Pokèmon: Blood Red

Crimson Ties

1 year later...

"Alright Linoone, return..." Jaden grimaced as his unconscious Linoone returned to its pokéball in a streak of red light. "You'll get 'em next time". He grudgingly lowered his arm and rested the pokeball back into its fashioned brown holder with the others wrapped around his waist. Despite the cool breeze, his face was beginning to show signs of sweat.
Kaylee wore a worried yet slightly annoyed look on her face. "Jaden," she shouted from the sidelines, sitting on a rock near a bed of flowers, "you can't just run into every battle fist first! You have to know when to protect your pokemon and dodge!" She sighed, pushing her silky brown hair from in front of her face to where it belonged: beside it. She wore a red bow in her hair, with a red sleeveless shirt to match. She wore short white shorts to combat the ever heating temperature of the Hoenn region. Her eyes glistened with premature wisdom, a trait that had irked Jaden at times, yet made her ever more endearing to him. "I've told you a million times, ya' big dork" she said, hands on her hips.
"No backseat battling please," Jaden joked, without breaking his grimace.
"Down to your last pokemon, huh?" Called the opposing trainer, who wore a plain grey t-shirt with dark grey shorts. His thin pair of glasses matched with his rugged brown hair made him look like a deceptively evil genius, though he was nothing of the sort. His eye gleamed, "Tell your mother you were bested by the mighty Bryan!" he jeered, pushing his glasses up so as to see his sobbing victim ever more clearer. His mightyena let out a sneer.
Jaden's grimace slowly turned into a smirk, his eyes beginning to light up. "Alright then," he said with restrained gusto, "Blaziken, you think you can handle this?" At the sound of his name, Blaziken, who had been formerly resting on a rock near Jaden, eyes closed, stood up, hands behind his cocked-back head. He stepped onto the battlefield with a kind suave grace only he could attempt to pull off. He rested his fist in his hand, popped his knuckles, and prepared his battle stance. Bryan proved undeterred, as did his mightyena.
"Mightyena!" Bryan bellowed suddenly, pointing vigorously at Blaziken, "Use Bite!" His mightyena quickly sprang into action, speeding towards Blaziken with vicious agility.
"Blaziken, use hi jump-kick!" Jaden yelled with enthusiastic confidence.
"Jaden!" Kaylee shouted condescendingly. Mightyena sped towards Blaziken, bearing it's deadly teeth. Blaziken stood, undaunted. As mightyena leapt for the attack, Blaziken suddenly lifted off from the ground, clearing mightyena. In one fell swoop, Blaziken flipped mid-air, as he threw a devastating kick in the other direction and his foot collided with mightyena's jaw, sending it barreling foreward with a pitiful yelp.
Everyone stood silent. Blaziken landed gracefully and proceeded to brush his finger across his beak triumphantly. Bryan quietly broke the silence.
"Mightyena..." he urged, "c'mon... I know you can take him..." Mightyena lay unconscious, both from shock and from a collision to the head. Bryan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let the air out slowly through his nose. "Mightyena, return," he said acceptingly, aiming a pokéball towards his incapacitated pokemon, "you served me well." Mightyena returned to his ball in a flickering streak of red light. He returned the ball to its place and pulled out another reluctantly. "Please don't let me down..." he said hopefully, "your my last chance..." He steadied himself and launched his pokéball towards the battlefield. "Come on out Manectric! Make me proud!" He exclaimed. A flash of red light propelled from the pokéball, took the form of a pokemon, and faded, leaving a stout manectric in its place. The manectric glared intently at Blaziken. Blaziken shuddered, and his fur twitched; he began to move forward, but Jaden stopped him.
"Hold on, let him attack first."
"... Are you sure?" Bryan asked, "Ok then." Bryan smiled with respect for Jaden, wether he was being courteous or aimed for a challenge. "Manectric! Drive fear into their hearts with a vicious quick attack!" Manectric stood stagnant. "Please..." he pleaded, dropping his built up bravado. Manectric turned its head toward Bryan. It stared directly at him with lifeless intensity. Jaden and Kaylee untightened their fists and stood curiously. Blaziken remained tense.
"I'm sorry..." Bryan apologized, rubbing his hair in embarrassment, "I just got him from a trade, and I guess he hasn't really warmed up to me ye-" A sudden snarl protruded from the manectric's mouth, and in an instant, he pounced on Bryan with surprising force. Bryan let out a searing scream as the manectric's teeth sank deeply into his right arm, drawing a significant amount of blood rather quickly. Jaden and Kaylee stood frozen in fear and confusion, unable to react. All Jaden could focus on was the empty white soulless orbs where the manectric's eyes should be. Bryan hopelessly flailed his arm in an attempt to free himself from the manectric's deadly grip, but in turn only increased the bleeding. Blaziken suddenly sprang into action, sprinting towards Bryan. He forcefully grabbed the manectric's head and latched his other hand onto its bottom jaw, forcing it off of Bryan's arm with sheer momentum. He flung the manectric into a nearby tree, where it violently smacked the trunk and lay still at its base. It lost all consciousness.
Jaden snapped out of his daze and rushed over to a cringing Bryan, who stood bent over, clutching his bloody arm. The blood traveled further down his arm and dripped onto the clean dewy grass. Kaylee followed, covering her mouth with both hands in surprise.
"Bryan!" Jaden yelled, stopping in front of him, "are... are you ok? Your manectric..." Bryan stood speechless, staring at his mutilated arm.
Kaylee gasped, finally getting a close look at the damage, "we have to get to the pokemon center NOW. The Verdanturf pokecenter is only a few minutes away." She reached into her belt-pack and pulled out a new red shirt, identical to the one she was wearing. She gently wrapped it around Bryan's arm, tied a knot, and pulled tightly. Bryan winced. "That should help keep the blood inside your body, I think" she said in an attempt to console him.
"Thanks..." he paused, "but what about your shirt?"
"It's ok, it was already red anyways" she said lightheartedly.
"Let's hurry" Jaden said. He turned to Blaziken, who faced the fainted manectric, arms crossed and eyes focused. "Thanks Buddy, you really saved him..." Jaden rubbed his head proudly, "and you beat him!" Blaziken took his attention away from the manectric and basked in his triumphs, his arms still folded. Jaden gave him a smile, and Blaziken attempted to return the favor.
Bryan used his functional arm to grab a pokéball from his belt. "Why does he hate me...?" he mumbled to himself, "am I a bad trainer...?" He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Manectric. Please return." The manectric returned to its ball. Bryan stared at the pokeball. He looked past the material; he examined his own reflection. He was disappointed at what he saw.

===============================

Thank you for reading!