Battle by The Beach
I Choose You|
02. Battle by the beach
|
 |
Written by Blu3Wind
They ran back to Pyxidis Market, the ocean of people more crowded than before. The girl easily slipped her way through the crowd, making it seem like a choreographed dance than a chase. Her Swablu followed right above her, making good use of its flying ability.
Woohyun turned to Growlithe and Wooper. He knew his Growlithe would have no trouble getting through, but Wooper might get trampled on for being so small. So he picked up the water Pokemon in his arms and attempted his way through the crowd.
He was not so surprised to see the Magikarp fanatic standing next to the girl, offering a Magikarp keychain for free if she was willing to join his club. Clearly, he was terrible at reading the girl’s frantic expression, showing no interest in his offer.
“Have you seen this shopkeeper?” She asked, pointing to the deserted stand.
“No, but I have seen your future, and it is filled with Magikarps,” the guy said, widening his lips to a smile.
She narrowed her eyes at him, not knowing how to respond. Normally she would’ve offered a polite chuckle, but not today, not after she got scammed. She turned sideways, seeing Woohyun had finally caught up. “What do we do now, stalker guy?”
“My name’s Nam Woohyun,” he corrected and returned the teasing at her. “Are you gonna introduce yourself or should I refer to you as the scammed one?”
She gave him a look and soon broke into a laugh. “Fair enough. I’m Jang Hyunmi.”
“And I’m Park Chanyeol!” The Magikarp fanatic introduced himself for no reason at all, grinning widely at the other two like they would become the bestest friends in the whole wide world.
It took three seconds for the other two to pretend like his interruption never happened.
“Well, Hyunmi, lucky for you, my Pokemons happen to be really good at tracking down people,” Woohyun bragged, grinning to himself as he looked at his puppy. “Growlithe here is good at following scent.”
The Pokemon stepped forward with a majestic pose, as if to say that they could count on him. He then began sniffing the stand, picking up the trail of scent that would lead to the scammer.
“And I also have this guy.” Woohyun threw a Pokeball in the air, releasing a purple bat like Pokemon with four wings. “Crobat, use supersonic to locate the a guy wearing a kimono with his Aipom.”
The Crobat screeched, quickly flying up and away, looking for the two criminals. Even Growlithe seemed to have made some progress, barking to Woohyun to relay his findings.
“Impressive,” Hyunmi nodded in approval.
“You know,” Chanyeol casually interrupted, fiddling with the fake crown fin on his Magikarp’s onesie. “If you wanted to find Minhyuk, you only had to ask me.”
“You know the scammer by name?” Hyunmi’s mouth fell open.
“You know where he is?” Woohyun was just as perplexed.
“Minhyuk’s a good friend of mine. Of course I know where he is,” Chanyeol spoke, snickering to himself since he now had the upper hand. “But I won’t give the knowledge out for free.”
“We’re not going to join your Magikarp Fanclub,” Hyunmi stated.
“Then I won’t tell you where he is.”
“Fine by me. Crobat and Growlithe can both manage,” Woohyun said, taking Hyunmi by the wrist to follow him. They were about to turn to the other direction when Chanyeol grunted out loud.
“Okay, okay! Since you insist, I’ll tell you. He’s at the beach, Wailmer-watching,” Chanyeol revealed. “He loves whale Pokemons. So your best bet is to go to the beach.”
The other two exchanged a brief look, smiling at the ease of obtaining new leads. Chanyeol did not seem as shady as the other merchants—maybe a little dumb and way too obsessed—but they believed he spoke the truth.
So they changed the course of their direction toward the beach, and Chanyeol followed right from behind.
The beach was deserted, which was quite understandable since the weather was still too hot. Going out for a swim was akin to a mission to get sunburned.
Everywhere they looked, they couldn’t locate the scammer by the name of Minhyuk. They did, however, see a girl wearing a broken white cami dress with a large sun hat that was perfect for the Summer. She was holding a stick, poking it against something green colored thing in the water.
She was not Minhyuk, but the imagery was concerning enough that beckoned them to approach her.
“Go on, Chikole. Swim!” She urged on, poking the green thing with the edge of the stick.
As they neared, they identified the green thing as a Chikorita. It was restlessly paddling in the water, trying its best to stay afloat. But once it stopped moving its legs, it sunk to the bottom of the sea.
“Chilot, no! Come on, I know that deep down inside you can swim!” The girl yelled hopefully.
“Actually, it can’t,” Hyunmi interrupted.
Wooper jumped from Woohyun’s hands and entered the water to help keep Chikorita from sinking. He even used his tail to move Chikorita closer to the shore, but she kept sinking.
“What? Are you saying that my Charlote can’t swim?” The girl asked, completely devastated.
“Is it me or does she keep changing its name every time she calls out to it?” Woohyun whispered, and Hyunmi chuckled at the observation.
“Chikorita is a grass type Pokemon. She can’t swim,” she then explained.
“No way! She looks like a leaf! A leaf can float on water, so I thought she could too!” The girl said, her mind completely blown by this new piece of information.
The Chikorita tried to obey its owner’s belief, showing that it could swim. But once again, Wooper had to help keep it afloat. Even Swablu provided some help from above, letting Chikorita use her vines to wrap around Swablu’s body. The two Pokemons struggled to keep Chikorita from drowning again.
“Oh, no! My plan to ride Chiloat like a speedboat failed!” The girl cried out woefully, falling down to the floor.
Woohyun and Hyunmi exchanged another look, not expecting their search for Minhyuk to take this unexpected, strange turn.
“You know what you can ride like a speedboat?” Chanyeol took the opportunity, and called out his beloved Pokemon from its Pokeball. “A Magikarp!”
No one knew why Chanyeol decided to call out his Magikarp on sand when the perfectly available sea was right next to it. They watched the orange fish Pokemon splash, and splash, and splash.
“It’s ugly,” the girl said.
“What? How could you say that? You’ve hurt him! Magikarp is hurt!” Chanyeol cried dramatically, falling on his knees to the sand. “Just look at its face! It’s crying!”
They looked at Magikarp’s face, expressionless, and dumb. It was definitely not crying or hurting, not based on that emotionless expression.
But before they could add on another comment, Crobat returned with a screech that pried for their attention.
“You found him?” Woohyun asked.
Crobat nodded once, flapping its wings to the left, revealing a wooden bridge hidden behind a small beach hut. On it, they saw the backside of a guy and an Aipom, both still wearing a kimono.
“They were here all along! How could we have missed it?” Woohyun cried, quickly running toward the two. Growlithe immediately followed.
“Hey, Minhyuk!”
The dirty blond haired guy turned around from his leisurely Wailmer-watching, requiring several seconds before registering the people before him.
“Ah, miss, have your wish come true?” He asked, calmly getting to his feet. “Are you here for more?”
“You tricked me. There's no wishing well and there's no wishing potion. Give me back my money!” Hyunmi yelled.
“Another unsatisfied customer. I can give you back your money, but I’d need the wishing potion back,” Minhyuk said, stretching his hand out. He saw the girl flinch, and that made him smile devilishly. “Oh, you used it all, didn’t you? In that case, I’m afraid I can’t give you a refund.”
“How can you follow proper sales conduct when you scammed her in the first place? Return her money or else…” Woohyun trailed off, signaling Growlithe to come forward.
“Or else what? You’re going to fight me with your fiery puppy? In this area?” Minhyuk asked, spreading his arms to represent the beach.
“Wait, don’t use Growlithe,” Hyunmi interrupted, standing in front of the Pokemon. “If my hunch is right, that Wailmer belongs to him. If he attacks using Wailmer, Growlithe would be at a disadvantage.”
Woohyun kept quiet, recognizing the familiarity in this situation. Fire’s weakness was water. It was a common knowledge. He knew this when he battled Yerin’s fire Pokemons. So why did he insist on fighting against her using grass type Pokemons instead of attacking her using water Pokemons?
“You know what would be advantageous in a water battle?” Chanyeol interrupted out loud. “A Magikarp!”
“Let me handle this.” Hyunmi ignored Chanyeol’s unnecessary comment and threw a Pokeball before her. Out of it came an elegant Glaceon.
“Wow,” Woohyun mouthed. He had only seen Glaceon on TV before, but never knew how majestic it would look in real life. It would make a royal pair if only his Leafeon had still been there.
“If you’re not giving me my money back, I’ll take it by force. Glaceon, use blizzard!”
Glaceon’s eyes began to glow an icy color of blue, collecting an energy force around her. Ice shards began to appear in the air, and as she was about to release a mighty blizzard, Aipom appeared with a glowing tail and flicked it against Glaceon’s facs, halting the move as she got blown backwards. On top of that, Wailmer used rock smash, calling out rocks to fall upon Glaceon, which she quickly avoided in time.
“No fair, that’s two against one!” Woohyun shouted.
“You said I’m a scammer, you should’ve known I won’t play fairly,” Minhyuk sang. “Aipom use shadow ball. Wailmer, hydro pump!”
Woohyun’s hand moved to his Pokeball, about to choose Leafeon—a wise choice against a water type Pokemon. But then he remembered he had just transferred him today, leaving him with less favorable choices.
“Wooper!” The little blue Pokemon said, suddenly jumping in front of Woohyun, wiggling its legs like it was doing a kick.
“You… You wanna fight?” Woohyun asked, and the little guy answered enthusiastically. “Alright, let’s focus on Aipom so Glaceon can freeze Wailmer. Water gun!”
Wooper spewed a spurt of water from his mouth, tackling Aipom backwards, furthering his distance from Glaceon.
Hyunmi saw the created opportunity and counterattacked. “Use ice beam and freeze the entire ocean!”
“Is that even possible?” The girl with the sun hat asked.
“Oh no! The poor Magikarp will be frozen!” Chanyeol exclaimed dramatically.
Glaceon gathered its energy again as Wooper swiftfully covered her, shooting water guns to keep Aipom away.
When Glaceon had fully recharged, she opened , discharging a blinding flash of light right toward Wailmer. The water around him began to turn into ice, ripple by ripple, until the cold spread all over the whale Pokemon, trapping him in a block of ice. It was a beautiful sight, resembling more of a performance than an attack.
“No! Stop that!” Minhyuk yelled, about to run to his Pokemon when a spray of water looped over him like a lasso. It spiraled from his legs to his neck, halfting him. It was Wooper’s water gun.
“Hyunmi, freeze him!” Woohyun said, and Hyunmi quickly told Glaceon to freeze Wooper’s water gun. The water soon solidified into beautiful crystals of ice, trapping Minhyuk in an icy rope.
Aipom panicked, quickly returning to Minhyuk’s idle shoulder where he raised a white flag of surrender.
Woohyun approached, feeling around Minhyuk’s pocket to retrieve the blue colored money bag which he recognized as Hyunmi’s. He tossed it back to her. “I believe that belongs to you.”
“Thank you.” She carefully counted her coins to make sure none was missing. And only then did she fasten it around her belt, making it seem like a fashion accessory than a wallet.
“You did amazing, Glaceon,” she told her Pokemon, kneeling down to pet its head. She took out some blue colored Pokeblocks from her fanny pack and fed it to Glaceon. As soon as she swallowed the last cube, Hyunmi called her to return to the Pokeball.
“Wow! That was awesome you guys!” The sun hat girl spoke, hopping her way over. “You guys are like pros! You have to teach me how to become like you both.”
“Like us?” Hyunmi asked, eyeing Woohyun. “I think we’re aiming for different things, though.”
“What do you mean?” The girl asked.
“Well, I want to win the Ribbon Cup. Soon you will recognize the name Jang Hyunmi as the Top Coordinator in all of the Hato Region,” Hyunmi said, and Swablu a victorious pose, tilting her heads up like a true victor.
“You’re a Pokemon Coordinator? No wonder your moves were so graceful!” Woohyun said all excitedly. He had encountered enough Coordinators in his lifetime—his mother being one herself—but seeing one at work always left him speechless. “So you’re joining the Pokemon Contest in Pyxidis City, right?”
The pride on her face faltered a little, and Swablu drew herself closer against her. “Something like that, yeah.”
“I have no idea what that is, but it sounds cool!” The girl said, now turning to Woohyun. “Are you a Coordinator too?”
“No, I’m a trainer.”
“I knew it!” Hyunmi nodded, folding her arms. “You strategize like a true trainer would. That last move to freeze Wooper’s water gun was really great thinking.”
“T-thank you.”
After losing to Yerin numerous times, hearing the compliment lifted his spirits again. Unlike Yerin’s claims, Woohyun was capable of forming a good battle strategy that could overthrow Pyxidis’ gym leader. Their next battle would surely not be a pointless one.
“You showed perfect teamwork with Wooper,” Hyunmi said, looking at the blue Pokemon cheerfully jumping between them, mainly looking at Woohyun. “I think it has taken a liking to you too.”
“Huh,” he spoke. Wooper was a water Pokemon, and though he may be small compare to Yerin’s humongous Pokemons, Woohyun was still in desperate need of a water Pokemon. Perhaps, he could be the beginning of his forthcoming victory. “Meeting you must be fate, Wooper. What do you say? Would you like to join me?”
Wooper jumped happily, as did Growlithe who began his new friend as a friendly welcoming greeting.
So Woohyun gently threw his Pokeball to a smiling Wooper, but it bounced right off.
“Uhm.. Let’s try that again.”
He repeated his throw, and this time Wooper entered the Pokeball. It only took one second for the ball to stop moving and the lights to go off. Wooper was as eager to join the party as Woohyun was eager to have a water Pokemon.
“This is great!” Woohyun let out Wooper again, its smile even wider than before. “I’ll have a higher chance to beat Yerin now.”
“Yerin? Who is Yerin?” Chanyeol asked, probably finding a new target to extend his Magikarp Fanclub membership invitation to.
“The gym leader of Pyxidis City. She fights using fire and fighting type Pokemons,” Woohyun elaborated.
“Wow, you know what’s really good against fire Pokemons? Magikarp!” Chanyeol looked at his Magikarp, still splashing in the sand. One might even think it was beginning to sweat from the blazing heat, but Chanyeol was certain it were tears of joy.
“Uhm, guys, what were we supposed to do with the frozen guy?” The sun hat girl suddenly asked, pointing at the place where Minhyuk had been. “Because I think we just let him go.”
The others all flicked their head around, seeing shattered ice shards remains on the bridge. A frozen mark indicated where Wailmer had broken free in the ocean, supposedly using surf to help his trainer escape.
“I completely forgot about him!” Hyunmi snapped her fingers in annoyance. She had been too excited talking about the Ribbon Cup that she forgot about the swindler.
“At least you got your money back. Next time we see him, he won’t get off this easily,” Woohyun said.
The others nodded in agreement, heading back to the city. The chase to the beach had taken longer than expected, and before they knew it, it was already sunset.
“So what’s your name?” Hyunmi asked the other girl who had yet to introduce herself.
“Oh, my name is Kang Seulyi. And this here is my Chi… Ah, what was it again? Chitos?” she said, looking confused at her Chikorita.
“Do you have a thousand nicknames for your Chikorita? You call her something different every time,” Woohyun asked.
“Ah! Chikorita! Yes, that’s her name. I’m just really bad at remembering it,” Seulyi said.
“Would be tough during a battle,” Woohyun mumbled, which made Hyunmi laugh.
“So we know that Woohyun wants to defeat the gym leader, I want the Pyxidis Ribbon, and Chanyeol wants to…”
“Convert people into Magikarp worshippers,” he filled in.
“Uhm, yes, that.” Hyunmi cleared , wishing she hadn’t included his name. “What do you wanna do, Seulyi?”
“Me?” Seulyi repeated, coyly linking her arms together as she swung her skirt from side to side. “I want to impress a guy.”
“Oh?”
“You know how you can impress him? Get him a Magi—”
Hyunmi stuffed Swablu to Chanyeol’s face as the Pokemon happily used its wings to muffle out his speech. “Who is this guy? Do we know him?”
“Well, everyone knows him,” Seulyi spoke, cupping her blushing cheeks. “He’s a very famous Pokemon performer who travels from city to city to hold concerts. He’s scheduled to perform here this week, so I followed him here.”
“Oh, an idol!” Hyunmi did not expect this, knowing Pokemon performers were much harder to approach. “What’s his name?”
“His name is L,” Seulyi said, squealing once to herself as her coy movements became more frantic. She wiggled her body, unable to contain the affection oozing from her. “But that’s just a stage name. His real name is Kim Myungsoo.”
“Kim Myungsoo?” Woohyun repeated, eyes wide open. Growlithe and Wooper both let out a sound of similar surprise and confusion.
“You know him?” Hyunmi asked.
“Yeah,” Woohyun said in a matter of fact way. “He’s my childhood friend.”
who is that pokemon?
 Swablu |
 Aipom |
 Growlithe |
 Wailmer |
 Wooper |
 Chikorita |
 Magikarp |
 Glaceon |
 Crobat |
 Leafeon |
You can see how crack this story is becoming. That scene of Chanyeol calling Magikarp out on sand is probably my favorite scene throughout the entire story XD Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy how random this is becoming! :D
Also, isn't the layout so pretty? Thank you ann1914 for coding it! <3
Also, isn't the layout so pretty? Thank you ann1914 for coding it! <3
Comments