Chapter Six
Chapter Six: The City, the Leader, and the Silcoon.
Shana gazed in awe at the five-story buildings around her. Petalburg, though branded as a city, was mainly so due to how closely its buildings were built together and the presence of a Pokemon Gym at its center. But, despite it being a smaller city, it was huge to the small-town girl in Shana. She had been there only once before, visiting her father's gym, but she still found the place overwhelming. The streets were filled with people, but not as many as you would find in a metropolis like Saffron or Celadon City in Kanto. Near the city, the roads turned from dirt to gravel, and then very close by and all throughout the city they were cement. The buildings were mostly apartment buildings or businesses, but one or two small houses lay back out of sight from the Main Street.
After what felt like hours of walking but was really around twenty minutes, Shana found herself standing in front of the Pokemon Center. It was about twice the size of the one in Oldale, and was a bit nicer looking. She entered the building to heal her pokemon, and get a map.
***\|/***
Well, they could have been less rude about it. Shana thought as she left the Pokemon Center. She did a whiny impression of the trainer who had told her "Your Poke'Nav has a map in it, stupid!" Grumbling, she pulled the red pocket-sized machine from her bag, and turned it on. The screen blinked to life, with three bars with commands in them at the center of the screen. At the top right corner was her name and Trainer ID. Shana looked at the three options: Phone, Map, and Contest Status. She selected the map, and instantly a map of Hoenn appeared on-screen. It was a rather large region, and orange bars outlined where the routes were. Red and blue dots showed the locations of cities or towns. A small blinking image of a pokeball showed her current position; in a red dot near two blue dots. She assumed the blue dots were Oldale and Littleroot. Next to Petalburg, a route stretched west towards the sea, then turned north and ran through a forest before arriving at Rustboro City.
She tried pressing the directional buttons, and a square red cursor blinked on near her position. She moved it onto Petalburg, and pressed the "enter" button. The map zoomed in, giving her a sky-view image of the city. Again, a pokeball icon showed her location. Right above her location was a red square and just next to it a blue one. Shana turned around; behind her she could easily see the red and blue roofs of the pokemon center and mart rising into the sky above her. She looked at the screen again; a purple square was located just down the street from her position. According to the legend at the bottom of the screen, this was the Gym. She flipped off the Nav and returned it to her pocket, then set off down the street.
The gym came into view after only a few moments of walking. It was a very long, but very low building. Next to it a large sign read "Leader Frank Mallet; Petalburg Gym Leader. Wins: 604 Losses: 27" and beneath it was a very wide sign listing the names of the twenty-seven trainers who had beaten him. Shana noticed a name at the very end of the list that was familiar: Javin Palmer. Javin had been here!? She ran to the door and pulled it open, entering the Gym.
***\|/***
If there ever was a place that was bigger inside than it was outside, this was it. The gym was made up of a huge arena; around the edges were hundreds of chairs for an audience to watch battles. The arena itself was made up of a wide stone pit, and on each end was a rectangular cement stand with a pokeball emblazoned on it for the trainers to stand. The entire floor was coated in marks; scorch marks, claw marks, even, at one part, an imprint of a pokemon's face. Shana winced when she saw that one; there were some trainers that pushed too hard. The front door led out onto the very top row of the stands, and in front of it steps led down to the arena itself. At the moment, the building was empty, but at the center of the floor stood a man and three pokemon.
As Shana made her way down the steps, she watched the man training his pokemon.
"Slaking, let's keep practicing that attack, it should come in handy. Rock Smash!" A huge gorilla-like pokemon raised its massive hand, bringing it down in a fist and shattering a boulder that was lying in the arena. The two other pokemon – one of them a white monkey with a red tuft of fur on its head that seemed to have downed five pots of coffee that morning, and the other a sleek, dark blue bird that was watching the hyperactive monkey with a bored expression – sat on the sidelines, waiting for their turn to train. The man that was their trainer walked over and patted the gorilla on the arm.
"Good job, buddy; you've almost mastered it." He turned as Shana climbed into the arena.
"Shana!"
"Hi, dad!" Shana ran over and hugged her father briefly. He was in his mid-forties, his short, dark hair graying slightly around the edges. He wore a plain white shirt and an ordinary pair of blue-jeans. His belt had three pokeballs attached, all of them empty at the moment. He had an air of respect about him; something that was often found among gym leaders. He smiled at his daughter.
"So, how's your journey coming? Have you caught any pokemon yet?"
"Dad, I only started out yesterday."
"And…? Is that supposed to mean anything? Shana, you have two pokeballs on your belt." Shana grinned sheepishly.
"I know, but I didn't really catch Wurmple. Professor Birch gave it to me."
"Ah, so you have a Wurmple?" He glanced at his pokemon. "What do you say we train it up a bit? Bug pokemon usually evolve early, and in this case Wurmple only needs a small amount of experience to evolve."
"Really? But… how could you help me?" She looked at Swellow, Vigoroth and Slaking. "Your pokemon would all be too hard for Wurmple…" Frank smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out another pokeball.
"I use this Zigzagoon to train some of the younger trainers around here. It's not too strong, but it just loves helping other pokemon." He tossed the pokeball to the ground, and it opened to reveal a raccoon pokemon just like Jake's. Shana drew Wurmple's pokeball from her own belt, sending it out, also.
"Alright, then! Let's go, Wurmple!" The purple-colored bug gazed at Zigzagoon warily.
"Start with a String Shot attack!"
"Avoid it and Tackle!" Wurmple raised its head and sprayed the thin web-like substance towards Zigzagoon. The pokemon dodged most of the attack, but some of it got tangled about its foot. It charged Wurmple, but its leg seemed hard to move properly.
"Counter its attack with your own, Wurmple!" The bug pokemon jumped out of the way with surprising agility, ramming into Zigzagoon's side with a powerful Tackle. Zigzagoon staggered, but managed to stay on its feet.
"Good, Shana, you've already gotten the hang of battling. Zigzagoon, Tackle again!"
"Slow it with String Shot!" As Zigzagoon charged once more, the sticky string was coating its body rapidly. The pokemon collapsed just before reaching Wurmple. The purple bug – if it was possible – was jumping with joy. Shana ran forward and reached to pick it up, but an abrupt shout from her father stopped her.
"Don't touch it!" Frank stepped forward, returning Zigzagoon to its pokeball as he watched Wurmple. A silver light was surrounding the pokemon, covering its entire body. Shana watched in awe as the light grew, then burst so brightly she had to cover her eyes. The entire room was flooded with light for one brief moment, then it was all gone. Shana slowly opened her eyes and looked down. A gasp escaped her lips.
Wurmple was gone, and in its place was a spherical cocoon. There was a small hole in the cocoon, through which peered a small blue eye. All over it multiple tough spikes protruded from the shell. Shana's father smiled at her.
"I thought so… Shana, your Wurmple has just evolved into a Silcoon." Shana reached down and lifted the pokemon carefully in her arms. It didn't move; it just sat there staring at her through the hole in its tough shell.
***\|/***
"Dad, could I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
Father and Daughter were walking down the street, having just healed their pokemon at the Center.
"On the sign in front of your gym… you know, the one with the names of the trainers who beat you?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Javin's name was on there… but it was at the very end. Has he been here recently?" Her father was silent for a moment, then he spoke.
"Yes, he came to the gym last… Tuesday I think it was. He said he was collecting all the badges from Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and any other region he could find. Of course, I battled him." He smiled "That boy has got to be the most powerful trainer I have ever fought. His pokemon were incredibly powerful, and he uses amazing strategy. The battle took all of five minutes, but those are five minutes I will never forget all of my life. He said he would be travelling to Rustboro next, and then from there he would head east to Verdanturf and Mauville, and then north to Lavaridge. After that, he said he would go to Sinnoh. Of course, I've heard that wherever Javin appears Joel is bound to show up a week or two later. If I see him, I'll be sure to send him your way. I'll admit it; I don't want you travelling alone."
"Oh, come on dad! I'm the same age as you were when you began training!" Frank sighed, then looked down at his daughter.
"You're right. I shouldn't worry about you at all. You can handle yourself, right?"
"Of course, dad. As long as I've got Torchic and Wur- uh, Silcoon with me, I'll be fine!" Her father stopped; they had reached the city's west gate. Beyond the city limits, Route 104 stretched out, the gravel-and-dirt path snaking off to the north. Beyond that, the sea sat tranquilly, reflecting the mid-afternoon sun.
"Shana, before you go, I want you to have this." Frank pulled something from his pocket and put it into Shana's hand. He crouched in front of her, closing her fingers over the object.
"Give this to Torchic, it will boost the strength and ferocity of its fire attacks." He sighed, gazing into his daughter's eyes. "Shana, in this world, there are hundreds of pokemon, and even more trainers. Keep Torchic with you, protect it, and it will protect you. Never abandon it, and it will never abandon you. Pokemon are not tools, but friends and partners. Never, ever forget that, and you will become a trainer as powerful as Javin." Shana hugged her father, then turned and walked towards Route 104. She turned and waved as her father receded into the distance.
"I won't forget, dad. I promise." She opened her hand. In it was a wide red stone square. She could feel warmth pulsing from it.
"I promise."
