REBIRTH
A BATTLE, A NEW FRIEND, AND AN OLD ENEMY
Ch. 15

After the whole incident with the people that we encountered at the entrance to the town, things seemed to calm down a bit. Sure, there were a few people who tried to be sneaky and throw a random Pokeball at us, but that ball just ended up joining the rest of them in my bag as I kept my senses up for anything flying towards us. I estimated that I'd probably have over 50 Pokeballs in my pack by the end of the day, thanks to those trainers, but I was still a little worried. I couldn't really tell why I was worried until I looked down and could see Suicune frantically looking around.

Suicune seemed to still be quite afraid of being captured even though she still didn't realize that she couldn't. Every time she would see a person holding a Pokeball out, she would instantly hide behind me. At first it was quite endearing to have her place so much faith in me to protect her, but repetition of the act of trying to capture us, was becoming annoying. So eventually I began to lash out, 'psychically' at whoever was holding the ball. My attacks weren't vicious, but did crush many Pokeballs that were in those peoples hand/s. Word quickly spread around the town that a Gallade was protecting a Suicune and would attack anyone who tried to catch us.

Eventually the trainers finally stopped coming after us and we were left alone, much to both our relief's. Though, by that time the day was slowly drawing to a close and we needed to find a place for the night. So heading over to the local Pokemon center, I walked up to the counter and rang the bell for service.

"How might I help...you?" Said a confused nurse Joy after she stepped into the lobby from a set of double swinging doors. She was wearing the typical fashion for a Nurse Joy, so she didn't stand out to much from the regulars, but I could easily tell the difference, due to my psychic nature.

'Yes. I would like a room for the night please,' I said to her psychically which caught her off guard. It was always a laugh when I did this, as nobody expected to actually be addressed by a Pokemon though it helped that I remained in character, so as to not freak anybody out.

It took her a few minutes but she finally came out of her stupor and shook her head. "Oh. Oh, now I understand. You are here with your trainer and just wish to get a room for him while he is probably out shopping. Right," She stated as she finally got back her usual Nurse Joy smile. Only to loose it in the next moment or when she heard my reply.

'There is no third person, nurse Joy. The room is only for Lady Suicune and I,' I watched as her mouth flopped open once more as she looked from myself to Suicune, then back again. 'Furthermore, I am the trainer, of our little ensemble.'

Ker-thump. 'I think you probably should have kept that last little bit about you being a trainer, quiet Genii.' Suicune said as she walked around the counter and saw the nurse laying there unconscious. The news of something so...impossible must have been to much for the poor nurses mind to grasp and she passed out. 'Now how are we going to get a room?' She complained as she nudged the nurses face with a paw.

I walked around and looked down at the passed out nurse and shook my head. 'I thought for sure that she would have handled that better. Oh well.' I shrugged my shoulders and used my psychic abilities to sort through her memories to find out all I could about the rooms and nodded. 'I believe we still can have a room.' I said to her as I reached around the desk, opened a drawer and pulled out a key. 'It is going to feel so good to be sleeping in an actual bed once again.' I said to her as she nodded up to me.

With that done, the two of us headed up the stairs to the Trainers Rooms that were on the second floor of the Pokemon center and entered our room. Unlike my old room back home, this one was a bit bigger and...different. It was like a home but wasn't a home at the same time (If that makes any sense). Suicune pushed past me and walked into the room and started checking things out. 'A little bigger than your old room at your dad's place, but it looks comfortable.' She said as she walked about the room and stuck her head into the bathroom. 'Though I really am going to appreciate a nice long hot bath, after being outside all this time.'

I couldn't help but nod at that. After all, we'd spend over a month or two out in the woods and who knows how much dirt or other things were stuck in my hair or her fur. "I will help you wash up later." I said as I walked over and threw open the blinds to see that the sun was an hour away from setting, then turned and turned on a lamp on one of the tables beside the bed. "First, I'm going to put some of these Pokeballs into some kind of order in my pack and after that we can get something to eat. After dinner, I will help you wash up." I said as I sat down on the bed, brought around my pack, and opened up the ball pouch on it. All the Pokeballs spilled out onto the bed and I marveled at the sheer number of all of them.

'That is a lot of Pokeballs.' I looked up and saw Suicune had her front paws on the end of the bed and was looking down at all of them.

"All thanks to the un-invited welcoming we received earlier today. I will have to take them down to the PokeMart tomorrow and sell off a few. That way we can get some money for potions or such if the need ever arises." Suicune nodded then jumped down from the bed and walked to the door. Selecting a few random Pokeballs from the pile, I exchanged the empty ones that were on my belt with some of the ones in the pile at random. I didn't have to talk to her to know what she wanted when I saw her scratching at the door, as her stomach answered that question for me. Without further delay the two of us walked out of our room and descended the stairs into the main lobby.

By this time, most of the traveling trainers had come in and were asking for rooms for themselves. "I'm sorry, but I seem to have misplaced the key to the last room." She said to a girl that was asking for a room. "You are..."

"I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THAT!" Some girl screamed at the nurse, interrupting her. "Do you not know who I am!?" She yelled again.

"SUZY." I said in a growling sort of way.

"That is right." The girl said as she placed her hands on her hips and stuck out her chest. "My name is...wait a minute. I recognize that voice." She slowly turned and the two of us met eye to...chest (What can I say, I'm taller than her).

'Hello Suzy. Long time, thankfully no see.' I said as my upper lip started to pull up in a snarling kind of look. She slowly looked up from my chest and stopped when she looked at me.

"Oh wow. A Gallade. I'm going to catch you." She said as she quickly leapt away form me and pulled off a ball, though when she tried to throw it out of her hand, she found that it was stuck there. "What the ****. I can't throw this Pokeball." She complained as she desperately tried to pull it off her hand, only to succeed a moment later, to find out that it was now stuck to her other hand.

"Young lady! What in the world are you thinking. You can not battle inside the Pokemon center. Take it outside if you wish to battle and watch that language." The nurse Joy said in a scolding kind of manner.

Suzy looked over to the nurse and huffed at her. "What do you take me for, stupid? I wasn't going to battle this Gallade, I was just going to catch it." 'That is if I can ever get this ball unstuck from my hand.' She thought as she transferred the ball to her other hand which stuck fast. "What the heck is wrong with this Pokeball? Fine, I'm just going to use another." She pulled off another ball, only to find that this one too stuck to her hand. It was quite comical to say the least as she began to flap her arms up and down, in attempt to try and get the balls unstuck from her hands.

"Man this is great." Somebody said from somewhere. "Is she putting on a Mr. Mime act of a bird Pokemon or something?" Another person said. This got a lot of other people to come over and check out the spectacle and they too joined in the laughter at the girls antics.

"Knock it off. This isn't funny. These Pokeballs are stuck to my hands. Somebody help me." She pleaded as many other people continued to laugh, though that all stopped shortly after as somebody stepped forward to help her. She held out her hands to the person who grabbed both the balls.

"Alright then. When I count to three, I want to you pull away from me, and hopefully that should be enough to get you unstuck." Suzy gave the boy a stiff nod. "1...2....and 3!" Suzy quickly yanked away and promptly fell onto her backside with a loud thump at the far side of the room, as the balls had mysteriously lost their stickiness at the last moment and she propelled herself across the room as she had lost her balance not expecting the things to come loose/unstuck so easily. This caused the room to burst out in an even louder bit of laughter.

"It's not funny! Those things really...were..." She looked over to the boy who had helped her get the Pokeballs unstuck from her hands, only to see him tossing them both up and having them fall back into his hands, to repeat a few more times.

"They do not seem to have any problems now." He said with a smile as he tossed them both up at the same time, only to stop in mid air. The boy looked up at the two balls as they seemed to just...stay there in the air.

"VOLTORB!" The balls said as they rotated a few times, and quickly flew over to Suzy. She was so scared at that moment that she couldn't move and crossed her arms in front of her face in a protective manner. Everybody knew about the explosive nature of Voltorbs and their evolutionary counterparts, 'Electrodes'. The two balls floated over and hovered on either side of her head. Suzy let out a little whimper of fear but when nothing happened she slowly lowered her arms. As she slowly began to look around she saw the two balls spinning next to her head and tried to reach out to one of them. This must have been the deciding factor as that act set the two balls off with an explosion or a Self-Destruct.

Everybody stood there in shock as they watched the cloud that had formed from the explosion that encompassed around Suzy's face. A moment later, a small gust of wind from out of nowhere came in and blew the smoke away. If the people around the center hadn't been laughing before at the girl's antics, they certainly were now. Just the look at what the, 'Voltorbs' had done to her left many on the ground, rolling in laughter. Suzy was now sporting a decent sized Afro that was slightly smoldering at it's edges. She slowly reached up and touched the edges of her hair, and I could almost swear that her eyes got two sizes larger upon realizing what had just happened to her hair.

Finally she looked over at me and could see that my eyes had lost their glow tail sign of when a psychic type uses it's psychic abilities. Once she noticed this, all thoughts as to her hair were lost and nothing mattered to her but the offending Gallade. Quickly rushing on over I didn't have a chance to react fast enough as she pulled my by the shoulder and practically threw me out the door. 'Damn, she's gotten stronger.'

A few minutes later found us just outside the center and ready for a battle. "The last time I saw you, you were nothing more than a Ralts, Ralts. When did you evol...Oh who cares. I'm going to finish what I started and catch you!" She pulled out a Pokeball and tossed it out. After the white light shot out of the ball, it formed into that of her Poochyena. Rupert came out with a happy bark, quickly shook himself all over, then gave out a long and deep howl as he raised his muzzle to the sky.

'No wonder so many Pokemon are intimidated by this type. Once it gets older, that howl could intimidate practically anybody,' I thought as I looked down at the little dog/dark type Pokemon. 'Though that really doesn't apply to me. I can't wait to show this 'Stuck up little girl' who's she messing with now.' With that thought I quickly went into a battle pose and extended my elbow blades. "Do you really think this smart Suzy? I'm much stronger now than when I was back then." I told her but she seemed unfazed by what I'd just said.

"I made a promise that day, and I'm going to keep that promise. RUPERT USE BITE ON THAT GALLADE!" She yelled as she pointed at me. Rupert gave out a large bark then quickly rushed forward. Once he was close enough he quickly leapt forward but at such a slow speed that it was laughable. I simply just lifted up my leg and Rupert bit nothing but air, and skidded out on his chest as if his legs had gotten tangled up on something. This repeated several times, with Rupert getting slower and slower. When I thought that he'd had enough, he stumbled on a loose pebble and actually bit down on me (Though in truth, it felt more like a nibble).

Giving off a little wince, I reached down and picked the thing up around the middle with both my hands and held it in front of my face. "Now that...pup, was not very smart." Rupert's eyes went wide as he couldn't believe what was happening. He was totally exhausted and knew that he couldn't protect himself from an attack from such a short distance. With fear in his eyes he began to shake and began to whimper. I switched my grip so that I was holding him by the scruff on the back of his neck in my left hand, then brought my other arm back and prepared to deliver a Slash attack with my elbow blades.

'GENII, DO NOT ATTACK THAT POKEMON!,' I heard somebody yell as I stopped just as my blade was about to make contact with Rupert's underbelly. I turned and looked towards where I'd heard the voice and saw Suicune standing amongst the other people that had gathered to watching our battle. She had the most determined look to her eyes that I'd ever seen her have and knew that now I couldn't disobey her. Taking a calming breath I slowly lowered my head and nodded.

'As you wish, Lady Suicune.' I said in my psychic voice to her. Slowly raising up my head I looked over at the dog and gave him a snarl as he was curled up in as small of a ball as he could possibly make himself. 'Be thankful that my lady has forbidden me from attack you...pup. Next-time, you wont be so lucky.' Rupert slowly came out of his ball to see where the blade was and nearly wet himself right there. Giving out a long whine, he quickly nodded. Once that was settled, I walked back over to Suzy and scowled at her. 'This pup doesn't look to have even reached level 5. What were you thinking? Sending him up against somebody at my level is just asking for him to commit himself to suicide.'

Suzy didn't say a word as she was still shocked to see me right in front of her face. I pushed Rupert into her chest and scowled at her. "You haven't changed, Suzy. Still thinking that you can get away with anything and everything." I walked a short distance away. "Damn spoiled brats." Just then I heard the sound of another Pokemon being released and turned to see that she'd released another Pokemon. This time it was an Absol and it looked strong.

This time, when I heard the howl (From the Absol), I truly was intimidated. The howl was longer and deeper than Rupert's, though there was something in it that clicked in the back of my head. I didn't have a chance to think on it as Suzy let out a loud chuckle. "Very well then. If you really want a battle, then why not try Trent on for size."

"What?"

"TRENT, USE SUCKER PUNCH." Suzy yelled as the Absol quickly leapt forward and delivered a punch to the side of my face with it's bunched up paw. The punch was so fast that I didn't have even a slim chance to dodge it and was laid out on my back.

'Damn that hurt.' I thought as I sat up and rubbed at the spot that 'Trent' had hit me. 'Now I know why they call it a Sucker Punch.' I slowly got back to my feet as I looked around and saw that Trent had returned to Suzy's side of our non-existent battle field.

"Well done Trent. Now lets keep it going with a Razor Wind attack." Suzy said as Trent looked behind it and growled at her. I didn't understand what was going on between those two, but knew that I didn't have much time before that Absol would start letting out razor sharp burst of air.

"That aint going to happen Suzy." I said as I quickly leapt forward and slashed at the Absol with my Slash attack from my elbow blades. The attack landed true right between it's eyes with a Critical Hit and forced Trent to slam into the dirt, as well as loose it's concentration on it's attack. Trent couldn't hold it's concentration on the wind, and the two cyclones never had a chance of forming on either side of it.

"Dang it Trent. How many times do I have to tell you to speed up your Razor Wind attack!?" Suzy said as she stomped her foot on the ground and pouted a bit. "Now get up and do it better this time."

I looked down at the Absol and could see that it was still recovering from my last hit. Trent let out a few grunts but finally managed to get to it's shaky feet and growl back at her. 'Stop calling me by that name.' Trent said as it faced back to me and growled again. 'Why do these humans always mistake us for a gender that we are not?' It barked at me, then everything finally sank in.

'Wait a minute. Your...' I looked up at Suzy and scowled at her. 'This Absol is not...' I didn't have a chance to finish what I was thinking as 'Trent' began to gather air about it again, in another attempt to launch another Razor Wind attack. Switching up my attacks, I quickly used my psychic abilities and vanished.

Both Suzy and 'Trent' began to look around for me, but couldn't find me. A moment later, Trent was struck in the side and quickly fell to the floor a few feet to the side of where it had previously stood. I reappeared a few seconds later, kneeling next to where 'Trent' had just been. "Damn it. I must be out of shape if I'm this exhausted after a Faint Attack." I stood back up and looked down at the now decent cut that was in 'Trent's' side. "It's over. Just stay down."

"NO!" Suzy yelled. "I will not accept defeat." I looked over and could see Suzy jumping up and down with her face beet red. "I order you to get up Trent. Get up right now and finish this battle. I will have that Gallade, I will win, it is my birth right to be the best."

I looked back to the Absol and saw that it was still trying to get back to it's feet. Shaking my head, I knelt down next to it and placed my hand on it's shoulder. 'Just stay down. Your badly injured and need medical attention.' I said to 'Trent'.

Trent looked up at me with wide eyes then lay it's head down and shut it's eyes. 'Just finish it. I'm tired of being her Pokemon. She insists on calling me by that stupid name, and I'm tired of it. Tired of not being recognized by what I truly am.' It finished as it let out a whimper and a single tear leaked out of it's eye.

I stood back up and faced towards Suzy. "That's enough Suzy. Your Absol has given up the fight. So unless you have another Pokemon to send out against me, you...lost." Suzy's eyes went even wider as she looked down at the defeated 'Trent' then back up at me.

"NO! I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS!" She held out a Pokeball and pointed it at 'Trent'. "TRENT! I AM YOUR TRINER AND I ORDER YOU TO GET UP AND..."

I quickly jumped forward and slapped her across the face. Time seemed to slow down as the sound of the slap reverberated around the area, and her head slowly moved to the side with a shocked expression. Time seemed to stop only for a moment there as she looked to her side with tears in her eyes, then she slowly looked back at me while she placed a hand on the cheek that I'd slapped and was now starting to turn red. Shock was the only thing that I could see in her eyes, as she'd probably been given the first strict hand in her life.

"You conceited little brat! Can't you see your Absol has had enough! Just give it up, you lost!" After I'd finished yelling at her, there came a long drawn out silence. It was almost like one of those old west movies, where there are two men about to do a showdown in the middle of a street and a tumbleweed slowly rolls past on a dusty breeze.

Finally Suzy found her voice as tears started to leak down her face. "Y...You, struck me." She said in disbelieving tone. "Nobody has ever..." She dropped 'Trent's' ball at my feet as she quickly pushed past people, to disappear into the center, with tears falling behind her as I could hear her sobbing/bawling.

Looking down at the Pokeball that was laying there at my feet, I picked it up and walked over to 'Trent'. After kneeling down so that I was a little closer to 'Trent', I placed a hand on it's shoulder and rubbed it a bit. The Absol slowly opened it's tear soaked eyes and looked up at me. "You look like you could use a good long rest, but before we do that, I need to ask you something." 'Trent' looked long and hard at me, then finally nodded. "Since your trainer has abandoned you. How would you like to be a member of my team?"

'Trent' looked up at me, then at the Suicune that had just walked up to sit beside me. 'It does not matter. I do not care.' It said as it lay it's head back down on the dirt and closed it's eyes and let out a long breath.

I just smiled and nodded. "Very well then." I stood back up and threw the ball up, to which I delivered a swift slash to, which cleaving the ball into two halves down the middle. The ball fell to the ground in it's two halves with a few stray sparks jumping from one half to the other, then finally turning dark. I pulled out an extra Pokeball from my belt, (Which turned out to be a Heal Ball) and knelt back down so that I was as close to 'Trent' as possible. "It's done. Now all that I have to do, is catch you inside one of my Pokeballs and you will be registered under me. Is that alright...Trisha?"Chapter End Notes:Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended