushroom-capped bug was sitting on the counter.

"Hmm! Not bad, not bad," the man said. He put his thumbs behind the straps of his overalls.

"I'll give you forty," He finally stated.

"Seventy."

"Fifty-five."

"Done."

The man pulled five tens out of his dirty pocket and handed them to me. I nodded and turned away.

"Hey! Doncha wanna buy somethin'?"

I ignored him and walked back through the market, to a deafening chorus of

vendors shouting at me as I passed.

"Fire Pokémon here! Growlithes, Vulpixes?"

"Get your discount Poké balls here!"

"Personal defense weapons! Whack that perv before he jumps ya!"

I stopped. I hadn't heard that when I first came in.

It had come from a simple stall on my left. Behind the counter was a man in black shirt and pants, and behind him were all sorts of weapon-y looking things on racks. I don't know what all of them were, I'd never paid attention to those kinds of things before. When I walked up to him the man raised an eyebrow at me.

"You worried 'bout pervs son? Well I guess you're young enough-"

"No, that's not what I'm here for," I answered. "I'm needing something to help me so this-" I pointed to my face, "doesn't happen again." The man's eyes widened as he saw me clearly.

"Ah. Yeah. Well," He turned to look at his wares. "Are you lookin' for somethin' that'll kill 'em, or-"

"No," I cut him off with a shiver. The last thing I wanted was to end up cutting something open. I'd seen enough blood. "I just need something that I can knock them back with. But I need to be able to carry it with me all the time, too."

The man chuckled.

"Well then, all you need is this:" He plucked something from the back wall and handed it to me. I took it from him and looked at it. It was just a black cylinder, about six inches long.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Press that button, there."

I pressed the small button on the cylinder, and suddenly the end of it popped out. In a millisecond a rod two and a half feet long telescoped out of the end of it and I found myself holding a baton.

"Perfect for your sitch-e-ation," The man continued. "Folds right up into a six inch long handle, easily fits in your pocket, and with one good whack-"

"I'll take it."

VVVVVVVV

When I got home I went to the backyard and released Blaze from his Poké ball. He shook himself, then looked at me with those intense eyes. I still couldn't believe how big he was, how magnificent.

"Hey buddy," I murmured. I sat down on the grass. With a rumble he lay down next to me. I turned and leaned back against his enormous flank, carefully avoiding his mane. His orange and black fur was comfortably warm, but his mane would burn your fingers if you left them there too long.

For hours we just lay there. I watched the clouds, trying to forget. I touched a hand to my face and felt the scars, something deep inside screaming against them, trying to summon some unknown power to erase the lines for good.

I dropped my hand and closed my eyes, trying not to cry. Crying did nothing. It wasn't my fault, I kept telling myself.

And yet, it was. It was my fault that Eric had gotten banned, his Pokémon taken away from him. If I hadn't gone away with him it would have been one on two, and then those two jerks would've been the ones in trouble, not us.

"Hey."

I opened my eyes. Eric was standing over me, his face upside-down to my view.

"Hey."

"You know, you've been out here a long time."

"Yeah."

"Don't you wanna come in?"

I turned and scratched Blaze under his chin.

"No."

Eric walked around us and crouched by Blaze's head.

"I still can't believe how big this guy is," Eric said, giving Blaze a scratch behind his ear. Blaze opened his mouth and gave Eric an enormous doggy smile, breathing relaxedly.

"You're afraid," Eric said quietly. I frowned and looked at him.

"What?"

"That's why you won't do it. You're afraid."

I gritted my teeth and sat up.

"Wouldn't you be?"

"Hell yeah," Eric said with a nod. "But you're missing out on life. Are you going to sit out here with your Arcanine-" I shot him a look. "- fine. With Blaze for the rest of your life?"

"I'll do whatever I want," I snapped, laying back on Blaze's side again. Eric stood up again.

"You know, if you don't train with him he'll eventually get fat," he said. "Jason, you listening to me?"

"Yeah," I lied, closing my eyes.

"Open your eyes then." I grunted and did.

"You like being afraid all the time?"

I didn't answer.

"You're going to be afraid forever if you don't go back there."

"Back where?" I growled.

"You know where I mean."

"No. I won't."

"For crying out loud!" Eric yelled, throwing up his hands. "You have a frickin' Arcanine! You could burn that whole forest down!"

"He could."

We were quiet for a moment.

"We both know that the only thing that will fix your fear is being in another duel. You just have to go and do it."

Eric left. But the truth in his words wouldn't leave me alone at all.

VVVVVVVVV

At one in the morning I left my house.

I know, I'm completely crazy. But what Eric had said had bothered me all through the evening and all through the night. I hadn't slept a wink. And in the end I knew he was right: I had to face this.

But even as I walked I would spasm suddenly, thinking I saw a creature jumping at my face out of the dark.

I was wearing a trainer's coat and jeans, my belt wrapped around my waist. I had hooked Blaze's ball right where my right hand hung, so I could grab it in a millisecond.

I walked south through the dark streets, the overhanging streetlights only casting barely sufficient pools of light to see by. Everything was quiet except for the leaves of the trees here and there as a stray wind ruffled them.

When I exited the town a full moon awaited me, casting everything in silver. But I was focused only on the amorphous shapes of the forest in the distance as I walked, willing myself forward even as my heart rate rose higher and higher.

It was beating a drumroll on my chest when I reached the forest's threshold. I forced myself to step onto the path into the black.

Not even the moon lit anything in here, like before. I waited for my eyes to adjust, and after a while I could see well enough to walk. I slipped my hand into my pocket and gripped the handle of my extendable baton. I liked the way it felt in my hands. It made me feel more powerful, knowing I had a weapon.

I kept walking.

And walking.

Then-

"Hey little buddy."

I froze.

Up ahead was a shape. A figure.

And on his chest was a white skull.

"What're you doin' out here again?"

"You some kind of creep?" I wondered, my voice shaky. "Waiting out here all the time?"

"How's your face?"

"How's your suspension?" I snapped back. The kid laughed.

"You talkin' about my three day suspension? It was a nice vacation."

I stared.

"Three days?" I murmured.

"Let's get to it, then."

My mouth went dry.

The kid flicked his wrist and there was a flash. When my eyes cleared I recognized the shape of a Sandslash on the ground, waddling towards me.

Terror gripped my throat.

I flicked my wrist.

In a flash of lighting Blaze appeared in front of me. A towering hound of fire.

"Wha- what's that?" The kid stammered.

I grinned, my fear gone.

"What that little Growlithe turned into," I called across the gap. Blaze crouched

and growled. His mane and tail lit up in trails of fire, lighting the trees. I backed off a little as a wave of heat hit me in the face.

I couldn't even see the creep that I was about to fight. But I heard him shout,

"Fury swipes!"

I heard that horrible chatter as the Sandlash undoubtedly scrabbled forward to fight.

Blaze snarled, opened his mouth, and breathed fire. The whole forest lit up with his power and the Sandslash was wrapped in flames.

"No! Hey, stop!" I heard the trainer over the wind of the flames.

"Blaze?" I said quietly. Immediately he closed his mouth. The Sandslash lay smoking on the ground, most of its quills burned to the nubs, black and charred. It wasn't moving.

The trainer came into my view, crouching at the Sandslash's side.

"You jerk!" He shouted. He reached for his belt. I whipped my baton out of my pocket and pressed the button as I leaped forward. The baton shot out to its full length right as I got to him. I smacked the trainer in the head with everything I had. He fell. I hit him again.

Again.

Again.

Each time a heavy crack echoed.

I stood up and got away from him, my breathing heavy, sweat running down my face from the heat of Blaze's fire and my stress. I looked back. Blaze was standing tall, watching me, the hair on his back sticking up.

I looked back at the trainer, then reached down and pulled the hoodie back from his head. My first hit had broken the skin on his forehead and it was turning purple. There wasn't much blood, though, just a trickle. He wouldn't die or anything.

I looked down and noticed he was wearing leather gloves. I took them without thinking and put them on. I turned back to Blaze, closing up my baton and putting it in my pocket, then pulling on the gloves. I was too full of adrenaline tonight, and I didn't want to walk back alone.

With the safety of the gloves on my hands, I got on Blaze's back, wound them through his hot mane, and rode him back to Pewter, the wind in our faces, an orange aura shimmering from him as his fur rippled behind us like a banner.

I was free.

We were free.

Maybe this was an end.

Maybe it was a beginning.