Into Pokemon (reader-insert)

Chapter 16

Just as I was opening my mouth to scream, someone wandered into the clearing. "Ow, my head they muttered, holding a black gloved hand against their face. Their black climbing boots barely made a sound as they padded past us. A black hooded jacket and black pants matched their black theme as did the black fabric that hid their lower face. Just as they were about to get to the other side of the clearing, they stopped and realized that we were standing here.

I watched their gold eyes take everything in. The looked at me, Haunter towering over me, Charmeleon half-dead on the floor, and finally, the red 'R's that stood proudly on their masks. The hooded figure narrowed their eyes. "Is everything okay, here?" They growled.

"G-Ghost," The short grunt muttered. "Yes," 'Ghost' said. "Now answer my question."

Jack approached the figure without a care in the world. "Don't worry, sir. We've got this all under control. We found this damsel in distress while we were headed to Vermilion. She was attacked by this naughty pokemon here-" he pointed to Charmeleon "-but as you can see, the problem has been taken care of." He smiled sweetly at them.

Ghost grinned. "Oh, Jack. Do you really think that I would believe that you helped someone?" Jack pouted. "Ah Ghost, you wound me! After all the things we've been through, too!" He slung his arm around the shorter Ghost's shoulders.

The man in black chuckled darkly. "Your more confident than last time, Jack. I would think you would be running away by now," he said. "Of course I am! I was just beat this Charmeleon here, as you can see, I'm much stronger than last time my dear friend." He walked back towards the center of the clearing. "Want to see how much?"

"Of course," Ghost said. "Jack of Team Rage, challenge you to a one versus one pokemon battle!" he yelled and dramatically pointed across the field. He grabbed a pokeball from his belt as Jack returned his Haunter.

Ghost threw out a ponyta covered in flames to face Jack's beedrill. "Ponyta, go," he commanded. Jack's eyes squinted in concentration, he knew that this would be a tricky match for him with the type match up. The fire-type pokemon rushed forward, the flames of its mane stretching out to wrap around its body. He ran towards the beedrill like a bullet, but turned around at the last second and kicked the beedrill's face with his back to legs.

The bug-type staggered backwards and Ponyta came back with another attack. He ran behind the opponent's pokemon and bit him on the back of his arm, flames pouring out of his mouth and burning the beedrill.

I slowly began to walk out of the clearing and into the forest as beedrill used the last of his remaining strength to toss ponyta to the ground before fainting. I returned Charmeleon to his pokeball as Jack returned his fallen pokemon with a grimace and released his next pokemon, Haunter.

Ghost returned his ponyta and took another pokeball off his belt. He didn't say a word as he released his pokemon from the pokeball. As I continued to slowly back away, I tried to get a glimpse of the new pokemon on the battle field. Lightning covered the creature, and I couldn't get a good look of the pokemon underneath.

Haunter floated over to the pokemon almost casually, but it was easy to see the he was on edge. Suddenly, he swiped out with a clawed hand trying to reach through the electricity, but the lightning pokemon leap forward and sent a stream of electricity towards the unprotected area right below the arm Haunter was reaching out with.

Haunter flinched for a second before continuing his attacks, swiping, punching, and biting through the match. Try as he might, none of the attacks seemed to connect, and every time he tried, he was rewarded with a jolt of lightning.

By the time Haunters health was halfway gone, I was at the edge of the clearing and neither battler had noticed me. I turned around, ready to run through the forest, only to run into someone standing right behind me. The tall Team rage grunt looked down at me, frowning. He grabbed my shoulders, but I stomped on his foot and kneed him in the gut.

He cursed, doubling over in pain. I smiled at him and ran off into the woods. I already knew that Ghost was going to win the battle, but I still wasn't sure if he was a good or bad guy and I definitely wasn't in the condition to challenge him to a pokemon battle.