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Pokemon Kanto Rebirth Chapter 2: Viridian City Post 10
With Shellshock still in her arms, Rayne proceeded into the Pokemon Center, sighing deeply. "Wow, we had a busy day today, buddy. We caught three Pokemon, one evolved, and we battled two trainers that started their journeys in Pallet Town yesterday too. Is every day like this eventful?"
Shellshock was happy to be in her arms, and grinned. "(I don't know if every day is like today, but a bit of me says I hope so, but a part of me does not.)" Shellshock laughed. "(If that makes any sense.)"
"I understand what you're coming from," Rayne said with a nod.
"(But what are we going to do about Nidoran?)" Shellshock asked, and Rayne paused in place. "(Are you… going to release him?)"
"I… I'm not sure, Shellshock," Rayne said as she approached Nurse Joy, taking out Nidoran girl's Pokeball as well as Shellshock's. "But I need to return you to your Pokeball. Nurse Joy is going to heal you up." Shellshock nodded and the Pokeball transported him inside.
Nurse Joy took the two Pokeballs as Rayne added, "I'll be back in thirty minutes or so. Can you hold them for me if I'm not back?" Nurse Joy nodded her head with her smile still warm across her face.
Rayne turned around and headed towards the doors to the Pokemon Center, walking out into the brilliant sunlight before heading back to Route 1. There was some business she needed to take care of.
---
When she finally did arrive on the route and Viridian was just barely visible in the distance, Rayne stopped and withdrew a Pokeball, tossing it to the ground and allowing the Pokemon inside to come out. After a moment, her Nidoran boy appeared from the white light. It turned to her with a confused look but Rayne stared down at him sternly.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just release you." Rayne said with her arms crossed over her chest.
The look of horror across Nidoran's face was actually surprising. "(You're r-releasing me?)" it asked, confusion evident in its voice.
"Not yet, but I want you to give me a reason not to," Rayne said, expression still stern, looking down at Nidoran like a mother punishing her child.
"(I… I…)" But Nidoran couldn't – his mind was going everywhere. He didn't know a reason, and his eyes were looking everywhere but to Rayne.
"Do you have no reason?" Rayne raised an eyebrow.
"(No… no, I mean. I – I promise, I won't hurt anyone again like I did Caterpie. Just please don't make me go.)" Nidoran said, shaking his head, distraught.
"You're right – you won't. And you know what else you won't do?" Rayne began as Nidoran looked up at her with glassy eyes. "You will not be nasty to the other Pokemon. You will not injure a wild Pokemon, or a trainer's Pokemon, or your own teammates like you did Caterpie, you understand me?"
Nidoran nodded, eyes still glassy and on Rayne.
"Good," she turned and began to walk back to Viridian.
"(W-wait! Are you making me… stay here?)" his voice cracked, and Rayne turned.
"No, I'm not. You're coming with me," Rayne said, and a smile lit up Nidoran's face. "But remember what I told you, Nidoran. One more slip up…" She didn't need to finish the sentence because Nidoran quickly understood.
It quickly ran up to her side and followed Rayne back to Viridian, quiet, but a smile was evident on its face.
Pokemon Kanto Rebirth Chapter 2: Viridian City Post 11
With her two Pokemon, Shellshock and Nidoran girl, returned to her when she arrived back at Viridian City, she decided to take a quick break from training. She rented out one of the rooms again at the Pokemon Center and settled down for a nice nap. Battles outside were still commencing and Rayne could hear the fans screaming and training commanding their Pokemon.
It was quick for her to fall asleep, and as the sounds of the people cheering on the Pokemon outside, all she heard as she fell asleep was fans shouting for her. She was standing on the field in the Indigo Plateau Championship match, down to her last Pokemon as well as her opponent. And her last Pokemon was none other than her trusty Shellshock, evolved into a large, smart, and sturdy Blastoise, ready for anything to be thrown at it.
"Hydro Cannon," she commanded, her voice reverberating throughout the entire field, not even blinded out by the screaming people in the stands. Shellshock obeyed, and out from the cannons from its shell, fast torrents of water shot out at a record blinding speed, and before her opponent's last Pokemon could get away, it knocked it straight into one of the walls. It was down and out.
She had done it – she had won the Indigo Plateau Championship. She reached out towards her partner, a grin across her face as they embraced the best they could with Shellshock's bulky form. "We did it, Shellshock, we really did it," she said, head held against the belly of his shell.
"(We did. I never once doubted it.)" Shellshock's voice was deeper, but she had never heard anything more familiar. She pulled her head away just as she saw one of the announcers walking towards them with the gold trophy in his arms.
"(Rayne?)"
Her eyes shot open, only to be looking into the young purple eyes of her partner Shellshock, her Squirtle. It was all a dream – she hadn't won the Indigo Plateau Championship. "Wow, I'm getting too ahead of myself," she whispered to herself before looking up at Shellshock. "What's up, buddy?"
"(You were muttering something in your sleep. Something like 'Hydro Cannon'.)" Shellshock said. "(What is that?)"
Rayne smiled and laid a hand on his head. "It's a move, Shellshock. A water move."
"(Oh, can I learn it?)" he asked with an enthusiastic grin.
"Not yet," Rayne said with a shake of her head. "You're too young right now, but in the future, most definitely." Rayne looked at all her other Pokemon who were sleeping smoothly on the bed around her. She smiled. She never believed she'd have such a good team this early in her journey. She didn't know what was blessing her with this good fortune.
"Hey Shellshock, how'd you like another battle before we leave for the Viridian Forest?" Rayne asked, and Shellshock nodded.
"(Yes, I like that idea.)" Shellshock nodded.
Rayne quickly stirred all her Pokemon and they looked up with sleepy glances. They all seemed to be incredibly tired from the amount of training they underwent today. "Hey guys, Shellshock and I are just going to take a small stroll outside. We'll be back soon. All of you just stay here, alright?" They all nodded.
Which let Rayne and Shellshock leave the room quietly, walking towards the practice battle field. Thought the sun had gone down, Rayne didn't like that would stop any trainers from not battling.
And she was right. There were a few more trainers out battling, and there was one lone trainer on a field. Rayne thought he would be a good practice buddy.
She walked up with a smile and with Shellshock trailing at her heels. "Hey," she began. "Would you be up for a one on one Pokemon battle with me?"
The trainer looked up, eyes hidden from his sunglasses. Why he was wearing them at night was beyond Rayne. He smiled, but it wasn't a usual warm friend she saw from other trainers around here. "Fine by me."
The two trainers took their sides on the field, and Rayne nodded for Shellshock to go out there.
"Just a Squirtle?" The guy seemed to laugh, and Rayne was taken aback. "Fine then, if you want to lose quickly." He took out a Pokeball and threw it forward. In a flash of light, a large Ghost Pokemon appeared, and Rayne knew immediately what it was.
The Pokedex rang in her pocket.
Spoiler:
#093 Haunter The Gas Pokemon
It likes to lurk in the dark and tap shoulders with a gaseous hand. Its touch causes endless shuddering.
A Haunter, and a nasty looking one at that.
"Begin this battle with Confuse Ray, Haunter," the trainer commanded.
"Quick, Shellshock use Water Gun," Rayne commanded and a torrent of water shot out towards the Haunter, quickly knocking into the Pokemon and destroying its focus for Confuse Ray.
The other trainer scowled, but quickly shrugged it off. "Not bad. Haunter, Shadow Ball then follow up with Shadow Punch." The Haunter quickly shot a dark ball of energy out towards Shellshock, which immediately hit – sending the turtle Pokemon smashing into the opposite wall. And it wasn't ready for the Shadow Punch, which knocked it almost across the field again.
The look of shock on Rayne's face had quickly betrayed her usual calm and collected physique. "Shellshock, you alright?" she shouted out to her Pokemon.
"(Y-yeah.)" her Pokemon said as it struggled to its feet. But Rayne wasn't sure how much more her Pokemon could take if that Haunter kept up with its attacks. Rayne knew that Shellshock's Bite attack was very powerful against ghost Pokemon like Haunter, but the Haunter was too high in the air, and far too dangerous, for Shellshock to use an outright physical attack.
"Water Gun!" Shellshock began its attack.
"Dodge and use Shadow Ball," the trainer commanded and the Haunter swiftly obeyed, easily getting out of the way of Shellshock's Water Gun and sending a dark energy ball straight into the turtle Pokemon, knocking it several feet back.
"Hypnosis," Haunter's trainer commanded, and the Haunter's eyes flashed a bright red as it stared at Shellshock. As Shellshock looked up, its eyes seemed to flash the same red and its eyelids began to droop, before it fell to the ground asleep.
"Shadow Punch, and knock it towards its trainer," her opponent commanded and the Haunter sent Shellshock flying to Rayne's side of the field but at least ten feet away from her, the turtle Pokemon still asleep.
"Shellshock, please wake up," Rayne said, trying to get Shellshock to open its eyes, but the attempt failed.
"Don't you want to just call off the match now so you can avoid humiliation and harming your Pokemon even further?" her opponent seemed to laugh, but Rayne ignored him.
"Shellshock, please wake up. I've never doubted you – I've always wanted you as my partner. Prove this trainer wrong – prove to him we're not just a face in the crowd," Rayne said, but there was response.
"Nice speech," her opponent laughed. "Haunter, end this with a Shadow Ball." The ghost Pokemon charged up another ball full of dark energy and shot it forward, straight for Shellshock.
But in a flash of blue and brown, the Shadow Ball was suddenly knocked back at full force, smashing straight into Haunter.
Rayne's eyes widened as she looked down at Shellshock, who was up on two legs, panting heavily, but still ready for battle. "I knew I got through to you," Rayne grinned. "Water Gun!" Shellshock released a jet of water that knocked straight into the Haunter while it was still recovering from the tossed back Shadow Ball.
"Now, Shellshock, get up there and use Bite," Rayne commanded. With a jet of water, Shellshock propelled itself towards the Haunter, who was still trying to regroup from the sequence of attacks.
"Haunter, dodge, dodge!" the Haunter's trainer desperately shouted, but it was too late-
Shellshock's Bite attack hit, and with a cry from the ghost Pokemon, Shellshock released it and sent it spinning to the ground with a jet of water.
Shellshock landed back on his spot, looking at the Haunter – who lay defeated on the field in front of them.
The opponent's jaw was dropped as he returned the Haunter before smoothing over his outfit and leaving without a word.
Rayne just grinned and ran forward, scooping Shellshock up in her arms. "Great job, Shellshock, we did it."
"(We did. I never once doubted it.)" Shellshock added on with his own smile. Rayne paused at his words but shrugged it off, happy that they had won a battle she really thought, for a while, that they'd lose.
Setting | After departing Viridian city to the north, you immediately come across Route 2, which is a uniquely designed route that contains two pathways for a Trainer to follow, which are separated by a column of trees with only a few gaps blocked by cut-able trees. There are clear pathways available, flanked either side by patches of tall grass containing wild Pokémon. Occasionally Pokémon exit the grass and take refuge on the path, and may attack if disturbed. Route 2 is a popular area for Pokémon trainers from Viridian city to train there Pokémon, mainly Rattata and Pidgey, and won't hesitate to challenge anyone they see to a battle.
Available Pokémon:
Common:
Uncommon:
Rare:
What you may, may not and must do:
-You must go through the Route.
-You may battle NPC's/fellow roleplayers here, if you're doing the latter, joint posting is preferable.
-You may catch as many Pokémon as you would like, however you must leave the ball rocking at the end of your post.
Viridian Forest
Setting | Viridian Forest, is a forest which lies between Viridian City and Pewter City in the middle of Route 2 with both the north and south entrances of Viridian Forest open to the route. The deep and sprawling forest is said to be a natural maze as many people get lost inside. The trees in the forest are so thick that little light gets in, and because of this the forest is full of Bug- and Flying-type Pokémon that attract Bug Catchers and other Trainers that want to strengthen their Pokémon.
Available Pokémon:
Very Common:
Common:
Uncommon:
Rare:
Very Rare:
What you may, may not and must do:
-You must go through the Route.
-You may battle NPC's/fellow roleplayers here, if you're doing the latter, joint posting is preferable.
-You may catch as many Pokémon as you would like, however you must leave the ball rocking at the end of your post.
Pokemon Kanto Rebirth Chapter 2: Viridian City Post 12
[Sorry that this is so short.]
The duo walked to the door of their rented out room, opening and shutting the door with Shellshock still in her hands. All of her other Pokemon were asleep on the bed. Laying Shellshock down, who was still exhausted from the fight, on the pillow opposite where Rayne slept, the trainer quickly changed into her night clothes before slipping in the bed besides her Pokemon, and falling asleep once again.
The morning was bright when Rayne stirred, as well as her Pokemon. After getting herself ready, she recalled all her Pokemon and decided the morning would be used to train, and then they would head out towards Viridian Forest in the afternoon, after lunch.
With her wrist watch reading nine Rayne began out towards Route 202 again. The first Pokemon she encountered was a Caterpie, so she decided that this would be good practice for her own Caterpie. She threw its Pokeball forward and in a flash of white light, Caterpie was ready and determined to go. "Begin with Tackle!"
Caterpie lunged forward at the other Caterpie, knocking straight into it and sending it flying. That battle didn't last long as Caterpie launched a few more attacked and knocked the other bug Pokemon straight into the bushes.
"Good job, Caterpie," Rayne said, returning the Pokemon to its Pokeball. Rayne continued on for a bit, before spotting a Rattata and thinking this would be great practice for Nidoran girl.
"Go," Rayne shouted, tossing out Nidoran girl's Pokeball. The Pokemon appeared on the ground, and the Rattata began the first move, charging forward in a Tackle. "Dodge, and use Poison Sting."
Nidoran jumped to the side, allowing the Rattata to get a face-full of dirt and grass. And then she opened her mouth and poison needles shot out quickly making contact with the Rattata's body. The Pokemon cried out as Rayne commanded Nidoran again, "Double Kick it." Nidoran shot forward, only to twist completely around.
The Rattata was still dazed and Nidoran made quick work of the Pokemon, knocking it away into the bushes as well.
"Good job, girl," Rayne said with a friend and a nod to her Pokemon. "Let's continue. I'm sure there's a bunch of Pokemon around here that we haven't seen." Nidoran nodded and traveled with her trainer until they came to the pond water's edge.
"We haven't seen any water Pokemon yet," Rayne mused, and she retrieved a Pokeball from her jacket. "Maybe Shellshock can help us with that." She threw the Pokeball towards the water, and in a flash of familiar white light, her starter Pokemon materialized in the water, looking ever so happy.
"Shellshock, I want you to go underwater and use Bite on whatever you see. Bring it up," Rayne said and Shellshock nodded, diving underwater. And it didn't take long – only a few minutes until water exploded upwards and Shellshock was lodged tightly on the tale of a blue tadpole Pokemon. Shellshock made quick work and threw it towards the grass away from the water, an easy target to where Nidoran could work to take it down.
The water Pokemon landed with a thud, and Shellshock stepped to Rayne's side as she tug out the Pokedex.
Spoiler:
#060 Poliwag The Tadpole Pokemon
Its skin is so thin, its internal organs are visible. It has trouble walking on its newly grown feet.
"Nidoran, go get it, I want to catch it," Rayne instructed, and Nidoran jumped forward. The Poliwag didn't look weak though – it got to its small stumps of feet and faced Nidoran.
"Begin with Poison Sting." Nidoran opened her mouth and shot out several poison needles toward the water Pokemon. But it retaliated – sending out a Bubble attack that stopped Poison Sting in its tracks. "Damn."
And it wasn't done – it ran forward towards Nidoran, releasing a powerful Headbutt attack that Nidoran couldn't dodge. The poison pin Pokemon was thrown back, and it didn't look like her ability worked on the Poliwag at all.
"Nidoran, get up," Rayne commanded, but the Poliwag was too fast – releasing a Water Gun attack that sent Nidoran flying into the water. "Nidoran!" And Nidoran didn't know how to swim.
"(I'll get her!)" Shellshock said, diving into the water, and the Poliwag was running towards the water, still angry about being attacked. That's when it sent a Hypnosis attack into the water.
The pond was calm for a few seconds before water exploded upwards again, and a spinning shell knocked straight into the Poliwag sending it flying into a tree. And out of the shell out popped Shellshock, or… what looked like Shellshock – but he looked different. He was carrying Nidoran though.
Rayne took out her Pokedex, but she knew what had just happened.
Spoiler:
#008 Wartortle The Turtle Pokemon
It is said to live 10,000 years. Its furry tail is popular as a symbol of longevity.
Yes, Shellshock had evolved.
"(Here.)" the newly evolved Shellshock had Nidoran in his arms and gestured for Rayne to take the unconscious pin Pokemon. "(I'll take care of that Poliwag.)" And he did, withdrawing into his shell and spinning straight into the Poliwag, knocking it towards Rayne once more.
"That's Rapid Spin," Rayne mused as she watched the battle. Shellshock was taking every one of Poliwag's attacks, most of them water attacks, and he looked much healthier and better to take attacks than that Poliwag.
Only with one more strike of the Rapid Spin was Poliwag tossed to Rayne's feet. Rayne took that opportunity, withdrawing a Pokeball and dropping it onto the Poliwag. The water Pokemon was transported inside, and the ball began to rock…
The road before Bennet was short, leading to Viridian Forest. The battle had gone on longer than expected, and the sun was dangerously low in the sky, well into the afternoon. He considered going back to the Pokemon Center and waiting until tomorrow to continue. No. He told himself. I've wasted enough time here, I'm probably far behind everyone else. I have to go now. Besides, how long could the forest possibly be? He asked himself, staying optimistic. He began to walk.
It wasn't long into the walk before the there was a peculiar rustling sound somewhere nearby. However, the grass wasn't at all disturbed, save for Bennet's footsteps. The rustling continued, getting closer and closer, the ground still showed no signs of movement, Bennet having stopped to try and find the source of the movement. The rustling got closer and closer. Bennet was beginning to turn around.
A blunt force smacked into the boy's back.
Bennet stumbled forward, trying to catch himself. He wobbled about, trying to regain balance. Just as he was starting to steady, another thing hit his back, and he fell forward, his face getting a fine bit of grass and dirt. He lay on the ground for several moments, more stunned than in pain. The rustling came closer again, and stopped. He felt something on his back. Suddenly, something hard hit his head. "Ouch!" He yelped. quickly turning over, and the rustling suddenly resumed.
Hovering in front of the boy's face was a bird Pokemon, Pidgey. What's more is that on either side of the boy was another one. The Pidgey before Bennet's face cooed loudly, and they all took off simultaneously. Far overhead they began circling, three in total.
Bennet was running, there wasn't much distance to the forest. If he could just run for a few more minutes, he would be there, safe from the hostile Pokemon. One of the Pidgey flew past his right side with a rush of wind, coming dangerously close to hitting him. Then another whizzed by. Then he was hit again. Being launched forward, he hit the ground hard, sliding for a bit in the dirt, before rolling uncontrollably and stopping, face to the sky, the sun blinded him for several seconds. When the daze ended, Bennet was already on his feet, standing idly, a sitting target. One Pidgey was quick to take the opportunity, as it rushed at him. Bennet closed his eyes and covered his chest with his arms in hopes of absorbing the inevitable impact. There was a crash and a shrill cry, then a rustling of grass, growls and shrieks intertwined in disharmony.
When he opened his eyes, Bennet saw a black and blue body on top of something buried in the grass. The other two Pidgey were flying towards it fast, but were suddenly given pause. They hovered in the air for a few moments, not making a move. Then, out of the grass, a green streak appeared and took one of the bird Pokemon out of the sky. Bennet, in shock and disbelief, absently felt around his belt, his Pokeballs were gone.
The Pidgey Sparks had tackled got free, flinging the Shinx into the air several feet as it took off. Bennet stepped forward. "Sparks, you gotta straighten yourself out!" He yelled, not sure how much help that would be. With a surprising degree of aerial control, Sparks flipped over backwards, allowing the cat to land on his feet. There was no time to breathe, though, as the other last unoccupied Pidgey was quick to take its predecessor's place, flying straight for the Shinx. "Sparks, roll left!" Bennet commanded, already pretending that he was one of the trainers in the arena. Sparks waited a moment, and the Pidgey neared. At the last available moment, he did as commanded, leaving the bird Pokemon to crash into the ground. It wasn't hurt too badly, though, as it quickly rising and spinning around to face Sparks, dragging its wing on the ground as it did. Sand flew into Spark's face, leaving him stunned as he attempted to get the dust out of his eyes. This gave the wild Pidgey plenty of time to launch itself at the defenseless Shinx, who rolled off, buried in the grass. The Pidgey took back off into the sky.
Bennet was paying too much attention to Spark's battle to realize that the one he had injured had already swooped back down, hitting Queen hard. Flung off the Pidgey she had tackled, it was able to get into the air, just to come back down and hit Queen with its beak, it looked as if that attack had hurt her badly. In unison, the two charged downwards to her. "Queen, run forward!" Bennet yelled. She was quick to do as commanded, perhaps too quickly, as both Pidgey had time to react and pull up before either of them got hurt. One of the Pidgey cooed several times, and the other began flying away. The one that had instructed the other was again flying down to her. "Jump and Tackle it when it gets close!" Bennet instructed. He was unsure whether or not his move would work, the Pidgey blocked his view of Queen, who was already camouflaged by the grass. Suddenly, there was a flash of green in the air, quickly coming down on top of the Pidgey, the two sailed to the ground, Queen doing something similar to surfing as the bird Pokemon slid through the grass and dirt. "Keep up the pressure!" Bennet commanded, switching his attention back to Spark's fight.
Sparks was clearly on the defensive, the Pidgey continually tried to find openings, attacking when it thought it saw one. Sparks was quick to bat it away, but whenever he tried to attack, the Pidgey flew beyond his range. Sparks was backing up, and Pidgey was slowly flying forward, too far away to attack. "Create an opening!" Bennet said without thinking. Sparks hesitated for several moments, stopping his backing. Whether or not he did do as Bennet commanded turned out to be inconsequential, as the Pidgey flew in for an attack anyways. "Now jump back and use Leer!" Bennet suddenly yelled. This time, the Shinx did just as he was told. The Pidgey continued to fly straight for him, but was stopped by his glare. Sparks didn't wait for a command before he leaped straight for the immobile bird, tackling it and pinning its wings.
There was a loud cry. Bennet turned to the sound, the third Pidgey had returned, hitting Queen hard in the back, pushing her off the Pidgey she was attacking. Just as that happened, Spark's Pidgey threw him off and began attacking. Bennet couldn't handle it, he couldn't control two battles at the same time. "Both of you, go to the middle!" He shouted. The moment each was able to escape their attackers, they did as they were told, both of them were beaten up and panting heavily. The Pidgey trio formed up in front of his Pokemon. Sparks immediately straightened himself, growling in defiance of the birds. Queen did something more. From the collar-like leaves on its neck, thick green tendrils shot out. It took one of the Pidgey by surprise, who soon had the twin vines wrapped around its wings. It looked like Queen could now use Vine Whip. Confidence renewed, Bennet began commanding his Pokemon. "Queen, throw the one you've got into the others!." He yelled, new power behind his voice. Queen did so, toppling one, the final Pidgey dodged. As the two birds collided, Queen released her grip on the Pidgey, and the two that were hit came crashing to the ground. "Sparks, Tackle them!" Was Bennet's next move. Without wasting time, Sparks charged in, hitting one of the Pidgey, the other taking off. "Queen, Leer!" The trainer shouted. The Pidgey was stopped before it could assist its friend. "Now Tackle it!" Bennet said. The Snivy began running, but it was Sparks who got to it first, taking it down.
The last Pidgey was still in the sky, Bennet noticed. "Queen, get it down here!" He yelled. The green vines shot out from the Snivy. The Pidgey was far away, though, and was able to avoid the attack, the vines fell to the ground before they were retracted. The Pidgey flew higher, and cooed loudly. Just as suddenly as they had arrived, the Pidgey took off into the sky, fleeing. Bennet quickly recalled his Pokemon without a second thought and ran through the rest of the route, into the treeline.
As it turned out, the dark entrance to the forest in the late afternoon wasn't as friendly as he thought. Regardless, he leaned up against a tree and caught his breath. "At least... it's cool... in here." He said to himself between panting.
(OOC: Short post is short, but I have to go out and didn't have much time.)
Part 5: Bowling for Sheep
"Man, I've got to stop being so lazy."
The sun was bright and warm, and one or two clouds were dotting the afternoon sky. Hunter was sitting at the edge of a small pond near Route 22, his feet dipped in the water while he leaned back on his hands. Charmer was sitting next to him, taking care to stay away from the water and busying himself with one of the five Oran berries. Better get rid of them fast before they start to get mouldy, was Hunter's reasoning behind the blatant waste. Still, Charmer certainly deserved a little bit of pampering. The pair had only been together for a day and a half, but already they were developing a close bond. "Hey, Charmer."
"Char?"
"We'd better get going... It'll be night time soon, and we'll be stuck in Viridian Forest with nowhere to spend the night." Charmer nodded in agreement, too used to the luxury of Pokemon Centers and warm nights in the Laboratory. Although, Hunter figured, Charmer's obviously a good Pokemon to have if warmth is an issue.
Ten minutes later, they were on their feet and starting towards Route 2, fully-stocked with the supplies from the day before. "I think it's time you and Kaiser became friends," said Hunter suddenly, remembering the earlier altercation between the two Pokemon. Charmer seemed to scowl at the Nidoran's name. "No, I'm serious. You guys are going to have to get along if we're gonna get through this thing."
Before Charmer could react, Kaiser was sitting on the ground in front of him. He had spotted Charmer, and was just about to charge forward when...
The Nidoran squealed in discomfort. Hunter knew that if he could understand Pokemon, it would sound something like "put me down, put me down!" Well, Hunter wasn't going to do that. Not until Kaiser agreed not to attack Charmer anymore. "Listen, Kaiser," he said firmly. "You're not going anywhere unless you promise me that you won't try to hurt Charmer. I've had enough of you two trying to kill each other, when you're family now!" Kaiser stopped wriggling and looked into Hunter's eyes. What the Trainer saw there seemed to be a mix of reluctance, confusion and guilt. "I'm your Trainer, and I need you to both put your differences aside. Now apologize to Charmer." He set Kaiser down on the ground, hesitating slightly. "You try anything, and you're back in the wild where I found you." This seemed to get through to Kaiser more than anything else. He walked over to a very wary Charmer, head bowed in what seemed to be shame.
"Nido, Nidoran..."
"Charmander Char. Charmander!"
That was as far as their conversation got before they turned their backs on each other. Still, it was a good start. "I'm leaving you two outside your Pokeballs until you learn to be friends. Now come on, we have things to do."
Route 2 seemed very... dull, in Hunter's eyes. There wasn't much there, unless you had a Pokemon who could cut through trees. Still, maybe we can catch something... He walked over to a nearby patch of grass, Kaiser and Charmer following behind. The two were making sure not to look at each other, and there was apparently some sort of invisible barrier that they were unwilling to cross.
Hunter didn't even have to set foot in the grass before something leaped out of it and jumped on his chest, knocking him flat on the ground. A tongue protruded from the living ball of yellow fur, and commenced licking Hunter's face.
"Mareeeeeeeeeep!"
"Argh- what- get off- what- stop licking me! Charmer, get this thing off!"
And he did. The flames struck the yellow Pokemon on the side and it tumbled off Hunter's chest. He watched it carefully as he got to his feet, and pulled out his Pokedex. The puffy cloud-like Pokemon was easy to scan, seeing as it was laying still. "Charmer, your Embers are really getting powerful. We'd better be careful with that."
Mareep, the Wool Pokemon. Mareep's fluffy coat of wool rubs together and builds a static charge. The more static electricity is charged, the more brightly the lightbulb at the tip of its tail grows.
"A Mareep, huh? Well, I think we could use one of those!"
Before he even had time to throw a Pokeball, something happened that he wasn't expecting. The Mareep got to its feet, took one look at Charmer, and then started wailing loudly. Tears streamed from the Pokemon's eyes, and the noise it was making only continued to get louder. While it cried, it shook, and while it was shaking, small BZZT sounds began to come from its fur. "Charmer, Kaiser... I have a feeling we're not going to like this..."
The static charge had built up, even though the Mareep seemed completely oblivious to its newfound energy. Tiny fingers of lightning appeared here and there in the air around it, and a low humming started. Finally, the crescendo. Just as it seemed the wailing couldn't get any louder, and Hunter's hair started to stand on end, a yellow field of electricity engulfed the Mareep. It remained this way for a few seconds, before an almost solid-looking bolt of lightning burst from the aura, directed straight at Charmer. "Charmer, dodge it!"
If it wasn't for the Charmander's agility, he would have been fried. The lightning narrowly missed him, instead smashing into a bush behind Hunter and setting it alight. "Where did a Mareep learn Thunderbolt?! They can't learn that normally!" He stared at it, too shocked (heh) to do anything. Hunter and Kaiser were awaiting orders patiently. Still the Mareep cried, unaware that it had just exploded a bush. Finally, Hunter cleared his head, giving himself a bit of a mental slap, and yelled "Kaiser, hit it with Poison Sting!" Kaiser charged towards the Mareep, which didn't even open its eyes to look at the oncoming attack. Nidoran's horn glowed purple as it made contact with the side of the Pokemon, and it fell to the ground. It stopped crying for a moment, got back to its feet, and started crying even louder than before. Is this ever going to stop?! Still, it seemed tired, and its tone was interspersed with wavering. Clearly, it wasn't about to keep fighting, and so Hunter began to deliberate whether or not to catch it. It seemed powerful, but it was crying after one Ember! It would probably be difficult to train... Still, he tossed a Pokeball. The familiar burst of red light, the sound of the Pokeball closing, and then the ball started to rock.
(Pretty short, but I've got a long one coming after this. The name "Hadron" is only because of the whole Higgs Boson discovery :P)
Part 6: A Slimy Situation
The Pokeball stopped moving and made a quiet ping, signalling the successful capture of the Mareep. Hunter walked over to the ball and was about to pick it up when he looked over at Charmer and Kaiser. Both Pokemon were looking at him as if he was insane. He sighed and then started to explain himself. "Well, come on! I know it's a total wimp, but didn't you see that attack? I bet if we train it up a bit it'll be as strong as you two." This indirect praise seemed to work, since both Charmer and Kaiser raised their chins and tried their best to look tough. Hunter picked up the Mareep's Pokeball and stared at it for a moment. You'll need a name, too. I think Hadron suits you. "Alright, come on." Hunter motioned for Charmer and Kaiser to follow him, and they continued through the tall grass.
Hunter had walked about twenty steps when he noticed something strange. "Charmer, Kaiser? Have you two seen any other Pokemon?" The two looked bewildered. Hunter took this as a "no". "Just stay alert, you two, something's not quite ri- argh!" He was cut off as something flew out of the grass to his left, just barely missing him. Whatever it was, it was slimy and purple, and as it landed in the nearby foliage, began bubbling and hissing. Smoke rose from the now-dissolved blades of grass underneath it. "It's some kind of poison... Kaiser, get in there! Find out what it was!" Hunter knew that as a Poison-type Pokemon, Kaiser would be immune to any toxic substances. Instead of going to investigate the acidic puddle, though, the Nidoran jumped straight into the grass where the blob had been issued from. There were several painstaking moments in which Hunter couldn't see into the undergrowth, and could only hear the obvious sounds of two Pokemon wrestling. "Kaiser? What's happening in there? Charmer, clear the area!" Charmer leapt into the air and spun around once, spitting several Embers into the grass. The result was that a large charred donut was created, with Kaiser still obscured in the center, fighting with the invisible enemy.
Eventually, after one particularly loud yelp from what Hunter assumed was Kaiser, the Nidoran tumbled out of the grass and landed on its side, laying motionless. Just moments later, the enemy Pokemon slithered out of the center of the donut.
"Ekansssssssssssss..."
It coiled itself around Kaiser's limp body, and began to constrict it. "A- An Ekans?!" That explains why Hadron was so excited to see other Pokemon... "Charmer, Metal Claw!"
But nothing happened.
Charmer simply stood there watching the event, unsure of what he should do. On one hand, this "Kaiser" was his rival. With it out of the way, he would have his Trainer all to himself. No favouritism or arguments.
But then again...
Hunter looked on, horrified at the scene. His partner was being crushed while his very first Pokemon, his friend, simply watched. "Charmer! Do something!" he shouted, his voice wavering a little. Finally, Charmer seemed to make a decision. He ran forward, claws glowing bright silver, and swiped at the Ekans' head in an X shape. This seemed to temporarily concuss the snake-like Pokemon, as its grip loosened. Charmer struck it with another Metal Claw, and it completely un-coiled itself, flying several feet through the air. It landed in a messy heap, unmoving but watching Charmer warily. Its tongue flicked in and out of its mouth, tasting the air, sensing the danger and weighing up its options.
Charmer finally decided the decision-making period was over, and let loose a Dragon Rage. The blue flames raced towards the Ekans, and it quickly made up its mind, slithering back into the grass before the attack could reach it. Hunter ran over to Kaiser and knelt down beside him, shaking him gently. "Kaiser? Kaiser, wake up. Are you alright?"
He wasn't.
The Nidoran opened one eye groggily, before squeezing it shut in pain. Of course, Hunter didn't expect much more, after he'd been beaten up and constricted by an Ekans for several minutes. "We're going to get you to a Pokemon Center, buddy. Just hold on. Here, get back into your Pokeball." Kaiser complied, and Hunter got to his feet. He looked at Charmer, hardly believing what had just happened. Charmer simply stared at the ground, clearly ashamed of its actions. "Charmer, return," was all Hunter could say. Hundreds of thoughts raced through his head on his quick trip back to Viridian Pokemon Center. Why would he just stand there? I told them they need to get along! Does he think I'm picking favourites?
Finally, Hunter arrived at the Pokemon Center. He ran to the counter for the second time in two days and handed his Pokeballs to Nurse Joy. He reasoned that it was better to heal all 3 of them at once, since it was a free service. "Back again, Hunter?"
"We had a run-in with an Ekans. Not much else to say," he replied. Joy nodded. She wasn't really one for too many words; she understood things better than almost anyone, though.
"It'll only take a little while. Go make yourself comfortable," she said, as she walked into the Center's back room.
Hunter once again plonked himself down on a soft couch, rested his head back, and waited patiently.
[This is the first part of a battle between Alyss and Jett. The second part will be posted by Fuyu.]
For Jett, his chat with Bennett was really just the calm before the storm. It had been something to temporarily take his mind off of his Pokemon (although they had talked about Pokemon). But now the fifteen-year-old was headed back to the Pokemon Center, as he said he would, to retrieve his Pokemon.
He was ready to get out of this city, and though he knew he would eventually have to come back he was not interested in seeing the place again for a long while. Viridian City was a hit and a miss for Jett. But where to next? The forest, he guessed. Jett was not well versed on the geography of the Kanto region, but he at least knew that to the north was Viridian Forest.
Well, scratch that. The place he was going to next was the PokeMart, for supplies. For now, though, was the Pokemon center. It brought on some deja vu. He'd been here a lot, and he imagined a lot of his journey would be like this, running back and forth from Pokemon Center to Pokemon Center.
So up to the counter he went, waiting for the nurse to come out of the back. He wasn't even sure if his Pokemon were done healing yet, but there was no sense in sitting around and waiting for hours only to find out they were ready to go fifteen minutes before he arrived. Or, to put it more literally, Jet was going to the counter to ask about his Pokemon. How exciting.
Alyss took her Pokemon back with a mumbled thank you. her loss had upset her but... she was new, young, and knew she had to get better anyway.TInstantly Sammy left his Pokeball again and let out a cry of joy. "Osha~" Freedom! FREEDOM~ He danced around her feet, causing Alyss to nervously giggle and step back, trodding on the foot of someone behind her. Instantly she spun to see the male, turning pink and stumbling away.
"I... I'm really really sorry," she exclaimed, looking him straight in the eye out of sheer nervousness. "I... I wasn't paying attention. My Oshawott was being really silly so I couldn't help it. Please forgive me!" Sammy instantly jumped in front of her, brandishing his shell like a club.
"Wott," he said firmly toward the male, Jett. "Oshawott."
Jett raised an eyebrow. He had flinched when the girl stepped on his foot, but other than that he wasn't especially angry, just slightly annoyed. "You have a starter," he commented, completely ignoring her apologies.
"From Professor Oak?" he asked, wondering if he had met yet another of the people who that old man saw potential in.
Alyss blinked, slowly analyzing his question. "Well... erm... yes," she replied after a moment. "Professor Oak gave me Sammy... is that really all, um, all that important?"
Jett paused for a moment, a pensive look on his face, then let out a frustrated sigh. How could he possibly see potential in someone like that? This girl sounded utterly weak.
Words came before thoughts, and from Jett's mouth slipped, "Yeah. It's important. He shouldn't be giving starters to those who aren't strong. That man must be going insane in his old age."
It was both rude and ungrateful, and Jett simply turned back to the counter with no intent of apologizing. The nurse had laid out his Pokemon, and that was all he was interested in at the moment. The girl, he thought, wasn't even worth his time.
Alyss froze. Her face paled slowly from the flush and twisted into utter misery. Sammy saw this and his black eyes darkened with rage. He was torn a moment between two desires. He ought to comfort Alyss but he wanted to tear that boy's face up for that insult. Alyss remained very quiet and still, rooted to the spot. Then her expression hardened. Her mind burned with a new emotion. It was a dull anger, like a few embers. For her though, it was quite enough.
She lifted her eyes to look at him darkly, watery-blue eyes flashing. "Why are you so mean?" Alyss inquired, her voice refusing to waver. "Just because someone's weak... doesn't mean they can't get stronger. And having a starter doesn't mean much if you insult the person who gave them to you. If... If I'm the weak one..." Alyss hesitated. She didn't just insult people out of the blue. But that had stung and was completely uncalled for. She was shy; that didn't mean he could just spit on her. "Then what does that make you who bullies them?"
Jett narrowed his eyes, not turning around. He couldn't think of a good answer to that, and the feeling in his chest from even talking to someone worsened. Something the boy didn't seem to realize was that anger wasn't the best cover up for someone who was afraid. It was like a crippling shyness, and the only words he could speak were hateful.
He gathered up his Pokeballs, speaking as he did. "I am going to be the best trainer that any person could ever hope to be. So stop crying and get over yourself."
Crying was not a word he meant literally, but he was being a hypocrite by saying that regardless. He had been crying just before. His face was still puffy, even.
Alyss would have grown angrier; she certainly wanted to. However the idea sounded more exhausting than enticing and she simply shook her head. "The best trainer wouldn't be so hateful because he was scared. And please sir, don't tell me what you want to tell yourself. If the best trainer is someone who only wins with strength, then I don't think I want to be strong at all." She walked around him slowly, Sammy tottering after her like a silly old man.
"Osha!" mocked the otter. Alyss would have felt bad for insulting him. However, she disliked people like that, who shoved their pain on others. It had been what happened with her parents and without a doubt, it was happening with this person. It had to stop, before she did something she would regret.
Then she paused and glanced back at him. "Wouldn't the best trainer also not be frightened of a weak girl?" She saw the puffiness of his face and felt sympathy. But she didn't show it.
Jett cringed. He preferred not having to ever look anyone in the face. Refusing to meet Alyss's eyes, he said, "What makes you think I'm afraid of you?"
He felt his anger intensify. "Furthermore, how am I telling you what I should be telling myself? My words are meant for you, and any other weak, self righteous little girls who call themselves trainers."
It wasn't as if Jett was the most intimidation of people. He was short, even a little feminine in appearance, and most of all easy to read. His expressions kept nothing from people, something he would only subconsciously admit by not meeting the eyes of others. Maybe he was a little angry, but at this point he wished the girl in from of him would just go away.
Deep down, a lot of what she said was true, and Jett didn't like the truth.
Alyss, to her own surprise, stared right back. "You won't back up your words. If I am so weak, crush me." She wasn't frightened anymore, not nervous, not even angry. She felt a thrill, a delightful deep thrill that came from the prospect of a fight. "I'm weak so prove it. Crush me. Or don't and make yourself wrong." She picked up her Oshawott, not glaring, merely waiting, challenging.
She had dimly realized it during her battle with Rayne. Despite the loss, the fight had been fun! Rai's pride, Nidoran's composure, Sammy's silliness, her own desperation to close the gap and fight for something resembling a win. She had enjoyed it; she wanted another. If someone like him didn't realize the joy and the fun... well then even if his Pokemon won, he lost. It was inevitable. It was worth dealing with anger to try and get that joy again. It made her feel like she had a chance at changing herself.
Honestly Jett was a little surprised. Okay. No. He was very surprised, even enough that it took a few moments to register the challenge in his mind. He had confronted that woman on Route 22 just a small while ago, and was crushed.
Well he wouldn't let it happen again.
"Fine," Jett stated, "Pick a place. Any place. I guarantee I'll win." Obviously they couldn't battle in the Pokemon Center, so he would let this girl pick the playing field. It didn't really matter to him anyways. Viridian was Viridian.
He gripped one of his Pokeballs tight, still refusing to make eye contact, even going so far as to look at the floor, or off to the side. In his somewhat warped perception, all he needed to look confident was words.
Alyss nodded calmly and strode out. It took a lot of willpower not to skip. She felt so confident, so free and overjoyed. Was this what it felt like to be Shana, all brave and full of euphoria? Whatever the case, she had to enjoy it while it lasted, absolutely had to. Sammy wiggled in her arms, bouncing and spinning delightedly where he was. "I might drop you Sammy," she warned softly, earning a bigger squeal of delight.
She knew where she was going: Route 1. They were less likely to make a show right here. Also, on this open ground, they could both see. She stopped feet away from him and turned. "You first," she said quietly. "Three on three." She did this for her Pidgey's sake, who needed training more than the others. She was strong but until it could knock Rai onto his tail, they were flat out of luck there. She still held Sammy, watching him look away from her.
He's more scared than I am, she thought and despite it, her heart leapt in her chest.
Although his expression was calm and almost apathetic outwardly, his slightly shaking hands and the ragged breath he took as he chose a Pokemon gave away just how nervous he was. He'd have to work perfectly with his Pokemon to be able to win, something he hadn't even come close to last time.
"Three on three," he confirmed. He picked the ball of the Pokemon he would lead with, pulling his arm back slowly before tossing it out to the center. "Jigglypuff! Go!" he called. Really his Jigglypuff and Caterpie needed better names, like the ones he had given to Luca and Tom, but this wasn't the time to be thinking of such trivial things.
The pink Pokemon materialized in a flash of white light, poised to fight. She was an aggressive Jigglypuff, full of energy. Apparently the last battle's blunder wasn't having any noticeable affects on the bond between her and her trainer either, which was certainly a relief to Jett.
Alyss smiled slowly. Unknowingly that was a movement that would likely psyche out her opponent. She didn't think about that. She was happy because her Pidgey would enjoy this battle. So would Rai. Rai just enjoyed showing off though. However, her Pidgey, Rhia, was fast, and from what Shana had mentioned about Jigglypuff, they weren't even close. However, they also had an ability to make the opposite gendered Pokemon like them. She had no idea what it was called. But if that Jigglypuff was female, it wouldn't matter. Regardless... it was time to test the waters.
She pulled out her new Pokeball and opened it, releasing her Pidgey. It let out a happy chirp at her before realizing there was an opponent just waiting to get its aggression on. Seeing this, its eyes narrowed and it landed on the ground, chirping patiently again. Alyss closed her eyes. This battle would likely be dusty and hard to see in. She remembered again what she had been taught, what little that had been. There are fights where you can't see and others where you can't hear. You'd better think of something else. So she listened, focusing mostly on Rhia and the delighted chirps coming from the bird. "Sand Attack!" It was best to make sure.
Rhia took off a little, flying forward and flapping her wings rapidly, trying to send a dust cloud to mess with Jigglypuff's vision. With them big, adorable eyes, she kind of hoped it didn't hurt too much. She quickly escaped the cloud, soaring up and over them in a circle.
Alyss's smile was a little disorienting, but what was even more disorienting was that she had used sand attack right off the bat. Well, there was no need to use his Jigglypuff's best move yet anyways.
"Defense curl, and use the sand to hide." he commanded, the Pink Pokemon complying and curling into a tight ball, and rolling a little under the the cloud of dust.
Jett had a plan.
Alyss would have frowned but she was more curious than anything else. He wanted the Pokemon to hide in the sand... well when she had checked her Pidgey she had discovered something interesting... But no, she would be quiet for now. She had an idea. Slowly, she pulled out her Pokedex and examined Jigglypuff. She remained thoughtful before nodding.
"Rhia!" she called and her partner chirped. "Gust. Whirl it up in the air." The Pidgey flapped its wings, quickly making a miniature tornado below. The attack wasn't meant to hurt anyone too badly but if it did that sounded good. Alyss just wanted to make it be battered around, something that happened to Jiggylypuff very easily.
The lightweight Pokemon was easily lifted, although it was a bit slower than usual due to the move it had just used, Defense Curl.
Jett smirked. This would hurt a little, for Jigglypuff, but would spare a lot of pain later. "Disable!"
The Pokemon floundered a bit, unable to execute the move for a few moments, but then suddenly the move had triggered. It wasn't a very visible phenomenon, other than a light flashing in front of Pidgey, but it would be effective nonetheless.
Alyss was almost surprised. Almost. She almost was thrown off balance and frightened into dismay. But at the last second she calmed, her smile returning. "I only needed it once really," she murmured. Also... if you dragged the battle long enough, she remembered, Disable was only temporary. Right? Oh well.
Rhia squawked in annoyance. She rather liked making things windy. It looked kinda cool. Well there was no helping it. What did the trainer want her to do? Alyss tilted her head, looking at the aerial fight going on. "Quick Attack," she said quietly, unwilling to give in. "Disorient it." Pidgey nodded and let out a happy cry, diving down past the Jigglypuff only to dart up again. It circled the balloon Pokemon, just out of reach of the floating Pokemon. Alyss watched this with quiet patience. She knew how odd it must look, all those attacks only to miss by an inch... on purpose. But it was disrupting the wind, which was more important.
Jett was unsure of what was going on. Oh. No. He was not going to let this go on. "Sing!" he instructed, and the somewhat dizzy Jigglypuff began to do just that.
Its voice was somewhat shaky, though still the calm, soothing tone it used to lull enemies to sleep. It swayed back and forth with its song, many times almost being carried away by the rising winds, but never ceasing its voice. It was a brave little thing.
"Move!" Alyss commanded and Rhia spiraled away from the singing Pokemon, circling Jett's head as the song tried to reach its ear slits. "Down," she ordered softly now and the Pokemon dropped, landing gently on its talons. "Sand Attack." Rhia flapped her wings quickly, engulfing herself in a cloud of dust and sand. Then Alyss fell silent and waited.
Whether Sing worked or not didn't matter. Whether this was playing for time or not was pointless too. Alyss smiled a little and listened to the wind, listening to it slowly die down.
Ugh. This was not what was supposed to happen, and that frustrated Jett. Still, he was determined to win this time, especially for the trust of his Jigglypuff. Trust. That was what this was all about.
And now he decided that the only way to win was to have a certain trust in his Pokemon. "Jigglypuff. Used pound," he ordered. "Just close your eyes and use the direction of the wind."
It was a guess. If this went wrong it could be a terrible thing for Jigglypuff, but he was just so sure-
So the pink Pokemon threw it's body where it thought Pidgey was hiding.
The girl heard this command and tilted her head. She wondered if he was having fun yet. Sammy certainly was, eyes fixed on the fight with fascination. She was fascinated too but for different reasons. The idea of trusting or not trusting her Pokemon had not occurred to her like it had to have for Jett. If there had been anything non-battle related about Pokemon Zor had shown her, it had been that assertion was the way to win a heart but not showing doubt kept that win. So she didn't show doubt or fear for her Pokemon, but she was plenty terrified of everything else. It was healthy... sort of.
Her eyes fell on Jett. He was nervous. She was doing it! She was actually battling. Despite his tongue, she was grateful to him already. He had helped her more than he knew.
Alyss grinned, deciding now was the perfect time. "Now! Tackle!" Rhia, who had been plodding along on its talons restlessly, perked at this noise. She did squawk at the sight of the large shadow flying over her tiny body. But she spread her wings and shot up at the Jigglypuff beak-first, intending on sending it flying despite the pain of nearly being crushed by a balloon.
The moment Alyss's voice had sounded Jett almost panicked. He saw Pidgey hit Jigglypuff up into the air, and almost did nothing to stop it out of shock. He had honestly thought the Pidgey was asleep.
"Cushion the landing! Defense Curl!" he yelled out, trying to get the Pokemon to move before it hit the ground. The balloon Pokemon pulled its arms and feet into its center as fast as it could and-
Thud! It hit the ground.
Jett bit his bottom lip, nervous. Would Jigglypuff be able to get up? If it did would it be able to still fight without getting to hurt? These were all things he hadn't thought of in his previous battle, blinded by the need to prove a point. That need was still here too, but for some reason this time was different.
Jigglypuff pushed itself to its feet again, worse for ware, but still wanting to fight.
Alyss let out a quiet exhale of breath and smiled as Rhia flapped its wings happily. It was tired but Alyss was happy. And besides, this was nothing compared to that stupid mouse! Ooh when she got her talons on him- "Good," she uttered softly. "You're a strong Pokemon aren't you? That's good, really good." She complimented the Jigglypuff without pause, without derision.
She looked over at Jett's face. He was anxious, uncertain, slightly frightened, but still determined. That was good,fun. She couldn't wait. "The thing about Sing..." she tried to recall from the Pokedex. "Is that it doesn't always work." Rhia began to flap her wings. It wasn't time for Gust yet but that was okay. She knew what next. "Disorient." Pidgey launched herself forward in a Quick Attack, soaring overhead to hit from behind. It could be dodged or countered, she knew, but would the other Pokemon have the energy for it?
Jett scowled. "Well the thing about sing," he replied, "is that it can't always not work."
"Jigglypuff, use sing!"
It was a huge risk making any move at this point. To use pound would probably damage his Pokemon too much, and another disable would be a bad move in general. He could heighten his Pokemon's defense more, but this seemed like his only real option. Sing had to work. It just had to.
Jett dug his fingernails into his palms as his Pokemon began to sing. Would using the same strategy twice really be such a good idea?
Alyss smiled. "True," she agreed happily. "So... am I in a pinch? Or am I not?" She knew the attack would hit this time; the best thing to do was to take advantage of it. "Fly! Get as high as you can!" Rhia nodded, soaring up and up and up.
Alyss nodded quietly, looking forlorn. "This was better, this was more amazing than I thought Rhia," she whispered, looking proud. "Thanks. Now! Drop!" Rhia dropped like a stone towards Jigglypuff, eyes slowly closing as she fell asleep.
Oh spectacular. He wasn't sure Jigglypuff could even take a hit that hard, but the pink Pokemon was slow, so there was really only one thing to do about it. For that moment Jett was feeling purely pessimistic, thinking he had already lost.
"Defense Curl," he sighed, leaving the now terrified Jigglypuff to curl up as tightly as she could. What was it with birds and dive-bombing? He was starting to think his Hoothoot was going to be the lone exception to a newfound hatred of birds.
Oh well. Jett watched his Jigglypuff anyways, really hoping that by some miracle it could just hang in there.
Alyss winced at the sound of a thump. Ouch on both sides. She hadn't expected Rhia to make that hard of a hit. Then again she did fall from the sky. Nervous again, but still unwilling to do more than bite her lip, she watched Rhia roll off the Jigglypuff and a short distance away. From what she could tell, her Pidgey was still sleeping. After a hit like that? That was as close to Take Down as you could get! She looked closer. Yep, it was sleeping. Dear Arceus...
"Pidgey must be hard-headed," she said to Sammy, who nodded in agreement. Even he would have passed out from that and he was a starter. An awesome starter... but still a starter. "Hey..." she called to Jett, remembering faintly that she still didn't know his name. "You want to call this a draw?" She was giving him the polite weasel-out, she knew but she could see the look in his eyes that he thought it was over. It probably was. Even if Jigglypuff hung in there, using another Pound attack would hurt more than help and Rhia would probably wake up and blow it away again.
Jett scowled. "How is that a draw? You won. Take a victory where you can get it."
He pulled out Jigglypuff's Pokeball calling it back with a simple shout of, "Return!"
He dug through his bag for another Pokeball. He'd use this one next. "Well it's your turn to pick a Pokemon. Get to it."
Pokemon Kanto Rebirth Chapter 3: Viridian Forest Post 1
With that, Poliwag's Pokeball clicked and announced another capture. Walking over with Nidoran still in her arms, Rayne scooped up the Pokeball, placing it in her jacket with the others. Then she looked up at Shellshock who came rushing up to her to make sure Nidoran was okay. "Shellshock, you evolved to save a friend, didn't you?" Rayne asked, and Shellshock looked up at her with a grin.
"(I couldn't let Nidoran drown.)" Shellshock said with a toothy smile, and the duo walked to one of the trees, sliding down the base. Rayne held Nidoran in her lap as she reached into her bag to retrieve a Potion. She clicked off the top and slowly began to spray the wounds on Nidoran. In no time, the little poison Pokemon looked up with a short but exhausted smile on her face.
"(Thank you.)" she whispered lightly.
"No problem, Nidoran," Rayne said returning the smile, raising the Pokemon's Pokeball. "Why don't you take a good long rest?" A beam of red light transported Nidoran back inside, and then Rayne got to her feet, followed by her newly evolved Shellshock. She retrieved Shellshock's Pokeball as well. "Why don't you take a good long rest, too, buddy?"
"(Sure.)" Shellshock nodded, and the Wartortle was transported back inside. Finally, placing her trusty partner's Pokeball with the others on the inside of her jacket. Then she began her walk back to Viridian City where now she knew she wanted to head to Viridian Forest. She wanted to get to Pewter City by tomorrow afternoon, and possibly battle the gym leader there by the day after. Maybe she could see if a few more of her Pokemon could evolve for the battle because Rayne didn't remember the Pokemon the gym leader used – she hadn't seen one of the Pewter City battles on television in a long time.
But a small Pokemon had slithered out of the bushes as she walked to the entrance, and upon looking, it was just a little Caterpie. This could mean a little more experience for her own Caterpie. She retrieved the bug Pokemon's Pokeball and threw it forward, releasing the bug in a flash of white light.
"Caterpie, let's begin with a Tackle attack!" Rayne commanded, and her little bug Pokemon rushed forward, colliding straight into the other Caterpie. The little bug ahead of it wasn't ready to give in yet and launched its own Tackle, which Rayne's Caterpie easily breezed by and dodged.
"Tackle again," Rayne commanded, and her Caterpie immediately lunged and tackled the wild bug, which sent it stumbling across the ground. "Once more time!" And that final Tackle attack sent the wild Caterpie tumbling into the bushes.
"Good job there, Caterpie," Rayne said, and the bug Pokemon let off an excited sound, turning around to Rayne, flailing its little arms up in the air in celebration. But, Rayne was suddenly taken aback as Caterpie began to glow.
She retrieved her Pokedex in time to see what happened to Caterpie, which she suspected was evolution.
Her Pokedex scanned the newly evolved Pokemon.
Spoiler:
#011 Metapod The Cocoon Pokemon
A steel-hard shell protects its tender body. It quietly endures hardships while awaiting evolution.
"Excellent," Rayne grinned. "Only one step closer to becoming a Butterfree." Maybe that could be one of her goals – have her Kakuna and Metapod evolve into Beedrill and Butterfree in the Viridian Forest. Maybe a few others too, but Rayne would be happy to see just those Pokemon evolve. It would be in all good time.
Returning Metapod to its Pokeball, Rayne headed towards Route 2 and the Viridian Forest. No Pokemon or trainers stopped her so Rayne had an easy route to get into the forest.
The first thing she did as she entered the forest was tighten her jacket, taking a Pokeball from her belt and tossing it forward. In a flash of light, her Pidgey materialized. "Okay Pidgey, I'm going to need your help to take down any bug Pokemon around here, and get out."
"(No problem.)" Pidgey said, flying in front of its trainer. And the duo began, and Rayne knew she would encounter a lot of powerful Pokemon in the forest, and with powerful Pokemon came the urge to catch them.
"Pidgey, the first Pokemon we see that we don't have, we battle it, understood?"
Pidgey nodded, and the two continued on, until-
A sudden flash of green and creamy white zoomed past the two, but it couldn't be stopped from being spotted by Rayne. "Pidgey, after it!" she commanded, and her Pokemon flew after it. Whatever Pokemon it was, it was incredibly fast and agile.
She ran after her Pidgey and the Pokemon before commanding, "Pidgey, stop it with Gust!" Her Pokemon quickly brought up a powerful Gust, sent straight at the green and pale Pokemon flashing through the brush.
And it made contact, knocking the Pokemon straight out in front of Rayne and her Pidgey. But it looked hardly phased as it stood in front of the duo on two legs, and with arms as pincers. Rayne knew immediately what it was, but she took out her Pokedex anyway.
Spoiler:
#123 Scyther The Mantis Pokemon
The sharp scythes on its forearms become increasingly sharp by cutting through hard objects.
Yup, it was a Scyther, and Rayne was writhing to catch it, a large smile plastered on her face. She had no idea Scyther could be found in this forest though. "Great luck! Pidgey use Quick Attack!"
Her Pidgey seemed to disappear, zooming straight for the bug and flying type. As Pidgey zoomed closer, the Scyther only grinned, and seemed to vanish, using its own Quick Attack. And it collided with Pidgey, knocking it straight out of the air.
"Pidgey, are you alright?" Rayne called out, and Pidgey flapped its wings a few times to regain its posture.
"(I'll be fine, don't worry.)" Pidgey assured.
"Alright, use Gust," Rayne commanded and Pidgey kicked up another powerful attack, in which the Scyther took head on. And it stood on the ground, still ready to go. "Again Pidgey!"
Pidgey was beginning to bring up a powerful gust, when suddenly, Scyther grinned again, its form blurred and suddenly more Scyther seemed to appear. But Rayne knew this Scyther was using Double Team. And it was absolutely confusing Pidgey.
"Just shoot your Gust, Pidgey," Rayne said, and Pidgey obeyed. But the attack didn't hurt. Instead the Scyther appeared behind Pidgey, smashing one of its pincers straight into Pidgey's back, knocking it straight into the ground.
"Pidgey! Are you alright?" Rayne called out, but she didn't seem to get a response from her Pokemon. Scyther stood over the little bird, grinning in victory. "Pidgey, please respond!" But there was nothing. The Scyther turned to Rayne and only seemed to laugh, until-
A blast of air caught it off-guard, sending it straight smacking into the base of a tree. Rayne turned to Pidgey, watching as the little bird Pokemon slowly rose to its feet, battered and bruised. "Pidgey, what attack was that?"
"(Twister!)" it seemed to say proudly. Rayne grinned.
"Alright, then use Twister once more!" Rayne commanded, and though Pidgey was breathing heavily, it quickly whipped up another Twister and sent it flying into the Scyther, making the bug and flying type cry out, and slump to the ground.
Rayne retrieved a Pokeball. "A Scyther would make an amazing addition to the team. Pokeball, go!" Rayne said as she tossed the Pokeball forward, hitting the Scyther and transporting it inside. The Pokeball fell to the ground, shaking wildly as the indicator flashed red…
Whether it was day or night no longer mattered, time had no meaning in the perpetual darkness of the forest. Bennet could hardly see in front of him, all he knew was that he had to keep on walking. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time, into the unknown. Grass softly crunched and rustled underfoot, the thick lines of trees cut out very clear and delineate routes, almost seeming to constrict Bennet. There was no way that he could be on the path, if there was any path at all to be found. If he was, he didn't see it, didn't know it, and certainly didn't feel like it. Every step felt like a step into darkness, every step into darkness felt like one more in the wrong direction. Bennet couldn't lie to himself, he was scared.
Soft rustling of the grass that Bennet wouldn't have noticed had the forest not been so eerily quiet, save for the occasional and inexplicable twig snapping or movement in the trees. Had Spark's upper body not been blue, Bennet never would've seen the Electric-type as he moved with an unexpected degree of grace through the grass past him. He seemed to leap and glide through the dark green like some sort of flying predator. Ever since entering the forest, the Pokemon adopted a completely different attitude, seeming more at home, more calm, in the dark forest than in the city. Bennet wondered how queen would feel about the scenery, but hesitated as he reached for her Pokeball. She was hurt far worse than Sparks during the Pidgey encounter. Besides, even if she was beginning to heal, it wouldn't be safe to let her out. Sparks was only out to help serve as a lookout, and Bennet simply couldn't look after two Pokemon, not here.
There was a thump followed by a rustling of leaves as Bennet, distracted by himself, walked right into a tree. He shook himself, and got the message that he should turn his attention back to the road, or lack thereof, ahead. As he walked, it seemed to finally register that he walked right into a tree. He laughed, the first time since entering Viridian Forest. It wasn't even that funny, but Bennet couldn't help cracking up. Perhaps he was just so desperate to take his mind off of the forest that even the smallest things seemed hilarious. His laughing fit was cut short, however, as he looked around himself. There was no soft rustling, no gliding predator. He looked back behind him, nothing. Ahead, darkness. "Sparks?" He called out, softly. "Hey! Sparks? Where are you?" Bennet said, louder and louder. "Sparks! Come back here!" He was jogging, then running. He tried to listen, but the forest seemed so loud now. He tried to look, but all was a blur of dark.
Suddenly, the forest opened up. The tightening trees gave way to open air, the dark fell away to light. For the first time in what seemed like years, Bennet had a clear view. This proved to be more of a hindrance, though, as now instead of one, dark, linear path, there were now at least four. "Sparks? Sparks? Are you there?" Bennet called some more. He looked around frantically, searching for the slightest hint of his Pokemon. There was no sign of him. He sighed, and sat on the ground, looking down. There was a small mew. Sure enough, the black and blue Pokemon was right there in front of him, now looking at him in the eye. Lost for words, Bennet tightly hugged the Shinx, who was trying to squirm away from his grasp but was failing. Eventually, though, he did manage to work his head out of the embrace, then standing before Bennet again, seemingly annoyed. "Sparks, where were you?" Bennet asked, not really expecting a answer. The Shinx mewed again and swung his head off in some direction. "You wouldn't happen to know the way out?" The trainer asked. Sparks turned around and went off in the direction he was pointing, not waiting for Bennet. He sighed, and looked up to the sky. It was nighttime, but he had to keep going. He didn't want to sleep in the forest unless he absolutely had to. I'm not even tired. He told his eyes as the began to droop slightly. Not to risk losing Sparks again, or to fall asleep on the spot, Bennet got back to his feet and went after his Pokemon.
Bennet found himself on another linear path. Albeit a more wide and open one, but still a set path. This was comforting, one couldn't get too lost when there's only one way to go. On the other hand, the sky was shrouded by tress again, the little light was all but cut off. Before, even in the darkness, Bennet could see from one side of the path to the other, now the path was too wide for that. Instead of being flanked by darkness, Bennet was now surrounded by it. This route also seemed to have far more trees in the middle of the path. Every one of these trees that obstructed the path were large, thick, and taller than the others. They weren't especially detrimental to Bennet's progress, and even if they were the boy could do nothing about them.
The path opened up again, another clearing. The sky was visible once more. The stars were visible in their seemingly infinite numbers, the moon was little more than a sliver of white in the sky. There were several tall trees in the area, the same Bennet had been seeing for awhile. They had several far-reaching branches, and were actually quite magnificent in their own way. Had it not been the dead and dark of night in an already-intimidating forest, Bennet may have admired them. Near the mouth of the clearing, Sparks was waiting, completely tranquil despite his surroundings. He didn't waste any time once Bennet got close before he took off again, to one of the trees. The young trainer picked up the pace to catch up. As he saw more of the clearing, Bennet realized there were no paths leading from it save the one he had come from. "Sparks, where are we?" He asked, trying to not let anger seep in.
"Pineco!" Was his answer. Bennet, taken by surprise, stopped dead. A chorus was beginning, several cries, too many to know how many, were sounded. Every now and again, Bennet would catch a glint of blue in the moonlight. He began turning around, walking slowly as not to further alert the Pokemon around him. "Sparks, let's get out of here." He said slowly, trying to remain calm. He couldn't suppress a yelp as a blue pine-cone-esque creature dropped from the sky to land at his feet. Bennet backed away slowly, starting to sweat. He bumped into something, and stopped dead. The thing he ran into made its way around the frozen Bennet's legs, then looked up at him. It was Sparks. His sigh of relief turned into a gasp as the Shinx began to approach the strange Pokemon, crouched as if a hunter on the prowl. Silent moments passed, all was motionless. Then he leaped, Sparks planning to tackle the unusual Pokemon, despite how unsafe that appeared. Regardless, Sparks made contact, then bounced back. The unknown Pokemon rocked back and forth for a moment, then steadied. It showed no signs of being damaged. Sparks stalked the unmoving creature again, creeping up on it. He was barely a few inches from it, the two stared at each other, not moving. The Shinx reached out a paw and touched it, and the Pokemon rocked backwards again. Sparks batted at it again, managing to force it on what Bennet assumed was its back this time. The thing began to glow white, Shinx simply stared at it.
Not knowing what was going to happen, but knowing it wasn't going to be good, Bennet ran forward to his Pokemon, grabbing it roughly by the scruff of its neck. Sparks growled and bit Bennet's hand but the boy ignored the Shinx. He kept running, and there was a boom. The shock wave sent the two soaring, but ultimately didn't harm them as much as it could've. On the ground, the first thing Bennet saw was the red eyes of another one of the blue Pokemon. It began to glow white. Unable to move, Bennet tucked his Shinx into his chest, despite its protests, and shut his eyes tightly.
There was another boom, closer, deafening. Then there was nothing.
The return trip through Route 2 was particularly uneventful, to Hunter's surprise. No psychopathic Ekans spat acid at him, no crazed Mareep bowled him over. Just a somewhat-leisurely stroll through the Route. At least, it would have been, if Charmer wasn't still feeling guilty.
Hunter had released him from his Pokeball, allowing him to walk outside, and had forced him to apologize to Kaiser. The Nidoran didn't seem mad, but retained the same old attitude towards Charmer, despite having been saved from the Ekans. Charmer, meanwhile, was apparently looking to make it up to Hunter as once or twice he had stepped in to burn down some tangly-looking grass. The result only served to partially melt the soles of Hunter's shoes. After the third time, Hunter decided enough was enough. "Charmer, look. You hesitated, yes, but you still saved Kaiser's life. You don't need to make it up to me."
"Char?"
"Yeah, it's fine. We're all safe now, right?"
"Charmander, Char."
"Then we're all good." Hunter smiled at his friend, gave him a light pat on the head, and resumed walking.
Viridian Forest. A maze of trees, as far as the eye can see, matted with mossy undergrowth, filled with the sounds of Pokemon. The air was thick with the musty smell that could be attributed to hundreds of years of plant growth, and retained a cool humidity. It was by no means a rainforest, but it shared the same calm atmosphere. Hunter took all this in, breathing deeply as he closed his eyes. He had visited the Forest on several occasions, but mostly on school field trips, where he was unable to explore at his own leisure. Now, though, he could spend as much time as he wanted. Charmer and Kaiser were still outside their Pokeballs, and they both sniffed at the air, clearly enjoying this change of pace in the environment.
"I think we should let Hadron enjoy this a bit, too. Come on out!"
This was the first time Hunter had released the Pokemon from its ball since it was captured, and so it looked bewildered when it materialized. "Maa... Maaareep?" It gave Kaiser and Charmer one glance, and then instantly retreated to behind Hunter's legs, attempting to hide. "Maaaaa!"
"Settle down! I'm assuming you're a girl, right?" Hadron looked up at him and gave an almost unnoticeable nod. "Alright. Well, your name's Hadron. How do you like that?" She probably would have agreed, if she wasn't desperately trying to get away from Charmer and Kaiser. Now up on her back legs, Hadron was attempting to climb Hunter. "It's okay, girl! They're your partners, they won't hurt you." She looked over to them, still very unsure, but continued making frightened noises. "Here, get back in your Pokeball for a while." No arguments there. Hunter sighed. I'm sure we'll be able to train her eventually...
Lost. That was the only word that came to mind when Hunter tried to consider his situation. It seemed like he was going in circles, what with there being no noticeable path to follow. It's meant to be the "first frontier" for Trainers, why isn't there a damned path?! Still, there was nothing he could do about it. It seemed like hours had passed, but it was hard to tell with the sun obscured by heavy foliage. Exhaustion was also setting in, and even Kaiser and Hunter were having trouble keeping up. Finally, Hunter decided they all needed a rest. He slumped against a sturdy-looking tree and slid to the ground. After a few moments of catching his breath, he leaned forward, took off his backpack, and proceeded to sift through the contents. He realized he hadn't even had a good look at the items his mother had given him, other than when he unzipped the bag to stuff his Pokemart goods and Oran berries in there. He found a small notepad and a pencil stub amongst the equipment, and so decided to write a list of all his items.
Spoiler:
2x Parlyz Heal
5x Antidote
5x Potion
6x Pokeball
3x Chocolate bar
7x Bread stick thingy
1x Thermal blanket (where did mom get this?)
5x Pokefood
1x Water bottle
1x Pencil
1x Notepad
Deciding it was time for a snack, he pulled out one of the bread-stick-thingies, unwrapped the packet and started to chew on it. It tasted bland and dry, but in combination with the bottled water it was filling enough. It must have had some sort of energy-boosting ingredient, because he felt rejuvinated. He then pulled out three tins of the Pokefood, peeled the tops off and gave one each to Charmer and Kaiser. The third was for Hadron, but he didn't want her to get spooked again, so he told the other Pokemon to stay put while he walked behind a row of shrubs. Here he released Hadron and gave her the food, waited until she was finished, and then returned her to her Pokeball. This was a process Hunter intended to repeat a few times before gradually introducing her to Kaiser and Charmer. He figured that this way, she wouldn't get scared and would retain her appetite. Walking back over to his rest stop, he pulled on his backpack and once again began to trek.
It didn't take long for Hunter to realize that he had strayed way off the direction he should have been walking. It seemed more like a swamp than a forest in this area. The ground was damp and marshy, and a putrid smell was constantly issued forth from the rotting plant life. Kaiser and Charmer looked uneasy, and so by extension, Hunter began to feel worried. He had no idea which way was the right way, and so instead, decided to push forward. Whatever happens, happens. We've got to wind up somewhere.
After a while, Hunter began to notice a constant noise which wasn't previously there. It sounded like the rustling of leaves, or maybe the buzzing of Bug-type Pokemon. Either one could have proven to be problematic. Something big enough to make that much of a sound would have been an undefeatable adversary, and, well... A Beedrill swarm didn't sound all that great either. Hunter was hardly looking at the ground he was stepping on, and didn't see the thin white strand running between two trees at shin level. It stretched against him as he stepped into it, giving some leeway... And then he fell flat on his face. "Ow." Kaiser and Charmer jumped over the white silky object, hurrying to make sure their Trainer was okay. Lifting his face out of the dirt, he mumbled "I'm alright, I'm-" He was cut off as he took in the sight ahead of him. It looked as if the forest was literally alive and kicking.
The ground was swarming with thousands of wriggling Pokemon. Hunter simply stared and slowly rose to his feet, staring cautiously. Some he recognized as Caterpie and Weedle, others were strange red spiny creatures he had never seen before. He looked up, expecting to see something similar. He was half right. Beetle-like Pokemon completely matted the trees, with only a few areas of bark visible. It was like a living, rippling dark red, brown and blue mass. Some of the beetle-like Pokemon sported massive dangerous-looking pincers and horns. Even as he watched, more Pokemon began to descend from the canopy, suspended by threads not unlike the one he had tripped over just moments before. Of these, he recognized several Metapod and Kakuna, but the others were alien to him. He didn't feel endangered, but Kaiser and Charmer certainly did. They had lowered themselves into battle stances, and were ready to attack at the slightest provocation. Hunter pulled out his Pokedex, trying not to make any sudden movements, and pointed it at the red, spiny, wriggly Pokemon on the ground. It scanned it, and then gave him a reading.
Spoiler:
Wurmple, the Worm Pokemon. It lives among the tall grass and in forests. It repels attacks by raising up the spikes on its rear.
Hunter then lifted the 'Dex up and scanned each of the beetle Pokemon in turn.
Spoiler:
Ledyba, the Five Star Pokemon. It is so timid, it can't move if it isn't with a swarm of others. It conveys its feelings with scent.
Venipede, the Centipede Pokemon. It discovers what is going on around it by using the feelers on its head and tail. It is brutally aggressive.
Pinsir, the Stag Beetle Pokemon. It grips prey with its pincers until the prey is torn in half. What it can't tear, it tosses far.
Heracross, the Single Horn Pokemon. With powerful legs and claws, it generates enough power to hurl foes over great distances.
And finally, he turned the Pokedex to face the slowly-descending Pokemon that he didn't recognize.
Spoiler:
Silcoon, the Cocoon Pokemon. It drinks dew that collects on its silk and waits for evolution. Its hard cocoon repels attacks.
Cascoon, the Cocoon Pokemon. It endures attacks with patience, because the more pain before evolution, the sturdier it becomes.
Pineco, the Bagworm Pokemon. If the Pokémon is disturbed while eating by someone shaking its tree, it drops down to the ground and explodes with no warning.
Hunter nearly did a double-take at some of the Pokedex entries. None of these Pokemon sounded pleasant. And by the looks of it, every single one of them was displaying territorial or defensive behaviour. He backed away slowly, motioning for Kaiser and Charmer to follow. And that's when it happened.
The buzzing sound from earlier suddenly grew in pitch and volume. The several-thousand Bug Pokemon swarming the forest retreated to their hiding places, and soon enough, not one of them could be seen. And still, the sound continued to grow, and grow... Hunter looked around the area, trying to work out where it was coming from. It seemed to be echoing from every single piece of matter.
And then, it stopped all at once. The only audible sounds were the quiet rustlings of leaves, dozens of feet above the ground. Hunter had absolutely no idea what was happening, and neither did his Pokemon. The trio stood their ground, each of them looking in a different direction for the oncoming danger.
A bush rustled to Hunter's left, and all hell broke loose.
Hunter viewed the following events in slow motion. A green, vicious-looking Pokemon with curved blades instead of arms burst from the bush, screeching. As it flew towards him on its vibrating wings, he realized where the sound had come from. And judging by the omnidirectional buzzing, similar events were occurring near both Charmer and Kaiser. Hunter ducked out of the way of the Pokemon's blade as it attempted to strike him, narrowly missing its scythe-like edge. As Hunter quickly turned in order to keep the attacker in his sights, he saw that a similar technique had been used by the other two enemy Pokemon. It was an ambush. Charmer and Kaiser, however, had seen it coming, and neither were hurt. They ran in front of Hunter, working as one unit in order to keep their Trainer safe. All three of the green mantis-like Pokemon landed on the ground in one group, staring Charmer and Kaiser down with a vicious look in their eyes. Hunter noticed his Pokedex was still in his hand, and quickly scanned the attackers.
Spoiler:
Scyther, the Mantis Pokemon. It slashes through grass with its sharp scythes, moving too fast for the human eye to track.
If it was too fast for the human eye to track, why had it charged at Hunter at a speed he could see? Was it perhaps that they weren't trying to actually injure their prey? Or was it some kind of threat display, trying to make Hunter and his Pokemon run away? Either way, since Hunter wasn't about to retreat, the ensuing battle wasn't going to be pretty.
The biggest Scyther, the one in the middle, was the first to strike. It vanished in an instant, then reappeared just milliseconds later behind Kaiser, blades raised. They glowed a sickly green as it brought them down in an X shape, sending Kaiser flying through the air. Hunter instructed Charmer to blast an Ember at the attacker, but the Pokemon was too slow, and was instead met with a Wing Attack on his stomach. Evidently, this Scyther was the leader of the pack, as the other two were not engaging in the battle, instead standing guard-like and making sure nobody escaped.
Kaiser recovered from the X-Scissor and charged at the leader Scyther as Hunter shouted "Poison Sting!" The attack just barely missed its mark. The mantis Pokemon disappeared once again, this time creating a slipstream of air which Kaiser was sucked into. Hunter recognized this attack as Vacuum Wave, but it was being used in a more strategic way than he had seen it used before. While Kaiser was suspended in the air, the Scyther prepared another X-Scissor, but due to Hunter's quick orders to Charmer, was struck on the back by a ball of flame. It screeched in pain and spun around, looking for its assailant, but Charmer had already raced over to where Kaiser was. The Scyther's back now turned, they simultaneously attacked, Charmer using Dragon Rage on one side while Kaiser struck it with a Poison Sting. But this Scyther was tougher than it looked.
It spun around so quickly that Hunter barely noticed it had moved, and then swung its scythes at empty air. Two Razor Wind attacks slammed into both Kaiser and Charmer, causing them to tumble backwards. The Scyther then began to move in a circle around the two Pokemon, moving faster, faster, faster... Eventually it was just a green blur, but then Hunter noticed that it appeared as if there were several dozen Scyther surrounding them. Double Team. Never seen that one close up. He had to think fast, or his Pokemon were going to be taken by surprise, the attacker jumping out at some indeterminate point in the circle. "Kaiser, use Focus Energy and then try to hit it with a Horn Attack! Charmer, use Dragon Rage in a circle!"
This strategy may have worked, if Hunter hadn't misjudged his opponents. The Double Team was merely a distraction allowing the other two Scyther to attack from above. The medium-sized one went for Kaiser, the smallest one for Charmer. The medium-sized Scyther's X-Scissor hit Kaiser, smashing him against a nearby tree, as the attacking Pokemon instantly disappeared again. Charmer, however, had already started to use Dragon Rage, and the blue flames had just happened to engulf the place where the smallest Scyther was just about to be. It may have been bad luck or just poor technique, but it took the brunt of the attack and was KO'd instantaneously.
The Scyther using Double Team noticed its teammate was down, and faltered for a moment. This gave Charmer the opportunity he needed to find out exactly where it was. "Charmander, Dragon Rage one more time!" Hunter shouted. The flames were concentrated into one thin blast and sent towards a section of the Double Team attack. Charmer's aim was spot-on. The Scyther was struck in the chest and, already weakened from earlier, was finally knocked out cold.
As this was happening, Kaiser was left to deal with the remaining Scyther. After slamming into the tree due to the X-Scissor, he had rolled out of the way of another Razor Wind and attempted another Poison Sting. He had missed, and was then hit with a strange attack. One of the Scyther's sharp forelimbs had turned deep purple, almost black, and as it was brought down onto Kaiser, seemed to leave a dark aura-like trail. Hunter recognized this as a Night Slash.
Of course, in a dire situation like this, Hunter would normally have sent out Hadron, but she was simply far too timid to be thrown into a life-or-death battle like this one. Instead, he decided that if worse came to worst, he would return all his Pokemon to their balls and try to make a run for it. Still, he thought, we have a chance at winning this. By now, Charmer had taken care of the Scyther leader, and was rushing to Kaiser's aid. Hunter had noticed that they seemed to be helping each other out for once, even standing back-to-back when surrounded by the Double Team. Now it was two-on-one, and the odds were in their favour.
Kaiser was getting very weak. The Night Slash had left him collapsed on the ground, but luckily this was where Charmer rushed in. The Charmander jumped above the enemy Scyther, issuing forth several Ember bursts. Hunter came to the realization that Charmer was clearly getting much stronger; the flames were now each more powerful than the ones he had hit Kaiser with on Route 1 when his Blaze ability had activated. One of his mid-air Embers found the mark; the rest exploded uselessly on the ground. The one that did hit, however, knocked the Scyther over, only for it to disappear in an instant. It reappeared behind Charmer as he landed, raised its "arm" to perform another Night Slash, and then stopped.
It was baring its teeth in pain, unable to continue its attack due to the purple horn sticking into its back. Kaiser sluggishly moved out of the way as the Scyther collapsed, succumbing to the venomous Poison Sting. Charmer prepared himself for another attack, but there were none to come. Instead he retreated to Hunter's side, knowing the battle was over. Kaiser did the same, but the pure exhaustion was evident in his behaviour. He struggled to even stand up when he reached his Trainer's side, and so Hunter returned him to his Pokeball. "You were excellent, Kaiser. Get some rest."
Hunter then turned back to the almost-fainting Scyther, taking note of the pain evident in its face. "I'm not one to abandon a poisoned Pokemon, so... I guess you're with us now." He grabbed an empty Pokeball from his belt and tossed it.
Pokemon Kanto Rebirth Chapter 3: Viridian Forest Post 2
And finally after a few anxious minutes, the Pokeball finally calmed. Scyther had been caught. Rayne looked at Pidgey, who was breathing heavily and looked pretty beat up from the match. "Good job Pidgey," Rayne said with a smile, digging into her jacket to retrieve its Pokeball. "You should rest."
"(Thank you.)" Pidgey panted with a small grin before it was transferred inside its Pokeball. Rayne placed the Pokeball of her Pidgey back inside her jacket with the others. Then she stepped forward and bent down, taking Scyther's Pokeball.
"Well, now I have a Scyther on the time." Rayne began with a grin. "Welc-" She wasn't able to finish that sentence as the Pokeball opened by itself, her newly caught Scyther. It took one look at her, before bolting straight into the line of trees, disappearing from view. "Scyther?! Scyther! Wait!"
Rayne called, chasing after her Scyther, its Pokeball firmly held in her hands. She saw its green and pale body zooming through the brush. "Scyther, please stop! Wait for me! Where-" She let out a cry as she fell forward, tripping over a fallen log. She spat out the dirt and blood she tasted in her mouth, possibly from a bloodied lip, before continuing after her Pokemon.
Until she finally saw it stop, Rayne pushed past the brushes just in time to see it slink under a barrier of leaves. After a slight hesitation, Rayne continued, lifting up the leaves to peek inside a dirt and brush-made den. Scyther was facing her, pincers placed on the ground protecting something.
"Scyther, what are you-"
"(Back off!)" it snapped at her, baring its teeth and wings buzzing upwards in a defensive stance.
Rayne raised her hands up, palms up. "Calm down Scyther, I don't mean any harm," Rayne tried to reason. "What are you protecting?"
"(What does it mean to you?)" Scyther hissed.
"I'm your trainer, and plus it's my duty to help," Rayne explained, taking a step closer. "Please, show me what you're protecting."
Scyther continued to glare at her for a few seconds before raising a pincer, to reveal a small and severely injured Pokemon shivering on the ground. It was tiny, but from what Rayne could tell, she could swear it was a Chikorita.
She took out her Pokedex, scanning the small Pokemon.
Spoiler:
#152 Chikorita The Leaf Pokemon
It uses the leaf on its head to determine the temperature and humidity. It loves to sunbathe.
Yes, it was a Chikorita, but it looked much smaller than the pictures she had seen of it.
"What's wrong with it?" Rayne asked.
"(She.)" Scyther snapped.
"Alright, what's wrong with her?" Rayne squinted and slowly inched closer, seeing that the Chikorita's head leaf was cut in several placed.
"(She… was attacked by a Venipede.)" Scyther slowly explained as the Chikorita gave off a few whimpers. "(She was poisoned before I get to her.)"
Rayne frowned, trying to think of something she could do. And then she turned towards her bag because she knew she had a few Antidotes hidden away in there. Her moves though, made Scyther hiss, but Rayne cast a look. "I'm getting something to help cure the poison."
"(A Pecha Berry?)" Scyther asked, but Rayne took out a small bottle.
Rayne shook her head. "It's an Antidote. If you get her to drink this, it will cure her poison." Rayne said, taking the top off the small bottle. A pinkish liquid was inside and Rayne slowly held it out.
Scyther lowered its head and started to whisper to the Chikorita, and after a moment, the tiny grass Pokemon opened its mouth, allowing Rayne to poor some of the liquid onto her tongue. The baby winced slightly before her shaking calmed.
"Here, let me use a Potion on her too," Rayne said as she placed down the Antidote to retrieve one of the spray Potions in her bag. Rayne went to work on spraying the Chikorita's bruises and other injuries, and before long the Chikorita was softly asleep, and looked out of any more danger.
"(Thank you.)" Scyther sighed. It looked at Rayne through the corner of its eyes. "(I thought I couldn't trust humans.)"
"I'm a bit different," Rayne smiled.
"(I can tell.)" the Scyther said with narrowed eyes. "(Have you always been able to understand Pokemon?)"
"For over eight years yes," Rayne said with a nod. She looked down at the Chikorita. "Do you take care of this little one?"
Scyther seemed to nod. "(Yes. I've been taking care of her since she hatched.)"
"You're a girl Scyther, right?" Rayne asked, and her Scyther nodded. "Well, I could release you if you want and let you take care of Chikorita… or she could come with us and I could take care of her as well? Make sure no more harm comes to her."
Scyther looked at Rayne for a few moments before a smile formed on her face. "(Thank you for the offer. But I'll let Chikorita decide when she wakes up.)"
And so the two waited silently in the leaf den. Rayne had called out Nidoran G and Spearow to watch over the entrance until everything was alright. And finally, Chikorita began to stir. Finally, its eyes opened and it looked about, until it finally caught sight of Rayne. It leaped back with a yelp.
"(It's alright, Chikorita. She saved you.)" Scyther cooed to it, and Chikorita looked up at Rayne with wide eyes. And Rayne smiled warmly at the little baby. "(If you'd like, she said we are more than welcome to travel with her and she'll take care of us.)"
Chikorita blinked. "(You would?)" it's voice was low, and from Rayne could do, it was definitely still a child.
Rayne nodded her head. "Of course, but only if you'd let me." She told it.
And then Chikorita rushed up to her, curling up in her lap and rubbing its head against her side. "(Yes please. But only if Scyther goes too.)"
Rayne grinned, laying a gentle hand on Chikorita's side. "Alright, I guess it's settled then." Rayne put a hand into her jacket and withdrew a Pokeball.
"(What's that?)" Chikorita asked, looking up at the red and white sphere.
"It's called a Pokeball. They are like little 'homes' for Pokemon," Rayne tried to explain. "If you want to come with me, you have to get into one of these, alright?"
All Chikorita did was grin and tap its head against the ball. The top opened up and transported the Chikorita inside. It shook in Rayne's head, light flashing…
Ford was getting hungry but his Pikachu showed no signs of faltering fatigue. The little yellow mouse still bounced alongside the boy, eager to find more pokémon to battle. It clearly wasn't the type to worry without reason. Ford was getting worried that they had gotten lost though. On Route 1! The shortest and straightest route in all of Kanto. Trees were waving calmly at them beside the road, which was easy to walk on - and incredibly boring. Since Ford never had been the outdoor type, he hadn't formed opinions on different kinds of landscapes before. But now he knew that he didn't like simple, boring ones like this. Just when he thought of giving up, building a little pile of leaves and lie down to stare at his feet until somebody found him, he spotted some roofs in the distance. His hometown!
"We're here!" he said, turning around to make sure that his pokémon was still following him.
It didn't, really. It sat with its ears alert on a big rock and looked eagerly at something in front of it. Ford followed Pikachu's gaze and saw a big pack of birds. Pidgey.
"Oh, no, you really don't have to- Pikachu, please- let's just-"
A fast leap and a playful Thunder Wave without aim later and Pikachu was sitting witha calm grin in the midst of the now chaotic group of birds. Most took off immediately, especially the ones who had actually been struck by the weak electric attack.
"Why did you do that? Here I thought for a moment that I had picked a smart pokémon," Ford said, walking up to the mouse on the little grass field beside the road.
Suddenly, the boy felt a peck on his leg and looked down. One of the birds, a small one who hardly reached his ankles, was looking very angry and wanted to fight back rather than to flee. Pikachu watched with amusement. He probably knew that he just had to fire a light Thunder Wave to paralyze the Pidgey away from troubling them, so he wasn't at all worried. In Ford's hungry eyes, the bird looked like a potential roasted chicken. But he wasn't the one to hunt and kill pokémon to make his own food from. That was for real hunters. Pokémon trainers just battled and made their foes faint. Killing was taboo. Besides, it wasn't like this Pidgey could really hurt him.
Wrong. One second later, the bird leaped into the air and Tackled the human boy in his stomach, making him fall over and just narrowly miss landing on the Pikachu, who raised an eyebrow.
"Why... WHY do pokémon seem to want to attack me instead of each other?!" Ford exclaimed. "Pikachu, let's fight it off!"
Gladly, Pikachu obliged without a word and took a protecting stance between Pidgey and its trainer.
"Thundershock!" Ford called out, getting back up on his feet and fiddling with the smartphone as he did. He started up Pestify just as Pikachu fired up his cheeks with energy.
Pidgey didn't seem to want to just sit around to be struck by lightning though. It rapidly kicked up sand from the ground with its strong little legs. The sand hit Pikachu in the face and made him abort his attack.
Scorpio: hey, what's up? Sagittarius: Pikachu's fighting a Pidgey atm. Scorpio: THEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON PESTIFY?? GET OUT THERE AND HELP HIM!
Ford blinked but did look up and realized that Pikachu might need some direction. "Dodge left!" he said and jumped aside himself too when Pidgey came in for a Tackle. The little bird had unsuspected force for being so small. Maybe it's strength in battle was spurred on by its rage right now.
"Are you alright?" Ford asked his pokémon, who shook his head. The sand was in his eyes still!
The Pidgey flew up in the air and flapped its wings, quickly forming a Gust that forced Ford to grab the stone Pikachu had been sitting on earlier, to avoid being thrown to the ground. Luckily, this wind blew away the sand from Pikachu's face, helping him see clearly. When the bird seized its flapping, a Thunder Wave struck it spot on, paralyzing part of its wings. It fell to the ground and stumbled, trying to kick up a new Sand Attack in defense as Pikachu moved closer with his usual calm grin.
"Strike it with Thundershock now!" Ford said triumphantly and watched how Pikachu's cheeks fired up again.
Then, a new strong wind suddenly hit them. Looking up, they saw at least ten more Pidgeys flapping their wings above them, making Gusts together. The grin was quickly gone from Pikachu's face.
"Run!" Ford said, grabbing the little creature and setting off towards the roofs of Viridian in the distance.
The vengeful Pidgey they had messed with just now wasn't keen on letting them go, though. While the other Pidgey stayed in the background and even stopped using Gust when their enemies started running, the little Pidgey flew up again, its wings now seemingly having recovered from the paralyze. It came in for a Tackle from the air on Ford and Pikachu. The mouse, sitting on Ford's shoulder now, spotted it and warned its trainer. Ford glanced over his shoulder.
"Mother of Mew!" he yelped. But Pikachu knew what to do. Before Ford could react or stop running or something similarly foolish, he jumped up on the boy's head and took a giant leap back, straight towards the bird. Pikachu was met with a surprised look as the Pidgey tried to all of a sudden brake in its approach.
It was no use. The Thundershock now hit spot on and made the bird fall to the ground like a burnt leaf. Ford stopped, panting. "Whoa, Pikachu, that was... just... yeah."
Pikachu smiled to show that it understand what he was trying to say.
Sagittarius: We won! Scorpio: good, even though you mess things up you manage to repair them. that's your strong point! Sagittarius: I, uh... thanks? Scorpio: is it strong? what gender is it? you should use it as soon as you need to get to higher ground than your opponent, when Pikachu isn't enough. Sagittarius: I said I won, not that I captured it. Scorpio: WELL CAPTURE IT ALREADY!! YOU'LL NEED IT!
30 meters away, the other Pidgey were apparently unsure if they should pursue and use Gust or stay there or simply flee again. Ford guessed that he'd better waste no more time. He took forth an empty pokéball and looked at it. It glanced in the midday sunlight. Should he confine a wild pokémon to this ball? To travel with him across the region and possibly win battles and even evolve eventually? Ford shrugged. Of course he should, or else Scorpio would seek him out and bash his head in. He silently wondered if Gemini would really agree with him capturing a tiny bird, when he tossed the pokéball and watched it seek out the fainted Pidgey and be smoothly pulled towards it in the air, as if Ford had really good aim with the help of only gravity itself. The ball bounced once on the bird and then opened up automatically to begin the advanced but quick process of converting the pokémon into energy and sucking it into the ball. In just one second it was over and the ball landed on the ground, wiggling from side to side as the energy of the pokémon tried to burst out back into freedom...
Sagittarius: Do pokémon often escape their pokéballs? Scorpio: so you threw a ball, awesome! Sagittarius: Yeah, it's blinking now... Scorpio: well, I don't know. I think you should ask Pisces about that instead, actually. Sagittarius: Pisces? Why her? Scorpio: where have you been these last hours? she's copying you! Sagittarius: She's gotten glasses? Scorpio: no, idiot. a pokémon.
Alyss' composure broke briefly with his harsh words, the shyness welling up like a wave. Then she quelled it. She thought back to her battle with Rayne. Calm, composed, don't give an inch. That had been her opponent. She had to do that. This was a battle and a battle with a very harsh person. She couldn't give. He had already made fun of her weakness once. He couldn't be allowed to do it again. She would be scolded by Shana. And this would be pointless, all pointless...
So she ignored him for a moment, walking straight onto the field to pick up the sleeping Rhia. Carrying her back, Alyss finally answered. "You almost beat me. If you had hit me one more time, you would have won. I know. Pidgey aren't very strong, not like Spearow. It was just the way things went. Take a compliment where you can get it." The last sentence was spoken with detached politeness as she turned to face him again.
Calm, Alyss reminded herself. Be still. You can do this. You can fight. She had lost against Rayne and felt no shame in that because Rayne was powerful and good. Alyss was not but she wanted to be. So... for now she would try emulating that strength... she would try not to hide anymore. And in battle, she could.
Sammy pouted before Alyss returned Rhia. She smiled at her starter. "Hey Sammy... wanna go?" She was a little worried, he had gotten his butt beat by that Squirtle and by Rai himself. The Pokemon nodded happily and bolted onto the field, waving his shell around excitedly.
This was probably not the best of moves, but he decided that it was more likely for his Hoothoot to defeat this girl's starter than any other Pokemon he had. Luca was a fire type, and last time he'd been pitted up against a water starter it had be a spectacular failure on the part of both of them. So he'd just have to work with Tom, his Hoothoot.
He threw Tom's Pokeball, the owl Pokemon showing up in a flash. It was bouncing around, staring intently at its opponent with its big, red eyes.
Alyss winced inwardly but kept her cool. This was too bad for Rai; he would have won this fight pretty darn fast. Oh well, that meant the starter was likely last, since he held so much pride in it. That Hoothoot... was an owl, which was a bird, which likely meant a fast bird, since most birds seemed to be fast. Sammy... wasn't nearly that fast or strong.
But that was all right... except maybe for Sammy's self-esteem. Oh well. "Brace yourself," she told her Water type, who had been happily staring at those big red eyes. They seemed rather... shiny. Yeah... Oh wait Alyss said get ready. So get ready he did.
Well, now it was Jett's turn to start, and start he did.
"Tom! Use peck!" he commanded, causing the flying type to leap forward, bringing her beak down first right at her opponent.
Yes. Tom was a girl. Hoothoot genders were difficult to tell, and Jett was just the kind of person that would assume things like gender.
In any case, he watched his Pokemon's movements intently, ready to take immediate action if something went wrong.
Alyss wasn't surprised at the speed and gave a quick command. "Block it!" Sammy raised his shell and Hoothoot slammed into it, sending Sammy bouncing back. Alyss nodded to herself. Sammy wasn't very strong yet. But that was for the best. She didn't want to come to depend solely on the strength of one Pokemon. "Water Gun!" Sammy released a jet of water towards Tom, lowering his shell. Unknown to him, the shell was glowing faintly.
Tom was blasted backwards by the water, wildly flapping its wings.
"Uproar!"
Hoothoot's flailing transformed into an attack, going in waves around the water gun. Sammy would get off better than Tom, but if Jett was going to have to watch his Pokemon get hit he might as well get a counter out of it.
Sammy let out a wail at the noise, looking miserable as he panicked. It was too loud for him, way, way, way too loud! He fell back, landing on his butt. "Sammy," Alyss uttered gently. "Tackle him! You want the noise to stop right?" Sammy stopped wailing at once. That's right, the noise had to go away; it just absolutely had to. He didn't like his ears ringing, not at all. So...
"OSHA!" He leaped at Tom. Alyss sighed softly. She already knew this battle wasn't going to go over too well. Her Oshawott seemed younger than the rest of the starters and clearly wasn't nearly as used to fighting and growing as they were. It wasn't his fault, but it was strange to watch. Alyss smiled though. It was cute though. He was at least not a quitter. Sammy will be strong, she thought gently. Even if he loses, he'll be able to get there eventually.
Jett had his eyes trained on Sammy, almost impressed by his drive. As terrible as the boy's disposition was, he had a certain love for Pokemon. There was no time to be thinking about that though.
Well. No. There wasn't anything he could do until the uproar stopped. He would let the Oshawott hit Tom, but just in order to reopen his options.
It didn't seem like that Hoothoot could stop that move right away. Alyss nodded to herself and called out. "Sammy fall back! Focus Energy!" Sammy scrambled back, looking nervous. He then held up his shell and sat down, concentrating heavily. He was a slow creature so this too would take time. So she sat back and waited, sweating in the sun.
Just a little longer and Tom would be able to move again. Clearly it was beginning to calm down a little, but Jatt was worried. He knew what Focus Energy could do, and he needed to get Hoothoot out of the way. Uproar, he was beginning to think, had been a terrible move.
"Come on..." he muttered to himself, tapping his fingers against his leg in an impatient gesture.
Alyss wasn't entirely sure what order to give. It wasn't like he had any super-effective moves. Thankfully Sammy had something. His shalchop glowed bright blue. He leaped forward with a savage war cry. The Oshawott sliced down toward Tom.
Alyss just stared to see this. "What's this...."
Jett just kept waiting and waiting the closer Sammy got. It was only a few seconds, mind, but in a battle that could mean everything. Tom was still using Uproar, and while Jett was sure it was inflicting a constant damage on the Oshawott if it triggered this it wasn't worth it.
"I don't even care how you do it, just dodge!"
It was a delayed reaction, but the Hoothoot followed its trainer's command, trying to jump out of the way, but still getting hit on the right side of its body. Tom spun back towards Jett, nearly falling over. It was rattled by the impact, trying to regain its composure.
Sammy hit the ground, quivering. Even if the attack hit, Uproar was faster and hit more. He was not durable like Rhia. He forced himself back up and concentrated again. Alyss watched silently. What had that move been? Maybe it was only for Oshawott. She hoped he would pull it off again, in any case.
Tom was still disoriented, and Jett knew that, but he had to recover quick. "Hypnosis! Now!"
Tom kind of half-flew over to where Sammy was, stumbling and hitting the ground. It managed to get up, still dizzy, it's eyes glowing with psychic energy yet again. Jett was unsure whether or not this would effect the move, but if it did then what could he really do about it?
Sammy instantly fell to the Psychic waves of energy, snoozing like a baby. Alyss, despite the seriousness of the fight, giggled. Sammy snored. How cute. She stood back patiently. If this was the end, then it was. There was still one more Pokemon between them. She smiled at Sammy. More importantly, that move he used...
"Alright, one more peck."
Though he wasn't sure if this would do it, Jett was fairly sure this would be the end of it. His teetering Pokemon hopped up, coming back down beak first. Jett had to give Tom credit, he had wonderful perseverance.
Alyss didn't flinch as Sammy was hit brutally in the unprotected stomach, knocking him down and out. The girl smiled sadly. Poor Sammy. She walked over as she had with Rhia and picked him up, returning him from her arms. "Thanks silly." She walked calmly back to the other side. There was no dismay in her expression as she turned to look at Jett. "Nice job," she congratulated, remembering her manners at the last moment. She pulled out her final Pokemon, which shook in his ball.
"Oh Rai..." she said softly. Alyss paused, waiting for Tom to be recalled. She didn't want to send out Rai and have him fry the poor thing.
With a flick of his wrist Jett called Tom back to her Pokeball. She'd done well. Now all that was left was Luca, and hopefully he'd do the team justice. No. He would.
It was Alyss's turn to choose, so he just stood there, not even bothering to reply this time, holding Luca's ball at ready.
Alyss gave the ball a smile and threw, releasing her Pikachu without delay. Rai somersaulted forward, flipping to land on all fours. His lightning-bolt tail slashed the air mockingly at Jett. The Pikachu smirked, the arrogant expression almost adorable. He sat up on his hind legs and waited, scratching one ear with a paw.
Jett could have sworn that Pikachu was smirking at him. He shook his head, sighing. "Alright, Luca, come on."
Out from the Pokemon popped a small, piglike starter. It was Luca, Jett's Tepig. There was just something a little off about him. Unlike the other Pokemon he seemed to be almost angry. It was out of character for him, normally a cheery, energetic Pokemon.
"Te..." it growled, a harsh expression on his face, and although his back was turned, Jett still noticed it's sudden behavioral change.
And it distressed him. That was obvious.
Alyss looked concernedly at the Tepig. "Rai," she murmured softly. "Be careful with him okay?" Rai nodded without looking back. The miss said tread light so tread light he would. The fiery pig, it seemed to him though, was having a bad temper tantrum. It was likely due to something that happened to the human. That was how blue, little, and stupid worked (Sammy). They were naturally closer to their humans than say, him.
However that didn't mean he didn't like the girl. No she had courage underneath that meek little look, which was thankfully gone now. He liked that, that fiery spirit that had welled up in that other battle. He hadn't taken the loss personally; it had been pretty close and Nidoran had been pretty cool. That was why he was here right now. He was gonna get strong enough to pummel that Pokemon down with his tail and he would start with moody over there.
Without waiting, he crouched and closed his eyes, concentrating on the electricity in the air. He began to gather it, sparking his cheeks and warily staring at the Tepig.
"Luca..." the word came out soft, concerned, "use Ember." There was a silent 'please', a phantom sound that should have been there.
Tepig, not taking well to the soft tone took in a deep breath, then wildly shooting out fire in the direction of Rail. It charged at the Pikachu as it did so, bringing flames under its body, only fueling its drive.
Alyss saw the way the pig Pokemon's eyes flashed at the sound of its trainer's voice and the wild way it charged toward Rai, fire burning closer and closer. "Jump!" she called and Rai obeyed, hearing it likely before she had finished the word. Pikachu had better ears than dog Pokemon after all. "Thunder Wave!" Leaping over Luca, despite the singeing of his tail, Rai somersaulted and released a small wave of electricity to paralyze him.
She could have hoped for Static, which she had looked up earlier, but she didn't want to take the risk. Alyss watched Rai land behind his enemy, watching behind him for the next move. Neither of them were even sure Thunder Wave had hit. Though at this point, the Pokemon looked so upset it probably wouldn't matter much what they did. Whatever was bothering the Pokemon, it was the trainer's issue.
Electricity surged through Luca's body, bringing his legs out under him. Well, that pretty much ruled out any movement, or so thought Jett.
Luca pushed up onto its feet again, growling as a light plume of smoke shot from its nostrils.
"Tackle!" instructed his trainer, and though he growled even more loudly at the sound of Jett's voice, Luca started barreling towards Rai.
Suddenly, however, the Tepig's front legs gave out in front of him, vaulting him straight at his target.
"Stop," Alyss said suddenly. She wasn't speaking to Rai but Rai got the message. Stop this guy before he loses it. He took the hit, skidding backwards. However, he grabbed the Tepig with his tiny paws and released a Thundershock. At this close it would hurt him too, and that was fine. The lady said stop and he would.
Alyss looked between the Tepig and the trainer. "Look at him," she cried at Jett, looking not angry, but merely anxious and disappointed. "Stop this! Can't you see what's bothering him?"
It was Jett's turn to be distressed. "I don't know what's wrong with him! He was battling just fine an hour ago! I just put him in the Pokemon Center..."
He was confused, eyes moving back and forth over his Tepig, looking for something, anything to tell him what was going on. None of his other Pokemon had been anything like this.
"What do you think the problem is, huh?"
He didn't sound so high and mighty now, or even angry, but rather emotionally torn and upset. His fingernails were pushing into his palms, a dull sting in his hands as a result, but right now he didn't even care about that.
Alyss looked at him with pity and calm at the same time. "He's upset because you're upset." She spoke this very matter of factly and with none of the overblown emotion Jett had shown most of the time. She couldn't blame him for this one though. When your friends were hurt, people tended to be jumpier.
"I'm going to take a guess... you battled earlier... and you lost right?" The words stung coming out of her mouth. Rai threw off Luca and trotted back to Alyss' side. "And... because you seem so emotional... you didn't handle it well." She felt a bit of Zor slipping into her, his cool analysis, the painfully blunt words. "You weren't synced with your Pokemon, you didn't trust them or let them trust you. At least I bet that's how your Pokemon feels." She slowly walked over to Luca, carefully, waiting to get burned.
"Starters are different from wild Pokemon. They're your first." She was learning as she spoke. Alyss had wondered about the specialness of having a starter. And now, clutching Sammy's Pokeball, she was starting to understand. "They have a closer bond than any other Pokemon you get naturally. I think your Tepig feels betrayed by you." She stopped a few feet away from Tepig. "Hey..." she said softly, a nervous gentleness to her tone. "Did I get that right little guy?"
Luca did not move, rooted to the spot and glaring right at Alyss. Although the words the girl had spoken were true, the problem was a bit deeper down than soothing words could fix.
"What do you know?" Jett hissed, defiant. "What do you know about anything. Training, life, everyone's different, and so how can you know anything about me? You pretend I'm so easy to read, like my Pokemon is that way too, but what do you really know?"
Luca's temper flared then, but not at Alyss, at Jett. He whipped around, growling as he had been most of the match. Smoke started to come from its moth this time, a sensation usually significant of a fire attack in the near future, but what did Jett care. He just kept on with his little rant.
"Do you think you're clever? Fine. You beat me. Everyone can beat me for all I care. They're still stupid and pathetic and weak deep down!"
Alyss sighed, shaking her head. "Excuse me.... when you're done..." she tilted her head toward Luca. "I think your Pokemon wants to hurt you. I don't blame it either. Your Pokemon's upset with you and all you're concerned with is yelling at me." She glanced back at Luca with sympathy. "I won't try and calm you down... I think you're too far with that. Just don't kill him." The last words were spoken pleadingly. As much of a melodramatic idiot this guy was, it wasn't worth having to put down a Pokemon.
"Now..." Alyss looked up at Jett once more. "I can say the same to you. You said I was weak but what did you know about me? Apparently you couldn't crush me could you? Everyone may be weak deep down but at least everyone doesn't sit there and act like it's the only thing in the world that matters!" She held out her arm and Rai climbed on, looking at the trainers with annoyance. "At least they try and do something about their problems. What are you doing besides hurting your Pokemon? They fought really hard for you and all you did was just toss them back! Do you even care about them or are you just more important?"
Her tirade was spoken with eerie calm that she didn't feel. To be honest, Alyss was frightened with herself. Taking a deep breath, the girl stepped back slowly. "Haah... it's not... it's not right," she murmured. "This big melodramatic thing... I don't get it at all..." She turned to walk away. "Good luck."
The problem with said big melodramatic thing - well one of many - was that it was inconsistent. For one moment Jett's life could be filled with drama and horror, and then suddenly it would all fall away. It wasn't the kind of thing he eased into either. Best case scenario it was teenage hormones at their worst, and worst case...well, it was a severe personality flaw.
Jett was, deep down, very shy, and the kind of person who grew at a greater rate mentally (as in comprehension and the ability to be analytical) than he did emotionally.
That is all to say, that when all of his attitude fell out from under him, he did some very strange things.
"W-wait!" he cried out.
Jett wasn't even sure why he did that. What would he even say now? And he still had Luca to worry about. The Tepig had his eyes trained on his trainer, a glare, or as much of one as a Pokemon could give.
For the beginning of a journey, this was turning out terribly. He just didn't know what to do.
Alyss paused where she stood and turned to look at him. Her expression was unreadable but if he tried to see her eyes, he would see the same shyness reflected there. For all her suppression of fear, she was just as scared and dismayed as he was. A frown tugged nervously on her face as she asked softly. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Rai watched the Pokemon more than the human. The human was just an emotionally confused idiot but the Pokemon was a severely hurt creature with the ability to set things at fire. There was no question in his mind which was more dangerous. Even if the human did attack, he wasn't going to be that big a deal.
Jett just absolutely knew this girl wouldn't care, but in his utter desperation he completely spilled his heart out.
"I don't know what to do...my own Pokemon's probably about to attack me, and I just started traveling with it. I don't want to give up and go home though. I can't go home," the words just kept on spilling out. They were fast, a little slurred, but fortunately these were not agitating Luca. Or maybe it was just that Luca couldn't get more agitated.
He continued on, "I don't even know where my real home is! I've been a horrible trainer too! And frankly I- I've- Well I said some terrible things to you, and other people too!"
Luca just watched. It was apparent he still had every intent of attacking, but not quite yet.
Alyss listened patiently, slowly turning fully around and walking closer. Her unreadable expression didn't change until she was close enough to touch his shoulder. Then she smiled, the expression shy. Rai waited for the human to shut up. Alyss was way too patient. Just smack the human on the head and move on. That was how it worked with his siblings and it could work with this fitful boy too.
Alyss paused a moment as Jett ran out of words. Then she thought for words, for the right thing to say. "Well..." she began softly, looking rather forlorn. "Um... I'm not good at this myself but... maybe you can start by saying: "I'm sorry"." Not wanting to sound like she was demanding she hurriedly added. "To your Pokemon, not to me! I... I can get over it. But..." She gestured to Luca. "He's a closer friend to you than I am."
She stepped back a step to give him some breathing room. "I don't think you should give up yet. I mean, you've just started and all... and it wouldn't be very fun if you just dropped your friends and left. Maybe you should just try to have some fun... and not worry about everything so much. Maybe you messed up... but the best thing to do when you, well, you do that..." She fidgeted. "Is to try and figure out how to make it better. I mean..." She patted Rai's head. "Trainers fight a lot... but maybe it's good to not fight once in a while and to talk with each other and their Pokemon. They... they work to understand each other. Maybe take some time off and try that."
Jett stared directly back at Luca, even as Alyss was speaking. One talk wouldn't change either of them, but it might quell the storm for a little while. So he spoke.
"I really am sorry, though. He- I just."
He brought one of his hands to his face, not hard, just in a nervous gesture.
Luca let out a huff of smoke, causing Jett to jump a little. Content with this reaction, though still angry the Pokemon sat, giving both trainers a pensive look. It made Jett wonder just how long it would take to sort the whole thing out.
He was a trainer now, and there was really no excuse for still acting the way he had as a child. He had been so calm for the last few years too, all until he got the letter from Oak.
The words came much more firmly this time. "I'm sorry, to both of you. And I know maybe taking a break would be a good idea, but we need to get out of here, for the good of both of us. I don't think I ever want to see Viridian City ever again."
He sighed. "I doubt Luca wants to either."
The Pokemon perked up at the sound of his name, if only just a little bit. His name meant a lot to him, whether his trainer knew it or not.
Alyss smiled a bit. "It's okay. I know you're sorry. So am I. I said terrible things too." She glanced at the sky. "I don't blame you. If you're going to go, you should before it gets dark. Forests are scary at night." She looked over at Luca. "A journey starts with a single step," she murmured to no one. Rai sighed and relaxed. Did that mean he could go fight something else now?
Jett's expression was neutral. He had nearly calmed down now. Nearly.
"Well I guess I'll see you again sometime then..." he muttered. "And maybe things will be different."
It was kind of a resolution he was making to himself, not to have any more intense freak outs over nothing. If he really wanted to be strong, and if he really did want to be better that everyone else, he would have to stay calm, and act like a trainer.
It was a strange sensation, that Luca had, calming down almost as his trainer did. He sat down, eyes drooping, and suddenly slumped over asleep. Well, Jett didn't mind that.
Alyss nodded softly. "No maybes," she commented gently, turning and heading away. "A friend of mine said once: If you really want something to happen, make it happen. I think... I think you will do that. See you again..."
Those were three words she never thought she would say to a stranger.
Jett nodded, walking over and reaching down to scoop up his exhausted Pokemon. "See you again."
With that he took his cue to walk away, though he might have liked to linger a little longer. He needed to get through the Pokemon Center, the Mart, and the Viridian Forest all before nightfall. Today was just a rough day
Alyss glanced to watch him go before heading over to the Pokemart. She'd let him get healed first. Besides, she needed to get supplies. That hadn't been as fun as she'd liked, but it certainly had been enlightening. She wondered what else she had time to do...
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