Pokémon One Shots

Top of the Food Chain

Rain. Rain is something oddly both dull and interesting. It is dull in the way it makes the same sounds, over and over, the grayness of the clouds adding to the bleakness of it's form. Water droplets falling is not as magical as it seems. Sure, the feeling of wetness is nice, but a cool shower can do that just as effectively. Rain was boring as tar to me, which admittedly was a trait shared among other things. The only thing about rain that interested me was how often it was portrayed in media and film as some poetic junk. What can be poetic about something as boring as rain, and how can so many people see it as something intriguing?

The other thing I hated about rain was how it fills your mind in the same way it fills buckets. It was easy to be distracted by the loud pitter-patter it makes, the steady drum of water, with the only other thing going on being a battle. Which was another thing that boggled me; why were battles seen as such exciting events? There were so many people obsessed with them. At their worst, they can be just as boring as rain.

"Swampert, Hydro Cannon." I stifled a yawn as the Emboar tried it's best to get back up after being blasted with cold, crisp water. Everything about this battle was boring. Sure, the character battling me was a young girl, weak, pathetic, naïve, relied completely on her own Pokémon, the kind of trainer that made you question how tough the Elite Four could really be. Sure, she seemed foreign, her accent sounded distinctly Unovian, and her team consisted of Pokémon like Unfesant and Audino. And sure, we were battling in a large, elegant room, with glass windows a Wailord could fit through, cream wallpaper with golden markings becoming present on the suffocatingly close walls at the flash of lightning, stain glass floors containing every hue of green, blue, and red, and elegant yet subtle lighting coming from Arceus-knows where at the top of the dome-like ceiling. All of this was something I felt I had been seeing forever, even in the short two months of becoming champion.

"Ok, Emboar! Go with Flame Charge!" The young girl yelled. I snickered glumly that the "trainer's" last Pokémon was using a move so weak. Of all the moves the Pokémon could learn, Flame Charge? For the Champion? Your last Pokémon should be a testament of power, your last chance. It seemed she was yet another girl who tried to win with her first Pokémon, another token of how utterly cliché she was. I didn't even have to bother telling my partner to dodge the attack, the damage was so minuscule.

"Earthquake." Swampert, who seemed to put in as much pointless effort into every battle as possible, rumbled the ground with a force that could have shaken some of my fillings out. Obviously, the force shook Emboar to the ground and kept him there, knocked out. I watched a scene repeated over and over again, just with different Pokémon and people. The trainer, watery-eyed, stared, shocked, at their weak Pokémon on the ground. Running over and hugging it, saying it would be ok to console both them and themselves. They would then get up, shake the tears from their eyes, and promise to become better trainers and battle them again before leaving the room the way they came, heads held high.

Gag me...it's like a greeting card.

The trainer gone, I opened the wide double doors at the opposite end of the hall, where a trainer could go if they beat me, even though it was a wonder how some of these trainers made it pasted the third gym. I entered the dark room only to walk right through to another set of doors, entering my office. Rain beat on the windows like a mugger for money, the clouds not exactly helping add light to the room. The white walls had a desk smack dab in the middle of the room, piled down with papers and forms. Bookshelves framed both the left and right walls, the back wall only interrupted by a large picture window. I sighed as I leaned backwards in the straight birch wood chair, waiting for some kind distraction or nuisance, someone "desperately" needing my help. As if on cue, my Pokénav began to vibrate and play "Flight of the Combee" with a incoming call.