Pokemon Ultimate: Chapter 6

"Wow…"

Skyscrapers towered overhead, sparkling in the late morning sun. The streets were already bustling, crowded with people rushing to work, street vendors setting up shop, and a few tourists that looked every bit as excited as Alicia did, staring around with their mouths open like goldfish.

"I've never seen such a huge city!" Alicia cheered, shielding her eyes. "I guess that's the downside to living on an island. Okay, back to business! Let's see here." She began counting off her fingers, walking down the street as she did. "Caught a second Pokémon? Check. Reached Saffron City? Check. Gotten rid of an extremely annoying stalker creep?"

She glanced over her shoulder. Sean was a few yards away, looking into a store window.

"Not check. Unfortunately." Alicia growled. "Need to make this item urgent."

Alicia spun on the spot and walked over to Sean, stopping just inside his field of vision. She crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently. Sean continued to look into the store, which was a bakery selling delicacies like Lava Cookies and Poffins.  Alicia cleared her throat with an odd amount of volume, nudging his foot. When all he did was flip his hood up, Alicia lost it.

"Oi! Pay attention to me!"

Sean turned towards her, and before she could start, waved a finger in front of her face like an adult scolding a child. "See? It doesn't feel good to be ignored, does it?"

"I hope you realize the only reason I don't strangle you here and now is because we're in a crowded area." Alicia hissed.

"You really should work on your temper. It's unattractive."

"And you should work on your attitude. It'll be really unattractive when I pound your face in." She snapped, cracking her knuckles.

"Touché." Sean replied, taking a step back. "Anyway, did you need something?"
Alicia inhaled deeply, and exhaled slowly. Then, in a low monotone, she stated "It seems that you know something about this place."

"I might. What of it?"

"There's a Gym in this city, correct?"

"Yes…" Sean said, raising an eyebrow.

"Perfect. Thank you for this information." Alicia gave a small bow, turned around, and started to walk away…

"Wait. Are you actually planning on challenging the leader?"

'Shoot. I was so close.' Alicia thought bitterly. She glared at him over her shoulder. "Yes. That's what you do at Gyms, don't you?"

"That's not what I meant." Sean said impatiently. "I mean do you honestly think you can win against her?"

"Yes, I do. I just won against Surge in Vermillion City in one try!" Alicia shouted, now turning to face him.

"That was a fluke. You only won that battle because you had a type advantage. Had it been any other Gym, and you would've been soundly beaten."

"And you just so happen to be an expert on Gym Leaders?"

"At least more so than you. I have seven, remember?"

"And last time I checked, there were eight!" Alicia yelled, now approaching him. Several people were watching them in interest. "What happened to the last one?"

An odd emotion passed through Sean's face for just a split second, catching Alicia off guard. What was it? Anger? Embarrassment? Whatever it was, it was long gone; Sean fixed his expression back to an emotionless mask, and he was good angry at that point.

"That's none of your business. Don't think you're so tough just because you got a confidence boost."

Alicia recoiled, taking several slow steps back. She fingered the Pokéballs in her bag nervously. "Why don't you find out if it's a little more than a confidence boost? Go, Ren!"

Ren burst out of his Pokéball, primed to fight with his teeth bared. Sean raised his eyebrows at them, and sighed deeply.

"Don't say I didn't try to warn you. It'll be your own fault when your feelings get hurt."

He unclipped a ball from his belt and tossed it high into the air. Without a command, a Wartortle burst out, growling quietly.

"Go, Ren! Use Steel Wing!"

Ren flew towards the Wartortle with expert speed, wings glowing metallic silver. Wartortle watched it approach, and Sean was making no move to block the attack…

"Withdraw."

At the last possible moment, Wartortle's head, arms and legs disappeared into its shell, which bounced on the ground. Steel Wing impacted it with a dull smashing noise, not budging it an inch. Ren flapped his wings hard, having been thrown off balance.

"Ice Beam, now."

Wartortle slid its head and limbs out with unexpected speed, and shot a pure white beam at the struggling Ren.

"No! Ren, dodge it!"

The Ice Beam hit Ren directly in the stomach. He cried out in pain, and crashed to the ground, and moved no more. It was that quick. It took one hit for Ren to go down.

"Ren!"

As Alicia rushed to the Pokémon picking up his limp form, Wartortle walked back to Sean's side. He patted it on the head, and then addressed Alicia.

"Welcome to reality, princess. There are much more powerful trainers than you in the world. Get it through your head, or experience a world of pain."

He returned Wartortle to its Pokéball, and walked away through the small crowd that had formed without a backwards glance.