When it came to choosing her little partner's first target, there was no contest. If the blueberry-colored runt called Karrablast thought it could act tough when it saw the dynamic duo of Olivie and Buck, a thorough bludgeoning seemed entirely excusable. ”Alright then, pipsqueak,” she told it. She threw her hand out, her thumb and index finger extended to form an 'L', before pivoting the hand downward and tucking the index finger away to execute a thumbs-down. Her Bidoof followed the path of her arm and nodded menacingly, acknowledging the Karrablast as his target. Thanks to the time she spent with her nose tucked in her Pokedex, Olivie knew exactly what to say next. ”Beat it blacker and bluer! With Hyper Fang!” Buck gave a fierce chatter and barreled forward, his mouth wide open to bite.
However, the Karrablast attacked first. It fell down onto all fours and charged, horn extended. Olivie watched, suddenly grasping the severity of the situation, as its greater speed and reach caught her Pokemon right in the middle of his attack. The points of its horn pierced Buck's nose, causing the surprised Bidoof to stagger, but the assault had scarcely begun. By wiggling its head back and forth, the wild Karrablast whipped its horn from side to side like a sword cutting to and fro, striking Buck three more times. The final scratch barely missed his eye, but when nothing followed it, the resolute little brawler threw himself forward. His huge buckteeth chomped into the Karrablast's carapace, preventing it from escaping and earning a pained hiss. While the bite surely hurt, Olivie could see that the fight would go nowhere if she allowed her single-minded Bidoof to stay like that. Instead, she smacked the bottom of her fist into her other palm and called, ”Use those muscles of yours, idiot! Throw the bug and then Take Down!”
Filled with the thrill of the fight, Buck obeyed. He gathered his strength to pitch his body violently, throwing the Karrablast back about a foot. It landed on its side and rolled onto its back, where it could only rock helplessly in an attempt to regain its feet. The Bidoof then scampered toward it and, with little regard for its own safety, used his jaw with the weight of his head and the power of his neck behind it like a hammer with which he cracked down on the Karrablast's lightly-armored stomach. A wheezing sound escaped from the bug as it stiffened, but Buck reeled away, moving as if drunk. After attacking in such a risky way, Olivie imagined, he must be seeing stars. The Pokedex had informed her that the move called 'Take Down' involved the Pokemon who used it executing a brutal but reckless strike that hurt itself more often than not. Perhaps, with some training, he could use a Take Down that didn't hurt him quite so much.
Before Buck regained his senses, the Paras, which had been sitting on the sidelines as if to spectate the duel, leaped into action. As it crawled toward the rodent, it shook its body, scattering motes of purple powder from the mushrooms on its back. The sight of these wisps wafting toward Buck filled Olivie with sudden panic—and rage. ”Buck, move now!” she yelled as she began to move, noting her partner's adept dodge of the slow-moving cloud in only the most cursory manner. Her attention lay on the Paras instead, which was now spinning to look at her. Before it could properly process he threat, she'd already grabbed it by one of its pincers, and when she held it in front of her face it could clearly see her wrath and tremble.
The tightness around Olivie's eyes, the hard slant around her eyebrowns, and the bunched muscles on her forehead all hinted at her fury as she growled, ”You puny bitch! What gives you the right to sneak attack my buddy when he's fightin' fair and square, huh? If you wanna fight so bad, I'll do it!” She let the Paras go, but it did not get much of a chance to fall. The very next instant, her gloved fist cannoned into its back like a hydraulic piston. A sputtering noise could be heard as it shot straight into the ground, kicking up a little bit of dust as it skidded to a halt. With clenched teeth, Olivie demanded, ”Buck, rack up your second K.O with Headbutt!”
No sooner had she given the command than Buck, too engrossed in the battle to care about attacking a hurt opponent, hurled himself at the Paras to slam his head right into it. Olivie watched, satisfied, as the bug flipped end over end to land right be her foot. With the toe of her shoe she upended it onto its front. Its blank eyes gave off the impression that it had been knocked clean out. ”Way to go! Gotta make sure these creeps learn they're lesson, eh, Buck?”
That said, she knew full well that class was still in session. About two meters away, the Karrablast had righted itself. Something else had happened, as well; from the shadows of the derelict granary, a third Pokemon revealed itself. This one resembled a little green ball with darker-green ridges all over, clublike arms, dark eyes, and a mouth that looked like it had been stitched on. Olivie did not know the creature's name, though she guessed it was a Grass-type Pokemon, but she instantly saw something she recognized in the way it bore itself. Standing with arms crossed and eyes narrowed, the Cacnea looked mean, tough, and commanding just like the leader of a gang of schoolhard bullies might. Pointing a finger, Olivie declared. ”I'll bet five bucks you're the ringleader of this little crew. Well, it's no great shakes, but you've caught my interest. After we mop up the blue beetle, you're next, big boss.” Plus, if he even came close to living up to his image, the surly Cacnea would be coming with her.
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