Aviva The Half-Breed Pokemon

Chapter 16 -- The Biggest Boss of All

A man-like Honchkrow in a black tuxedo, with gold necklaces coiling around his neck and wings, welcomed them in a mocking way. "Good day, rookies. New to town?" He spoke in a voice like a salesperson who was trying to cajole his unfortunate customers to buy his merchandise. 

A prickle of alarm speared up Aviva's spine. She knew she should stay away from this sly Pokemon but she was being slowly pulled in by the evil charm in his voice. 

Honchkrow, somehow, enjoyed the attention they were showering on him. He grinned in such a wicked way that revealed the rotten meat dangling in between his teeth. Then, he spread his wings to show off his shiny plumage, before beginning to tend his dark blue and red feathers. 

This talking crow definitely fits the title The Big Boss, Aviva thought. Her eyes moved up to the black eye-patch covering Honchkrow's right eye. Though the eye-patch was huge, it still failed to shield a fat scar that was stretching from his brow to the edge of his lips. 

Curious, Aviva asked, "Uhm, how did you get that?"

Honchkrow stopped tending his plumage and raised his head. As he realized Aviva was goggling at his scar, he quickly adjusted his eye-patch. "Ah, don't let my appearance fool you. I'm actually very friendly. So, what business are you attending to here?"

"We, uhm--" Aviva was tongue-tied. She couldn't just tell Honchkrow that she suspected him and wanted to ransack his base. Clueless, she turned to look at her comrades.

They looked even more hopeless and stupider.

"Ah, I see that you are still afraid of me." Honchkrow took off his hat and bowed. "I'm the mayor of Salton Town. How may I assist you?" This time, a hint of irritation crept into his pretended smile. His dark blue hat, with three rats' skeletons sewn in the middle of it, emitted a foul smell. 

Aviva tried her very best to suppress her urge to puke.

Smirking at the formidable effect that he successfully created, Honchkrow took out a cigarette from behind his ear. Chimchar, without being told, walked closer to him. 

Honchkrow lit up the cigarette with the fire at Chimchar's backside and took two sips of it before saying, "Since you are quite lost, let me tell you something. This is actually your lucky trip! We're organizing a wrestling competition in concurrent with the coming Cherry Blossom Festival."

"Wrestling competition? National Cherry Blossom Festival?" Aviva's eyes brightened with sudden excitement.

"That's right! Here!" Honchkrow handed her a black pamphlet with yellow fonts and pink falling petals. "You get 10,000 Rhonda if you win. If you lose, you lose your Pokemon to us. Selected contestants earn the honour to attend the festival in the local palace after the competition too."

The usually snobbish Ice Man exclaimed, "Palace? Of all the places you can choose, why must you--"

"That sounds fair and square!" Aviva cut his words. "What are we waiting for? How can I join this--"

Ice Man grabbed Aviva's arm and whispered to her, "This must be a trap. Plus, the palace is a--"

Aviva pulled him aside. "I do have a brain. This is the only chance to rescue all those Pokemon. And what's wrong with visiting the palace? It's everyone's honour."

Ice Man cleared his throat. "We shouldn't waste our time in this silly competition. It has nothing to do with rescuing Pikachu's friends."

"Idiot, I'm sure they kidnapped all those Pokemon for this competition. And since you have a shallow brain, let me tell you. He's Chimchar's Big Boss but the underling of the Big Boss' Boss."