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echo; A KANTO JOURNEY (IC)

37,467
Posts
16
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen Jan 2, 2024
@ Red Wing
I'm judging both posts in one go ;)

- Sparky (Emolga) grew to lvl 10 and learned Charge!


@ Puppeteer Mask

Haha, I love Mia! And Roland.

- Roland (Grotle) grew to lvl 12!
 
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Sir Bastian

Christina - Crossroads
1,621
Posts
12
Years
Chapter 2; Velvet Lights
Adam Jenkins//Viridian Forest
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Lvl 14
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Lvl 11
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chapter two; part III
Aberdeen Black // Viridian Forest
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"Do you see it?" Aberdeen shouted out to the other boy, trying to sound like he was actually believing that they were chasing just another wild pokémon.

Adam pushed aside a branch as he continued speeding through the woods, gritting his teeth as the supposed Pokémon disappeared behind a tree and he came to a slight stop once reaching said tree, looking around, panting for air.

"... Damnit, I think it got away... ugh! It looked really odd... I think it was grey, and it had a big tail." Pausing, he raised a hand to rub the bridge of his nose, trying to get his breath under control, Blair looking around the area with the fire still blazing on his back.

Adam turned around to face Aberdeen, frowning softly, his arms crossing over his chest. "It was -so- fast. No way we could've caught up with it. Too bad... mrh. Anyways, should we-"

"Hold on jus' one tootin' moment!" a female voice called out. Adam blinked in surprise and looked around himself in confusion until a figure dropped out of a nearby tree and landed firmly in front of the both of them. Straightening out, Adam realized it was a woman, clad in a red jacket, a pair of shorts, a wide-brimmed, red hat and a whip at her hip. A moment later, a blue and black fox-like Pokémon landed right besides her, straightening out as well as it folded its arms across its chest looking rather menacing.

Adam opened his mouth to say something, just as a nearby... slightly funny-looking tree shuddered and began... walking towards them?! It turned around, and it looked like the tree had a face. And it looked... rather happy, as it stepped up aside the rather angry-looking ranger. "What in tarnation are you folks tryin' to pull off, walkin' 'round here, yellin' like a pair 'f vigoroths durin' matin' season?"

Aberdeen caught up with them. "Adam!" he began, then spotted the very good looking woman standing before him. "Well, hello there!" he said, automatically putting on his charm and forgetting all about ghosts and wild creatures. "Name's Aberdeen! I'm a pokémon trainer and this here is my friend Adam, who happens to be something of a pokémon trainer himself too!"

"Oh, for cryin' out loud. You just chased away the shadow I've been trackin' all week! Had a darn hard time learnin' its favorite spots 'n all!"

"Eh? Shadow? Oh, you mean..." Aberdeen turned paler, but the fact that this woman was chasing it meant that it was very real. Since this woman was very real. And since ghosts weren't real... that just couldn't be a ghost. A smile came back to him as he felt relief wash over him. "That shadow? We just chased it here for you, madam!"

"Listen here, ya brat. I had that thing pinned down near a meadow here, but then y'all showed up and ruined it! You ruined my day and my efforts. Luke here's not pleased. No, not pleased at all..."

She patted the creature standing beside her with eyes fixed on Adam still. Aberdeen took a second to pull up his pokédex from the pocket where he had put it, and learned that it was a Lucario, a steel and fighting type. He of course knew that already, thinking back on the countless times he had seen a Lucario be used in movies or flashy tournaments on TV. Overrated pokémon, in his opinion.

Adam was at a loss for a couple of moments, despite pulling his hat off and making a slight bow as he was introduced. At the naming of the Pokémon they had been chasing, he lit up and glanced to Aberdeen and then back at the woman, taking the time while the two were talking to check out the two Pokémon at her sides. First, the Lucario, which he had seen on TV before, and then the... Sudowoodo? It looked a little... tarded, with its overly happy smile and its constant wriggling about on the spot.

As the woman called Aberdeen a brat, Adam frowned and took a slight step forward, making Blair glance up at him, away from the two Pokémon. "Hey, look here. We're sorry about messing things up, but we didn't do it on purpose. We were lost and trying to find our way through the thick forest and w-"

"I don't care -what- you nimrods were doin'! What matters is that -you- ruined my chance at catchin' the shadow Pokémon and in turn, my day, and now I'm gonna be ruinin' yours. Get ready to battle, brats!" With this, the Lucario seemed to narrow his eyes, his feet pushing a little apart, as if getting ready to fight, the Sudowoodo shaking its leaves about like an odd pair of maracas, Adam blinking a little in surprise, glancing to Aberdeen and taking a few steps back to get some room between the two of them and the woman.

"... Looks like she's not gonna back down. Well, if the lady wishes for a fight, I suppose I won't be the one to deny her. You with me, Aberdeen?" He asked, glancing to the boy by his side with a bit of a grin as he pulled his hat slightly further down his head, Blair stepping in front of his trainer and lowering down in a ready-to-pounce pose, growling out lowly.

"What? Is it really necessary to battle? I mean, she's a lady after all!" Aberdeen said, gesturing.

"Chicken, brat?" the 'lady' said with a glaring look. "Suther, take care of that whelpin' lad there. Woodhammer him." The order made Aberdeen raise his eyebrows. Would she... attack him directly? Meanwhile, the ranger turned to face Adam together with Lucario.

The Sudowoodo moved forward wearing its freaky grin and raised a glowing fist that seemed to enlargen as Aberdeen watched, stunned by the strangeness of a pokémon being ordered to attack a human directly. He just... didn't... do... anything. But his pokémon did.

Metapod was still in his arms, but now it suddenly glowed, at the same time as the Woodhammer on Sudowoodo's arm began to glow. As the rock pokémon charged in a wobbly kind of way, Metapod twitched and jumped up from its trainer's arms in the nick of time. The hammer attack collided with Metapod's Hardened skin instead of Aberdeen's head. Sudowoodo landed right next to the boy, who let out a scream and jumped several steps back. Metapod was pushed down into the ground between them.

"Gah! Are you alright, Metapod? Jeez! If you want to battle, battle someone of your own strength... coward!" Aberdeen shouted to the hostile pokémon. It only kept smiling widely and oddly. Metapod gave out a noise that was hard to define. Maybe that was how metapod sounded when they did sound. Sudowoodo shifted its attention back to the pokémon.

"Metapod? You can't battle, you're a tiny cocoon! Oh, man..." Aberdeen worriedly put his hands on his head and grabbed his own hair in frustration over the cause, looking to his side to see what the ranger would do to Adam..

Adam had gotten ready to battle the Lucario, who seemed to have locked eyes with the Quilava, who was growling up at the black and blue Pokémon. Just as he was about to announce an attack, he saw the Sudowoodo about to attack Aberdeen and only managed to call out "Ab', watch ou-" before the Metapod lept up and took the hit for him. Adam let out a sigh of relief. "Ab', you can't let it fool you! Even the silliest Pokémon can pack one heck of a punch!"

"Nice sentiment, teachin' your friend here. Maybe ya should do it outside of a tussle though." The woman's voice was smug, and just as Adam looked back to her, he saw a flash of blue and black as the Lucario had run up to Blair and aimed its black paw at him, a blast of blue energy sending the Quilava tumbling backwards with an outrcry.

"... Blair! Attacking when your enemy is looked is unfair! Usually, I treat ladies with the respect they deserve, but that was -low-!" The woman let out a snort and waved her hand dismissively. Meanwhile, Blair had gotten up again, growling out angrily, Adam looking as determined as his Pokémon as he called out. "Alright, Blair! Let's give her a piece of our mind! Ember!"

The Quilava took in a deep breath before spitting out several balls of flame, the Lucario managing to dodge most of them, but one of them hit it square in the face, letting out a howl of pain. Apparently it REALLY didn't like the fire. Adam grinned, readying the next stage of his strategy. "Get ready for anything, Blair!"

"Hnngh, alright," Aberdeen growled, turning back to his own predicament, where Sudowoodo was now facing a Charged up Blitzle. "Use Shock Wave!"

The new attack had been identified by the pokédex and Aberdeen wanted to see what it was really like when he was prepared. The blitzle blinked once and sent out what really looked like shock waves of electricity. They went in all directions but were the longest straight ahead towards Sudowoodo and thankfully didn't reach Aberdeen who was standing behind the attacker. "So that's how they never miss... they just attack everywhere at once!" he realized, remembering the pokédex page on the attack.

Indeed, the attack hit, shocking Sudowoodo until it stumbled around as if burned. The grin disappeared, but only for a moment. Then it came back, even wider than before. "I don't like that pokémon!" Aberdeen stated. Blitzle nodded in agreement.

Once again, the disguised rock type charged forward in its wobbly way, launching another attack. A strange glimmering occurred in the air in front of it as it came to a stop mere meters from Blitzle. Then a Shock Wave was launched and hit the unsuspecting zebra spot on.

"WHAT! How can a Sudowoodo know Shock Wave?" Aberdeen was clueless, until his pokédex which he still held in his hand, beeped. It told him that the move just used was not Shock Wave. But Mimic. "Oh.. that's just... unfair!"

Adam tried not to get distracted by the quite literal sparks flying from the nearby figh between the Sudowoodo and Aberdeen's Blitzle, as the Lucario seemed to prepare itself for another attack. "Don't give him any chance to recover! Hit him with a Quick Attack!" Blair growled out and bent his legs before zooming forwards, aiming to slam square against the Lucario's chest.

However, just before hitting him, the Lucario dove to the side and launched a paw which slammed into the side of Blair's head, sending him to the ground. "W-whoa! What the hell?!" Looking down to his Pokédex, he gaped slightly, realising that the move used was Counter. "... Alright. Different tactic, I guess. Blair, Smokescreen!"

As Blair got to his feet again, he let out a growl and the flames on his back was almost extinguished, black smoke billowing from them to cover up the Lucario and Quilava. "Perfect! And now Quick Attack him into submission! He can't counter what he can't see!"

The smoke spread to the other battle, where Blitzle backed away. For someone who liked sparks flying and bad weather, he sure didn't seem to like smog and smoke at all. "Easy, boy!" Aberdeen said, running forward and putting a hand on the blitzle's neck to calm him down. Then, he noticed that Metapod was out of his sight. Sudowoodo as well; they were both enveloped by the smokescreen.

"Metapod!" he called out, afraid that it would get stomped or crushed by the rock type when he couldn't see it and help it.

But he worried for nothing. Sudowoodo did find the bug pokémon and grinned madly as it made its hand glow again, readying another Woodhammer attack. Metapod just sat on the ground and stared up at the much bigger opponent. It's body glimmered as it stiffened from several Harden in a row. The Woodhammer was swung downwards-

But it was stopped. A stricky string had suddenly been spun around the arm, and tied it together with a tree that was just nearby. Sudowoodo pulled and pulled and the grin disappeared and was replaced by a look of frustration. As the smoke faded away from this part of the battle, the two pokémon came back into Aberdeen's sight. The boy gasped when he saw what the little pod had done. Then he laughed and ran forth, picking it up into his arms.

"You're a genius! Crazy and risktaking, but a genius!" he cheered, spinning on the spot holding up the metapod. "How do you like that, huh?" he said, sticking out his tongue to Sudowoodo, who growled. But then, it smiled again...

Adam glanced towards Aberdeen and smiled as he saw how his new friend was doing, quickly turning his attention back to the smoke billowing around the area. The ranger had disappeared from view and he could only vaguely see Blair as he darted back and forth in the smoke, hitting the Lucario again and again, slowly wittling down its health. Suddenly, however...

"A'ight, 'nough playin' around! Luke, Counter!" Adam blinked in surprise. "How's he going to do that? He can't see anyth-" A sudden flash of movement within the smog and Blair came skidding out, growling angrily and looking a little beat up. The ranger's mocking laugh was heard. "Ya obviously didn't read that fancy little encyloperdierps ya had there. Lucario can sense auras, which means, he can sense when your little friend is attackin'."

Adam grit his teeth and looked down at Blair, clenching his fists. "Right. This is a really tough fight... but we still have the upper hand. Ember! He's not going to be able to counter -that-!" Blair took in another deep breath and began barraging the figure in the smog with embers, a confident smirk now on Adam's lips. He knew -just- how to finish this fight in one, fell swoop.

Aberdeen had glanced over at Adam's struggle and didn't see Sudowoodo's new smile before it was too late. Another Mimicked Shock Wave hit him and his bug hard all of a sudden. That move never missed. Aberdeen cried out in pain and Metapod's shell did not withstand elemental attacks. The boy fell to the ground, weak in the knees, and Sudowoodo laughed manically. The electric shock had fried the string that bound the pokémon.

All of a sudden, a Quick Attack hit his belly, throwing him to the ground. Blitzle made a sharp turn and came in again for another Quick Attack. He was furious. No one should harm his herd in a cheating way like that. But the normal type attack didn't injure the rock type pokémon much. When the second attack came in, Sudowoodo stuck out his foot and tripped the zebra before it could make impact on its own accord.

"Low Kick...!" Aberdeen panted. "Blitzle!"

Blitzle gathered his limbs together and got up, but not before the Sudowoodo had laughed again and held up its hands, creating small rocks seemingly out of pure energy and sending them towards the zebra. Blitzle used Quick Attack to hop around and avoid them, but not for too long. One bigger rock struck his head and made it fall to the ground, groaning. Aberdeen crawled up to him, Metapod clasped in his arms. Sudowoodo kept smiling its crazy smile and slowly and determinedly marched closer to the group. Aberdeen's eyes widened. What should he do? His opponent was simply too strong...

"... Ab'!" Adam called out as he saw him fall to the ground from the electric attack made by the rather creepy tree. Gritting his teeth, he glanced back and forth between his own battle and Aberdeen's. He had to help him, but he was afraid the woman would let her Lucario pull off some kind of special move in the meanwhile. Then again, he couldn't just stand by and watch his new friend -and- his Pokémon get hurt.

Reaching to his pocket, he pulled out his Nidoran's Pokéball, opening it to let Stomps out, the little Pokémon letting out a squeak at the commotion, but quickly readying itself for what might happen. "Stomps, you need to help Aberdeen and Blitzle! Double Kick that... thing!" "... N-Nid, ran!" The rodent didn't seem at all sure about this, but Adam's confidence rubbed off on him and it darted past the smog, lept into the air and came flying straight at Sudowoodo who hadn't even seen it coming.

The Nidoran bent its legs and just as he was about to collide with the Sudowoodo, he turned around and slammed both of its hind-legs against the trunk of the Pokémon, sending it sprawling backwards in pain, Stomps landing firmly on the ground before running over to Blitzle's side, nudging it to try and get it up.

"Hey, that's cheatin'! Y'all are no-good cheaters!" The woman cried out from the slowly dispersing fog. "-We're- cheating?! You're attacking people with your Pokémon! If there's anything I don't like, it's a lady who behaves like a thug!" The woman scoffed and from inside of the smog, a pair of blue eyes lit up. Adam's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to issue an order to Blair, but just as he did, a dark-blue pulse emitted from within the smog, dispersing it once and for all. Not only that, but the shadows moved up and seemed to overwhelm both Blair and Adam, both of which was knocked on the ground, Adam letting out a pained yelp. "Ngh! That's... it, I'm not holding back anymore! One more attack and you're -done-!" he called out as he scrambled to his feet, panting, as did Blair. The Lucario also seemed rather damaged, and he was hoping that his next attack would be the last.

Aberdeen and Blitzle got up from the ground as Sudowoodo got kicked down. Blitzle neighed thankfully at Nidoran.

"Adam..." the boy panted, smiling. Seems like he really had gotten a new friend. A friend in need is a friend indeed. "Now... You!" he said, turning back to the almost broken rock type tree. "Metapod?"

The pod in his arms stared back at him in a way that told him 'Ok'. "Use String Shot! Bind it!"

The strings came out of the top of Metapod's body and enveloped the struggling Sudowoodo. It fought against the strings and tried to load up another Woodhammer. But Blitzle and Nidoran suddenly tackled it to the ground again, where the String Shot bound it and made it impossible for it to get up.

Aberdeen let out a huge breath. He'd done it. But not on his own. This silly looking pokémon had been much stronger than it had looked like. Aberdeen hadn't been careful. If Adam hadn't been there, he would have lost. He looked up at the other boy and saw the Quilava scramble up. Lucario was hurt. This was it.

"Come on! As much as I hate fighting against pretty ladies, this lady's only pretty on the outside!" Aberdeen called out. "I believe in you, Adam!"

Aberdeen's words removed the last sliver of doubt from Adam's mind. He'd often act big and then back down to let the women ahead, as he'd been taught by his father, but his newfound friend's words were true. A lady is only a lady as long as she acts like one. Or at least vaguely like one, and this woman did neither.

Sending Aberdeen a wry little smile, he turned back to the fight, raising an arm to point at the Lucario who seemed to brace himself. "Alright, this is it Blair! End it with a Flare Blitz!"

"Oh no ya don't!" The rather angry-looking lady yelled, her hands gripped into fists as she glared at the two boys. "Luke, Detect!" The Lucario growled and his eyes flashed blue again, just as Blair was about to set off, Adam quickly interjected. "Change of plans! Quick Attack instead!" Blair seemed confused for a moment, but set off at high speed, the Lucario diving out of the way, as Blair landed on the ground behind him and spun around.

"Now, Flare Blitz!" "Quil!" Blair called out, the flames on his back roaring as they spun out of control and enveloped the Quilava, slightly blackening the grass around them before he set off at almost as high a speed as the Quick Attack, the ball of flames with the Quilava within zooming towards the Lucario.

"****! Detect, again!" Adam clenched his fists, hoping dearly that the Detect would be as defect as he'd heard it. Apparently it worked best if not used before, so maybe... And just as he thought of this, the Lucario tried dancing backwards, but misjudged where Blair would land, and the giant ball of fire slammed square into the fox Pokémon's stomach, engulfing it in the flames and sending it recoiling into the squirming Sudowoodo and onto the grass besides it, unconcious.

Adam let out a laugh and pumped his fists into the air. "Hahah! We did it, Ab'! She cheated, but we -beat- her!" He flashed a wry smile over at the woman and took his hat off, placing it against his chest and bowing down overexaggeratedly. "Thank you for the bout, m'lady. Hope our paths cross again."

The ranger was fuming. For a moment, she just stared at her pokémon and back to Adam and then shortly at Aberdeen. Then she took forth two pokéballs and retreated her pokémon. "Pathetic!" she uttered and then spat in their direction. "Pure luck and mean schemes. That boy there used two pokémon! That's unfair. But it doesn't matter anyway. You hillbillies won't never catch up with mah shadow creature. Stay away or I won't go so easy on y'all next time."

With that, she turned on the spot and marched away. "So long, fair lady!" Aberdeen cheered and made a fake bow towards her. She was soon gone from sight.

"Haha, Adam, you're awesome! Quilava is really cool! Only, not cool but hot, but in a cool way! Ahaha, I think you get what I mean." His eyes twinkled as he praised the other trainer. He meant it, he really thought Adam was cool. Just as skilled and brave as Aberdeen wanted to be. One day. Whenever he got over his crybaby ways...

Adam laughed at Aberdeen's reaction, placing the hat back on his head and using the Pokéballs resting in his pockets to recall Blair and Stomps, smiling. "Haha, yeah, I get it. That was one heck of a battle. And you did really well too! I couldn't have done it without you." He gave Aberdeen a bright grin and raised a hand to give his shoulder a light smack with his hand.

Then, Aberdeen's gaze suddenly froze. His eyes widened and his mouth slowly opened without speaking. He was looking at something just behind Adam.

It was the shadow creature. Not so shadowy anymore, it now stood right before the boys, at least twice as tall as they were, with a gray and purple skin and a face that looked like it had just murdered someone. Or wanted to.

Aberdeen screamed and ran, forgetting Adam, forgetting his pokémon... It didn't matter if that was a real pokémon or not; it's atmosphere scared the life out of that boy.

"H-hey, Ab', where are you going?!" Adam called out as the boy ran off, looking more than confused, up until he noticed the shadow covering him and the ground around him. Eyes wide and his heart pounding in his chest, he slowly turned around and tilted his head back, lips parted in a soundless, surprised shriek as he took a stumbling step backwards. The Pokémon towering over him slowly raised its arm, and everything went black.
 
37,467
Posts
16
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen Jan 2, 2024
@ me & Sir Bastian
Will Aberdeen get even more lost now? Will Adam get devoured by the mysterious dark shadow- ok we all know it's Mewtwo, let's just drop the drama OOC. :D Making effort and doing joint posts pays off, only sayin'.

- Blitzle grew to lvl 13!
- Metapod grew to lvl 10 and is ready to evolve into Butterfree!

- Blair (Quilava) grew to lvl 17!





chapter two; part IV
Aberdeen Black // Viridian Forest
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Slowly, Aberdeen opened his eyes. It was still daylight, judging from the non-darkness that hit him instantly. He was laying on the forest floor, judging from the damp leaves underneath his hands and cheek. Looking up, he saw something yellow. Something very yellow was sitting in front of him, very close. Looking at him. Twitching its ears. It was...

"Pikachu!" Aberdeen exclaimed and jumped up from the ground into a sitting position. The Pikachu squeaked and darted off to hide behind a rock. Only the black tips of its ears were visible.

Aberdeen creaked his neck. "Damn... for how long have I been laying here? Why am I even laying here?" He looked around but got no clues. From the looks of it, he was still in the middle of Viridian Forest. Where he had captured a Metapod and fled from Beedrill. And met Adam... "Adam!"

He stood up and spun around. "Adam!" he called out. No response other than Pikachu looking up from the rock again. Aberdeen sighed. The other boy where nowhere to be found. What had happened? And... where were his pokémon? He quickly felt at his belt. The pokéballs were there. But they were empty. His pokémon where somewhere, but not here. Terror struck him. Without his pokémon... he was nothing as a trainer. Poor Blitzle! Aberdeen was his new boss and caretaker, what would Blitzle do without him? And Servine... Come to think of it, Servine would probably do quite fine without him. He was a smart pokémon. He could only hope that they took care of each other, wherever they were. But how had they gotten lost?

And didn't he have a third pokémon too? Just as that thought struck him, a fluttering pair of wings obscured his sight. He fumbled backwards and realized that it was a butterfree. One very eager to be close to him. It giggled in a strangely sad way and looked at him with its ruby eyes. "Butterfree..." He recognized those eyes, even though they didn't even have the same color as before. "Metapod?"

The butterfree begain fluttering more wildly and flew into the boy's arms. Just like he had held his metapod before. "You evolved! When?"

Butterfree spoke rapidly but Aberdeen of course didn't understand anything. "Hang on... Calm down. Do you know where Blitzle and Servine are?"

Butterfree looked sadder when he said that. Apparently it didn't know at all. "Oh... I see. We'll find them, don't you worry!"

Suddenly, Pikachu had stepped out from its hiding place and gestured wildly while squeaking in its mousy way. "What? Do you know where my pokémon are?" Pikachu smiled and started jumping off in one direction.

"Wait!" Aberdeen followed, Butterfree sitting firmly on his head, cluthing his brown hair and red cap with its little hands and feet.




They chased after the eager Pikachu deeper into the forest, Aberdeen feeling worse by the minute. Something told him that he didn't want to go deeper. He wanted to get out of the forest. Was he really following a little wild pokémon? He didn't even know if it spoke the truth or not!

Just as he was about to stop running, Pikachu came to a stop and pointed happily at something in a clearing. Aberdeen walked up to it and looked. It was a sort of clearing indeed, but also a small valley, over which a thick canopy of leaves and branches obscured the place from much sunlight. And there stood some terrain vehicles and a few tents. A campfire was lit in the middle, and there were people there.

"The rangers..." Aberdeen blurted out. Then he was surprised by himself. What rangers? Then he remembered. The hot lady who had battled him and Adam over the right to chase the shadow. The shadow pokémon... He shuddered. But they had won that battle. So why were his pokémon gone? Why did he wake up without Adam?

One of the people by the campfire got up and stretched out her body as if she had been sitting down for a long time. Aberdeen's eyes widened. She was a girl, not much older than himself. Her skin was dark and her hair even darker, running along her back in a single, thick braid. Her eyes were slightly slanted and her lips big. Her body was slightly developed with decent front and back, so to speak. Shortly put, Aberdeen fell in love on the spot.

"I'll... I'll just walk up to them and see if they've seen my pokémon!" he declared to Pikachu and Butterfree, who gave each other troubled looks before the boy trotted away, Butterfree still on his head. Pikachu stayed behind, watching them from afar.




"Cheers!"

The people around the campfire looked up when they heard the unfamiliar voice. The girl stared at him. An older man with white beard and no hair who was slightly overweight did the same. So did also a dark skinned man with a short trimmed afro and large eyes and muscles that you'd fear any day, and a woman just a bit younger than Aberdeen's mother who looked way too womanly to be out in this bush.

Before any of them could speak though, another person entered the scene. A middle aged man with a black mustache and blazing icy blue eyes over a chin that was wider than most Aberdeen had ever seen, even on TV. In his hand, he held a gun. That made Aberdeen stop in his tracks and display a nervous smile. "Ahahah! Maybe I shouldn't have come here, haha! I was just... I wondered... If..."

"Calm down, bro," the girl said, shaking her head so that her braid whipped in the air. "That gun's for putting pokémon to sleep. Nobody's stupid enough to try and hurt a pokémon outside of a pokémon battle. That'll get you killed, you know."

Aberdeen's heart fluttered as she spoke. Her voice was deeper than he'd imagined. Maybe she was several years older than him. Why did he have to be only 14?

"Was there something you wanted, traveler?" the bigger, muscular man asked, turning around. He revealed a large machete in his hands, once again making Aberdeen sweat a little extra.

"Hahha, no... I... Well, yes." He swallowed hard. "I'm looking for two pokémon."

"Well, you've come to the right place then!" the man with the gun said, showing off a smile that was wider than even Sudowoodo's but twice as evil in a strange way. "We're what you'd call poachers. Only that's got such a bad ring to it, don't you agree?"

The men around the fire chuckled a little. The girl just smiled and the woman still looked unphased. "So we'd like to call ourselves rangers instead. Pokémon rangers. We're watching the wildlife, you know. Guarding it but also gathering some interests of ours now and then. Collecting. Capturing. And selling. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

The machete glimmered dangerously in the light of the fire. Aberdeen nodded with the nervous smile plastered on. But he did think it was very wrong. A pokémon should be captured by a trainer and then raised by them. Maybe traded lovingly to a friend, or given as a gift to someone special. Like a new trainer starting on a journey. But not sold as if they were products. Wares. He felt anger steaming up inside of him, but there was nothing he could do now. He just had to find his pokémon and get out.

"A Blitzle and a Servine. They shouldn't be able to get inside pokéballs, because I never released them for real."

The people around the campfire looked at one another at those words, letting Aberdeen's hopes up.

"Oh?" the man with the wide chin said, patting his gun. "Now... are you really sure about that?"

"Yes! Or... At least I think so. I don't see why I would have released them..." He was feeling sick all of a sudden. Why would he have released his first two pokémon? It didn't make sense.

"Because we just captured those two a few hours ago. A pair, friends it seemed, not wanting to be separated."

Aberdeen froze and stared at the man. The girl by the fire looked worriedly at him. "You did? Where are they? Let me see them!"

"Already sold them. I'm sorry, boy. Someone came by and really knew what they wanted." The man sighed and put away his gun, leaning it against a stool on the ground. "Because of that, we made him pay extensively though-"

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" Aberdeen shouted and all of a sudden ran up to the man, jumping onto him. "GIVE ME BACK MY POKÉMON!" He punched the man in the chest over and over again, making him fall backwards. This was unlike Aberdeen. He usually got angry easily, but never acted on it. But his pokémon... His friends!

"Stop it, you stupid boy," the man just said, pushing the boy away from on top of him. The muscled dark skinned man lifted Aberdeen away and held him still. The girl came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder with the same worried look as before. "We had no way of knowing those pokémon weren't wild. We captured them in pokéballs as usual."

Aberdeen's limbs went numb and he fell to his knees, or he would have if the muscled man didn't hold him up. So he had released them... How came he didn't remember this? He didn't understand. He would never... Servine...

"Let him go!" the girl said, and Aberdeen felt himself fall to his knees finally, putting his hands against the ground. "We're sorry," she said, sitting down beside him.

A moment went by without the boy saying anything. The other people gathered around the fire and didn't talk either. Then, a flutter of wings. Butterfree had still been sitting on top of Aberdeen's head. Now it came down, sitting on the ground between his hands instead. "Butterfree..." the boy whispered. "How come you're the only one left?"

The ruby eyes looked up at him, not saying anything. A rustle was heard from a bush nearby and made the younglings look that way. It was the Pikachu from before. Carefully, it went up to Aberdeen and patted his arm with a faint smile, as if it was worried and wanted to cheer him up. Aberdeen was touched by the wild pokémon's fine gesture and felt himself beginning to cry. He broke into tears and sat there sobbing for a while. The dark skinned girl put an arm around him and sat beside him for several minutes. The others in the camp just went about their business, although the elder man looked pained by the boy's predicament.

Eventually, he walked up to them and stood in front of the boy. "Lad," he said, and the red eyed boy looked up. "The buyer didn't say their name and we're not the most controlled poachers; unfortunately we sell to most people who look capable and can pay enough. That's how rough economy for poachers have been lately. Can't afford to be picky. They don't even have to tell us their name. But we do know what they looked like. And listen." He leaned in towards Aberdeen and the boy felt the smell of tobacco in the air between them. "If you're to survive in this forest until you find your pokémon, you should capture even more. A lone butterfree may be cute, but it won't get you far in this world. They are too fragile to fight without backup."

Aberdeen's lower lip trembled as he curled his legs with his arms.

"You should listen to my dad," the girl said. Aberdeen was suddenly a bit surprised. Dad? They weren't the least bit alike. "He's been a trainer in his younger days. You should get stronger before you try to get your friends back. Unless you happen to be really rich. They did pay a lot for them."

Pikachu squeaked in agreement and Butterfree cheered with its giggling noise. Aberdeen stopped sobbing and said nothing for a moment. Then his face took on a determined look. He thought of Adam, how that boy refused to give up and become weak when things looked grim. He would be that brave too. And do what was needed. "Servine..." he murmured. Then he got up from the ground.

"I get it. I will catch more pokémon. Pikachu!" he pointed at the mouse, who looked nervous at the remark. "You'll be my first new partner! I challenge you to a battle to prove that I'm worthy of training you!"

Pikachu didn't seem at all eager to battle, but Butterfree was just as determined as its trainer and the look that the metapod had had in its eyes suddenly returned. A cold glare that showed that this cute little thing was not someone to trifle with. Pikachu backed away and shook its head but Butterfree didn't let it escape.

Aberdeen pulled his topless cap down lower over his forehead and took up his pokédex, quickly skimming through Butterfree's moveset. There was only one difference from metapod's.

"Confusion!"

Butterfree's eyes glowed in a purple color and Pikachu was struck mentally by something that made it shook its head to try and get rid of its dizzyness. The result was that it tripped over a stick on the ground and fell onto its back.

"Now, Tackle!" Aberdeen shouted, eager to get this over with as soon as he could. The Pikachu had been so kind to him so he didn't really want to harm it... The campers watched the battle more or less curiously, without interfering.

Butterfree dove, not very quick but quick enough, and Tackled Pikachu before it could regain its balance and stand up. It fell again, but now its kind face had changed. It looked up at its opponent with angered eyes and laid its ears back. Then the pouches on its cheeks began crackling.

"It's going to do an electric move! Butterfree is weak against that, watch out!" the girl shouted behind Aberdeen. He gasped when he realized that that was true. He had just thrown himself headfirst into a battle where he was at the disadvantage.

"String Shot!" he tried. Pikachu fired a Thundershock that reached the bug first though, and fried it in the air. Butterfree fell to the ground in pain, but didn't give up just yet. Pikachu seemed relieved that its single attack had brought the bug down. But when it saw that Butterfree was still awake and kicking, it turned nervous again.

Butterfree now carried out the order of String Shot and tied Pikachu up with sticky strings like a lasso. Then, the bug pulled and Pikachu was forced to fall on its face forward in the dirt. It didn't like that one bit. First, it used Tail Whip to divert Butterfree's attention. Then it suddenly attacked with Thundershock again. The String Shot had not been the best of ideas; it was now supraleading the current straight into Butterfree's body.

The bug screamed and fainted. Aberdeen dashed forward and took the pokémon into his arms. He had lost against a wild pokémon... Just after he had lost against a trainer, and then lost his pokémon friends... Tears began falling again, and the girl behind him was so sad when she saw this that she didn't know what to do. She looked pleadingly at her father for help, but he just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

Then, Aberdeen felt a little hand on his crouched down head. He looked up and found himself staring right into Pikachu's slightly dirty face. It smiled at him and actually reached out to brush one of his tears away from his cheek. This of course brought even more tears to the boy's eyes and he completely teared up, crying loudly enough to make the wide-chinned man with the sleep-gun clench his fists beside the fire. "Shut up, will you!" he called out, but earned a stern look from the girl's father. The lady still said nothing and the muscular man just sat still and looked calmly at the boy and his friendly pokémon.

Butterfree came back to it when it heard Aberdeen cry. It let out a gurgling noise to try and comfort him, where it lay in his arms as he sat on his knees in the earth.

"They care about you. You've found a really good little Pikachu," the girl said, suddenly sitting down beside him again.

He brushed some snot away and looked up at her. Right now, he felt awful for being such a crybaby and ugly in front of a nice girl, but he couldn't really help it.

"Ah..." he began, snorting a little. "I'm sorry Pikachu. And Butterfree. Pikachu, I'm sorry that I tried to battle you while you were," he hiccuped a little here, "just trying to help. And Butterfree... I'm sorry that I just sent you out in battle without training and... that you had to protect me as a metapod earlier and..."

"There, there," the girl said, patting his back with a gentle smile. "I think they understand."

Pikachu smiled widely to show that she was right. Aberdeen forced himself to smile too. But then he got serious again. "Pikachu. Please be my pokémon. I need more help finding Blitzle and Servine."

Pikachu looked hesitant but then swallowed and nodded. It agreed. It would become his pokémon! Aberdeen let out a snorted laughter and Pikachu threw itself into his arms, landing on top of the injured Butterfree, who objected faintly but gave up pretty soon and just relaxed. It guessed it could become Pikachu's ally. It seemed too dopey to be any rival to Butterfree in any sense that mattered anyways.

"Hey... I'm Aberdeen by the way," the boy said, turning back to the girl as he stood up, holding both pokémon in his arms. "Do you have any way to heal these two out here?"

"My name's Memeeber!" the girl said. "Yes, we have a healing machine in the van. Here, I'll show you!"

And that is how Aberdeen met the pokémon poachers and began his search for the lost pokémon...







@ me
Can't give myself too many levels, can I?

- Butterfree grew to lvl 11!
- Aberdeen's new Pikachu is on lvl 9!
 
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Xlugon Pyro

Dragon Tamer
308
Posts
16
Years
2-3; VELVET LIGHTS
Zoey Wyrmoki / / Viridian Forest
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"HYDRO PUMP!" two voices shout in unison, one man and one woman.

Two huge pumps of water skewer the fortress of fire, forcing back the flames. Two blue creatures stand strong, slowly pushing into the blaze as their overpowering water attacks beat back the tyrannical flames. The powerful dual Hydro Pumps cause water to break off, creating a hot mist in the immediate vicinity where flames once burned away the earth moments earlier. The dousing sprays open up swaths of charred earth, not enough to put out the wildfire in its entirety, but completing the job they arrived there to do.

"Vay! Poreon!" cries one of the creatures, running up to the body of an unconscious young woman, short, black hair with glasses, her body hot but unharmed by the fire.

The Pokemon proceeds to lick the woman's face, investigating her health before running back to its trainer, barking happily in its discovery.

"Good work girl!" congratulates one of the trainers, a woman who graces her hand against the vaporeon's head thankfully.

"I got another one over here!" shouts the man, looking over the body of another young girl, a pink and white hat by her side with her brown hair undone and let loose.

Covered in damp droplets spread by the water attacks of the Pokemon, a green creature struggles to keep its body off the ground, leaning on its arms as its vision blurs, identifying an odd blue creature approaching it. However, its barely able to make out the approaching Pokemon, instead collapsing on the ground, falling out of consciousness.

"Simi simi!" hollers the blue monkey, dancing around frantically as it identifies additional victims of the blaze.

"Great work Simipour! Good boy," salutes the man, carrying the brown haired girl upon his back.

"Let's get them back to the station," proclaims the woman, tossing two pokeballs she found to the man who recalls two of the Pokemon.

"Is this third one of theirs too?" inquires the man, kneeling over the body of a fainted emolga to investigate it. "This one has a disease. We better take it with us regardless and take care of this."

"Good idea. I've reported the fire to the Pewter and Viridian City fire departments to respond to the fire. They should be here in an hour or so to respond to this," informs the woman who has the other girl on her back.

"Let's go then. These girls will need to be looked at at the very least, as well as their Pokemon," recognizes the man, recalling his simipour.

The woman nods in his direction, pushing the girl on her back into a comfier position before the two take off, taking to their jeep on their way back to the station. The wildfire slowly creeps back towards the previously doused areas of the charred forest, but the immediate crisis is resolved for now. For now at least, they must wait for the nearby fire departments to respond. After that, their investigation will continue.



Saliva leaks from the tongue of a strange creature, moisturizing the cheeks of the unconscious girl. She slowly comes to, noticing a damp object scraping itself across her cheek. THe girl, covered in a green blanket slowly sits herself up, causing the Pokemon looking over her to back away, giving the human room.

"Vapor!" cries the creature before her, a Vaporean smiling happily with its tail waving back and forth.

"W-what... Where am I? Wha-who're you!?" inquires the brown haired girl, her hair down revealing incredibly long locks of chocolate hair strands.

"What is this place?" ponders the young woman as her eyes scan her new environment, the inside of a wooden building that appears to be a large office room of some sort.

"You're up! How are you feeling?" wheels a woman as she rotates around on her computer chair, smiling on the waking girl.

The woman appears relatively young, perhaps in her 20s or 30s with shoulder length straight blonde hair, dressed in black boots resembling military-style attire, with camo pants and a short sleeved olive shirt covering the woman's upper body. A darker green coat sits on the back of her chair, emblazoned with an emblem that Zoey recognizes, but can't quite make out what it belongs to. To her side, a green brimmed hat much like Zoey's in shape sits on the woman's desk, also bearing the same emblem. The woman herself reveals her youthful, friendly face, appearing pretty slim and athletic as well, undoubtedly so if she's the one who rescued her.

"I'm ok, but what is this place?" questions Zoey about her changed environment.

The woman promptly responds, "This is the West Viridian Ranger Station. We found you, another girl with short black hair and glasses, and three Pokemon, two of which I presume belong to the two of you in that fire. Speaking of which, is the third Pokemon we spotted belonging to one of you as well?"

Vaporeon strolls up to the woman's hand, rubbing its head against it while purring happily as she rubs it. Meanwhile, Zoey reflects back on the wildfire they were pulled out from. They never learned what that Pokemon was. Not to mention, Gabby didn't get to find her Emolga and if she's here as well, they probably lost its trail. There's also the matter of Zoey's egg. Gabby said it was about ready to hatch, which could be at any moment. Still, the woman here seems nice, after all she did rescue her, so perhaps the egg having been hatched here wouldn't be an issue.

"No," answers Zoey. "We were trying to save it from the wildfire when we found it trapped."

"Oh, I see! Ranger wanna-bes, eh?" laughs the woman lightheartedly. "Interesting. Well, I'm glad you're alright!"

"What about Gabby?" inquires the curious Zoey. "Is she doing well? And what about the Pokemon?"

"Your friend is doing well," reassures the smiling woman. "She woke up earlier and ate but is resting again. The Pokemon are also doing well. Marill and Emolga are recovering in addition to the other girl's Bayleef, while I believe the Grovyle we recovered is with them as well, but that one has been a problem for us to treat. She doesn't seem to trust people."

"Yeah..." admits Zoey with embarrassment. "That one's mine. I'm not sure why she's like that, but I think she may have been harmed by people in the past. She won't even listen to me."

"I see. For what it's worth, Grovyle has been checking up on you now and then. It appears that you're making a positive impact on her," informs the woman, smiling over this fact.

"Wha... really?" confirms Zoey, dumbfounded by the woman's admission. "I'm not so sure. Maybe she's just impatient and wants me to get going since she knows she's pretty much tethered to me."

The woman chuckles in reaction, amused by the girl's alternative perspective. "You're quite the creative one!"

"Oh, ma'am!" requests Zoey in urgency. "Are you aware of an egg by chance? I had one in my bag when we were caught in the fire."

"Oh, yes! You mean that swablu egg?" verifies the woman.

Zoey nods while replying, "So it's a swablu egg? Gabby was right then..."

"Mmhmm!" the woman reciprocates Zoey's realization. "Where did you find it by chance?"

"Oh, well, we passed by this massive tree that appeared to be severely burned and cut up, and this egg was buried in a pile of leaves and twigs in what appeared to be its nest. The tree itself was pretty strange looking and appeared to have fallen victim to something not natural."

"You're probably right about that," the woman confirming Zoey's suspicion. "There have been poachers in the area as of late. It's the only possibility that seems likely. Mostly likely they're after the down of swablu and altaria."

"Down?" asks Zoey for more information.

"Yes," the woman states before continuing, "Altaria down in particular is incredibly valuable for its soft and durable quality that surpasses most other bird Pokemon. Licensed farmers may harvest down from flocks that they own, but it's a well regulated industry and the Pokemon in this region are off limits for capture by all except for those certified by the Pokemon League to capture Pokemon in the wild. The egg's old nest was probably home to an altaria mother who was raising her eggs in that tree. She probably got attacked by these poachers and was forced to abandon her nest with what eggs she could. The one you found probably got left behind."

"Why would they be after altaria down when they could just have their own farm?" probes Zoey, puzzled by the actions of these supposed poachers.

The woman smiles from the girl's inquisitive nature. "Altaria down is notoriously difficult to harvest without damaging the down or the Pokemon itself. Poachers make their money in this case by capturing swablu and altaria flocks and instead of extracting their down properly, they seriously injure or even kill the Pokemon to get their down."

"That's awful," Zoey states in disgust.

"It is, and we rangers have been trying to round them up but it's been troublesome. Many of them are armed with Pokemon of their own and are pretty strong trainers in their own right, unfortunately. It's appalling to think that they can even get Pokemon to follow along with their heinous acts against other Pokemon."

"Do you think poachers could've caught the egg's mother or the other eggs she might've had?" asks Zoey to uncover the information this ranger woman might know.

"We have no clue," affirms the ranger, causing Zoey to slump in loss which catches the woman's attention. "You aren't planning on returning that egg to its mother... are you?"

"Well... that and..., " admits Zoey, a little red in her cheeks from embarrassment before continuing, "Gabby and I were also trying to find an Emolga with an infection that she found in the forest. It was supposed to be moving west, but we got stuck with the wildfire as a roadblock."

"Oh! Well, you'll be happy to know the wild Pokemon we recovered along with you two and your Pokemon is most likely that same Emolga, as we found it had an infection when we inspected it post rescue."

"Really!?" Zoey verifies by asking, sighing in relief. "Gabby will be so relieved and happy."

"I suppose so!" the woman laughs in jubilant amusement. "You and your friend are quite brave, if a little bit reckless. Regarding the return of that egg though, we -might- be able to help you out. The egg's mother most likely fled to the west, which happens to be the area where poachers have been most active of late."

"That's awesome!" Zoey exclaims in relief. "Thank you!"

The woman merely smiles wide towards her, more than happy to assist goodhearted people. "It's not a problem at all! It may help us investigate our poacher problem further as well."

Footsteps pitter patter on the ground before the noise of a door opening squeaks throughout the room. Entering the ranger woman's larger cubicle is a drowsy looking Gabby, her hair unkempt from her nap and missing her glasses. Fortunately, she's at least dressed, wearing a turquoise tank top as opposed to her black shirt from earlier and a pair of longer white shorts, attire that frankly is far from fashionable for a young woman her age, not that she would know about those things. The glasses-less girl lurks around the corner, rubbing her eyes before gazing upon the ranger woman and her friend, still lying in the sofa since their arrival at the station.

"Oh! Oh! Oh Oh!" Gabby blurts out, substituting meaningful words that're escaping her with her trademark phrase. "Oh! Is that you Zoey!? Are you awake!?"

"Yeah, yeah," Zoey waves her off dismissively. "Go get your glasses. I think you forgot them."

"Oh! Heehee," she laughs awkwardly from embarrassment. "I totally forgot! Aww, gosh! Eheheh... so embarrassing! Alright, I'll be right back!"

Gabby nearly stumbles from her inhibiting vision but catches her posture, heading back through the way she came to find her glasses. Well, if she can find her glasses without being able to see that is. The ranger giggles from Gabby's peculiar behavior.

"You've got quite the energetic friend!"

"Yeah," Zoey agrees, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "She's pretty odd."

Her hand, gracing the back of her hair, causes Zoey to recognize something amiss. Zipping her head around, her hat is nowhere to be found. Neither is her bag with the egg for that matter. Where did they take her stuff?

"Uh, excuse me miss..." Zoey grabs the woman's attention, readying her question, "Do you happen to know where my hat is? Oh, and my bag too. I'm a bit concerned about the egg too. I'd like to check up on it."

"Of course!" the woman accepts her request, scooting herself off of her chair to stand up. "Actually, your hat and your bag are just around the corner where your friend was standing a moment ago. Just check under the desk behind there and you'll find her hat inside the bag. I can also take you to the incubator where we've been keeping the egg so you can take a look at it."

"Oh, thanks!" gratifies Zoey as she tosses aside her blanket, erecting herself before scurrying behind the corner.

There, underneath the desk she finds her pink bag. The girl squats down, reaching under to pull out her bag, lifting it up and placing it on the table. Scouring through her bag reveals the presence of her hat and a hair tie, putting up her long ponytail before slipping it underneath and through her hat, placing it firmly on her scalp. Zoey then throws her bag strap over her right shoulder, just as the sound of footsteps return with the now glasses wearing Gabby in tow. Michelle meanwhile calls out to Vapoeon, coaxing her to her lap before recalling the water-type before they prepare to leave.

"Oh, hi everyone! I'm back!" Gabby proclaims overt with joy.

"Nooooo kidding..." Zoey comments to herself sarcastically.

"Welcome back! We were just about to check up on the egg you two found. Care to join us?" invites the ranger woman while Zoey slips on her shoes.

"Oh, definitely!" accepts Gabby excitedly.

The group takes off towards the door on the opposite side of the room, opening it to reveal a long hallway with several doors, the hallway itself leading up to an open room where they find both the incubator and the girls' pokeballs. On the far table rests Emolga, fast asleep while across the table lies a computer desk with another employee keeping watch over the room while doing work on the computer beside him. Both Zoey and Gabby take the opportunity to scoop up their pokeballs with the permission of the ranger woman who grants it.

"Good morning, Michelle!" spins around the man, greeting everyone present. "Looks like the girls are doing well! Good!"

"'Morning to you as well!" replies the ranger woman, Michelle. "How's Emolga doing?"

"Just fine," he states confidently. "A bit more rest and we'll be ready to release it back into the wild!"

"What about its family!?" demands Gabby in concern. "You'll return it to its family, right?"

"Well, uh, of course we will!" the man stumbles for an answer, taken aback by the girl's adamant question. "Well, to the best of our ability, anyway. It'll be hard to find Emolga's true family, but we can at least return her to one of the Emolga colonies."

Gabby wouldn't have any of it. "No! You -HAVE- to return Emolga to her -PROPER- family! It's your duty as conservationists!"

"We're guests you know. We should be thankful they're even allowing us to stay here," Zoey reminds Gabby to herself, not willing to bother telling her due to her more sinister side, interested in the argument that's sure to commence.

"Gabby!" Michelle the ranger says in shock from the girl's words.

"Look, I understand how you feel but there's only so much we can do for a case like this. We have no other leads we can follow to return her home. If her having a home means so much to you, why don't you try to catch her after we set her free? You're a trainer, right?" states the man, irritation in his voice from being ordered around by a teenager.

Gabby pauses, wide eyed in fascination from something. It's as if she was just exposed to something new or foreign. The girl's face soon lights up, fireworks igniting within her cranium. She just had an epiphany.

"Of course!" Gabby utters in enlightenment, her reaction surprising everyone but Zoey who just smiles at the situation, rolling her eyes as if she saw this whole ordeal approach them from a mile away.

"Ok! It's settled then!" declares a conclusive Gabby, making an important decision for herself. "I will catch Emolga and thus offer her a new home! Hooooooray!!!"

"Oh brother. Associating with her is like a double-edged sword. I'm not sure how much more of this embarrassment I can take," Zoey contemplates her relationship with her new friend Gabby.

"You'll have to wait until we set her free, though," clarifies the man. "We need to be sure this creature is perfectly healthy before returning to the wild. After that, she's all yours if you can defeat her in battle."

"Oh, absolutely! Of course! No problem mister!" nods Gabby in agreement, more than happy to comply with the rules and regulations of fellow conservationists like herself.

"Uh," Zoey addresses the room as her eyes face the incubator and the egg inside. "Is the egg supposed to be pulsing like that?"

Sure enough, the eyes of the room fixate on the egg to bear witness to an interesting phenomenon. The sky blue emits a bright light before dimming, constantly fluctuating from its base color to the bright glow in a consistent pattern. Zoey approaches the incubator, getting a closer look at the foreign occurrence.

"Ah, the egg is about to hatch!" Michelle declares happily, leaning over the incubator to take a better look. "We better get ready for it to hatch! Jeremy, go get a towel and some milk for the baby!"

"Right away!" the man complies, lifting himself up from his seat before moving briskly towards another room, presumably where said supplies reside.

Michelle meanwhile reaches into the heated incubator, gloves protecting her hands from the heat as she brings the egg into her arms, still pulsating. Moments later, the man sets aside a table, placing all of the requested supplies off to the side before laying down the towel and motioning the others over to his position. The female ranger places the egg down on the soft surface while everyone huddles around the egg in anticipation, Zoey happening to be in the center of the group. The egg continues flickering for several moments until it suddenly ignites with light, brightening the whole room with its glow. Its silhouette begins shifting, widening its sides into bubbly curves with two stands poking out of the top. As the light fades away, the shape of the newly hatched Pokemon solidifies to reveal the light blue bird with cotton-like down wrapping around its body. Zoey has her pokedex at the ready to examine in, verifying its identity as the Cotton Bird Pokemon.

"It's eyes are shut!" proclaims the man among them, taking a close look at the newborn swablu.

Zoey takes note of this, asking, "Is that unusual? It almost looks like it's asleep..."

Trepidation ekes its way into the room, present in all of the faces examining the immobile swablu with Zoey as the exception, placing a more curious eye on the bird over concern. It does seem a little odd, since you'd expect a newborn Pokemon, much like human babies to be full of life once they come into the world. This one, however, appears primarily locked in place without a peep.

"This isn't good!" the man exclaims, standing himself up. "This swablu's in a coma! We need to call in our medical corps immediately!"

"A coma?" Zoey asks aloud as the man rushes to the phone. "What's that?"

"You don't know what a coma is?" scoffs Gabby towards her friend's ignorance, taking the stage to enlighten her clueless friend before Michelle has an opportunity to clarify. "A coma, better known as a comatose state, is when a living creature is trapped in an unconscious state for an undetermined or indefinite period of time."

"Okay, well, how do you fix it?" Zoey asks with a bit of an attitude, irritated by Gabby's know-it-all behavior.

Gabby sighs impatiently, clarifying, "You don't really. Most of the time all anyone can do is make sure the person or creature stays alive during a coma."

"Sooo... we just wait and hope it'll wake up eventually?" Zoey probes, shrugging her eyebrows. "So we're stuck waiting for the bird to come to its senses then? Sounds like a fantastic plan!"

Zoey's blunt sarcasm doesn't come off well in Gabby's court, glaring at the girl for being insensitive. How is that new for Zoey though? She's used to offending people and Pokemon alike, and the cold, rude stare? It typically becomes more material for her antics. Perhaps its one of the reasons why Zoey struggles with friendship, but in her mind, there's a time and place for compassion, and right now just isn't it. Apparently, Zoey's not the only living thing in the room with that in mind.

Lying in its makeshift bed, Emolga slowly comes to, all while the three women are huddling around the desk with the hatched swablu and the man who was with them rings up some sort of ranger medical team to examine the blue bird. The Sky Squirrel Pokemon shrieks loudly, catching sight of its persistent hunter Gabby, and takes off in flight, discharging electricity in every which direction.

"Emolga! You're awake!" Gabby hollers happily, her mind easily diverting as has become typical of her. "Oh, and Thundershocking too!"

The three women rush to action, Michelle trying to reach up to catch Emolga with her hands after slipping on a pair of rubber gauntlets. Gabby meanwhile tosses out one of her pokeballs to release Leyvee, standing at the ready to block Emolga. Zoey, however, lets her impish nature take the helm, watching the chaos unfold as she stands back to observe with amusement.

"Hello, Medical Corps!? We have a case here of a newly hatched swablu in a co- Oh ****!!!" explodes Jeremy over the phone accidentally, bearing witness to the battle unfolding in the office room. "No no no NO NO!!!! Don't battle in the office!!! NOOO!!!"

"Leyvee!" informs Gabby, ready to direct her Pokemon. "Use Razor Leaf! Keep Emolga away from the exits for Michelle!"

"Ba-bayleef!" complies Leyvee as a stream of revolving, bladed leaves fly forth towards one of the exit doors.

Emolga keeps firing Thundershocks in every which direction, disrupting and power shorting various electrical devices in the vicinity. One of these Thundershocks targets the helpless swablu chick, blasting it with a current of electricity that fries the Pokemon's flesh.

"Uh..." utters Zoey after watching the bird getting fried by the anxious Emolga. "I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing..."

"Eh!! Emoo!!" shirieks Emolga, dodging the Razor Leaf before flying towards Leyvee in a rushing Quick Attack.

"Growl at it Leyvee!" Gabby orders, the bayleef stepping forward to intimidate the incoming Emolga.

Too late. Emolga's airborne body crashes into Leyvee, sending her back a few steps in recoil. Worse yet, the attack acts as a diversion. Emolga takes off through the office, spotting a window ro the outside which it concocts a plan. In another mad blitz, Emolga hurdles its body towards the glass windows, Quick Attacking to shatter the glass, breaching the outdoors.

"Gyahh!" Gabby gushes over the emolga despite the havoc it unleashed on the office. "Soooo strong!!!"

"Come on, Leyvee! We have to catch up to Emolga!" cheers on Gabby with Leyvee following her trainer close behind as they rush for the station's exit, ready to go after the fleeing emolga.

"Quick, Zoey!" Michelle states in urgency as she begins to follow Gabby and the runaway Pokemon. "Wrap up swablu in that towel and take it with you, then follow us outside! Use a potion to heal swablu's wounds if you have any!"

Zoey nods, watching Michelle bolt out the door as she pulls swablu aside, wrapping it up comfortably in the towel. She then swings her pink sack over her shoulder, crading the egg in her right arm as her left digs inside her bag where she deposits Vuowth's pokeball in exchange for a potion. The girl takes off in a hurry, behind Gabby and Michelle in order to catch up with them.

"Dammit Michelle! We need doctors to look over that swablu! You can't just take off with it!" screams Jeremy, huddled under a desk to avoid Emolga's earlier attacks like a coward before watching the women hastily depart the station. "DOCTORS!! IT NEEDS DOCTORS!!"



"Leyvee, use Razor Leaf!" Gabby commands as they catch sight of Emolga fleeing into the woods.

Bladed leaves fly forth from Leyvee's leafy mane, firing like a machine gun at the squirrel. The leaves bombard an unguarded emolga, sending it towards the ground. However, the squeaking Emolga rights herself, catching wind and taking off with a fierce Quick Attack towards Leyvee. The squirrel's small white body slams into the bayleef with such force that it topples the Leaf Pokemon, falling to her side in reaction. Emolga takes off, arcing around her stumbling opponent with her cheeks shooting off electrical currents in preparation.

"Get up Leyvee!" pleads Gabby while her eyes trail the flying rodent. "Let's stop her with Poisonpowder!"

"Baaay!!" rallies Leyvee, finding her feet just as Emolga sends off a Thundershock, making its mark on the bayleef who closes her eyes as she takes the hit.

Not good enough. The attack fails to do much against the grass-type Leyvee, who takes little damage from electrical attacks. Layvee merely shakes off the static electricty. furrows her mane, and puffs out clouds of purple powder, sending a gust of Poisonpowder after Emolga. The powder, however, narrowly misses the squirrel, using trees and bushes to block the attack before speeding midair towards Leyvee who stands at the ready.

"Here's our chance! Use your Tackle to ground her!" Gabby roars in confidence.

The rest of the crew arrive to witness the battle. Michelle comes first, stopping a few meters shy of Gabby who has caught up with the spunky emolga. Zoey finds her way to the girls shortly thereafter, taking care as to not bump the swablu too much as she carries the ill Pokemon in her arms. The women look ahead of them, watching the battle unfold as Gabby's Leyvee combats the wild emolga.

"You caught up to her, huh? Great work!" compliments Michelle, smiling upon the young trainer before her.

"Oh, thank you miss! I have this one in the bag I think!" Gabby reassures her, returning her glance to the battlefield, smiling gleefully at the prospects of catching a new member of her Pokemon family.

"And how is swablu doing?" Michelle turns around to address the noise of feet stomping on grass, Zoey in tow with the swablu wrapped up in her arms.

"Nothing yet, but I gave it a spray of potion like you asked," answers Zoey whose eyes are fixed instead on the unconscious swablu.

"Great!" Michelle beams in relief, returning her eyes to Gabby's battle.

Leyvee and Emolga clash, but with different results. Leyvee's hulkiing body rushes into a Quick Attacking emolga, sending the squirrel back in a daze before colliding with the trunk of a tree.

"Now, Leyvee!" Gabby proclaims, readying her next request. "Let us use Razor Leaf before Emolga recovers! Go!"

"BaaaaayLEEEF!!" roars Leyvee enthusiastically, propelling razor-edged leaves at the still recoiling emolga.

One by one, the leaves bear down on the defenseless squirrel, whittling her health down to the point of near collapse. Gabby reaches into her pocket to pull out an empty pokeball, racing up to the scene of battle to prepare her catch.

"Leyvee, return!" Gabby calls out, withdrawing the bayleef into the pokeball in her left hand, quickly depositing it in her pockets before tossing her empty pokeball, aiming straight for Emolga. "Capture the emolga, pokeball! Gooo!"

The pokeball speeds through the air, landing on the struggling squirrel's forehead before sucking her into the pokeball to face her fate. The ball falls to the ground, rolling off into an open area on the forest floor where it rattles for several seconds. Gabby's hands are clenched tightly together, holding them up to her lips, wide-eyed with anxiety. Everyone turns their focus to the trembling pokeball, shaking back and forth as Emolga struggles to avoid capture. Nevertheless, Emolga gives in to her exhaustion, finding herself now under the dominion of the girl who captures her. The ball slows to a stop, blinking a light on its surface to indicate a successful capture.

"I-I caught it!" Gabby leaps into the air full of bliss, racing towards the pokeball with excitement. "I caught emolga! HOORAAY!!!"

Gabby squats down to pick up her new partner's pokeball, glancing over it while she rubs the dirt off of its surface, smiling in happiness like a little girl with a cone of her favorite ice cream.

"Yaaay! I'm so happy to have you join our team, Shockpox! Welcome to the family!" she proclaims, naming the caught emolga as Shockpox while she rubs the pokeball cheerfully against her cheek.

"Congratulations Gabby! Expertly done!" cheers on Michelle, who waves at a happy Gabby with a big, proud smile.

Zoey meanwhile focuses on the newborn swablu in her arms as she witnesses a surprising sight. The bird's eyes slowly begin to open, but its body still appears pale with debilitating illness. The girl rubs the feathers atop the creature's head softly, smiling slightly as the bird shifts its head around, looking up at the human looking over it. The swablu's gaze fixes on Zoey, who merely stares back at the bird with curiosity. Swablu makes an effort to chirp, but its voice comes out extremely hoarse, barely audible to anyone, even Zoey. The teen nonetheless continues to comfort the chick, rubbing its head softly while smiling at the poor bird.

"Is it awake?" asks Michelle who approaches Zoey, spying down to her arms to watch the swablu squirm slightly, conscious but still extremely weak.

"This is no good..." remarks Michelle, rubbing the blue creature's forehead which causes its eyes to shut as it appears to be in pain. "This could be serious. I hope Jeremy has some people ready to treat the poor thing."

"Oh, what's wrong?" an excited Gabby suddenly becomes more serious as she joins the crowd to examine the swablu.

"Swablu woke up, but it appears to be in pain and its voice sounds really rough," Zoey clarifies to Gabby, who whimpers in sympathy.

The group's contemplation is broken up by the sound of a ringtone, buzzing in Michelle's direction. The woman reaches into her side pocket, withdrawing a small cellular phone.

"It's Ryan..." states Michelle, glancing over her phone's screen. "Excuse me girls. This might be important."

"Oh, no problem!" Gabby affirms, redirecting back to the swablu, rubbing the top of its head to comfort it.

Meanwhile, Michelle responds to her call, bringing the phone up to her ear to begin conversation. The mood grows dark as the woman's tone drops, reflecting the acquisition of bad news. Michelle continues to converse with this man she called Ryan, talking about "they" and "where" and "what" at "what time" and "how soon". Before long, the call ends, Michelle depositing the phone back in her pocket before addressing the girls around her. A somber look rests on her face, foretelling grim news that's about to come.

"Ryan found the poachers. I need to join him and go after them!" Michelle tells the girls who're keeping an eye on swablu.

"Jeremy won't like this but I'd like you girls to come with me. Take swablu along with us too. I have an idea, and the medics wont be here for awhile. We don't have much time, so get packed and ready. I'll pull up to the side of the station in my jeep where I want you two to wait for me and then hop in as quickly as you can. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" both girls answer in unison, ready to spring into action.

"Good! Let's rescue Swablu's mother!" proclaims Michelle before rushing back towards the station.

"Hear that?" Zoey asks the ill swablu, trying to chirp at her but nothing comes out. "We're going to return you to your mother!"

Finally, they will be able to fix the wrongs that have been done. The destruction of the great tree and the swablu family that lived there, Swablu's abandonment, the fire caused by the poachers in order to trap and capture helpless Pokemon, all of these things come to the forefront of memory. Zoey and Gabby will be able to confront the criminals responsible for these atrocities. Both Shockpox's and Swablu's perils will be avenged. Justice will be done.




 

RedWing

Pokemon Capture Specialist
146
Posts
11
Years
chapter 2; Strengthening the Bonds That Tie: A Bugging Brawl! Part V
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Katherine Aldine // Viridian Forest, North-Western Forest Interior
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[FONT=&quot]The following morning greets Katt's party with the chirping of Swablu and the warm glimmer of sunshine through the canopy of the forest. Katt blinks and smiles sleepily as she wakes up. Shifting in her sleeping bag, Katt notices that Lily, [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Phoenix[/FONT][FONT=&quot], and Sparky are all still sound asleep. Carefully, the young Trainer wiggles out of her sleeping bag and rolls it up to replace in her knapsack. The forest seems to be utterly at peace, just barely waking to greet the new day.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Taking in a deep breath of the fresh air, Katt smiles, a bit more awake than before. This is the first time she has ever spent the night away from home. And, to top it off, she's done so in the once foreboding [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Viridian[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Forest[/FONT][FONT=&quot]! It's all so thrilling and Katt can't help but rise to her feet and do a little spin of excitement. Giggling, the teen stops her spinning and decides to forage for some fresh berries before cooking breakfast.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Letting her Pokemon get some more rest, Katt wanders off on a small dirt path leading away from the clearing she spent the night in. She marvels wordlessly at the natural beauty of the forest: the emerald hues of the leaves and grass, the imposing height of the trees, the vibrant bursts of color that bloom from the growing flowers. Katt can't seem to bring herself to speak, afraid to disturb the tranquility of the morning.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] "Swab!" Startled, Katt turns to see a wild Swablu flying overhead, a branch in its talons. The azure-colored bird most be foraging for its own breakfast, Katt muses. The cotton-winged Pokemon flies off to the east, away from Katt and she finds herself alone on the beaten path once more.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Just a little while later, Katt finds a few ripe [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Oran[/FONT][FONT=&quot] and Cheri Berries growing on some bushes. "There we go," she says happily, kneeling to pick the plump fruits. After collecting a fair amount for her Pokemon and herself, Katt gets up to return to her campsite. It is as she's turning to leave that Katt spies a large and delicious looking Watmel [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Berry[/FONT][FONT=&quot] growing on a bush atop a small hill just a few feet away from the dirt path. Her hunger getting the better of her, Katt places her freshly-picked berries in her bag and carefully maneuvers her way through the bushes to reach the succulent berry.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] However, just as she's about to pick the Watmel, a piercing scream fills the peaceful morning air![/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] "HEY! THAT'S MY WATMEL [/FONT][FONT=&quot]BERRY[/FONT][FONT=&quot], THIEF!"[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Katt screams, "WAHH?!" and fumbles backwards, tumbling foot over head down the hill and into a tree! "Ow..." Katt rises to her feet while rubbing a tender spot from where her head made contact with the tough bark. Looking around, Katt can't seem to locate the owner of the voice that nearly gave her a heart attack, luckily.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Unluckily for Katt, he materializes through the bushes a moment later. He's a rather small boy, probably no older than 13, with fair skin, a mess of blonde hair hidden beneath a baseball cap, a 03 Electabuzz [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Jersey[/FONT][FONT=&quot], and a pair of black cargo shorts with matching yellow-and-black shoes. He scowls at Katt, "THIEF! Why were you trying to steal my fruit?!"[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Katt looks genuinely surprised at the boy and insists, "I wasn't stealing! I had no idea the fruit had an owner...I'm sorry."[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] The boy just huffs, "Not good enough! Trying to steal from the most powerful Trainer in the [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Viridian[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Forest[/FONT][FONT=&quot] is a Class A Felony, punishable by having your Trainer's License taken from you!"[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Katt didn't know whether to laugh aloud or be genuinely scared, "Um, I'm sorry, again? Look, had I known the Watmel was planted by someone else, then I never would have attempted to take it."[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] The boy's scowl only deepened as Katt spoke, "WHAT KIND OF AN IDIOT THINKS A WATMEL BERRY WOULD GROW IN A FOREST?!" He snaps! "It's a TROPICAL [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Berry[/FONT][FONT=&quot]! To grow one so far inland takes months of cultivating and nurturing, and here you are trying to pluck it?!"[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Katt waves her hands in dismay, "I said I wasn't trying to steal it! I didn't know!"[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] "Fine!" The boy frowns, "If you're telling the truth, than you should have no problem beating me in a Pokemon Battle!"[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] "Huh?" Katt was dumbfounded by this point. Who was this kid?![/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] "You heard me!" The boy points at himself and declares, "I'm Alto Baya, and I'm going to defeat you, thief! And, when I do, you're going to be dragged away by the authorities!"[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Katt sighed, "Fine, fine, we'll battle. But, can it wait a bit? I have breakfast to cook for my Pokemon and myself."[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] "No!" Alto stamps his foot for emphasis, "We battle now!"[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] -GROWL-[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Katt giggles and Alto's face turns a mean shade of scarlet. "Not hungry, huh?" Katt teases.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] "Fine, you can make yourself breakfast...but I want a share, too!" Alto shouts.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] "Mmm! You make really good eggs, Ms. Katt!" Alto praises as he scarfs down another heloign of Katt's freshly prepared eggs. By the time Katt returned to the clearing with Alto, [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Phoenix[/FONT][FONT=&quot] and the others had already picked up and gotten Katt's supplies ready to cook for her. Now, the Pokemon, Alto, and Katt enjoy a nice breakfast of eggs and berries.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Phoenix[/FONT][FONT=&quot] clucks in agreement with Alto, "Comb!"[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Sparky and Lily simply nod, entirely focused on their meals. [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Katt smiles, "Well, thank you, Alto. I'm glad you like it!"[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] A few minutes later, the two Trainers and Katt's Pokemon finish eating and Katt has all of her supplies tucked away, ready for traveling. Now, from two sides of the clearing, Katt and Alto stare each other down.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] "Prepared to lose?" Alto mocks. He smiles, revealing a missing front tooth, giving the boy an even more childish appearance.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot] Katt just chuckles, "Not on your best day! Send out your first Pokemon!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Alto glares, "Go! Beedrill!" Throwing his PokeBall skyward, the youngster releases a menacing hornet Pokemon! The Beedrill appears to be very well trained.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Katt smirks, "Sending out your best first? Go! Sparky!" The Emolga lets out a cry and glides onto the battlefield.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"No! Beedrill's just my opening act, you'll see," Alto answers. "Beedrill! Use Twin Needle!" The Beedrill zooms in towards Sparky with its spikes bared![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Sparky! Dodge to the left and clip that bug's wings with Thundershock!" Katt commands.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Sparky obeys and dodges to the left, only to be caught by Beedrill's stinger![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"What?! But how?" Katt asks, astonished.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Alto laughs from across the field, "Hah! Beedrill's body is capable of turning on point at a moment's notice! The second Emolga veered to the left, Beedrill was already in the process of turning so that your Pokemon would still be caught by my Bug-type's stinger!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Sparky falls to the floor, "Emo!" He rises shakily to his feet. "Emo!" Sparky jumps into the air to take flight![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Alright, Sparky, let's try this again, Thundershock!" Katt orders, concerned as to whether or not her Pokemon was poisoned when it made contact with Beedrill's stinger.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Double Team, Beedrill!" The agile Bug begins to create duplicates of itself, surrounding Sparky and leaving the Emolga confused! Sparky, unsure of which target to hit, releases his Thundershock only to hit a copy![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Don't let his techniques scare you, Sparky," Katt assures her Pokemon, "Just focus! The original is more obvious than the duplicates!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Sparky nods and turns to look at each of the Beedrill surrounding it, but before it can determine the original; the clones begin to move sideways![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"If you really think I'm going to let you pick out the real Beedrill that easily, then you're mistaken! Beedrill, Poison Sting!" Alto commands confidently.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Quick, fly up!" Katt shouts desperately. Emolga shoots skyward, barely evading a barrage of purple, poisonous spines! Luckily, since the Poison Stings missed their targets, they ended up hitting the Beedrills on the opposite sides![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"No!" Alto yells in desperation as the Double Team clones fade and the real Beedrill is revealed![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Quick! Thundershock, now!" Katt commands. Sparky releases the electrical attack, hitting Beedrill! The Bug Pokemon falls to the floor, smoke rising from its charred form![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Beedrill, get up!" Alto orders. Struggling, the Pokemon rises to its feet, showing obvious signs that it is close to fainting. "Tsh, return," Alto presses the release switch on Beedrill's PokeBall and the injured Pokemon returns to its confines. "I'm not about to let my Pokemon faint. Next up," Alto retrieves another PokeBall, "Go! Scyther!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Throwing the PokeBall, Alto sends forth a Bug-type that almost causes Katt to worry for Sparky's safety. The mantis Pokemon bares its formidable scythes and releases a cry, "Scyther!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Oh boy, this is going to be tough…" Katt mutters, "Sparky! Are you able to continue?"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Sparky just shoots Katt a look, "Emo!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Alright, then let's begin! Sparky, use Thundershock!" The Emolga releases a second thunder attack and hits Scyther dead-on! But, it doesn't appear to do much damage![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"What's going on?" Katt mumbles.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Hahahah! I've trained Scyther to withstand its normally crippling weakness to Electric-type moves! You'll have to come at us with something different if you plan on taking Scyther down!" Alto boasts. "Scyther, use Vacuum Wave!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Scyth!" The Scyther begins to rub its scythes together and a vortex of friction begins to form! Sparky, against his will, is pulled towards the swirling mass of wind and frictional energy![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Sparky! Try to fly away!" Desperately, the small Pokemon tries to fly away from the vortex, but it can't seem to do so![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Vacuum Wave," Alto explains, "is a Fighting-type skill that allows the user to create a vortex by rubbing its muscles together in a certain pattern. This vortex draws the target in, and, when they're inside the event horizon, the user of Vacuum Wave stops creating the vortex, releasing it in a devastating wave that hits the target brutally!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Katt gulps, "That's not good! Sparky! Use Thundershock! Get Scyther to stop the Vacuum Wave!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Emo! Emo!" Sparky releases another Thundershock, but the move does little damage to Scyther and fails to halt the Vacuum Wave![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Now!" Alto signals! Scyther stops the Vacuum Wave, releasing the pent-up energy directly at Emolga and sending the poor Pokemon flying![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Sparky!" Katt runs out to catch her injured Pokemon. "Are you okay?"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Emo…Emo…" Sparky tries stubbornly to get up, but falls back into Katt's arms. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"You're too weak, buddy, please," she pulls out Sparky's PokeBall, "you need to rest. You did excellently." She touches the orb to Sparky's head and the Emolga retreats into its PokeBall.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Alto smiles smugly, "Guess it's 1-for-1. Send out your next Pokemon!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Katt glares at the boy, "You're going to pay for doing that to my poor Sparky. Lily! You're on!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Lilligant comes onto the field, angry at her partner's defeat, "Lily!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Alto mocks Katt, "Hahahahah! Are you mental? Don't you know that Bugs have a significant type-advantage over Grass-types?"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"You're the one who's mental if you think a type advantage will win you the battle," Katt replies coolly. "Lily! Use Leech Seed!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Lily swirls and releases the Leech Seed towards Scyther![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Scyther, use Vacuum Wave again!" The Scyther does so silently, drawing the Leech Seed and Lilligant towards its center, destroying the seed in the process![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Katt giggles, "Perfect. Lily, Sleep Powder!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"What?! Scyther! Cancel the attack!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]But, it's too late! Lily releases the sleeping powder, which is immediately drawn into the vortex, and inhaled by Scyther! Slowly, the vortex ceases and Scyther crumples to the floor, asleep![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Okay, Lily, use Leech Seed!" Lily slings another seed which attaches itself to Scyther's back and sprouts its vines![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Scyther! Wake up!" Alto screams! However, Scyther is sound asleep as the Leech Seed drains its energy![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Okay, Lily, finish this off," Katt says, "Absorb!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Lilli!" Lily releases the Absorb attack, draining Scyther's energy further![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"That's it! Scyther, return!" Alto throws Scyther's PokeBall, replacing the sleeping Bug in its sphere. The PokeBall automatically returns to Alto's palm. "Okay, that was clever. But, that trick won't work on my last Pokemon!" Alto throws out his last Pokemon: Form the PokeBall, the red light spills out and forms into a menacing Bug Pokemon with an impossibly long horn![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The blue beetle just stares down Katt and Lily, "Heracross!" [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Heracross here was once the menace of Viridian Forest," Alto gloats, "I caught him and now he's my prize fighter! No one's beaten Heracross yet, even Pewter City's Brock couldn't handle him!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]That causes Katt's blood to run cold, Brock?! You mean this kid beat a Gym Leader?! She gulps and takes a deep breath, "Be that as it may, you're not going to win this battle…because I believe in my Pokemon!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Lily and Phoenix look at their Trainer and both nod solemnly.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Tsh, whatever," Alto says, "Heracross! Finish this in one move! Use Fury Attack!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Hera!" The large Bug-type charges at Lily, its horn poised to attack![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Lily! Dodge it and use Sleep Powder!" Lilligant sidesteps Heracross's initial charge and releases a cloud of Sleep Powder![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Use your horn to dissolve it!" Alto orders. Heracross swings its horn in a cross-shape, dissipating the sleeping powder before it can be inhaled! "Now, Night Slash!" Heracross cuts down Lily with a horn shrouded in darkness![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Lil!" Lilligant falls to the floor and struggles to regain her footing![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Don't give up, Lily," Katt shouts, "Get up and use Sleep Powder again, but this time, spin away!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Lily nods and jumps into the air, performing an aerial pirouette as it moves away from Heracross and releases a second cloud of sleeping powder![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Tsh, again? Heracross, Cross-maneuver!" Heracross repeats its previous evasive tactic to avoid the sleeping powder, but this time, the cloud proves too large to be properly dissipated! Heracross inhales the powder and crumples to the floor, asleep![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Not again! Heracross, wake up!" Alto shouts. However, the beetle simply remains asleep.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Lily, use Growth! Keep using it until Heracross wakes up!" Katt orders.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Lil!" Lily points its leafy arms skyward and begins to take in the sun's energy, raising its offensive capabilities![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Heracross! Wake up! If it gets the chance to maximize its offenses, we might lose!" Alto barks. Heracross doesn't notice though, and continues to snooze.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Alright, Lily," Katt said confidently, use Absorb![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Lily turns her attention from the sun and focuses on Heracross, "Lilligant!" Unleashing an enormous amount of power, the Absorb attack strikes the prostrate Bug-type and saps a huge amount of its energy![/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Heracross!" Its Trainer's cry causes the Heracross to finally awaken, only to find itself severely weakened! "That was…a dirty trick!" Alto shouts at Katt.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Dirty? No, I'm playing fair-and-square. Don't get upset that I'm just a challenge for you," Katt chides.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"A challenge?! We'll see," Alto says, "Heracross, use Horn Attack!" The drained Heracross attempts to lunge at Lilligant, but stumbles and falls forward.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Hera…" The large beetle Pokemon lets out a weak cry, signaling its defeat.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Looks like I'm the victor, this time," Katt says. Lily returns to her Trainer's side and Katt pats Lily's head, "You did marvelously, Lily."[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Agh! This is unbelievable!" Alto returns his Heracross to its PokeBall and stomps towards Katt, "I don't care if you beat me; I'm still reporting you to the police for attempted theft of private property!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]At that, Katt becomes annoyed. "Listen here," she begins, "I beat you in a three-on-three match entirely without tricks. If you have a problem with that, then too bad!" Katt turns and walks off in a huff, Phoenix and Lily following close behind.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Hey!" Alto calls, "You can't just leave! I'm placing you under citizen's arrest!"[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"Tell it to someone who cares," Katt calls back. Leaving the boy behind, Katt and her Pokemon make their way towards the exit of Viridian Forest. Depsite her opponent's obnoxious attitude, Katt is utterly thrilled to have bested someone who beat a Gym Leader! She felt bad about Sparky's injuries though and knew she had to get to a Pokemon Center right away.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]"We'll get you healed up ASAP, Sparky, I promise," Katt tells her Emolga tenderly. To strength the bonds that tie, is not always a painless endeavor. [/FONT]
 

Xlugon Pyro

Dragon Tamer
308
Posts
16
Years
2-4; VELVET LIGHTS
Zoey Wyrmoki / / Viridian Forest
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The jeep jumps and rumbles, shaking about wildly with the unevenness of the terrain. Michelle sits at the wheel, her ranger hat and coat covering her head and body, flooring the vehicle to catch up with the poachers in action. The bumpy ride causes Gabby and Zoey in the backseat to routinely collide with eachother, making it all the harder for Zoey to feed the ailing swablu a bottle of nutritious milk formula Michelle gave her before they took off in the jeep. Swablu coughs up much of the stuff, unable to drink it down smoothly due to them traversing turbulent terrain.

"D-dammit!" swears Zoey in frustration. "I can't get it to drink the formula! The jeep is too unstable!"

"Do your best!" Michelle responds in confidence, steering the vehicle around many sharp turns, nearly colliding with trees and rocks along the way.

"I- not sure if I ca-a-a-n get Swablu to drink while we're on this ro-o-o-o-ad!" stutters Zoey, holding onto the towel wrapped swablu and Michelle's seat as their ride suddenly becomes more rocky.

"Look!" Gabby points in shock. "I saw a flash up in that direction! It looked like lightning!"

"Did you now?" Michelle inquires, following the path of the girl's finger to the spot, a high altitude forest valley not too far from their present position. "I see. That must be where they're at. Swablu and altaria flocks have been migrating up in that direction as of late, no doubt due to the poachers' ruthless tactics. Hold on tight girls!"

The jeep accelerates to top speed, jetting through the forest at ridiculous speeds. Both girls hold on for their lives, Zoey being sure to keep swablu as comfortable as possible to better endure the chaotic off roading experience. Before long, the women begin to head uphill, slowing the vehicle down but only making the trip there far more turbulent. In no time, Michelle speeds her ranger jeep into the foothills, finding a dirt road to burn rubber on as they hastily approach the scene of the poachers' crimes. No sooner than they arrive, trouble immediately jumps them. A spiked, large creature erupts from the earth, landing on the hood of the jeep as Michelle slams on her brakes immediately, jerking the girls in the backseat forward to slam their heads against the front seat, delirious from the momentum shift. The beast, upon landing on the hood jabs its massive claw into the vehicle's engine, ripping it out and tossing it into the nearby woods where it explodes, igniting several trees in the process.

"SA-AH-AH-AH-AH-ANDSHLASH!" the creature bellows, apparently laughing in victory as it looks over the scene unfolding before it, expecting a confrontation eagerly.

"Quick! Get out of the vehicle before it ignites!" warns Michelle as she falls out of her seat in pain, slamming her elbow against the hard, rocky surface of the road.

Zoey and Gabby, suffering less severe injuries, leaping out of the vehicle as it begins to go up in flames.

"Miss!" screams Gabby, realizing that their escort is wincing and moaning in pure agony, unable to move from the ground where she's too close to the vehicle to make it out alive.

Reacting quickly, Gabby tosses her pokeball, releasing a galloping Leyvee before giving her orders, "Leyvee! Save Michelle before the jeep blows!"

The bayleef jumps into action, nudging its head hastily under the injured Michelle, tossing her, not without loud screams of pain, onto the creature's back before the jeep explodes, setting off a terrible show of raging flames. Leyvee rushes back to her trainer, pulling off to her side where Gabby reaches for Michelle, still flinching in pain.

"How bad are you hurt?" Gabby asks, resting the woman on the ground with her back kept upright due to Leyvee's side acting as a pillow.

"I- oww... think I broke my left arm..." Michelle speculates to the girls, reaching into her right pocket with her good arm, pulling out a pokeball.

"Oh, that's terrible! What're we going to do!?" Gabby freaks in reaction.

"I will call up Ryan and tell him we've been stalled. In the meantime..." Michelle informs, pressing the release mechanism on her pokeball to cast forth her vaporeon.

"Vaporeon!" she calls upon her water-type, who rushes up to her trainer in concern after seeing her dear trainer in severe pain. "I need you to use Hydro Pump and stop that fire in the woods before it spreads! Then help us take on Sandslash over there."

"Vapor!" salutes the water-type, rushing off to the woods to take care of the spreading fire.

"Now, to grab my phone," Michelle states, reaching into her pocket in order to warn her partner of their delay.

"It's no good, I'm afraid!" boasts a man's voice, sliding down the side of the hill. "You see, we've captured the fool after he tried to disrupt our work. We can't just let some stranger waltz in on us and disrupt our hard fought labor! You see, our clients pay big bucks for us to deliver them the prizes that which they seek. You won't be getting in our way!"

The man appearing before them is tall and stocky, mid-length brown hair with a full, short-haired beard wrapping around his face. Upon his feet are camo hunting boots, suited up with baggy jeans over his legs and a flannel shirt with rolled up sleeves, appearing much like a stereotypical lumberjack. The sandslash that attacked appears before him, facing their new opponents, two teenage girls that look to be nothing more than amateur upstarts. Easy prey for a veteran poacher to toss aside.

"D-dammit! You scum of the earth! What makes you think you'll get away with this!?" yells the suffering Michelle, scowling towards the man in anger.

"Well, you don't look like you can do anything, and neither can your boyfriend we have under lock!" states the man in laughter. "Looks like you brought your cheerleading squad with you. Cute!"

"Girls!" Michelle utters, her tone weakening due to the pain. "I'm sorry to ask so much of you two but I need you to head up the hill and find the other poacher and their van. They have Ryan too, so please try to free him. In the meantime I'll call for back-up and I'll try to keep this guy busy while you two catch up to the other poachers."

"Right, okay!" agrees Gabby, Zoey nodding as well, both with determined gestures as they turn to face the tall man standing before them.

"Ol' Sanderson! Let's cut these children down to size! Gut 'em with Crush Claw!" bellows the bulky man eagerly, with the spiky rodent rushing to the scene of battle.

"SCIZZZOR!!!" buzzes a fierce beast, appearing in the blink of an eye in front of the girls to block the oncoming attack with its steel claws, utilizing its Iron Defense.

"Good, Scizor! Follow up with Night Slash!" Michelle orders the red bug that she had summoned in place of reaching for her phone, appearing out of nowhere to come to her defense.

"Not completely defenseless, eh?" chuckles the confident poacher, impressed by the woman's quick reaction. "Alright! Dig 'm up!"

"Sha! Saandhlash!" Sanderson the Sandslash growls, sidestepping the quick ebony blade before scooping its claws into the tough soil.

The girls decide to make their run for it, rushing off to the man's right to speed up the hill. Leyvee leaves with them, leaving Michelle to sit herself up as she tries to save herself using her Pokemon. However, their escape is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Sanderson, popping up out of the ground explosively, aiming its sword-like claws for the girls' necks. The swablu tries to squawk in fear, but remains inaudible, panicking in Zoey's arms as she tries to hold it firm. Both girls, carried by momentum, find themselves unable to stop as the sandslash's claws prepare to behead the defenseless ladies.

"What!?" Michelle exclaims in shock. "No! Scizor, go after them! Pursuit!"

"BaaaaayLEEEEEEEF!!!" Leyvee growls in anger, Tackling Sanderson away to the side with all of her might before changing course to defend her trainer and her friend's rears.

"What!? Stupid girls! Stay out of our way!" the man stomps in anger. "Sanderson, it's time for Rollout!"

Sanderson responds in kind, leaping up into the air before curling itself into a ball and setting itself into motion.

"X-scissor!"

"Gah! What the -HELL-!?" howls the poacher in anger. "You've got to be -KIDDING- me! Get the hell up now Sanderson! Inexcusable! Don't let them scamper away!"

Sanderson goes flying, its Rollout interrupted by an intercepting scizor.

"You're not going to lay a finger OR claw on them!" assures Michelle, using her scizor to block the path of verbally abused Sanderson.

"Saaaaaaah!" growls Sanderson in the direction of scizor who merely glances coolly back towards the poor sandslash, sweat pouring from its brow from his owner's rage.

"Dumb stinkin' broad! Dammit Sanderson, use Magnitude!" hisses the poacher in rage, losing the battle of containment.

"Retaliate with Metal Claw!"​

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the girls and Leyvee scurry into the wooded foothills, away from the scene of battle as they pursue the other poachers deeper in the mountains. Scrounging through the hilly thickets in haste, the girls try to keep their fast pace alive. It's up to the pair of brave teens to tackle the poaching threat and rescue the other ranger and the captured Pokemon from harm. Somehow, they'll need to muster up the strength to stall powerful adversaries until the authorities arrive to arrest the poachers. First things first though; they must first find the poachers themselves.



Cracks of lightning flash into the sky not far from the girls' location. The loud shattering reverberates throughout the forest, causing flocks of birds to uproot themselves out of their nests. Swarms of bug and bird Pokemon take flight off in the opposite direction, likely out of terror from the electrical surge. An unusual shriek echoes throughout the mountain air, high pitched in nature but erratic and shrill, indicating that something's amiss. That's a clear indication of a problem if there ever was one.

"A lightning flash! I bet that's one of the poachers!" concludes Gabby with determination. "Let's go get them Zoey!"

"Right," agrees Zoey, the both of them bolting in the direction of the lightning.

Their pace towards the spotting of the lightning hastens, with an ear-piercing noise of distress only getting louder and more frequent. Breaking through the thick mountain foliage, the girls find themselves overlooking a horrific scene. A van is parked out in the middle of a small open field with two men and their Pokemon wrangling up a flock of Pokemon. One man carries away a thick net full of cotton-like clumps, followed by another bag of birds carried by his magmar, the poached Pokemon chirping loudly and struggling fiercely to set themselves free to no avail. Dragging the nets filled with the birds, identified by Zoey's pokedex as several bagged swablu, one of the men drags the panicking poultry towards the rear of van, preparing to toss them inside. The other man stands at the base of a tree, commanding his Pokemon while to his right side are piles of felled trees, the fault of the mens' ferocious pinsir and his X-scissor and Brick Break attacks, snapping thick trunked trees like twigs. Meanwhile, their electabuzz leaps from branch to branch at lightning speed, leaping agilely up the tree in vertical motion before unleashing fierce blasts of Thunderbolt, sniping weaker swablus from the sky, crashing to the ground where the poachers and their Pokemon then collect them.

"Stop it!" screams Gabby at the top of her lungs, snagging the attention of the poachers as she charges towards them furiously. "Let them go!"

"We had the advantage keeping quiet," Zoey smirks towards her enviro-vigilante companion. "Guess I should do my part."

Leyvee charges ahead of her trainer, preparing to attack one of the poachers, standing by the felled grove observing the work of his Pokemon in the poaching process. The man turns, scowling towards the goofy looking teen charging at him. With a smug look, he laughs towards his assailants, dodging the bayleef's amateur Tackle before planting his foot on the girl's unconditioned belly, forcing her into the ground with a hard kick. Gabby coughs harshly, unprepared for such a punishing blow.

"BAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHH!!!" cackles the man, a short, black haired man with a mustache and a little stubble under his chin. "You've got to be -KIDDING- me! THIS is the reinforcement those nosy rangers send after us? PAAA-thetic! BAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH!!!"

"H-h-help... Leyvee..." Gabby coughs up, struggling to overpower the strength in the man's imposing leg.

"BAAAAY!!" Leyvee growls angrily as her body charges towards the man's location.

"Puh-lease! X-scissor this overgrown leaf Limbsplitter!" the man orders his pinsir to action.

"HEY!!!" the man yells up the tree as his electabuzz nears the tree's peak to take out the flock leader, an altaria guarding the last nest in the area. "Hurry up with the catch Buzzkill! We gotta pull out of here in a few minutes before more rangers show up! Get a move on!"

Limbsplitter the pinsir catches the vulnerable Leyvee unprepared, crushing her sides under the might of Limbsplitter's spiked pincers. Leyvee squeals in pain, launched through the air before her body collides with the hard earth. It's a super-effective move, using the bug-types insect features to target the bayleef's weakest points. Leyvee somehow finds her feet, recovering from the powerful blow but suffering visible damage with Leyvee routinely flinching in pain from the attack. She refuses to back down, however, glaring towards the pinsir with fire in her eyes. This grass-type will do whatever it takes to rescue her trainer, even if it requires overpowering a type disadvantage.



"Gruuaaaaahhh!" Buzzkill growls, electrical currents jumping between his antennas before unleashing a fierce Thunderbolt on the foe before it, an altaria standing guard by her nest.

Altaria fluffs up her down, using Cotton Guard to solidify her defenses for the coming onslaught of the electabuzz's attacks. Roaring in defiance, Buzzkill uses Altaria's lack of action to its advantage, rushing in to crash into the bird's body with a punishing Quick Attack, but it barely does anything more than close the distance between the two given Altaria's tough defenses. Buzzkill reacts swifly though, surprising the overconfident Humming Pokemon with a chilling Ice Punch, expanding the presence of frostbite across Altaria's fluffy down, causing her to shriek in pain. Buzzkill buzz killed, taking advantage of Altaria's double weakness to ice-type techniques. Buzzkill doesn't relent, thrusting Thunderpunch after Thunderpunch until Altaria freezes up with paralysis. Altaria winces, trying to use Sing to incapacitate her attacker but fails to due so due to Buzzkill's interrupting Thunderpunches. Buzzkill continues his momentum, aiming a powerful Brick Break straight for the bird's core, but Altaria refuses to give in to her opponent.

Taking flight, Altaria dodges the electabuzz's attack by using the advantage of the sky. The bird's body is aglow, using a mysterious power that stuns Buzzkill, not expecting such an upset when it was virtually unopposed moments ago. Altaria uses Refresh, curing itself from paralysis before she spreads her wings, engaging in a bizarre sight in the sky. The blue bird jerks her body every which way, as if performing some sort of ancient dance in the sky. Unique only to dragon-type Pokemon, Altaria performs her Dragon Dance in preparation for her assault. Cawing in defiance and anger, shy begins to ascend, blending in with the clouds themselves as she becomes one with the sky itself. Buzzkill, an experienced poacher, knows what's next, sweating with anxiety over the bird's preparation for a crucifying Sky Attack. There's no time to waste for the electabuzz. He begins to prepare a dance of his own, sending off sparks of electricity into the atmosphere to gather thunderclouds and moisture, the effects resulting from his Rain Dance. Buzzkill's body begins crackling with electrical energy, his body reacting to the developing cumulonimbus clouds. Rain soon falls upon their sky battlefield, catching Altaria off guard as its powerful flying move is interrupted by an abrupt storm.

Nonetheless, Altaria begins her descent, hurdling at breakneck speeds towards the poaching Pokemon. Swooping down low, Altaria speeds like a jetplane ready to send the electric-type flying, literally, to a far off place. The Sky Attack is too slow, however. Buzzkill's body erupts in a fantastic electrical display, calling down a bolt of white lightning from the heavens to boost its assault before sending a blinding charge of pure Thunder after Altaria. The ferocity of Buzzkill's electrical surge completely halts Altaria's attack, sending her crashing into her own nest, nearly sending both of them to the ground with the force of her impact. Fortunately for both of them, the nest stabilizes, but ultimately favors the yellow Pokemon. Grinning over the success of his move, rain continues falling upon the battlefield. Perfect. The moisture will help ready his final attack -AND- assist in their quick getaway. Buzzkill walks with swagger over towards Altaria, moving her neck slightly to catch a glimpse of her opponent. Determined to still protect her children, she somehow finds her feet, but is unable to do much else, simply fluffing up her down for another Cotton Guard to buy her time to recover. Not good enough. Buzzkill's brutal Brick Break slams into Altaria's chest despite her fluffed up protective feathers, stumbling backwards towards the nest's edge. The electabuzz follows up quickly, lifting his right fist into the air as the moisture around it solidifies and gathers frost. His fist begins taking on a light blue glowing aura before the clenched fist crashes into Altaria's gut. The Ice Punch sends her reeling, squawking in pain before she stumbles off the edge of nest, freefalling towards the ground.​

She failed. Altaria's unconscious body impacts the ground with a good thud, bringing a smile to the poacher's lips as he eyes their final prize. Buzzkill hastily descends the tree, hopping drown from each branch before finally making it safely to the ground, sparks still emanating from his body as he approaches his poacher, grinning wickedly. Work complete. Now all that must be done is taking care of the pesky teenagers interfering with their business.



Gabby remains under foot, struggling to speak as the man applies pressure to her gut. Despite her squirming in pain, he keeps her pinned and helpless. Her only hope of salvation lies in Leyvee, dusting her feet in the ground as she prepares to take on pinsir, standing between her and the man holding her trainer hostage.

"LEEF!!" Leyvee growls in anger, staring down Limbsplitter who doesn't back down an inch, eager for combat.

Leyvee begins her assault, firing streams of Razor Leaves towards her opponent. Limbsplitter reacts with Harden, causing the leaves to shatter on contact, dealing no signs of damage whatsoever. This isn't all bad though. In fact, it fits into her plan, continuing her forward momentum to land a Tackle on Limbsplitter.

"Send that piece of **** flying! Vital Throw!" the man grins, thinking this battle over.

Limbsplitter simply catches her between his pincers, stuck as his mighty spikes hold her in place. To everyone's surprise though, Leyvee rustles her mane of leaves furiously before being tossed by Vital Throw. Purple specks of dust trickle out of her mane, landing on the bug's unsuspecting surface. Poisonpowder leaves its mark, just as Leyvee is sent flying through the air, smashing hard into the ground. The bayleef trembles, trying to find her feet after suffering two devastating blows from the man's pinsir. However, she has an ace in the hole. Her body begins to illuminate, glowing softly as sparkling particles approach and collide with her body. She performs Synthesis on herself, recovering from some of the damage done to her earlier. Unfortunately, rain arrives out of nowhere, blocking her access to the sun's recuperative light which impedes her healing process. At least she manages to restore some health. Limbsplitter wont have that luxury as its health slowly declines from the poison. The bug wastes no time, meeting his determined adversary on the other side of his trainer, having recovered from his earlier attacks.

"What the...!?" the man blurts in shock, pissed off by the sudden restoration of a foe he thought defeated. "That's ********!!! It's time for your Vicegrip, Limbsplitter!"

The bug-type buzzes into action, charging towards Leyvee while she readies another unique strategy. Concentrating what light she can, she builds a reflective shield around her, bowling towards her opponent with a Reflect-enhanced Tackle. Surprising both Limbsplitter and his trainer, Leyvee blows through her opponent, using the additional strength from her Reflect to increase the damage done, but that's not all. The poison from earlier was a mere distraction, weakening her foe so that she can bypass the pinsir's might, succeeding in that regard as her enhanced Tackle continues towards the poacher, directly in the vengeful grass-type's path. In panic, he releases his foot's grip on the bayleef's trainer who scurries away to safety before turning around to witness Leyvee's rescue of her. Leyvee's green body clashes with the fleeing poacher's, sending them both to the wet ground. The grass-type angrily fires off a round of Razor Leaves, cutting up the man's chest and face while she hisses into his ugly mug, wreaking vengeance for the man's inexcusable attack on her trainer.

"Leyvee, look out!" hollers Gabby in terror, warning her Pokemon for an imminent danger.

SNAP!! CRACKLE!! POP!! Leyvee's mouth is left gaping wide open, stunned by a sudden rush of debilitating pain that topples her to her side, falling unconscious. Limbsplitter stands before her, flexing his pincers after they performed a critical X-scissor upon the grass-type's unguarded form.

"Noo!! Leyvee..." Gabby yells, tears beginning to stream down her face.

Her dear Pokemon did her best to rescue her trainer, but it wasn't enough to save herself from Limbsplitter's fatal blow. Tearful, she pulls out Leyvee's pokeball, recalling her and placing her ball back into her pocket before pulling out a new one, ready to carry on the battle to avenge her fallen heroine.

"Go Maya! Let us honor Leyvee's sacrifice!" she yells, casting forth her blue rodent, a small merill whose ears perk up upon recognizing the soothing sensation repetitively striking her big ears and brow.

Rain. Perfect for a water-type. Maya stands at the ready, glaring at her far larger opponent, the menacing pinsir Limbsplitter. Not only that, but Leyvee's Poisonpowder from earlier appears to be taking its toll. The bug pants heavily, its face pale and sweaty from intoxication. Where before Leyvee and Gabby had the disadvantage, now they hold the advantage, not only because of this being a fresh Pokemon versus a debilitated one, but also because of the falling rain which will power up Maya's water-type attacks. Let the battle continue.

"Maya, spray him down with your Water Gun!"

"Like I'll let you do that!" angrily retorts the man. "Limbsplitter! Vicegrip that pest!"

Limbsplitter jumps into action, but finds itself too enfeebled by poisons, unable to shuffle away from Maya's Water Gun. The bug stumbles back several yards, falling onto his rear, only to be surprised by a sight out of the blue.

"Rollout!"

Maya's spherical body drills against the bug-type's chitin, spinning like a wheel before the friction and momentum send the blue mouse into the tree behind Limbsplitter, snapping the tree in half before rolling off to the side and returning to her original stance.

"Maya!! That was too much! Don't hurt the trees!" Gabby shouts disapprovingly for her Pokemon's reckless endangerment of pristine nature.

Someone else faces a similar fate to the tree. Limbsplitter's unconscious body lies immobile, taken to the cleaners by the marill's super-effective rock-type bombardment. Sure enough, the rain gave Maya's Water Gun a sizeable power up as well as enhancing the revolution and velocity of the mouse's Rollout.

"IMPOSSIBLE!!" screams the man in disbelief, recalling his feigned bug. "You're a disgrace, you damn insect!"

Gabby grimaces towards the man, taken aback by his cruel words relayed to his Pokemon that was simply following orders. Poachers sure aren't nice people; at least these one's aren't anyway. However, this moment is overshadowed by a blinding flash of light from atop a towering tree. The brilliant explosion of lightning forces Gabby to cover her eyes, the brightness too intense to see straight on. Maya follows the same course of action, while the poacher, not facing the light to begin with, grins confidently, reminding him that he has another weapon waiting in the wings. His weapon's capabilities are revealed, as a fluffy blue bird comes falling out of the sky, its coat charred, likely from the earlier lightning blast that has it smack the ground hard.

Covering her mouth with her hands in horror, Gabby reacts, "Oh no!"

Moments later, a new gladiator reaches the ground, electricity saturating his terrifying form. The fierce electric-type grins as wickedly as his master, eager to initiate another battle. Certainly the poacher regains his earlier advantage, sporting an electric-type in a storm against Gabby's little water-type Maya. Brimming with cockiness, the poacher cackles loudly, knowing that he has a ridiculously huge advantage over Gabby.

"Yeheheheheah, kid! Nobody can halt Buzzkill! He's a... well, he's a killin' machine!! BRAHAHAHAAHAAHAHHH!!" the man continues laughing uproariously.

"Take 'm out with a single blow! THUNDER!!!"

Buzzkill complies jubilantly, shooting Maya a wicked grin as his antennas light up with a massive concentration of electricity. A massive blast wave fires forth from his body, moving at such impeccable speeds aided by the storm that it collides with Maya instantaneously with no chance of evasion. Electricity surges through the defenseless water-type's body, eyes wide in complete shock as her body goes numb from electrical overload. After several seconds, the insane amount of electricity dissipates, leaving an unconscious mouse that falls over as if her life had just been snuffed out by the blow.

"NOOOO!!!" Gabby screams at an ear wrenching volume, forcing the poacher to clutch his ears in pain from her outburst.

Gabby races over to her incapacitated marill. She picks up her poor water-type, but the creature is out cold, its body charred and oven hot from the electabuzz's Thunder. Tears flow freely from her face now, recalling her second out-of-commission Pokemon as she's now left trapped into a corner.

"Shockpox!" Gabby cries, summoning her final Pokemon to the field. "This is your first battle as my Pokemon, but I need you now more than ever!"

"What's this?" guffaws the man in amazement. "You're sending out a webbed pichu to stop MY electabuzz! This is just too priceless! You shouldn't be screwing around with adult's business, girl! Welcome to the real world!"

"Just... shut up okay!?" Gabby retaliates in tearful anger, pointing directly at the man and his electabuzz. "Use Charge!"

"Bah! Worthless! Give that pipsqueak a taste of your Brick Break, Buzzkill!" the man boasts, leading his electric-type into its next battle.

Shockpox responds, generating electricity up in her cheeks for a future attack. However, Buzzkill's speed sends the squirrel packing with his violent fighting-type attack. Rolling away, the electric rodent finds her feet, surviving the damage done to it by her fellow electric-type. Her Charge continues to gather up and store electricity, preparing for her trainer to give the order to unleash said energy.

"Alright Shockpox!" Gabby proclaims, "Let's hit 'em with Spark!"

"Catch it!"

In a surprise event, Buzzkill snatches up Shockpox as she speeds towards him with an electrified tackle, plucking her out of the air as if it were nothing. The combat experience differential is far too great, as the squirrel squirms helplessly as Buzzkill smirks evilly as he holds up the prey in his hand, lifting his left arm to flex.

"Er... Thundershock him!"

Shockpox lets loose a stream of electrical energy, but it does her no good. Buzzkill shakes off the mere static electricity shooting out from the emolga's body, lifting her up in his hand. The electabuzz cackles from the agony it's inducing upon its feeble victim, unable to escape his grasp.

"Finish it. Ice Punch," states the poacher coldly.

Frosted particles begin to collect around the electabuzz's fist, creating a light blue glow around his clenched hand. The icy cold fist, after Buzzkill tosses Shockpox into the air, smashes into the squirrel's gut, bringing his ice cold fist down upon her until her back intersects the earth. Shockpox lies on the ground, out cold in defeat as her body is covered in frost. Shockpox didn't even put up much of a fight, being called into battle and facing defeat all in under 30 seconds. This man's Buzzkill blew through two of her Pokemon with no sweat at all, and this is after taking out that altaria from earlier. Gabby falls to her knees in complete shock, mouth gaping wide open after bearing witness to the punishing battle against a seemingly immortal electabuzz. Too shocked to even speak, Gabby recalls Shockpox without a word, staring down at her pokeball, traumatized by her devastating loss. In a flash, Buzzkill appears before her, displaying his high speed. Before she's able to react and make her escape, Buzzkill grabs her by her wet black hair, lifting her as best he could given her superior height before firing an agonizing Thunderpunch to her abdomen. The girl is knocked out by the burst of electricity to her stomach, falling over Buzzkill's shoulders as he smirks, facing his master with pride as he easily disposed of the girl and her Pokemon.​

"Excellent," complements the man with a wicked grin on his face. "Now, let's go spank that other bratty *****'s ass."



Zoey decides to capitalize on Gabby's reckless charge, hiding in the woods as the magmar and his owner toss in another net into the back of the van, the birds squawking about in fear of what might come. It wouldn't be wise to just run in there right when the poacher and his Pokemon are boarding Pokemon. That makes too little sense. Not to mention that it'll take some time to free all of the Pokemon inside before they come back, and considering how Vuowth usually ignores what Zoey tells her to do, time becomes all the more precious of a resource. She'll also have to contemplate how to break open the nets when she gets there. There's no doubt that the poachers must use sturdy stuff if they don't want their swablu haul to cut their way to freedom with their beaks.

The girl spots the ideal opportunity, watching the poacher and his magmar leave the van to go collect another haul out in the woods. This is it! She makes a run for it, racing downhill towards the location of the parked van. Zoey takes a peek inside, seeing piles of captured swablu and a few altaria caged too. Both her presence and the presence of her newborn swablu resting in the towel in her arms result in the quieting down of the caged lock to Zoey's dismay. She also spots one of the rangers, probably the Ryan that Michelle spoke of earlier with a cloth wrapping around his mouth and eyes while the rest of his body is wrapped up like a cocoon in high quality rope.

"No!" Zoey whispers loudly. "Keep making noise! Don't let them know I'm here!"

Her words seem to work, apparently. The poached flock continues their chorus of sorrow as they lament the state they find themselves in. Zoey hops up into the van, but makes her first line of business with the tied up ranger. She removes his blindfold and the cloth covering his mouth so that he can speak. The man's face is revealed, a short brown haired man of moderate height and build.

"Y-you! Who are you? Where's Michelle!?" the man speaks softly but firmly.

"Michelle and us were on our way here before we were ambushed on the path up here by one of the poachers that scouted ahead. He blew up our vehicle but we're all safe. Michelle broke her arm but is fending off the other poacher as we speak," Zoey clarifies to the man, calmed by her words.

"I see. This is no good. We're almost out of time," Ryan states, gritting his teeth in frustration. "I can't believe I got captured by these clowns. Disgraceful."

"Well, uh..." Zoey stammers, trying to elicit a response from herself to address their circumstance, "Gabby and I went with Michelle and we took off under her orders to stall the poachers here until other rangers arrive here to arrest them and free the Pokemon."

"Really? That's wonderful!" Ryan says, relieved by the news. "That Michelle, always so resourceful and brave. Oh, what is that you brought with you? A swablu, is it?"

"Yeah. It hatched from the egg I had with me in the forest," Zoey clarifies to Ryan, smiling briefly before her face drifts into a slight frown. "However, it was born in a coma and is really ill. I've been feeding it a special milk formula Michelle gave me to keep up its strength but it'll need proper medical attention from a professional most likely."

"I see..." Ryan nods in acknowledgement. "That's quite the responsibility Michelle has placed upon you two! She must think of you girls as fine young ladies to offer you two tasks of such importance."

Zoey blushes from the man's praise, using her embarrassment as a reason to shift her focus to the towel-wrapped swablu. She slips the creature's formula from he pink sack and squats before it, lifting it up and allowing it to nip the bottle in order to extract its nutritious contents.

"I uh... guess so..." Zoey stumbles over her words, her face reddening but she manages to hide this fact from Ryan. "To be honest I sort of got dragged into this mess against my will. I'm just trying to be the best Pokemon trainer that I can be, but I haven't been so successful. Maybe it's because I'm new."

"Oh, that can't be true!" Ryan assures her, giving her his praise-filled opinion. "You may be a rookie, but I know you'll find greatness someday. Just keep working at it!"

"Yeah, yeah," she waves off the comments, placing the bird down on the floor of the van before lurking over to the nets to examine them. "I keep telling myself that, but until I see results, I'm not convinced."

Zoey yanks at the net a few times, pulling it with her arms but to no avail. The nets are, as she thought, made of some sturdy stuff. Something sharp will be needed in order to break open these nets and set the birds free. Sharp... where would you find something that's sharp?

"Hey!" Zoey exclaims, her light bulb activating. "Do you have some sort of knife on you, like a box-cutter or something?"

"Oh?" he responds, catching on to her plan. "Typically I do, but the poacher scum stole all of my belongings, even my pokeballs. They placed them in an anti-release brace so that my Pokemon can't release themselves on their own to try and rescue me. Pretty despicable, they are."

"Really?" she confirms, disappointed by the news. "Damn... What am I going to do now?"

"HEY!" a man yells, his footsteps growing louder as he approaches the rear of the van. "Who's in there screwing with our haul!?"

"Ieeeep!" Zoey yelps, lunging for her helpless swablu before the poacher has a chance to get his hands on it.

"It's a little brat! Get out of there so I can discipline you right, girl!" he yells threateningly with his magmar scowling at her off to the side.

"Yeah, right. Like I'm going to willingly leave the van to get beat up by you. Dumbass," Zoey thinks to herself regading the man's moronic threat.

"Too scared of harming your -haul-? Come and get me, jackass!" Zoey taunts the man, showing her rear to him while she slaps it mockingly.

The man's face erupts with red anger. Knowing that having his magmar attack would harm the flocks he's collected, he stumbles his way up into the van, storming towards the girl in the back in order to force her out.

"****. He's really coming..." Zoey remarks to herself, sweat trickling down her face with anxiety.

"Vuowth, beat this smug bastard's ass!" Zoey cheers on Vuowth, clenching her pokeball before revealing her one and only Pokemon, a grovyle standing between her and the poacher.

The poacher's movements halt, hesitating while he watches the grovyle examine him closely, her predator eyes scanning his lanky posture with hostility. Sweat rolls off his brow, knowing that he can't have magmar defend him while his target remains in the van. Zoey recalls a detail from awhile back, noting an earlier scan she made regarding Vuowth in her pokedex. There was a certain move on that list she never saw before. What was it again? Zoey's mind wanders about for a few moments before her eyes narrow in on Vuowth's forearms, where three razor sharp leaves protrude from its limbs. That's it!

"Vuowth!" Zoey states, grabbing Vuowth's scowling attention. "Don't let the man get any closer! We have an opportunity to free the Pokemon while they can't do anything! Use your Fury Cutter and break open the nets! You can do it!?

The grass-type glances back at her trainer, snarling disapprovingly towards her with her cold, gold stare. Vuowth ignores her trainer's orders, wanting nothing to do with her bossy "trainer". Her eyes lock onto the tall skinny blonde man with long hair and a goatee. Something about this guy is... irritating. The lizard's scowl shoots an angry glare at the man, pissed off by his very presence in front of her. Vuowth holds her ground firm as neither of them move an inch, each of them anticipating the other's move.

"Come on Vuowth!" Zoey yells, frustrated by Vuowth's disobedience. "We -DON'T- have time for this! I need you to use Fury Cu-"

Vuowth shifts her body suddenly, lunging at the man before her with hate in her eyes, moving her left elbow into his gut as she slams him with her Quick Attack. Both of them are propelled out of the van, stumbling about on the ground although Vuowth recovers much quicker, bringing her forearms up to her chest before rushing towards the man as if she's about to gut the man with the blade-like leaves on her arms. However, her assault is blocked by a new foe. Magmar's Cross Chop sends Vuowth recoiling backwards, her arms badly bruised by the fire-type's fierce counterattack. Her gaze locks onto Magmar, both of them staring each other ground as if to see who's tougher. Neither flinch or blink for a second, embroiled in a duel of hot, stubborn tempers that no flame can match.

Zoey simply sighs in reaction, expecting nothing less from Vuowth but her stubborn refusal to listen. "See? She won't even listen to me."

"Ahahahahh! Great, great!" cheers on the man who finds himself upright to face Zoey's Pokemon properly. "Excellent indeed! Let's have some fun with this spunky reptile! Lava Plume, Lavager!"

Vuowth reacts, perfectly tiptoeing around the fiery explosion hurdling towards it. The lizard smirks at Lavager, taunting him with her eyes and smile.

"Great Vuowth! Follow up with a Quick Attack!" Zoey yells, hoping to garner some respect from her Pokemon in battle.

"Not gonna happen!" boasts the man. "Confuse Ray in the path of its Quick Attack!"

"Out of the way Vuowth! Don't let that hit you!" she commands worriedly, but gets a response she hadn't expected.

Vuowth launches herself into the air, planting her left foot into the ground before bending her leg like a spring and utilizing her superior lower body muscles to take to the air above Lavager, disarming both him and his master. Without time to react, she barrels down on her opponent like a pouncing raptor, a technique reminiscent of her Pursuit move, using it instead. The fire-type rolls backwards, not expecting such an unpredictable attack, but rolls off to his side to recover a series of savage Fury Cutter swipes, Lavager dodging most of them until Vuowth's supeerior quickness catches up with it, taking several slashes to its torso before stumbling over.

"What the hell is this Lavager!?" the poacher roars in anger. "You're letting this little girl's Pokemon make mincemeat out of you! UNACCEPTABLE!!!"

"Well, she definitely athletic..." Zoey admits to herself, but still finds her orders being dismissed by Vuowth. "You're doing great Vuowth, but you and I are a team! We have to work together to win! Your opponent has a type advantage over you so you and I should cooperate! Try to use-"

"FIRE PUNCH!"

"GROOOOOOOvyle..." Vuowth shrieks in agony as an explosion of fire ignites on her belly, Lavager's right hook connecting with her vulnerable red underbelly.

Recovering slowly from the flaming attack, she nonetheless tries to hold her ground, glaring viciously at her opponent.

"Keep 'em comin'! Fire Punch away Lavager!"

"Evacuate Vuowth! Get some distance between you two!" Zoey hollers with urgency, hoping Vuowth has the sense to break away from her burning beating.

Instead, Vuowth tries to bob and weave around his attacks, successfully avoiding each flame coated fist. Her technique almost seems to be working, making Lavager look like a fool as she dodges each of his fiery fists like a championship boxer. However, her superior agility slips up, Vuowth being overconfident as a Fire Punch nabs her shoulder, forcing her into the ground with great force and heat. Vuowth can only shriek in writhing agony, consumed by fire.

"No, Vuowth!" Zoey calls out to her companion, hoping she'll be able to survive the attack. "Get up! I know you can do it!"

Vuowth retaliates in her own way, enduring the flames as best she can as her maw opens wide, clenching her strong jaw down on Lavager's arm before he has a chance to withdraw it. Using her suffering as a rouse, she Crunches the magmar's arm tightly, causing the fire-type to hiss in pain.

"Great Vuowth!" Zoey cheers, hoping her respect for her grass-type's tenacity pays off with a little collaboration on Vuowth's part. "But you've got to get out of there! Use the opportunity to get away and strike at him again with Quick Attack!"

It's no good, as Vuowth holds on to her foe tightly, drawing forth the leafy blades on her arm to arc them across the magmar's chest, performing her Fury Cutter technique again on him. Lavager continues to reel in pain, but bug-type moves fail to do much damage to him. The reptile finally lets go of Lavager's arm, leaving a noticeable bite mark on his arm as a sign of the damage she did to his health, but for her, it's just not enough.

"Bring this grass-type down. Lava Plume!"

Standing at too close a range, Vuowth fails to avoid the brunt of the magma hurling at her, causing her to take severe damage, tossing her back with tremendous force. By then though, something interesting begins. Rain starts to fall from the sky, unknowingly as a result of Buzzkill's Rain Dance as he fights off the broodmother. Barely able to move, Vuowth fights her way, trying to stabilize her stance as her eyes wince in pain, trying desperately to remain conscious. Losing is not an option.

"Not a chance!" the poacher hollers, sending his magmar in for a final blow. "Take'm out with your Cross Chop!"

"GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH VYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYLE..." Vuowth shrieks as her body is slammed with two hard hands aiming at her torso.

Zoey's body begins to tremble slightly, flashbacking to the last instance where she witnessed her Vuowth getting defeated so badly. It wasn't even an opponent she had a type weakness too, and it was her pre-evolution to boot. This circumstance is different though. Vuowth is still unwilling to work as a team, but finds herself matched against a fire-type that is able to overcome Vuowth's speed with his powerful offensive strikes, especially by use of his fire-type moves. It's over. It's done. She lost. Again. Zoey's reaction delays action, looking over to Vuowth, her Pokemon falling in defeat once again. Should she rethink being a Pokemon trainer after all? Is she just not cut out for Pokemon training?

"BRAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHH!!!" cackles the poacher in victory, crossing his arms as he grins over Lavager and his conquest. "You picked the wrong people to mess with, girl!"

"Vuowth..." Zoey whispers, traumatized by yet another loss as she looks over to Vuowth, her body slumped against the trunk of a tree, motionless.

"Come here you ****ty brat!" the man growls, grabbing Zoey's left ankle while she's distracted by her Pokemon's downfall.

"Eww, no!" Zoey screams in anger. "Get your filthy hands off of me!"

The girl squirms and fights, the man suffering a few painful blows from her shins but otherwise finds herself completely restrained by the older man, grasping her wrists as she dangles in the air in front of the man. Out of the blue, an odd chirping noise is heard. Zoey's temper settles, forgoing her immediate concern of being captured by the poacher. Her eyes follow the noise to the swablu she's been looking after, watching it, for the first time chirp loudly and audible, although its voice is still pretty raspy.

"Wha... Swablu..." Zoey speaks softly, curious about whatever has the little hatchling all riled up for.

"Wha... What the -HELL-!?" Zoey states to herself in shock, barely able to believe the sight before her eyes.

Off in the corner where Vuowth had seemingly fainted, she stands, a faint green glow emanating through all of the pores of her body. It's a sight that nobody around seems to have seem before, with the exception of Lavager and his master who aren't even paying attention.

"Vuowth?" Zoey calls out softly and inquisitively.

"Have you lost it girl? You lost the battle!" the man boasts, unaware of the situation as he balances a pokeball in his hand. "C'mon back Lavager! Nice work dispo- WHAAAAAT!?"

Elbows forward, Vuowth slams Lavager from behind, inflicting double damage due to Lavager's retreat through her use of Pursuit. Lavagar flies forward, smashing his head hard into the trunk of the tree. Meanwhile, Vuowth plants her right foot into Lavager's back, leaning into him before the area around her foot along the magmar's back takes on a green glow as well. Orbs of green light leave the fire-types body, Absorbing themselves into Vuowth to restore her health, enhanced by the green glow permeating throughout her body. Overgrow has been activated.

"Don't just let that wily lizard suck you dry! Fight back with Fire Punch!" the man screams in anger and disbelief.

Vuowth controls the battle now. Her jaw opens wide, revealing her dagger teeth, holding firm to a delirious Lavager as her fangs sink deep into Lavager's neck, Crunching his esophagus into dust. Lavager's unconscious husk collapses onto the ground, but not before Vuowth extracts more bubbles of green light, Absorbing the last bits of energy Lavager has stored within him.​

The poacher's jaw is wide open in disbelief, Zoey taking the opportunity to take a shot at him with her heel to his sacred place, dropping to the ground and scooping up swablu before she rushes over to Vuowth with pure joy.

"Vuowth! You did it! You're so awesome!" she lays on the praise, running up to a nearly spent Vuowth, her body colliding with her Pokemon's with a huge hug.

The experience shocks Vuowth, her body cuddling her trainer's experiencing a sensation she's never felt before. It's embarrassing, as shown on her cheeks as Vuowth's face begins to redden a little. It's warm. It's soft. What is this? What does it mean? Vuowth merely looks beyond her, staring deep into the forest as if she's lost in thought. Whatever it is, it's a feeling that is foreign to Vuowth. It feels... good. She feels, for once, happy, somehow. Is it this trainer? Who is she? Why does she wrap her arms around me? Maybe... maybe this is something that's supposed to be good. Maybe this is meant to be. Maybe this is the place where she can find happiness, finally. Just maybe...



"Are you seriously this incompetent, Joel!?" the black haired man arrives at the side of the truck with a big haul behind him: the captured altaria from earlier

Rage is present in his eyes as he tosses the girl, Gabby, down onto the ground. "Wrap her up. I took care of this pathetic brat easily. Too bad you couldn't do the same with this bratty little *****."

"Don't lay your criticisms on me! You took forever to round up the Pokemon here! Lavager and I've been doing all of the work boarding them into the truck!" the blonde defends himself. "This dumb kid beat me with the dumbest luck that I've ever seen!"

"Don't give me your ****ty ass excuses," boldly states the man with an electabuzz at his side. "Do what you're told so we can clean up this mess before we get caught.

The blonde man lunges for Gabby, her mouth covered with a handkerchief to muffle her screams while the rest of her body remains tied up. "Get over here you annoying brat!"

Gabby squirms wildly, but the blonde man simply stomps hard on her knees, forcing her to stop struggling by inflicting some pain. He then throws the girl onto the hard, metal surface, leaping up into the van with her and grabs her by the arms, slamming her against the wall of the van before tying her up to a post inside the van.

"Don't hurt her!" Ryan screams angrily, glaring at the blonde man before him.

"Ah, shut yer yap," the blonde man retaliates, shoving his right hook hard into the man's jaw to shut him up.

The blonde man proceeds to re-wrap the cloth Zoey removed earlier from Ryan's mouth, muffling his voice once again. With his work done, the blonde man sits himself down on the van's edge, witnessing the battle between his accomplice and the trainer he failed to defeat, scowling at both of them begrudgingly.



"So you defeated my incompetent boob of a partner, and with a grass-type no less. You're not too shabby for a mere rook, but I used to work for Pokemon gyms. I know battling is done at the elite level. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, kid," the man grimly warns, grinning towards Zoey. "You and your four-eyes friend really managed to stall us, huh? Well, your luck is about out, girl. Your lizard is about out of gas, while Buzzkill and I took out three Pokemon in a row and we're still running high on fuel! I'm not letting you get away with this, punk!"

"Bring it on! Vuowth and I are ready to take you out!" Zoey boasts back, glaring at the villainous man as both he and Buzzkill, his electabuzz, grin right back.

"GROOOOOH!!" Vuowth hisses, stepping forward out into the rain to face her new opponent.

While her body still glimmers with the peculiar effect of Overgrow, she's nonetheless weakened by her bouts with that magmar earlier, but there's still a chance. A very slim one, but it's possible. It would require Vuowth to do something she hasn't done before, but would it happen? Could it happen? It's all up to Vuowth now. She must decide.

"Groovyle," Vuowth glances back at her trainer, almost as if she's expecting something.

Zoey stares back at her for several moments, the two of them meeting eye to eye. Vuowth's gaze tightens, almost glaring at her trainer like she always does, but something seems different. It's like she's... impatient, like she's waiting for something.

"Okay Vuowth!" Zoey declares with confidence. "Do you want to team up?"

Vuowth shifts her gaze, glancing back towards the rainy battlefield and her opponent, an electabuzz rearing to go. She doesn't answer her trainer, instead adjusting her stance for combat, stepping forward a few times to center herself in the arena.

"Let's take care of this quick!" the poacher demands, initiating the first move of the battle. "Thunderbolt!"

"Here we go Vuowth! Dodge, and use Quick Attack!"

A blast of lightning comes flying towards Vuowth at ridiculous speed, but she sidesteps it, using that first movement of hers to follow up with a swift rushing attacking heading straight for Buzzkill.

"Ice Punch it when it gets close!"

"Shift your attack to Pursuit and leap!" Zoey reacts to his call, shifting up her battle strategy with a new surge of confidence.

Vuowth complies again, cartwheeling through the air before she crashes her feet into Buzzkill's shoulders, sending him to the ground with a fierce overhead Pursuit.

"What!? That's bull****! How's Grovyle able to move like that!?" the man growls in frustration. "Dammit, Buzzkill! This is pathetic! Thunder NOW!!"

"Don't let him build up electricity! Use your proximity to steal his health with Absorb!" Zoey directs her Pokemon, ready for her opponent's next trick.

Vuowth strikes her claws against Buzzkill's spine, siphoning away life energy in the form of emerald lights each time she takes a swipe at his backside. The barrage of Absorbs continues as the two Pokemon exchange health with one another. Buzzkill remains planted in the ground, but soon grows frustrated over the verbal abuse he's enduring from his master. Buzzkill manages to roll forward, away from Vuowth to catch his breath, all the while Vuowth continues pursuing him, unrelenting in her attacks.

"Crunch, Vuowth!"

"Dammit! Thunderbolt now!" the man hastily responds, his voice showing signs of anxiety as the battle begins to slip away from him.

Buzzkill erects his stance, building up electrical currents between his antennas. Vuowth takes his lack of movement to her advantage, diving for his left shoulder where she Crunches ferociously, but her attack lands a tad too late. While she inflicts her damage, electricity travels across her body, using the rain droplets as a conductor to badly electrocute her body. She shrieks in pain, stumbling away while trying to keep herself upright, Leering at her foe while she stops for a breather. However, something new sets in. She can't move.

"Paralysis!" notices Zoey, seeing sparks of electricity travel across Vuowth's body occasionally, well after the attack.

"Perfect!" the poacher grins in relief. "Let's use this chance to lay a serious blow! Thunderpunch!"

"Brace yourself Vuowth!" Zoey warns, with Vuowth responding in kind in preparation. "Parry Thunderpunch with Fury Cutter and keep it up!"

The two Pokemon clash, Thunderpunch grinding against Fury Cutter as the two go at it, swinging at each other furiously with neither giving the slightest inch. However, one of them eventually gives. Vuowth stops cold, rendering herself immobile due to the effects of paralysis. With her vulnerable, Buzzkill flings his Thunderpunch straight into her gullet, sending her into the trunk of a tree with a hard thunk. Vuowth maintains consciousness, but finds herself suffering from paralysis again, forced to lean against the tree until her body permits her to escape.

"Vuowth! You've got to try and dodge!" Zoey yells in earnest as Buzzkill blitzes towards the helpless reptile.

"End it now! ICE PUNCH!"

The electric-type's icy fist hurls itself into Vuowth, causing her head to jerk upwards in recoil for several moments. Buzzkill pulls out, walking back to observe the work he's done. Vuowth's body slides down the side of the tree before she lands on her knees, falling forward as defeat finally claims her. Zoey looks on, witnessing a hard fall for Vuowth, but before she's even able to develop a reaction, a noise from her side penetrates her eardrum. She looks down to her left side to find the pale-faced swablu chirping incessantly at her, with a look on its face she's never seem before. The creature appears full of vigor, as if it wants to do something, but what? Does swablu want more milk? Zoey reaches into her pink sack, pulling out her formula and shows it to swablu, but the bird's demeanor only grows more fierce, chirping louder and quicker with a higher tone. Swablu then fixes its attention towards Vuowth, looking in the direction of Zoey's fallen comrade before returning its chirping towards Zoey expectantly. The girl's eyes then widen in realization, coming to a clear understanding of what the sick bird really wants. Zoey merely smiles back towards swablu, having nothing to lose, and pulls out her pokeball, recalling Vuowth back into her pokeball to rest.​

"Alright, Swablu. Let's save your mother," she says to swablu, unwrapping its towel and tossing it over her left shoulder as the little bird hops its way out into the open.

"You're done, girl! Finished!" the man bellows with pride over his victory. "This is how you defeat an opponent Joel! Lesson learned bub!"

Buzzkill rotates his arms vigorously, discharging flashes of electricity over his final victory over their opponent. However, a new sight catches them all off guard, as the small blue bird Zoey had been carrying with her boldly stands before Buzzkill.

"Not so fast!" Zoey proclaims, pokedex in her hand as she corrects her adversaries. "You have a new challenger!"

"You have -GOT- to be kidding me!" the man uproars in unending laughter. "You're sending a swablu chick up against -MY- Buzzkill!? Buzzkill has been sniping several swablu out of the sky all day with a single blast of Thunderbolt! You just -CAN'T- be serious!"

"Talk to the bird!" Zoey points, directing her audience's attention to the adamant swablu before her, readying itself for combat.

"So you know -those- moves... Okay then..." Zoey reads off Swablu's pokedex entry, getting a glimpse for her new partner's techniques before the battle starts.

"This circus has gone on for too long! Thunderbolt, Buzzkill!"

"Hop away!" Zoey shouts as the blast of lightning aims straight for Swablu. "Close in on Electabuzz but play it cautious!"

Swablu hops across the field, hobbling along at a brisk pace to everyone's amazement and disbelief. Her opponent is blowing caskets out of rage, outraged that his Pokemon's Thunderbolt was dodged.

"Big mistake! Thunderpunch!"

"Astonish!"

In a sudden shriek, Swablu's Astonish stops Buzzkill cold as a startling outburst catches him off guard, flinching as a result.

"Bombard him with Peck!" Zoey leads Swablu on, stunning everyone with how the tiny bird is making Buzzkill look like a chump.

"Gyaaah!! Stop it!" Buzzkill's master roars in fury, pointing in a panicked fashion towards the Cotton Bird Pokemon. "How can you allow such a weakling to walk all over you! Step it up NOW!! Thunderbolt!"

"Hop away!"

Buzzkill discharges a powerful bolt of electricity, but his agile target flew the coop, zapping himself instead. By now, all of the battles Buzzkill has participated in have worn him out. With the last bout against Vuowth, he finds himself breathing heavily, unable to keep up with the speed of an opponent he's normally much quicker than. Buzzkill just can't keep up with the bird.

"Dammit Buzzkill! Blow that bird straight into hell! Thunder!" the man begins flipping out in rage over his Pokemon's ineptitude.

"Astonish!"

Surprising the electabuzz again, he's sent reeling from the bird's gut-wrenching surprise chirps. Buzzkill just can't build up electricity against a foe that keeps capitalizing on its low health and exhaustion, but the thought of losing to a pipsqueak is just intolerable.

"GET UP!!" the man screams, his face covered in blood vessels in anger. "ICE PUNCH!"

"Now use Sing!" Zoey yells, covering her ears so as to not fall victim to Swablu's lullaby.

Buzzkill rushes towards Swablu, hurrying to land a final blow that'll surely knock Swablu out cold. Instead, Buzzkill collides with the mud, sliding to a stop as the entrancing harmonic tune penetrates the electric-type's eardrum, sending him off to a land of dreams. Incapacitated, Buzzkill is now vulnerable to a full onslaught by the blue bird.

"This is it! Finish him with a flurry of Pecks!" Zoey presses the bird onward.

Swablu leaps onto Buzzkill's mud-stained backside, jabbing its beak relentlessly, over and over for almost a good minute. However, the relentless Pecking causes Buzzkill to rise again, his eyes bloodshot and frenzied. Swablu slides off of his back in surprise, muddying itself up as it stares upward and its risen opponent. Buzzkill isn't down quite yet.

"No way a swablu hatchling would stop my Buzzkill!" Let'm have it with your Thunderbolt!"

However, Buzzkill responds by falling back into the mud, collapsing in complete exhaustion. The poacher's mouths drop in sheer disbelief, having lost completely and embarrassingly from a team of girls and their Pokemon. Swablu hops up out from the mud, looking up to watch the rain begin to slow and the clouds opening up to the blue sky beyond. Zoey stands by, watching over the battlefield, finding victory from defeat from the most unexpected of places. Through some sort of miracle, Zoey manages to prevent the escape of the poachers, using every ounce of her strength to do so. Victory is at long last hers.​

"Now so fast, you stuck-up brat!" a man's voice behind her bellows, grabbing her by her arms in surprise.

"Dammit! Let me go!" Zoey squirms angrily, trying to strike at the man's jewels a second time but instead strikes his thigh instead. "I'm not dumb enough to let you get away with cheap shots like that!"

Swablu catches sight of the crisis, hopping furiously towards the man while chirping incessantly, targeting the man's feet with its beak.

"Get the hell away from me, you stupid bird!" the man angrily shouts at the bird, punting it away with his feet before Swablu crashes onto its head knocking it out cold yet again.

The poacher brings a restrained Zoey up towards the rear of the van, turning to his partner to address him. "Tie this one up too. I'll toss the altaria into the van, you lock it up, and hurry your ass to the front seat. We're getting the hell out of here right now. Forget Frank."

"Will do," the blonde man replies, understanding the urgency of their situation.

However, their plans take an unexpected turn. Zoey suddenly begins to develop a pink aura around her, soon followed by the men around her, the nets and cages that have several Pokemon trapped, and the ropes and cloths keeping Ryan and Gabby bound to the sides of the vehicle. In a miraculous turn of events, the black-haired poacher is forced to drop Zoey, who scampers away towards the swablu that she had just battled with. All of the nets and cages tear and shatter open, and Ryan along with Gabby find themselves freed from the bindings of cloth and rope. In a burst of action, the captured flocks and other Pokemon escape the van in top speed, rushing off into the wilderness under the sweet embrace of new found freedom. Zoey craddles Swablu in her arms, looking over the bird's wounds before a strange light catches her eye. A bright pink light passes through the forest, as if some sort of forest spirit decided to show itself, yet Zoey found no actual creature other than the strange light moving through the thick woods.

"Mew!"

"Huh!?" Zoey jerks her head in the direction of the noise, only to find nothing there. "What was that...?"

Her gaze returns to the swablu in her lap, lying there unconscious. That is, until an unknown pink creature appears right in front of her, unaware of where it came from. The alien creature, appearing to be a Pokemon, lightly taps swablu's forehead, causing its body to glow in reaction for several moments. Just like that, the creature whisks itself away back into the forest but not before Zoey manages to scan the bizarre creature with her pokedex.

"Mew?"

Chirping erupts from her lap, grabbing Zoey's attention. The swablu somehow made a recovery, chirping and humming happily in her lap. Other sounds reach her ears as well, as the faint sound of vehicles approach her location. She turns around to glance back towards the van, seeing Gabby play with some of the freed forest Pokemon while Ryan talks over the phone with some people. The poachers lie on the ground, tied together like good criminals. Vehicles enter her peripheral, bearing the logo of the forest rangers as several approach the sight of the conflict. Zoey stands up, watching the events with the rangers unfold as the poachers are turned in to the authorities. It appears as if Ryan is briefing them all in what happened. In the meantime, something else comes to Zoey's mind.

Swablu leaps from her arms, hip hopping all the way to the flock of swablu and their altaria mother overlooking them by the van. Zoey follows behind, but keeps her distance while watching swablu's exchange from afar. Her swablu chirps loudly over the flock, grabbing the altaria's attention. She stares at the small blue hatchling for a moment before descending to the ground from atop the van. The two approach each other, but it's Swablu that appears to be doing most of the chattering. Their interaction is brief, but it becomes clear what happens. Swablu, whether by instinct or something more profound, has been reunited with its birth mother. The Cotton Bird leaps up onto its mother's down, cuddling against her soft feathers while the rest of the flock chirp with excitement, reunited with their lost sibling. The reunion catches everyone's attention, as the birds find themselves a happy ending.

"Zoey!" a familiar female voice shouts. "I heard what you and Gabby did! I'm so impressed! I'm so happy I could count on you!"

Leaving one of the jeeps is Michelle, this time with a arm sling keeping her left arm in place as it heals. Zoey looks away, blushing slightly.

"I, uh... I... you're welcome?" Zoey stammers, unable to contemplate something to say in the occasion.

"We've about wrapped up taking in the poachers, and it looks like all of the Pokemon are freed," Michelle states as she scans their immediate environment. "You and Gabby deserve a reward! We don't mind allowing you two to rest up at the station for the night. You two have been such a wonderful asset to us today! We couldn't be more grateful!"

"Weeeeeell..." Zoey holds her note while doing her best to suppress the blossoming red in her cheeks. "Vuowth could certainly use some relief!"

Michelle erupts in laughter, with Zoey smiling in response to her comments. Ryan and Gabby approach them as well, with Michelle's attention diverting to Ryan while Gabby approaches Zoey.

"Zoey!" Gabby yells, her arms wrapping around Zoey like she's a teddiursa. "I'm so glad you're alright! Just -HOW- did you manage to defeat those guys! You're incredible! You're like the best trainer ever! Wow!"

"What are you doing exactly?" Zoey comments to herself, her privacy disrupted somewhat by the over-the-top Gabby.

"We should get going, girls!" Michelle alerts them, waving over to them by the jeeps as they begin to depart with the poachers in tow. "We'll have a special feast for you two tonight!"

"Oh, of course!" Gabby cheerfully replies, running off towards the jeep as the last of them hop aboard.

Zoey makes her way to the vehicle as well, only for a loud squawking noise by her feet grabs her attention. At her feet she finds the same swablu again, chirping up towards her adamantly, again as if it wants something, Its face is still pale and its voice hoarse, but the chick presses on regardless. Ahead of her, mother altaria looks upon Zoey, her eyes meeting the teen's glance as if there's something she wants to tell her. A thought then passes through her mind, shifting her focus back to the swablu hatchling, picking it up before raising it up to eye level. The bird keeps chirping at a blank faced Zoey, her mind jumping from place to place in order to understand the message swablu and it's mother are trying to tell her.

"You..." Zoey pauses, taking a moment to reflect on her next words before continuing, "You want to join me on my journey?"

"I almost forgot! The swablu you guys hatched still probably needs some medical attention. How is it doing by the way, Zoey?" Michelle asks the teen, remembering the importance of preserving swablu's health.

Swablu's chirping erupts, an audible change in tone as the bird lets its opinion be known. Zoey gives Swablu a slight smile, holding it up higher before bringing it back to her eye level.

"Are you sure? I wont go easy on you if you plan to join my team! I expect only the best!" Zoey clarifies her vision to the Cotton Bird Pokemon, but its determination isn't dettered in the slightest; its message loud and clear.

"Okay then, but first you have to prove yourself!" Zoey declares, smiling confidently at swablu who returns her look with a puzzled one.

"Tomorrow, in the morning, at the West Ranger Station. You and I will have a battle!"




 
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chapter two; part V
Aberdeen Black // Viridian Forest
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Aberdeen had finally calmed down a bit. It was afternoon and the poachers, or rangers as they wanted to call themselves even though Ab didn't really think it fit well, had fed him with a nice late lunch and healed up Butterfree and Pikachu after their battle. Now, he was sitting next to the ever burning fire together with the quiet lady and the friendly elder man.

"And we have never seen any swadloon in these parts ever since! Haha!" Gregor finished his story. Aberdeen looked up and saw the old man giggle to himself. Usually he would have laughed with him even if the story wasn't good, but he still felt worried about Blitzle and Servine. He wondered where they could be.

"Aberdeen." The boy almost jumped up from his spot. Jamaisa hadn't said a thing directly to him since he got here, but now the womanly lady walked up to him and sat down on the log beside him. The darkness that the canopy overhead cast made their clearing in the forest feel like it was evening already, but in reality the sun still shone with orange rays outside of the forest. Orange light from the fire instead danced in Jamaisia's face as she smiled quietly and looked into Aberdeen's eyes. What a lovely lady, he thought.

"Let me see your pokémon," she asked.

"Alright!" He didn't even hesitate. Who would hesitate showing off to a pretty lady like this? He took up Pikachu's and Butterfree's pokéballs and let the two out. Pikachu immediately rustled her fur. It didn't seem like she had liked being inside the pokéball. Butterfree looked carefree until she spotted Aberdeen's sad face that still shone through his smile towards Jamaisia. The bug flew up to him and sat down on top of his head like a second hat. Apparently she considered that a way to try and make him happy. He smiled a little when he felt her gentle tug on his hair, so it worked.

"They aren't very strong," Jamaisia simply said, making Ab sweatdrop.

"Heh. I just caught them! I'll train... I guess."

"You probably can't take on Brock with just these two."

"Brock? You mean the gym leader in Pewter City? Oh... I didn't even think of him. I think I was content with having Servine, and thought he'd win the battle easily. But now..."

"You can't depend on your pokémon. You have to be strong yourself. They are not tools for you, they are there to be an extension of yourself in battle. True friends that you can count on in any bad weather."

Aberdeen blinked. This lady looked really shallow but she spoke very deeply. So beautiful! He smiled charmingly towards her. "You are such a lovely intelligent woman. I appreciate that!" he said.

Jamaisia only smiled back. Then, another voice was heard: "If they are gonna be your friends, shouldn't you name them?"

Turning his head around, Aberdeen saw Memeeber sit down on the log on his other side. She looked intrigued. "Why haven't you named any pokémon yet? You just call them Blitzle and Servine."

"I guess... I didn't really think of it. Their species names are pretty cool as they are!"

Butterfree and Pikachu looked at each other. They hadn't thought about it either.

"But now that you mention it... Maybe I should name them. Hmmm." He picked up Pikachu in his arms and stared at her until the pokémon cracked up into a nervous smile. "How about Pinocchio?"

Gregor suddenly croaked strangely. The others looked questioningly at him but he waved it away as a coughing. Memeeber crossed her arms over her chest in concern though. "Are you really going to name a girl Pinocchio? That's a boy's name you know."

"A girl? You're a girl?" Aberdeen asked, holding up the pokémon at arms length. She beamed at him in a positive response.

"Didn't you notice the slight heart-shaped curve on her tail?"

"Nah, I didn't really think about it actually. But now I feel bad for not perhaps having shown her the respect she deserves as a lady. I'm sorry, Pinocchio!" He gave her a careful hug, which she happily returned, cuddling up against his chest and making him tickle a bit.

Memeeber sighed and Gregor laughed a little again.

"And you." Ab poked the bug on his head and made it flutter down to sit on his lap while the mouse jumped down. "You can be Bernadette."

"Those names are certainly... unusual," Gregor said from across the fire.

Jamaisia said nothing while Memeeber shook her head. "At least you knew Butterfree was a girl too. You're funny," she told Ab, who decided to take it as a compliment even though she seemed to mean that he was strange. Perception is all.




It was decided that Aberdeen could stay at the ranger camp for the night, even though Corpwall had objected a little. He was the man with the square chin and the gun. Some time before sundown, Memeeber went out from the tent where she and Jamaisia were sleeping, to look for Aberdeen. He was supposed to share tent with Dangoober, Memeeber's older stepbrother, but he wasn't there now.

She had to wander a bit away from the camp to find him, standing between some trees letting his pokémon spar against each other.

"Remember, no powders!" he told Bernadette, who nodded eagerly. "And no shocks!" he then told Pinocchio, who winked at him as an 'ok', even though the only thing she really had aside from her shocking attack were Tail Whip and Growl and various simple physical tricks.

The two pokémon sparred with Tackles and tricks for several minutes before Memeeber made her presence known with a little cough. Aberdeen let out a shriek that scared his pokémon into stopping the training.

"Sorry!" the girl said immediately, stepping out from the shadows of the vegetation. "It's just that it's getting dark and I was thinking you'd want to go to sleep soon."

"I'm just doing some training," Ab reassured her. "I'll be back soon. Hey, are you sure I have to sleep in Dangoober's tent? How about-"

"Aberdeen, I still believe you're a nice little boy, don't destroy that," Memeeber said with a wink before she walked away back to the camp again.

"Little boy? Nice little boy?" Aberdeen stood crestfallen. "I'm a man! I'll show them. She can't be older than me, can she? I've gotta ask her."

Bernadette fluttered up to his face with warning eyes. "Oh... You mean I shouldn't ask a girl for her age, don't you? Alright then. I'll ask... Her brother!"

A sudden creak of sticks made Aberdeen's head turn around. Between the trees, he could spot a figure in the shadows. At first he jolted at the thought of the shadow pokémon from before... But this silhouette looked different. Yes, as he crept closer he could see that the color of its body was a light green and that it had large blades as arms.

"Scyther," a voice murmured behind him.

He had to really restrain himself from screaming out loud at that. Dangoober appeared next to him, hiding behind the same log as Ab was. "It's facing an opponent," he said.

Aberdeen turned back to the bug and noticed that it stared at something that was closing in on it from the forest. Another bug, a dark blue one. "Heracross!" the boy whispered in excitement. They were really strong but not too common in battles on TV.

"Yes. It is probably a territorial battle. The heracross looks very angry. Scyther has probably overstepped boundaries." Dangoober seemed to know a lot. His dark eyes watched the two pokémon close in on one another carefully. Aberdeen watched too.

Heracross let out a roar and swung its horn around intimidatingly. Scyther seemed to snicker. It only subtly readied its blades for attack before jumping forward without a warning in a Quick Attack. It tackled Heracross right on, but the blue bug jumped up again immediately, barely scratched. Even before Scyther had turned back around, Heracross' arm glowed darkly and was slashed in a Night Slash against the opponent. Luckily, the green pokémon was a bit faster and dodged just in the nick of time. It suddenly shot a wave of some whirling air towards the other pokémon, who fell forward. The whole attack looked really strange.

"What was that?"

"Vacuum Wave," Dangoober said like a talking encyclopedia. "It can do strange things but most often just pulls things towards the pokémon. Look," he said and pointed.

Scyther had followed up the attack with a Quick Attack that Heracross just couldn't escape. Still, the blue pokémon's defenses were as high as the green pokémon's speed and it still wasn't very badly hurt. The two got up and stared at each other for a while. Aberdeen felt his stomach wriggle with excitement and Pinocchio and Bernadette beside him must have felt it too.

"I'm gonna capture them," he said and was about to emerge from his hiding place when Dangoober stopped him by grabbing his arm and pulling him down.

"Scyther are rare," he said, his dark eyes fixed on Ab's, almost scaring him a little. "Heracross too, especially in the rest of the region. We are poachers and we are tracking and capturing rare pokémon. These are our foes."

"But... I saw them first!"

"No, you just happened to be here. I tracked them."

"Can't we at least take one each? I'll even let you choose which!"

Dangoober seemed to consider it. He watched the two pokémon exchange a pair of attacks again and let go of Aberdeen's arm. "Fair enough. I will capture Heracross. Scyther is yours."

Ab thought about it. If he had chosen, would he have rather had Scyther or heracross? He didn't think that he could have decided, actually. So maybe this was indeed fair enough. Scyther would be his. He made a move to get up again, but was once again pulled down by a strong hand.

"Not yet," the dark man said. "Let them tire each other out."

"But... Catching them when they're weak is cheating!"

"No. It's strategy. It'll be their fault for tiring themselves in a dangerous place like this forest."

"I won't have that! If I'm going to capture a pokémon, I want to deserve it!" Aberdeen shouted, so that even the two bugs heard him and looked up. He now stepped up from his hiding place and out onto the scene. The evening spring sky was light and starry above him, with the rising moon peeking down. For once, the sky was actually visible from Viridian's forest floor.

"Scyther! Challenge me instead of Heracross! Heracross, I'll take care of your tresspasser for you!" the boy said to the bugs, dead serious.

The result was that Heracross threw itself at the boy, the glowing arm of Night Slash ready. From nowhere, a sticky string came and hit the blue bug in its face, halting it and making the blue light on the arm fade away while it stomped in the place out of frustration. Ab looked around and saw that Bernadette the butterfree was hovering just beside him with a grim look. She sure was the protective kind. Aberdeen smiled up at her, thankfully. Then he turned back to the blue bug. Scyther was still just standing in the background, watching them with a distrustful face.

"Now you've got a bone to pick with me too," the boy told Heracross, who had gotten the String Shot off its face and looked enraged. "Suit yourself."

"Aberdeen," Dangoober called, sitting on the log behind which they had previously hidden.

"Not now."

"Yes now. I don't have any pokémon on me. If you could weaken Heracross for me so that I can capture it, I can make it worth your while."

Aberdeen glanced back. Poachers really were cheaters, weren't they? And this guy didn't even beat around the bush and bother to call himself a 'ranger'. He admitted that he was a poacher, no more and no less. That's commendable in some way, perhaps.

"Alright!" he said, even though he suspected that this would be a tough battle with just the low leveled Pinocchio and Bernadette. If he had had Blitzle and Servine... No time to think about the past now, though.

He pulled up his headphones, which had hung around his neck, to his ears and put on a good track on a low enough volume that he could still hear the battle. "Let's begin. Bernadette, take on Heracross! Pinocchio!" The yellow mouse ran up to him. "You'll be battling Scyther."

Pinocchio met Scyther's intimidating gaze and felt a shudder through her body. This wasn't really her cup of tea... Battling vicious blades voluntarily, that is. But she had chosen to stand by Aberdeen's side. So now when he needed her, she couldn't really back down. She swallowed hard. At least she could try and do her best. Dangoober's lips curled into an amused smile at the scene in front of him. This would be interesting.







@ Red Wing
Nice to read a post with a long, clever battle!

- Sparky (Emolga) grew to lvl 12!
- Lily (Lilligant) grew to lvl 14!


@ Xlugon Pyro
I'll... I'll read that post when I have enough time ^^' It's your choice if you want to write that much, but you can't demand that I'll read and evaluate 11541 words immediately, so be patient.


@ me

- Pinocchio (Pikachu) grew to lvl 10 and learned Thunder Wave!
- Bernadette (Butterfree) grew to lvl 12 and learned Poisonpowder!
 
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Xlugon Pyro

Dragon Tamer
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16
Years
2-5; VELVET LIGHTS
Zoey Wyrmoki / / Viridian Forest
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Newborn Swablu positions itself in the grass, facing it the jungle warrior Vuowth, her eyes narrowing and vicious as she gazes upon her foe. Their shadows are long under the early morning sun, but Vuowth and Zoey have the longer shadows due to their foe. The sky overhead is a mix of shades from yellow to dark blue, the signs of morning dawn's arrival. Both creatures scope each other out, but one thing stands out. Swablu appears shaken somewhat, glancing up towards the predatory reptile before it. The bird begins chirping quietly, appearing unnerved before Vuowth, smirking back towards the winged creature which does little to ease the swablu's tensions.

"Are you sure you should be battling Swablu?" Gabby asks off to Zoey's side, showing concern for the pale bird. "That swablu is still ill! It's a miracle that it was able to fight when it did against those poachers!"

"It'll be alright," Zoey assures her, smiling confidently. "If Swablu wants to join my team, I need to see its strength."

"But you're putting Swablu's life at risk!" Gabby insists, trying to spare the bird from further harm. "It's cardiovascular and muscular systems are still so weak though, on top of just having been born yesterday! It's a miracle it was able to battle yesterday as is! You could be endangering it's very life!"

"Don't worry about it, Gabby!" Zoey reminds her before glancing back towards nervous Swablu. "I can't accept a Pokemon on my team unless I see its strength. Even if they're not strong now, I need to see if they have the strength of heart I need."

"Why can't you just capture it now and allow it to recover from illness?" she continues to plead to Zoey.

Zoey readies herself for battle, explaining to Gabby, "I can only measure Swablu's strength of heart through adversity. Keep in mind that I'm catching it, not defeating it. If Swablu is really that weak, I'll be able to catch it quickly!"

Gabby only sighs, frowning towards Swablu who stands on the opposite end of the small field from Vuowth and Zoey, a little unnerved by the impending battle. Around them, the station rangers gather outside to watch the battle that -someone- told them about. Michelle and Ryan is among them as well, eager to watch Zoey's first attempt at capturing a Pokemon take place. It probably wasn't a great idea to tell Gabby about this, although at this point she appears to probably regret that decision, and it's working against Zoey as well. Zoey never does well under social or other pressures, so the extra attention present isn't helping much. Although, perhaps so many showed up because she and Gabby helped capture the poachers from yesterday. Whatever the case is though, Zoey won't allow her audience to distract her. Right now, this ordeal is between her, Vuowth, and the swablu several meters away, facing them with trepidation.

"Are you ready, Swablu?" Zoey yells across the field, both Pokemon adjusting their stances slightly but the eagerness discrepancy between the Pokemon grows more vast.

"Let's begin! Quick Attack!"

Vuowth shows no hesitation, rushing towards her foe almost before Zoey even gave the command. The swablu squawks, reacting in surprise before trying to hobble out of the path of Vuowth's attack. It's no good, however. Swablu bowls over, rolling several meters away as Quick Attack hits its mark. The strike proves her ferocity as swablu travels a good distance after contact.

"That was too violent!" Gabby complains in horror after witnessing Swablu getting tossed aside by Vuowth's attack.

Zoey retorts back in an irritable tone, "This is my battle! Stay out of it."

"Quick Attack again!"

To her surprise, Vuowth tries something else, leaping up and over the bird before barreling down on it from the air, using her Pursuit to attack. Swablu's terror reaches its peak, squawking loudly and suddenly to use Astonish. This action takes her by surprise, missing her target by misplacing her feet. Swablu takes this advantage to scamper away, but Vuowth won't have any of it, pissed off that the bird disrupted her earlier attack. Zoey smacks her palm against her face, witnessing yet another deviation from her orders. Why is she doing this again?

"Not again... This is sooo embarrassing." Zoey comments internally while watching the battle unfold. "No, not Pursuit! Dammit!"

"Come on Vuowth! We're a team!" she sighs, giving up on getting worked up about Vuowth's defiant habits. "Alright, use Crunch!"

"Wait, where did swablu go?" Zoey noticies as her eyes scan the field, spotting Vuowth next to the forest looking in as she tries to scout out the hiding bird.

A soft melody drifts from inside the forest, breaching everyone's ears. Zoey catches wind of this and covers her ears with her hands. Other spectators begin to do the same, but some of them are too late, falling to the ground as they fall asleep. Vuowth meanwhile rushes into the forest, picking up on the tune and following it into the forest in order to track down Swablu.

"Vuowth, no! Cover your ears!" Zoey warns Vuowth, but the lizard already took off.

Zoey follows Vuowth into the forest, keeping her ears covered as she fights through the forest's underbrush. There Vuowth lies motionless on the ground, taken to the realm of dreams by Swablu's Sing. The display impresses Zoey, although she cringes when her eyes return to Vuowth, embarrassed by her Pokemon's stupid decision. Swablu capitalizes on its unconscious opponent, hopping on top of Vuowth's body before Pecking away at her scaly skin.

"Get up Vuowth!" Zoey urges Vuowth to regain consciousness, but she instead remains planted in the dirt.

However, the pain from the bird's Pecks causes Vuowth to rise to her feet in rage, spotting the startled swablu while scowling at the dirty bird. The grass-type unleashes a strong Pursuit on the bird, causing it to bounce away in recoil before Vuowth traps it against the trunk of the tree, extracting energy from the bird using Absorb.

"Vuowth..." complains her trainer, "You ran into the forest against my instructions and fell victim to an attack you could've avoid. Rather humiliatingly, in fact. If we work together, you won't fall victim to these kinds of situations."

Vuowth shoots her a petulant look before resuming her assault, sucking dry the energy within Swablu. However, Vuowth is taken aback by the sudden startling Astonish, breaking up her Absorb due to her falling back in shock. Swablu takes this opportunity to drive its beak into Vuowth's underbelly, Pecking the reptile for serious damage.

"You can't let your guard down like that, Vuowth! You're too reckless!" Zoey lectures Vuowth with disappointment, but her defiant Pokemon disregards her criticism with her sassy, glaring response.

"Swablu is close, so try using Crunch!" Zoey insists anyway, but watches as Vuowth scrapes her bladed leaves against Swablu's fluffy body, using Fury Cutter instead.

Vuowth follows up, chasing after the swablu rolling away after taking a blow from the vicious lizard. She uses Pursuit, clobbering the helpless bird from above before slamming her into the ground. By then though, Swablu bounces back up with a nauseous look on its face, rolling over in defeat. Nevertheless, Vuowth opens her maw for Crunch to make sure her work is thorough.

"Stop Vuowth!" Zoey warns Vuowth, running into the path of her attack to grab her attention. "Swablu is fainted! Don't be so overzealous! I need to talk to you about this later."​

Her audacious reptile hisses irritably, arcing around her trainer to witness the impending capture. Zoey slips a pokeball out from her pink sack, dropping it on top of the incapacitated bird Pokemon as the ball sucks the bird in to begin the struggle for capture. However, Swablu doesn't put up much of a fight at all, as her pokeball blinks brightly and ceases rattling, slowing to a stop. Zoey smiles, surprised with how quickly it took, scooping up her newly captured Pokemon. Vuowth walks by her side as they return to the clearing where everyone was watching them earlier. Her grovyle carries a cold expression on her face after the battle, disturbed by how she was played for a sucker by running into the forest and falling asleep from Swablu's Sing. Perhaps listening to Zoey would have prevented that scenario from occurring, but what's the fun of that? Battling just isn't the same if you can't do what you want, but being played a fool just gets under her skin. While Vuowth seems to have warmed up to Zoey, there's still distance between them. Something more is at play that's preventing Vuowth from complying. When she fought against that electabuzz, Vuowth battled alongside Zoey just fine. Maybe that incident holds a clue.

Zoey and Vuowth return to the clearing outside the station. Several of the rangers still lie asleep from Swablu's Song, but Michelle and Gabby remain alert, running up to Zoey as she comes into view. Their presence takes Zoey by surprise, treading back a few steps to maintain a comfortable distance.

"So did you catch it!? Is it okay!?" Gabby shoves herself into Zoey's face, her antsy antics and endless nosiness eroding away Zoey's comfort.

"Uhm... I think so..." Zoey stutters nervously, trying to back away from Gabby who just wont respect her space.

"What do you mean 'I think so'?" she presses, unable to read the discomfort of Zoey's reddening face.

"Gabby, give her some space! She's a new trainer, remember!" Michelle tosses the girl a friendly reminder while smiling at the both of them.

"Good job on the capture!" the ranger woman commends Zoey, receiving her remarks by turning her head away, blushing. "Now, be sure you continue to treat Swablu its medicine every day and keep feeding it the milk I gave you. Swablu'll probably need a lot of time to build up its health to strong levels even after its illness subsides. You'll be able to find additional supplies to keep Swablu healthy during recovery in Pewter City, so just refer to the list I gave and you'll do fine!"

"Thanks!" Zoey says to Michelle in appreciation. "I'll be sure to help Swablu grow strong!"

"Good luck then!" Michelle sends her off, waving. "Head northeast from here and you should reach Pewter City in a day, maybe earlier if you're quick on your feet!"

Zoey waves to everyone at the station, taking off into the woods as her journey now takes her through the remainder of Viridian Forest. However, the reality of an approaching gym grabs her attention. She will have to train both of her Pokemon considerably to defeat a league-recognized gym sponsor. A feat like that will require the best from her, and her Pokemon will need to be healthy and obedient. That last one is especially true for Vuowth, which will be troublesome if she has to put up with more defiant behavior from Vuowth. Somehow, she'll need to find the secret to why Vuowth doesn't listen to her.

"Wait!" a recognizable voice yells. "Wait, Zoey!"

"Huh?" she turns her head to see Gabby looking terrible, catching up to her but falling to her knees in exhaustion from poor fitness levels.

"I-forgot to give you something!" Gabby claims, pulling out an item from one of her pockets to reveal a spiky stone, glistening from the sunlight to such an extent that it appears to give off light of its own.

"What's that?" Zoey eyes it closely, inspecting its peculiar surface.

"It's a sun stone! They help certain Pokemon evolve!" Gabby answers her as she slips the stone into Zoey's hand. "You helped me rescue Shockpox and I was really impressed with how you handled those poachers yesterday, so I wanted to make sure I gave this to you."

"Oh! Well... thanks!" Zoey hesitates before accepting Gabby's gift, tucking it into her pink sack slung over her shoulder.

"Where are you off to, then?" Zoey asks her out of curiosity.

"Oh!" she responds, more than eager to detail her next adventure. "I want to continue studying the Pokemon and habitat of this forest! I hope to be a full-fledged conservationist in the future and help to preserve Pokemon habitats!"

"I see," Zoey acknowledges her, "I'm off to Pewter City myself. I'm training to take on the gym there and obtain my first badge."

"Oh, awesome!" Gabby proclaims proudly for her new friend. "I'll be rooting for you!"

"Thanks!" she replies in kind, waving to Gabby as her path takes her into the heart of the forest once more.

"Bye! Return to Viridian Forest soon! Maybe we can battle!" Gabby yells as she bids farewell to a new friend that she met in the forest.

"Count on it!" Zoey promises, shouting back before departing into the deep woods.

And so, Zoey's saga continues on the road to Pewter City with a new partner in tow. Taking to the woods between her and the destination of her first gym will give her ample opportunities to train her two Pokemon in preparation. Although, her new swablu might need more attention as it recovers from its enfeebling illness. Vuowth will be a tough nut to crack too. Until she can find a way to communicate with Vuowth and get her to work with her trainer, moving up as a trainer will prove to be a challenge. Truly daunting tasks lie ahead for Zoey, but like always, she's prepared to take on any obstacle.



"Speaking of Swablu... what should I name it?" Zoey asks herself, treading through the woods as she brings out her pokedex and Swablu's pokeball, scanning it to get a better read on her new companion.

"Female, huh? Alright then..." Zoey ponders, jarring her brain for ideas while occasionally pulling out a paper pad and pencil to jot down whatever comes to mind.

"How about Zovy?"




 

Lostworld

cosmic castaway
217
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14
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chapter two; VELVET LIGHTS
Meredith Hudson // Viridian Forest // Post Two
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Though the forest was dark and gloomy at times, the immense amount of overgrowth and towering trees reaching every inch of the area it covered, it was terribly humid. Meredith was having a hard time staying positive, unsure if they would ever find the path that led to the exit of this blasted place. They had been walking for quite some time now, maybe an hour or two but there were no obvious landmarks to indicate if they were going in a linear direction or going around in circles.

"This is totally hopeless guys, we don't know where we are going," Trying not to sound desperate, Meredith held back the tears viciously, not wanting to appear at all weak in front of her new friends.

Wartortle, who was trying to act as the leader of the group, staying strong for his trainer, jumped up on a fallen log that lay on a slant, giving it some height, trying to get a better look around. It was useless though, for the surroundings were shrouded by bush.

Plonking down on her knees and dropping her bag, Meredith let one tear roll down her cheek. Nidoran affectionately moved to her side, nuzzling her arm.

"I don't know what to do guys, I never thought that we'd get stuck in the forest for hours. I thought this place was meant to be trainer friendly!" More tears fell as Meredith wiped them away quickly, scratching Nidoran behind the ears, a small smiling forming on her face, one that had not been present in a long while. "At least, I'm stuck here with you two."

Her smile moved from Nidoran to Wartortle, who Meredith could see was trying so hard to find a solution to the problem they were in.

"Maybe, we'll just keep going for a bit, see if we run into anything familiar," Meredith said, standing back up.

"Niiii-do!" Nidoran's high pitched statement filled the area with noise as he trotted over to join Wartortle, who had chosen the next path for them to take. Meredith followed, hoping that they would be out of this forest as soon as possible.

With all the chattering from Wartortle and Nidoran, Meredith failed to hear the snap of branches behind them and the low growl that followed. Something or someone seemed to be very interested in the three lost individuals. The breaking of twigs and the crunch of dead leaves underfoot continued as Meredith followed her two Pokemon. As the noises became out of sync with their own footsteps, Meredith became increasingly aware that she could hear something else.

She spun around, hushing Wartortle and Nidoran who looked at Meredith inquisitively.

"I think there's something behind us," Meredith whispered as quietly as she could, looking back at her Pokemon.
Nidoran's ears instantly pricked, looking for sounds of irregular movement. Nidoran's large ears picked up a slow, steady stomp, with the odd crack of a twig or crunch of leaves shielding the noise. With his ears laid back on his neck, Nidoran braced, motioning to Wartortle that something was coming. Meredith realised this and quickly moved to position herself behind her Pokemon, in case this called for an attack. The other option was to quickly return them to their Pokeballs and run like crazy. That was so hard to do in the forest though, with all the overgrowth acting like a trap. The only ones who had the real advantage in this place were the bugs.

Both Nidoran and Wartortle could now here the slow stomp, though this was lost to Meredith, who couldn't hear anything except the swish of the trees in the light breeze. Frantically, her eyes scanned the area her Pokemon were faced towards, knowing that something was coming.

With a rustle of a bush and more noise, a large blue horn appeared very abruptly out of the leaves. This was followed by two blue feelers, a hard cased shell and two very beady yellow eyes. They glared at Meredith, whose jaw had dropped before focussing on Nidoran and Wartortle, who looked both stunned but defensive over their trainer.

It was quite uncommon for a wild Pokemon to emit feelings of jealousy over trained Pokemon who travelled with their trainer but alas, it did happen sometimes. Though Meredith had never heard of it before, she'd never seen a wild Pokemon, let alone one that rarely showed itself to people, follow them for a questionable amount of time only to challenge them to battle. Meredith believed, like the Beedrill and the Pidgeotto incident, that this was just bad luck again with wild Pokemon.

The Pokemon emerged from the bush to show itself completely, it's hard shell glistening in what sunlight streamed through this area. With its beady eyes still fixated on Wartortle and Nidoran, it snapped it's claws, the noise echoing in and out of the trees.

"This one means business guys," Meredith said, trying not to show the shakiness in her voice. Slowly, she grabbed her Pokédex from her bag and aimed it at the wild Pokemon. In an instant, data came rolling up on the screen. Upon seeing it's type, Meredith screwed up her face, focussing only on the fact that it was classified as a bug type. The positives of a fighting type never occurred to her and as she commanded Wartortle to make the first attack, all she had in mind was she had to get away from this bug.

"Wartortle, use Water Gun!"

Wartortle's aim for this attack was probably the best of all the attacks he had tried since meeting Meredith. Maybe it was just due to the fact that it was at close range but it hit the wild Pokemon square in the face, forcing it to take a couple of steps back, nearly ending up back in the bush. As it shook the water off, it's shell still glistening with the signs of good health, it's eyes narrowed even more with it looking extremely pissed off. Who said he had come here to battle?

Meredith and Nidoran had to run off to the side to avoid being hit as Wartortle was slammed with a powerful Tackle attack from the Pokemon, it's strength even having the power to throw Wartortle a couple of feet. Meredith could only gasp and watch as Wartortle bravely stood back up, glancing at Meredith to give another command.

"Use Brine!"

The more powerful water attack shot towards the Heracross, mostly covering the wild Pokemon with a stinging sensation as it went. Water wasn't really a problem for Heracross though. He remembered in a flash a lonely battle with another trainer he'd come across in which he'd faced a water type starter that looked similar to the one that stood with this girl. It had been a tough opponent but not tough enough to take down Heracross. He'd seen too much, been scarred too many times to let a wimpy Squirtle take him down. This was no different. This girl and her measly trained Pokemon would go down too. And then he would leave them here, in the middle of the forest, where no one knew what could happen to them.

There was something in the Heracross's eyes, Meredith couldn't tell what but this was no ordinary battle or no ordinary wild Pokemon.

"Watch out Wartortle, this one's not like the other wild Pokemon," Meredith told her Pokemon, who stood watching the Heracross shake off yet another water attack. It didn't seem to be doing much to his health.

The next thing she knew, Meredith was on her back, legs in the air with a bruised Wartortle lying on top of her, his eyes screwed up in pain. The wind seemed to be knocked out of her and for a moment Meredith could only lie in the dirt, struggling to take a breath. Wartortle struggled up off of his trainer, mumbling an apology to her and looking straight at Heracross who stood across the clearing, a smirk on his face. His Horn Attack had been good but not great. It may have taken down both Wartortle and his trainer but this battle wasn't over yet.

Nidoran ran over to Meredith, his high pitched cry filled with worry as she slowly began to breath easy again.

"It's ok Nidoran, are you ok Wartortle?" Meredith asked with her hand on her chest as she took deep breaths. Wartortle was heavier than she'd thought. She never got a reply though and Nidoran and Meredith could only watch as the most powerful attack they'd seen from Wartortle shot from deep within his belly and headed straight towards Heracross. The smirk was wiped off the wild Pokémon's face in an instant as he was unable to dodge the water in time, the stinging sensation becoming something of almost a burn.

There was nothing more left for Wartortle to give and he collapsed just after Heracross fell into a heap on the ground. Though it wasn't anything special, Wartortle had put his heart into that Water Gun attack and that was the sole reason for being able to force Heracross to collapse, finally doing some proper damage. Though Wartortle was now out of the battle for now, Heracross wasn't done. Just as quickly as he had collapsed, he was back up again, looking angrier than ever, his eyes now fixated on Meredith.

Taking a couple of steps back, Meredith couldn't help but gulp in fear. She couldn't reach Wartortle without trying to get past Heracross who was steadily advancing on her. She was running out of space too, the trees and bushes behind her closing in fast.

Without warning, Nidoran jumped between Meredith and the angry Heracross, thinking only of protecting his new trainer. Nidoran clawed at the ground, preparing to charge with an attack. Without a command, Nidoran sped towards Heracross, executing some fancy footwork and ended up hitting Heracross with a Double Kick square on the head. There was a dull crack and Heracross could only blink before the attack forced him to stumble backwards away from Meredith.

"Woah! Nidoran! That was awesome!" Meredith's beaming smile turned into determination. They had to do this, to reach Wartortle and make sure he was ok and also to ensure they got out of this alive. With adrenalin pumping, Meredith didn't wait for the dazed Heracross to regain his concentration.

"Nidoran use your Focus Energy quickly and then Peck attack!"

Nidoran's Focus Energy was as quick as it was earlier on, storing just enough energy to push the following attack just past its limit. Nidoran's muscles tensed as he concentrated the excess energy, snorting as he stared down Heracross who was blinking fast, trying to gather his senses. Within a couple of seconds, Nidoran charged towards Heracross again, driving his small horn into Heracross. It soon became evident that the Peck attack was highly successful, as the Heracross collapsed for the second time. This time however, it did not rise back up. Face down in the dirt, he finally lay still, his shell rising and falling slowly as though each breath he took hurt to take.

Not wasting any more time, Meredith ran past the fallen bug over to Wartortle, who was now weakly looking at Nidoran with a thankful smile who had joined Meredith, still brimming with energy from the attack.

Meredith looked at both Wartortle and Nidoran with admiration before grabbing a potion bottle quickly out of her bag.

"Quick Wartortle, we don't have much time, we need to get out of here before that thing wakes up," Meredith poured the potion into the small bowl she carried with her before holding it up to Wartortle's mouth, who drank it quickly. After blinking a couple of times and wiggling his legs, it was clear Wartortle could walk but another battle like that would do more harm that it normally should have.

Meredith and Nidoran helped Wartortle up off his shell before Meredith grabbed his Pokeball.

"Don't worry Wartortle, we'll be fine now and we'll get out of here soon, I promise. Thank you for all your hard work," Meredith said with a smile before clicking the white button on the ball, Wartortle disappearing inside in a flash of red light, giving a nod of encouragement to Nidoran as he went.

Stowing away the Pokeball, Meredith then looked to the Heracross who was still lying in the dirt. For a split second, there was a part of her that felt quite sorry for what she and her Pokemon had done to it. But it was justified, right? He had been attacking them too… In quite a violent manner. She had plenty spare Pokeballs, she could always try and capture it and take it to a Pokemon Center to be healed. But Meredith had seen the hatred in his eyes. It had pierced into her.

Nidoran sensed that his trainer was contemplating this, in taking Heracross along with them. If anyone could help this conflicted Pokemon, Nidoran felt it was Meredith that would at least have the balls to try to do something to help, even if she failed a couple of times.

Meredith had to tear her eyes away from the bug type lying in a heap before looking at Nidoran, giving him a quick smile.

"Come on, let's get out of here,"

Trusting her gut instinct, Meredith headed in the direction she was facing, Nidoran hot on her heels. Anywhere was better than staying around here, where this bug might wake up and try and take them down again. Meredith didn't think that was likely though, her Pokemon had given him quite a beating.

Meredith never saw two yellow beady eyes snap open and then narrow as the Heracross listened to the pair's footsteps as they slowly drifted away.


 
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chapter two; part VI
Aberdeen Black // Viridian Forest
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The battle began.

"Pinocchio, Thundershock! Bernadette, Tackle!" Aberdeen ordered, thinking it best to try a head-on approach first to see what his opponents were like. Pinocchio's cheeks started crackling and she soon launched a Thundershock towards Scyther. He could not escape and was hit right on. The attack made him hurt. But it also turned on the blaze in his eyes. He lifted his scythes and ran towards the Pikachu in a Quick Attack that she only barely evaded.

Bernadette's Tackle didn't go as well. Heracross easily withstood the tackle from the smaller pokémon using Endure, then he used his horn to catapult the butterfree swirling up into the air. Aberdeen quickly realized that sending two pokémon out at once hadn't been ideal; he had trouble keeping a check on both battles at once.

"Bernadette, use Poisonpowder when you're up above him! Pinocchio, use Thunder Wave and paralyze him!"

Using clever, status afflicting attacks was his next strategy since head on approach hadn't worked very well. Bernadette fought for a bit to regain control over her spinning body in the air before she started falling. Heracross readied his horn to throw her again whenever she came down, but she managed to stay afloat and all of a sudden released a purple powder into the air. Heracross was covered and it was clear that he immediately felt pain from the nasty feeling that the touch of the powder brought. Aberdeen crossed his fingers in hopes that the wild pokémon would be poisoned and didn't reflect on the possible level of evil it could be to wish something like that. He forgot to keep a check on Pinocchio.

The Pikachu fired off a Thunder Wave before Scyther could come around again. It again hit straight on the spot and effectively paralyzed the bug. But he wouldn't give up. Despite his body not obeying him fully at the moment, he raised his arms and conjured a tunnel of vacuum into the air. Vacuum Wave. Pinocchio was sucked towards the scyther and without a chance to dodge while it flew through the air, the mouse was struck by a well aimed Quick Attack head on. She fell to the ground with a little yelp, making Aberdeen look that way and realizing that he had been too focused on Bernadette's endeavors.

"Struggling?" came Dangoober's voice from behind them, where the older guy sat on the log watching.

"No, not at all!" Aberdeen assured him, but then muttered under his breath: "Not yet..."

The bugs retaliated. Heracross didn't seem ill enough to stop battling, so he suddenly flied up with the wings that Ab had forgotten that it had, and launched a vicious Fury Attack with its horn on the poor butterfree. She was overwhelmed and fluttered towards the ground with aching body. Meanwhile, Pinocchio had crept away from Scyther while the latter raised its claws with a grin. Aberdeen knew he had to finish this before his attention got too divided and his pokémon too hurt. A double battle where two people had given orders, like the one he had had beside Adam, that was ok. But this, when his opponents were thinking independently, was too hard. Then again, that was what the female ranger had done... He clenched his fists.

"Pinocchio, Growl! Bernadette, String Shot on its fist!"

Bernadette shot out String Shot to envelop Heracross' right fist, the one it had just begun trying to form a Night Slash with. The dark energy dissipated as the strings enveloped it and tugged it like a leash held by the butterfree. Pinocchio jumped aside from another Vacuum Wave successfully and then Growled in the most intimidating way she could towards the hostile bug. He merely looked strangely at her, as if she was crazy to try and intimidate him.

Aberdeen felt sweat breaking out on his forehead but he wouldn't give up. If a nasty redneck ranger could do this, then so could he. He just had to make an effort. Or else he would never learn to win battles against other trainers. With trained pokémon. "Good, again Pinocchio, Growl! Bernadette, Confusion!"

Heracross and Bernadette had been having a tug battle that the larger bug was about to win, but now he pulled the string even more to get closer to the bug, to punch it. But Bernadette let go of the string in the nick of time and easily locked eyes with the heracross. She sent a Confusion attack directly at him, which immediately made his head hurt. Dizzy, he closed his eyes and stumbled backwards, only to trip backwards on a rock.

Pinocchio kept growling at the much larger enemy, who didn't attack for a while just because it was so confounded by this strange behavior. He could just chop this mouse up. Why didn't it run for its life? Did it really believe that there was a point to fighting for this human? This... Trainer? Scyther loathed the very idea of it. Eventually, it had had enough and raised its claws behind it. Another Quick Attack and the mouse would be done for.

Aberdeen ran to stand just beneath Bernadette, who was hovering over the dizzy heracross on the ground. There was something else causing the dizzyness too... He had actually been poisoned after all! "Good work, Bernadette! Knock him out with a Tackle before he gets up with that slash of his again," Aberdeen said, looking up at the butterfree, who nodded with her determined eyes and rammed down straight into the belly of the pokémon on the ground. Heracross coughed and didn't move more. A movement made Ab's eyes change focus and look to the side.

Scyther ran past him, in a last Quick Attack towards Pinocchio. The mouse couldn't avoid it and was tackled and thrown backwards. A few seconds went by when Scyther breathed hard and the pikachu lay on the ground. But then she moved... She got up and stood up straight with a smile on her face. Scyther was astonished.

"Clever... There was tactics after all," Dangoober said to himself on his log.

"Thunder Wave still affects your movement," Aberdeen sneered. "And being Growled at that many times must have made you hesitant, even though you don't admit it to yourself," he went on and then pointed straight at the Scyther. "Give up, or Pinocchio will fry you with another Thundershock!"

Scyther stuck out its tongue at the boy! Then it's image suddenly became blurry and it seemed to chase after Pinocchio as the little pokémon ran towards her trainer, believing the battle was over and that she could relax and celebrate now.

"Look out!" Aberdeen shouted. Pinocchio looked back too late, but luckily the butterfree was once again there to save her teammates, this time with a String Shot suddenly glueing Scyther's scythes together behind him, like handcuffs. Out of surprise, he didn't follow through with the Pursuit attack and instead stopped and groaned.

"Now, Pinocchio, Thundershock!" Ab shouted. He had always wanted to shout an attack and then the word 'now' in a dramatic way. This occasion made him smile despite the rough situation. Pinocchio turned back to her not yet fallen opponent and loaded up the attack in her cheeks. Scyther sensed what was coming and just managed to cut off the String Shot handcuffs by rubbing his scythes together; they were too sharp to effectively be bound, after all. But the Thundershock was unavoidable and he was struck hard by lightning before falling down on the forest floor.

Before Aberdeen could react, a pokéball flew through the air and made contact with Scyther's head. He was sucked in and the pokéball landed on the dark forest floor. The capture was complete. Aberdeen's jaw dropped. "Who did that?!"

Dangoober walked up to him. "I did."

"But the Scyther was mine!"

"Heracross was a mindless madman while this pokémon had sense and style. This is worth more. That's how a poacher needs to think," the older guy said as he picked up the ball.

"You're wrong! Scyther was battling with... With some kind of evil intent. I can tell! Heracross just wanted to defend his territory! I wanted to make Scyther happier by training him..." Ab looked down on the blue bug, on top of which Bernadette sat victoriously.

"Someone will. Or someone will use his intents in some way. Heracross is yours. Perhaps you can use that anger of his in a good way." With that, Dangoober began walking away. Ab stood still for a moment. Pinocchio walked up to him, smiling as if she wondered if her efforts deserved praise or if she would have to beg for it. The boy sighed and picked her up into his arms.

"Well done," he said. "You did amazing. You too," he added to Bernadette, who flied up and settled on top of his head like before. "If we fight like this when we face a trainer, we'll become great. I know it."

He looked at Heracross, who was slowly waking up. Then, without more words, he held the pikachu with one arm and picked up an empty pokéball from his pocket with the other. It was a good thing he had brought a couple of extra. Just in case he had stumbled upon interesting wild pokémon. As he had. The ball was tossed at the bug just as its eyes opened to glimpse the last images of freedom he would have. In a way.








@ Xlugon Pyro
Don't make 11000 words long posts a habit, please? ^^; Well, you can if you really want to, but then it might take a while for me to sit down and read it, just so you know. Like now. Nice to see you caught another pokémon!

- Vuowth (Grovyle) grew to lvl 21! because.
- Zoey's new Swablu is on lvl 9!


@ Breezy.

Naw, Meredith and her pokémon are adorable.

- Wartortle grew to lvl 15!
- Nidoran grew to lvl 12!


@ me


- Bernadette (Butterfree) grew to lvl 14 and learned Stun Spore! Bernadette also forgot Harden to learn Sleep Powder.
- Pinocchio (Pikachu) grew to lvl 12!
- Aberdeen's new Heracross is on lvl 9!
 
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Letham

Pokemon Training Specialist
46
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11
Years
chapter two; Velvet Lights
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Ben Tobin // Viridian Forest // pt. 2

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Keith was sitting on the porch, watching the Heracross sip honey from a pitcher as Arthur was lying in the grass in the fading sunlight asleep. Ben came down from the wash station up the hill from the cabin pulling on his shirt and holding his hat in his hands his hair still wet from the shower he sat across from Keith watching the sun set in the western hills. Lucy lay curled asleep against Zeus who was also asleep. Keith handed him a cup of steaming tea as he took a seat and they sipped the warm drink and listened to the sounds of the forest.

"I want to thank you again for your help, son. I'll raise this Pokemon right." Keith said, taking a drink of his tea.

"I was happy to help, sir." Ben said with a smile. "Just wish that Scyther hadn't gotten away."

"You'll find him. Trust me, a catch like that ain't worth lettin' go."

"I hope so."

"You wanna use Arthur? He's a mighty fine tracker."

"Thank you, sir but I think me and my team can handle it." Ben said rising from the chair and stretching. Lucy heard the chair squeak and sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Zeus twitched a leg in his sleep and opened an eye.
"I know you guys are tired but we best get a move on." Ben said, Lucy and Zeus getting to their feet and stretching as well, looking up at him.

He recalled Zeus and pulled on his hat.

"I'll come back and visit you, Keith. It was nice meeting you, sir." Ben said.

"Same to you, son. I wish you luck on your travels."

"Yessir, bye now." He said and set off down the pasture with Arthur lifting his head as he walked past, watching him go on across the clearing into the trees.

He walked long into the night, looking for the tracks by the light of his Pokedex with Lucy on his shoulders. He walked across expansive plains and through dense wooded areas where there was very little to see. By and by he came across faint glints of pink energy in the area which worried him but he pressed on, crossing a wide meadow he saw a figure come through the darkness of the forest to meet him.

"Fancy seeing you here." The figure said and in the moonlight he could see Harrison standing proudly in the knee-high grass. He leaned and spat and chuckled loudly.

"I don't have time for this." Ben said

"Oh, but you do. We've got a score to settle." Harrison said, taking the Pokeball from his necklace he tossed it into the air lightly a few times, a smirk stretching across his darkened features. He opened the ball and a bright white light illuminated the field and a lean Dewott appeared, drawing his scalchops and taking a battle stance.

"My Oshawott evolved. We ran across some poachers coming into the forest but Dewott here whooped em good didn't ya?" Harrison said.

"Dewott!" The lean blue otter said confidently, still bearing the bruises from the previous battle.

"I really don't have time for this. I'm tracking a Scyther."

"Oh yeah? I saw one of those a while back but it was moving too fast to catch it. A real shame." Harrison sighed. "You're not getting past me without a fight."

"Fine then." Ben said, releasing Zeus who stomped a hoof preparedly, his mane crackling in the darkness.

"Still using that dumb old Blitzle huh? Bet that thing doesn't even know any electric attacks."

"Zeus! Charge it up bud!" Ben called out and Zeus lowered his head, his mane glowing brightly and shining with a white light.

"Dewott! Water Gun!" The little otter ran within range and blasted a jet of water into Zeus face, making him take a few steps back but he shrugged it off, his mane still shining furiously.

"That all you got?" Ben asked chuckling himself now. "Zeus! Light that thing up! Shock Wave!"

Amidst the glow of Zeus' mane Ben could see Harrison's eyes widen in shock as Zeus' mane erupted in a sudden flash of electricity headed straight for Dewott.

"Dewott! Get out of the way!" The otter Pokemon tried to do just this, rolling swiftly to the left but the powered-up blast of lightning followed it, enveloping the otter in a flash of yellow-white light as it cried out in agony, sinking to its knees as smoke billowed off of it.

"Damn you!" Harrison shouted.

"Shock Wave never misses." Ben said calmly. "You should know that Mr. Expert."

"Get up Dewott! Don't embarrass yourself. Tackle that thing!"

"Shock Wave." Ben said flatly.

The feisty little Dewott came sprinting head first for Zeus who merely released a second burst of white-hot lightning, striking the Dewott head-on and knocking him off his feet as he rolled to Harrison's feet whimpering and attempting to get up.

"You failed me again, Dewott. You must get stronger!" Harrison said, his head lowered as he recalled his Pokemon, drawing a second ball from his belt.

"This isn't over yet, kid." He said, releasing a mid-size purple horned Pokemon who growled low, bearing its teeth.
"Nidorino is my trump card. This battle is far from over."

Ben aimed his Pokedex at the odd horned thing; Nidorino, the evolved form of Nidoran. It has a violent disposition and stabs foes with its horn, which oozes poison upon impact.

"Zeus, Shock Wave!" Ben called and the electric zebra shot a third jet of white lightning which struck the Nidorino dead-on but the Poison-type shrugged it off, seeming to smirk as did Harrison in the moonlight.

"Your little tricks won't work on this Pokemon. Nidorino, Poison Sting!" The purple horned Pokemon charged forth, Zeus taking a step back, unsure as its opponent horn glowed a bright purple, shooting out a blast which struck Zeus and made him stand on two legs, trying to regain his balance.

"Again!" Harrison shouted.

"Zeus! Shock Wave one more time!" Zeus struggled to get his footing and he shocked the Poison-type again but it kept coming, releasing a jet of purple striking Zeus again which made him drop to one knee.

"Double Kick Nidorino!" The purple Pokemon turned on a dime as it neared Zeus, kicking the zebra twice in the face knocking him off his feet he fell back to Ben's feet.

"Zeus!" Ben called, dropping to one knee holding the zebra in his arms as he began to glow a faint purple, the same as he'd seen on the Pidgeotto from earlier.

"No! You're poisoned!" Ben recalled him into his ball, Lucy stepping forward with scalchops ready.

"You'll pay for that!" Ben shouted. "Lucy! Razor Shell!" The fierce blue otter charged forth scalchops glowing a bright blue she struck Nidorino across the face in a swiping X motion, making it step back a bit as it readied an attack.
"Poison Sting again!" Harrison yelled.

"That's a dirty technique!" Ben shouted. "You'll do anything to win even if it means poisoning my friends. I won't allow it!" Ben was angry. He saw Harrison's technique and it only frustrated him. The Scyther could be miles away by now. "Lucy! Use that Pokemon's weight against him, watch that Poison!" Lucy understood and slid on her stomach under the purple blast, narrowly avoiding it as she rose just in front of the Nidorino.

"Razor Shell once more!" She struck the Poison-type once making it reel in pain and then again shouting as she did so, angry for what this Pokemon did to Zeus.

"Damn you and your stupid fat otter!" Harrison yelled. "Nidorino, Double Kick!" The Poison-type struck Lucy with a quick barrage of kicks and she cried out as the bruises easily showed where the little hooves had struck her.
"Water Gun! Full power!" Ben called out and Lucy's jaws expanded and she blasted the Nidorino in the face knocking it back a few feet where it pulled itself up, shaking off the water but it was hurt.

Just then a pink shimmer flew between the battle, almost too fast for the trainers to see and they were both stunned, watching it go as a purple one flew after it even faster and they both disappeared into the trees.

"Wha?!" Harrison was dumbfounded and Ben took the chance.

"Razor Shell now!" Lucy held her scalchops high slicing them in that familiar X pattern across the Nidorinos' face and it slumped to its stomach, pulling itself back onto its feet.

"Nidorino! Poison Sting on the ground around that otter's feet!" The Nidorino swung its horn in all directions, singing the grass around Lucy in poison.

"Now! Double Kick!"

"Lucy! Water Gun into the ground! Blast yourself back!" The blue otter understood and shot a high-intensity jet of water into the grass, flying off her feet far back to Ben's side, smirking in the light of the moon.

"Good thinking but it won't save you! Poison Sting and wait for the right moment!" Harrison yelled as Lucy charged into the battlefield, leaping over the poisoned spots in the grass but catching the attack straight on her chest she fell onto her back, crying out as she landed with an audible thump.

"Lucy! Get up girl you can do it!" The Water-type rose slowly, holding her belly as she readied her scalchops, not willing to give up.

"Double Kick now!" The Nidornio met her as she got up and kicked her twice in the face making her stumble back and drop to one knee. Her health was fading fast and she was still tired from her battle with the Vileplume and Marowak from earlier.

"Finish it with Poison Sting!"

"Quick Lucy! Water Gun into the ground again! Straight up!" The little otter shot a blast of water in the grass and was blasted into the air, the poison blast flying under her as she readied her glowing scalchops, anticipating Ben's call.
"Razor Shell!" She came down with her scalchops held high, slicing the Poison-type hard across its lowered head it reeled back onto its haunches, shaking its head.

"Poison Sting in bursts now!" Ben's eyes went wide as Lucy rolled and jumped the blasts of purple poison but she slipped in a puddle of the poison from earlier and scampered to her feet as the final blast hit her straight on, knocking her back into the grass where she lay shuddering horribly and glowing a bright purple.

"Lucy! No!!!" Ben shouted, his voice hoarse as he ran to her side, holding her in his arms as tears welled in his eyes.

"Please girl please hold on. I'll get you and Zeus an antidote I should have never let this happen. I'm so sorry please hold on." He said softly, dropping his pack as he fumbled inside for the antidotes.

"Looks like your chubby little otter couldn't cut it." Harrison said laughing loudly into the moonlight. "You forfeit kid?"

"You're damn right I forfeit! I could care less about a stupid battle when my Pokemon were already tired from a battle with trainers twice your skill level and now they're poisoned! Get out of my face you jerk!" Ben hollered, holding Lucy tightly to his chest as he uncapped the antidote.

"Sheesh. Just admit you lost. It's pretty simple. Good work Nidorino." He recalled the Poison-type and held up Dewott's Pokeball.

"These otters are pretty useless huh? They aren't much use to anyone. Pretty pathetic if you ask me."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Ben shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Tsk tsk tsk. So angry. Fine, see ya around sport." Harrison said and shouldered his pack, walking off into the trees.

Ben's eyes watered heavily as his shaking hand sprayed Lucy with the antidote, the poison so strong it almost had no effect and he sprayed her lightly once more and the purple glow finally subsided, her shakes dying down as she relaxed in his arms and he held her tightly to his chest.

"Please forgive me girl. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have made you battle."

"Deww…" Lucy said softly, hugging his chest. "Deww-ott…"

"I know girl I know. I'm sorry." He released Zeus who crumpled at once to his knees, the evil purple glow radiating all over him too. Ben laid Lucy very gently into the grass and held the zebra close, the Electric-type shaking terribly in his arms as he pulled another antidote from his pack, spraying it over Zeus as his shakes slowly went away and the purple glow softened and was gone as well.

Ben sat back in the grass holding Zeus, the tears on his cheeks drying as he wiped his eyes. He laid Zeus beside Lucy and produced the blankets and sleeping bag from his pack, laying them out on the grass he rolled Lucy into one and Zeus into another gently, spreading his sleeping bag on the grass beside them he sat watching them for some time until they both fell asleep. He sat and thought to himself and watched them sleep for a long time and then he rose and went around to the trees around the meadow and gathered some twigs and sticks and he went back to where the two Pokemon were curled next to each other and he made a small fire to warm them and he sat staring into the fire long into the night.

"You guys get a good long rest. You deserve it. I'm a terrible trainer." He said softly, poking the fire with a twig. It was nearly morning when he fell asleep sitting up in front of the fire.
 
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chapter 3; TIME TO ROCK // Pewter City

The first town you reach on your journey is Pewter, a rather small city where most people know each other and gossip a lot when travelers reach town, especially trainers who want to challenge the gym. There is a Pokémon Center that heals pokémon and gives a place to stay for the night, for free if a trainer displays a pokédex. There is also a PokéMart that sells goods and medicine for pokémon.

In the western part of town lies the Pewter Pokémon Gym. Behind the gym lies the mountain with some shady, cliffy areas where strange pokémon can be found. In the north lies the museum. To the east, Route 3 stretches out, but you probably don't want to go there until you have tested your skills against the gym leader.


You may team up and make a joint post, or several, in this chapter. Either about anything or doing one of the events together. Click the picture to get the theme music for this area.






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Graveler
Lv. 16
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[Tackle] [Rollout] [Mud Sport] [Rock Polish] [Rock Throw] [Magnitude]

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Onix
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[Tackle] [Bind] [Rock Tomb] [Screech] [Rock Throw] [Rage]

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Boldore
Lv. 18
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[Tackle] [Sand Attack] [Headbutt] [Rock Blast] [Mud Slap] [Iron Defense]
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The Pewter Pokémon Gym:
Brock is the gym leader and he specializes in Rock types. The arenas and training areas inside the building are all covered with earth, rocks and cliffs to give rock pokémon a nice environment. Tradition says that challengers have to face at least one gym trainer in battle before they are worthy of challenging Brock for a badge.

In ordet to challenge Brock, at least one of your pokémon should match the level of his lowest. If you defeat Brock, he will give you the Boulder Badge as well as a TM of your (OOC) choice!


Brock will use 2 pokémon in his battle against you and you are allowed to choose between these:








Optional event:
There has been a break-in at the museum and one of the treasures there has been stolen. If you somehow scout out the thief who is hiding in Pewter City somewhere and take back the treasure, the museum's manager will reward you with an evolution item - any evolution inducing item you want, except for stones. The thief will be a person clad in black with a mask who refuses to say why they broke into the museum. Even if you get the item back to the museum, the thief will escape before police can get them.
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Minimum number of posts: ... 1

Level cap: ... 24


Wild pokémon catchable:
Their evolutions/prevolutions may be encountered but not captured.
You can keep playing after having caught a pokémon,
but I will assign level 9 or 10 to it in the first post,
depending on how good your capture post was!

Spoiler:






chapter two; part VII
Aberdeen Black // Viridian Forest
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Aberdeen slept well that night, although he didn't speak anymore with Dangoober even though they shared tent. He was still a bit pissed about the poacher taking the Scyther when he had called dibs on it. But Heracross wasn't too bad, he guessed. After all, he hadn't want to choose between them himself.

The next morning, Memeeber had made breakfast and they all sat around the fire eating. The fire seemed to just always be lit in this camp. Apparently there had been a forest fire somewhere too; without Memeeber or Aberdeen noticing, Corpwall had gone away to try and help. Or that was what he said, but he brought with him a bunch of wild pokémon who needed healing after being exposed to the fire. And he didn't release them afterwards. Aberdeen decided not to argue, but he didn't quite like the ways in which these people capture pokémon. It was so... Soulless.

Memeeber caught him thinking deeply after breakfast. "Are you going to keep journeying now?" she asked him as he sat on the ground outside of Dangoober's tent. She was once again wearing the simple clothes she had had yesterday, and the same kind of wide braid. Apparently, Jamaisia was the only one who really cared about her looks here. But Memeeber was really pretty anyways, in Aberdeen's eyes. He smiled up at her.

"I guess. Pikachu and Butterfree are getting stronger so I think we'll try and battle some trainers and then maybe challenge the gym. Somehow." His gaze drifted off into the distance again.

"And you have Heracross now as well? Will you name him as well?" the girl asked.

"I guess," Ab said again. "He can be... I'm not sure. Maybe... Hannibal?"

"Sounds a bit... Dark."

"I think he is a bit dark. Not just his skin. He seemed really angry when we battled."

"I think he just had a bad day. Not many pokémon are really dark inside!"

"Then, how about... Hernando? Hammond? Horatio?"

"I like Horatio. Not sure why. I think it fits."

"Really?" Aberdeen pretended to ponder it for a while, but he was already certain. "Then I will name him Horatio, in memory of you."

Memeeber actually blushed. "So you are leaving..."

"You already asked, didn't you? I'm not a poacher, I can't stay in the woods!"

"But... I don't want to stay here either!"

The two teenagers stared at each other for a second before the girl looked away. Aberdeen's heart pounded faster.

"I want to travel with you. I never chose to become a poacher. My brother and I lost our parents and then Gregor came along and took care of us. But he's not our real father. He is the real father of Corpwall."

Aberdeen stood up and realized that it made sense. They were pretty alike, only that Corpwall had large muscles and a well build upper body, while most of Gregor's volume sad on his belly and hips. Age, was the only real difference though.

"Please take me with you! I can learn to be a trainer too! And capture pokémon the real way." Aberdeen met her gaze again. She really meant it. Those pretty eyes... How could he say no?




He didn't say no. A couple of hours later, still just late in the morning, the two of them left the camp for good. Corpwall had provided as accurate descriptions as he could of the people who bought Servine and Blitzle, and Gregor had cried his eyes out when he found out that Memeeber wanted to leave. Dangoober and Jamaisia had said nothing. And Memeeber herself only seemed happy to finally be on her way. She whistled and sang as they walked, and Aberdeen was starting to wonder how she could have seemed so quiet when she was with her 'family' in the camp. Now she wouldn't keep quiet. Either, she sang or whistled, or she talked his ears off. Still, she had a nice voice. He could bear listening to it for a while longer.

Memeeber said she knew where the main road through the forest lay, so they were heading north to find it and eventually Pewter City.

"And then we stumbled over this huge group of Swadloon who just didn't want us to leave! I swear, they must have been left to be alone for wayyyy too long-"

"Mem..." Aberdeen said, putting out a hand in front of the babbling girl to stop her. She looked in front of herself and gasped.

They had just walked into a rather large, flowery meadow in the midst of the forest. Quite similar to the place where Aberdeen had met Adam some day earlier. Only larger... And filled with Swadloon. At least 30 of them were there, just sitting and seemingly waiting for something. Or enjoying the sunlight, perhaps.

"This... It is the spot! The one I just told you about! Haha, isn't that crazy?" Memeeber said and ran out onto the open meadow.

"Kind of," Aberdeen admitted and followed her.

"Don't worry, Swadloon aren't usually hostile!"

Just as she had said that, Aberdeen felt something bite his foot. He shrieked and jumped up. Luckily for him, the teeth didn't quite pierce his shoes.

"What is it!" Memeeber asked worriedly from some distance.

"A... Not a Swadloon!" Aberdeen said and kept backing away since the little pokémon followed him with a peculiar face. He quickly pulled up the pokédex from his bag and read its data. "It's a Sewaddle! Never saw it on TV before... except maybe in some kids show."

"It's Swadloon's pre-evolution," Memeeber said, walking closer to him but not wanting to get too close to the little worm. Some Swadloon lazily moved away as she walked, not caring about what the humans really did.

"This little bug? They aren't very impressive pokémon, are they..."

Sewaddle didn't seem angry at that remark. It just stopped and blinked at Aberdeen, who decided to blink back. All of a sudden, his face was covered in String Shot goo.

"MMFLFJLKDFLLL!" he shouted, trying to get it off as Sewaddle just shook its little head in dismay.

Memeeber now ran up to him and helped getting that goo off. "Oh, my god, Ab! Are you alright?"

"Why does every bug pokémon know that move! I love when it's on my side, but not when THEY know it!" Aberdeen groaned and looked angrily at the little worm, who was on its way over to some wild Swadloon, possibly to socialize.

"Hey you!" Aberdeen shouted after it. "Why did you bite me? I didn't do anything!"

Sewaddle turned around and just looked at the boy again. It blinked. This time, Aberdeen didn't blink back, but dodged instead. Smart move, because now the String Shot went over his head and hit Memeeber's face instead. After a short struggle to let her breathe again, they sat down on the meadow without getting closer to Sewaddle again.

"I don't understand," Aberdeen sighed.

"Me neither. But pokémon are strange sometimes. Maybe..." Memeeber bit her lip, thinking. "Maybe this Sewaddle was together with all the others here before they evolved. And for some reason, that particular one didn't evolve. And now it doesn't want to leave so it pretends that it's no different from the others?"

Aberdeen leaned his head to the side. "That's so smart! I'd never have guessed that. You are so smart, girl."

Memeeber almost blushed. "Haha, no, I've just learned a few things about pokémon when I've been out and about!"

"Good thing you're with me, then. You can probably teach me a lot of things!"

"I'll try!"

"So, Sewaddle can't evolve, huh? Maybe all it needs is a little more training," Ab said and stood up, taking forth a pokéball.

"What, are you going to capture it?" Memeeber said, also standing up. The sunlight made her black hair glisten behind her like an aura. Again, very pretty in Aberdeen's eyes, making him smile.

"Yeah. It wouldn't be as interesting to capture a Swadloon, don't you think?"

"Aren't you going to get your old pokémon back?"

The boy hesitated for a moment. "Yes. But for that I might need to argue with people some day because I sure as hell aren't going to pay to get them back. And when arguing, it's good to have a strong team to back you up."




He walked calmly towards the little group of Swadloon where the Sewaddle sat. It noticed him early and just as calmly turned around to face him. The Swadloon seemed to notice what was about to happen, and moved away to give some space. The flowers on the meadow swayed in the slight wind.

"I challenge you to a battle, Sewaddle!" Aberdeen proclaimed. "I'll train you so that you can one day evolve like the others!"

For some reason, this seemed to make Sewaddle angry. A slight wrinkle came to its forehead.

"It's a great bargain, really! I promise you it'll happen some day."

Now a weird growling noise could also be heard from the caterpillar.

"Ab..." Memeeber said from some meters away. "I think you're somehow pissing it off."

"Huh?"

The little bug suddenly charged forward with surprising speed to Tackle the boy. But he managed to open the pokéball in his hand in time. What Sewaddle collided with became the Heracross Horatio instead, who was a bit more compact than the human boy and therefore more than Sewaddle had counted with. It bounced against his belly and back down to the ground.

Horatio looked around; this was only the second time he was out of his pokéball since the capture. First time had been when he was just healed back at the poacher's camp. He was still unsure of being a trainer's pokémon, but he would get to battle. And he liked to battle, as long as it wasn't pointless. What would be the point of defeating this tiny bug now, hmm? He looked back at the boy behind him.

"Horatio, I want Sewaddle to join our team. We'll make it as strong as we are!" his trainer said. Fair enough. A smile came to Horatio's face, looking like a sort of mix between Pinocchio's naive smile and Bernadette's determined grin. Prepare yourself, measly bug, for the wrath of HERACROSS! No wait. THE WRATH OF HORATIO! That's right, he actually had a name now. How come he hadn't thought of that before? It was brilliant.

Sewaddle didn't seem to think he was brilliant, though. She was still standing by his feet and since he seemed to want to flex and grin rather than attack immediately, she decided to take the lead. She Bug Bit him in the foot. Horatio flew up into the air from pain, yes actually flied since he had wings. But the bite hadn't really hurt him much. Fighting types like him weren't easily hurt by measly bugs!

He bent down and smashed Sewaddle's little body with his strong Horn Attack. Or so he thought. But the bug was too quick! It had moved to the side in time and now climbed his horn, using another Bug Bite on it. It merely tickled but was still really annoying. His fine horn! How dare you, tiny, irritating bug!

"Horatio!" Aberdeen called out when he saw his new pokémon do a raged dance on the spot, swinging the little Sewaddle from his horn as he went. "What are you doing?"

"Maybe you should order him some attacks... Didn't you say he battled angrily in the wild? He maybe needs a bit more control." Memeeber had sat down in the grass some meters away. A couple of Swadloon crept up to her as if they enjoyed being near her and watch the battle with her. She giggled at their cute behavior.

Memeeber's cute giggle spurred Aberdeen on. "Yes. You're right! Horatio! Use Night Slash to get the bug off!"

Horatio fell still and tried to concentrate despite the pain trickling in his prized horn. He made his right arm glow darkly and then slashed them at the little bug, who immediately lost its bite and was thrown away. She moaned as she fell onto the ground, bruised by the dark attack.

But she got up quickly again and sprayed the dark arm of Horatio's full with String Shot so that he couldn't use it. "Just use the other arm!" Aberdeen called out. Horatio let his left arm light up with dark energy (haha, what a silly thing) instead; his aim wasn't as good as with his main hand but he managed to rush forward and hit the bug again.

Sewaddle was now bruised on both sides and seemed to be in pain from the strong attacks. But she wouldn't give up. Naturally, she String Shot his other arm as well, making him look like he was bandaged on both. Then she stormed forward in a Tackle, hitting him in the chest. Horatio stumbled backwards and gasped for air. This little creature... So unexpectedly resilient! How came?

"You don't need your Night Slash, you're a Heracross!" Aberdeen shouted and almost jumped up and down as if he wanted to fight himself. "Heracross use their HORN!"

Oh, that's right. His prized horn! Horatio grinned again. Now you'll see what I'm capable of, measly bug! He swung his large, intimidating horn at the bug, trying to hit it, smash it or fling it away. But she was too quick all the time! He just couldn't handle his horn fast enough. That was why he most often used his Night Slash instead...

Sewaddle Tackled his side and actually made him fall over; he broke the fall with the String Shot cushions that now made up his arms though. Then she rapidly climbed up on top of his chest and made it clear that she would Bug Bite his throat if he tried anything funny now.

"Stop! Wait!" Aberdeen ran up to them. "You don't need to hurt him more!"

Memeeber raised an eyebrow. Aberdeen didn't want to finish the battle? Now, a total of seven Swadloon were cuddling up to her where she sat.

The boy sat down beside the pokémon and patted Horatio on the horn. At first, the blue pokémon was embarrassed by such a gesture, but he decided to let it pass. This human wanted him to succeed and who was he to not try? He might as well let the boy do some weird things if he thought that was a good idea. Like touching someone's horn. But really, you didn't just touch someone's horn. Nu-uh.

While Horatio was having all these silly thoughts, Sewaddle and Aberdeen looked into each other's eyes. "Come with me instead!" he said. "I'll train you and evolve you!"

Again, at the mention of evolution, Sewaddle turned angry. She turned towards the boy and seemed to shower him with a flood of words that he didn't understand. She was speaking Sewaddlish, after all. But he made a sincere effort.

"You... You're saying you don't want to evolve?"

Sewaddle fell quiet. Horatio stopped his train of thoughts where he lay on the ground and looked at the worm sitting on his chest. She stared into Aberdeen's eyes. He recognized that stare well; those eyes might just as well have been Bernadette's. One bug and another... Maybe they could become friends?

"So that's it. I'm sorry, then!" he said, scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. "I thought you were sad because you didn't evolve. But you're happy with being a Sewaddle, for some reason. I don't blame you! You're pretty cute, after all," he added and winked at the little pokémon.

"He actually saw that it was a girl this time?" Memeeber asked herself. The level of Swadloonness around her was approaching dangerous levels but she hadn't quite found out yet.

"So what do you say if I train you... No, we train together! You and me and Horatio. And Bernadette, you'll like her! And Pinocchio, she's almost as adorable as you are." Aberdeen put on his widest smile and stuck out a hand towards Sewaddle. He was a little afraid that she'd bite him again. But she just nudged the hand with her nose, smiling.

Aberdeen's heart melted. "So cute!" he breathed as he took up a pokéball to capture her for real. When the new teammember was safely inside a pokéball, he helped Horatio up and turned back to his human companion. But where was she? All he could see was some kind of pile consisting of numerous happy Swadloon.

"Memeeber?"

"MMFLFJLKDFLLL!" a pretty voice, slightly muffled, came from within the pile. Bored and non-bitter Swadloon, the cuddliest things next to Cottonee, Swablu and Mareep. Apparently.









@ Letham
I really enjoyed that battle!

- Zeus (Blitzle) grew to lvl 14!
- Lucy (Dewott) grew to lvl 19!


@ me


- Horatio (Heracross) grew to lvl 10!
- Aberdeen's new Sewaddle is on lvl 9!
 
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Lostworld

cosmic castaway
217
Posts
14
Years
chapter two; VELVET LIGHTS
Meredith Hudson // Viridian Forest // Post Three
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Meredith and Nidoran had managed to get a couple of hours sleep during the night, aided by a small fire which had seemed to take forever to light. The pair had cleaned up their small camp area well before sunrise, aiming to get out of the forest as soon as possible, even if it took all day to do it. Meredith still didn't know where she was but had noticed the surrounding shrub and trees seemed to be thinning out. It may have been her imagination but it seemed they were getting closer and closer to the edge of the forest.

They ate a mediocre breakfast, a couple of crackers each and a muesli bar. Meredith could only dream of chilled orange juice with rashes of bacon and eggs. Nidoran was dreaming of juicy sweet berries found back near his home.

"Come on Nidoran; let's get going before one of us ends up hallucinating or something,"

Rolling up her sleeping bag had been the toughest part of the day so far, for it would not get back into the small roll it had been in. With her bag bulging and Wartortle's Pokemon still safely tucked away, the pair trekked onwards, making sure to snuff out the remaining smoky fire before they left the clearing.

There were all sorts of sounds coming alive as the sun rose to meet them, filtering through the leafy trees as they walked.

"Nidoran, this looks like a path to me!" Meredith said excitedly, as the pair came across a decent sized track that was littered with leaves. It had to be a path though; it seemed to snake in and out of the trees, clearing the way for travellers. "Look! There are even foot prints!"

Nidoran's ears pricked up and he looked extremely pleased, bounding onto the track as Meredith did so. Right in the center, as clear as day, foot prints that seemed to be larger than Meredith's headed down the path. There were another set of prints beside the first, much smaller and seemed to be about the size of Nidoran's paws.

"Hopefully we can get outta here and get Wartortle to a Pokemon Center! Maybe we don't have such bad luck after all! Let's follow these Nidoran,"

Meredith had spoken too soon. Amongst all the different noises that filled the forest, there was one that stuck out. The same crunching and breaking of twigs sounds that preceded the attack from the rogue Heracross emitted along the track.

Meredith instantly looked to Nidoran, fear all over her face. Nidoran's ears pricked as he picked up the sound and where it was coming from.

"Nido! Nidoran, Nido!" Nidoran's call was urgent as he bounded down the track, indicating desperately for his trainer to follow him.

"I thought we got rid of that thing!" Meredith said, looking around as she ran, trying not to trip. The pair ran for as long as they could, before Meredith was breathing hard and Nidoran had stopped, his ears pricking, searching for any sign of the noise from before.

With her hands on her knees, Meredith looked at Nidoran, who looked back at his trainer with a grave look.

"We're not out of the clear yet?" Meredith whispered, afraid of what might jump out at them. She knew Nidoran could protect them but not for long.

Nidoran shook his head in reply, still listening. He could only faintly hear the crunching noise now; it was replaced by another sound altogether. Nidoran could hear voices. Voices were a good thing, Nidoran thought. It meant they might be one step closer to getting out of here.

"Nido!" Nidoran pointed down the trail with one paw before jogging off in the direction he'd proposed, willing his trainer to follow.

"Nidoran? Where are you going?" Meredith continued to whisper, looking around at the shrub for any sign of the Heracross before turning to follow Nidoran.

The path continued to wind in and out of the trees, shielding Meredith from seeing the majority of what was in front of her until the very last second. It was at this very last second that the path led straight out into another small clearing and the voices suddenly became very obvious.

Meredith was so surprised that she stopped in her tracks altogether, her mouth hanging open a little, only able to stare at what she saw.

A small fire was just burning out, the smoke wafting in the breeze. A young boy sat leaning against a tree, his eyes still closed, and a worried look on his face. Two Pokemon, both Meredith had never laid eyes upon before lay by the boy's side.

"Nido! Nidoran, Nido!" Nidoran's loud cry was intended to wake up the sleeping trio but Meredith didn't expect Nidoran to do that.

"Shush! Nidoran, you'll wake them up!"

Nidoran looked back at his trainer with a confused look on his face. They needed this boy to help them though, why would she stop him from waking them up?

With a worried look on her face, Meredith held her breath as she saw the boy begin to stir…

 

Letham

Pokemon Training Specialist
46
Posts
11
Years
chapter two; Velvet Lights
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Ben Tobin // Viridian Forest // pt. 3

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Ben dreamed fitfully in his sleep. In the dream he was very young. He was sprinting uphill and no matter how fast he ran the hill seemed to go on and on. He did not tire however and pressed on. He was following a Pokemon. One he could not clearly identify. He called out to it but his voice was strange, not his own. His legs felt stiff and after a seemingly endless trek up the hill he crested the rise and looked out over a city. He knew the familiar buildings but could not place a name to it.

He became aware of a figure beside him and he looked up into the kind old eyes of his grandfather. The elderly man placed a hand gently on his head, ruffling his black hair he smiled.

"Good to see you, Ben." His grandfather said.

"Grandpa where's Grandma?" Ben asked.

"Oh she's at home, working on a project. You know how she is."

"Can we go see her?"

"Yes I believe we can. But first I must discuss something with you."

The two started down the hill slowly, drawing near to the town there were people walking about, talking and laughing but their faces were blurred, bizarre which scared the young Ben and he hugged his grandfather's leg as they walked along the path to the house which lay on the town's limits.

"One day, you're going to get a Pokemon of your own and you're going to leave this town. Your grandmother and I have been here all our lives. We have rarely ventured to Pewter or the other cities around, save when necessary."
Ben barely heard him. He watched the strange people about nervously, unsure.

"We knew that you had great potential. We wanted you to have the chance to see the world, son." His grandfather said.

"Your parents, god bless them. They were unprepared for your birth. They left you in our care and we gave them our word we would raise you right. You see it is not an easy task, raising a boy. Your mother wanted to be a Gym Leader but she could never quite make it."

"Why not?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure. She loved you dearly and never intended to leave you with us but she simply could not care for you as you needed. To this day I believe she does not regret what she has done for you have grown to be a fine young man with us and I am proud of you. I believe one day you will be ready to leave this town as I have always wanted to."

His grandfather opened a doorway which lead into their home where his grandmother was knitting a hat. Red around the band and with a soft white texture at the top. She smiled as they came in.

"There're my two men." She said.

The room changed just then. Glowing a fierce bright white and Ben shielded his eyes and he felt himself changing. He was even younger, in his grandfather's arms as they stood in a darkened room. They were in a strange building with graves all around. But the graves were not the graves of people but of Pokemon. His grandfather stood before the grave which was engraved; Alice the Poliwhirl. The bravest Poli who ever lived. She died proudly.

"Grandpa?" Ben asked, fear heavy in his voice he looked up at his grandfather's features, grim he watched as a single tear rolled down his grandfather's face and he hugged his chest tightly.

"Where are we?"

"This is Pokemon Tower, son. We're paying our respects to a good friend.

"I don't like this place Grandpa."

"I know son. I know. I'm sorry for bringing you along."

The room changed once more and he was much older, sitting in an expansive meadow pulling up tufts of grass when a stout little Meowth came bounding up the field, carrying his hat, streaked with dirt.

"You found it!" He said, smiling big as the cat Pokemon placed the hat in his lap and he got to his feet with his hat in his hands. His grandfather was coming up the field through the trees, grinning as Meowth turned to the old man and clapped his paws happily.

"This one has got a good nose on him. He found your hat in no time. "

"Hey! Mister Tobin!" A voice called out and an older boy came striding through the grass, Pokeball in hand.
"I finally got my first Pokemon! You wanna battle? I need to test him out."

"Not right now son. Ben and I were just headed home."

"Awwww come on. You said you'd give me some tips when I got my partner."

Ben looked on enviously at the older boy as he released a strange green Pokemon with a bulb on his back who growled playfully.

"A Bulbasaur huh? That's a fine partner you've got son. Ben do you mind?"

"No sir. I'd love to watch!" Ben said happily, pulling on his hat as his Grandfather drew a Pokeball of his own. He pressed the button on the center and out came a Growlithe, howling excitedly and staring down the Bulbasaur.
"Let's see how you deal with a type disadvantage son." His grandpa said.

"We'll do just fine Mister Tobin! Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!" The bulb on the Grass-type's back released two thick vines which snared the Growlithe on his forepaws, lifting him off his feet and tossing him a few feet away down the meadow but the Growlithe landed on his feet and smirked, glancing at Ben's grandfather.

"A fine move son but you're going to have to get creative when facing down an opponent with an advantage. Charlie, Ember!" Charlie the Growlithe howled once more, his jaws glowing with flames as he shot out a few bursts of flame, the Bulbasaur ducking some but catching the rest in a direct hit, stepping back a bit, squinting under the heat of the attack.

"You can do it Bulbasaur! Leech Seed!" The boy called out but the Growlithe was ready, he leaped over the attack and shot out a second blast of ember which struck the Bulbasaur on his bulb making him cry out a bit as he released another blast of Leech Seed, catching Charlie off guard as he was wrapped in the vines and his energy was drained.
"Well thought out. Now you're getting it." Ben's grandfather said with a smile of admiration.

"The battle's not over yet though, Charlie, burn through the vines!" Charlie had been biting at the thick coarse vines and now he understood, his jaws bursting with flame as he seared the vines which released him and he was on all fours once more, seeming to grin at the Bulbasaur.

"Now Bulbasaur! Sleep Powder!" The Grass-type released a cloud of green spores from his bulb, narrowly missing Charlie who ran at a fast clip down the meadow, avoiding the attack and blasting his little embers down range at the Bulbasaur who attempted to duck and dodge the balls of flame but he was hit a few times and sat back on his haunches, flustered.

"C'mon Bulbasaur! Show 'em what you're made of! Sleep Powder but control it this time!" The boy commanded and the Bulbasaur obeyed, emanating the same emerald spore from his bulb which Charlie deftly avoided but this time the Grass-type shot forth a second and larger cloud which coated Charlie who rolled on his side in the grass, sound asleep.

"Very well played young man!" Ben's grandfather said, recalling Charlie. "You get a rest Charlie. You did great."
Ben had watched the battle in awe and now he stood and clapped loudly, grinning from ear to ear and the boy blushed a bit, running a hand through his hair.

"Thanks for the battle Mister Tobin, sir. You really showed me and Bulbasaur we're ready. We're gonna head out for Route 2 later. Gonna go get him healed at the Pokemon Center."

"Happy to help you and your new partner train son. Good luck to you in your travels."

"Thank you sir."

Ben was so lost in the battle he had forgot he was dreaming. The scene before him evaporated and he could hear the sounds of the forest as he opened an eye, sitting up against the tree and stretching, yawning a bit he straightened his hat and looked down at Lucy and Zeus who were still asleep he smiled, poking the fire a bit which was now merely ashes. He had forgotten the noise which had awoken him until he heard it again.

"Nido! Nidoran! Nido!" The voice said and he looked up to see a girl standing at the edge of the clearing and a cute little Nidoran at her side, pointing in his direction. He got to his feet and smiled, happy to see a friendly face in the forest.

"Hello!" He called, crossing the clearing to meet the girl. "That's an adorable Nidoran you have."
 

Xlugon Pyro

Dragon Tamer
308
Posts
16
Years
3-1; GET STONED
Zoey Wyrmoki / / Viridian Forest & Route 2
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"Zovy, strike his Caterpie with Peck!"

The swablu tweets readily, hopping across the leafy forest ground towards the bug-type as she readies her beak to pierce the bug's flesh.

"Nuh uh! String Shot Caderpie!" Caterpie's snot-nosed (literally) trainer utters in childish confidence.

The stream of silk fires forth from the bug's mouth, intersecting Zovy's attack. Wrapping her up in white, slimy excretions, her assault stops cold, causing her to tumble over as her weak physique finds itself unable to move. She struggles furiously on the ground, unable to upright herself.

"Come on Zovy! Break free!" Zoey cheers on her swablu hurriedly.

"Daahahahahah!" the short boy, her opponent, laughs in response, "You messed wid' da wron' guy! Take out dat stupid bird wid' Tackle!"

His Caterpie hurries across the ground, leaping towards the tangled up bird before their bodies collide. The bug-type lands on the ground while sending the helpless swablu across the battlefield before rolling to a stop. Her eyes swirl nauseously as her body lies motionless, knocked out in a single blow.

"Wha-" Zoey cuts herself off, clenching her teeth as she grimaces in anger. "Dammit!"

"DAAAAAHaahaahahaaa!" the stuffy-nosed boy chuckles in amusement. "You lost even wid a type-disadva'tage! You're -PATHETIC-!!"

"This kid..." she tells herself, scowling at the little boy with rage, "I'M GOING TO KICK HIS COCKY LITTLE ASS!"

"Vuowth! Kick his ass!"

With the click of a button, Vuowth leaps forth and immediately launches herself into full on assault, blazing towards Caterpie and the boy with a vicious Quick Attack. Her assail bowls over Caterpie, knocking him away to smack into the trunk of a tree head on, but her pursuit doesn't end there. For good measure, let's beat up the kid too. At least that's one motive both Zoey and Vuowth can agree on.

"That crummy snot-nosed twerp..."

"Uhm, Vuowth? I didn't tell you to..." says Zoey, watching Vuowth wallop her opponent before her trainer even had a chance to give an order.

"Uh, yeah! Go Vuowth! Good girl!" Zoey's demeanor shifts rapidly, commending her grass-type's Pursuit of the lousy shrimp.

"Daaaaaah!! No! Stop it!! Please!!! I'm sooorry!!" the boy screams, terrified by the grovyle chasing him through the forest merciless, swinging her arms around to use Fury Cutter.

"Keep it up Vuowth!" Zoey chases after the two, proudly egging on her Pokemon. "Good girl!"​



"Oh, Zovy..." Zoey remarks, rubbing the head of a nestling swablu as her right hand massages the bird's pain-ridden head while nursing the Pokemon with a bottle of milk in her other hand.

Zovy tweets softly, clumping her body against her trainer's lap as she nips the bottle of medicine and nutrition. Zoey has battled several trainers throughout the day, most all of them being bug enthusiasts which should've given her swablu an edge, but Zovy has lost every single battle. By now, her body must be sore and she's certainly fatigued from the prior battles.

"She's still not strong enough to battle..." Zoey concludes dishearteningly, treating Zovy while taking a break from their journey through the forest atop a fallen log. "Not to mention I haven't seen her fly even once. I know she's still weak and was just born but shouldn't be able to fly? Maybe she needs to age a little."

"Alright!" she states, standing up while holding curious Zovy in her arms.

Zovy chirps back towards her trainer ponderously, watching Zoey deposit an empty bottle into her sack before pulling out a pokeball.

"It's time to get going!" Zoey alerts her Pokemon, "We should be close to the forest exit by now and I understand that Route 2's northern half is just a short path into Pewter City."

The swablu tweets, her acknowledgement as her form dissipates into her pokeball. Zoey dips her ball-clenching hand into her bag to pull out another, walking a few paces before her eyes shift upwards, catching sight of a green creature lounging around in the boughs of a tall tree.

"Vuowth!" Zoey yells to get her grovyle's attention. "We're heading out!"

Vuowth glances over irritably, disturbed by the interruption of her outdoors nap. Zoey recalls Vuowth into her pokeball, placing it in her bag for the journey ahead. Finally, their adventure through Viridian Forest is coming to an end. She heads out into the wild woods northward, ready to reach her first destination as a trainer. Before long, the forest's exit gates appear before her. Ahead most certainly lies the remainder of Route 2 and the city proper of Pewter City. Zoey and her crew will finally get to put this place behind them.



The rolling green hills and fields of Route 2 span far and wide, with thicker clusters of trees to the south and the distant skyline of Pewter City in the distant valley visible to the north. Off the side of the road, Zoey stands near the bough of a tree, looking up where both Vuowth and Zovy stand, overlooking her as the sun heads low into the western sky, coloring the sky in a myriad of shades. A training session is under foot.

"Alright Zovy!" Zoey says to her swablu reassuringly. "Rotate your wings and warm them up! Get used to the feeling of using them!"

Chirping nervously, Zovy looks away only to be startled by Vuowth's intimidating yet jesting glare, intentionally frightening the poor chick. Sweat trickles down her brow as she commences the rotation of her fluffy bird wings. Zoey nods and smiles confidently towards Zovy, but it does little to ease the creature's tension. The warm up lasts for over a minute or so, tiring out the already feeble hatchling.

"Good!" she compliments Zovy. "Now, rest for a bit and then we'll try to get you comfortable with flying. I'll be here to catch you so just leap towards me when you take off, okay?"

Zovy finds little comfort in her words, chirping softly to itself out of fear. However, she takes the time to rest, gazing away from Vuowth's harassing smirk. The short rest for Zovy doesn't last though, as her training now undergoes a new, terrifying step. Literally.

"Okay Zovy! Rotate your wings to prepare for flight and then leap off the branch towards me, but keep moving your wings to simulate flight!" she alerts Zovy, standing on the path below the tree in preparation for the exercise.

Despite her instructions, Zovy hesitates, remaining on her branch instead. After a few moments she slowly rotates her wings, trepidation eking its way into the fearful chick's mind. However, just as she prepares to take the leap of faith, her eyes pick up on Zoey's location and immediately find their way to the ground. She squawks in terror, clutching her wings against her body as she trembles.

"Oh no... Don't tell me..." Zoey interprets Zovy's sudden reaction. "Zovy's afraid of heights?"

"Don't worry, Zovy!" Zoey tries to reassure her scared Pokemon, "You wont get hurt! I'll catch you!"

Tweeting hesitantly, Zovy glances towards Zoey again, taken in by her trainer's consistently upbeat attitude. Maybe, if her trainer believes that she can do it, maybe she can? Something manages to cause the swablu to take action. Zovy begins to flap her wings rapidly but clenches her beady eyes shut as she leaps from the branch, lifting her wings up into the air.

"No, Zovy!" Zoey shouts, correcting her bird's folly, "You can't fly with your eye's closed! You can't see where you're going! You can't stop flapping your wings either!"

The bird's blindness and the ceasing of her wings' motion cause her to drop quickly, declining swiftly towards the ground. Standing just under the tree branch, Zoey extends her arms to catch her falling swablu.

"See? I got you!" Zoey beams towards her frightened Pokemon.

Zovy shifts her focus up towards her trainer hesitantly, but chirps softly, content with resting safely between Zoey's hands. However, her peace is abruptly shot to hell upon gazing upon the green visage of Vuowth, leaping down from her wooded perch to the ground, approaching the two of them.

"Okay, Vuowth! Bring Zovy back up into the tree and let's try again!" she asks of Vuowth, who readily complies, but instead of carrying Zovy up into the tree, she tosses Zovy towards the tree branch where she's been practicing.

"No Vuowth!" she reprimands Vuowth angrily. "Why did you toss Zovy!? This is why we stopped doing our earlier exercise! Gah... dammit!"

Vuowth merely glances upon the results of her actions gleefully, nonetheless enjoying the abuse she's inflicted on Zovy despite her trainer's angry lectures. Zoey, meanwhile, rushes towards the tall grasses behind the tree branch, Zovy's body passing over the branch she's been using for her flight practice. However, Zoey arrives too late as the bird's disoriented body dives into the tall grasses, vanishing from sight. Her trainer penetrates the deep grasses as well, searching for her unfortunate swablu. Zovy's anxious, loud squawking draws Zoey to her location, scooping her up and rubbing Zovy's sore backside.

"It's alright!" she comforts Zovy, "Sorry about Vuowth. I'm not sure what's gotten into her. I'll have to talk to her about that..."

The two leave the tall grasses out onto the path leading to Pewter City, Vuowth looking at the two while leaning against the tree's trunk. Vuowth didn't seem to care what happened to her allies. After all, what good are they to her? Especially weak ones like Zovy who can't even fly despite being a flying-type. That's just pathetic.

"Vuowth!" Zoey yells at a grovyle that could care less, storming towards her Pokemon furiously. "Why would you treat Zovy so poorly? You two are friends! Treat Zovy with some respect!"

Vuowth looks away dismissively, uninterested in making friends with Zovy who she enjoys bullying far too much to give that up for something as counterproductive as "friendship". Zoey frowns angrily towards Vuowth, but still she shows little concern, glancing towards her trainer petulantly.

Sighing, Zoey changes her tone, "Fine. Be that way. I'll have to train Zovy without you."

Without another word said, Zoey withdraws Vuowth back into her pokeball. This act relieves Zovy, snuggling her fluffy down into her trainer's arms. Zoey comforts her swablu, rubbing the bird's backside to ease Zovy's anxiety. Zovy chirps jubilantly, enjoying the affection from her trainer.

"Now," Zoey grabs the attention of curious Zovy. "Let's continue the flight training on our own, okay?"

Zovy's peace is shattered, squawking loudly over the upsetting news.

"Oh, don't worry! You won't have to leap from a tall branch!" she reassures her distressed Pokemon with a smile. "We'll head over into the grass and you can practice taking off from my own arms. It'll be safe!"




 
37,467
Posts
16
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen Jan 2, 2024
@ Xlugon Pyro
It's almost strange to read about Zoey and another pokémon than Vuowth xD Very cute training session.

- Zovy (Swablu) grew to lvl 11!
 

Sir Bastian

Christina - Crossroads
1,621
Posts
12
Years
Chapter 2; Velvet Lights
Adam Jenkins//Viridian Forest
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Everything was dark. It had been dark for a while, but Adam wasn't sure for how long. Ever so slowly, his eyes fluttered open, staring up at the faintly billowing leaves covering up the bright-blue sky beyond them. Adam blinked a few times, simply laying there, staring up at the leafy roof, thoughts crossing his mind as he tried to figure out where he was, and how he got there.

His memories were foggy, and he couldn't make much out. He remembered running from a Pidgeot and getting lost. He remembered meeting Aberdeen and fighting the ranger-woman with him and the two of them won. And then… nothing. Cringing, he sat himself up, rubbing his head slightly, staring down at his lap. It felt like he'd been laying here for quite a while. He jumped a little as he only just now got to thinking about his Pokémon. Reaching into his pocket, his hand grasped only one ball.

Fear ran through his mind as he franticly spun around and got on his knee, running his fingers through the nearby grass, his eyes darting all over the ground as he tried to locate his Pokéball.
"No no no, where are you? I couldn't have dropped you, could I? Maybe I…"
His voice trailed off as his gaze slowly lifted up to a small, yellow figure sitting at the outskirts of the small clearing he was in. The Pikachu tilted its head ever so slightly to the right, watching Adam curiously. And there, kept in place by its teeth was a Pokéball. Adam's eyes narrowed as he slowly reached a hand out to the Pikachu, as if asking for the ball.

"… Hey there, Pikachu. Can I please have that back? It's very important to me."
"… Pika!" the mouse called out, the tail wobbling for a moment before it turned around and ran into the undergrowth. Adam clenched his teeth and kicked himself onto his feet, dashing after the fast little mouse. "No, come back here! Give it back, you don't even know what to do with that! Damnit!"

Adam trampled through the undergrowth of the forest, deeper and deeper into it while pushing aside branches and leaves aside, a few of them flying back and smacking him over the shoulder or across his cheek, but he kept going none the less. He hadn't come this far, just to lose one of his friends. Suddenly, however, the ground seemed to disappear beneath him, and he tumbled forwards, down the steep slope, at first landing on his shoulder and then simply rolling down the hill while yelling out in surprise.

"Aaah! What the heck's going on?!"





Finally, he landed at the foot of the slope with a grunt and a wince. For some reason, it hadn't hurt as much as he'd thought it had. Pushing himself ever so slightly up with his hands, groaning out, he blinked a little, staring down at the angered expression on the Pikachu's face. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Adam's hand shot towards the Pokéball still held by the mouse, but before he could grasp it, the Pikachu sent a jolt of electricity through him, causing him recoil in pain, giving the mouse plenty of time to turn tail and run.

"Nngh! You little…! Give me back my friend!" He growled out as he pushed himself to a stand again, grasping his remaining Pokéball, which he clicked and sent out a red beam, landing right in front of Pikachu. In a mere moment, Nidoran came into view, blinking at the Pikachu now coming to a skidding stop, preparing to dash off in a different direction.

"… Stomps, get him, he's got Blair! Double Kick!"

"… Ran!" Stomps called out as he set off after the Pikachu, launching into the air and slamming both of his small legs against the Pikachu, driving it into the ground and making it spit out the Pokéball, which rolled off into a nearby bush. The Pikachu quickly got to its feet and spun around, backing away from the two while electricity sparked off of its cheeks.

"Alright, nice job Stomps! Let's get it for trying to pokénap our friend! Leer!" The Nidoran glared at the Pikachu, his eyes flashing briefly, which made the Pikachu shiver. It didn't deter the mouse, however, as a bolt of lightning suddenly shot from its cheeks, squarely hitting Nidoran. Adam grit his teeth and clenched his fists, his eyes darting to the bush where the ball had rolled into, which was now guarded by the Pikachu.

"Don't let it get the better of you, Stomps! Give it a peck!" "Nido!" He called out, dashing forwards towards the Pikachu. However, it seemed a little too nimble at first, jumping off to the side, avoiding the attack. "Keep at it! He can't keep dodging!"Growling, the Nidoran spun around on the spot and lunged at the Pikachu again, this time hitting it, and with a flick of his head, the Pikachu tumbled off to the side with a squeak, coming to a shaky stand, panting for air.





"Alright, we've got him on the ropes!" Adam proclaimed, raising an arm as he took his usual "Let's finish this" pose. "Double ki-" Adam was interrupted as the bush where the Pokéball had rolled into rustled, and a thundershock was shot out of. It wasn't as effective as the one that the Pikachu he was currently fighting shot out, and easily missed Stomps, without him even having to move. Adam and Stomps both looked surprised at this, but the Pikachu they'd fought let out a faint "Pi-chu…" and began a rather tired-looking wobble towards the bush, which it slowly slipped into, and everything fell silent.

Adam looked over at Stomps, who looked equally confused, and finally, he stepped towards the bush, kneeling down in front of it, pulling the leaves aside. In the middle of the bush was a small nest made out of dried grass, pulled into a little circle. There lay an off-coloured, orangey Pikachu, flat on its stomach, wheezing for air and looking to be both exhausted and in a lot of pain. The one Adam had just fought picked up the Pokéball that had rolled into the bush and gently nudged it against the weakened Pikachu's cheek, murring out softly, as if trying to help the other one.

Frowning slightly, Adam looked from the two, down to Nidoran who had poked his head into the bush to follow what was going on, though he seemed a little less eager to check things out than Adam. Looking back to the two Pikachus, Adam analyzed the situation for a few moments before clearing his throat lightly, looking to the Pikachu he had just fought, the yellow one.

"You… wanted my Pokéball because you thought it was empty? And your friend is hurt, and you wanted to put him into the Pokéball so he can get better? Is that it?" The Pikachu squeaked out softly and dropped the ball to the floor, still panting on top of the fight it'd just had before nestling up against the off-coloured one, looking to be in a lot of pain. On closer inspect, there seemed to be a little wound at its side which made Adam remember something he'd read up about before going off on his journey.

"… Stung by a Weedle or a Beedrill it looks like. Poisoned. Hold on…" Feeling bad for the Pikachus, especially the one who was just trying to protect his friend, Adam frantically searched his pockets and the pockets of his backpack, frowning as he found himself short on the one thing he needed most. "… No antidotes. Great."

Looking down at the scene again, Adam's brows furrowed in thought as the only thing that was heard for a while, was the raspy little breath of the orange Pikachu. Closing his eyes, he raised a hand to rub his temple, finally sighing and looking down at the yellow Pikachu. "… Okay, look. I know this seems dodgy, but the only way we can help your friend right now, is if I catch her in a Pokéball, like you were going to, and take her to Pewter's Pokémon center. I'll let her go as soon as he's safe, but it doesn't look like he'd survive a trip all the way to Pewter without being in a ball."

He looked down at the Pikachu, hoping dearly it was one of the Pokémon that properly understood humans, though if it knew about Pokéballs and what they could do for people… just maybe this Pikachu had been a trainer's Pokémon before. After a small while of contemplating, the Pikachu got to its legs and gave a little nod, squeaking out a "Pika." Before nuzzling its head against his friend and backing off.

Adam nodded as well. He'd made a promise now, and he couldn't back away from it. He was going to ensure that the Pikachu and his friend would return to the forest, unharmed and well. Pulling out a spare Pokéball, he lowered it down to the weakened Pikachu and gently tapped it with the ball, which made it turn into the usual, red light, zooming into the Pokéball. It hardly wriggled, and the Pikachu had been caught. Turning his attention the other one, he offered it a faint smile, pulling his last potion from his pocket.

"Here, I think you might need this. And then I'll need you to guide me to Pewter, okay? I'm… a little lost." He lowered the spray in front of the mouse and gave the bottle a few squeezes before tucking it away in his pocket again, having emptied it. The Pikachu shuddered a little before blinking, seemingly energized as it let out a squeak and lept up onto Adam's shoulder and out of the bush behind him. Quickly grabbing Blair's Pokéball and getting to his feet, he turned around to see the Pikachu waiting for him before darting away through a bush. He looked to Stomps and gave a smile. "Looks like that battle will have to wait." "Nid…" Stomps didn't seem too thrilled to finish it either way, but when Adam darted off to follow Pikachu, Stomps quickly followed.

It wasn't long until Adam and Stomps erupted from the undergrowth and stumbled into a small plain, a gravelly road laid out about a kilometer off to the west, snaking its way through a couple fields of wheat and sparsely placed houses. Further off in the distance, down a hill and in a sort of valley, kept safe by both the forest here and the mountains behind it, Pewter City lay. Adam took in a deep breath of the fresh air, rather than the slightly damp, cramped forest behind him. Looking down at the Nidoran wriggling up next to his feet and looking anxiously around, he then looked to the Pikachu darting up one of the nearby hills, turning to wait for him.

"Pika pi, chh!" He called out impatiently, which made Adam chuckle. "Alright, we're coming! See that, Stomps? We're almost there! First proper stop on our jouney; Pewter City!" And with that, the two continued up the hill to meet with the wild Pikachu, before they descended towards Pewter City.
 
37,467
Posts
16
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen Jan 2, 2024
@ Sir Bastian
It will be interesting to see Adam travel with two Pikachu, one of which is shiny! Question: shall I list the other Pikachu as captured as well?

- Stomps (Nidoran) grew to lvl 12!
- Adam's new Pikachu is on lvl 8!
 

Lostworld

cosmic castaway
217
Posts
14
Years
chapter two; VELVET LIGHTS
Meredith Hudson // Viridian Forest // Post Four
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Meredith didn't expect that the first words she shared with the stranger Nidoran had led her to would be friendly ones. After the meeting with the horrible Noah person the previous day, she half expected every boy she met to be as rude as he had been. Seeing the smile on this guy's face however, Meredith could already feel her doubts lifting. Regardless, her instincts told her to hold her guard, just until she knew if he was trustworthy or not.

"Um, thanks, I guess," Was all she replied with to his comment, glancing down at Nidoran to admire her Pokémon's cuteness briefly before looking back up at the boy. Nidoran, meanwhile, instantly took a liking to the boy, trotting up to him with as much smile on his face as he could manage, waiting for a pat.

Gawking at her Pokemon just walking up to a stranger like that, Meredith contemplated the situation in her head quickly. Nidoran wouldn't have approached this dude if he thought he was a bad guy. So maybe this guy could help them get out of here. Better to be upfront than dwell here any longer. That damned Heracross might still be on their trail.

"Do you know the way out of here?" The words almost fell out of Meredith's mouth very quickly, before she glanced at Nidoran who stood at the boy's feet, nodding his head. "I'm Meredith, by the way."


 

RedWing

Pokemon Capture Specialist
146
Posts
11
Years
chapter 3; Climbing the Mountain of Adversity: A Duchess in the Rough! Part I
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Katherine Aldine // Pewter City
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"Here you are, miss," the nurse says cheerily, "Your Pokemon are fully restored! We wish you luck on your journey!" The pink-haired woman is holding a tray with three PokeBalls, each one housing one of Katherine Aldine's Pokemon.

Katt smiles and takes the PokeBalls, pressing the release switch on each in turn to let out her Combusken, Lilligant and Emolga. "Thank you so much, Nurse Joy," the girl says.

Nurse Joy smiles in return and says, "It's my job, miss. Besides, there's nothing quite as sad as an injured Pokemon." The nurse's own Pokemon, a Blissey, chirps in agreement.

Katt nods, "Too true-"

"WAHH!! NURSE JOY PLEASE HEAL MY POKEMON!"

Huh? Katt turns to see a young Trainer bulldozing his way towards the service counter, a knocked out Magby in his arms. The boy reaches the counter and starts sniveling as he chokes out, "Please...Nurse Joy...My Spitfire...Please..."

Nurse Joy immediately reacts, "Blissey, take Magby to the intensive care unit, stat!" Blissey cmes out from behind the counter and takes the fainted Pokemon from its crying Trainer. "Now, Albert, what happened to Spitfire?" Joy asks.

The young boy, Albert, answers, "I thought...I thought maybe we'd be able to beat Brock but...We couldn't even handle his first Pokemon! Onix used one Rock Throw and now Spitfire's all beat up!" He starts to sob harder, "It's all my fault!"

Katt, who up to this point was politely quiet, kneels down to Albert's level and places a soothing hand on his shoulder, "Hey now, no need for tears." She smiles and rubs a stray tear from the boy's cheek, "Listen, Spitfire battled because it wanted to, not because you made it, okay? It's not your fault that your Pokemon was hurt, and it won't hold it against you."

Albert wipes the tear stains from his face and says, shakily, "Do you...do you really think so?"

Katt smiles, "Of course. My own Pokemon was injured in battle, but Sparky doesn't hold it against me." She turns her head to look at the small Pokemon, "Right, Sparky?"

In response, Sparky lets off a weak Thundershock to hit Katt. The electrical shock causes Katt's hair to stand on end and makes her cringe, "Ugh. Bad example, but I promise everything will be fine."

Albert chuckles, "Thanks, miss!" He runs towards the small lobby to wait for his Pokemon to recover. Katt rises to her feet and shoots a dirty look at Sparky, "Couldn't have spared me, huh?"

Sparky simply looks away, "Emo!"

Nurse Joy laughs, "Seems like your Emolga isn't very fond of you."

"No, he's just stubborn," Katt answers. "So, Brock's quite the Gym Leader, hm?"

"Yes," Nurse Joy says with a sigh, "Unfortunately, that means we constantly have Trainers coming in with injured Pokemon from trying to defeat him."

Katt makes a face, "Is he really that tough?"

"Yes, he's gotten stronger ever since he was defeated years ago by a young Trainer named Red," Joy explains.

"Ah, well, thanks again, Nurse Joy," Katt says with a wave, "I have some training to do."

"Good luck!" Nurse Joy calls as Katt and her Pokemon leave the Center.

-----------------------------

Outside of the Center, near Pewter's western end, Katt and her Pokemon are training vigorously! The area is mountainous, making it uninhabitable and, therefore, left alone by the city. Wild Pokemon appear here in abundance, including some odder varieties.

"Alright, Thundershock, Sparky!" Katt calls! The Emolga looses a jolt of electricity, nailing a wild Pidove and sending the Pokemon to the ground!

"Emo!" Sparky lands on a near-by ledge and smiles triumphantly.

Katt opens her PokeDex and smiles, "Great! You're health levels are still high so we can train more!"

"Training, did you say?"

Katt turns around; standing atop the highest ledge in the immediate area, Katt sees a young woman dressed regally. She's holding a fan and looking at Katt with a calculating gaze. "Um, yes?" Katt answers, unsure.

The girl on the ledge produces a PokeBall and throws it, "Altaria, come!" The girl jumps down from the ledge and is caught by a large, cloud-like Pokemon! The Pokemon gently lowers the girl to the ground before perching itself in a nearby tree. Upon closer inspection, Katt sees that the "cloud" are actually the bird Pokemon's body and wings! Protruding from the cloudy down is a long neck and bird head with two long, azure feathers.

"If you are training, then we shall do battle," the enigmatic woman states.

"Um, okay," Katt says, "I'm Katt, you are?"

The girl flicks back a blonde curl from her shoulder, "I am known in Pewter City as Lady Melanie." Katt takes a note of the girl's appearance and quickly ascertains that the title of "Lady" fits: A frilly pink gown with red heels and blonde hair done up in a bun with rivulets cascading to her shoulders.

"Okay then, my lady," Katt says a bit cheekily, "let us do battle!"

Melanie smirks, "With pleasure. Altaria, use Sing!" The cloud bird lets out a cry and flys from the tree, trilling a sweet tune as it soars towards Sparky!

"Sparky! Dodge it and use Charge!" Katt calls!

"Emo!" Sparky jumps from his ledge and glides along the air, avoiding the attack and beginning to charge its energy!

"Charge; such a blase tactic, no?" Melanie snickers, "You'll never win on the defensive, dear."

"Oh yeah?" Katt says, "Use ThunderShock, now!" Emolga releases the amped-up electrical attack, zapping Altaria and sending it earthward!

Melanie gasps, "Oh, you uncouth girl! Altaria, rise and use DragonBreath!" The Altaria struggles, but lifts itself up none the less and expels a bluish-gold flame from its mouth, aiming directly for Sparky!


"Emo!" Sparky attempts to dodge the attack, but is caught on its left wing, sending the squirrel Pokemon spiraling to the ground!

"Sparky! Get up and use Quick Attack to get out of there!" Katt cries. Sparky attempts to rise and is striken by paralysis!

"Fufufu, didn't you know DragonBreath causes paralysis in some cases?" Melanie mocks. "Altaria, darling, finish this quickly. Use Dragon Claw."

Altaria lets out a shrill cry and launches itself into the air before dive-bombing at Sparky with claws at the ready!

"Sparky! Try and move!" Katt cries desperately.

"Emo!" Sparky attempts to escape, but finds itself unable to move. The paralysis has constricted the Emolga's body entirely!

"Altaria!" The large cloud-bird makes contact and Sparky is sent flying into a rock face!

"Emo…" Sparky hits the rock face hard, slumping to the ground in defeat.

"Sparky!" Katt runs over to her fainted Pokemon and sighs, "And we just got you healed up too…" Taking Sparky in her arms, the girl rises to her feet and turns to Melanie, "That was a good battle, my lady."

"Oh, don't flatter yourself," Melanie says icily, "I was hoping for someone who'd give my Altaria a run for her money, but all I got was an inexperienced girl who doesn't know how to battle. Come, Altaria." The rude young woman makes to leave with her Altaria following close behind.

Katt just frowns as Lily and Phoenix run over to join her, "What's her problem?..." Looking at Sparky, she frowns, "You're a tough little guy, Sparky. Let's get you healed up…"

-----------------------------

"Alright, Katt, here is your Emolga, all healed up," Nurse Joy says with a smile.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Katt says. Clicking the release on the PokeBall, Sparky comes out and lands on Katt's head.

"Emo." The Emolga looks sad, apparently disappointed in its inability to defeat Altaria.

"So what happened that got you to rush back here so quickly?" Joy asked.

Katt made a face, "This stupid perfumed-sourpuss near the mountains at the west-end of the city beat my Emolga with her Altaria…"

Joy laughs, "Oh, you had a run-in with Lady Melanie, did you?"

"You know her?" Katt inquires.

"Well, yes. Everyone in Pewter knows Melanie. She's the Duchess-to-be of the Pewter House. They're the oldest and wealthiest family in all of Pewter City."

"Huh?!" Katt is obviously caught off-guard, "This girl's a Duchess?!"

Joy nods, "Though why she was in the mountains without her valet is beyond me. Lady Melanie usually strolls through town looking for challengers once or twice a day. She's a very skilled battler, despite her upbringings."

Katt mulls this over before saying, "Can you give me the address of the Pewter House? I believe Lady Melanie owes me a rematch."
 
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