The mist’s remnants stuck to his shorts, dampening them and gluing them to his thighs. Patrick’s knees buckled as he stared at the Lombre draining his beloved Pokemon. His mind was vacant. He found no way out of the predicament he placed himself in. He clenched his jaw as he cursed himself.

  A blur of black and white flashed past Patrick’s eyes. A hero. Zigzagoon slammed the Lombre with a shining white Tackle. Its grip faltered and Nickit dashed away with the last sliver of strength in it. Zigzagoon growled, its muzzle painted red with blood. The last of the mist dissipated and the ground was littered with a massacre of Lotad.

  The Pokedex shook in Patrick’s pocket. Normally, he would’ve ignored it, but he needed any help he could get now.

  [Pokemon defeated: Lotad (Lvl 5)! Lotad (Lvl 4) Lotad (Lvl 7)...!| EXP Allocated]

  Zigzagoon has leveled up!

  Level 11 —> Level 13

  Stats: +4 HP, +1 ATK, +2 DEF, +1 SpA, +2 SpD, +3 SPE

  New move: Headbutt.

  Headbutt:

  The user sticks out its head and attacks by charging straight into the target. This may also make the target flinch.

  Patrick’s eyes flicked through the huge list of Lotad massacred. He slammed his thumb on the screen, immediately replacing the old Normal type move, Tackle, with the better Headbutt. Zigzagoon and Lombre stared down at each other, a hush falling on the field around them.

  Nickit dragged itself on the sand, creating a trench away from the standoff. A breeze whistled through the trees behind Patrick and Zigzagoon. Sand sputtered behind them as they both set off towards the Lombre at the same time.

  Patrick steadied his shaking hands as he advanced on the Lombre. Its claws glowed white as it unleashed a Fury Swipes at Zigzagoon. Patrick pounced on it and used its sombrero as a handle. He wrestled the bulky Lombre as it aborted its swipes. Patrick’s heart hammered against his chest as he kept up his offense, not doing any damage but doing what he could do best: being a nuisance. Zigzagoon shook its entire body for a second with a smile on its face, its head glowed a blinding white that merged with its white palette. In its debut, Headbutt slammed into Lombre’s torso, sending a vibration into Patrick’s spine.

  Lombre froze up. Patrick felt the rigidness in its body as he managed to overwhelm it onto the sand. Zigzagoon pounced on its head and unleashed a huge ghostly Lick. A wave of fulfilment rose up Patrick as his mouth crept up in a smile. He turned the flinched Lombre around and, while sitting on its chest, punched its face. It was similar to punching Bryon but different enough. His fist dug deeper than he expected, diving into its squishy, wet face. Patrick kept the barrage going as Zigzagoon hopped beside him in zigzags, letting out grunts of happiness.

  A vibration in his pocket signalled the end as Patrick put in a few punches for good measure. He didn’t check the notification as he burrowed into his other pocket. The Oran berry he saved fell onto the wet sand with a soft thud beside Nickit. Its eyes glinted with energy as it inched closer to it. A green faint light encompassed it. Patrick marched towards the shivering Lotad, hiding behind natural covers, such as rocks and trees. Nickit got up and followed them.

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  “We’ve done their leader in.” Patrick rolled his neck. “Let’s go finish what you’ve started, Zigzagoon.”

  A single Lotad was isolated, behind a solitary rock on the shore of the lake. Patrick locked eyes with it and marched forward. It shivered and let out a whine. A long, pathetic yelp. The ground shook with a rumble as the same sound of wet footsteps reappeared.

  A thousand leaves littered the ground, painting the dull sand with a deep green color. Patrick backed up a step but found Zigzagoon’s march unfettered. The Lotad gathered around their endangered comrade. A smell of wet leaves in a swamp barraged Patrick’s nostrils as he resumed his charge with Nickit by his side.

  Something whistled in Patrick’s ears. A song of sorts emitted not from the surroundings, but into Patrick’s ears directly.

  The horde of Lotad began to sway. They all spun in place, their movements erratic, unsynchronized. Teeter Dance. Patrick felt the world spinning around him, his head pulsing with nausea. The blue berries he ate rose up his stomach and lodged into his throat, ready to spew out at any moment. Patrick clenched his belly and looked around him, finding a blur of orange sprawled on the floor. Nickit. And a blur of black and white thrashing amidst the ranks of the Lotad.

  Patrick put one foot after the other, teetering as he approached Zigzagoon. He bit his tongue down hard, trying to keep his breakfast. His head swirled, the berries threatening to escape his throat. A wet object touched his bare foot and, this time intentionally, he flicked out his foot to kick it in the air. The Lotad emitted a joint whimper as the song’s music tapered off. They kept spinning but without the music it was nothing but a pathetic twirl.

  Patrick slammed both hands onto his ears, covering them from any incoming music and snarls. “Use Snarl. Both of you.”

  Zigzagoon and Nickit sent out a simultaneous, large shockwave of a Snarl at the ranks of the Lotad. A wave of red, black, and visible sound flew through them as circles of blue drooped around each and every single Lotad. Their Special Attack dropped, but it wasn’t necessary. Without their Teeter Dance, they were nothing.

  Zigzagoon used Lick on the closest Lotad. It flew up with his ghostly tongue’s trajectory as Nickit slammed a single focused Snarl on it. The Lotad spun in the air and dropped onto the sand with a thud as minerals flew off in a circle.

  The Pokedex shook.

  Patrick held a Lotad by its small leaf atop it and threw it at Zigzagoon’s shining white head. The Lotad dug a hole into the sand as Zigzagoon used Headbutt onto the ground. Nickit used Quick Attack on a Lotad in the middle of their pack and glowed reddish black with Zigzagoon in a Beat Up.

  The Pokedex shook twice, then a third time.

  Another Lotad went down in the wave of Snarl both Pokemon unleashed for a second time. Patrick stifled a yawn as he looked at the piles of corpses painting the sand beneath them red. The smell of copper and raw meat sneaked into Patrick’s nostrils.

  The Pokedex shook a few more times.

  A thought crossed Patrick’s mind and he found no better time to test it but now. He walked over to a Lotad that caught his eye. It was shaking, spewing out pathetic Water Guns. Patrick stomped on it. It squished under his foot, squirming and letting out whimpers. He did it again and again until he felt the life sputtering out of its movements. He looked beside him and confirmed that Zigzagoon and Nickit weren’t close to killing any more Lotad. He crushed it with one final stomp and waited for the Pokedex to vibrate. Nothing. They needed to share in the kill.

  The Pokedex shook one last time.

  Patrick checked his Pokedex quickly.

  Pokemon defeated: Lotad (Lvl 10), Lotad (Lvl 6)... | EXP allocating.

  Patrick couldn’t be bothered to wait as his chest heaved with warm, deep breaths. He’d check it later. He took in the view. A shore painted with red. No speck of yellow sand remained in Patrick’s vision as he looked at the piles upon piles of blue, green corpses painted with crimson. They were set for days if those Lotad tasted any good. His stomach rumbled, groaning. Patrick would share in the feast, himself, this time.

  The water on the shoreline ebbed. Bubbles surfaced on the edge of the lake. A blue creature, clearly silhouetted underneath the water, rose slowly. A shriek shook the air around Patrick as water splashed on the shore, pulling red lines of blood off the sand and into the lake. Patrick bit his lip until warm blood spilled down his chin. Gyarados.

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