Everything was a whirlwind of teeth that heaved and roiled, clacking and chattering together in a frenzy of manic energy. The war chants of the Rattata were nauseating. Every squeal, every bloodthirsty scream, every clash of incisor upon incisor was a distraction.
Sammy refused to let it get to him.
He forced the sickening cacophony to the back of his mind as he focused upon his proxy. Crescent had wasted no time in his initial charge, instinctually twisting his body so that the erect barbs lining his spine would be at the forefront of his tackle. The Raticate had clearly not expected such an initial display of ferocity and received a prickly mouthful in consequence. Recoiling instantly, the Raticate had spat dark spots of blood onto the dirt, its eyes wary.
It would not be taken by surprise again.
The two combatants circled each other, snarling as they searched for an opening. Crescent had lowered his body closer to the ground, hiding his soft underbelly. The Raticate's jaw hung slack as its lips retracted to display the maximum amount of fang. Its light brown fur puffed in all directions, turning the creature into a round mass. Sammy recognized the tactic thanks to Dean's instruction. It was a defensive posture that hid the neck and added cushioning to the vitals. When practicing with Rooster, Dean told Sammy that all he needed was a decisive impact to "center mass". But it wasn't Rooster that he was commanding now.
Crescent was far lighter, and had a far weaker jaw than his opponent. Even if he managed to get into the Raticate's blind spot, it was unlikely that he would be able to pierce past the voluminous ruff. But there were limits to how much the Raticate could expand its fur. There were other avenues of approach. Sammy recalled one of the many brawls that the ever-antagonistic Aggie had gotten herself into. Despite being shorter, one swift kick to the shins would be enough to knock someone off balance. Once they were in the dirt? Easy prey for Aggie's rain of blows.
"Go for the legs!" Sammy cried. His voice sounded foreign to him. It was the tone that he had heard from the sailors down at the pier. A commanding clarity that was used to bark across the din of motors and crashing waves.
Perhaps for the first time, Sammy felt in control. Even if he wasn't directly facing the Raticate, he could feel Crescent's criss-crossing advance across the dusty arena. He felt every muscle tense and release, every shaky breath.
They moved as one.
Boy and Pokemon darted across the sands, leaving cloud bursts in their wake.
They dove together to avoid the Raticate's swipes.
Leapt to the skies together as their backs arched to release needles in a volley, then grimaced together when none found purchase.
They twisted as fangs clipped their shoulder.
They ignored the blood and smashed their skull into the Raticate's chin. Effective enough, despite the cushion of hair, that it gave them a momentary breather.
They moved in mirrored synchronization, feeling the heartbeat of battle cascading through them, driven on by the incessant staccatos of the onlooking Rattata swarm. But for every one of their well-timed hits they received two in return. Even when they took advantage of a dust cloud to circle behind the Raticate's vision, but were rebuked with a crack across their cheek. The Raticate's tail was not merely for show. Such was the edge to the whipped appendage that a scarlet line blossomed at the impact before it wept scarlet tears.
The undulating sea of purple in front of the forest's green backdrop drained from their vision. Golden sand mixed with loamy dirt faded under their feet. Faster in their arena of destruction did Sammy and Crescent move.
Faster.
They had to move faster. Hit harder.
More blood ran in rivulets from scratches that had come in an unrelenting fury. A not so shallow puncture wound oozed and pulsed from their right foreleg. Their very being screamed for respite. For a moment to catch their breath.
The Raticate smirked. It preened its whiskers, sloughing off drying blood as it gurgled a throaty laugh.
"This is too easy." was plain upon its sneering face.
Crescent shook their head as if to dust off their exhaustion. Sammy narrowed their eyes as he tried to remember what he had been taught. Dodge, smash. Duck, smash. Dip, smash. Dive, smash. Stay on the move, stay ahead of the opponent, react to their attacks and punish them. Weave about like a boxer in the ring.
Ah.
No wonder.
Crescent did not have fists to punch. He did not have the sheer brawn to smash. If they continued to fight like Dean showed them, they would lose. They would die. They shouldn't be imitating someone else. They needed to fight their own way.
"This isn't working." Sammy grimaced out the words and an affirmative growl came in response. "We're trying to be like Rooster when we should just be us." Crescent turned and cocked one ear towards Sammy. "Fight the way you know best, Crescent. I trust you."
With those words, a feeling of relaxation came over Sammy. A feeling of clarity that cut through the noise, the smell, the fear that had enveloped them. Sammy stood a little straighter, his hands falling to his sides. Both of Crescent's ears flicked upright as it shot a glance back. The brief look happened quickly, but carried with it an overwhelming emotion.
"I trust you too."
Crescent arched his back and released a powerful battle cry. Every hair on Sammy's arms stood on end, and an electric charge ran up and down his back. The feeling energized him, sloughing away his fear and fatigue. However the opposite was taking place within the Raticate. It ceased its smug preening immediately and narrowed its eyes while a keening snarl emanated from its throat.
It lunged. Far quicker than ever before as a soft white glow covered its features.
Crescent curled inwards, then twisted just at the moment of impact. Sammy could nearly feel the sudden departure of breath from lungs as Crescent drove one mighty hind leg into the gut of the Raticate after the other. Such an impact was only possible thanks to the high velocity in which the Raticate had been traveling. Its body was flung end over end and left a trail in the dirt before finally coming to a stop at the far end of the impromptu arena.
Sammy's eyes were lit up in hope, but cursed their luck as the Raticate twisted to its feet. Its entire right side was matted and it was hunched over wheezing, but it refused to stay down. Even as it doubled over in pain it remained on the defensive, clearly expecting an attack of opportunity.
But none was coming.
Crescent knew that it was slower than the Raticate. There was no point trying to push the advantage and risk retaliatory fangs in his throat. No, they would play to their strengths and let the opponent come to them.
And come the Raticate did.
Again and again it closed the gap wreathed in shimmering white. Again and again it was either narrowly dodged or repulsed with a double kick to the nearest body part. But Crescent was tiring, and the Raticate knew that it only needed one good hit. Over and over the Raticate threw itself with wild abandon, and the moment that Crescent's footing slipped in the sandy dirt, it cried out in triumph and slammed its entire weight into the Nidoran's body.
It was Crescent's turn to fly. Sammy raced after his partner, crying out Crescent's name. Rattata scampered out of the way as the Nidoran's body finally crashed down in a meaty thump. Sammy slid to his knees in terror, denim ripping away to allow small pebbles to rip at his knees.
"Crescent! Are you okay?"
WIth a painful, wracking heave the Nidoran drew in one shuddering breath. His bones creaked and his muscles threatened to give out from under him. Sammy's face fell as he saw that one ear now hung rather limply as his partner struggled to stand. Valiantly the Nidoran struggled to his feet, dragging his broken body up. Ignoring Sammy's panic, Crescent ambled groggily back towards the center of the arena.
A strangled cry ripped Sammy's attention away from his battered partner. The Raticate was limping now, one paw pulled in close to its chest. Three glistening barbs were embedded deep in the cradled paw, and blackening veins could be seen radiating from the poisoned spears. Even as Crescent winced with every ragged inhale; he managed a smirk of his own.
The Raticate's demeanor changed. Its eyes narrowed as it took in the sweaty, breathless forms of a child and the heavily damaged body of a Nidoran. Never once glancing away it dragged its top set of incisors down its paw pad, using the leverage to pull the barbs free. They fell to the ground one after another with muted thumps. It was at this moment that Sammy realized that the clamor and din that was present at the beginning of the fight had completely ceased.
It was eerily quiet.
Hundreds of pairs of eyes gleamed in the harsh afternoon sunlight, darting between the duelists. It was as if none dared to move or breathe lest the tenuous moment be shattered. Crescent snorted a small globule of semi-coagulated blood. Even with fur criss-crossed with dried ichor and a broken ear, his movements were almost languid. He refused to show his fatigue. He was not so weak to be brought down with a single blow.
It appeared that the Raticate did not wholly agree with the sentiment as it tested its weight upon the injured leg. Its nose wrinkled and it drew the leg back immediately. Sammy could see that its veins were blackening at a rapid pace. Crescent's poison was truly potent, and now the Raticate was on a timer. Would the Raticate succumb to seeping death, or would Crescent tire out first?
Was poison honorable? Sammy tried to rationalize it. They used poisoned bait all the time at the farm to prevent damage from pests. But the Rattata and Raticate were clearly intelligent.
They loved.
They hurt.
They would willingly face death to avenge their own.
How could they consider these creatures pests? Mere annoyances that only operated on a most base level of instincts? Flies were pests - they flew about and spoiled everything they touched. But they did not care if one of their brethren was swatted and crushed. They did not retaliate if you slew them en masse. Sammy's thoughts grew tortured. They pulled at his soul and swirled in spirals that made him nauseous.
Killing this Raticate would be wrong.
Sammy had to try and stop this fight. It was wrong. Everything that they were doing was wrong. HIs fists clenched at his sides, his knuckles white, as little indentations in his palms appeared where his fingernails dug in. The sun was too hot. The air was too stale. Despite being in the middle of a clearing, he felt boxed in.
This had to stop.
As if sensing Sammy's trepidation, Crescent retreated to stand protectively before the boy, never taking its eyes off the Raticate. He faced his opponent head on, blazing with a clear message that it better not advance. The Poison Pin Pokemon's hackles were raised, and it bore itself to its greatest height. Crescent adamantly demonstrated its willingness to be Sammy's shield, and radiated defiance.
Sammy felt his gaze drop away from the battlefield and fall upon his mighty guardian. How long had it been since Crescent first came into his life? A few days? A week, perhaps? Up to this point, Sammy had simply taken the Nidoran's presence for granted. It was as if they had grown up together.
He couldn't understand it. How could Crescent be willing to fight and even potentially die for him? What had Sammy ever done to deserve such loyalty? Something dragged across Sammy's cheek at the thought. Absently, he reached up and brushed away the teardrop, but another had followed just behind it. He pushed it away as well. Yet another came. And another. There was no staunching the salty flow anymore. The tears poured down freely, dropping off Sammy's nose and chin before falling onto the ground below.
Wiping vigorously with what was once a white sleeve, Sammy forced himself to refocus on the present. They were already fighting, and the only way to stop was if one of them gave up. He tried to set his face into the same impassive mask that he had worn just moments before, but it refused to come. With his reddened eyes and tear-muddened face, Sammy could only imagine that he looked weak. A small part of him had expected the Raticate to have taken full advantage of his current state, but to Sammy's shock the big-fanged Pokemon hadn't moved at all.
The alien qualities were now gone from Sammy's voice as he addressed the Raticate. "This is wrong." He paused momentarily, but continued when the Raticate did not reply. "You're poisoned. You will die if we keep going. Even if you win, you will die." Sammy drew in a ragged breath. The tears did not stop. "Please! We need to stop so you can get help!"
Sammy worried that his begging was in vain and prepared to scream his forfeiture. Gram was still there; he would get them out safe. But the words were left unspoken as the Raticate sat back on its haunches and stared in what was clearly fascination. Its head tilted to one side then the other, whiskers furiously scrubbing at the air as if it were sniffing out any duplicity. The moment continued to drag on. Sammy quivered like a leaf on a branch. Crescent stood in full protective display. The Raticate's eyes darted across their features, digesting the sight.
Then it dropped to all fours and bowed its head. As it relaxed, the great rat's fur slowly smoothed itself, becoming almost sleek.
It's over?
The heavy silence was broken as a thousand purple bodies turned from the arena they had formed and simply…melted into the surroundings. Crescent turned hesitantly in awe of the sudden departure, his one good ear swishing back and forth. Sammy simply collapsed, folding onto his bloody knees as the last of his strength drained from him.
He turned a bleary gaze towards Dean, the Trainer was standing in utter disbelief and conversing rapidly with the nearly invisible Gram who had descended to hover next to him. A fervor of crashing twigs came from behind them, and Sammy turned to see Paul rushing forward.
"What the fuck just happened?" Paul was clutching his rifle to his chest as he sprinted towards Sammy. "Why did they all leave? Is it over? Are you okay?"
Dean muttered something under his breath, then lifted the arm closest to Sammy.
"Raticate forfeits the match! Sammy and his proxy Crescent are declared the winner!"
A note from DJ Firefox:
Oh man I have been looking forward to sharing Sammy's first fight with you all for a while now!
For me, even writing this chapter was taxing. I'm legitimately exhausted from it, but I wanted to make sure I didn't leave you all with an unbearable cliffhanger before I took a break.
That being said, I will be taking the month of August off from writing. I've been falling behind on my Master's program and slacking on my household chores. When I get back, we'll explore the aftermath of this battle...and get introduced to someone special. Look forward to it!
