Pokemon Rebellion

Recovery and Preparation

It had been a couple days since their encounter with the Night Rider. Greninja was in the recovery room and being looked after by the medical team. Zaid and his Wartortle were training against Chloe while Armaan was training with Da-Wei. During their training session, Armaan’s mind wasn’t completely focused in the present. Da-Wei could sense it but he did not hold back. He relentlessly threw punch after punch as Armaan held up his arms to block like a sitting duck. Eventually, Da-Wei’s force proved to be too much and Armaan was knocked right out of bounds and he fell on his back.

Da-Wei had enough of Armaan’s lack of effort and rushed towards him, grabbing him by the collar. “Hey, I don’t know what your deal is but you better snap out of it right now!” He said in an angry tone. After receiving no answer and not much change in emotion from Armaan, Da-Wei let him go and began to walk away from the training room.

As Da-Wei left the room, the general walked in seeing Armaan looking depressed, so he attempted to lift his spirit. He jumps and exclaims “Look a wild general has appeared! It used scold!” Armaan looked up without any change of emotion before staring back down to the floor. “It was not very effective…” the general uttered in defeat. Realizing his jokes were not going to help, he sat beside Armaan and asked him to share what was bothering him.

A rush of emotion came to Armaan in the form of sadness and frustration. He voiced how inadequate he felt as a trainer and teammate. There were multiple situations where his pokemon was in trouble but he felt powerless to help. In addition, his recently evolved Greninja disobeyed him in the midst of their encounter against the Night Rider.

General Corrin stood up and began to explain why Greninja was no longer being cooperative. Having spent a lot of time taking care of Froakie and seeing Armaan come to its aid, it evolved maintaining a strong bond and connected with its trainer into Frogadier. In contrast to the events that took place against the Night Rider, Frogadier forced its evolution out of anger and rage severing the bond it had with Armaan. Immediately, Armaan wanted to know how to solve the issue. General Corrin didn’t have a clue. It was something only Armaan could figure out on his own.

After hearing the general speak, Armaan regained some of his emotional stability and began to stand on his feet. More than anything he was curious as to how General Corrin seemed to know so much about evolution. When asked by Armaan how he obtained his knowledge, the general responded, “Let’s just say I don’t want the same mistakes that I made to happen to you as well.” With that, Armaan decided to leave that subject alone.

Changing the subject, Corrin remembered his main reason for coming to see Armaan. He told Armaan to hustle to join the team to see Rashmi as she had some urgent news to share with everyone. As Armaan was about to rush to the lab, he stopped for a moment, wanting to share something else. He warned the General about the titanic Tyranitar he had encountered during the invasion of the city. Unlike any of the other pokemon, Armaan felt something very different about this creature, it was bigger, stronger, and seemed to have a sense of autonomy that the other invading monster didn’t. The general acknowledged and thanked Armaan for sharing the warning and he continued on his way.

At the testing area the team gathered up: Chloe, Da-Wei, Zaid and Armaan. As they were standing side by side, Rashmi began to explain why she was so excited to have everyone together:

Rashmi: Now that I have you all here I would like to share some exciting technology news! You will all be getting upgrades to your battle suit that will allow you to survive some of the strongest pokemon attacks ever. The suit will be able to withstand a ‘close combat’, absorb the fiery hot ‘fire blast’, and even resist against a high voltage ‘thunderbolt.’

Zaid: That is so cool!

Rashmi: In addition to that I have a special little something prepared for each of you.

Chloe: Oh here is the best part!

Rashmi: For Armaan, I have designed this kite shield made from some of the finest metal from around the city. It's both durable and light enough for you to carry around.

Armaan: Wow thanks Rashmi this is amazing!

Rashmi: For Da-Wei, I have upgraded your power gauntlet from before. Now you have two gauntlets for both your right and your left. I even gave it a slight increase in power!

Da-Wei: Hmmm, I expected nothing less from Tech Wiz Rashmi.

Rashmi: And for Zaid, I have designed this hammer that is able to shoot electricity!

Zaid: Oh my gosh! Really?!

Rashmi: No, just kidding. Here is a colourful stone that someone handpicked just for you.

Zaid: Oh and there is a note from Kutuhal and of course he drew a smiley face with a tongue sticking out… Great...

Rashmi: That’s all for the individual weapons…

Armaan: Hey Rashmi, what about Chloe? She didn’t get anything.

Chloe: Yes Rashmi I didn’t get anything new. Please go ahead and tell them why.

Rashmi: Zaid. Armaan. What you have to know about Chloe is that she doesn’t need a weapon. She is a weapon…

Chloe: YEAH THAT’S RIGHT!

Da-Wei: Here we go again…

Rashmi: Ahem. Anyways. Finally, I have completed an invention that General Corrin has been pressing me to make for years. These two capsule contraptions are known as the pokemon ball. It can be used to keep both your pokemon safe and easier to carry when they need rest.

Zaid: Hmm, Pokemon ball sounds like a long name. Why don’t we call it the pokeball?

Armaan: I like the sound of that!

Da-Wei: Hey Rashmi, what about all the extra pokeballs in the back there?

Rashmi: Oh, those were the original proto-types that didn’t work out very well. Most of the ones we tested just end up exploding.

Chloe: Oh my goodness, I got the perfect name for those! Poke-booms!

Da-Wei: Sigh… anyways let’s take those on our journey as well. We never know when we might need some extra firepower.

Rashmi: Be my guest! Now you should all head on and get ready before you begin your long journey into the forbidden forest.

After the four went their separate ways, Armaan went to the infirmary to see how Greninja was fairing. He was met by a lady in a doctor’s coat with a name tag identifying her as Dr. I. Chaggar. She and nurse Ruby were the medical respondents tending to Greninja’s wounds. Armaan thanked her for her efforts and she happily received his gratitude. She led him to the room where Greninja was resting, letting him know he was fully recovered and ready for adventure. After they arrived into the room, she left to attend to her other patients.

Greninja was already up and waved with excitement as Armaan approached him. Armaan was glad to see his pokemon healed and in good spirit. He apologized to Greninja for letting him down during their last mission and for being a lousy trainer. Suddenly, Greninja smacked him hard on the back, snapping him out of his pity party. Greninja began making noises and moving its arms emphatically. Although Armaan didn’t speak pokemon, he understood what Greninja was trying to convey. It was telling Armaan that they had to move forward from the past and continue to develop as partners if they ever hoped to beat tough opponents like the Night Rider. Armaan stood up after the encouragement and caught Greninja up to speed with everything that it missed.