Pokemon Regression

Chapter 31: V.S. Rival Bronze!

"Murkrow! Use Peck!"
"Yeller! Tail Whip!"

The valiant yellow rat charged forward as the dark bird swooped down from it's perch, beak glowing with white energy. The three-legged rodent spun rapidly, bringing it's bushy tail to bear right into the glowing beak of his aerial opponent. I watched the clash intently, keeping only the minimum attention on Bronze himself. Fortunately, he didn't seem inclined to approach.

Unfortunately, Yeller was severely lacking in pure power and was only barely able to deflect the attack from a direct attack to a glancing blow. I suppressed a wince imagining the pain of being hit that way.

After the attack, the Murkrow landed with a stumble behind Yeller, which left a small opening. "Yeller, Bite!" I called out, and the Rattata spun, summoning the purple energy teeth over the Murkrow's body.

"Dodge Forwards!" Bronze countered me, and the Murkrow dived into a forward roll, barely evading the energy jaws, but I wasn't ready to let him off yet.

"Yeller! Tackle!" I called out, pointing to the battlefield.
"Murkrow! Counter with Wing Attack!" Bronze attempted to counter.

But when I said the word Tackle, I snapped my fingers. And I wasn't pointing at the Murkrow, but at Bronze.

A trail of white chased my agile partner as he streaked across the bridge, slamming with the full power of that white boost into Bronze's abdomen.

Although it had been a while since it was useful, I'd continued to train Yeller to use different moves than the ones I called out when I snapped my fingers. When I'd told Yeller to use Tackle, snapping my fingers had actually changed the command to be Quick Attack. And by pointing at Bronze, I was able to get a cheap shot at his liver.

"Gah!" Bronze hacked, swinging his arms down and shoving the yellow rodent off of him in surprise. "Fr-" He coughed once, mid-sentence, before continuing. "-eaking Rat!"

Unlike Morty however, Bronze was seemingly able to keep fighting after taking a blow like that. It was probably because he was used to the sort of dirty fighting we were partaking in.

"Murkrow, Pursuit!" Bronze managed to wheeze before breaking into another set of painful coughs. The Murkrow responded immediately, gathering black energy into it's wings and then launching them at Yeller aggressively.

"Yeller, dodge it and then use Tackle!" I commanded.

My partner Pokemon did his best to evade the attack towards Murkrow but the power was just too great, and even after dodging the actual energy itself the air pressure sent Yeller flying through the air towards both Murkrow and myself.

"Wing... Attack!" Bronze heaved. I'd really hoped he wouldn't have enough breath to make that command.

"Yeller, Launch yourself out of the way with Bite!"

The Murkrow's wings began to glow with a piercing white energy as Yeller desperately attempted to maintain an equilibrium. Unfortunately he was flying through the air without any control, and the Bite he summoned as a shield was not steady enough to stop the Murkrow, who deftly swung around it with an aerial roll before slamming the white wing into Yeller's neck.

With a crash, Yeller was sent reeling down to the ground between Bronze and myself. Stifling a curse underneath my breath, I sprinted towards him.

"Now!" Bronze decreed excitedly. "Finish this with a Wing Attack!"

Even without opening Yeller's Status I could tell-He wouldn't be able to take another hit from Wing Attack, or even Peck, without passing out. My faithful Rattata was still trying to regain his balance as the Murkrow swooped in, and I did the only thing I could think to do.