The Unyielding Façade

Part 12 - A Pathetic Attempt

"What is that...?" he said and looked at the paper, "Die in hell, asshole. How do you even sleep at night?"

...huh? I thought and eyed the paper as well.

But then, another arrow zoomed in and cut the strap of his satchel. Right at that moment too, a bunch of stuff rolled out of his bag. I could spot four Pokeballs, a Pokegear, several cans of lemonade, 4 full heal sprays, a handkerchief, and a notebook among the the pile.

"Damn..." he said and reached for the nearest Pokeball to him.

But right then too, I just noticed that there was a Pokeball on the other end of the second arrow.

What's that for? I thought, oh-

However, before I could react, a Rhyperior popped out from the Pokeball, with its drill directed right towards the neck of the young man. The drill swirled in the Pokémon's forehead, accompanied with an unpleasant whirring noise in the air.

I was just about to reach for Swanna's Pokeball when I caught the young man's calm chestnut eyes. It was as if they were telling to just trust him. He just kept quiet and looked at the Rhyperior, saying nothing. Then he took a quick step to the side, and Rhyperior nudged the drill right where he was, boring a pretty big hole in the ground. Antonio released his grasp on the Pokeball and it rolled out from his hand and went right into the hole the Rhyperior just made.

Maybe I should step in- I thought and grabbed Swanna's Pokeball.

"I don't know who your trainer is, but tell them to man up and face me in person," he suddenly said, "loser,"

He backed away about the length of one stride. However, the Rhyperior did not attack. It just petrified on its place, both of its eyes wide open. However, Antonio didn't seem surprised at all. He just turned his back and walked away with both his hands in his coat's pockets. Right at that moment too, suddenly the Rhyperior fell down with a very loud thud - right on the spot where the young lad stood before. The ground shook from the impact that I was almost thrown to the air.

"What... happened?" I muttered.

"Good job, Roserade," he said and offered a hand to the hole Rhyperior made earlier.

Unexpectedly, a Roserade climbed out from the hole, taking its trainer's hand. The young man just smiled and returned his Pokémon to its Pokeball. I could only stare at the sight in disbelief.

Did he make Roserade attack Rhyperior secretly from below? I thought, he's pretty quick to respond to these stuffs. What he lacks in power, he makes up in strategy.

"Okay, now my stuffs... there's Lucario, Salamence, Dewgong..." he said and began picking up his Pokeballs from the ground, "where's my Pokegear..."

I glanced to my left and right, however I could only spot the lemonade cans and full heals lying on the ground.

"Did it roll somewhere further?" I mused as I turned around, "Rhyperior doesn't have pickup ability, right?"

"No..." he said, "and if anything, sending Rhyperior here is stupid, alright. Roserade's level isn't that high, but we won with one Giga Drain. Sure I gave him a Miracle Seed, but that shouldn't do much at our current level,"

...true... I thought and put a hand to my chin, even a pack of wild Pokémon can defeat Roserade yesterday... in a hands-on raw power fight...

"Why would anyone do this?" I wondered out loud and shook my head as I walked a few steps further, trying to spot any signs of the Pokegear.

"Hey fairy," he said as he picked up the notebook and put it into his satchel, "do you think... Azul's in this thing?"