Pokemon: Arceus' Champion

After going off to the side of our little picnic, the samurai and I looked at each other with determination as we prepared for battle.

"Go Metapod!" The samurai cried out as he threw a pokeball, releasing a small green elongated figure with eyes on the front. It was the second form of the Caterpie line, it's 'cocoon' form so to speak.

Looking at my opponent, I decided to give some new blood a chance I called over the newest addition to my team.

"How about it Combee?"

"Bee bee?" Combee asked curiously as she fluttered over casually. When she saw the serious situation occurring though, my little honey bee psyched herself up as she declared, "bee bee!"

As Combee was getting ready though, the samurai gaped at her before exclaiming suddenly, "So there ARE Combee in the woods right now!"

The girls and I looked at him funnily before he explained,

"Didn't you guys get the news update? There was a battle between an Alpha Vespiquen and the Beedrill yesterday! The Vespiquen was killed, but trainers are flocking to the woods right now to see if there's any remaining Combee to catch!"

The samurai then tapped his chest plate confidently as he stated, "I myself am trying to get Metapod to evolve so we can go further in and search for a FEMALE Combee! They're super rare compared to the males, and a LOT more valuable!"

I smiled wryly at his confidence before looking at Combee and saying, "hear that Combee? He's after your sisters."

Combee adopted a thoughtful look at my comment, seemingly trying to recall if she had any sisters or not, while the samurai took a good look at her for the first time.

His eyes went wide and he started sputtering incoherently as he hurriedly reached into his armor and pulled out a stack of cards. Finding the one he was looking for, he held it up and glanced back and forth between Combee and the card, before falling to his knees in despair.

"It's not fair..." He whimpered sadly at the realization that I had what could very well be the only female Combee in the forest. Which she readily confirmed as she told me that she hadn't had any sisters.

It wasn't like I couldn't understand his reaction though. Male Combee alone were practically worthless outside of creating a few jars of honey, as they weren't very strong independently, and they couldn't reproduce to create a hive.

"You know..." I started saying, drawing the samurai's attention as he glanced up at me from where he had fallen to his knees.

"Male Combee can still make honey by themselves, jut not as much as a hive. And this forest is teeming with bug and grass type Pokemon that would love to have some, and would definitely be drawn by its scent..."

As I trailed off on my words I saw the gears turning behind the samurai's eyes, thinking about what I said. Meanwhile, my partner suddenly cried out from the sideline, "Ri lu lu!"

My expression cramped slightly as he said that there had also been a horde of Pokemon drawn to the Combee honey at the hive when he and Treecko went to collect it for me last night. A horde they had both promptly wiped the floor with, composed of of dozens of bug and grass type Pokemon, with a few flying and water types mixed in.

Damn it. That would've been a prime opportunity to catch a bunch of Pokemon at once...

Stupid wound on my chest.

"Alright!" The samurai cried out suddenly, startling me from my inward resentment as he declared, "let's go Metapod! Let's hurry to get you to evolve so we can go get ourselves a Combee!"

Though the Metapod didn't verbally respond, I could feel it's aura spike as it prepared for battle against my Combee. And so, the battle finally began as the samurai shouted,

"Metapod, use Harden!"

"..."

Though it didn't appear as if it were doing anything, I could feel Metapod's aura condense around itself as it increased its physical defense.

Meanwhile I synced my aura with Combee's, always an interesting experience the first time I do it with one of my Pokemon, before both of my eyes and her six eyes shined with an amber colored glow. Not only did synchronizing our auras allow me to more adequately project my intent to her, but it also allowed me to transfer energy to her and understand what moves she was capable of using, as I hadn't actually scanned her yet.

And of the four moves a Combee could learn, mine had three of them down already, Sweet Scent, Gust, and Bug Bite. A paltry selection when considering the battles we'll have in the future, but enough for a battle against a Metapod as I communicated to her,

Gust.

In response to my nonverbal command, the buzzing sound from Combee's wings intensified as she kicked up a gust of wind at Metapod. Her opponent however barely even flinched as it remained steadfast against the increasingly strong headwind.

"Harden!" The samurai cried out to his Pokemon, who's aura once again condensed as it increased its defense even more.

I glanced at Combee as she continued flapping her wings fruitlessly, knowing she'd wear out long before breaking through Metapod's heightened defenses with her weak Gust attacks. My mind raced as I tried to think of a way for her to deliver a strong enough attack to beat Metapod, when an idea came to mind.

Combee!

I got her attention as she turned back to look at me, frustration evident on her faces from how sturdy Metapod's defenses were. All three of them soon changed though as I communicated my intent to her, as she cried out excitedly,

"Bee bee!"

Combee then began gathering flying type energy as I channeled more and more of my own aura energy to her, fueling her next attack.

It was a completely legal move since I wasn't physically intervening, which was the only real restriction in a Pokemon battle.

And as Combee collected the flying type energy she needed, I began to direct her to gather it in a certain way, condensing it and shaping it until she had what seemed to be a blade made of flying type energy gather around her.

"Bee!" Combee cried victoriously as she then directed the blade of flying type energy at Metapod, moving so fast that her figure blurred so that, even if it could move, her opponent wouldn't have been able to avoid the attack at all.

Aerial Ace!

The blade of flying type energy met its mark, slicing through Metapod's hardened carapace to finally damage it.

"Metapod!" The samurai cried out in alarm as he ran out to his Pokemon, only for a bright light to shine from within the cocoon.

The slice Combee made grew larger as a pair of membrane-like wings unfurled themselves from within, before a figure resembling a butterfly emerged from the cocoon with a cry,

"Fee-ee-ee-ee!"

Everyone stared at the newly evolved Butterfree in awe as it adjusted to its new form, before it happily cried out as it approached the samurai.

"You did it Butterfree! You finally evolved!" The samurai exclaimed excitedly. He then turned towards me and Combee, and said,

"Thank you for the good battle, but I think I'll just accept my loss here since my goal was just to help Butterfree evolve anyways! Your Combee was amazing!"

"Bee?" Combee asked as he referred to her, before I placed my hand on top of her lightly and said,

"Yeah she is. Say, how's about you and Butterfree join us for lunch so it can rest up a bit before you go further into the forest?"

The duo glanced at each other questioningly at my offer, right as both their stomachs growled to dignify their own acceptance.

We then spent a bit of time chatting and eating as we relaxed a bit. According to the samurai, the exit to the forest was less than an hour away if you didn't dawdle, so the girls and I relaxed a bit since we'd be out of the forest sooner than we thought anyways.

As we talked and ate I noticed May look in back and forth between Butterfree and Caterpie, as if she was realizing that catching Caterpie may not have been so bad if he turned out like Butterfree. The Pichu she'd originally been after though had completely relaxed within her lap, and was still munching on food despite having already eaten enough to rival its own body mass.

I was pretty sure that if May tried to get it to come with us now, especially since she wasn't acting so scary about it, the Pichu would join her without a second thought. Even if for no other reason than because May was feeding it.

Combee meanwhile was being showered in praises and compliments from my other Pokemon for winning her first battle, an impressive feat considering Combee weren't really built for battle to begin with. She'd have to get used to it though, as well as intense training, if she wanted to evolve into a Vespiquen.

However at the moment Combee was content with all the praises and congratulations she was receiving from the others.

Soon enough it was time to pack up and go, forcing us to say goodbye to the samurai since he was headed deeper into the forest while we were leaving it. Before he left though, I offered him a jar of honey to help draw in any remaining Combee in the area, which he only accepted after paying me for it once I mentioned selling several of the jars once we reached Pewter city.

And after we put our Pokemon back in their Pokeballs, during which I also noticed May officially capturing Pichu, we continued our journey into town. And we soon arrived at the edge of the forest, the girls and I were surprised to find someone waiting for us there.

"Ace!" Daisy Oak cried as she rushed towards us, Vulpix at her side, and leapt into my embrace while setting my chest on fire from my wounds.

"..."

"Daisy..." I told her softly after a second as I withstood the pain, making her squeeze me even tighter.

"I missed you..." She whispered softly into my ear, making me squeeze her a bit tighter this time since we had never really spent that much time apart before now, despite only a little over a week having passed.

Daisy then loosened her hold on me just enough that she could lean back, before planting her lips on mine in a prolonged and loving kiss.

Beside us I could sense May and Dawn anxious about my wounds, while Misty was practically exclaiming 'there's another one!?' But the two of us just ignored them as we kissed.

*PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII*

A shrill whistle was what finally broke us apart as everyone flinched from it, drawing our attention to a newcomer in the shape of an Officer Jenny that was storming over to us with a Growlithe at her side.

"No excessive displays of lewdness in public!" The Officer Jenny declared as she got closer, confusing us since Daisy and I had been relatively tame. I had been about to grab her ass, but hadn't yet so there shouldn't have been an issue.

"Officer, we aren't doing anything excessive.....yet." Daisy said, while muttering the last part so quietly that only I could hear her. I cracked a smile even as the Officer Jenny declared,

"Yes you were! Things like k-k-kissing and holding hands are only for married couples in their own homes!"

How innocent...

That was all I, and most likely the girls, could think in the face of the fuming Officer Jenny, even as she continued,

"And think about the rest of these girls present! Do you really think they want to see such l-lewd behavior being blatantly displayed right in front of them?!"

Though I was merely staring at her with warm and sympathetic eyes, I then said to the Officer to explain,

"I think it's ok. After all, they're all my girlfriends."

The way Officer Jenny looked at me when I said that, you'd have thought I'd slapped her across the face as she gaped at us, even as May and Dawn snuggled up to my empty sides. Misty was slowly trying to edge away, as if to say she wasn't with us.

"I KNEW IT!!!" Officer Jenny suddenly shrieked, surprising us as she pointed at me and snarled,

"All men are nothing but filthy, rotten, lying, CHEATERS! Get away from those poor girls so I can take you in you scumbag!"

The girls and I blinked as Officer Jenny wielded a can of pepper spray in one hand, and a set of handcuffs in the other, looking ready to use both at a moments notice.

"A-are you being serious right now?" I asked dumbfoundedly, to which she readily replied,

"You bet I am you dirtbag!"

"What are the charges then?" I asked with growing irritation.

"Excessive lewdness in public and contempt of the law! Now let me arrest you, or I'll add resisting arrest to those charges as well!" She proudly declared as if she had caught me in the criminal act.

This Officer Jenny was quickly transitioning from cute and innocent, to obnoxious and annoying in my mind as she continued talking about arresting me, for no actual reason I may add. Even her Growlithe was laying on the ground with its paws covering its eyes and ears, as if trying to pretend it couldn't see or hear what was going on around it.

Unfortunately, even if she was trying to falsely arrest me, I couldn't truly fight back without an actual charge of resisting arrest being added to my record. So I used a different method as I squinted like I had seen something behind the Officer, and uttered,

"What is that?"

"Ha! Do you really think I'd fall for such an obvious and stupid trick?!" Officer Jenny declared proudly, while I seriously debated on answering that question.

Instead I just squinted harder with the girls doing the same beside me as I muttered,

"But it looks like a giant Meowth hovering over the tree line... Well, it's going down now.....its disappeared."

As I said that the Officer Jenny quickly turned around to see what I was talking about, only to see nothing there. She then demanded, "where did it go?! Tell me!!!"

I had to fight from smirking as I told her, "it disappeared behind the tree line that way. Why? What is it?"

"It doesn't matter! You stay right there while I check it out so I can arrest you afterwards, and if you leave I'll also charge you with evading arrest!" Officer Jenny then quickly took off through the trees with a strange smile on her face, while her Growlithe tiredly followed behind her.

"Let's go." I said once she disappeared, and continued walking even as Daisy continued hugging my front.

"Why'd she take off like that? I wouldn't think a large Meowth would be more important than catching a 'hardened' and 'dangerous' criminal like yourself." May said while teasingly poking my arm.

"There's a Meowth shaped hot air balloon used by a trio of Team Rocket members, the same ones who attacked the Pokemon Center while we were there. I just figured that such an 'upstanding' officer would readily investigate a possible Team Rocket sighting."

Daisy, May and Misty all snickered from my prank on the less than impressive Officer Jenny, while Dawn asked concernedly, "But Ace, what if she really does put a warrant out for your arrest or something?"

Though I was greatly touched by Dawn's concern, I merely snorted as I stated, "I'd like to see her try. I may just be an honorary member, but the Rangers wouldn't tolerate a wayward officer trying to slander one of their own."

Daisy nodded in agreement even as she added, "also grandpa wouldn't stay silent either. With Ace carrying one of his Pokedexs, accusing him of something would be like accusing grandpa of the same thing. Plus no one wants to get on his bad side since grandpa was Champion once, even if it was a long time ago."

I nodded in agreement with Daisy's statement, even if I didn't want to rely on professor Oak for everything. But still, unless I actually did commit a heinous crime, I was fairly well protected from wayward accusations and such.

As we continued walking the girls turned towards other topics to discuss, amongst which included Daisy catching up with Dawn and May, as well as becoming acquainted with Misty after the duo officially met. This continued until we crested one final hill, and the scene of Pewter city sprawled out below us appeared.