Pokémon: ICE COLD

“Turtwig, tackle!”

The small turtle rammed through the pale green grass of Route 201 with surprising speed.

Lucas's heart pounded in his chest. That tiny turtle was much faster than it looked!

“Piplup, use Pound!” he ordered, his gloved hands shaking with excitement. He still couldn't believe he finally had a partner—from Professor Rowan at that! It was hard to conceal his smile. “P-Piplup? PIPLUP!”

Turtwig bashed its solid little head into the penguin's ribcage, sending it CRRASHING into the frozen ground!

“YES TURTWIG! You beautiful thing! See that, Lucas? We're already a better team than you!” Barry shouted.

Lucas grit his teeth.

“Piplup, come on! Are you gonna let them do us like this? Pound that Turtwig!” Lucas screamed across the field.

Piplup stood on its webbed yellow feet, its blue feathers, once as clear as the sky, now ruffled and covered in cold dirt. It shook its little head and tweeted defiantly.

“Great, now go Pound Turtwig!” Lucas pointed at the little green turtle with the sapling sprouting from its head.

But Piplup shook its head. What?

Barry burst out laughing. “The Professor wasn't lying; that thing really is stubborn! Turtwig, tackle!”

As if it already knew Barry's command, Turtwig charged and SLAMMED its body into the defiant little blue bird.

“PIPLUP!”

Lucas watched helplessly as his partner was sent flying into a solid dirt ledge, face-planting into the grass.

“Don't stop—tackle, one more time!”

Again, the green tortoise, looking more and more like a ravenous beast, charged at the battered Piplup. Even as it struggled to lift its head from the ground, Turtwig showed no mercy.

“Barry, STOP!” Lucas cried, urgency surging in his voice.

But it was too late.

A flaming red aura, like burning blood vapor, covered the shelled beast. Turtwig's solid scalp collided with Piplup's soft, fluffy body, lifting it up into the air and BULLDOZING it into the ledge again and again!

The bird shrieked in horror, coughing scarlet droplets from its yellow beak before dropping to the floor, unconscious.

Lucas's eyes went pail, a horrified expression freezing onto his face. This was the reality of a pokémon battle. A TV could never capture the raw unfiltered pain of watching a pokémon batter another half to death.

That was something you'd have to experience yourself.

“We win!” Barry declared triumphantly, jumping into the air; his pale blonde hair bouncing lively on his head. "What the heck was that? No way was that an ordinary tackle, right? You saw that red aura–that MUST'VE been a fighting type move–maybe turtwig knows an egg move! I've gotta ask the professor–that was so sick, Turtwig, you legend! Return!"

A bright ray of light blue energy shrouded the savage turtle before sucking it back into the pokéball in Barry's hand.

Lucas was...petrified. The image of a bird beaten black and blue, bloody and bruised was searing itself into his mind. Why did it feel so familiar?

His head felt like it had been bashed by a hammer or something...

...and yet...

...why did it feel like this was nothing new? Like he'd experienced worse?

"There's more to a battle than pummeling your opponent's Pokémon. There's a psychology behind it. The environment you're fighting in, your opponent's expression, his synergy with his partner—all of it can be exploited. Knowing that is what makes you—"

"Better than your rival..." Lucas cut in, wide-eyed. A horrified expression on his face.

Barry's face creased in sheer shock, "What?! How did you know that? Did Dad tell you too? DAMN! And I thought I sounded super wise."

"No, your dad never taught me that..." Lucas said, his black eyebrows digging into his face as he held his head. "I think I've heard that somewhere before…”