Chapter 6 - Hunting Rattata

I woke up to my soft jazz alarm feeling refreshed, snuggling against Chrys and Chaos. This bed was proving to be worth the money.

“Let’s get going team, today's a big day. We’re going to go off route.”

Chaos shot up. While Chrys slowly roused herself, spinning her leaf in lazy circles.

Exiting the tent, I found the clearing was missing a tent. It looked like Kaley had left early to terrorize more wild pokemon, before the sun had risen. It was 6:00, a little later than I usually got up, but I was trying to rise with the sun now that we were in the wild. Everyone else seemed to be still sleeping in their tents.

We had a quick breakfast. Instant cinnamon oatmeal for me. Chrys and Chaos got their specifically tailored pokemon food, which they seemed to love, and I made sure to add the supplements for Chrys.

Once done, I packed up my belongings which was as simple as the setup. Requiring minimal adjustment and button presses from me as the items returned to their cases. I took a last look at the campsite, then walked into the forest.

After 5 minutes we were out of earshot and we stopped at an area with sparse underbrush.

“Okay, we’re going to do a half hour of training. Chrys, I want you to try to harden and throw your leaves at that tree over there.”

“Chiko!”

“Chaos, let’s play tag.”

“Happi! Pi!”

Chaos chased me as I weaved through the trees. I made sure to keep clear of Chrys and lead Chaos on a circuitous route, letting her almost catch me but pulling away at the last second. After 10 minutes, I decided to play a little trick on her. I ran up to a tree with her trailing close, she was almost upon me as I dodged to the side. She flailed her arms as she tried to change course, but ended up headbutting the tree.

I winced, but she was back up in a flash and after me. I quickly got to my feet, leading her in a circuit once more. When we were back in the groove, Chaos nipping at my heels, I tried the same trick. I dodged to the side, and took a look back. To my surprise, Chaos wasn’t trying to turn like I had intended, but ran at the tree and jumped. She kicked off the tree, sailing towards me and tackled me to the ground.

“Oof!”

“Happi! Happi!” She shrilled, while dancing on my chest.

“Good job, girl!” I smiled and stroked the curl on her head. “Let’s go check on Chrys before I take my turn chasing you.” I got to my feet and carried Chaos over to Chrys, who was whipping her leaf back and forth while hardening it.

“How’s it going, Chrys?”

“Rita. Rii.” She said, sounding exasperated.

“It’s okay. I don’t expect you to get it right away.” I pet her leaf. “I’m sure you’re trying your best and you’ll get the hang of it soon.”

“Chiko!”

I left her to it, and began to chase Chaos. Soon, my alarm went off and I gathered the team. Chaos had improved greatly in agility, but Chrys was still a little frustrated she couldn’t throw her leaves.

“Alright, team. We’re going to be going deeper into the forest, so I want everyone to be alert. Chrys will be in the lead, followed by me and Chaos. We’ll try to find some lone pokemon, we’ll stay clear of any groups for now. Any questions?”

They replied with an affirmative, “Chiko!”, “Happi!”

I was all geared up and ready. While we were training I had seen a couple of wild pokemon, but they had quickly skittered off. I chose to head in the direction I had seen a rattata scurry in. Chrys was dutifully scouting ahead, zigzagging left and right.

We proceeded in this fashion for around 10 minutes until Chrys ran up to me with a low, “Chiko.”

I slowly approached the direction she came from, spotting a lone rattata at a berry bush.

“Okay, Chrys, I want you to try to handle this yourself. Remember the battle with Bruno, I want you to use similar hit and run tactics. But first slash at it with your leaf.”

“Chiko.”

She stalked the rattata, slowly approaching. Once she was 5 metres away, she sprinted up to the rattata, who turned in surprise. It dodged to the side but was scored along his flank by Chrys’ leaf.

Screaming, the rattata bared its fangs and started charging at Chrys. I smirked. Perfect.

From there, the battle was pretty one sided. Chrys easily dodged and tackled the wounded rattata, only receiving a minor scratch. With one last hearty tackle, the rattata was knocked out.

“Good job, Chrys!” I ran up and hugged her. Then I looked over to the rattata, its breathing was shallow, but the cut on its side was already scabbed over. I knew that pokemon had impossibly amazing recovery abilities, but was still feeling bad for the rattata.

I collected the berries on the bush, putting them in my backpack. But I left a couple in front of the rattata, they should be fine once they wake up.

Chrys’ scratch was already mostly healed so I didn’t need to use a potion on her. We set off again, with Chrys scouting and came upon another rattata.

“You’re up, Chaos. Remember to stand your ground if they’re faster.”

“Happi.”

She wasn’t very stealthy, so the rattata noticed her before she could get close. It yelled out, “Rattata!” And charged at Chaos, aiming to bite her. Chaos stood firm and batted it away, though she was scored by its teeth on her arm.

The rattata continued to circle and lash out at Chaos with its claws and teeth. Chaos was slowly accumulating damage, but was still relentlessly batting away the rattata as it pounced. I grit my teeth while watching the battle closely.

The rattata was batted away once more, but left a gash on Chaos’ arm. As it started to land, I sensed the rattata tensing and channelling energy into its legs.

“Watch out!” I yelled, just as the rattata landed and began to launch toward Chaos with a quick attack. Chaos froze for a split second, as I watched the rattata sail through the air. I was already running towards Chaos, potion in hand. The rattata was now right in front of Chaos’ face. When she launched forward, energy exuding from her legs and forehead, and headbutted the rattata.

With a large thud the rattata smacked into a tree. I stood there, dumbly, for a second. Until I remembered that Chaos was still hurt. I rushed over to her and applied a liberal amount of potion on her wounds. As I tended to her, she shrilled happily, “Happiny! Happi!”

I looked over to the rattata to see it unconscious at the base of the tree. Chrys was standing protectively between the rattata and us. Thinking back over the battle, I realized that Chaos must have used copycat to use quick attack on the rattata.

“Good job, Chaos! You did well.” She was looking healthy again. “Let’s go hunt some rattata.”

We proceeded to do just that, with Chrys taking two encounters for every one that Chaos took. Chrys handily dealt with most of her opponents. She flitted around, evading most damage but getting the occasional scratch.

There was one rattata that was stronger than the others. It used a quick attack into hyper fang combo that managed to sink into Chrys’ leg. But Chrys retaliated with her leaf and slashed at the rattata, knocking it out.

Chaos was more of a tank, taking damage as she dealt it. Over time, she was beginning to deal more damage than she took. I made sure she didn’t fight any of the stronger rattata and she was able to hold her own.

Things were going well. So well, that I didn’t notice the increasing frequency of the rattata.

Chrys came sprinting up to us with a rattata trailing behind her. Once she reached us, the rattata stopped and bellowed, “RATTATA!”

In response I heard their cries, “Rattata!”, “Ratta!”, “Rattata!”

From all sides they came. Surrounding us, with a couple of strong looking rattata at our rear.

“Chiko!”, “Happi!” My friends yelled out in challenge.

I took a deep breath and unclipped my stun baton.

“Let’s go!”