Chapter 1: A Swampy Start!
Danielle exited the lab, feeling the soft breeze on her face. She did not feel it was very fitting, however, as she was furious. Today had definitely not been her day so far. Being back in the town where she had lived for the first half of her life was awkward, and her recent experience with her new Pokemon hadn't gone down so well.
In short, the Pokemon she had actually wanted had punched her in the face. Hard. So instead, she had received a wimpy little pink thing that was about as fierce as a dog toy. It even squeaked occasionally, too. She had stuffed it away in its pokeball as she stalked towards the exit of New Bark Town. She hoped she never came back here again, even though she knew it was pretty likely she would. She was lucky she hadn't run into her parents yet; they hadn't seen her in so long.
She shoved her hands in her pockets as she left the breezy town, her face still red where the Tyrouge had punched her. Her left hand brushed over the Pokegear she had quickly stuffed in her pocket. She ran her fingers along its side, fingering the buttons as she did so. Her other hand held a spherical object firmly – a pokeball, of course. The ground beneath Dani's feet seemed to squish a bit as she walked further and further away from the lab, and a gross smell was beginning to fill the air. 'Great, just what I need at the beginning of my journey. A friggin'swamp,' she thought, rolling her eyes. It was kind of creepy, really, being all alone in the swampy area. Occasionally a bush rattled or a pebble rolled, but other than that, it was mostly silent.
She was beginning to really wish she was somewhere else when she fell, flat on her face. Danielle swore as she turned herself over and sat up. At first, she didn't see anything. But she knew she had tripped on…. There it was! It was almost invisible, but when the sun hit it just right Danielle could see a long silver thread, stretching from one side of the path to the other.
"Who the heck put that there?" she asked to nobody in particular. Standing up, she snatched the thread away from the path and flicked it off her fingers. "There, all fixed," she said smugly, turning to continue down the path. She didn't get very far before something promptly attached itself to her face.
Danielle screamed in terror, throwing her hands up to pry the thing from her head. She gripped it on both sides and pulled with all her might. Eventually, the thing tore off, beginning to flail about in her hands. Dani gasped and stared in bewilderment when she found a giant spider squirming about between her fingers. Immediately she tossed the thing onto the path, backing away from where it landed. A buzz from her left pocket notified her that her Pokegear wanted to tell her something. What did the stupid machine want at a time like this? Sighing, she snapped it out of her pocket and glared at the screen. On it showed a picture very similar to the bug in front of her, with a caption underneath: SPINARAK.
As she pocketed the Pokegear once more, an idea popped into her head. This Pokemon clearly wasn't as useless as the pink thing. If it could latch onto people's faces, it had to be worth something, right? "I'll catch it, then!" Dani exclaimed, pulling an empty pokeball from her pocket as the spider came at her once more. "Take this, you little dirtbag!" she yelled, throwing the pokeball at the Spinarak. The ball popped open when it made contact with the spider, and in a flash of bright light, it was gone. Danielle cheered. She bent over to pick the ball up when she noticed it had started to wobble.
A memory from her past came to her. She was sitting in a classroom, trying to get some sleep while the teacher blabbed on about something. When the teacher had asked Danielle a question, she hadn't been able to answer. But it was something about how idiots sometimes threw pokeballs at a Pokemon before they should, or something.
Danielle was trying hard to recall just what it was that the teacher had asked, when, in another flash of bright light, the Spinarak escaped. "Crap!" Danielle said, her hand stuffing into her pocket once more. Apparently, she needed to fight it first. Pulling out her new Pokemon's ball, she tossed it into the air. "Let's see if you aren't as useless as I thought, Igglebarf! " Danielle called. The pink blob popped out of its pokeball and turned to Danielle, giving her a tiny death-stare. "Oh, get over it. I don't know your name, who cares? Now help me catch this thing." She nodded towards the Spinarak, who was staring at them, confused.
"Iggly-buff!" Dani's Pokemon shouted, stomping its foot and attempting to cross its tiny arms. Reluctantly, it turned back towards the Spinarak. Both Pokemon took on ready positions – but before either of them moved, Igglybuff glanced back at Danielle. "Iggly?" it asked, wondering what to do. Danielle slapped her face with her hand.
"Go…hit it, or something? Come on, you can't be THAT bad at this!" Dani ordered, gesturing to the Spinarak. Igglybuff turned back around, just as the Spinarak lunged. Not knowing what to do, the tiny pink Pokemon wagged its tiny stub arms in front of it, trying to fend off the spider Pokemon. Nonetheless, Spinarak attached itself to Igglybuff, sending them both backwards onto the ground. Igglybuff – being spherical in shape – kept rolling on, the spider still attached to it. The pair rolled back along the path, towards the way Danielle had come. "No! That's the wrong way, dummy!" she shrieked, running after the two and tackling them.
She ripped the Pokemon apart, holding them each as far away from each other – and herself – as she could. Tears had started to roll down Igglybuff's face. The Spinarak bit Danielle, who dropped the spider, shocked. "Oh that's it you little beast!" Setting Igglybuff quickly on the ground, Danielle spun around to find the Spinarak staring at her, ready for more. Angrily, she lashed out with her foot – kicking the spider square in the face and sending it flying into the air. "Take that, jerk!" she shouted at the Spinarak. It landed on the ground, dazed for a moment, before quickly jumping up again, ready for more.
Before Danielle could hit it again, the Pokemon was in the air, somehow floating as if something had pulled it magically upwards. Danielle charged forward again, but before she could grab it, Spinarak was too high. How was it doing that? Something pulling it…pulling…that was it! The thread! Dani smirked, looking around for something on the ground.
"Don't think you've escaped, yet, you little bugger," she told the spider. Finally, her eyes met the perfect thing to throw. "It's time to play ball," she continued, scooping up Igglybuff without even a second thought. "Alright, Iggly. As soon as I throw you, you grab on to the Spinarak and pull it down," she whispered. Before the small fluff could protest, however, Danielle aimed, pulled her arm back, and flung the Pokemon.
Surprisingly, Igglybuff hit its mark – slamming into Spinarak with such force that the two of them came crashing down onto the ground. "Aha!" Danielle exclaimed excitedly, jogging over to where the two Pokemon lay on the ground, unmoving. Pulling a second pokeball from her pocket, she dropped it on top of the Spinarak, hoping for the best.
