[PKMN FULL] (IC) Crossroads ; A Johto Story - ACT I

Nathan set out to head North on Route 30. He'd ventured to the start of the route many times, but he planned on going much farther than that this time.

Fang-Lin trotted along at Nate's heels, enthusiastically darting his eyes back and forth to fully take in this new location. I wonder if I should keep him in his Pokeball... Nate wondered. Fang-Lin had been outside of his ball ever since the professor gave him to Nate. He couldn't think of a reason why the fox shouldn't stay by his side, so he decided to let him run free. Besides, what if a wild Pokemon appeared?

Speaking of wild Pokemon; I should probably try to find some Nate thought. The path he was following ended at a wall of stone and the only way around was a large patch of thick weeds running along the trees. Exactly the kind of place that Pokemon would hide.
Nate put his gloves on and pushed through the weeds that came up to his knees. Before he and Fang-Lin had ventured a few meters, something hit Nate in the face. He wiped some white goo off of his face and realized that a Caterpie was crawling through the tall grass, and it didn't look very friendly.

"Ack, a String Shot user. Uh... Fang-Lin! You've got some kind of fire thing you can do, right?" Fang-Lin looked up at him inquisitively. "Ember, right?" Nate mumbled. "Yeah, Ember! Use Ember!"

Fang-Lin yipped and shot some pellets of fire at the Bug Pokemon, easily knocking it out.

"S-sweet!" Nate stuttered. He still wasn't fully used to the fact that his new friend could spit fire, but he was grateful for it. "Let's see what else we can find."
He found a handful of more Bug Pokemon before he eventually got to the other side of the patch of weeds. Fang-Lin had come out almost unscathed, only taking a Tackle from a quick Ledyba.

Nate saw that the treeline that he was walking along thinned out at one point up ahead. Instead of turning and heading North, he figured that he should investigate up ahead. There was a large pond behind the copse of trees. Fang-Lin quickly ran up to the water's edge to lap up some water.

Nate looked around to find some good-sized rocks. He didn't have a fishing pole, but he figured that he could lure out some Pokemon by agitating them. He found three baseball sized stones and chucked them in, one at a time, not far from the shore.
Soon enough, a Poliwag leapt out and, seeing Fang-Lin first, jumped on Nate's Pokemon with a Bubble attack. Fang-Lin was knocked back; Poliwag had the advantage here.
"Use Thief!" Fang-Lin responded quickly, slamming the Poliwag back into a shallow part of the water. Before it could respond with another Bubble, Nate tossed a Pokeball at it. The ball easily captured the weak Pokemon.

"Perfect!" Nate had caught his first Pokemon! He quickly realized that Fang-Lin was struggling, however.

The Water attack did a good amount of damage. Nate hadn't grabbed any Potions, though. The only thing they could do was push on towards the North.

Blaine - Was this such a good idea? - Route 30​

Blaine didn't know really where to go at first. He had just gotten a ton of information and really no direction. Yeah, there was one way out of town, but was that really the best way to go? He didn't know much of the surrounding area after all, but he was a trainer now. He didn't know if most pokemon stayed on paths, so it would make sense to actually go off the path to find some... right? It made sense to him after all. Pokemon were animals and probably wouldn't want to live close to humans or try and hinder them on the road. He didn't know if pokemon LIKED being captured, but his Totodile didn't seem to mind so much. He looked on down at the pokeball yet again and had to wonder why he was stuck with the energetic one. The water type had bounced around all over and he finally had to suck him into the ball to get him to stop.

Was he already a bad trainer if he couldn't control his first pokemon even? He had the small blue guy to stop repeatedly, but that had somehow translated to 'KEEP JUMPING AND RUNNING AROUND AND BEING ANNOYING MORE!!!' If he couldn't handle this one mon... how could he handle more? He had heard of trainers that raised hundreds of pokemon and had control over each and every one of them. Could he even be trusted to do that? He rubbed at his neck as he went down the road. There had to be some sort of side road right? Maybe something more experienced trainers used that was a traner hot spot.

He kept on looking about until he finally found something, a dirt trail off to the side of the main road. It seemed hidden well enough so that just made him suspect that this could be some sort of training hot ground or perhaps a place where good pokemon could be found. It made sense when he thought about it. He walked on down the path and glanced here and there. For the most part he saw no distinguishing marks, but that was probably to hide the path even better. He kept on following the dirt and finally he had to stop. The path had ended, so had he arrived? He took out his ball and sighed. Was this even worth it? Maybe he should have gone to school after all.

He opened the ball and groaned out as he saw the little mon was still in his energetic mood. Great... just great. He sighed and had to kneel down and grab the Totodile by his shoulders, "Hey... hey!" He finally had to raise his voice and the little mon settled down with a curious look on its face. He let out another sigh, "Listen. This isn't a game right now. I don't even know if I like you yet. You understand?" The Totodile just stared and just began jabbering on in its own langugae and he hung his head. "Just... just forget it." He muttered. He rose up and took in deep breaths, "It's okay Blaine... just don't worry about it. Maybe... maybe I'm not right for this?"

He looked on down and withdrew the Totodile. "If I get so tired out from one mon... yeah, I'm not cut out for this." He shook his head and turned about. "Shouldn't have even come." He muttered to himself as he began to follow the dirt again... but as he headed down he noticed something that caused him to pause. It seemed there were multiple dirt paths that were going every which way. No... there had only been one single path before. He had only looked in front of him... so did he take a right or a left? He... he had gone left. That was right! He went down a left path and... he didn't see any road. He had walked for some time and he was sure he should have come upon the road. No, he couldn't be lost. He knew his way around, and he had only gone in a little bit...

Well... this was bad. Well at least nothing else could go-Cue rustling in some nearby bushes that hand him tensing up. Okay, it could get worse. He had heard of young kids dying from pokemon attacks before... but he had a pokemon with him! He had to be safe! He stepped back a bit from the bush and as it moved agian he turned and ran. It didn't matter if he ran furhter into the forest, he just had to find a safe spot and he would be okay.

Continuing on, Nate tried to avoid running into wild Pokemon for fear of Fang-Lin getting hurt even more. His new Poliwag wouldn't be a help; that was assured by the last battle. He couldn't go very far without running into a territorial Pidgey that hit Fang-Lin down to almost fainting.

Nate returned him to his Pokeball, and tried figuring out what to do. He'd never had a Pokemon before, and he'd never been given responsibility over much. He couldn't decide his next move.

"Heya!" A young kid, about twelve years old, appeared around a corner in the line of trees. "You look like a trainer! I think it's time for a battle!"

Nate tried to say no, but the kid had already let a Ratatta out of a Pokeball. The kid took up a battle stance and stood in anticipation. Nate stood still with look of shock on his face.

When he realized that Nate was complying, the kid lost his battle stance. "C'mon, you have to battle me; we're both trainers!"

"I-I can't. My Pokemon is already hurt too much..." Nate replied.

The kid pulled out a potion from his bag and tossed it to Nate. "Well, let's get it back to fighting shape!"

Nate was even more shocked. What trainer would erase their advantage in battle? He hesitated, then called Fang-Lin out of his Pokeball. As he applied the potion, the kid gasped.

"What is that? I've never seen a Pokemon like that. It's not a Vulpix, is it?"

"No; at least, I doubt it. Vulpix are red and brown, right? This is a Fire type, though. My name is Nate by the way. Thanks for the potion."

"I'm Joey. Now let's get to battling!" Joey took his battle stance once again. His Ratatta hadn't even moved.

Nate smiled, then rose and took his own, akward, battle stance. "Fang-Lin! Use Scratch!" Fang-Lin followed through with the order, leaving a faint mark on the Ratatta's snout. After an order from Joey, the Rattata replied with a Tail Whip.
Nate wondered what that attack did, as Fang-Lin didn't seem to harmed at all. Nate had him fire back with Ember, and Ratatta responded with Tackle. Fang-Lin looked somewhat more hurt than Nate had predicted. Maybe Tail Whip strengthened Ratatta somehow? he wondered. "Go again with Ember!" he called.

Ratatta looked pretty hurt, and it was unable to get to its feet for a few seconds. However, it couldn't even gather the strength to stand back up and fell down on its side.

"Ratatta! I thought for sure you'd win!" Joey said as he rushed to his partner's side. He looked back up at Nate and reached out his hand. Nate hesitantly shook it as Joey congratulated him on his victory. "You may have won today, but if we battle again and I might just win!"

"Oh, I doubt I'll see you again, Joey. I'm heading out on a journey today. I'm just passing through on my way to the next city." Nate replied.

"Really? Are you going to Violet Town?" Joey asked excitedly. "Because that's where I live! I'm just training here on Route 30. I'm going to go on a journey soon, too! Maybe even tomorrow. My dad said I can leave whenever my Ratatta is strong enough. He likes to exaggerate though. He wants me to make sure that its in the 'top percentage of all Ratatta.'"

Nate was surprised that someone so young would be going out on his own already. Maybe it was just because Nate wasn't given the opportunity for his own journey until now. "I guess that means I may see you again. Maybe."

"Wait, I know!" Joey exclaimed. He held up his wrist, which had some odd little machine strapped onto it. "We should trade PokeGear number."

Nate hadn't a clue what a PokeGear was, other than the fact that Joey was referencing the machine on his wrist. "I... I don't have one."

Joey looked saddened. "You don't? That's a big surprise." He put his arm back down. "They're great machines. You can call your friends, listen to the radio, and check the time. You should try to get one."

Nate didn't have any friends, he didn't listen to music, and he didn't really care what the time was when he could just look for the sun. "I don't think I'm interested. But thanks for telling me about it, anyway. I have to go; my journey awaits." Nate was trying to get out of this conversation and continue on.

As he left, Joey turned and said "I think the man in the house up ahead has a couple PokeGears; maybe he'd give you one!" He turned back around and Nate thought he heard Joey mumble "Top percentage..."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soon after leaving Joey, Nate came across the house that the kid had mentioned. In the front yard of the house, there was a small tree that was only about four feet tall. As he got close to the tree, Nate realized that there was some kind of fruit nested on top of the tree.

Nate investigated it, and saw that the fruit was green and very similar in size and shape to a Pokeball. He looked towards the house to see if anyone was looking through the windows. The lights were off. He didn't see anyone nearby when he glanced around, either.

Nate reached out for the fruit to pluck it, but found that he had to rustle the entire tree to free it. When the fruit finally popped out, he realized why it was so hard to pluck. The attaching stem was as thick as his thumb.

"I wonder what kind of fruit this is." Nate thought aloud. He figured that it probably had some kind of use, so he decided to keep it. He dropped it into his bookbag, then proceeded towards the door of the house, where Fang-Lin was sitting patiently.

Nate knocked on the door, but there was no response. He was somewhat interested in getting a PokeGear, even though he saw little use for it. His real reason for wanting to speak to the man inside was that he wanted to find some potions. There was no response after knocking a second time, so Nate decided to get in another way.

Surprisingly, the door was unlocked. He crept in quietly, searching the large room for any signs of potions. Around the corner was a small kitchen, so Nate investigated that first. The house's resident kept a lot of potions and medicinal items inside a large cabinet. Nate picked out a couple potions and a Burn Heal, just in case.

He walked carefully back into the main room, where a large table was set up. Five small machines like the one that Joey wore were on the table. A black and gold one caught Nate's eye. This was an easy choice for him.

Before he left, he made sure to peek through the windows in case the resident was approaching the house. Seeing that the coast was clear, Nate crept out of the house, beckoning to Fang-Lin to follow.

The path lead him further North and let the house disappear behind the trees. When it was no longer in the line of sight, Nate pulled out the PokeGear and strapped it to his wrist. He tried playing around with the buttons, but the machine wouldn't respond.

Just great, I stole something defective. He realized that he might be able to get it fixed, however.

Nate remembered that he had some potions, so he let his new Pokemon out of its Pokeball. The Poliwag had lost all sign of aggression that it had shown the last time Nate had seen it. It looked anxious, but also like it was in pain. He pulled out his potion and sprayed it on the young Pokemon.

After that, it looked ready to go, so Nate decided to train it for a while. He called the two Pokemon along and headed farther up the path.

Suddenly, he heard the voice of a young girl. All he could make out was "We've got a LOT of money."

Melody was not sure how long she had been wandering about. What had originally started out as a grand idea to lead into a fun-filled, adventure-packed journey across Route 30 had quickly turned into a rather puzzling trek. Shortly after stepping off the main path of the route, Melody noticed that most signs of any trainers being about seemed to more or less disappear. In fact, the only company the girl had had, besides that of her Chikorita, was the occasional wild Pokemon. While the teenager had no qualms about this initially, as it let her and Blossom get some battle practice in, she began to think that half an hour's worth of walking around without sight of another dirt path... much less a fellow trainer, was a bit much.

"You know, Blossom... I'm starting to think maybe this wasn't such a cool idea after all," Melody said, glancing down at the Chikorita who walked beside her. "I mean, it's totally cool the way you handled that Caterpie back there, but... I'm starting to think we might be a bit lost."

The Chikorita glanced up at Melody as she spoke, a small squeak escaping her small mouth. Blossom nuzzled up against the trainer's leg, as if she could tell that Melody was starting to get a bit worried about their situation. Melody sighed as she bent down, scooping her Chikorita back up into her arms.

"Maybe we should take a breather, yeah?" Melody suggested, making her way towards a nearby tree stump. "You fought like, four or five times already... So I know you wouldn't mind."

Blossom cheeped in with a small squeak. Taking that as a yes, Melody took a seat on the stump and placed her Chikorita in her lap. It was very quiet for the time being, almost unsettling so. If it was not for the fact that the sun was so bright and it being so clear this morning, the trainer might have been a bit on edge.

"Some start off this is..." Melody sighed. "One hour in and I already have no idea where I am... What if I can't find my way back to the trail and we end up stranded out here in the middle of nowhere for the rest of our lives? I only have one or two potions on me for the time being and I doubt I should really eat any berries. They would probably make me break out in a rash or something and then I'd get dizzy and pass out. What if it gets really cold at night? Or some wild Mightenya jump out of the trees and try to eat us! I mean, I don't have a lot of meat on my bones... I wonder if they like things that way..."

As Melody continued to quietly debate with herself about the dangers of living out in the forest, she noticed something odd. A somewhat quiet, but slowly rising noise from somewhere off in the woods. The sound became louder and louder, eventually being distinguished as someone screaming at the top of their lungs. A second later, a red-haired girl tumbled into the little clearing, arms flailing around with something oddly green on top of her head. Following her was a small, oddly-coloured Cyndaquil with the flames on its back billowing while squeakily hissing up at whatever was on the girl's head.

"It's in my hair! It's in my hair! Get it ooooouuuut...!!!" she screamed, just as one of her arms struck the thing, causing it to fall to the ground. It squirmed around a little, turning out to be a small Spinarak, who now looked thoroughly dizzy. The Cyndaquil growled and semi-ran towards it, causing the little bug Pokémon to turn and make a break for the trees, where it disappeared into a bush.

Christina, now feeling the insect having left her hair, slumped to her knees, quietly whimpering while brushing her hands over her hair, the Cyndaquil worriedly hopping closer to her. "I... i-is it gone? P-please tell me it's gone..."

Melody did not know what to make of the display she had just witnessed. At first when the red haired girl came charging out of the bushes, the girl had thought about making a break for it herself, thinking that it might have been a wild Usaring charging at her with hunger in its eyes. Needless to say, the trainer was quite relieved that that was not the case.

"Um... Y-Yeah, yeah. It's totally gone," Melody replied to the girl, slowly getting up from the stump where she and Blossom had been resting.

Blinking her eyes slowly open again, Chris' started out by patting her head to make sure the thing was really gone, before looking up and actually noticing the somewhat wild-looking girl in front of her. "... Oh!"

Quickly getting to her feet, she brushed herself off while the Cyndaquil tilting its head while watching the Chikorita accompanying the other girl. "Uhm... sorry you had to see that." Chris' said with a bit of a blush to her cheeks, followed by a sheepish smile. "I... got a little bit lost, and that... -thing- jumped on my head while I was trying to find my way out of here. And... uh, I'm a little bit more lost now." She paused, offering her semi-gloved hand to the girl, smiling. "I'm Christina, by the way. Nice to see someone else out here."

"You got lost out here too?" Melody gasped, her eyes widening in surprise. Was Route 30 really that much of a confusing path to navigate? If it was, just what was the rest of her journey going to be like? The girl could not stomach the thought of getting lost on every route she happened to cross... Snapping out of her daze, Melody realized that the trainer who had held her hand out and introduced herself was still waiting. An embarrassed giggle escaped the girl's lips as she shook Christina's hand. "Sorry 'bout that. My name's Melody! It's nice to meet ya!"

Glancing down for a moment, Melody noticed a Cyndaquil standing close to Christina. Melody suddenly snapped her fingers, a broad smile stretching across her lips as she noticed the Pokemon's odd coloring..

"Hey! I know you!" Melody shouted. "Well, not really. I mean I saw you. At least I think I did. Well, I'm sure that part doesn't matter. What I mean is that you totally got that Pokemon from Professor Pine, right? Well, of course you did 'cause it's like mine, but isn't it weird with how they're colored?"

Raising her brows a little at the girl now known as Melody's little outburst, though giving her a smile, looking down at her Cyndaquil, who had now shuffled a little closer to Melody, sniffing at her leg. "Oh! Yeah, I did, actually!" She then tilted her head, a confused look on her face. "What do you mean, it's weird? Isn't this their normal colour?"

"Well, not really. I mean, I guess it's sort of normal but not. I mean, um... hold on a sec!" Melody replied. She sat her Chikorita down on the stump for a moment before sliding her backpack off of her back and then sat it down on the grass. Bending down and opening it up, the girl began to rummage through it, pulling out a somewhat faded photo of a young boy who looked to be about her age. But more importantly, he was holding a Chikorita that was colored green instead of the yellow-ish-brown like Melody's was.

"See? They're a totally different color!" the girl said. "I don't think it's normal... Unless maybe this one in the picture is the weird color. Which it might be because it's an older picture, but I don't think the fading on it would make the color look that weird, ya know?"

The Cyndaquil, now seeing the Chikorita had been placed down on the stump, waddled over and pushed herself onto her hind legs, with her front legs placed against the stump, raising her head a little to sniff at the Chikorita and give out a little squeak. Chris', meanwhile, bent a little forwards to see the picture, raising her brows.

"Huh... that -is- weird." She looked over at the Chikorita and then down again, brows furrowing. "I... have to say, the green colour does kinda look more... natural on it, sorta. But... mnnh. I guess we'd need to ask someone who knows." Standing up straight again, she shrugged lightly. "Then again, the colour of your Pokémon doesn't -really- matter, right?"

Blossom glanced down at the Cyndaquil who she had really noticed for the first time at this point. A small smile graced the Chikorita's mouth as she gave the Cyndaquil a rather proud look, as if being on top of the stump was something special that not just any Pokemon could accomplish.

"I guess you're right..." Melody nodded, putting her picture back away into her backpack. She put it back onto her shoulder and smiled at Christina. "So, um... Do you happen to know where about this is? I mean, I know it's Route 30, but um... Like, I mean do you know where on it is?"

Sindy seemed to notice the proudness and confidence Blossom was exuding from being on top of the stump and let out a little huff. Grasping the corner of the stump, she began pulling herself up, not wanting to be outshined just because she was standing slightly below the Chikorita.

Christina sighed a little, rubbing the back of her neck with a little frown. "I wish I knew, but I don't have a map application in my pokégear... -apparently-." She scowled a little, shrugging her shoulders. "If I'd have to guess... we're probably about... a third up the way of the route? We might be close to the Pokémon center near the cave that's supposedly at the west-turn of the road, but if we can't even find the road, then..." She sighed again, looking a little lost.

"Oh, we should totally go together then!" Melody quickly decided, seemingly missing out on the information that Christina had shared about their probable location. The shorter girl grinned as she began to jump, as if excited by the thought. "I bet if we worked together we could totally find where we are and where to go! It works in the movies and stuff anyways!"

Meanwhile, Blossom gasped in surprise as Sindy began to climb up on to the stump... her stump. The little Chikorita began to squeak in defiance, jumping up and down as if her precious castle was about to be invaded by intruders. Unfortunately for the grass Pokemon, she suddenly lost her footing. A squeak of surprise escaped Blossom's mouth, before she slipped off the backside of the stump and tumbling onto the grass below.

Christina giggled at the girl's eagerness. Sure, she might look a little wild, and she might be a little... hyperactive, but she seemed like a really nice girl, all in all. "You know what? You're right. Besides, if there's two of us, there's less chance that the bugs around here get any bright ideas." She subconciously raised a hand to scratch the top of her head at the memory of the sneaky Spinarak. "Right then, let's go find our way back to the road!"

As Sindy managed to climb onto the top of the stump, she was surprised to find it empty. Peeking over the edge, down at the now fallen Blossom, the Cyndaquil raised its little front legs into the air and let out a rumbly little growl, clearly happy with her taking over of the stump.

Blaine really didn't know where he was now, but if anything he was safe. He could only wonder just how long that could last out here though. He was sure he could die any second now, so he had to be prepared for anything really. If he could just find some sort of bearing... mabye a sign... or some sort of road. That was when he heard some noises and paused. He gripped the pokeball on his waist, feeling far safer with at least some sort of defense on his side. He pulled it out and sighed, "Alright... one time. One more chance." He opened the ball, "Alright, get at it or something." He said. "There's noise there... and you fight. So go at it."

The Totodile for a moment just stared up at him before letting out a loud and happy gurgle and ran right past some bushes and... just jumped up and down while letting out jabbers left and right. Blaine groaned and covered his head. He could hear no attacks coming out, so did that mean Totodile had given up? He peeked his head out slowly and then withdrew it. Other people here? Not just humans, but GIRLS. He shuddered and shook his head. Okay, he could do this. He just needed to keep calm was all. He didn't have much experience with them, but from what he read online they could be very... complex.

"Hello?" He asked as he stepped out, his Totodile just plain old running around and looking like a derp face at the moment. Dear Arceus why did he have to get the broken one? "What are you two doing out here?" He asked warily.

Melody jumped at the sudden voice, almost falling onto her backside. Looking around, she spotted a boy probably about her age with a Pokemon in tow... or maybe it was more of the other way around, as it seemed the Totodile was the one leading him around. Regardless, Melody was relieved that it was another trainer and not a wild Scyther coming at the duo to cut them down to bits. A broad smile quickly replaced her surprised look, as the girl quickly hopped over towads the boy.

"Hi! We're um... well... We're lost!" Melody replied for the two girls. From the tone of her voice, it almost sounded as if she was happy about this fact. Quickly extending her hand and taking his into it, without a moment's delay one might add, Melody began to shake it with glee. "My name's Melody. Who are you?"

"Uh... Blaine." He said after a moment. He quickly snatched his hand back and rubbed it a bit. "Uh... nice to meet you?"

Christina gave a sheepish little smile after Melody had made her introduction, lifting a hand to rub the back of her neck. "Uhm... hey. I'm Christina, it's nice to meet you too. Sorry about Melody, she's a little... excited." She stepped over besides her new friend, smiling a little more easily at Blaine. He looks about the same age as Melody. Wonder if I'm really the only one of my age group who just started out... wow, and now I feel old. Good job, Chris'.

Shaking her head, she gestured back at the trees behind her. "But, yeah, as she said, we're lost. We were going to go try find our way back to the main road and up to the Pokémon center on the way to Violet Town. Oh! Maybe you have a map application in your pokégear?"

Blaine frowned and looked down, "Not really. I would have my computer, but I had to leave it behind... which I think is stupid." He added in. "I think I got a broken one though..." He glanced over at the Totodile who obviously had no concept of personal space as it grabbed at the Chikorita's head leaf and then went over and jumped on the Cyndaquil, trying to ride the little mon like some sort of Tauros.

Sindy let out a squeal as the Totodile landed on top of her, managing to squirm out beneath him as the flames on her back billowed up, letting out a string of squeaks and growls while wildly gesturing her tiny arms at him, clearly trying to get something through to him, with the Totodile just standing there, staring at her tantrum with a dumb smile on its maw, its head tilted to the side.

"Damn, that's a shame." Christina sighed and rubbed the back of her head, glancing over at the ruckus with the three 'mons. She walked over and leaned down to pick up Cyndaquil, the flames dying away as she held it up against her chest, the little 'mon seeming to calm down while still glaring daggers at Totodile while Chris' returned to the conversation. "Well, I guess we'll just be going in a straight line and hoping for the best. What about you?"

As the Cyndaquil had her tantrum the Totodile quickly raced at it and picked it up to dance with it, though once she was picked up the 'dile went on over and began poking the Chikorita insistently, almost as if it was born to only poke and be overly annoying. Blossom, who was already angry at the Totodile for yanking her leaf earlier, snapped at the little water Pokemon by attempting to bite at it. Quickly realizing that it was probably best for the Chikorita not to get into a biting contest with something that had so many teeth, Melody reached down and scooped Blossom back into her arms.

Blaine shrugged, "I suppose. I really don't have any better plan." He looked on over at the spazztic water type, "Would any of you be willing to trade?"

"You should come with us then!" Melody suggested... which sounded more like an order if not for the downright peppiness of her voice. "Three trainers together out in the middle of nowhere would definitely be better than not, right? Of course!"

Blaine frowned, "Uh... I asked would any of you be wanting to trade...?" He glanced about and down at the Totodile that was currently running in circles, pausing and catching his breath, then resuming running around like a derp face. "Why me?" He groaned to himself.

"Trade...? Trade what? I don't have any baseball cards with me..." Melody replied, spinning around to face another direction. "They'd get all bent up out here."

Blaine silently stared at her and then hung his head, "You know what I mean." He pointed to the water type who had somehow gotten onto the wooden stump... and somehow, don't even ask Blaine how, he had managed to clamp his large jaws on the top of it and was flailing wildly in the air as drool dripped onto the ground.

Christina, having been watching the Totodile flailing about, was now watching it as it was flailing about with its jaws wrapped around the stump, a barely held-back snort of a snicker escaping her, quickly covering her mouth with her hand to try and hide it. "It, uhm... definitely is lively."

Melody glanced back over at the Totodile. She watched the water Pokemon flailing about, part of her wondering if he had somehow gotten stuck like that. It was sort of cute in its own way... He definitely had some energy to burn. It sort of reminded Melody of something, but the girl was not able to put her finger on it. Slowly, she glanced away from the Totodile and down to Blossom, a thoughtful look in her eyes.

"Well..." Melody mused, causing the Chikorita in her arms to suddenly begin a small panic. Blossom began to shake her head, a pleading look in her eyes. "No, I couldn't possibly! Me and Blossom are best buds! Well, maybe not best yet... We're friends though, yep! Besides, I think the little guy likes you too much to go with someone else!"

Blaine was about to protest, but then he felt something... wet. He glanced down and somehow the Totodile had not only somehow teleported right in front of him inexplicably fast, but was now busy gnawing on his shoe. Blaine was quick to pull it away and recalled the little demon. "How about you?" He asked, turning to Christina. "Surely you would like a Totodile, no?"

Blinking her eyes back up from watching the Totodile gnawing on Blaine's shoe, Christina's brows raised and she quickly raised a hand to rub the back of her head and glancing off to the side while the Cyndaquil seemed to curl up into a semi-ball in her arms to seem as little and unnoticable as possible. "Oh, uhm, uh... I... mmh, I think I'm good with Sindy here, thanks, heh..." No way in hell am I taking on something as active as that thing. I may be shooting high, but not that high. "Maybe you just need some time alone with him to... get to know him? Lots of trainers have problems with their Pokémon at first, I hear."

Once the debate on whether the Totodile were going to any of the girls was done with, Sindy seemed to relax a little more, even letting out a little sigh of relief while glancing over at Blossom, waving her little arm over at the grass Pokémon, as if trying to say 'No hard feelings about before?', or even 'What a relief, huh?'. Christina smiled and looked between the two with an obvious eagerness in her eyes. "Either way, we should get going. I'd like to at -least- reach the center before it got dark, but hopefully we'll get all the way to Violet Town before nightfall. So, let's get going, yeah?"

Blossom nodded in response to Sidny, letting out a small, pleasant sounding chirp before she snuggled against Melody. This earned a small giggle from the said girl, before she turned and nodded at Christina. She flashed the girl a rather toothy-looking grin, rocking back and forth on her heels as if she could not possibly sit around for another moment longer.

"Totally! Let's get going already!" the excited teenager shouted with glee. She glanced over at Blaine, flashing him a similar smile that she had to Christina. "Ready, buddy?"

Blaine sighed and looked down at his ball, putting it once more on his belt, "Yeah, I suppose so. Soooo.... You two SURE you don't want a Totodile?" He asked in an almost pleading voice as he followed the two along.

"... And that's how I ended up where I found Melody." Christina finished, glancing between Melody and Blaine. Having just finished her short story which began with her running late to the professor's office, the three of them along with their various Pokémon (Minus Blaine's Totodile because he didn't seem inclined to make friends with it just now) walked along the undergrowth of the forest, the trees starting to seem a little more confining, with progressively less sun shining down through the crowns of the trees.

"All that just because of one little Spinarak?" Melody questioned, a small giggle escaping her lips in the process. "That's kinda silly to make such a panic over a little spider, isn't it? Besides, most bug Pokemon are kinda cute... He probably just wanted to be friends with you!"

Blaine however remained silent. He stared at the ground in front of him and every so often let out a sigh, wondering how long this would go on for. He wasn't a really deep conversationalisty and in fact he found this quite boring.

"Bug Pokémon aren't -cute-." Chris' snapped at Melody without even turning her head back, squeezing Sindy a little tighter, which caused the Cyndaquil to squeak out in protest. Chris' lowered her down onto the ground to let her walk on her own. "They're horrible, icky things that I just want to burn. With their... large, shiny eyes and multiple limbs and..." She shuddered all over, shaking her head while looking a little embarrassed about being afraid of something so silly. "... I just don't like 'em."

Melody offered the red-haired girl a smile, turning to face the two trainers as she walked. "I guess it's something you just can't help. Kinda like brusslesprouts. Those things are what's really gross. Oh my gosh, could you imagine there being like, a brusslesprout Pokemon? Now that's what'd be all scary and nasty, lemme tell ya. He'd be all slimy and green with that weird odor comin' from him, and then your parents would probably be all like, 'You should take one with ya on your journey because he's good for you!' Now, that's what I would call gross, Chrissy!"

About that time, due to the girl's walking backwards, she managed to trip over the root of a tree that was sticking out of the ground. She let out a rather loud "oof!" as she fell backwards, landing on her rump with a small groan. Blossom had toppled out of her arms at that point, but the little Chikorita seemed to be alright for the most part.

"W-whoa, Melody!" Chris' hurried over, leaning down with a worried look on her face. "... You need to look where you're walking or you'll get really hurt."

Blaine for the most part had to wonder how she did not see that coming. He just stood there, not really sure if he should help her up or let her get up on her own. He mostly just stared at the ground and kicked a rock about.

Slowly, Melody climbed to her feet followed by Christina, while Melody was rubbing her backside slowly. "Hey... Don't ya think we should have found like... I dunno a road or something by now?" Melody asked as she bent down to make sure the Chikorita she had been carrying was not hurt. "We've been walking for a bit and it's just getting like, darker you know?"

"I think so." Blaine said out of the blue, "I think we're too far from the road. If it gets too dark we'll just look for some lights. The towns have lights so we'll be able to find our way then." He looked back at his ball, "You two sure you don't want to trade?"

Christina waved her hand dismissively as she walked past him on their continued way through the forest. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'm -very- happy with Sindy, thanks. But..." she halfly turned to look at them as they walked, a frown on her lips as she glanced a little upwards as well. The trees' crowns had now grouped so much together that it almost blocked out all light. "... It's nowhere near evening yet, so it's not like it -should- be this dark. The forest's just really dense here, I suppo-"

Just as she was about to finish her sentence, due to still glancing back at her companions, Christina didn't see the large, almost see-through spiderweb that was strung out between two trees, and walked straight into it, prompting her to let out a squeal. "A-aaah! W-what's going on?! Get it off of me, please!" She began flailing, which only caused her arms and torso to stick to the webs even more, her Cyndaquil squeaking out worriedly from the ground beneath, without really knowing what to do.

An amused smile made its way to Melody's lips as she watched her friend panic and flail about. Sitting Blossom down on the ground, the shorter girl quickly made her way towards Christina. It took every ounce of willpower in Melody for the girl not to burst out into a fit of giggles at her friend's dance-like flailing. Her Chikorita had a concerned look on her face, wondering if the red-haired girl was going to be alright or not.

"Okay, okay! Just hold still for a sec and I'll help pull the stickies off ya," Melody said, trying her best to grab hold of the webbing on Christina. It was something a bit easier said than done, as the webbed girl's constant movements were making it hard for Melody to actually take hold of a spot. "I guess you really weren't kiddin' when you said you were scared of bugs, huh?"

"I-I'm not scared of bugs, I just really -really- don't like them!" Chris' replied through grit teeth.

Blaine looked on and let out a shaky sigh. He wasn't high on bugs either, but really they were nothing. He went over and began to pull as well, "Hm... fire burns silk. Just get the Cyndaquil to burn it off. That could work I think." He said as he tugged as best as he could. "This stuff is rather strong. Anyone have a knife or something?"

Sindy turned her head to look up at Blaine with her squinty eyes, clearly confused about what he meant. However, with Melody and Blaine's help, the three managed to break the webbing and Christina staggered back, quickly peeling leftover webs off of her body, wrinkling her nose and shaking her head. "Eugh, that was -awful-. If I ever see the spider that made that thing..."

"Like that?" He asked as he pointed above them. Right above the three were four small creatures that were hanging on webs. They looked to be like green and black spiders, but they were quickly skittering down the sorrounding trees toward the three with anger burning in their eyes, furious that their trap had been ruined. Blained slowly stepped back and chuckled softly, "Uh... I think we should get out of here... uh..." He threw his ball out, "Quick Derpy! At them!"

"Derpy? Really?" Christina asked sideways at Blaine, throwing him a cocked brow and an amused little smirk before focusing on the oncoming threat once again.

The Totodile danced about happily even when the bugs approached with murderous glares. The water type just gurgled and the bugs paused, seemingly confused at the happy act. He took another step back, "Uh.. do... uh..." He pulled out his pokedex and looked over it. Thankfully it had a screen just for Derpy and he took a quick glance, "Aqua Jet!" He cried out.

The Totodile gurgled a bit more, but then stopped at the sound of the command. It seemed odd as in an instant it's cheerful attitdue disappeared entirely. A dark look entered its eyes and it let out something akin to a murderous screech. His whole body was surrounded with water as he flew out at a Spinarak and slammed right into it. Blaine's eyes widened in surprised as it flew out further and slammed the bug against a tree. The very second the attack ended the Totodile fell to the ground. It quickly got up and began dancing with that happily dumb look again. "Great... I got the derpy psychotic one!" Blaine groaned in despair.

"Who cares, it worked right?!" Melody shouted. The girl honestly was not expecting the three of them to suddenly be forced into a battle like this. Quickly glancing down, Melody noticed that Blossom kept glancing back and forth between her and the spider Pokemon, as if she was waiting for something. Snapping back to reality, the teenager pointed at one of the closeby Spinarak. "Quick, tackle it out of the way!"

Blossom chirped in response and dashed towards the Spinarak that Melody had pointed at. The little grass Pokemon charged into the spider as hard as she could, causing the Spinarak to tumble backwards and roll back some. Blossom let out another chirp, this one sounding much more fierce... which really was not saying much.

Having noticed what Blaine had done with his pokédex, Christina reached into her shorts' pocket and pulled out the item, flicking it open and aiming it at Sindy, standing firmly between Chris' and the oncoming spider, growling out quietly, which sounded oddly cute. The girl was surprised to find the amount of information posted on the screen. "Whoa... this thing's -really- handy, actually." After a moment, she'd seen the moveset of the Cyndaquil and smirked confidently, shutting the 'dex and tugging it away in her pocket.

"Alright Sindy, we've got this covered! Use Extrasensory on that thing!" She raised her arm and pointed, peering down at Sindy as she simply looked over her shoulder at Christina in confusion, prompting a somewhat defeated look on her face. "... What? But the Pokédex-" She paused, wrinkling the bridge of her nose a little in thought. She had an idea of why Sindy was confused about it, but she put that thought aside, once again striking a pose with her arm stretched out.

"In that case, follow Blossom's example and tackle that thing back where it belongs!" The Spinarak reared back onto its hind legs, shooting a string of webbing towards Sindy, but the Cyndaquil managed to expertly hop to the side before charging straight at the spider, looking ready to respond with a tackle of its own. The two Pokémon collided, but Sindy was just a tad bit stronger, which sent the Spinarak tumbling backwards, landing on its back where it flailed its legs about.

"What was that Extrasensory thing...?" Melody asked, watching as Sindy had been settled to tackle instead of whatever the other move was that Christina had mentioned. "I think your dex might be busted, yeah?"

"No no, I had this battle earlier, we were just about to lose, but she created some kind of like... explosion, that won the battle! It said on the dex it's a Psychic attack, but..." She trailed off, scratching the side of her neck uncertainly.

"No matter, let's just finish this off and get out of here before more come!" Melody replied. She glanced back at her Chikorita and nodded. "Finish the last one off, Blossom! Use another Tackle!"

The Chikorita charged forward once more, aiming her sights on the last of the Spinarak. However, the Spinarak that had been targeted seemed to be ready not to share in the fate that fell upon the other three of its kind. A strange, fang-like dart shot out from the Spinarak's mouth, colliding right into Blossom as she was about to hit the spider. The little grass Pokemon staggered back. A slightly sickened-looking expression gracing the Chikorita's features.

"B-Blossom! What's wrong?!" Melody called out. The Chikorita only gave a somewhat whimpy sounding chirp in response, her little legs looking a bit shaky. Christina's eyes widened a little, a gasp escaping her. "Oh no! I think she's been poisoned!"

Melody quickly took off, running to the Chikorita's side. She completely ignored the fact that the last remaining Spinarak was closing in. "Blossom!"

If anything, Derpy seemed more on the ball than Blaine as he rushed forth, that same dark gleam in his eyes. He flew right past Melody and let out a malicious cry. The Spinarak tried to shoot out yet another dart, but it shattered against the Aqua Jet's force and the Spinarak's eyes widened in fear as the Totodile slammed right into it. Though that didn't seem to be enough as Derpy clamped his jaws around the bug and began to swing his head back and forth while sickening crunches were heard. The Totodile spat the bug out of his mouth and just like that the happy smile retured to his face as he danced about.

Blaine stared on, "Uh... maybe I did get the best mon..."

Christina was equally dumbfounded as she simply shared a little glance with Sindy, followed by a shudder and the hope that they didn't have to fight that... thing.

Melody however, was completely oblivious to the fact that the Totodile had more or less saved her and Blossom. Concern was written all over her fave as she held her Chikorita close, another sickly chirp escaping the plant Pokemon's mouth. Quickly, the short girl glanced up at both her friends.

"P-Please? An Antidote! One of you two have one on you, right?!" the girl pleaded.

"O-oh! Of course!" Christina fumbled with the little pouch by her left hip as she pulled out a little sprayer, hurrying over and kneeling down next to Melody and Blossom, with Sindy shuffling up next to Blossom, squeaking out a little worriedly. Christina raised the sprayer and proceeded to squeeze it lightly, a fine little spray of some sort of light-purple substance rained down over the Chikorita, dissolving as it hit the little Pokémon. "I... think that should do it."

A small smile came to both Melody and Blossom as the Pokemon began to feel better. Melody sighed in relief, still holding her Chikorita close. Blossom seemed to look quite thankful, partially because Christina had an Antidote to help her with the poisoning the Spinarak had caused, and partially because Melody risked herself coming to her aid when she needed it.

"Thank you so much, Chrissy..." Melody sighed in relief.

Smiling in equal relief, Christina put away the used antidote in the pouch by her hip, dusting off her hands with a bright smile as she stood up, Sindy squeaking out happily as well. "Heh, you're welcome, Mel'. It's what friends are for, right?"

As those two talked Blaine saw something catch his eye... the scene of Derpy seemingly chewing on something. He didn't fully trust the mon, but of course he didn't want him to accidentally eat a stick or something. He sighed and walked on over, kneeling down, "Come on, spit it out." He said as he held out his hand. The Totodile's mouth was bulging and he shook his head, his puffed out cheeks jiggling a bit as he did so. Blaine frowned and grabbed the lower jaw, trying to force open the water type's mouth.

"I'm your trainer! I said open up!" The Totodile fought on until finally the mouth opened and strange jewels seeped out. Before Blaine could move he felt something tighten around his hand. Derpy had his teeth against Blaine's skin and had a look in his eyes, something that signaled to Blaine that if he ever tried that again his hand would be forcibly removed. Then just like that the happiness returned to the 'dile's eyes and he danced about. He opened his jaws and held up a saliva covered crystal to Blaine who, not wanting to anger the Totodile again, gently grabbed it.

"Uh... where did you get this stuff?" Blaine asked as he looked down at the other crystal fragments. The Totodile stopped and stared at him with good natured eyes and resumed dancing and gurgling. Blaine sighed and got up, "Hm... several pieces. Might be worth something..."

"What might be worth something...?" Melody asked, giving Blaine a curious look.

Blaine shivered at the voice and forgot that no, he wasn't on his own. "Uh... stuff." He said off handedly. He quickly put his crystal into his pocket, "Stuff that Derpy found."

Now curious, Christina stepped over to him, mindful of not walking into the webs again, she knelt down besides him, her brows raising as she picked up the other two, oddly-shaped crystal fragments. "... Whoa. And... Derpy found these?" She held one of them up in front of her, tilting her head a little to the side, looking it over. "They're really pretty. Wonder what they are..." Turning her head a little, she smiled at Melody and tossed the final piece to her. "Mel', catch!"

Melody's eyes widened as the shard of crystal was tossed to her by Christina. Blossom quickly hopped out of the girl's arms as she attempted to catch it. The shard bouncing about in her hands before it bounced up and smacked her in the forehead. Melody let out a small groan as she reached down and picked the shard up, glancing at it curiously.

"Wait, where did these even come from...?" the girl asked. "Did those Spinarak have 'em or something?"

Blaine shrugged, "Not sure." He said. He looked at Derpy who was now rolling about in the dirt and quickly recalled him into his ball, "I think however-" He didn't get to finish his words as he looked up to see more Spinarak quickly moving down to them, no doubt angry at the treatment of their friends, "Uh... I think we should go, okay later!" He said quickly as he broke out into a run. "Get moving you two!" He shouted at the two females.

"H-huh?" Christina said, still kneeling and studying the shard in her hands as Blaine raised up and raced off at mach 2. She looked up and paled as she saw several more Spinarak as well as what could only be their six-times-as-large evolution, three of 'em none the less. And all of them looked very angry.

"I-I think that might be a good idea!" She scrambled to her legs, still clutching the crystal as she grabbed Sindy on the way, hugging the little Cyndaquil to her chest while darting after Blaine who was pretty much long gone by now.

"R-Run...? Run from what...?" Melody questioned.

The girl gave both of her friends a confused glance as they took off running. Slowly glancing up, her eyes widened at the sight of the oncoming spider Pokemon. Melody let out a loud squeal of fright as she fumbled about for a Pokeball, quickly calling Blossom back into it before she scrambled to her feet and took off running herself... in the opposite direction that both Blaine and Christina had run in. Not once did the smaller girl think to look back as she ran.

Hien Midori
Chapter 1
Route 30

The red haired boy took a deep breath, sucking in the cool morning air. It was a beautiful day in his opinion, and being out of the house made it so much sweeter. After all, he was officially a Pokémon Trainer now. He had an ID, and a Pokedex so kindly given to him by Professor Pine, and most importantly, he had Maura. The small Froakie was hopping by his side, doing her best to ignore him. Hien bit his lip, wondering what was with her. She seemed kind of serious, and a little quick tempered. After all, so far, she'd rejected all of his attempts to engage with her properly, only responding with a glare or a growl, and this concerned him a little. He didn't want to have a bad relationship with his first Pokémon at all. Or any of the ones he was yet to meet, for that matter.

They turned around a corner, and Hien stopped, finding himself facing the long expanse of all of Route 30. Here and there, he could see Pidgey's everywhere, along with a large variation of other species of Pokémon. It made Maura, in her ice blue colouration, seem slightly out of place. His green eyes glanced back down at her, recalling that when he'd been informed that he was to receive a Froakie as a starter, he'd expected a more vibrant hue. But, as the professor had explained, Maura was special. She was a "shiny" - a rare coloured Pokémon. She'd showed him some other Shiny Pokémon, ones with more dramatic changes in hue, to illustrate her point. They were kind of cool, being so unusual, but he did like the subtly that Maura had as well.

He glanced at her, then promptly crouched down next to his Pokémon - he really did need to try to engage her.

"Hey, um Maura?" He said, receiving a glare as a result. "Er well, I'm Hien okay? I'm your trainer and I'm really looking forwards to working with you and um well... Err I guess we're going to try and take on the Pokémon League, okay? Does that sound good to you?"

She stared directly at him the whole time, making Hien feel slightly uncomfortable, only to be offended when she laughed cruelly at the mention of taking on the League, almost as if she didn't think he was capable of something like that. He stood back up, turning away from her slightly, and allowing his hair to fall in front of his eyes, hiding in his own way from her. What had he done to make her act this way? They'd only been together for a short amount of time and she already seemed to think he was useless... Maybe he would just use her to help him catch another Pokémon, and then leave her with the Professor again...

Hien stopped brooding as he felt Maura tug on his jeans, pointing behind him. Quizzical, he turned around, only to spot Xuan walking towards him, seeming perfectly at ease. Beside him, his Elekid strutted. Upon seeing that his younger brother had spotted him, he raised one hand in greeting. Hien raised a hand half heartedly back - he really didn't want to talk to him right now, not when he couldn't seem to get Maura to want to work with him.

"Hey Bro!" Xuan grinned as he approached. "Glad to see you've got yourself a good looking 'mon there!" He pointed to Maura, who seemed slightly flattered by that.

"Oh, um," Hien stuttered, "Er this is Maura, she's a Froakie."

His brother laughed, "I knew that. I may not have a Pokedex, but I'm not stupid yeah? Well, Hien, you already know Raiden, but Maura, allow me to introduce my Elekid, Raiden! He's a real go-getter, in my personal opinion."

Maura looked at the Elekid sceptically, who gave her a suggestive wink. This only resulted in her narrowing his eyes, then turning so she didn't have to look at Raiden. The Elekid seemed incredibly amused by her reaction.

"Ah, doesn't seem like they get along." Xuan mused, and shrugged. "Oh well! So anyway Bro, I was wondering if you wanted to have a battle? Seeing as this is the start of both of our adventures, we might as well have a battle while we're both total noobs yeah?"

Hien's eyes widened, glancing at Raiden. "Um, but that wouldn't be fair at all, really. 'cause er, Raiden has a huge type advantage over Maura, and I don't want her to get hur- OW!" He yelped, as Maura had punched his leg, and ignored his obvious pain and displeasure at that by hopping in front of him, cracking her knuckles.

Xuan laughed at that, "I guess Maura wants to have a go huh? Well, I'd hate to deny her the pleasure, so, Raiden, use Quick Attack!"

Suddenly, his brothers Pokémon became a yellow blur, as he raced forwards and slammed his fist into Maura's face, causing her to yelp in pain. Hien called out to her, wondering if she was okay, and crouched next to her, trying to see if she was in too much pain. She slapped him away angrily, seeming to be insulted by his concern for her. He jumped back a little, slightly unsure of what to do.

"Hey, Bro, its your turn - command Maura to attack! Don't worry about her - Pokémon are pretty tough creatures, and battling is in their blood - she'll be fine." Xuan reassured him.

"Um, okay..." Hien's eyes flicked up, as he tried to remember exactly what moves Professor Pine had said Maura knew. In his head, he summoned up an image of the paper which she'd written on, listing the moves and their effects. There weren't many, and none of them would do a lot of damage to the Elekid, however, some had some interesting abilities that could come in handy, especially since he remembered that while Elekid was faster than Froakie, the difference in speed wasn't huge.

"Maura, use, um bubble." He commanded.

The Froakie glanced at him weirdly, probably because the attack wasn't very effective against an electric type, but complied, and created a bunch of bubbles in each hand, before hurling them towards Raiden like they were weapons. Most of them popped upon contact, but a couple, near his feet, stuck to him, and also to the ground. The Elekid seemed less than pleased to have noticed this, as when he tried to take a step, the bubbles clung to the ground, making it far more difficult for him to move. His small eyes found Maura, and glared at her, the dislike between the two intensifying.

"Huh, clever." Xuan gave him a nod, as if to acknowledge a well made, but unexpected move. "Too bad Raiden doesn't need to move to attack. Thundershock!"

At the command, Raiden raised his hands, and a spark appeared between his two horns, quickly getting brighter so that they glowed blue. Hien froze - a supereffective attack would probably knock his Pokémon out. What, what did he do? He couldn't lower the accuracy - Maura didn't know any moves that could do that, nor anything to protect herself with. That moment spent panicking wasted his chance to actually do anything about the incoming attack, and thus a small bolt of electricity sparked from the Elekid's clawed hands to Maura. Her body jerked as the volt sparked through her, before collapsing, smoke hissing off her body.

"Maura!" Hien cried, crouching by her side. She appeared unconscious, having been knocked out. "What- What do we do?"

"Calm down Bro." Xuan approached, pulling out a small, diamond shaped item, which he slipped into Maura's mouth, forcing her to swallow it. "I've got it covered."

As the item went down her throat, Maura stirred, opening her eyes suddenly. She got back on her legs, seeming not at full health, but she was a lot better than she had been previously. Xuan reached out, to help her off the ground, while behind him, Raiden laughed at her. Seeming perfectly calm, she accepted Xuan's hand, but the second she was up, she bolted over to the surprised Elekid, and proceeded to pound him with her fist, a vicious expression on her face.

Raiden toppled over, unconscious, while Maura stood over him, triumphant. Both of the brother's stared at her in disbelief, before Xuan laughed aloud, running his fingers through his hair.

"Well, you sure have a feisty one huh? I don't even know if I won the battle or not now..."

Hien shrugged, still slightly shocked. "Errr, I think you did - you knocked my Pokémon out first..."

"Eh, no idea." Xuan stood up, and pulled out a Pokeball, recalling his fainted Pokémon. "I don't have another Revive on me, so I guess I'll just walk back and find a Pokémon Centre huh? Don't worry about giving me a cash prize for winning - we don't have a clear winner after all! I'll catch up with you later Bro!" He walked off in the direct he'd come, then paused, and turned back to face his brother.

"Just a suggestion, Bro. You need to think fast on your feet in battling - getting all freaked out by a Super Effective attack will put you at a disadvantage. Because you could have won that battle outright if you hadn't frozen up. After all, Raiden went down after one Pound from Maura, and his speed was reduced, so it was highly unlikely that he would have been able to move before she did. Just food for thought. See ya."

Hien watched his brother's back moving away, before sagging, releasing his breath. That wasn't exactly how he'd hoped his first battle would have gone really, and judging by his Froakie's expression, she was less than impressed with him. He shrugged helplessly.

"I'm... I'm kinda new to this okay? I'll improve Maura, I promise."

She just sighed, and turned away from him, walking further along Route 30. Hien gritted his teeth together, and followed her, his hands in tight fists, feeling his fingernails digging into his skin. He had to get better than this - He needed to.

***

Hien plonked himself down on the ground, resting against a rock. They'd been walking for a fair while, and frankly, he was getting kinda hungry. He pulled his green backpack off himself, and dug around it, searching for a sandwich he'd made that morning. He was pretty sure there was also a bit of Pokémon food in there, for Maura. Maybe that would make her hate him less? He sure hoped so - he had no idea how he was going to manage with a Pokémon so adamant about ignoring him. Within the bag, he felt his hand connect to a package. Pulling his arm out, he found that he had found the Pokémon food.

"Hey! Maura!" He called to the Froakie, who had been sitting slightly away from him, continuing with her silent treatment of her trainer. "I've got some food for you - are you hungry?"

She turned her head slowly, eyeing him with suspicion. For a moment, he thought she wouldn't come over, but to his surprise, she slowly hopped over, as if expecting it to be a trap. While she was taking her time to fully scout out for any surprise pitfalls he might have somehow placed, Hien pulled out his sandwich, and unwrapped it, taking a bite. Maura, having decided there was nothing to fear, picked up a piece of Pokémon food, and nibbled at it suspiciously. Almost instantly, she spat it out, and threw the piece she'd had away, and started to eye Hien's sandwich with interest.

"Hey, the sandwich is mine okay?" He placed it on the rock beside him, and reached out to the Pokémon food, holding it out to Maura. "Come on, it can't be that bad."

She rolled her eyes at him, and then widened them in alarm, pointing towards the Sandwich. Hien glanced at it, only to find that it wasn't there anymore. He jumped up, looking for where it had gone, only to spot a Sentret bouncing away from them on its tail as fast as it could. In its little paws, the Pokémon held the sandwich.

"H-Hey!" Hien yelled after it, causing its ears to prick up. "That's mine!" Its response was to flee faster. Maura took after it, bounding as quickly as she could, and after a split second decision, Hien grabbed his bag and ran too.

The little creature was honestly kind of slow, and couldn't really keep ahead of the determined Froakie. Upon realising that the water type was about to steal its stolen lunch, it used its tail to bounce up into the branches of a nearby tree. Maura stopped under it, and found that she couldn't jump high enough to reach one of the lower branches. With a growling stomach being his primary motivation, Hien took what could have been a dramatic stance, one finger pointing at the spot where the Sentret had disappeared into the foliage.

"Maura, use Acrobatics to get up into the tree!"

She gave him a quick, almost approving glance, and her feet and palms glowed white. She sprung upwards, catching the tree branch with ease, and swung herself up higher up, disappearing into the leaves. He waited for a moment, and then heard a high pitched squeal, promptly followed by the Sentret being kicked out of the tree. It landed at Hien's feet, and Maura dropped down next to it, holding the sandwich triumphantly in her hands. He smiled, and then held his hand out expectantly, waiting for her to deposit the sandwich there. She held it close to her, giving him a glare, before finally sighing, and then threw it in Hien's face. He pulled the sandwich off him, trying not to flinch or anything, as that would have made the situation more hilarious for the Froakie, was was visibly laughing at him. He gave her a playful glare, then glanced down at the Sentret.

It had curled up in a ball, wrapping its tail around itself, and seemed to whimper slightly as its stomach growled. Hien could feel pity for it rising within himself, and before he knew it, he'd taken half of the sandwich and offered it to the small brown Pokémon. Its nose wiggled, and it eyes the half sandwich suspiciously for a moment, before its eyes lit up and it happily accepted the gift. One of Maura's eyes twitched, and she looked ready to pound her trainer again for giving away what she'd gone to all that trouble to retrieve. Mentally mourning the loss of his sandwich, Hien held out the other half to the Froakie, who blinked in surprise, as if she never expected him to offer it to her. She took it, and looked kind of guilty, then ripped it in half, and offered part of it back to Hien.

He smiled at her, and accepted. "Thanks, Maura."

She gave him a half smile back, then promptly punched his leg, as if to remind him that she still thought he was useless. He cringed, mentally reminding himself that he was probably going to have to get used to this. Hopefully she grew out if it before she got any stronger.

Once they'd finished eating, Hien stood up, zipping up his backpack. "Alright, time to go now Maura."

The Froakie got to her feet, and the two of them started to walk away, only to find the Sentret jump into their path, looking at them pleadingly. It took a moment for Hien to get what it was asking, and then it clicked.

"Oh! Do you want to come with us?"

The Sentret nodded happily, jumping up and down at the idea. Hien laughed, and pulled out a Pokeball, then pressed it the the Sentret's head. It disappeared in a flash of light, and the ball wiggled three times, before laying still. He then released the normal type, which promptly threw itself at his face, hugging him. He laughed, and pulled it off, sitting it on the ground. The trio started walking again, Hien knowing that he was definitely on the right path to get to the Dark Cave Pokémon Centre. He glanced towards his Pokémon. Maura seemed to be cringing at how over-the-top excitable the newcomer seemed to be, and he kind of agreed with her - this one was over the top.

"Oh well, at least it doesn't hate me." He thought to himself, as the continued towards their destination.

Blaine - Route 31​

Blaine kept on running and running until by some sheer coat of luck he ended up back on the road. He panted a bit and then proceeded to get the various leaves off of him. He waited a bit, but no one came out after him. He had always heard his father say that if you were ever cornered by an Ursaring, have a buddy with you. Just push your buddy down and the Ursaring will get him instead of you. It was a cheap tactic, but if it ensured your own survival then that was paramount. He supposed his father was right after all. None of the bugs had come after him, which meant they had another more helpless target to abuse. He didn't ENJOY the fact that one of the girls possibly was being beat up by now, but he also hadn't wanted to die. Like he said, he didn't enjoy the fact that someone possibly died for him in there, but at the same time he couldn't say he felt like dropping to the ground and sobbing with agony that ached from the deepest recesses of his heart. He hadn't even known those girls and if you were a traveling trainer... well, he assumed stuff like this COULD happen.

He began to move along the route and glanced down at Derpy's pokeball. A psychotic Totodile on his team... it wasn't that bad of a choice now that he thought about it. He was strong enough and seemed to love to battle while still being just in general a happy mon. As long as he didn't force open Derpy's mouth again then he could see this working out... to an extent. If he really was psychotic then would he have to be taken to someone to see if that anger could be taken away? Perhaps a better question was why Professor Pine was giving away psychotic pokemon? Well, the others really hadn't shown the same symptoms Derpy did, so was it possible he was the only one that had been given away who was like this? Well, that meant he had a sort of trick for his battling didn't he now? Just let his opponent's think Derpy was carefree, then let him unleash his anger and bam, instant win.

It wasn't long before he got to a pokemon center and night was already hitting the area. He walked on in and managed to get a room. Much better than sleeping outside in his opinion. The night itself was very uneventful, though as morning came the sunlight hit him through his window forcing his drowsy mind to start awakening. As he began to roll over to the side he felt a weight on his chest. His eyes barely opened, but he saw Derpy right there. The Totodile was leaning over Blaine with that same old smile on his face, but he wasn't gurgling or jumping around in joy. He simply stared...

Blaine didn't know why, but he had a sinking feeling in his chest, one that told him the Totodile was doing this for a specific reason. Derpy continued to stare and then got off and jumped to the ground, happily gurgling yet again. Blaine sighed and finally got up from his bed and looked down at the Totodile who running around in place.

"Derpy... as usual." He muttered. He was rather tired from last night, so he figured a quick shower was in order and as he came out his eyes widened in surprise. Derpy must have had a field day as most of the room seemed to be covered in either drool or was gnawed to death by those jaws. Derpy himself turned around as he chewed on the complimentary alarm clock and fell silent. Blaine just stared on and facepalmed. Hard.

Derpy just stared for a moment and then continued chewing on the clock. Blaine himself quickly made his way over the Totodile and as he reached for the clock that same look passed Derpy's eyes. The one he had given Blaine while in the forest. Blaine stopped dead in his tracks and slowly began to back away. Derpy was silent for a bit longer and as he saw Blaine stepping even further away a bemused look covered his face and he happily continued chewing on the clock.

Blaine grabbed his pack and was more than thankful that Derpy had chewed his own things to ribbons. Derpy himself saw what Blaine was doing and he spit out the clock while still having a large smile on his face. Blaine quickly returned him and slowly opened his door, peeking out before quickly getting out and closing the door as fast as he could behind him. He quickly moved along the hallway and was soon out of the center in a heartbeat. Well, that was one place he couldn't return to again. He hoped the nurse wouldn't be that mad with the room.

The weather was bright and sunny, which meant that it was also warm as well. It was a nice change from the darkness of the forest that was for sure. He made a mental note to himself NOT to step into a forest again. Blaine however was drawn out of his thoughts as Derpy's pokeball shuddered and the Totodile himself popped out with a happy cry. Blaine blinked in surprise as the Totodile danced about. Had he gotten a defective pokeball? Was there even such a thing? Blaine grabbed his ball and once more returned Derpy. As soon as the mon was returned the ball burst open again, this time with the Totodile looking a tad annoyed. Blaine gritted his teeth and tried one more time and yet again it burst open with a now angry expression on the Totodile's face. As he readied another try the Totodile let out a very low, but also threatening growl.

Blaine found his muscles freezing up as the Totodile's eyes glowed a deep red. Blaine found himself quickly taking a few steps back and finally lowering the ball. At that the Totodile's smile returned and he began to hop about excitedly in place. Blaine shakily reached into his pocket and flicked out his pokedex. "Oh… Leer." He glanced back at Derpy who was just having a ball of fun rolling around in the dirt on the road. Blaine sighed softly and began to move forward experimentally. Thankfully Derpy wasn't against this as he stayed by Blaine's side and began to move his arms as if he was marching in an army.

He had heard of dominant pokemon before, but this was ridiculous! Being bossed around by a being who was so short that Blaine could probably squish him if he so much as stepped on him. Were the other mon like this as well? Were they bossing around their own trainers or was Derpy just defective? He would have kept on walking, but Derpy stopped and suddenly began to gurgle out happily.

Blaine glanced over near a small flower field off to the side of the road and after a while he saw something move about. Derpy let out a happy cry and pointed over at it excitedly, so Blaine wasn't sure if the Totodile wanted to dance with it or fight it. Suddenly a purple face poked out from the flowers and a light squeak came from the Rattata. Blaine looked down at Derpy and nodded, "Well, maybe you'll listen to me here? Derpy, try a… hm, ah, try a Water Gun!" He cried out.

The Totodile took in a deep breath as water foamed around the edges of his mouth. He then opened his jaws as a stream of water was flung out right at the little rat who squeaked out with pain. Water dripped off the rat's face, but he was just as quickly to rush up to Derpy and slammed into him. Blaine looked down at his dex and frowned, "A… quick attack. Okay, Aqua Jet!" The Totodile growled angrily at the hit and his body was quickly covered with a light coat of water. He jumped out and flew right at the wild mon, crying out as he slammed right into the Rat's face. The Totodile finished his attack and jumped back a bit. The Rattata fell and twitched on the ground while Derpy jumped about happily.

"So… that's when you listen huh? Battle only?" The Totodile turned and stared at him with a wide smile. "I guess it's better than nothing." Blaine commented with a shrug. "Okay, I can deal with this." He looked around the fields again, "So… I guess more battles?" He asked his mon. The Totodile danced about and let out happy gurgles. Blaine chuckled a bit, "Yeah, you're Derpy alright."

Surprisingly despite the Totodile's earlier energy he seemed to calm down after that battle. He just looked about idly while he walked alongside Blaine, though he still had that derpy smile on his face. Blaine and Derpy soon began to pass by small farms here and there, one in particular had a young kid near the fence and as he saw Blaine coming the boy jumped the fence and quickly blocked the road, "Hey! You're a pokemon trainer!"

Blaine stopped and nodded, "Uh… yeah I am."

The boy puffed out his chest, "I am too! Say, want to have a battle? I'm pretty bored today after all."

Blaine glanced down at Derpy who looked up at him with that same old smiling face. Hm… well, he figured it couldn't hurt. Better to fight a younger kid than a full blown trainer at least. "Well, sure, I guess."

The boy grinned and whistled loudly, "Tailow! Come on girl!"

There was a loud chirp as a bird that had been seated on a roof flew on over and landed before the boy. The Tailow let out a sharp cry and spread her wings as she flapped up into the air once more. Derpy was already showing initiative as he came forward with that same happy smile on his face.

"Alright Tailow use Focus Energy!" The boy commanded. The Tailow flew about and cried out softly, a yellowish glow briefly enveloping her body while her eyes remained on Derpy. The Totodile glanced up with his maw wide open. He wasn't already moving to attack so Blaine figured the water type was waiting for his command. "Derpy, go and use Aqua Jet!"

"Derpy? That's his name?" The boy laughed, "What a joke!"

Derpy lifted off the ground as his body was covered with a coat of water that helped to shoot him up into the air. The Tailow grunted as Derpy slammed into her, but as his protective water coat faded the boy shouted out for his mon to use Peck. The Tailow obliged and jabbed her sharp beak into his exposed abdomen. The only thing that the bird didn't see coming was the Totodile in turn opening his jaws and snapped them around one of her flapping wings.

The Tailow let out a cry of surprise and pain as she tried to keep in the air, but with one wing that was quite impossible and both began to fall toward the ground. Blaine watched as they got closer and closer with the Tailow trying desperately to break free from the iron jaws. It wasn't fated to be as both slammed into the ground and a small dirt cloud was kicked up. As the dust cleared a weary Derpy rose up. He seemed out of it and swayed from side to side. The Tailow however laid on the ground with spirals in her eyes. Derpy huffed and puffed as the other boy rushed over and picked up the downed bird.

"Man, your Totodile is tough! You must have trained it a lot!" Blaine glanced down at Derpy and shrugged, "You could say that…"

"Well, thanks for the battle mister! At least it's more exciting than the other stuff out here." He patted his Tailow on the head and crossed over the fence yet again. Blaine pulled off his pack and pulled out a potion. "Hey, you did good. Thought on your feet and all." He sprayed the healing solution on his injured mon who squirmed at the stinging sensation. "Well, at least you aren't derpy in battle."

The Totodile gurgled a bit and pulled away once his trainer was done. "Hey, Derpy!" Blaine cried out as he began to chase his Totodile, "Get back here!" The water type just gurgled happily as he ran ahead, every so often prancing up into the air as his irritated trainer wondered just how long he could run for.