Pokemon Crystal: Johto Adventures

[The black Vulpix]

Prologue: Vs Sneasel!


Gin Shinu hastily burst into her bathroom, pulling her long gray hair out of her face. She lightly touched her swollen eye as she looked in her mirror. Her third fight that week… In a city as nice as Goldenrod, one could be surprised how often scuffles happened.

"You got in a fight again, didn't you…"

Gin jumped, knocking her knee on the sink. Cursing under her breath, she looked back into her mirror and saw the reflection of her older brother Kuro. She hadn't seen or heard him come in, but that wasn't surprising.

"Is anyone else home, Kuro?" she responded coolly.

"Just Midnight."

Gin sighed. Midnight was their father's Sneasel, and the Dark-type rarely moved out from her favorite shadowy hiding places in the living room.

"Good. Dad's got the late shift tonight, right?"

"Yeah."

Their father worked at Goldenrod's Department Store. He normally went in early, but on weekends he worked nights. Normally Gin found it annoying, as she had to ensure the garbage bins were out on the curb in his absence, but this time it was a relief.

"And Mizu and Umi?"

Kuro shrugged at the mention of their paternal grandparents. The couple was rarely home. Yet, the two always expected their grandchildren to be home when they did return.

"Beats me. Said they were going to visit Dad. You know it's a lie, though."

Gin sighed as she took her hand off of her eye. Digging into one of the cabinets under the sink, she pulled out a rag, ran it under some cold water, and pressed it to her swollen skin. Frowning as it stung slightly, Gin looked back at Kuro's reflection. He brushed his black bangs out of his eyes and looked back at her.

"You didn't start it again, did you?"

"No," she snapped. "Some stupid kid just ran his mouth at me when I was leaving the Underground, saying I'd stepped on his foot or something. It ticked me off and…"

"But you hit first."

"Shut up, Kuro! I'm sick of this!"

Kuro blinked at his sister's glare. Gin had a temper, but he felt that this was more than just a tantrum.

"Of what?" he responded carefully.

"Of everything!" Gin lashed. "I'm sick of getting blamed for everything, and of Dad never being home, and of Umi's constant nagging! You know ever since Mom died, Umi's been trying to turn me into a perfect little doll!"

"You're acting spoiled, Gin," Kuro muttered.

"I am not! Aren't you tired of it too?" Gin demanded. "With you it's about cutting your hair, or getting rid of that old red trench coat you always wear, or calling you lazy."

Kuro barely flinched. "Think before you speak for once. Did you ever think that maybe they're just trying to calm you down?"

"You know, you really have a habit of pouring oil on the fire," Gin retorted.

Stomping out of her bathroom, Gin shoved Kuro as she went to her dresser. She rifled through it and eventually caught sight of a blue uniform.

"Hey, Kuro, you don't care about this anymore, do you?"

She held up the collared shirt, and Kuro simply shook his head. Gin slowly went back over to him.

"Look, don't tell Dad, okay?"

"About what?"

"I'm leaving. I told you, I can't stand it here."

Kuro shook his head again. "Don't be stupid."

"I'm not being stupid!" she insisted. "Please, Kuro?"

A pause, and then he responded, "All right."

"Thanks."

There was silence for a few moments. Gin sighed as Kuro rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Gin. Don't hurt yourself, okay?"

"I'm not an idiot!" Gin snapped. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll send you a text message every so often so you can be a mother hen."

Kuro grinned. "I don't care what you do, as long as you don't make me do anything about it."

"You bum!" Laughing, Gin pushed her brother out of her room. "That'll be the only thing I'll miss! Now go away so I can change."

- - -

"Midnight."

The Sneasel, as usual, had been curled up behind the couch. Stretching, she stepped out and looked up curiously. Gin was casually leaning against the TV and straightening the tie of Kuro's old school uniform.

"Let's go."

"Snea?" Midnight asked hesitantly.

"Don't give me that." Gin looked impatiently at the Pokémon. "Dad never even pays you much attention anymore. Not since Mizu convinced him to buy that Delibird."

"Sel…" Midnight looked down, folding her claws behind her back.

"That's right," Gin answered. "Now don't worry about anything. Kuro's covering for us."

Midnight looked back up and nodded. Grinning, Gin pulled a Pokéball from her pocket and recalled the Dark-type.

"All right, come on," she whispered. "We're outta here."

 

[Mira]

I like it :)
I've been dead scared of adjectives and, well, emotions ;) and you can pull it off a lot better than me.
I can't wait for more!

 

[The black Vulpix]

Chapter One: Vs Corsola!

"Kuro."


The long-haired boy raised an eyebrow as Umi entered the house, closely followed by her husband and son. Mizu quickly lowered his wife into one of the kitchen chairs, and then the old woman turned to her grandson again.


"Is your sister home?" she said, forcing a smile.


"In the shower," Kuro shrugged.



There was a moment of silence, during which the faint sound of running water could be heard from upstairs. Nodding satisfactorily, Umi took her long white hair out of its ponytail.


"All right then. Go get her when she's done," Umi ordered. "Now, Kaze, be a dear and help me with my bag, will you?"
"
Yes, mother."


The gray-haired man swiftly took Umi's shopping bag. It clearly wasn't very heavy, but Umi must have been having a tired (or stubborn) moment. She then turned to Mizu.


"Mizu, can you check on Politoed and Vaporeon's water?"


"Yes, Umi."


Mizu headed upstairs slowly and carefully. The couple generally kept their two Pokémon in a large aquarium that occupied a whole wall in their bedroom, and the water needed changing often enough. Shrugging, Kuro headed upstairs as well.


"Where are you going, Kuro?" Umi frowned. "Isn't the water still running?"


"To my room," he muttered.


Moments later, he arrived in front of Gin's room. Pausing, he twisted the knob, and then headed into the bathroom. He turned off the shower, sighing. Gin had only been gone for about half an hour, and hopefully the short time span did not mean that she had run into anyone… or anything.


"Mis…"


Suddenly, his Misdreavus was floating near his shoulder. She looked at him for a long moment, eyes narrowed slightly. Kuro turned away slowly.


"Yeah, Gin's being rash. Am I too for helping her, Misdreavus?"


"Misdrea…" She sighed and began to fade away.


"Wait," Kuro mumbled.


"Vus?"


Misdreavus reappeared. Closing his eyes, Kuro rested his hands on the sink.


"I just hope… she doesn't do anything foolish."


- - -

"Hey! You still do haircuts this late, right?"


Gin had once again climbed through the small trap door leading to Goldenrod's Underground, and quickly found herself at the haircut shop. It was nearly ten o'clock, but most of the Underground's shops were still lit up. The stylist leaned somewhat tiredly over the counter as he addressed her.


"O'course I do, but I ain't sure why you'd want me to… That'll be three hundred Poké, um… Miss?"



She grinned as the young man hesitated over what to call her. Kuro's uniform fit her fairly well, and she'd heard on multiple occasions that her facial features weren't exactly feminine.
"
Yes sir," Gin replied, handing a few bills to the stylist. "I'll just tell you when to stop cutting, okay?"


"If you say so," he replied warily, and slowly got to work.


- - -
"Professor Elm of New Bark Town claims to be studying several recently discovered Pokémon…"


The stylist clicked off the radio news report. It was now early morning, and Gin was leaning against the wall in one of the small, somewhat uncomfortable stools in front of the salon, half-asleep. She'd thrown in a few extra Poké, and the stylist had let her stay in front of the salon for the night.


Gin carefully looked at her reflection in one of the tall mirrors near the salon. Her hair was now just at shoulder-length, and her still unruly bangs fell across her forehead. She grinned; the haircut actually made her look fairly ambiguous.


"Good to see you like the cut, miss," the stylist commented, still looking slightly irked about using the term. "So, wasn't the news interesting?"


"Huh?" Gin looked up. "Oh, yeah…"


The man laughed. "Did I interrupt you thinking about it? Well, have a good one…"


Gin nodded and headed up through the trapdoor of the Underground. She sighed as she thought about the report; sure, she had Midnight, but it would still be nice to have another Pokémon. Even though, in retrospect, these "new" Pokémon could be some bland, normal ones.


Still, Professor Elm was supposed to be Johto's top Pokémon researcher. It would at least be worth a trip to see if he could get her a Pokedex.


"Hey, Midnight…" Gin grinned as she decided to release the Sneasel.


"Snea?" Midnight asked curiously. Despite her original hesitance, Midnight had been more than eager to leave once they'd actually gotten out of the house.


"Race you to the Gatehouse?"


"Sel!"


As Midnight nodded, the pair quickly dashed out of the Underground's entrance…

- - -

​

"Professor Elm?"


Suishou brushed a piece of his long, blonde-highlighted red hair out of his face as he stood up from the filing cabinet. He'd just finished filing a series of reports on Pokémon evolution for the professor. However, Professor Elm was frantically typing away at his laptop, and apparently wasn't listening…


"Professor?" Suishou repeated. "I'm finished. Shouldn't you be taking a break from that?"


"Oh, no, Suishou," Professor Elm finally replied, sounding excited. "Don't worry. I've almost got this rough draft finished for my upcoming conference—you know, the one I called after the news this morning? So, if you don't mind, could you go ahead and start something for lunch? I should have this completed by the time you're ready."


"Y-yes, Professor," Suishou mumbled, turning towards the stairs in the back of the lab. As he headed upstairs, he couldn't help but worry; when Professor Elm was as caught up in his research as he was now, he sometimes forgot to eat.


After arriving in the kitchen, Suishou managed to unearth a pot from one of the cluttered cabinets. He usually kept them neater, since the professor was too busy to do so, and Suishou was generally in charge of a portion of the lab work and the majority of the cleaning. Lately, however, Professor Elm had had so much work to do that both of them had to work almost all hours.


The red-haired boy quickly filled the pot up with water and placed it on the stove to boil. Then he tiredly leaned against the cabinets and let his mind wander. Suishou had basically been living in the lab for the past ten years, and actually helping out for the last six. He only had a few vague memories of life before that, but then again, he had only been five years old at the time.


Well, he did have one picture as a reminder… There was a small framed picture in his bedroom of himself at age four, with a somewhat tall and slim blonde woman holding him in her arms—his mother. Ai Koi had apparently been good friends with Professor Elm; in fact, he claimed to have taken the picture. But then, just under a year after the picture was taken, she left her son with the professor, deciding that she wanted "more excitement" in her life and would eventually return the favor.


As if ten years of no communication could be considered retribution.


"Corso—la!"


A mischievous cry from near Suishou's feet snapped him out of his thoughts. Looking down, he saw his Corsola perched near him.


"What is it, Coro—" He cut himself off as he followed her eyes to the stove, realizing that the water was starting to boil over. "Oh, no! I forgot the Ramen!"


Coro giggled as she watched her owner frantically add the noodles and adjust the stove's temperature…

- - -​

"All contest participants, please report to the park's square! Sign-ups are now complete! I repeat, all—"


Gin smirked as the voice screeched over the National Park's PA system. She'd arrived at the park's entrance just in time to sign up for the tri-weekly Bug-Catching Contest. Her figuring was that the park sort of on the way to New Bark Town anyway. Plus, she'd never been able to participate, and thought the challenge could be fun.


"—square! Sign-ups are now—"


As the voice droned one last warning, Gin grinned at Midnight, and the pair hurried out of the small building.