11 Chapter 9: Birds Are Jerks! (Part 2)

(A/N: super sorry, Webnovel glitches out sometimes when you copy and past too much. it didn't update the entire Chapter only half, here's the other half oops? It only uploaded 5.6 of the 9.5 originally.)

Unlike in the games though, you're not allowed to heal your Pokemon mid-battle for obvious reasons. Therefore, I'm curious to know how he'll fight without it.

"Whatever you say, man. Mudkip, you're up!"

"Kip!" My Mudkip immediately assumes his usual battle stance.

"A Mudkip? I assume you're one of those trainers sponsored by Birch? You might actually put up a decent challenge" The suited man interjected.

I stared in confusion, "Why are you acting like it's your first time seeing him, he's been out of his Pokeball the entire time? So has Torchic."

"Enough babble! Hercules I call upon thee!" Winston drew a luxury ball, he proceeded to throw it obnoxiously far into the air.

The ball opened up mid-air and out popped the cleanest-looking Zigzagoon I had ever seen.

"Zigzagoon!" It cried out.

[PiplupSupremacy:...really?]

[Definitely_Not_Champion_Cynthia: I'll be quite honest, not what I was expecting. Perhaps I unfairly judged Winston. I assumed because of his wealth he would own a much rarer, stronger Pokemon that he had no business handling. I'll make sure to reexamine my biases.]

[Dragon_Queen670: who the fuck names their Zigzagoon, Hercules!?]

[Definitely_Cynthia_No_Cap: who grooms this Zigzagoon? What a shiny coat! I definitely need their groomers number]

"Hey no fair!" May piped in after being quiet for a while, "We had a system! You fight a trainer and then I fight a trainer, alternating after every fight!" She pouted petulantly.

I pat her head, "Don't know what to tell you, he challenged me. You can't take the next two." I reasoned with her.

"Mmm, okay." She agreed easily, leaning into my hand, it's fine though Rotom is filming our Pokemon there's no way stream will ever see this!

"Are you two imbeciles finished!" My fellow blonde cried out impatiently.

"That eager for humiliation?" I asked.

"But whatever, let's do this."

"I'll count you two down!" May interjected.

"3"

"2"

"1"

"Fight!

"Use [Headbutt], Hercules!" Winston takes the first move.

His Zigzagoon charged forward, it was decently quick too.

But my Mudkip had faced faster. I could've dodged instead, "[Ice Ball], aim for its face." 

"Kip!" Shooting out a large chunk of ice at someone's face point blank has to hurt, it evidently does when the small Pokemon is knocked out of its attack upon impact.

The Ice spread over its face, blocking its vision, "Hercules!" Winston cried out in concern.

I showed no mercy, however, "[Tackle]." I called out.

Mudkip body slams into the Zigzagoon knocking him to the side and inadvertently breaking the ice off its face.

I accounted for that fact so I wasn't really worried, after all, Hercules was still heavily disoriented. It didn't have the sharp instincts required to make a quick recovery.

I planned on taking full advantage of that fact, "[Tackle] again, Mudkip. Don't let up." I ordered.

With another war cry, Mudkip once again tackled the poor Pokemon sending it barreling toward Winston.

I wait for the Zigzagoon to stand back up so I can hit it with a water gun.

Only to my disappointment, it doesn't stand up again. That familiar feeling of disgust wells up inside me once more. That same feeling I got destroying all the previous weaklings.

'Is that really it?'

My thoughts were unknowingly mirrored within my chat.

[InvincibleThunder: he was talking all that shit, and this is all has to show for it?

[Sexy_Secretary: this is…disappointing.]

[Brooklyn_Rage: it's always the dogs that bark the loudest.]

Winston glared at me through red eyes, He suddenly reached into a bag and I almost ducked but instead of a weapon, he pulled out a very familiar item.

It was a full restore.

'Guess we're done.'

It was a high-quality full restore from the looks of it. He started spraying a copious amount of liquid healing onto his raccoon dog.

I could see it heal right before my eyes as the damage caused in the battles disappeared in real-time.

'The wonders of science, I guess.'

Regardless I was ready to wrap things up and was my companion.

"Zigzagoon is unable to continue battling, the winner is-"

"No!" Winston suddenly exclaimed, interrupting May and preventing her from ending the fight.

"It's not over yet!" He explained, "Hercules can still fight!"

May looked outraged, "What do you mean he can still fight? You just used a potion on him, that's cheating!"

"So?" He questioned shamelessly.

[Long_OakWood: I take back what I said earlier, I don't like this guy, what a little bitch.]

[Perfume_Princess: shame on him, isn't he embarrassed to so obviously cheat]

[Definitely_Not_Champion_Cynthia: Winston Dinero will certainly be hearing from the association…]

[Machampion: that's crazy, If I were Dante, moneybags would have to run my fade, he just gotta. Ain't no way you finna disrespect me so vilely and then have the nerve to cheat in a fight. I'd for sure clock his shit]

[DarkMagicianGirl: @Machampion, when the world needed them most…]

"You were paying attention when I said I was recording earlier, right?" I asked bluntly, "Did I forget to mention I'm currently live streaming on Twitch?"

He looked a bit concerned at the livestreaming portion of my comment but he just scoffed, "If you think I care about your four followers you're sorely mistaken, peasant."

I laughed, "Whatever man, your move." I motion back to the fight where my Mudkip is eagerly awaiting.

"What!? But Dante-

"It's fine, May. I'll just knock him out again."

[Crack_Head: why doesn't Dante tell him how many people are actually here?]

[PiplupSupremacy: I doubt this Winston guy would believe him.]

[Definitely_Not_Champion_Cynthia: to add to what Piplup said, Dante has nothing to prove. It's why he's able to laugh at it all.]

"Hmph, at least you know the correct pecking order. Hercules…[Extreme Speed]!" The wealthy man commanded.

My eyes widened, 'Zigzagoon can learn [Extreme Speed]? Since when!?'

It suddenly blurred and appeared right before Mudkip, before either of us could react its body slammed into my Pokemon not unlike how Mudkip had done earlier.

"Ha!" Winston started to gloat prematurely.

Unfortunately for him, if he was hoping to win off that one move alone he was severely underestimated what a tank my Mudkip was.

Mudkip clenched up and was barely knocked a few steps back before he retaliated without my instructions, using [Tackle] while up close.

This clash resulted in both Pokemon being knocked back. Winston looked like he had just swallowed a lemon. It seemed like he really was saving that move as his trump card.

"Now, [Water Gun]," I instructed calmly.

Mudkip launched his signature move, hitting the Zigzagoon who didn't even attempt to dodge, staring at the incoming attack like a deer in headlights.

It landed with a long crashing sound, and once more our opponent's Pokemon was rendered unconscious.

I looked at the increasingly more annoying doofus through half-lidded eyes before asking, "Are you done? Or are you planning on using another full restore, because trust me, Mudkip and I could do this all day." 

Although I was obviously being sarcastic he almost looked tempted if his hand reaching for his satchel once more was any indication.

Ultimately he decided against doing so, instead recalling Hercules back into his Luxury Ball and glaring at me with unshed tears in his eyes.

"You'll rue this day, welp!" He looked down and checked something on his phone, presumably looking for my name, "You'll rue the day you made a mockery of me, Dante Cross!"

After leaving his empty threat he full-on sprinted away like a little bitch.

Although he was long gone May still decided to be professional, "Zigzagoon is unable to continue battling, the winner is Dante Cross!" She said, finishing what she couldn't before.

My mind was still on his parting words, I give my audience a weird look, "Who the fuck says 'Rue' nowadays?"

[PiplupSupremacy: lol I'm definitely adding that to my vocabulary]

[Rue: did someone call?]

May goes to glomp me again but I was ready this time, swiftly catching her I wrap my arms around her and attempt to slam her down on the soft terrain.

She suddenly pulled some ninja ass moves however where she encircled my arms and wrapped my her legs around my torso, pulling us both down to the ground.

"You won!" She celebrated like I didn't just try to body slam her into the ground.

"Yeah, yeah, I won." I muttered sarcastically, "Now let me go, this is embarrassing."

"Nah." May refused, "We're staying like this for a little while." She then proceeded to nuzzle into me despite the fact that I kept trying to escape. Her hold on me was too strong however and I had to give up and suffer under her cuddly torture.

Like father like daughter I guess, she must've learned this martial arts bullshit from Norman.

Now I'm definitely seducing his wife.

[IGotAGreatAss: just fuck already!]

[Definitely_Not_Champion_Cynthia: …]

[Future_Kalos_Queen: the romantic tension is killing me! It's not like something out of my Wattpad novels!]

After getting humiliated in front of my audience and losing any respect from them for at least the next ten years, May finally deemed it time to move on.

We finally entered Petalburd Woods though not without me grumbling about it the entire time. It didn't help how smug she looked.

She's lucky I didn't tickle her. I know how sensitive she is about it since the last time I tickled her May laughed so hard she ended up peeing herself.

I still remember that day, she didn't talk to me for weeks, even my chat wondered why she wasn't showing up.

May made me promise not only to never tickle her again but to also never speak about it.

She's lucky I'm so nice.

May released her Marill so all of our Pokemon could run around for a bit and enjoy the ambiance.

I contemplated catching a Shroomish, but they all looked afraid of their own shadows, there weren't any worth catching.

I decided to keep an eye out regardless. Maybe I'd meet an outlier.

As we were exploring a donation notification coming from Rotom captured my attention.

[JellyFilledDonut has donated 5,000$]

(This might be unrelated but my traveling companion @Pokemon_Master12 just defeated gym leader Bugsy!)

[Future_Kalos_Queen: @Pokemon_Master12, congratulations!]

[Definitely_Not_Champion_Cynthia: @Pokemon_Master12, congratulations.]

[PiplupSupremacy: @Pokemon_Master12, congratulations!]

[Long_OakWood: HE'S LYING!!!]

Waiting for the message to finish I offered my own congratulations.

I smiled before speaking up, "I don't know if you're in Chat but congrats on defeating a gym leader, Pokemon Master. I hope I'll be as lucky. Also thanks for the dono, Donut."

"Congrats!" May chimed in from over my shoulder.

[Long_OakWood: he's lying! Stop encouraging him! This is obviously just an alt of his!]

[PiplupSupremacy: speaking of Alts are we ever going to address Dragon Queen and her absurd amount of alts, what's the point of even banning her if she just keeps coming back?]

[Dragon_Queen669: Mind your own business bitch!]

[Dragon_Queen669 has received a 24-hour ban.]

[(MOD)Elite: there's not much we can do except keep banning her, she just keeps coming back, unlike my father.]

[(MOD)Sparkles: Maybe we can retroactively ban all accounts with Dragon Queen in them?]

I comment upon noticing one of my mod's messages, "Nah, let her keep coming back. I'm curious about how long it'll be until she runs out of alts."

"You know I've actually noticed Dragon Queen and her numerous alts many times before. The weird thing is she is subscribed to the channel on every single account." May said, joining in on the conversation.

"Each subscription is 500$, I wonder where she gets all that money from? It's a lot!"

[Long_OakWood: lol, in what world is 500$ a lot of money?]

[MellowMarshmellow: 500$ isn't a lot!? Speak for yourself, I can buy like 3 or 4 cheeseburgers with that amount!]

[Future_Kalos_Queen: Really Mellow? In this economy! I can't even buy some small fries with that little!]

[MellowMarshmellow: we Alolans are just built different! Though judging by your username you're from Kalos, stuff being expensive there doesn't surprise me. You snobs pay 2,000$ for a cup of coffee with a name you can't even pronounce.]

[Absolutely_Cynthia_No_Cap: hey! Don't just group up all of Kalos! We're not all elitist!]

[Long_OakWood has donated 100,000$]

(Just to prove we rich out in this bitch, Pokemon_Master12 could never.)

[Forgotten_Sister: he lives in your head rent free doesn't he?]

May next to me started short-circuiting from the amount of money suddenly donated.

"Whoa! Thanks for the huge donation Oak, but that's way too much money. DM me if you misclicked I'll refund it."

My mind immediately went towards user error, after all, it really was a lot of money.

About the equivalent to around 1,000 USD back home, half of my rent. Though here in the world of Pokemon where the cost of living is way lower, it amounted to around 2 months of rent.

It made total sense why my chat was freaking out, some users even offered to suck OakWood off for some money.

OakWood however reassures me that it wasn't a misclick, and he's just really 'that' guy.

So I conceded and accepted the donation for what it was.

As May and I were interacting with chat and having a good time, walking around the forest we paused as we heard a loud guttural screech followed by some intense ruffling in the trees above us. 

May and I froze as we waited with bated breath to see if it would continue.

Sure enough, a large black shape suddenly shot out of the greenery of the trees above us and sped away. It took my eyes a few seconds to try to make out what I was seeing, but when I finally did I let out a huge grin.

"It's that fucking Swellow again!" I yelled out in excitement, happy at the prospect of getting a second round at that oversized bird.

I knew it had to be him, I hadn't seen another  Swellow of that size ever in my life.

I suddenly started running in its direction, Mudkip hot on my heels.

[Hard_Boiled: What's with Dante and birds, does he have some type of fetish?]

[Burn_Baby!: I'm saying tho! First Peeko now this stupid Swellow.]

[Onsen_Goddess: I agree, #JusticeForFlattery!]

"Don't just run off! Wait for me!" May cried out.

It quickly became apparent that even though the Swellow seemed to be cruising at a slow speed, I wouldn't be able to catch up. I was holding Mudkip back who had to adjust to my speed,

'Fuck it. No point in hoarding points if I'm not going to use them.'

I then quickly and decisively assigned two points to Stamina. Although I didn't check I almost definitely got a point from Wally so it wasn't like I used them all up.

[Stamina (F+) —> Stamina (D)]

If I'm being completely honest, a small part of my reasoning for using the points despite knowing that Command or Strategy are better picks, is because I want to see how far I can get on my own.

So far I've proven capable of standing side by side with the likes of Brandon and May, two supposed super prodigies in lieu of being protagonists.

I want to see how far my own natural talent can take me. It's not like I need super complex strategies early on anyways.

I'm sure I'll have accumulated more points later on, to the point where I wouldn't regret this.

Regardless, I immediately feel the boost in Stamina, my body feels lighter like I hadn't been walking around all day in the Hoenn heat.

My muscles felt springer and there was a bounce in my step, I was easily able to keep pace with the Swellow who honestly looked drowsy with how bizarrely it was flying.

Feeling a bit more confident I speed up and order Mudkip to follow suit. Gradually paying less attention to my surroundings and hyper-fixating on the Swellow.

[PiplupSupremacy: bro is zooming]

[The_Brave: second wind?]

[Onsen_Goddess: @The_Brave, you're still here, shouldn't you be traveling?]

[The_Brave: Me and Ralts are resting.]

We quickly close the distance between us, right as I was about to call for Mudkip to attack in the hopes of gaining the bird's attention, however-

"AH!" I collapse to the floor after crashing into something, I groan out in pain from suddenly having the wind knocked out of me.

There's a similar reaction coming from whatever I just bumped into, cluing me to the fact that I had obviously just run into a person. Rather than a tree which was my previous theory.

"Fuck!" I hold my face in pain, "Watch where you're going next time asshole!" I berated the person I collided with.

"Hah!? You bumped into me, dickwad!" The evidently female voice of the girl I had just bumped into retorted.

I look up to gauge the face of my assailant, "Dawn?" I questioned hesitantly.

[PiplupSupremacy: whoa! That girl looks like me kinda!]

[The_Brave: those outfits look familiar…?]

[Long_OakWood: @PiplupSupremacy, as if that girl looks cute you probably look like a troll]

[PiplupSupremacy: mods! He has consistently targeted me, which goes against channel guidelines, he should be banned!]

[(MOD)Elite: we'd ban him…but he just donated a lot of money it seems cruel]

[MellowMarshmellow: so the rich get away with anything because they have money. Here I thought Twitch was a way to escape the real world.]

[Long_OakWood: suck it!]

[(MOD)Sparkles: don't push it.]

It obviously wasn't her, but it sure looked like her. Giving my surroundings a quick once over I noticed it wasn't just the two of us, surrounding us were two other men, a glasses-wearing, stereotypical-looking scientist who looked spooked.

As well as a tall-looking man with thick eyebrows, while the scientist was dressed like a scholar with the cartoonish white coat, the other man was wearing a very familiar outfit, in fact, he was matching with the girl I just bumped into.

In reality, it was the first thing I zoned in on. Those outfits were some I was keenly familiar with.

Red-colored jumpers with maroon highlights, little horns over the hoods covering their heads. And a giant "M", proudly displayed at the center of their clothes, there was no doubt in my mind.

"Team Magma?" I asked, speaking out loud more than anything.

[The_Brave: that's where I recognized them. They're members of Team Magma! A new, but rapidly growing terrorist organization!]

[JellyFilledDonut: Team Magma? Like Team Rocket?]

[The_Brave: Team Rocket? I assume you're from Kanto or Johto. They're similar on paper but Rocket is like a Mafia that's main purpose is organized crime.]

[The_Brave: Team Magma as well as their opposing organization Team Aqua, function more like a freakish cult that worships the legendary Pokemon Groudon and Kyogre.]

[Gay_Lord: they've garnered quite the following in a short amount of time.]

[CourtBourt: that's like, sooo not true! Team Magma is just misunderstood, Team Aqua on the other hand are for sure a cult, I mean 'flood the entire world' that's craaazy.]

[Based_Professor: I've already alerted a ranger, Dante! Don't panic.]

Never had I seen someone go from scalding anger to joyful happiness so quickly, "You know about us!? Leader Maxie was right, we're like, super famous now!" The female Magma grunt held my hands together in excitement.

The other man wasn't quite as happy, not even at my apparent recognition, "Get off my partner, Jackass!" He ordered as we were still piled up on the floor.

I get up and as I do the scientist-looking motherfucker is finally knocked out of his stupor. He runs up to me and cowers behind my back looking at the Team Magma grunts fearfully.

"Young man! You're a trainer, right? Protect me!" The scientist pleaded

"I'm Heinz Schumer, I'm a forensic scientist at Devon Corporation. These…thugs are attempting to rob me of some vital Devon parts required for an ongoing project! Please save me!"

"Hell no," I replied simply.

[Future_Kalos_Queen: what!?]

[Bob: Dante is honestly the worst]

[Hard_Boiled: based, don't make your problems other peoples]

I then reached back to grab him by his collar and threw him forward.

"I ain't a charity case homie, unless you're going to pull out the big bucks I could care less, learn to solve you're issues on your own."

"So you're planning on defending him?" The braindead magma grunt accuses me.

"What?" I give him a weary look, "Are you dense, I just said I wouldn't protect him?" I asked him genuinely.

"So you're that determined to protect him, huh?" His female partner interjects.

'Am in the twilight zone? What the fuck is wrong with these NPCs, Winston and Raymond didn't act like this despite being game characters, what's wrong with these losers?'

"Like. I. Said. I'm not defending him, if you wanna rob or murder him, whatever you are gonna do, do it. Just keep that shit away from me." I state indifferently.

That finally gets them to react, they look at each other uncomfortably, "Are you sure..?" 

"Positive." I then start walking away when the dweeb grabs my shoulder and starts begging.

"Please! You want a reward!? I'll make sure you're rewarded handsomely!" Heinz assured me.

I raised an eyebrow, 'I guess I can help him, thinking about it further this will totally shoot my viewer count up. It wouldn't surprise me if this goes viral on Twitter.'

After all, how many live streamers actively combat real terrorists?

"Alright then, but you better not be lying about the reward." I threatened the scientist with a glare, he just nodded frantically.

"Aha! So you are protecting him!" The grunts have a eureka moment like they just caught me in a lie.

"Go, Poochyena!"

"Go, Zigzagoon!"

They both called on their Pokemon simultaneously.

"I suggest you give up, Trainer! It's two against one!" The female grunt mocked.

"Actually it's two against two." May suddenly called out, appearing out of nowhere.

She then turns to me before saying, "Dante, that's like the 5th time you've run ahead leaving me behind without warning, if you do that again I'll gouge out your eyes." May calmly explained and honestly that scared me more than if she had just screamed.

"Uh, my bad. I'm sorry." I tried apologizing sincerely in the hopes she wouldn't smother my face with a pillow later. "I won't run off without you again,"

"That's all I ask." She looked towards the wannabe criminals, "So what's happening?"

The Dawn look-alike spoke up, "You're friend here was interfering in Team Magma-"

I suddenly remembered why I was running in the first place. "Argh! I don't have time for this!" I interrupted, "You deal with it May! I have to catch up with Swellow…" My voice trailed off as I looked around only to realize Swellow was nowhere in sight.

Obviously.

It's been ages.

I had gotten so distracted by the suddenly appearing terrorists, that I forgot what I was even doing.

"Fuck!" I cursed out for the second time, "I lost it again!" 

[InvincibleThunder: is he still on about the Swellow!]

[Auburn_Cargo_Pilot: wouldn't you be! What a majestic creature he probably wants to catch it and soar above the clouds!]

[Future_Kalos_Queen: uhhh… Pilot? I don't think Dante wants to catch the Swellow. I'm half expecting him to eat it if and when he defeats him. He's petty like that.]

Everyone looked at me in concern at my sudden outburst. I ignore them as I try to calm down.

I'm hesitant to call my earlier usage a waste of points since I was going to need to use them eventually, but it was hard for it not to feel that way in the moment.

I glared at the two I've deemed responsible, "Couldn't you mug this dweeb somewhere else, public nuisances that's what you two are!"

My words draw outrage from everyone involved.

"Dweeb!?" The glasses-wearing loser cried out in offense.

"What else am I supposed to call you, I mean really man. You're getting pushed around by two grunts with a Poocheyena and a Zigzagoon of all things?" I mocked him.

"I can see you have a Pokeball attached to your belt, why don't you fight back?" May asked in genuine curiosity.

"I just recently caught Shroomish! According to my calculation-"

"How about you calculate some bitches next time?" I interrupted, I let out a deep sigh "Look, I'll deal with your little horned problem, but only because it'll make for some exciting fucking content after the disappointment that was Winston."

"Yo Magma, bitches!" They both glared at me hatefully.

I smirked, "You wanted to fight right? Then let's fight, 2v1." I explained rather than asked.

"Hell no!" May interjected, "You're not doing this again, I'm helping this time." She said asserting herself in the situation.

"Fair enough 2v2, let's do this."

[Pokemon_Master12: wait, what's happening? A battle!?]

[Pokemon_Master12: I was gone for a little bit, what'd I miss?]

[A/N: Chapter 9 done! I wanted to release this earlier but I didn't like how it came out so I rewrote the whole thing. I'm still not satisfied, but it's better. I'll try to get Chapter 10 out faster but who knows if I'll manage. I should have a place picked out tho, so expect slightly more consistent uploads this week.]

[QOTD: What's your Favorite Pokemon Type? Mine is probably Water]

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