RE: Winds of Time - PokéBeach CYOA - Chapter 2
Chapter 4
There, you did it. You declared a Pokémon battle with an infamous thug who pilfered food, money, and possibly more from these villagers; thoughts flood your mind as you are faced with this decision.
Is this the path of a Pokémon trainer? All journeys start with the first step, but you know that’s a threadbare cliché and philosophy won’t help you against the devious creature that stands before you in chains like a hellhound, ready to devour your pokemon and the livestock of the people you defend whole. You are what stands between them and nothing more.
“Well, aren’t you feisty?” Bullet chuckles at the thought of having a Pokémon battle with you. “I accept your challenge, and I’ll have to take some more expenses to make up for the hassle and time wasted for this little battle. Time is money, after all.” Bullet smirks and pulls the chain of the creature. Its jaws extend as it leaps forward from the jerking of the chain; its teeth are certainly sharp enough to break bone, you imagine. Sizing up the opponent, you think it’s best for Piplup to strike quickly and dodge any attacks the monster can throw at it. The strongest of predators could be overtaken by the speed of its prey.
You look closer at your enemy. The creature seems to be shivering as it gnaws at the air. Whatever it is, it doesn’t like the cold; it must not be from around here. It’s certainly not a creature you’ve seen before. Bullet whisks off his shades and his dark blue eyes stares into yours. Your spine begins to shiver either from the frost of the snow and its cold touch or the frost in his eyes as he meets your gaze.
“It’s time to unleash the beast!” Bullet yells as he lets go of the chain and the creature leaps forward at Piplup in an attempt to gnash at his body, but it moves recklessly swaying its weight fully to one side in order to move forward as it comes closer. “Dodge it!” You call out instinctively out of worry for Piplup, and he reacts in sync with your command and circles around the creature, which proves easy for even Piplup and its rather poor balance. The beast falls to the ground for a moment in light of missing its target, leaving an opening: you don’t wait for opportunity to knock to open the door. “Freeze its chain!” You yell to Piplup who initially stares confused but soon is enlightened of your idea.
Piplup obeys and freezes the chain with a beam that shoots out of its mouth. As it touches the leash, a cold frost crawls from link to link of the chain until it is entirely frozen, enveloped in ice and rooted to the ground. The creature lets out muffled huffs and puffs as it tries to arise and its set of mountainous teeth gnaw at the ground in an attempt to push itself up but struggles for all its might.
“Idiot! Get up or you will never eat again!” Bullet calls out to his pokemon, and you swallow your sympathy. This is how losing Pokémon are treated, you observe seeing Bullet’s crass behavior and encouragement. You wonder if all Pokémon trainers are like Bullet, but you waste no moment and observe to attack while the getting is good.
“Attack him directly!” you command Piplup. It runs toward the enemy and takes off in a dive whilst its beak extends and glows a silvery white. The end grows sharp enough to pierce the creature’s skin and deliver the first blow of this encounter. Piplup’s beak finds its mark and strikes the monster hurling it away from Piplup and breaking the frozen chain. The monster smashes into the ground from the fall.
Bullet looks at the battle and grimaces but soon his frown forms into a smile. “Don’t let up!” You yell to Piplup but he gets the message and quickly conjures a beam of bubbles that blow toward the little creature as it is recovering, but it manages to rolls away from the blast of bubbles just in time to dodge. Piplup restarts his attack from the top and conjures a blast of bubbles aimed right toward the creature, and its eyes look toward Bullet desperate for a command. Bullet smiles as he snaps his fingers and the creature’s pupils grow wide. Left to right, right to left, it moves with unnerving speed and dodges the bubbles as Piplup tries desperately to aim in a zigzag motion to hit. Its attempts are futile, as Bullet’s creature approaches Piplup and tackles it, hurling Piplup to the ground as it charges once again to your pokemon.
“Get up, quickly!” You urge Piplup with all your might; a hint of worry permeates those words but nonetheless the creature tackles Piplup again, pushing him aside with ease.
“Now do you see, girl? This is a mountain you’ll never be able to climb!” Bullet mocks as he has the advantage and his creature seems poised to end the battle. Its ravenous jaws that have been watering since the battle began twitch in anticipation. “And this is just the tip of the iceberg...” Bullet smirks, his hand is outstretched and one finger points toward Piplup, still recovering, and still dazed from the repeated attacks with no tarry or reprieve. “Ice…” You murmur that word, as a thought occurs!
“Piplup, use ice!” You scream in realization as you remember the creature didn’t like the cold. The monster charges in anger toward Piplup as it tries to conjure ice instead of bubbles. “Hurry!” The monster gets closer as Piplup breathes in deeply until they are a few steps away from each other. The creature opens its jaws to devour, but is instead showered a small flurry of ice that penetrates its rough scaly skin and causes it to fall on the ground, knocked out.
“What… What did you do?” Bullet yells in frustration as he walks over to the creature. You’re breathing hard and you can see your breath as you exhale; the rush of battling was familiar because of the hunting you did with Piplup, but it somehow felt better. Perhaps, it was the fact that with the battle, you won peace for the villagers? Or, maybe it was fun? The villagers applaud the battle as Rex steps forward with a smile on his face and his eyes alit.
“Ye saw it with your own eyes, Bullet has been bested by this here little girl and her scrappy little critter!” Rex yelled as the cheers grew louder and the Gang’s face turned sour.
“That was just luck, old timer. We’ll be back again, and we’ll see how your hero will do then.” Bullet said with a threatening tone as he, his monster, and his gang departed the village like rats being led out of a house. They somehow always return until...
“You’ve done saved our stock. A deal is a deal Miss Mia,” Rex said delightfully.
“Didn’t you hear what he said? He’ll be back!” You exclaimed.
“Yes, but I reckon that as long as we have you, there ain’t nairy a one as tough or brave to tussle with you as Bullet. He seemed like he even had the shivers after that battle!” Rex was still in awe of your battle, but you had yet to decide your plans. You open your mouth to speak but quickly withdraw and purse your lips and Rex notices your indecisiveness.
“You do plan to stay? We’ll keep you fed and give you a place to stay, the wife and I have an extra room what with my son gone. You just have to do your part, and keep those gangs runnin’ home!” Rex offered.
Thoughts swirl through your mind. They may be saved for now, but what if Bullet’s gang returns? They look like they need help, and you could teach someone to battle when you do leave, so they won’t be helpless when you go. On the other hand, you still have places you need to travel to...
You're left with two choices, fancy people of Pokebeach! Will you stay with the village in hopes of training someone to battle in your stead or will you leave the village to travel elsewhere?
A) Stay in the Village
B) Leave the Village
The Voting Period will end on
September 30th, 2014, so keep that in mind! Until next time, Pokebeach!
