Zigzagoon’s tongue lolled around as it charged the seven foot tall behemoth. Patrick’s head thumped with the weight of his situation. Every path was blocked.

  “Zigzagoon! Come back! You can fight the Pancham. I take it back.”

  Dirt sputtered everywhere as Zigzagoon braked. Its eyes widened as it stared at its new target. Patrick hauled the Pancham off the ground as his eyes locked onto their only path forward. His linear charge towards the lake caught Nickit’s attention as it hopped onto his shoulder. The stagnant cold lake water blasted his nerves as he plunged into it. Another splash of water signified Zigzagoon following them.

  Claws skittered from his shoulder to his back as Patrick swam. He winced in pain as the claws dug into his body.

  Nickit ensured its own safety.

  The Pancham thrashed in Patrick’s bruised hand, slashing at his already raw chest. A small island loomed ahead as Patrick recalled its name from the signs behind him.

  Axew’s Eye.

  A fitting name as many Axew wandered the island, some fighting over a tree. The winner cheered as it slammed its two tusks inside the bark. It held its position for a few seconds before another Axew pushed it off and a battle ensued once more.

  Pancham landed on Axew’s Eye with a thud, water running off its body and forming a puddle beneath it. With no Pancham to carry Patrick sped up into the island, stepping onto the grassy surface of the island. The grass grew long here, digging between his toes, drinking the moisture from his skin. Sap and bark streamed into his nose as the many Axew slammed their tusks deep into the trees. A wave of mist slammed into Patrick as Nickit jumped behind him and shook the water off its fur.

  He pointed the metal blocky device on one of the Axew and scanned it.

  “Axew, the tusk Pokemon. This Pokemon lives in nests that are made in the ground. People in ancient times used its tusks as cooking knives. If you see peculiar teeth marks on boulders or trees, it means an Axew is likely living nearby.”

  Many such marks were littered on the boulders and trees of the forest, not leaving one unharmed.

  Pancham was also drying its own fur. It looked up at Patrick and growled, its croak a pathetic attempt at intimidation. Unlike the mighty growl that came from behind him…

  Patrick screamed as he remembered the threats he faced. Water poured onto the grass of the island as a fearsome creature towered over the trees of the island. Pangoro looked down at the trio that kidnapped its apprentice. The twig in its mouth moved from one side to the other as it sized them up. Its hand glowed a rusty red. Huge knuckles amplified from its arm, slamming down perpendicularly onto Patrick’s head in a chop.

  Air left his body as he croaked for a breath. Zigzagoon slammed into his side pushing him out of the way of the Brick Break. Patrick ruffled Zigzagoon’s head tufts quickly as he pushed off the floor and ran. Pancham cheered beside the Pangoro, pumping his fist to the air. It let out a pesky laugh as it pulled down one of its eyelids and let out its tongue.

  In the middle of the island, on a clearing devoid of grass, a gold creature stood tall. A statue, unmoving. Two crescent blades stuck out of its mouth, lined with a red border that was covered with the dried blood of its old prey. He fumbled for the cold machine in his pocket. His thumb mashed at the scan button as he pointed it at the golden monster in the clearing.

  “Haxorus,” the woman’s voice broke the silence of the island, “the axe jaw Pokemon. This Pokemon nests in caves and abandoned mines. It is docile, but it will become incredibly angry if its tusks are touched, so beware. The same prized tusks are sharp enough to cut through a metal transmission tower in one strike. They are used to overwhelm enemies.”

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  He held onto one word. Docile. He shook his head. This was suicide.

  Do it. The voice told him. He bit his lower lip. Steel your heart. Find your resolve. Do you want to lose another loved one? Wasn’t Mimikyu and Mom enough?

  Patrick’s knuckles whitened as he balled his fist. He swerved into the center of the island. The ground beneath him shook with every step the Pangoro took, the rumbling deep in its throat shook Patrick’s very core. The Haxorus faced the incoming onslaught with calm, collected eyes. It bent its neck into the standard posture of Haxorus, its blades positioned for the enemy’s throat.

  Patrick’s feet edged the clearing Haxorus stood in, taking extreme care to not step on the sand that Haxorus stood on. Adrenaline pumped through his body as he pushed it to the limits. He dashed in a last-ditch effort, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to walk after this, and wrapped around the clearing, putting the Haxorus between him and the Pangoro.

  With the protection of the Haxorus, Patrick pointed the Pokedex at the Pangoro and scanned it.

  “Pangoro, the daunting Pokemon. This Pokemon is quick to anger, and it has no problem using its prodigious strength to get its way. It uses its leaf to predict the moves of its opponents, its strikes can turn a dump truck into scrap with just one hit. Pangoro lives for duels against Obstagoon.”

  Patrick’s eyes flicked to Zigzagoon beside him, who shook with excitement with its eyes glued to Pangoro. That explained the hostility between the two. Blood sworn enemies.

  Sand wafted up in a cloud as Pangoro’s foot landed in the clearing. An equal rumble to Pangoro’s emitted out of the Haxorus throat as it screwed its foot into the sand beneath it. The Pangoro walked straight ahead. The twig in its mouth snapped, as Pangoro pushed the Haxorus away using its crescent blades as handles. But Haxorus didn't budge.

  The Haxorus roared.

  The ground beneath Patrick shook. The Axew scattered everywhere. All fights paused. Pidove flocks flew off of the trees, migrating back to the Rolling Fields. The water around the island pulled away as schools of Wishiwashi swam towards the center of the lake. Barraskewda zipped through the lake, its yellow scales glimmering with the sheen of the setting sun. Dewpider ran through the long grass, their head bubbles glowing orange with the sunset.

  Skin ripped as blood sputtered off the Pangoro into a crimson pool. The Haxorus’s blades glided through the Pangoro’s skin, adding more layers of blood onto the dried crimson of its blades' borders. A mirror image of the rusty red slap from before came from above the Haxorus as the Pangoro unleashed a Brick Break. Metal clinked as Haxorus blocked the move with the scales on its arms. Its entire body glowed a deep ocean blue as its face reddened. It used Outrage. The blades sliced Pangoro into pieces. Painting the yellow sand beneath it in a deep scarlet red.

  Darkness fell on Axew’s Eye as the sun settled beneath the horizon. Pancham’s leaf landed on the floor as it stared, the color flushing off its face. It stared with widened eyes.

  Its master died in front of its very own eyes, cut into a heap of flesh pieces. After seconds that stretched on for what felt like eons, Pancham stomped the ground. It took a deep breath and walked into the clearing. A sickening squelch came as its feet submerged beneath the thin layer of congested blood. The Haxorus turned around slowly and locked its eyes with the Pancham.

  Patrick’s legs moved on their own. Grass gave way for sand and he found himself in the clearing along with the monstrous Haxorus. The Pancham looked up at the Haxorus with defiant eyes. Skittering footsteps beside Patrick caught his attention and he found Zigzagoon tagging along.

  “No fighting!” Patrick shouted at the Zigzagoon whose ears drooped in disappointment.

  Patrick moved in a large arc, turning around the Haxorus and stepping into the pool of blood with a viscous churn. He bent and hefted the Pancham who punched Patrick’s upper back asking to be let down. Patrick glanced back. The Haxorus dipped its head slightly and looked onto them with compassionate eyes. Nickit appeared out of the shadows of the grass beside Patrick as he ran to the other side of the island, as far away from the…vicious Haxorus. He wasn’t even sure what to think of the Haxorus after the show of respect and compassion he just saw, but his feet kept carrying him away from the monstrosity.

  Furry fists slammed at Patrick’s skin, their strength seeping away with every second. Warm liquid dropped onto his chest as the Pancham dug deeper into his body. A wail cut through the silence of the night as Pancham let its heart out, its tears dropping like hot rain onto Patrick’s bare, raw chest wounds. A jolt of pain ran through his spine but he ignored it as he held the Pancham tighter, reciprocating its embrace. He didn’t know if it would go back to aggression once its grief faded, or if he had just inherited a burden too heavy for him to handle. But for now, they were two orphans against the world.

  exuded personalities and were very fun to learn about and watch battle. My favorite, by far, was Nessa. Between the design and her being a water type leader (my favorite type), she was perfect.

  Who is your favorite gym leader?