Gotta Catch Em' All: Platinum Version (Open!)

[Truly]

William Bungus
Sinnoh Route 203
Bibarel (0/25) | Turtwig (5/5) | Tepig (5/5) [LOCKED] | Staravia (14/14)

Items: 3 Pokéballs, Pokétch, 1st Gym Badge (?)
Points: 3+1 = 4

The bravest among them took to the field of battle, and were cut down one after another. There was something noble about self-sacrifice for the sake of buying time, but nobody was running. Maybe it was too late to run: if these guys had been tracked and found so easily by their enemies, and those enemies wielded such great firepower, then there was no way they could buy enough time to get back to a city, and no city they could possibly hide in. Still, in what seemed like a life-or-death battle, why did so many of these trainers hold back, or abstain from fighting?

William’s ears rang and his mind raced. In a fit of inspired brilliance, he concocted a plan. If they could make it to the tree line, the green trees would shield them from dragon-fire and gun-fire alike. They could split up and hide from this killer trainer, and the Charizard wouldn’t even fit between most of the trees! They just needed to buy enough time to get Sophie into the woods. It would be fine, if everybody followed their roles.

So first, William called on the Scout.

"Ma-I mean, Pali," he called, straining his shrill voice over the roar of Fire and Fighting, "I need you to Scout a path through the treeline!" William pointed to the conifers that lined the route, then turned around to make sure she had heard him.

But what he saw dismayed him. Pali was too busy scrunching up her face at an older boy near Sophie. The older boy was trying to tend to Sophie’s wounds, but it just seemed like he was getting in the way of Tony, the designated Medic. Didn’t he know they had roles for a reason? This wasn’t the place to be administering soothing crème – if Sophie stayed here, she would die, and not from the burn on her arm. She needed protection, not comfort, if he wanted to save her.

"I've done what I can!" Marina's whimper came from William's left, miraculously carried on winds already laden with embers.

"If your Pokémon are down, help Tony move the Leader! Tony, you gotta follow Matth—I mean Pali! Lose them in the trees!”

"Nieth, you’re the Analyst! How much more will it take to bring this thing down?”
"It looks about halfway down I'd guess. More than we have."

It was an honest estimate, but William knew they still had resources – the two older boys hadn’t battled yet. They probably wouldn’t like to be bossed around by a kid, but with Kinnie leading their tactics, they might be able to stall for long enough. Maybe.

"Kinnie, you're the Tacti-- WAIT a MINUTE, WHERE is Kinnie!? Aw DIGLETTS!" William turned to call for their Tactician’s help, but she was suddenly absent. Maybe somebody had had the sense to run. But with her missing, the chance of a coordinated strike like he’d seen on TV was slim to none.

The plan was falling apart before it had even begun. Weren’t these wormhole trainers supposed to work as a team?

The other boy stepped forward and released a Pokémon to attack Sophie. One trainer’s Pokémon had fought on their own, and all Sophie needed to do was to release hers, but this guy, with his dumb swoopy hair*, was holding her back. He even sent out a huge dragon of his own, but casually and with no urgency, like it was all a show to trick them. He had more Pokémon, but all he did was the bare minimum. With Sophie pinned down, she could neither escape, nor fulfilling her role.

The first guy was would have killed Sophie with negligence, blind stupidity. But this guy was gonna kill them all.

---

Hot plasma sublimated into the air off the end of their assailant's weapon, but William didn't see it. He had taken an uncomfortable landing on his shoulder, but he'd rolled with the momentum and managed to get his feet beneath his torso. He'd have thought it was really cool, in any other circumstance.

Tiny chunks of earth blown sky high now rained down, as the man with the gun strode toward them. Heavy footfalls suddenly stopped, and William looked up in time to see Kinnie flung to the ground, as if nothing she'd done even mattered.

No... This guy was gonna kill them all.

"You have ten seconds to leave this world, before I remove you from it."

William scrambled to his feet and grabbed for two Pokéballs from his belt. He wasn't going home - he had nowhere to go. But if he died here, he was sure his body would make a nice bed for Stinkhorns to grow.

"Listen!" William said to the man heating his arm-cannon, speaking with speed only a hyperactive youth full of adrenaline can muster. In his left hand he wielded a Pokéball, threatening to drop it and release the Pokémon inside. "this POKÉMON has a VIRUS that will KILL every PLANT and ANIMAL IN THIS WORLD!!" Simultaneously, he reached up and put his right hand directly into the glowing barrel of the blaster aimed at his face, fist curling around the other Pokéball. "And this Pokémon has used Harden a bunch of times, so like, you'll blow yourself up.

He clicked the button to enlarge the ball to baseball-size. His skin seared and stuck to the inside of the metal tube, but the shock of fear and adrenaline kept him numb.

Lowering his voice, William looked the shooter in the eye and continued, "If you really care about this world, you'll give us more time."


@Desolate Divine
[IF]
This guy looks like he's still going to blast us, William will click the button on his Pokéball again and release Turtwig inside the barrel of the weapon.



*“Like something out of a bad teen drama show,” or something like that.

cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort