•••
[Oshawott (Madara) has learned Razor Shell]
•••
"Hmm," Hilbert stared at this message, "maybe I'll get to see some shell action,"
For the many weeks he had been training him, Hilbert noticed how Madara never used the shell on his chest.
He attempted to try and order him to use his shell during 'Tackle' but he only received a wondering stare from the water type.
"Madara," He said, halting whatever the water type was doing, "Use Razor Shell on that tree,"
"Osh!?" The water type stared at Hilbert with a frightened face, as if not knowing what to do.
'Gotta be specific...' Hilbert thought, speaking again, "Use the shell on your chest, Madara,"
Now, it's as if Madara was caught red-handed.
With some reluctance, he grabbed the yellow shell that stuck to his chest and pulled it off, staring at it with a horrid gaze.
The water type looked at Hilbert, then at the tree.
"Wott..." He forced himself close to the tree and raised his arm.
However, sweat began to roll down his forehead as his small arm stopped, his efforts futile as any action Madara made was cut off and left with a slight shiver.
'Why is he so frightened?' Hilbert looked at the quivering Oshawott, and felt his heart squeeze, 'I can't leave him like that,'
So, with care, Hilbert placed a hand on Madara's head.
The water type immediately ran into his arms, leaving the shell on the ground.
"There, there," He whispered, holding Madara comfortably in his arms, "I believe we haven't taken a break in so long,"
"How does that sound?"
Madara looked up at him with a face of relief.
"Osh!" He nodded in agreement.
"Do you want to be let go?" Hilbert asked, slowly lowering the water type to the ground, "Or..."
"Wott..." Madara replied with a disproving groan.
"Okay, okay," Hilbert sighed, sitting down with his back against a tree, "I guess it's fine if you want to stay in my embrace,"
"Oshawott," The water type said, closing his eyes and shifting around to be more comfortable.
Hilbert held him with the water type's head against his upper arm, his stomach visible to him.
There was something heartwarming about looking at this little creature in Hilbert's arms. Madara's arms were rested on his blue chest, there was no shell, as he discarded it a few minutes ago.
Knowing that Madara had to trust those to even hold him, made Hilbert's heart melt even more.
'He's like a baby,' He thought, keeping his eyes on the water type's calm form, 'Is this what it's like to cradle your child?'
He placed a hand on the top of Madara's head to pet it.
In response to that, the water type's small ears tilted slightly away from his hand.
'God damn it!' Hilbert rubbed the water type's head, 'The cuteness is too much!'
What's more, Madara, upon feeling the pets, nudged his head a little towards the affection.
'Nah, this is different, definitely,' Hilbert breathed out, relaxing from the bundle of adorableness within his grasp, 'to be fair, I could hold him for hours on end if it continued like this,'
The shell became the centre of his attention.
'It's cruel, but it will be a way to let him learn this move,' Hilbert thought, 'I don't know what is keeping him from doing it, but that's in the past,'
"Osha..." By now, his hand had stopped the petting, and Madara groaned with impatience, wanting more affection.
"How about this," Hilbert put him down, but the relaxed water type didn't seem to care as he stayed in his laying position, with only his eyes staring at his trainer, "if you use that shell once, I'll give you some more head pats,"
"Osha!" Madara's eyes widened as he stood straight up.
He turned to look at the shell on the soil.
"..." His gaze went off, but he looked at it again.
Madara thought about it.
So, with a shaky arm, he picked it up and brought it down quickly against the hard bark.
Afterwards, the water type launched the shell, sending it far into the trees.
'How long will it take for a new one to grow back?' Hilbert thought, seeing Madara's relieved expression, 'Seems like I'll see now,'
"Osha," Madara looked at him expectantly, his eyes big.
"Just like I promised," Then, Hilbert raised his hand onto the water type's head, petting the top in between the two ears.
"Ossshhhh," The water type murmured, enjoying the pets.
RUSTLE!
'Oh, that must be them,'
Every odd day, sometimes a few days in a row, Cheren or Bianca, often both, would come and visit.
It's not that Hilbert minded that these two would bother him, but the fact that his training schedule would be interrupted.
Although to be fair, he has no urgent deadline to meet, plus the system buff.
'I suppose I could play with them today, I am a kid at this point,' Hilbert sighed and faced the two figures.
This was not what he expected.
There was only one figure.
One kid.
With the black hair, Hilbert could tell that he had seen him before.
It clicked.
"So this is where you were," The boy spoke, looking around, "that's the same Oshawott..."
Madara hid behind Hilbert's legs, shaken by this boy's sudden appearance. He did hide with his whole body out, so he was easily visible.
"Yes, it is," Hilbert spoke, still not sure who this kid was.
His eyes widened when the boy took out a small pokéball.
When it enlarged and cracked open, the white static formed a pokémon from the confines of its cage.
"Watchog..." Standing straight like a soldier, its arms crossed and its tail stiff like a lever, the normal type focused on Hilbert.
He did the same.
•••
Name: N/A
Species: Watchog
Gender: Female
Moves: Tackle; Leer; Bite; Bide; Low Kick; Detect; Sand Attack; Crunch
Abilities: Keen Eye (Unlocked)
Illuminate (Locked)
Analytic (Locked)
•••
'Guy went through his villain arc,' Hilbert thought, urging Madara forward, "Time to battle, Madara,"
The water type gulped as he walked forward, every step filled with fear from the enemy in front of him.
Instantly, Watchog shot its glare at Madara, her yellow and red eyes terrifying him.
However, the water type still stood his ground.
"Hog..." Watchog raised her right foot and slammed it into the dirt.
"Osh!?" Madara could only watch as the normal type pushed her foot to the side as if to collect something.
Next, its stiff tail stood up and shook around like a rattlesnake's tail.
'What am I waiting for!?' After staring and doing nothing, Hilbert gave a command, "Madara, Water Gun!"
'Eh? Why did I shout it out like that?' He thought as a circular object of water formed near Madara's mouth, 'Wait, I did that a lot during the fight with Daniel,'
"Ugh..." Hilbert groaned, the cringe doing its damage.
While that went on, the boy stared at the forming ball of water and shook his head.
"Watchog, use Detect to dodge that,"
"Watch," Not moving a muscle, she looked carefully at the water type, seeing where this ball would aim.
Her thoughts were not impressed.
'Is this the one who took down Riolu? Hmm,' The ball twitched, 'Doubt it,'
PEW!
The beam of water raged out as if it broke through a dam wall, twisting forward towards the normal type.
It rushed past Watchog, as she moved swiftly out of the way.
The stream continued, passing the boy, then blowing up with a huge roar.
"Watchog," Still standing the same, she was somewhat impressed.
"Damn," The boy was taken aback by this attack, "Watchog, Use Bi..."
He paused when he saw the normal type's back.
On her front, she had the same, intimidating glare that really scared Madara.
However, her back secreted puddles of sweat.
'This is the one who defeated Riolu!' She thought, trying to keep herself from running away, 'Be it as it may, this means there are berries to eat,'
The boy breathed in.
"Time for the plan, Watchog," He whispered, "Use bide until..."
'What are they planning? Maybe I should start doing that,' Hilbert thought, 'but, there are a lot of risks,'
Hilbert wondered whether the water type could actually beat this Watchog. This was the one who lost to Daniel's Riolu, plus Madara did one-shot Roxy.
However, this happened when the normal type didn't evolve and was still a Patrat. With all those moves and evolution, maybe this match is a statement.
'Maybe he rematched Daniel, and came here to me,' Hilbert thought, gripping his cap, 'What if he didn't and saw me as a bigger challenge?'
'Whatever it is, I must take risks if I want to be a trainer,'
"Use Water Gun, again," Hilbert muttered.
Once again, the water type formed a ball of water, ready to send his foe into a stormy sea.
Watchog stood tensed up, ready to take this beam.
"Now, Watchog!"
Before Madara could fire the cannon, he saw Watchog kick the ground.
More specifically, the area she dragged her foot around.
When the blast came thundering through, both Hilbert and the water type didn't know if it was a bullseye.
'Sand Attack? Probably,' Hilbert looked around, 'If this was created, then there is a chance that-'
What interrupted him was to his far right.
There, he saw Watchog dash to a halt, tripping over her own feet, then sprinting closer and closer.
"Ggh!" Seeing this, Hilbert was still surprised, 'Using Water Gun now is useless! Wait... I have another move!'
"Madara," It was as if he had struck gold, "Use Razor...Shell..."
Then he remembered what the water type did with the shell.
When Madara turned to look at him in fright, his chest was still barren with no sign of a new shell.
"Ugh..." He had to reevaluate his time at that point, "Go for the Tackle!"
"Osha!" Despite the looming threat lumbering towards him, Madara focused and dashed forward.
He beat a Riolu with one hit. If this was the same, there was nothing to be scared about.
Both trainers watched their pokémon close the distance.
However, one thought of revenge.
'I should've been the one to beat Daniel,' The boy clenched his hands into fists, 'don't let that training go to waste, Watchog!'
His pokémon had similar thoughts.
'I'm not the same,' She thought, now reading her attack, 'Riolu never hit you, so I will,'
Judging the distance, the normal type halted her dash, planted her left foot, and sent a wide low kick towards the oncoming wave.
Madara was so caught off guard by this that when he saw this attack, he immediately halted and jumped, attempting to avoid this sweep.
However, that prevented the momentum of his attack.
Hilbert was not fast enough to react.
As the water type reached the midpoint of the jump, Watchog charged forward, her mouth open.
In this position, Madara couldn't move.
Although, his quivering demeanour had that covered.
'You're just a glass cannon,' Watchog thought, getting into range, 'so shatter!'
CRUNCH!
Her teeth smashed together as if they were scissors.
Madara's top left part of his head was dented as Watchog's teeth jammed into the skin.
The water type's eyes shifted to a shade of white.
When he was freed from the jaws a moment later, his body fell almost limp-like.
The normal type watched in satisfaction.
But her face formed in full panic.
'I was wrong, again!"
Madara landed on the ground, and immediately kicked it, driving himself forward.
It may have been adrenaline that Watchog saw in his shaking eyes.
But it was, in fact, the water type's fight or flight response.
What came about that, was this attack.
One that Watchog couldn't defend from.
BAM!
PILSH!
The normal type saw this as a test.
A test she failed.
'This...is worse than whatever Riolu threw!' Watchog thought as her front got pulverised, sending an excruciating pain that lingered even after.
'He's not the glass cannon...'
'...I am!'
Her body fell, kicking up the dust from the ground.
"..." Both trainers stood, a gentle wind blowing what was a raging battle to its conclusion.
"Damn it," The boy muttered, returning Watchog to her pokéball, "all that...all that..."
A moment later, he walked away.
Hilbert began to think.
'I can't speak,' He thought, taking deep breaths, 'This one was without a crowd, and my heart still pounded so much,'
He noticed Madara, still standing, with his body trembling.
"Nice one, Madara," Hilbert spoke, kneeling near his ace, "you may not have used Razor Shell, but at least you still won,"
"Osha, Osha, Osha," Madara was gasping for air.
Hilbert decided to look at his face.
His eyebrows raised.
The water type was fine, despite the attack, but his eyes were still white, and what interested Hilbert the most was this shade of pink on Madara's face and the smile accompanying it.
'He was really terrified,' Hilbert thought, picking him up, 'but was he enjoying that?'
Once he did, Madara immediately came back to normal, the pink hue and smile disappearing.
A much calmer face replaced that when the water type realised he was in Hilbert's arms.
However, Hilbert was looking elsewhere.
After staring, he sighed, pressing the bridge of his nose.
What he looked at, was the stats of Madara.
•••
Name: Madara
Species: Oshawott
Gender: Male
Moves: Tackle; Tail Whip; Water Gun; Water Sport; Focus Energy; Razor Shell
Abilities: Torrent (Unlocked)
Shell Armor(Locked)
•••
"Tch," He said, rubbing the water type's head, 'I really forgot about those other two moves,'
He looked down at Madara and smiled lightly, feeling pumped.
'That's right. We won.'