Reborn As Barry

Chapter Nineteen

Gabe took a deep breath and sat down after the long battle he had with the pack of Houndour and their ferocious leader. Jamie remained by his side, nursing her wounds while the other Houndour observed her. It was then that one of the Houndour padded up to her and began barking.

Jamie looked up at the Houndour and gave a calm response to the canine. After a brief exchange, Houndour gave a respectful nod before returning to his pack, barking for them to fall in line. It appeared as though that particular Houndour had become the new leader. Looking back, Houndour glanced up at Gabe with a look that seemed to say "take care of him" before walking off with his pack in tow.

"And so the torch has been passed..." Gabe said to himself with a smile.

"That was AMAZING!" came a startlingly loud feminine voice, causing Gabe to nearly jump out of his skin.

Standing in front of him was a young girl around fourteen years of age, with bright pink hair done up in what appeared to be a single long pigtail with a hoop-like style on the opposing side of her head. She had brown eyes and wore a white school uniform with a red skirt and white stockings.

"Where did you-"

"First the pack of Houndour had you cornered, but you were all, 'naw I got this,' and sent out a blue Psyduck. The pack was all rawr! and Luxio was all growl! and Psyduck was cool too I guess," the girl went on, prompting a confused reaction from Gabe.

"The pack closed in, thinking they had the advantage, but suddenly, SPLASH! ZAP! Luxio and Psyduck repelled the pack in defense of their Trainer!" She added.

"I know, I was just-" Gabe began, only to be cut off by the girl.

"Then, just as it was looking good, SURPRISE! the pack leader sprang into action and pulverized Psyduck with one mighty blow, and Luxio was like 'oh no you didn't!' and thus the smack talk began. And soon the two were locked in mortal combat! Luxio seemed to have the advantage but, spoilers, Houndour was hiding his true power all along! FWOOSH! HOWWLLLL! Houndour evolved into Houndoom!" she continued energetically.

Sweat trickled down the side of Gabe's face as the girl went into a dramatic reenactment of his battle with Houndoom.

"Houndoom and Luxio were both exhausted, and with the remaining energy they had, they fired off two epic attacks that clashed for a power struggle! and even though Houndoom had become stronger, Luxio prevailed and blasted Houndoom away, weakening him enough for her Trainer to capture him! It was incredible!" She squealed.

With a smile and a sigh, she looked up at Gabe and tilted her head to the side.

"I'm Mira, by the way, what's your name?" She beamed.

"It's Gabe... I mean, Barry. My friend's name is Gabe," Gabe replied hastily.

"Barry huh? Nice to meetcha!" She giggled.

Gabe breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his brow.

That's right, Mira was in this cave wasn't she? Strangely enough, she's not speaking in third person. Good, I found that annoying anyway...

"So whatcha doin' in here Barry?" Mira asked with a raised brow.

"Well, I was training. But as you just saw, that pack of Houndour had other ideas," Gabe remarked.

"Cool! I was training too! I'm training so I can challenge the Pokémon League! I've got two badges so far and I'm gunning for my third!" Mira chirped.

Ah... I remember now. Mira has a pretty powerful team from what I recall. The headliner of it being an Alakazam.

"The League huh? That's cool. I happen to be aiming to take on the League myself," Gabe admitted proudly.