Eighteen | Survival of the Fittest

                                    

                                          
Traveling with Shauna and Calem again was nice this time. While I was learning to be honest with myself, I had taken their company for granted during the beginning of our journey. I still haven't gotten used to Shauna's hyperactivity, but I also haven't gotten annoyed by her as I would have back then. After Jay had left, I was a little hesitant to be on the road by myself. I was happy these two were willing to let me travel with them again. It certainly beat traveling by myself.
                          
We continued further into Route 12, only stopping a few times when other trainers approached us for a Pokémon battle. It wasn't troubling at all, especially when two of my Pokémon were close to evolving. They had become stronger than ever this past month. Even back when I trained them at Cyllage City, the strength they had back then couldn't compare to how they were now. The progress they made was outstanding, but the others needed to catch up.
                          
As we continued down the route, some commotion going on away from the road caught my attention. I slowed my walk and lingered back some to see what was going on. The yelling and incoherent words made me conclude that there was an argument in progress I stopped my walking altogether and kept my eyes on the place where the arguing was coming from. Calem had figured out that I wasn't keeping up with them and came to a halt, grabbing Shauna's hand to also stop her from going any further.
                          
"Emi? What's wrong?" she asked.
                          
A pain-filled screech ripped through the air before I could answer her. A flock of bird Pokémon left the scene immediately, and I knew something wrong was going on. Before anyone had the chance to question what was going on, I rushed to the area where the screech came from. Footsteps followed behind me, which I knew were from Shauna and Calem following behind me. I moved the huge leaves from a few plants that blocked the way, but once I entered a clearing, I saw a rather disturbing scene before me.
                          
My eyes widened and my breath hitched when I saw a familiar blond holding his arm in pain. Whatever exposed skin he had was decorated with minor scratches. An injured Fletchinder laid on the grass behind him, which led me to believe he had tried to protect the Pokémon. My guess was proven correct when I saw a man standing on the opposite side wearing the oh so infamous disgustingly ugly red suit. An intimidating Houndoom stood next to him, bearing its large fangs at the blond.
                          
"Pathetic! Did you honestly think your petty protest would be enough to stop me from getting rid of that weakling behind you?" The Team Flare grunt chuckled humorlessly.
                          
"Shut your damn mouth..." Jay looked over at the grunt with a sharp glare. "I'm still standing, aren't I? I thought you were smart enough to process that, but you're just another mindless minion like the rest of them."
                          
Jay, you idiot! He's injured and still had the audacity to piss off the grunt. Maybe I was a bad influence on him after all. The grunt was pissed off to the point where his whole face burned red, almost matching his suit. I would've made a joke about that, but now wasn't the time, especially when Jay might get his ass kicked.
                          
"How dare you insult me?!" the grunt growled. "Houndoom use--"
                          
I jumped out from where I stood and placed myself between Jay and the Houndoom. Shauna and Calem came in not long after, eyeing the grunt and his Pokémon cautiously. The grunt scowled upon noticing my presence.
                          
A sigh left my lips as I looked over my shoulder at the surprised blond. His blue eyes were wide with disbelief as they stared into my green irises.
                          
"Y'know, I was hoping we'd meet again under different circumstances. I still need to be proven wrong about the mini donuts after all," I playfully scolded.
                          
"Hey, don't ignore me!" the grunt barked at me.
                          
I rolled my eyes and looked over at the grunt with a nasty glare. My hand reached for my belt and retrieved a PokéBall that contained Frogadier. A good old pride punching would do him some good in a traditional Pokémon battle. However, physical punching would do just fine as well.