Pocket Monsters (Inktober, Friday, October 16, 2020)

For Inktober, Friday, October 16, 2020. Prompt word: "rocket." Tuckerization: Jasmine Smith 

A reminder that volunteering for tuckerization only means a character in the story shares the participant's name. Other than that, there are no other similar characteristics implied. 

Pocket Monsters 

by Alan Loewen 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

Legal: Pokémon. © 1995–2020 Nintendo/Creatures, Inc. and GAME FREAK, Inc. 

Jasmine hid under the bushes hoping the dark forest would conceal her from the people who sought her and Hinoarashi. She could feel the tiny cyborg trembling under her arm where it snuggled close to her. In the shape of a fire mouse from a popular anime and card game, the creature looked like a cross between a tiny anteater and rodent with a bristly, bright red and yellow crest of stiff hair springing from its back. 

It had cost her almost two months of salary. But despite the expense, it was not unusual to now see hundreds of them in hundreds of different shapes dutifully following their owners down the streets. 

And now she and Hinoarashi were being stalked by a rogue group of pocket monster owners who had illegally adapted their cyborgs to fight. Calling themselves Team Rocket as a sick reference to the anime, they had kidnapped Jasmine and Hinoarashi. They brought them into the woods so their own pocket monsters could learn fighting techniques by attacking non-hacked cyborgs. 

Jasmine tightly gripped the jagged rock she had found. Slightly larger than a softball, she hoped she didn't have to use it as that meant she and Hinoarashi had been found. 

The bushes in front of her rustled, and Jasmine looked up to see the vegetation had been parted. She looked up into eyes that glowed yellow and green. Standing six feet tall, the cyborg stood on two feet. Long white hair descended behind it to its waist and covered most of its chest. Its fur was a combination of red and yellow. 

It opened its mouth and gave out an ear-splitting screech. Some distance away, Jasmine heard somebody call out. "Bursyamo! Did you find them?" 

The pocket monster opened its mouth, and Jasmine could smell the flammable liquid the creature used for saliva. In a moment, it would spray and ignite, and Jasmine and Hinoarashi would be burned alive. 

Quickly, Jasmine reached out, grabbed Bursyamo's feet, and pulled them swiftly toward herself. Knocked off balance, the pocket monster fell backward, and in seconds, Jasmine sat on top of it, making short work of its head with the rock she held. What felt like an eternity, the cyborg's thrashing stopped. 

Grabbing Hinoarashi, Jasmine tried her best to run away from the direction of the voice. Bursyamo's owner didn't sound that far away, and it would not be long before he discovered his pocket monster's fate. The two Team Rocket members would now have another reason to make sure Jasmine and her pocket monster didn't leave the woods alive. 

The forest was dark, but enough moonlight filtered through the trees to help Jasmine in her flight. Running with Hinoarashi tucked under her arm, Jasmine could avoid most of the trees even though the roots and low-lying vegetation threatened to trip her. 

Hoping to come out on a road, Jasmine heard the sound of running water and directed her flight toward it. 

When she came out to the bank of the stream, she paused. The stream was wide and deep, and the water swift and high. 

"Well, well, well," Jasmine heard to her left. Spinning around, Jasmine saw the female member of Team Rocket grinning at her in the moonlight. Next to her crouched her pocket monster, a creature that looked like a squat miniature rhinoceros but covered in armor that Jasmine knew would be rock-hard. Though only three-feet high, Jasmine knew that the pocket monster was one to be feared. She had already seen it in action, and it was only by luck she and Hinoarashi were able to avoid its charge earlier that evening. 

Jasmine scooped up Hinoarashi in her arms. "Pocket monsters were never meant to actually fight," she said. "What you're doing goes against their programming." 

The young woman shrugged with a smirk on her face. "Anything can be hacked," she said. "And pocket monsters were always fighters. It's what they were meant to do. It's what they were created for." 

A voice suddenly called out from the dark forest. "Jessie! Where are you?" 

"I'm over here. I got them trapped by the stream." The woman called back. "Follow my voice." 

Moments later, a young man burst out of the underbrush, his face a mask of fury. He pointed at Jasmine. "She killed Bursyamo," he shouted. "Kill them, Jessie! Kill them both!" 

"Done," the woman said. "Attack, Sihorn!" 

With a roar, the pocket monster charged. 

Desperate, with no exit available except one, Jasmine jumped into the stream. 

The stream was only waist deep, but the swiftly flowing water knocked her feet out from under her. Trying her best to hold Hinoarashi above her head, Jasmine quickly floated downstream. 

Behind her, Jasmine heard the woman shriek, "Sihorn, stop!" but a sudden splash behind her let Jasmine know the command had come too late. 

Pocket monsters were water-resistant but not waterproof. And much to Jasmine's shock, she suddenly heard the report of a loud explosion and the screaming of the man and woman Jasmine left far behind. 

Doing her best to hold Hinoarashi out of the water, the stream carried both of them down to where the water became quieter, and Jasmine could stand without difficulty. Gasping, she made her way to the bank and flopped to the ground. 

Hinoarashi nuzzled her. Checking him for damage, Jasmine was relieved to find no injury from the water or her flight through the forest. 

The explosion puzzled her. Indeed, pocket monsters were not supposed to have that strong a reaction to being immersed in water. The cyborg must have been hacked in more ways than one. 

Nonetheless, Jasmine thought to herself, Team Rocket certainly blasted off again.