When Amber woke up the next morning, Kevin was still asleep in her lap. She smiled and carefully moved him out of her lap and onto the hay pile. She got up, covered him up, and walked out of the stall and the barn. Once outside and in the yard, she saw all the Pokémon that were awake in pairs. She knew what was happening. It was training day for all the Pokémon to hone and practice their battling skills. She walked around until she found her regular sparring partner, a Hawlucha named Barry. “Ah, there you are Amber. Are you ready?” Barry asked. She nodded. “Ready as always Barry. Let’s do it.” She took her hand to hand stance and prepared herself for Barry’s attack. “Alright, here I come!” Barry advanced on her quickly, but she was ready. She either dodged or blocked each punch Barry threw at her without breaking a sweat. She was an expert at close combat. Once she saw an opening she began to counter attack, throwing her own punches and kicks at Barry. Barry did well to block her attacks until she swept his legs out from under him, making him fall to the ground. She placed her foot on his chest and smiled. “Looks like I win another battle, Barry. You’re pinned.” Barry chuckled. “You’re good Amber, real good. You’re generally a better fighter than me and I’m a professional Pokémon wrestling champion.” Amber stepped off of him and helped him up. “I’ve just had a lot of practice and training. We can go again if you want.” He nodded. “This time you can attack first.” He said. “Alright, brace yourself. Here I come!” Barry took up a defensive wresting stance and prepared for Amber’s advance. She quickly moved in on him and started throwing a series of punches and kicks just like before. This time, however, instead of going for a sweep to knock Barry down, Amber attempted a tackle on him. Barry caught her out of her tackle, lifted her up, and body slammed her. Barry held her down, pinning her. “Oh, look who won this time. I still got it.” He smiled. “Yeah ok, ok.” Amber laughed. “You got me on that one.” Barry helped her up. “You want to go again?” Amber asked. “Nah, looks like you have a friend looking for you anyways.” Barry pointed behind Amber and she turned to see Kevin walking towards them. “Well, I’m gonna go off and train some more. We can spar some more later.” Barry said, smiled, and walked away. “Hey Amber!” Kevin said when he approached her. “Hey Kevin. You sleep well?” “Yeah, I slept soundly all night. What’s going on out here? It looks like everyone is battling each other.” “It’s training day. Everyone is practicing their battling skills and trying to get better. You want to train, Kevin? I’ll go easy on you.” She smiled. “Oh you’re on!” Kevin exclaimed and got ready. “You can attack first.” Amber said, “I won’t hold back when defending though. So give me your all! I can take it.” Kevin smirked and nodded. “Alright, I hope you’re ready for this!” Kevin charged forward and jumped at Amber to bite, but she ducked him and he landed on the other side of her. He let loose a Dark Pulse that hit her, but it wasn’t very effective. Amber counter attacked with a Force Palm, but he dodged out of the way by sliding to his right. Kevin jumped up and hit her with a Flamethrower which seemed to work greatly on her. He then tried to tackle her and bring her down, but she caught him out of the air with a Force Palm and knocked him back to the ground. She went over and held him down with her foot. “Good try, Kevin. You did good, but looks like I got the better of you.” She panted and smiled. He chuckled, “Yeah. I forgot that you were a fighter while I’m a dark type.” She stepped off of him and picked him up. “You ok? I didn’t mean to hit you so hard.” She said. “I’ll be fine. I’ve shaken off worse before, I think.” He replied. “You are really strong, Amber. You shook off my Flamethrower pretty fast.” “I’ve seen all kinds of moves on past training days. Only one other person could beat me.” She told him. “That Hawlucha?” “Yeah, his name is Barry. He’s a champion wrestler.”
Amber set him down on the ground. “I wonder if Josh or Drago are awake and out here somewhere yet.” He said. This was indeed the case, as somewhere on the training grounds, Drago was battling a Snivy, and Josh was looking around for Kevin. Once Josh spotted them, he ran up and asked Kevin, “Hey, it’s training day apparently, Kevin. Want to battle?” “Sure thing Josh. Let’s train.” Kevin replied. Josh got on one side of the field and Kevin got on the other. “Alright, ready when yo-…” Kevin started to say when someone yelled, “Look out!” “Huh…?” Kevin looked to his right just in time to see a Focus Blast flying towards him. He couldn’t get out of the way in time, and the Focus Blast got a direct impact. “Aargh!!” He was thrown across the field. “Kevin!” Amber ran over to him. “Are you ok? Kevin? Kevin?!?” Kevin didn’t respond. He was knocked unconscious by the blast. He looked hurt, badly hurt. Amber picked him up and rushed him over to one of the breeders that was watching the other Pokémon train. “Oh no, what happened.” The breeder said as he took Kevin and rushed him to the house. Barry went over to Amber. “Oh no…it was an accident. I let off a Focus Blast and it missed one of the dummy targets and went straight for him. I tried to warn him but it was too late. I hope he’ll be ok.” Barry said. “It’s ok Barry, you didn’t mean to. That probably really hurt him though…because he is a dark type.” Amber replied. “Yeah I know, but the breeders can probably heal him right up. Yeah, I think he is going to be fine.” Barry told her. She nodded. “I’m going to go look for more stray Pokémon tonight, want to come?” She asked. “Nah, I’m going to stay here and make sure no other accidents happen.” She nodded in understanding and looked over at the house to see Josh and Draco peeking into the door to see Kevin. “His friends are worried. I’m going to go try to ease their worries.” Amber said and walked towards the house.
As night began to fall, Amber rested up and prepared for the night searching. Just as the sun had fully set and night had fallen, one of the breeders brought Kevin from the house and to the barn. He handed Kevin to Amber and said, “He’s going to be just fine. He just needs to rest and take it easy for a couple of days.” Amber nodded and took Kevin to her stall. She set him down on the soft hay and covered him with a blanket. Josh was watching from a distance in his own stall. Amber went over to him. “Can you watch him? Make sure he doesn’t try to get up and move about too much. The breeder said he needs to take it easy.” Josh nodded and went over to Kevin. Amber sighed, rubbed her head, and left the barn to go search for stray Pokémon. Amber started her usual routine of going in the forest off the trail to search for Pokémon. She went for a long while without finding anyone. She was about to give up and start the long walk back to the ranch when she saw something out of the corner of her eye hiding in the shadows. “Huh?” When she looked over towards what she saw, it immediately fled trying to get away. “Hey wait!” She chased after it. Whatever it was, was fast, almost faster than Amber. She had some trouble keeping up with it, but she never lost sight of it. The chase lasted for a few minutes before Amber managed to close the distance between her and the shadowy figure. Suddenly, just as she was getting in arms distance the figure turned and slashed its claws at her. She ducked the swipe and jumped away. “Whoa!” She shouted. She finally got a good look at the shadow. It was a Combusken with a mean look in its eyes. “Hey, take it easy…I don’t want to fight…” Amber said. “Why are you chasing me then?” The Combusken replied sharply. “I just want to help you, it’s dangerous to be out here after dark by yourself, there is a Pokémon ranch a little ways from here…” “I can handle whatever is out here.” He interrupted. “I don’t want or need anyone else. So how about you just go before I lose my temper?” “Look, I’m not looking for a fight…” “Then you should leave. Right now.” “You should come back with me. What are you, some kind of rogue?” “Exactly, I’m not going anywhere with anyone. This is your last warning. Leave now.” “Look, we have food and…” “Fine, I tried to warn you.” The Combusken, Rogue, quickly dashed to Amber and started striking at her with his claws. Amber did well to dodge and block his attacks, especially his kicks. She had heard how powerful a Combusken’s kicks were, and she didn’t want to experience it first-hand, but every few blows, Rogue got a lucky shot in on her with his claws. Amber jumped away to try to catch a break from his flurry. Rogue paused his attack and stared at Amber. She panted and stood in her defensive stance, waiting for him to strike again. “You should’ve walked away when I gave you the chance…” He jumped up into the air and drop kicked her, slashing her critically across the chest with the talons on his feet. Once he landed on the ground behind her, he roundhouse kicked her, making her fall forward to the ground. “Argh…” She didn’t move. “Humph.” He started to walk away, satisfied with the victory, when he looked back and noticed something glimmer in the moonlight around Amber. He walked back to her to inspect what it was. It was Amber’s blood. “Oh no, I didn’t mean to cut her that deeply…” Rogue sighed and picked Amber up. “I better get her back to that ranch before she bleeds to death.” He started to run back towards the ranch. Within mere minutes Rogue made it back to the ranch when it had taken Amber an hour to get from the ranch to where she encountered him. He set her down outside the breeders’ house, knocked on the door, and ran into the barn to hide. All the Pokémon in the barn were asleep. Rogue looked around in the stalls at all the sleeping Pokémon until he came across a familiar face. When he saw the shiny Zorua sleeping in the stall, he immediately recognized him. Kevin’s parents were close friends of Rogue and Rogue was surprised to see Kevin so far away from home while still being so young. Rogue didn’t want to confront Kevin directly with all the other Pokémon around, so he started devising a plan to get Kevin away from everyone. After looking at all the other Pokémon and checking outside to make sure the breeders weren’t searching around, he quietly left all the Pokémon, excluding Amber, sleeping in the barn.
Amber set him down on the ground. “I wonder if Josh or Drago are awake and out here somewhere yet.” He said. This was indeed the case, as somewhere on the training grounds, Drago was battling a Snivy, and Josh was looking around for Kevin. Once Josh spotted them, he ran up and asked Kevin, “Hey, it’s training day apparently, Kevin. Want to battle?” “Sure thing Josh. Let’s train.” Kevin replied. Josh got on one side of the field and Kevin got on the other. “Alright, ready when yo-…” Kevin started to say when someone yelled, “Look out!” “Huh…?” Kevin looked to his right just in time to see a Focus Blast flying towards him. He couldn’t get out of the way in time, and the Focus Blast got a direct impact. “Aargh!!” He was thrown across the field. “Kevin!” Amber ran over to him. “Are you ok? Kevin? Kevin?!?” Kevin didn’t respond. He was knocked unconscious by the blast. He looked hurt, badly hurt. Amber picked him up and rushed him over to one of the breeders that was watching the other Pokémon train. “Oh no, what happened.” The breeder said as he took Kevin and rushed him to the house. Barry went over to Amber. “Oh no…it was an accident. I let off a Focus Blast and it missed one of the dummy targets and went straight for him. I tried to warn him but it was too late. I hope he’ll be ok.” Barry said. “It’s ok Barry, you didn’t mean to. That probably really hurt him though…because he is a dark type.” Amber replied. “Yeah I know, but the breeders can probably heal him right up. Yeah, I think he is going to be fine.” Barry told her. She nodded. “I’m going to go look for more stray Pokémon tonight, want to come?” She asked. “Nah, I’m going to stay here and make sure no other accidents happen.” She nodded in understanding and looked over at the house to see Josh and Draco peeking into the door to see Kevin. “His friends are worried. I’m going to go try to ease their worries.” Amber said and walked towards the house.
As night began to fall, Amber rested up and prepared for the night searching. Just as the sun had fully set and night had fallen, one of the breeders brought Kevin from the house and to the barn. He handed Kevin to Amber and said, “He’s going to be just fine. He just needs to rest and take it easy for a couple of days.” Amber nodded and took Kevin to her stall. She set him down on the soft hay and covered him with a blanket. Josh was watching from a distance in his own stall. Amber went over to him. “Can you watch him? Make sure he doesn’t try to get up and move about too much. The breeder said he needs to take it easy.” Josh nodded and went over to Kevin. Amber sighed, rubbed her head, and left the barn to go search for stray Pokémon. Amber started her usual routine of going in the forest off the trail to search for Pokémon. She went for a long while without finding anyone. She was about to give up and start the long walk back to the ranch when she saw something out of the corner of her eye hiding in the shadows. “Huh?” When she looked over towards what she saw, it immediately fled trying to get away. “Hey wait!” She chased after it. Whatever it was, was fast, almost faster than Amber. She had some trouble keeping up with it, but she never lost sight of it. The chase lasted for a few minutes before Amber managed to close the distance between her and the shadowy figure. Suddenly, just as she was getting in arms distance the figure turned and slashed its claws at her. She ducked the swipe and jumped away. “Whoa!” She shouted. She finally got a good look at the shadow. It was a Combusken with a mean look in its eyes. “Hey, take it easy…I don’t want to fight…” Amber said. “Why are you chasing me then?” The Combusken replied sharply. “I just want to help you, it’s dangerous to be out here after dark by yourself, there is a Pokémon ranch a little ways from here…” “I can handle whatever is out here.” He interrupted. “I don’t want or need anyone else. So how about you just go before I lose my temper?” “Look, I’m not looking for a fight…” “Then you should leave. Right now.” “You should come back with me. What are you, some kind of rogue?” “Exactly, I’m not going anywhere with anyone. This is your last warning. Leave now.” “Look, we have food and…” “Fine, I tried to warn you.” The Combusken, Rogue, quickly dashed to Amber and started striking at her with his claws. Amber did well to dodge and block his attacks, especially his kicks. She had heard how powerful a Combusken’s kicks were, and she didn’t want to experience it first-hand, but every few blows, Rogue got a lucky shot in on her with his claws. Amber jumped away to try to catch a break from his flurry. Rogue paused his attack and stared at Amber. She panted and stood in her defensive stance, waiting for him to strike again. “You should’ve walked away when I gave you the chance…” He jumped up into the air and drop kicked her, slashing her critically across the chest with the talons on his feet. Once he landed on the ground behind her, he roundhouse kicked her, making her fall forward to the ground. “Argh…” She didn’t move. “Humph.” He started to walk away, satisfied with the victory, when he looked back and noticed something glimmer in the moonlight around Amber. He walked back to her to inspect what it was. It was Amber’s blood. “Oh no, I didn’t mean to cut her that deeply…” Rogue sighed and picked Amber up. “I better get her back to that ranch before she bleeds to death.” He started to run back towards the ranch. Within mere minutes Rogue made it back to the ranch when it had taken Amber an hour to get from the ranch to where she encountered him. He set her down outside the breeders’ house, knocked on the door, and ran into the barn to hide. All the Pokémon in the barn were asleep. Rogue looked around in the stalls at all the sleeping Pokémon until he came across a familiar face. When he saw the shiny Zorua sleeping in the stall, he immediately recognized him. Kevin’s parents were close friends of Rogue and Rogue was surprised to see Kevin so far away from home while still being so young. Rogue didn’t want to confront Kevin directly with all the other Pokémon around, so he started devising a plan to get Kevin away from everyone. After looking at all the other Pokémon and checking outside to make sure the breeders weren’t searching around, he quietly left all the Pokémon, excluding Amber, sleeping in the barn.