let's go on a JOURNEY! (POKEMON ORAS)

9. PUSHY

Their encounter started in Fortree City. An up-and-coming trainer was enamored with Swampert. He insisted on seeing him perform in battle. May refused, because she had errands to run and business to take care of. But this trainer wouldn't take 'no' for an answer and was persistent in his pleas.

Finally, May gave in. She agreed to a one-on-one match, and that was it. No more, and if she could get away with any less, all the better. Her opponent was ecstatic. He cheered and hollered and gladly took his spot opposite of May.

His name was Nick. He was a newbie trainer who had traveled overseas to start his journey. Apparently, he came from a wealthy and affluent family. His parents had offered to buy him whatever pokémon he wanted as a starter. He figured it would be a good idea to go with a Scolipede, a very aggressive pokémon that May had never heard of in her life.

The gigantic bug-type pokémon towered above her and Swampert. It gazed down at them, a glare in its eyes. It looked ready to not just win this battle, but to also wipe the floor clean with its opponents.

May gulped. This pokémon looked a lot tougher than she had expected. But, she wasn't about to back down. Swampert stepped forward and looked at his opponent head-on. He didn't seem to be intimidated much at all by the ferocious creature before him.

"Ladies first," Nick offered.

"Thanks! Swampert, use Muddy Water!"

"Swam!"

"Use Bulldoze, Scolipede!" Nick called out.

Swampert hurled a massive wave of dirty, murky water towards the bug-type. The Scolipede attempted to counter with a Bulldoze attack, but to no avail. He just tackled the wall of water head-on and was knocked aside.

It took everything in May to not call out, or at least laugh at Nick's amateur mistake. She waited for Scolipede to situate itself before she sent out her next orders. "All right, Swampert, let's try Mud Bomb!"

"Poison Tail! Hit 'em hard!"

Scolipede readied itself for attack first. It concentrated all of its energy towards its tail end and swung it at Swampert. The mud fish pokémon, however, quickly cast out a large ball of earth that went slamming into its side. Again, the Scolipede was knocked over. And this time, it did not even try to get back up.

"Hey, whaddya know," May started, a smirk on her face. "It looks like we won."

"But how!?" Nick cried. He collapsed to his knees in an overly dramatic manner. "My pokémon was supposed to be the strongest in the world!"

"For someone who's just starting out, that's a pretty big claim to make. Train harder. Maybe one day you will be." And with that, May and Swampert walked off, big grins on their faces. They left the poor trainer to himself so he could wallow and pout.

In the end, at least Nick got one thing he wanted: seeing Swampert completely ravage his team.