Chapter 2

A few days later after Wong’s burial, Blaziken sat on a small stool by a table with flowers and a jug of ashes next to a black and white photo of Sensei. Everyone in the dojo were also saddened by Sensei’s death, including Black Jack. But they were also concerned about Blaziken’s behaviour since his trainer died because he was sitting there for a few days without any food or drink.

Black Jack and some student members of the dojo couldn’t help looking at Blaziken while Blaziken were staring at the photo with a sad face and a sad heart.

“Blaziken and the old man were close, huh?” asked Black Jack.

“How do you know?” asked one of the students in reply.

“Hey, I’m a pokemon trainer, aren’t I? And I’ve been in this situation before. My parents… died a long time ago.”

“Sorry…”

“Anyways, somebody needs to do some psychology on the poor guy.”

“You’re right. He’s been sitting there for a long time now.”

Black Jack and the students heard footsteps and turned their heads round. It was Tyranitar, Nidoking Salamence, Metagross and Feraligatr, Black Jack’s pokemon. They walked behind them and noticed that Blaziken was still sitting on the small stool. They, too, were worried about him.

(Author’s note: Since nearly all pokemon speak their own kind of language, I decided to translate everything of what they say from this point.)

“He’s still there?” asked Nidoking, scratching his head.

“Yep, he’s been sitting there for a few days now,” replied Salamence.

“Should someone try to talk to him?” suggested Tyranitar.

“Doesn’t he need space?” asked Metagross.

“Tyranitar’s right.” Feraligatr responded. “C’mon, guys, we’re going in.”

“What are they talking about?” asked the student.

“I get the feeling that they want to talk to Blaziken.” Black Jack responded.

He lets them through to talk to Blaziken. Feraligatr came forward and puts his paw on Blaziken’s shoulder.

“Blaziken… we all know how you’re feeling,” Feraligatr said. “But sitting on a small stool won’t help anything. Besides, you have to eat something.”

Feraligatr looked round for a fruit. He spotted some in a bowl and picked an apple. He showed the apple to Blaziken, but he totally ignored it. The look on Feraligatr’s face started showing that he was losing patience. Feraligatr lifted Blaziken up by his furry chest.

“Look, Blaziken! You’re really starting to worry us!” Feraligatr shouted. “I’m trying to help you out here! Snap out of it!”

Black Jack, his pokemon, the students and their pokemon wanted to stop Feraligatr from hurting Blaziken. A Machoke, one of the student’s pokemon, raised his hand out to stop Feraligatr’s doing. Calmed down, Feraligatr put Blaziken down. Blaziken was on his feet as he looked down not wanting to talk to anyone. But he spoke anyway…

“Do you guys know how Sensei died?” Blaziken asked.

“Like the doctor said. Sensei was suffering from a heart attack.” Machoke replied.

“Huh! You guys believe anything you hear! I have been with Sensei all the time! He was fine! He was well! How can healthy man like Sensei die?!”

Black Jack doesn’t know what Blaziken and the other pokemon were saying, but he could instinctively sense what they’re talking about. “My suspicions are the same as yours, Blaziken,” He thought.

“I’m going to find out how Sensei really died,” Blaziken promised.

“C’mon, you guys. Arguing isn’t going to help anyone.” Tyranitar said, trying to stop the arguing.

“He’s right,” Machoke said with agreement. “We should get some rest for Sensei’s memorial tomorrow when our friend comes. Sensei would like that, wouldn’t he?”

(Author’s note: Translation ended.)

Blaziken nodded and looked down in sadness.

That night, Blaziken tried to sleep but he couldn’t. He went downstairs when he heard some small clanging noises from the kitchen. Blaziken walked into that room. It turned out that Black Jack and his Nidoking caught a couple of thieves breaking in. Blaziken noticed a symbol that looked like a skull.

Nidoking dropped the one of the thieves. Black Jack copied Nidoking and dropped the other thief.

“Guess what I was thinking,” said Black Jack. “A couple of punk kids trying to steal things that don’t belong to them.”

“What’s here is already ours, since the dojo leader died here! I should have you arrested for trespassing!” The thief angrily replied.

Blaziken became shocked of what the thief said. The Thief then turned to Blaziken.

“And you, Blaziken! Even with your great fighting skills, your old master is no match for us. The Poison Fist clan! And you’re still a little puppy dog!”

Blaziken couldn’t take it anymore. He and the two members of the Poison Fist clan engaged in a fight. Black Jack ordered Nidoking to help Blaziken.

Blaziken took out one of the thieves with a Blaze Kick attack while Nidoking slammed another one on a kitchen table. Both members were down and in pain.

“Huh! Didn’t put up much of a fight, did they?” Black Jack said with a forced smile.

Blaziken angrily grabbed one of the members by the collar. “BLAZIKEN KEN?!” he shouted as he started punching viciously and continuously at him until Black Jack stopped him.

“I think the guy’s out, kid,” Black Jack said.

Blaziken released his collar. Black Jack picked up the conscious Poison Fist member and held him in an arm lock.

“Okay, punk kid! I got three tasks for you,” Black Jack said. “Task 1: Tell me the story. Or I’ll let Blaziken knock you all the way to dreamland as well.”

“Err… For decades, this school has always been at the top of the charts.” The Poison Fist member answered in cold sweat. “My sensei couldn’t take anymore being number two. So he hitched up a plan to finally go on top of the dojo mountain. He found a way to poison your teacher and succeeded. Tomorrow afternoon, a lawyer will get my sensei to sign a contract so that he can control this dojo.”

“And the poison?”

“Err… we put the poison inside Blaziken’s sensei’s tea.

Blaziken eyes narrowed in hatred of the Poison Fist clan. He wanted to get revenge on them so badly at this very moment. Black Jack always hated people that disrespect others, so he wanted a piece of them as well.

“Okay, punk kid!” Black Jack snarled as he still held onto the intruder’s arm. “Top marks for Task 1. Now, Task 2: Take me to this… dojo of yours!”