REBIRTH
THE FIRST REAL BATTLE
Ch. 20

Like most rock type fanatics, his ball released a Geodude who was a little more than happy to show off it's rocky like muscles on it's arms. It was almost like watching a muscle man flex his arms in front of a mirror, as he switched poses every now and then

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Suicune erupted from her ball and let out a long and very happy howl. 'I can not remember the last time I felt so cramped. Why was it that I had to go inside that thing again?' She asked after she finished her howl and looked over her shoulder to chat with me.

I simply smirked and pointed towards the other end of the hallway in the maze. 'That's why.' I said to which she turned and looked towards her opponents. It was such a comical sight as both the Geodude and trainer had the same buggy eyed/slack jawed look on their faces. 'It helps to keep a level of surprise when facing off against your opponents. Now before we begin, I think it would only be proper to allow them to pull their eyes back into their heads and pick their jaws up off the floor (Which is what the Geodude actually had to do as his jaw had come unhinged and fell to the floor).

"Y...U...You have a..." The man couldn't stop stuttering as he pointed at Suicune and started mumbling again. This was pretty much mirrored by the Geodude as well, but in his case, he was shaking. Obviously he knew what he was facing, unlike his trainer who still couldn't get his mouth to work right to actually say a few words right.

'Some might say that. Though I prefer...,' I knelt down so that I was a little closer to her and gave her a hug. 'To refer to her as Lady Suicune, my life long traveling companion.' I said as I gave her another quick hug to which she gave me a quick lick to the cheek.

'That was sweet of you to say, Genii. Now,' She said as she quickly took on a battle stance which told me to quickly back away. 'Shall we get this battle started?' She let out a slow and deep growl at the Geodude who'd finally found his jaw and was popping it back into place. The sound of which finally snapped the other trainer back into reality as he began to get a look in his eyes of the beginnings of a strategy/plan.

"Quickly Geodude, use Magnitude!" The man yelled as the Geodude gave off a nod and quickly slammed it's giant rock like hands onto the ground. The effect didn't take effect until a moment or two later which started to cause the whole area to shake. Though unlike a regular earthquake, this one lasted for a little while. Suicune was not used to dealing with this kind of a situation, but thanks to her wide stance, she wasn't that effected by the attack. "Now while the attack is still going on, I need you to use Rock Polish."

So while the magnitude worked it's magic to keep Suicune from moving, the Geodude began to use it's hand to rub itself all over it's body, which made it start to become smoother and less jaggedly. I wasn't just going to sit there and let all this go by without repercussion. 'If we can't move due to you loosing your footing, then I suggest that we use a ranged attack. Now my lady. If you'd be so kind as to use your Bubble Beam on that rock opponent of yours, I'd graciously appreciate it.'

Suicune gave a quick nod and began to take in deep breaths. Just before she released the attack I could have sworn that her cheeks on either side of her face bulge out like that of a Linoon who'd stuffed it's cheeks full of berries or nuts. The Geodude didn't have a chance of dodging Suicune's attack as she quickly release the bubbles in a high velocity speed since he was still caught up in smoothing out his body. The attack must have been pretty dang effective as when the amount of bubbles had lightened up, the Geodude looked positively dead tired.

Both it's eyes were very heavy and it's arms lay limply at it's sides. "Don't give up just yet Geodude. We can still win this. Now use Rollout!" He yelled as he pointed towards Suicune. The Geodude was tired, but not out of it and lifted itself up by both arms. It was almost like the Geodude was using it's arms to walk, but that quickly changed as it turned that walking motion into a cartwheel then tucked in it's arms. The effect was a ball that was traveling at a high rate of speed thanks to the great start of velocity and it's Rock Polish earlier.

'I'm not sure what that move entitles but it looks fairly easy to dodge. Just jump out of the way when it comes close Lady Suicune.' I advised but the advice proved to be at fault or wasn't thought out as when the ball came close, she tried to jump to the side to avoid a collision only to hit the wall of the maze. This fazed her enough to allow the ball to come into contact with her legs, and knock them out from under her as it sped underneath her. Suicune slammed into the ground right onto her chin and I could yelp a little from the pain. The ball came closer and closer to me, only to go into an ark almost right at my feet, then quickly return the way it'd come.

I was beginning to become afraid as the speed/momentum of the Geodude's roll had slightly increased. So quickly looking back up I saw that Lady Suicune was slowly getting to her feet and preparing to dodge to the other side. 'My lady!' I yelled. 'Do not jump to the side, jump up. Otherwise you'll jump right into the walls again.' This must have gotten her attention as the Geodude grew closer and she quickly followed my advice and jumped up. This seemed to have done the trick as the ball quickly and safely passed underneath her without so much as brushing against her fur. 'Now turn and when it is coming about for another pass, please use your Bubble Beam and end this.'

Just as if she were a cat that had been dropped upside down from slightly in the air, Suicune contorted her body and spun around to face the ball. The Geodude obviously confused that it hadn't come into contact with anything that time stopped it's roll by it's trainer and looked about, only to be hit with a potent Bubble Beam attack from Lady Suicune. Once the smoke had cleared from the popped bubbles, we all saw that that last water based attack had proven to much for the rock man and he lay upon his face, passed out.

The man let out a groan of defeat and recalled the Geodude to it's ball. After the beam had returned the Geodude to it's ball, he brought his arm around and looked down a the ball. "Why do you always stop rolling when you don't hit. You could have just kept on rolling and you'd have hit that Suicune when it came back down to it's feet with even greater effect." He said in a scolding type of voice.

I paid him little mind as I quickly walked out to Lady Suicune. 'Are you hurt my lady. Would you like to rest for a bit before the next battle?' I asked in a concerned tone as I brought out her ball and held it out for her to inspect or think about.

She simply smiled and gave my face a gentle nuzzle with hers. 'That is sweet of you Genii, but I am well enough to handle another battle or two before I need to rest.' She looked up at the man and could see that he was currently reaching for another ball on his belt. 'I believe that this battle is far from over. So you should return to a safe distance and prepare yourself for what is to come next.'

I gave her a quick nod, a gentle stroke of her mane, and a smirk. 'Just remember my lady. You don't need to do this all alone. Trisha or I can come out and take your place for a bit, so that you may catch your breath.' I said in my normal Gallade talk, to which she gave me a nod as I stood back up and quickly returned to a safe distance.

"It would seem that your Suicune is quite strong. Only two hit's from that Bubble Beam and it brought down my Geodude. Though now I wonder how you will handle my next choice." He tossed up the ball in front of him and quickly snatched it out of the air with his right hand. Giving the ball a light press to the activator he tossed the ball up into the air slightly and released...I couldn't tell what that was. Pulling out my Pokedex I hit the scan button and awaited the reply.

"Cubone, the Ground type Pokemon. When it thinks of it's dead mother, it cries. It's crying makes the skull it wears rattle hollowly." And almost on cue, it began to cry. I couldn't really understand what had just happened to make it cry, but something about that skull that covered it's head told me that it and it's mother must have been close.

"Darn it, not this again. Come on Cubone, snap out of it. We've got a battle on our hands right now. You can cry about your mother some other time." He said in an angry/hurtful tone.

I was about to yell at him for making such an uncaring remark but stopped when I saw Suicune was moving towards the little Cubone. It was at that moment that I noticed several things about the poor thing. Normally, an average Cubone is about slightly higher than a foot tall, but this one was almost half that size, the skull that made up it's helmet had a lot of spare room in it, and the bone that it was carrying looked to big for it to use properly. Suicune stopped right in front of the thing, sat down on her haunches, and brought the little thing into her bosom.

Time seemed to stop for a moment as the Cubone's eyes went wide and it slowly looked up at Suicune. 'It is alright little one. Go on ahead and cry. Let it out, you will fell a lot better after a good long cry.' And just like that, the Cubone began to wail as it dropped it's club and began to bawl into her fur, while tightly clutching at her fur as if afraid that she'd step away from her warm embrace. While the little thing bawled, Suicune would calmly speak to it while rubbing it's back with her paw.

I had never seen such a caring and tender moment before. It almost made me wish that my own mother were here to comfort me too. Tears started to leak out of my eyes as my heart went out to the little Cubone.

"What the heck! I thought we were here to battle, not have a crying contest. Snap out of it Cubone and use Bone Club!" The man yelled, but his yells were for not as the sounds of it's crying were to loud for it to hear the command.

I calmly walked out to the place where Suicune and the little Cubone were, knelt down to one knee, and placed a hand on Suicune's mane. She calmly looked over at me and I could see that she too had tears in her eyes. 'It is no more than just a child, recently separated from it's mother. The memory of it's lost mother is still to close to it's little heart for it to bare. I cannot and will not battle something as innocent and grieving as this little one here. It goes against everything that a female and potential mother stands for.' She said as she turned back to the little thing to see that it's wailing had slowed to soft sobs.

'Please wait here Lady Suicune. I wish to have a chat with that Cubone's owner.' She didn't say a word as I could now see that the Cubone had fallen asleep. Suicune slowly lay down onto her right side, lightly curled around the little thing, and used her mane as a makeshift blanket for it as the little thing as it began to suck on it's thumb and nuzzle up a little closer to Suicune. The last thing I saw was her nuzzling the little thing a bit with the tip of her nose as I turned and headed towards the other trainer.

'How much for the Cubone.' I said in a strait tone as I stood before the trainer.

His eyes went wide as he looked towards his Cubone and Lady Suicune. "What the heck are you say..."

I silenced him as I brought up a single finger and made a shushing sound. 'The child is sleeping. Have a heart and let the poor thing rest. It obviously that it's been through a lot and needs it's rest.'

This only seemed to confuse the man further. "What the heck? Here we are, in the middle of a battle, my Cubone lets out one little sob, and all this happens." He looked from me to the motherly scene behind me, then back again. "And what makes you think that you can just buy a Pokemon off of someone. I caught that thing fair and..."

I didn't give him the chance to finish that sentence as I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him close. "Now listen and listen good." I said in my regular voice. "I can see into your mind and know how you came by that Cubone over there. If you don't want me to reveal those facts, then I suggest that you take me up on my generous offer of purchasing that Cubone over there off of you." I let go of his shirt, pulled around my backpack, and opened up the Pokeball flap. 'I have a wide assortment of Pokeballs in here. I'm sure that we can come to an...arrangement.'

A few moments later, the man happily shook my hand as within the other he had two Ultra Balls, a Quick Ball, and a Dusk Ball, while I held a single Pokeball in my other one. 'You have made out like a Linoone my friend. And I thank you for seeing things my way.'

"Ya...whatever." He said as he walked away with a twinkle in his eye over his prize. "That Cubone wasn't that strong anyways. With these...I can go out and catch an even stronger Pokemon." He said as he began to mumble about some other Pokemon he'd been keeping his eyes pealed for just outside the city.

I simply shook my head and hoped that those balls wouldn't be enough to catch whatever he was after. Quietly walking back over to Lady Suicune, I knelt down again and nodded to her. 'It is done. We are now the proud owners of this little one.' I said as I reached out and lightly rubbed a single finger under it's chin. The little Cubone slightly shifted in it's sleep but just pulled Suicune's mane a little further over it's body and slept on. Somewhere deep down, I didn't really see this as gaining a new Pokemon, I rather saw it as...adopting a small child as it were.

I could see that Suicune had a very...peaceful/happy, look on her muzzle as she lay her head near the little thing and gently started to croon. It honestly did look like that little Cubone was hers as she nuzzled it a little and started to croon a small lullaby to it as it slept on.

Eventually she looked up at me and could see that I had tears in my eyes as I looked down at the Cubone. 'Is something wrong Genii? Your crying.'

I slowly reached up, touched the tips of my fingers just below my eyes, and came away with wet fingertips. 'I don't know why, but I can't seem to stop crying.' I looked over to her and gave her a tearful smile. 'Maybe it has something to do with the fact that both Cubone and I have lost our...,' Sniff sniff. 'We both lost our parents at an early age. And just seeing how caring you are of it just a moment ago, made me remember that I lost my mother too when I was but a child.'

Suicune gently leaned up and gave a gentle lick to my cheek, as if to taste my tears. She pulled away and gave me a soft chuckle, 'It seems that we all have had a rough start in life. What a couple the three of us make.'

(This chapter was edited by justmerg. Thanks pal)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